Communication, Small Groups, and the Interview in the FL Classroom

Individualizing instruction and developing communicative skills have been focal points foreign language teaching over the past few years. One area that needs closer attention is the relationship between communicative materials and small groups. An examination of existing communicative techniques and the size of the group in which they are employed reveals that few exercises involve the student efficiently and adequately in the questioning process itself. Thus, there has been a failure to provide what should be an important element in communicative exercises. A look at the interview technique in small groups shows how this shortcoming can be removed by emphasizing skill‐getting and skill‐using in a natural setting. To date, most discussions of the interview technique have concerned themselves only with affective goals, large groups, or outside‐of‐class activities. Active student participation in the questioning process with appropriate guidance by the teacher promotes a natural exchange of information and is easily adaptable to all levels of language classes

Class (philosophy · Communicative language teaching · Foreign language · Language education · Mathematics education · Natural (archaeology · Pedagogy · Process (computing · Artificial Intelligence · Computer Science · EFL/ESL Teaching and Learning · Multilingual Education and Policy · Psychology · Second Language Learning and Teaching