The document discusses strategies for designing instruction to improve students' interpersonal communication skills for interacting with native speakers in real-time. It defines the interpersonal mode as spoken or signed interactions that involve negotiating meaning, asking clarifying questions, sharing information and opinions, and expressing reactions and feelings. It then provides examples of communication situations that utilize interpersonal skills and presents strategies for practicing the interpersonal mode, including various seating configurations, sentence starters, reaction words, and impromptu conversation scaffolds.