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HOW TO TEACH CONVERSATION FOR ESL ELL LEARNERS

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About Course

This advanced course is designed for ESL and ELL teachers and teacher trainers seeking to improve their instructional skills for developing conversation competence in English learners across a range of proficiency levels. The techniques and strategies explored will benefit both new and experienced educators in constructivist, student-centered teaching environments.

About Course

Module 1: Building Blocks of Conversation

An exploration of the foundational components of pragmatic competence, vocabulary, grammar, listening skills and fluency underpinning conversational ability for English language learners.

What Will You Learn:

  • Key elements of pragmatic and sociocultural competence needed for appropriate conversation
  • Effective vocabulary instruction to expand semantic breadth and depth
  • Grammar teaching strategies aligned to spoken fluency goals
  • Approaches for developing listening comprehension with authentic input
  • Structured speaking tasks to build conversational fluency

Module 2: Conversing from the Ground Up

Techniques for cultivating initial conversational skills for novice-level learners by supplying fundamental vocabulary and exchanges for essential real-life interactions.

What Will You Learn:

  • Equipping beginners with a basic toolkit of courtesies, clarifiers, personal questions
  • Using modeling, repetition and gestures to introduce conversational patterns
  • Facilitating scaffolded speaking practice through interviews, simulations and role plays
  • Expanding complexity of exchanges as skills improve

Module 3: Bridging Conversational Fluency Gaps

Assessing gaps and tailored strategies to advance intermediate learners towards authentic, context-appropriate dialogue through targeted vocabulary and grammar instruction alongside scaffolded practice.

What Will You Learn:

  • Diagnostic assessments to reveal plateau gaps for each learner
  • Deepening topical lexical networks using exploratory vocabulary activities
  • Teacher modeling and deconstructing of sample exchanges
  • Structured opportunities for multi-turn peer conversations

Module 4: Mastering Complexity in Conversation 

For advanced students, expanding sophisticated conversing, cultural finesse and coherent, eloquent discussion of complex themes are required in higher academic and professional linguistic demands.

What Will You Learn:

  • Pinpointing gaps in idiomatic grasp or nuanced thought formulation
  • Deconstructing rhetorical devices in high-level modeled discussions
  • Facilitating debates and dialogues on philosophical topics with diverse perspectives
  • Shifting to minimal scaffolds for authentic conversing practice

Module 5: Linking Resources to Conversational Capacity

Cultivating metacognitive processes whereby English learners fluidly engage vocabulary, grammar structures and linguistic connections to creatively construct unscripted exchanges and discuss substantive issues.

What Will You Learn:

  • Making grammatical and lexical links explicit through visual concept maps
  • Using conversation simulations to produce strategic application under communicative pressures
  • Fostering academic and career-related culminating conversing events
  • Modeling reconciliation and examining biases for conflict resolution

What Will You Learn?

  • Key elements of pragmatic and sociocultural competence needed for appropriate conversation
  • Effective vocabulary instruction to expand semantic breadth and depth
  • Grammar teaching strategies aligned to spoken fluency goals
  • Approaches for developing listening comprehension with authentic input
  • Structured speaking tasks to build conversational fluency
  • Equipping beginners with basic toolkit of courtesies, clarifiers, personal questions
  • Using modeling, repetition and gestures to introduce conversational patterns
  • Facilitating scaffolded speaking practice through interviews, simulations and role plays
  • Expanding complexity of exchanges as skills improve
  • Diagnostic assessments to reveal plateau gaps for each learner
  • Deepening topical lexical networks using exploratory vocabulary activities
  • Teacher modeling and deconstructing of sample exchanges
  • Structured opportunities for multi-turn peer conversations
  • Diagnostic assessments to reveal plateau gaps for each learner
  • Deepening topical lexical networks using exploratory vocabulary activities
  • Teacher modeling and deconstructing of sample exchanges
  • Structured opportunities for multi-turn peer conversations
  • Pinpointing gaps in idiomatic grasp or nuanced thought formulation
  • Deconstructing rhetorical devices in high-level modeled discussions
  • Facilitating debates and dialogues on philosophic topics with diverse perspectives
  • Shifting to minimal scaffolds for authentic conversing practice
  • Diagnostic assessments to reveal plateau gaps for each learner
  • Deepening topical lexical networks using exploratory vocabulary activities
  • Teacher modeling and deconstructing of sample exchanges
  • Structured opportunities for multi-turn peer conversations
  • Pinpointing gaps in idiomatic grasp or nuanced thought formulation
  • Deconstructing rhetorical devices in high-level modeled discussions
  • Facilitating debates and dialogues on philosophic topics with diverse perspectives
  • Shifting to minimal scaffolds for authentic conversing practice
  • Making grammatical and lexical links explicit through visual concept maps
  • Using conversation simulations to prod strategic application under communicative pressures
  • Fostering academic and career-related culminating conversing events
  • Modeling reconciliation and examining biases for conflict resolution
  •  

Course Content

Module 1 BUILDING BLOCKS OF CONVERSATION
Having conversational competence is essential for ELL students to fully participate in academic and social settings. However, developing this competence can be challenging for ELLs due to factors like having a smaller vocabulary, less background knowledge of the culture, and discomfort speaking. As ESL/ELL teachers, we must intentionally teach the building blocks of conversation to set our students up for communicative success. In Module 1, we will explore the foundational components of conversation that ELLs must master.

  • Pragmatic Competence 
    00:00
  • Listening Comprehension
    00:00
  • Building Fluency
    00:00
  • Scaffolding Conversations
    00:00
  • Quiz 1

Module 2 CONVERSING FROM THE GROUND UP
When starting from scratch with beginner English language learners, it can seem daunting to teach conversational competence. However, through scaffolding basic exchanges and providing accessible language functions, even novice ELLs can start cultivating foundation conversation skills for real-world settings. In this module, we explore techniques for nurturing beginner conversation ability.

Module 3 BRIDGING CONVERSATIONAL FLUENCY GAPS
Once English language learners have moved beyond beginning proficiency, new conversational challenges emerge. Students may develop “intermediate plateau” where conversational fluency lags due to vocabulary deficits, processing limitations or reluctance to take risks. In Module 3 we explore techniques for scaffolding the next stages of authentic, context-appropriate dialogue ability at the intermediate level.

Module 4 EXPANDING ADVANCED ELL CONVERSATIONAL PROFICIENCY
While English language learners at advanced fluency can use complex structures and vocabulary during conversation, nuanced high-cognitive demands and cultural finesse often still challenge mastery. Facility with sophisticated, idiomatic phrasing; precision responding to abstract themes; coherent development of rhetorical arguments – these hallmarks of truly expert conversational ability require targeted expansion even at this final proficiency frontier.

Module 5 LINKING RESOURCES TO CONVERSATIONAL CAPACITY
After constructing conversational competence through the developmental building blocks, ESL/ELL learners must crystallize how to creatively connect linguistic resources to application. Transferring scaffolded skills into spontaneous exchanges relies on metacognitive habits cementing links between ideas, vocabulary, grammar structures across contexts. Our instructional charge is cultivating cognitive agility flexibly leveraging conversational foundations.

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