Lesson video

Hello and welcome.

Thank you for joining me today.

My name's Mrs. Butterworth and I will be guiding you through your English lesson.

Now this lesson is all about moving discussions forward by responding and asking questions.

Now, being good in a discussion takes practise.

So today we'll look at some different strategies and some phrases you can use in order to be able to respond and ask questions in a discussion and to have a practise.

So, sound good? Great.

Let's get started.

So in this lesson you will develop a discussion by responding appropriately and asking effective questions.

Now before we begin the lesson, let's look at those all important keywords that you will see throughout the lesson.

These words are spontaneous, strategy, active listening, and open question.

Now, spontaneous.

Now if we're thinking about speaking and discussions, this means saying things without prior planning or preparation.

So sometimes discussions can feel more spontaneous than say a speech.

Strategy is a plan or method used to help achieve something and usually evolve some thinking ahead.

So today we'll be looking at different strategies that will help you respond and ask questions in discussions.

So you will have various strategies to help you in discussions.

Now, active listening is all about fully concentrating, understanding and responding thoughtfully to what someone is saying.

So we will be activating our active listening skills in order to respond effectively and ask relevant questions.

And then finally, open question.

Now this will be very important, particularly for the second part of our lesson where we'll be using open questions.

And an open question is a type of question that allows for a wide range of responses moving beyond just yes or no.

So we will be looking for ways to, we will be looking at ways to ask open questions later on in the lesson.

So the outline of our lesson looks like this.

We're going to start by considering how we can respond to another speaker before moving on to asking effective questions.

So let's get started with that first part of the lesson.

The first thing I would like to get you thinking about is your own experiences of discussions and how you feel about discussions.

So in a moment, I'm going to show you three of our oak pupils and things that they've said about discussions.

And I'd like you just to think which of these pupils do you most agree with.

So let's look at what the pupils say first and then you can pause the video and discuss your, discuss or think about your answer to that question.

So first we have Aisha and she says, I find discussions really difficult.

I never know what to say.

Sam says, I like discussions, but often find I'm only saying one word answers.

And finally Jacob says, I'm confident in discussions but feel like I involve the other speaker more, perhaps with questions.

So there's lots of different thoughts and feelings there about discussions.

So as I said, what I would like you to do is pause the video and just think which of these pupils do you most agree with? Off you go.

Okay, thank you for that thinking time.

And it doesn't matter which student you agree or disagree with.

There are lots, we all feel very differently about discussions.

But this lesson is all about finding strategies to help your discussions become even better.

Now, in most discussions, you will have little or even no time to prepare, which is why sometimes they can feel daunting or difficult to hold.

So discussion can be more spontaneous than other forms of spoken language.

For example, speeches, presentations or performances.

You may feel you have a lot longer to prepare for those.

So having a strategy or a few key phrases can help with this.

So that's what we're gonna look at today, those strategies and key phrases that you can use in a whole range of discussions.

So one strategy that can help you to respond to another speaker is A, B, and C.

Now, the A, B and C stand for different ways to respond.

So the A means that you agree with a comment.

So you listen to what the speaker says and you choose A to agree with the comment.

You may choose to build on a comment, so you listen to what the speaker says and then you choose to build on that.

And then finally, to challenge your C is to challenge a comment.

So you may hear something that a speaker says and you think, actually I can challenge that.

So you would pick C.

There are also some phrases that go with these that can help you.

So if you are agreeing, you could start with I agree because.

You could then start with, I share the same viewpoint because, you'll notice that they both use the word because, because they are encouraging you to move beyond one word answer.

So you have to explain why you agree.

You can't just say you agree and then build, expanding on this.

I would add that another aspect to consider would be, so you can see how using those phrases can really help you to build on what the other speaker has said and then find any challenging a comment.

You could use phrases such as, I see it differently because it's worth questioning whether.

Now you'll notice those challenge phrases are still very polite and respectful.

So even if someone says something that you wholeheartedly disagree with and you want to challenge, we can still use phrases and language and our tone to make sure we are challenging in a respectful and polite way.

It's great to challenge in a discussion, but we need to make sure we're doing it in the appropriate way.

Okay, so we have three comments here and you need to label them with whether they agree, build or challenge.

So we read them through together first and then you can decide whether they agree, build or challenge.

So the first one is expanding on this, we should also look at the effect on marine animals.

Second one, I share the same viewpoint because I have noticed the same things happening in my community.

And then I see it differently because I view Prospero's treatment of Caliban as unforgivable.

