Compelling Conversations

Questions and Quotations on Timeless Topics for ESL learners and teachers

Archive for category resources

Worksheet – or Cheat Sheet – for English Teachers to Observe Conversations and Lead Class Discussions

Mar 2

Posted by Chimayo Press in Conversation Tips, Conversation lessons, EFL, ELL, ESL, ESL worksheets, ESL/EFL teachers' resources, Speaking Skills, Teaching matters, adult education, forms and worksheets, language schools, resources, teaching tips, worksheets and charts | 4 Comments

What do you do while students are having conversations or talking in pairs? Do you have a “formula” for taking notes? Do you focus more on fluency or accuracy?

Many English teachers, especially novice ESL instructors, talk more than ideal – and allow their English students to talk too little. Ironically, many ESL instructors make this “good mistake” because they are so dedicated. What, after all, are they supposed to do while students exchange ideas and practice their speaking skills?

When I taught an advanced ESL conversation class to immigrants and international students from many different countries at Santa Monica Community College, I developed a little routine.

First, I introduced conversation topics with a quotation or proverb and briefly introduce the day’s topic. Then I distribute worksheets (which became chapters in Compelling Conversations) with 30 or so questions, 10 or 12 key vocabulary words, and a few selected quotations or proverbs. Then students would be paired up to interview each other and share experiences for 20-30 minutes.

What did I do? I simply circled around the room, briefly joining in conversations, taking notes, and indirectly correcting students by modeling a better way to ask or respond to questions. I also jotted down key comments and “good mistakes” – both grammar and pronunciation – that I would later share with the entire class. Further, I focused on the content of student comments so fluency and meaning was more important than accuracy. Ideas and perceptions mattered more than perfect grammar.

These notes, however, helped me guide the classroom discussion because it closely echoed their previous conversations. It also lead to dynamic discussions because several perspectives were acknowledged and considered.

Taking notes also gave me a chance to emphasize certain sound groups or related word forms. While the students were talking to each other, I was playing reporter and taking notes.

Here is a reproducible worksheet that captures that process of monitoring conversations and leading discussions. Use or lose.

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Compelling Conversation Classroom Worksheet for Teachers

Topic: Pages: Date:
# of participants: # of groups: Room:

Opening Quote:

Opening comments to class:

Starting time for conversations:

Conversation content:
- What did you hear the students say? Summarize.

Follow-up class discussion questions:

Review Vocabulary:

Pronunciation tips:

Grammar issues:

Other comments/observations:

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Another Five Star Amazon Review!

Dec 9

Posted by Chimayo Press in Compelling Conversations, adult education, book reviews, language schools, resources, self-publishing | 2 Comments

Allow me to brag for a moment. Another five-star review for Compelling Conversations: Questions and Quotations on Timeless Topics showed up on Amazon. Consider me pleased!

Here’s the entire Amazon review:
5.0 out of 5 stars A wholesome learning resource!, December 4, 2008
By Erika Villafane “Erika” (Miami, Florida USA) – See all my reviews
When compelling conversations got into my hands I couldn’t help but to think: I wish I had this book when I was learning English!

As English as a second language speaker, I can really tell the difference that compelling conversations has with other ESL text books: topics richness that takes learning at a higher level.

Not only you will feel motivated to improve your language skills, but you will have a rich-provoking theme about life to discuss and share with your tutor or classmates. That in turn makes you grow personally and you certainly will remember the discussed matter here when need it to apply into a situation out of the classroom. You will appreciate American culture as well as other’s point of view.

The book is very well structured into four sections totaling 45 chapters. Each one of them is organized into conversations starters followed by vocabulary, proverbs and the indispensable quotations. One that really caught my attention was the Arab proverb “he who has health has hope and he who has hope has everything”

I recommend it to anyone who wants to learn while enjoying the process.

Erika Villafane
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Thank you Erika! What a sweet, persuasive review for English language learners – and their English teachers!

This review makes 14 positive Amazon
 reviews – all four and five stars – that various ESL teachers, writers, English language learners, and other fine folks have written. Not bad for a self-published book!

