Develop students' discussion skills with this placemat.

1. Clarifying complex ideas:
- Right, so what have we got to do?
- So, we don’t understand the bit when…
- Perhaps she means that…
- I wonder…,
- What if…
- So that suggests that…
- Do you think it means…?
- Well, I think…
- I’m not sure what you mean.
- Please could you explain what you are trying to
say.
- Please tell me more about your idea.
- So if that means…surely this must…
- Yes and there’s another example...
- Do you see what I mean?
- OK, but don’t you think…
Introducing supporting
material :
– For example…
– For instance…
– Consider…
– Let’s take the case of….
– This is well-illustrated by…
– Evidence of this can be seen
in…
– One example of this is …
Confirming the evidence:
– So, it is clear that…
– What this tells us is…
– This points to…
– We can assume, therefore, that…
– One realises that…
– Clearly,…
– Obviously,…
– There is little doubt, then…
Identifying main points:
-Right, we need to agree on the main points.
-Would anyone like to suggest…?
-Surely one of our main points was…
-But surely that was far more important because…
-Right, we need to decide exactly what we’re going to
do…
-Does anyone have any ideas about…?
-I think we need to… because…
-But don’t you think we need to…?
-OK, so we need to decide who is going to do what…
-So, we definitely don’t all think that…
-Right, who would like to…?
-Katie, do you think you could get that done by…?
-Let’s run through the main points we’ve agreed on…
Challenging others’ views:
– Don’t you think that…?
– Isn’t it true that …?
– Isn’t it the case that…?
– Couldn’t it be argued that …?
– Might some people not think that …?
Exploring:
– I wonder whether/if/why…
– If we…then…
– How about…
– Perhaps we could…
– Maybe…
– What would happen if…?
– What evidence do you have to support that
opinion…?
– Based on what we know so far…?
– What will happen if…?
– What will be the consequences of…?
– How can you tell…?
Working together logically and
methodically:
-Should we…?
-Would it be a good idea if…?
-I propose that …
Acknowledging, justifying or modifying views:
-Yes, but don’t you think that …?
-I agree with …;
-I feel a bit like you, …
-Let’s just be clear what Claire is saying here…
-Sometimes;
-Often;
-Not always;
-Occasionally;
-Yes, that’s right;
-Oh, I see
Offering an answer or response:
– I think …
– In my opinion…
–Personally…
– Firstly, I believe…
–In response to that…
Useful Phrases
for Discussion