Little tip, look at the first part of the phrase or the sentence and that might help you decide.

So do they agree, build or challenge? Come up with your answers now.

Okay, so who's feeling confident? Are you ready for the answers? Okay, the answer is build is the first one, expanding on this.

Agree for the second, I share the same viewpoint because, and then finally that challenge, I see it differently because.

So you can see how these comments have used those phrases to agree, build or challenge.

Well done.

Let's keep going.

Here is your first practise task.

So what I would like you to do is I would like you to practise using the A, B, C strategy.

So agree, build and challenge strategy by discussing the following questions.

One, can you have too much money? Two, is there more happiness or more sadness in the world? Three, which is more important, being right or being nice? So remember you are agreeing, building on or challenging.

It may be that you change the phrase that you use as the discussion progresses.

So you might start agreeing and then the next time it's your turn to speak you might build on that.

So you can keep this going and keep using those different elements to keep the discussion going.

And remember as you discuss the following speaking and listening skills.

So make sure that you are making good eye contact with the eyes looking, that you are listening to your, the other speaker so you know how to respond.

You are using your brain to think about whether you are going to agree, build or challenge.

But then also developing those comments further.

So explaining why you have agreed for example, and then speaking clearly.

So remember you need to be heard, but you also need to make comments that the other speaker can understand.

Okay, great.

So make sure that you are ready to start the task and then pause the video and I look forward to seeing what you come up with.

Off you go.

Wow, and thank you some really lively, interesting discussions happening there.

So thank you.

Just what I wanted to hear.

And I love how lots of you were using that A, B, C strategy to really develop those discussions and move them forward and those all-important phrases.

So it's interesting isn't it, because it's very often we think we can't prepare for discussions.

But actually being good in discussions is about practise and using these strategies and continuing to practise these strategies and these phrases can really help because sometimes just having that first part of the sentence like I agree because, can get you started when you are unsure of what to say.

So practising your discussion skills and using these strategies and phrases will mean you become more and more confident in discussions and answering spontaneously.

Okay, so I'd like you to do some thinking now.

So how was that and did you find the ABC strategy useful? When you've had a bit of time to think about those questions, I would then like you to discuss the following reflection questions.

So do you feel more confident now you have some phrases and a strategy and what would you like to develop or improve? So pause the video to think about those first questions and then move on to those discussion questions.

Off you go.

Okay, well done.

Thank you so much for your hard work in the first part of the lesson.

But we are now moving on to the second part of the lesson, which is all about asking effective questions.

So we've thought about our ABC strategy in terms of responding and moving discussions forward in that way, but now we're going to think about asking questions 'cause this is another effective way to respond and move them forward.

So when asking questions, you will absolutely need to use your active listening skills.

So what does this look like? So you are listening, your ears are listening because you want to avoid asking questions where the answers have been covered by the speaker.

So you really need to ensure that you are listening to what the other speaker says so that your questions are relevant and also helpful.

Brain thinking is going to be really important in terms of that active listening skill because you want to create open questions that develop comments and encourage discussion.

So as long as listening, you need to be thinking as well.

And then speaking clearly.

So you need to make sure that you are asking your questions clearly, ensuring that the speaker can hear and understand your questions.

True or false? See what you remember.

When asking a speaker a question.

You should try to use open questions.

Is that true or false? Come up with your answer now.

Yes, well done.

That is true, well done to everyone that got that correct, but you do need to justify why now.

So come up with your answer now.

Okay, so it is true that when asking a speaker a question, you should try to use open questions.

Why should we compare? Because open questions allow the speaker to develop their comments and ideas.

Open questions can also lead to further discussions.

So hopefully you've got something similar there.

So I now want us to just look at the difference between closed and open questions.

So let's look at an example here.

Do you like dogs? Now this can be answered with a simple yes or no, which makes it a closed question.

So do you like dogs? Yes I do.

Or no I don't.

Okay, so that makes it a closed question.

If we changed it to what is your opinion on dogs, it encourages a more detailed response and there are many ways to answer it, which makes it an open question.

So what is your opinion on dogs? You can't just say yes or no, you have to explain what your opinion is.

So you can see how just slightly formatting your questions differently can really open up your discussion and really allow the other speaker to respond in a detailed way.

Okay, so we have three pupils here, Aisha, Laura, and Sam, which pupil has posed an open question? Let's read the the questions together first and then you can decide which one is the open question.

Was the book good? How do you feel about the main character? And would you read the book again? So which pupil has posed an open question? Come up with your answer now.