Three other bits of positive news about Compelling Conversations. A private language school in Chile made a large order, another community college in California adopted the conversation book as the course textbook, and Compelling Conversations has been added to an adult education center in Rwanda for advanced English class. Whether due to changes in the TOEFL test that require test-takers to actually speak, a strong word-of-mouth campaign, or just the belief that  classroom conversations should go beneath the surface, sales of Compelling Conversations have gone up. These successes may seem small, but they all make me smile!

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Who ranks English language programs and ESL schools?

Sep 20

Posted by Eric Roth in California, ELL, ESL, English class, IEP, academic matters, adult education, conversation starters, language schools, resources | 3 Comments

How would you choose an English language school? What if you lived in Korea, Spain, China, Brazil, Turkey, or Vietnam? What factors would influence your decision? How would you find out the school’s reputation? Who ranks ESL programs? What is their criteria?

Hundreds of thousands of students travel thousands of miles each semester to attend ESL schools. These intensive English language programs, often affiliated at universities, provide an opportunity to study English, live abroad, and prepare for the all-important TOEFL test. Given the importance of English to the business, scientific, and political events, the ability to read, write, and speak English often seems mandatory to ambitious 21st century students.

Yet, like any consumer product, the quality of the schools widely varies. How would a student make a rational choice?

This question emerged as I spoke with several dozen international students this week about their resumes, educational backgrounds, and training in English. While this elite group of mostly graduate students had succeeded in the academic game, several shared stories of unpleasant experiences at language schools. Sometimes students found a huge gap between their expectations and their actual American classroom experiences.

The apparent randomness of significant decisions often surprises me. Normally, I consult friends and established rankings as part of a decision making process. Yet a single thin piece of information, or casual conversation, can easily alter plans. Still I remember systematically searching through numerous guidebooks while selecting my college.

Where can students looking for a quality English language programs abroad find this sort of information? Does TESOL have some list of approved or sanctioned schools? Does somebody else – perhaps even local governments – track the effectiveness of schools? Further, what is their criteria? Where can individuals – students, teachers, parents – get that simple, yet vital bit of information? Is any of this information available in English, instead of the first language?

I would suspect, especially for international students of considerable income, that there would have to be somebody who attempts to grade, evaluate, and rank ESL schools. If I was going to travel to the United States, Australia, or the United Kingdom, I would certainly want to know the quality of the program and teachers. Even I was just going to a local English school or attending a public adult education center, I would still check on the school’s reputation. Of course, recruiters provide some information too – often with a twist. Given the potential investment in money and time, I assume that guides must exist – and probably not in English.

The best English language source that I have found, so far, is a site called http://www.eslreview.org . It rates schools on a scale of 1-5 on teaching, location, housing services, price-quality relationship, and overall satisfaction. You can find basic information and read student reviews. You can also browse through the course catalog and contact the schools. This website review is a starting point, but not much more. The listings look like they could easily be gamed. They also don’t list school accreditations, average TOEFL scores, or hire staff to inspect the schools. Further, the list doesn’t include some prominent IEP schools in California. So it’s a valuable starting point to compare ESL schools, but it is hardly a Petersen’s Guide to IEP programs.

Does anybody know a better resource in English?

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School boards, education problems, and a new $350 million dollar high school!

Sep 6

Posted by Eric Roth in California, ESL, academic matters, adult education, conversation starters, educational philosophy, public education, resources | No Comments

Teaching remains an art, and excellence remains rare – especially in a bureaucratic age. The ancient Socratic methods and modern enlightenment ideals have increasingly fallen out of favor in American public schools – from elementary and middle school to high school and adult school.

The gap between the desires and needs of our students and the bureaucratic mandates of our local educational authorities grows wider with each day. For instance, my local school board just opened a new high school in Los Angeles that cost a mere $350 million dollars. That comes out to almost $200,000 per enrolled student – just for the building! The principal also boasted that the new building, Roybal Learning Center,  was “graffiti-free”. Wow! Can you imagine that?

How did this happen?

“God made the idiot for practice. Then he made school boards.”
Mark Twain (1835-1910), American novelist and humorist

Unfortunately, Twain’s quip remains as relevant in the 21st century urban America as 19th century rural America.

