Conversational Class Guideline

Class Flow
1. Pre-class
2. Introduction (Warm Up)
3. Class Proper
4. Prelude
The execution is pretty much the same as how a General English class (based on materials) is conducted.
The main difference is that a conversational class, more commonly referred to as Free Talking class is
often conducted without standard or leveled materials.
Pre-class

 Student’s profile or the previous progress report, if any.

 Platform to be used
 Technical preparation
Start the class on time!
1. Student’s Profile
1. Ideally, it is available for reference to guide teachers in what teaching methodology is
appropriate.
2. Check the student’s profile which often contains pertinent information about the student.
o Student’s name
o Age
o Occupation
o Study purpose or focus of the class
o Interests
2. Platform used
The platform used is expected to be given, along with other basic information, in advance.
3. Technical Preparation
 Audio quality – check clarity and for background noise
 Video quality – check clarity and lags or delays, requirement for video resolution applies
 Virtual background – make sure to use correct VB for specific accounts
Introduction or Warm Up

 Appropriate Greetings
 System Check
 Small Talk - setting goals and expectations
 Recap of the previous lesson

1. Appropriate Greetings
 Positive Greeting at the Door (PGD) Approach - involves teachers being able to greet and
connect with each student individually as they transition into the classroom
  Make sure that the greeting is age-appropriate. Don’t baby talk with adults, don’t be too
formal with kids.
2. System Check
 It’s as simple as asking the student whether he can hear and see you clearly or not?
 Check if the messages on the chat box are visible as well. If any issues occur, whether it be
on the student’s end or yours, try refreshing the platform. If issues persist, direct the concern
to respective customer services or person-in-charge (PIC) of specific accounts.
3. Small Talk
 It is defined as a light, informal conversation.
 It is used to set the mood of the student in class – to help the student loosen before the class
proper.
 This is also the part when the rapport-building is done.
 Moreover, in a conversational class, more information is acquired during the first class. Hence;
o During the small talk, an exchange of basic information is expected.
o It is advisable to ask the following:
 Nickname - ask how the student prefers to be addressed. Some Asian students
may have an English name. Some who do not, may be okay with being given
one.
 Thorough information on the student’s purposes of learning, improving, or
practicing English. Usually, students study to aid them with work or travel. For
instance, with travelling, you may ask what the nature of the student’s travel.
What kind of people is the student expecting to meet. What kind of situation is
expected and so on. Moreover, you may also get information from previous
experiences. Let’s say with travelling (again), you may ask about the student’s
previous travel experience and check events when the student had specific
difficulties during the travel.
 In the first class of a free talking class, the introduction may also be the entire
focus of the class. It is supposed to be helping you, the mentor, to check what the
student specifically needs.
4. Recap of the previous lesson
 Does not apply to first class.
 This is done to ensure the continuity of the lesson.
 The goal is checking student’s comprehension of the previous lesson as well as retention of the
knowledge. It is not (just) to know what was done in the previous but also what the student
learned out of it.
Class Proper

 Lead-in activity
 Activities
 General Guidelines

1. Lead-in Activity
 Introduces the theme of the lesson and is used to activate the students’ schematic knowledge, their
prior knowledge of or experience with the topic.
 It’s a way to engage your students in the topic and motivate them to participate in the class.
 Ideally, it’s also a chance to let your students warm up and get back into “English mode”.
 You may make use of games or any other activities to introduce what you’ve planned to discuss
in class.
2. Activities
 Based on the student’s profile, the mentor has to come up with the approach that is most suitable
for the student. While practice is the most known purpose of a student to take up a Free Talking
course, introducing the student to useful expressions is highly advised. The useful expression
should be based on the student’s need, refer to the introduction (small talk).
 You may refer to the link below for more tips:
How to Teach Conversational English: 9 Best Practices (busyteacher.org)
3. General Guidelines
 Art of Questioning
o All teaching and learning lies in the art of questioning.
o Questioning which is the basis of teaching task encourages recalling , deepens
the learning process and comprehension ,
promotes the imagination and problem-solving , satisfies the sense of curiosity ,
and increases the creativity .
 Probing questions
o Probing questions are designed to encourage deep thought about a specific topic.
o Typically open-ended questions, meaning the answers are primarily subjective.
o Intended to promote critical thinking as well as to get the person asked to explore
their personal thoughts and feelings about a particular subject.
 Instructional Clarity
o Some research indicates that instructional clarity, in fact, may cause increases in
student achievement.
o Teacher clarity is a vital key to helping students understand the relationships
between topics and make connections between what is taught and their own
experiences.
 70:30 Speaking rate
o It is a ratio of student talk time to teacher talk time.
o Seventy percent of the talk time should be student talk time. The remaining 30
percent should be teacher talk time.
 Corrective feedback
o It is a form of performance feedback used to improve student achievement.
o Teachers provide feedback to students to reinforce expectations and to correct
student errors during lessons.
o Feedback is often noted as the single most powerful tool available for improving
student performance.
 Chat box utilization
o Write down definitions of important and highlighted vocabulary next to the
words.
o Provide pronunciation corrections like bake = /beyk/.
o Provide a comparison of the incorrect sentence and your correction like
I eat cereals and banana for breakfast this morning.
BETTER: I are cereal and banana for breakfast this morning.
 o Observe proper punctuation and capitalization when providing corrections on the
chat box.
 Level-appropriate vocabulary
o Make sure to base your choice of words on the student’s age and level.
o You may introduce complex vocabulary words, collocations, and idiomatic
expressions to students with higher English skills.
o Focus on how words are used in context rather than just their definition in
dictionaries.
Prelude

 Review of the lesson covered

 Specific feedback and recommendations
 Endorsement of assignment if any
 Outro
1. Review of the lesson covered
 This is to check the student’s take-away from the lesson tackled.
 You may provide questions that will check the student’s retention of an idea or a corrected
repetitive error.
 You can also directly ask the what the student learned from the lesson tackled.
2. Specific feedback and recommendations
 Provide feedback on the student’s performance in class.
 This includes both his strengths and areas for improvement.
 Give tips and tricks that would help the student overcome the areas for improvement that you
provided beforehand.
 Avoid giving generic recommendations.
3. Endorsement of assignments if any
 Recommendations may include activities that the student can do outside the class at his own
pace.
 Explain briefly how the exercises are done and if the time permits; how the exercises can aid
their learning progress.
4. Outro
 Maintain the positive atmosphere in class from beginning to saying goodbye.