Group discussions are increasingly being used in professional settings and offer opportunities for extended speaking practice. There are different types of discussions including making a discussion based on a given topic or creating something new to solve a problem. Students should develop useful sub-skills for group discussions like analyzing perspectives, persuading others, controlling emotions, and using functional language. When setting up group discussions, teachers should plan time, choose topics, allow brainstorming, ensure a balance of input and practice, vary group sizes and procedures, and use different types of discussions. Feedback should be given through focused questions, recording discussions, monitoring groups, and structuring feedback to help students improve.

1. by Aryeni

2. Why teach group discussion skills ?
 Group discussions are increasingly being used
 Group discussions offer an opportunity for extended speaking

3. Types of discussion
Types of
discussion
Make
discussion
Given
topic
Create
something
Solve a
problem

5. Useful sub-skills for students
Sub-
skills
Analyse
persuade
Control
emotions
support
Fuctional
language

6. Setting up group discussion
 Planning time
 Choose topic
 Get to brainstorm
 Ensure a blance between input and practice
 Use types
 Vary group size and procdure

7. Giving and encouranging feedback
 Give some focused question
 Try to record the group discussions
 Monitor the groups

8. Conclusion
• As we have seen,group discussion can take a variety
of formats and are useful for al types of students.
They can be done in preparation for job interviews or
as extended speaking practice simply to increase
fluency. It is important to consider the different sub-
skills that are involved in participating in a group
discussion and ensure that you do activities that
addres each of these,Additionally,structuring and
varying the way that feedback is given will help the
students to identify areas for improvemet.