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PBS Provides More Resources for ESL, EL/Civics Adult Educators

Aug 15

Posted by Eric Roth in EL Civics, adult education, resources | 1 Comment

ESL/Civics tip

Public Broadcasting System (PBS) continues to expand their valuable non-commercial services for listeners, including English teachers and ESL instructors.

Take the free online tour of PBS ESL/CivicsLink, an online professional development service for ESL teachers. The online system “helps instructors teach speakers of other languages effectively, strengthens cross-cultural awareness and integrates English literacy instruction and civics education.” This system also addresses core issues in teaching English and civics and encourages active engagement through project-based learning. It works for small-group study with peer mentoring and with both facilitated and nonfacilitated models.
Web: PBS Civics link for ESL instructors

This is just one of many tips, mostly for K-6 teachers, at Delta’s bigdealbook.com site for ESL/ELL teachers.

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What is the electoral college? Why does it matter?

Aug 14

Posted by Eric Roth in Citizenship, Compelling Conversations, EL Civics, ESL, adult education, conversation starters, resources | 2 Comments

How did George W. Bush actually become President of the United States?

After all, he received fewer popular votes for President than Al Gore, didn’t he? How could Al Gore win the popular vote and still lose the 2000 U.S. Presidential election? The short, unpleasant answer is that the popular vote doesn’t count – and the only vote that matters in electing presidents in the United States is the electoral college.

What is the electoral college? How many votes does your state have in the real United States presidential election? If you teach U.S. history, EL/Civics, or just vote in U.S. elections, you already know these answers – and your students and friends should too!

Check out the easy to use electoral college map hosted by the Los Angeles Times. This educational map game can become addictive – especially for people who are following the presidential race.  Among the many interesting features is that the default setting, based on the 2004 U.S. Presidential election, shows Senator McCain with a clear electoral college advantage over Senator Obama. Amidst the daily national polls, it’s easy for U.S. citizens – let alone adult immigrants and citizenship students – to forget this vital fact.

You can also go to the fine Wikipedia article on the peculiar history and strange institution called the United_States_Electoral_College. Bottomline: your vote matters less than it should in the 21st century!

By the way, I’m one of those folks that wants to abolish the electoral college as a sad legacy of both aristocratic ideals and slave-era logic. Direct elections work just fine. Since abolishing the electoral college seems very, very difficult, we should – it seems to me – at least switch from a winner take all system for each state to a fairer system where each congressional district chooses its own electors. Adopting this more transparent, honest “tiered” system would quickly reveal the huge divide between urban and rural America across the country. If Senator Obama wins the popular vote and still loses the electoral college, I expect more Democrats to rediscover their discomfort with the very undemocratic electoral college. Let’s hope that doesn’t happen!

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Enjoying Easy English Times and Exploring the EET Website

Jul 2

Posted by Eric Roth in Compelling Conversations, Conversation lessons, ELL, ESL, English class, Teaching matters, adult education, resources, website | No Comments

“In every curving beach, in every grain of sand, there is the story of the earth.”

Rachel Carson (1907-1964), biologist and environmentalist

The mailman brought the “Summer Fun” issue of Easy English Times yesterday, and it made me smile. It’s another wonderful issue of ESL student essays, teaching tips, and classroom exercises for English language learners. The editors also generously added seven photographs to the monthly “instant activity: conversation” column written by Toni Aberson and myself. This month’s topic is Enjoying the Beach. The beautifully illustrated excerpt from Compelling Conversations, modified for beginning and intermediate ESL student readers should be popular. The column also inspired me to take a long walk on Santa Monica beach with my dog to celebrate.

The summer issue also lead me to revisit the Easy English Times website. Unfortunately, it doesn’t include the entire current and past issues so the conversation column isn’t online. The clean website, although in need of an update, includes several valuable chunks of information for ESL educators and people teaching in adult literacy and prisons.

The section titled Immigration Issues features first person essays from immigrants and refugees and an evocative photo essay by Betty Malmgren that documents the intense passions and political symbols used at immigration protest marches. Malmgren deserves credit for showing both sides of this heated and very American debate in a fair, nuanced manner. I’m also fond of the section titled internet resources which includes archived columns from Andrea Uram for teachers of beginning ESL students and Susan Gaer’s columns on using the internet in ESL classrooms.

