Procedure:
- The instructor announces the discussion topic (e. g. “Leisure time in our country of origin and here” or “Where would I like to live in 20 years?”).
- The students are allowed 5–10 minutes to individually plan what they could and would like to contribute to the conversation topic. They should jot down their reflections as notes, or as a drawing, a mind map or a cluster. (For a discussion of clusters und mind maps, see #8.1 and
8.2 in the volume “Promoting writing in the first language”). They should also consider how to arrange the sequence of adding their thoughts and contributions to the conversation.
- In pairs, the students then exchange their thoughts and discuss uncertainties, including questions in conjunction with their first language.
- In a round with the class as a whole, the questions are clarified. A small basis vocabulary for the topic of discussion may be written on the board. If possible, this should also include argumentative means of speech, such as “I see it this way …”; “In my opinion …” etc. (See #1c in the introduction).
- In the class as a whole, or in small groups, the students conduct the discussion of the announced topic. Naturally, this must occur in observation of the learned rules of discussion (see #9).
- Finally, a short discussion of the quality of the talks and possible problems, inluding language issues, should take place.