Okay, so well done to everyone that noticed it was B, Laura, how did you feel about the main character? So again, that question, you can't answer it with a yes or a no.

You have to explain your feelings about the question, the main character.

So if like, was the book good? If we look at A, you could say, yeah, it was good or no it wasn't.

So again, it's quite a closed question.

And likewise, would you read the book again? Yes or no? So you can see that slight difference there in in those questions, but how they open up or close off the discussion depending on how they're phrased.

So, Andeep here poses this question, did children work in factories during the 1800's? Now I'd like you to discuss, please, is it an open or closed question? Okay, so pause the video to give yourselves time to decide.

Well done.

Yes, that is a closed question as it requires a yes or no answer.

So if Andeep wanted to make this an open question, there are a few things he could do.

So just using these phrases, why, how or what do you think or what is your opinion on will change that question to an open question.

So why, how, what are much more appropriate for making an open question to a closed question? So let's see it work here.

So, Andeep has another go and he uses one of those phrases.

So what do you think the impact was on the children and families who were used for child labour in the 1800's? So you can see by using that phrase, he's asking the speaker their opinion rather than a yes or no question.

So let's look at another closed question here.

Is football a good sport? Again, we could answer yes or no, but we can use these phrases to turn it into an open question.

So we can use how, why, how, what do you think? Or what is your opinion on? So let's change.

Is football a good sport into an open question.

Why is football a good sport? Okay, so you see asking the speaker to develop their answer further, it's about what they think, their opinion.

So I'd like for you to have a go now.

Can you turn this closed question into an open question? So the closed question is, do you listen to music? So pause the video to give yourself time to turn that question, that closed question into an open question.

Off you go.

Okay, so I'll show you what I came up with and you can compare it to your answers.

So you could have used any of those phrases, but I chose, what is your opinion on pop music? Again, turns it into an open question because you can't just answer yes or no, see? So we have reached our second practise task, and again, you're going to need to have a really good developed discussion.

So you're going to discuss the following statements.

Number one, it is natural to be greedy.

Number two, life would be better without mobile phones.

Number three, too much freedom is a dangerous thing.

So you'll need to discuss the following statements.

Now your aim is to keep the discussion moving forward by asking open questions.

So before you begin the discussion, you may just want to spend a few moments either thinking of or jotting down some open questions to do with the statement.

It could actually be a nice way to start the discussion, what is your opinion on? And then use the statement if you wanted.

And don't forget, within the discussion, you can also use the ABC strategy from the first part of the lesson.

So you've got plenty of things to keep that discussion going.

You've got your open questions and you've got that ABC strategy, and it's all about getting confident, moving those discussions forward and putting forward your ideas.

Okay, so is everybody ready to go? Fantastic.

Okay.

So you'll need to pause the video and get discussing.

I can't wait to hear what you come up with.

Off you go.

Wow, my ears are ringing with those fantastic discussions.

They were so lively and developed and it was fantastic to hear some of you using those open questions.

So really just taking a minute to stop and think about how you can pose those open questions to keep the discussion going.

And that's such an important thing to keep practising it.

Not all discussions will run smoothly from the moment they start to the moment that they end.

It's about practising , taking those chances and just having a go.

So really well done to you all.

So what I would like you to do now is just spend a few moments, just self-assessing your role in the discussion.

So there's a checklist here for you to think about and you can just self-assess your discussion.

So let's read through that checklist.

So I spoke clearly.

So did you do that? Do you think that you spoke clearly, consistently throughout the discussion? You used your active listening skills.

So did you have positive body language? Were you thinking whilst the other person was talking? Did you use positive facial expressions? Did you use the ABC strategy to respond? And did you ask open questions to keep the discussion moving forward? So use that checklist to think about your discussion and then set yourself a what went well and an even better if for future discussions.

Okay? So pause a video to give yourself time to do this task.

Reflections are so important.

So do pause a video and really give yourself time to think about this and give yourself that what went well and an even better if.

Pause the video.

Off you go.

Well, what a fantastic lesson, well done everyone.

Such a lovely sound of buzzing discussions and questions and all of those skills and strategies being practised.

So we now know that discussion can be more spontaneous than other forms of spoken language.

We've got that all important ABC strategy that can help you to respond and develop comments.

We know about those all important active listening skills that can help you to ask relevant questions.

And then finally, the open questions allow the speaker to respond in a developed way and move the discussion forward.

So I really cannot wait to see you all again soon in another English lesson.

So do join me then.

Until then, I'll say goodbye.

Bye-Bye.