Yet my favorite part of the Easy English Times website remains student writing

where you can read first person stories from immigrants and refugees who have created new lives in the United States for themselves and their families. This short essays and poems, written by adult ESL students living and working across the country, provide a riveting glimpse into our often troubled world. The range and diversity of writers and writings is quite impressive. I can’t help but be moved and proud to be an English teacher while reading this section.

Website visitors can request a free copy of Easy English Times newspaper, and subscribers can access the entire adult education newspaper online for $15. It’s a good buy, especially for American ESL teachers working with beginning and intermediate adult ESL students. In a far better world, there would be fewer refugees from wars, famines, and persecution – and more than enough money to buy class sets of this ESL newspaper for more adult schools.

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Have You Read English Teaching Forum Yet?

Jun 27

Posted by Eric Roth in EFL, ELL, ESL, English class, Teaching matters, academic matters, adult education, educational philosophy, resources | 3 Comments

Have you read English Teaching Forum magazine yet? It is another outstanding resource for English language teachers whether working with adults in Africa, Eastern Europe, Southeast Asia, South America, or teaching immigrants and future citizens inside the United States. Published by the U.S. State Department, the excellent quarterly magazine includes concise lesson plans, reflective essays, and reproducible exercises.

I’ve subscribed for a year, and consistently been impressed at the depth, range, and creativity of the articles. The practical articles offer classroom suggestions that can be immediately used, putting many more academic publications on teaching English to shame. I’m keeping all my past issues of English Teaching Forum. I also wish more government sponsored educational efforts attained this high-quality. Perhaps excellence in public education will become fashionable again.

Fortunately, older issues of English Teaching Forum are also available online. The archives go back several years. You can read the Winter 2007 issue online. Each article can be downloaded in a separate PDF file, allowing teachers to pick and choose their favorite articles. Unfortunately, the 2008 issues remain in print form only. You can also find other valuable teacher resources at

http://exchanges.state.gov/education/engteaching/ .

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Teachers Urge Google to Create Search Engine for K-12 Students

Jun 24

Posted by Eric Roth in English class, Teaching matters, academic matters, educational philosophy, resources, technology and education | No Comments

How do students conduct online research for their K-12 classes? Do they systematically pursue a topic, use critical thinking to evaluate sources, and focus on the assigned topics? Or do they wander, often confused and easily distracted, from site to site? Is it possible for Google, the creator of the best online search engine,to create a specialized search engine just for K-12 students? Could Google, in other words, do for the K-12 students, teachers, and librarians what it has done for elite graduate students with Google scholar?

That’s the question that Dorit Eilon and a group of tech savvy teachers and educators are asking at Classroom 2.0 .

“We are a group of educators who for the past 7 months did an extensive research about on-line research and the education world. According to studies most students (and teachers) have difficulty conducting an efficient on-line research and most do not understand how Google or other search engines work.

Students, well versed in IM and SN (Social Networking) stumble when they conduct on-line research.
Even with technology many teachers still use the web in isolation. Teachers find great links that… stay on their computer, on their own website or their own blog.

So a group of us, educators, would like things to change.
We dream of a search engine that is unique to the education community with searches that produce text, video, audio results at the same time, where both commercial and school created material is accessible and monitored (we have a whole plan), where the resources will be identified, contributed and monitored by educators in phase one and Middle School / High School students in phase two. A search engine that it’s content will grow by the education community. and we want Google to be a part of it, to work with us to develop it and provide the technology.

But, we need librarians, teachers and students to talk about the day-to-day difficulties of navigating the web. We need educators to speak up so we can show that there is a real need not just plain statistics.

We imagine a search tool that will allow you to search within sites created by teachers, ability to rate sites / review, ability to search by “author” (person contributing links) , connection to Google Maps and much more.

If you feel the same way please go to our blog to look at comments and votes. While there, please take a vote and leave a comment to have your voice and opinion heard. http://cangooglehearus.blogspot.com/

Together we can make a difference.”

Sounds right to me. As the leading search engine and innovative technology company, Google can play an even more prominent role in improving education across the globe. Let’s hope Google hears this eloquent plea for a more student and teacher friendly search engine.

If you feel the same way, please visit and sign the petition.

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