Spoken English Intermediate

Module 2
Conversation Skills
Time: 1 hr

By the end of this task you should be able to use strategies to take turns
when having a conversation.

Do you often find yourself in a position where you and the person you are talking to stare at each
other not knowing what to say next? Here are some ways by which you can boost your
conversation.
Good conversations involve three main aspects, 1) talking and 2) listening and 3) making the
other person talk.

Task 1: (10 minutes)

Listen to the conversation between Gemma and Jack. Note down
the questions asked by both of them. Click this link to watch the
video.

Asking questions is a great way to engage the other person in a conversation. Most
communication experts suggest asking questions to engage
others in conversation. But the type of question you ask can
make a BIG difference.
There are two types of questions:
 Yes/No questions
 Wh questions
You will get to know which questions are Yes/No and which are Wh- questions in the next step.

Task 2: (10 minutes)

Try and answer the following questions about your interests.
1.Do you like to play outdoor games? Yes
2.What is your favourite outdoor/ indoor game? Jenga
3.Why is it your favourite outdoor/ indoor game? Jenga is my favourite game because it is a
game of physical skill.
4.Are you a fan of Sachin Tendulkar? Yes
5.If yes, why? If no, why not? Tendulkar is the second youngest debutant in ODI cricket;
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 Spoken English Intermediate
Module 2
Conversation Skills
Time: 1 hr

World record of 8705 runs in test away from home; The only cricketer to score 100
centuries in international cricket; He has scored centuries against all test playing nations.
The questions that you answered with a Yes or a No are called Yes/No questions. The questions
where you had to answer in a long way or the questions that began with a wh- word are called wh
questions.
List the Wh- question words here: ______Question number 3 and 5_______________

Task 3: (5 minutes)
Which type of questions do you think are better for a
conversation? Yes/No questions or Wh questions? Why?
__Wh questions are better for a conversation
because____________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________

Wh- questions encourage longer, more thought out answers. They ask for elaboration and more
information. Whereas, if you keep asking someone only Yes/No questions, it might sound like an
interrogation rather than a conversation. So, to keep the conversation going, you need to ask
follow-up questions, more preferably Wh questions.

Task 5: (10 minutes)

Below is a conversation between Sam and
Jack about their weekend. Complete the
conversation by filling in the blanks using appropriate questions.
Sam: Hi Jack, 1) _________________?
Jack: Oh, Hi, Sam. Yeah, all good. 2) _________________?
Sam: Yeah, I’m all right. How was 3) ______________?
Jack: Pretty good. Nothing special really …
Sam: So … football, then?
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 Spoken English Intermediate
Module 2
Conversation Skills
Time: 1 hr

Jack: Yeah, how did you guess! We played a match on Saturday.

Sam: Really? How 4) ____________?
Jack: Yeah, really good. We beat them 4-0!
Sam: That’s 5) ___________!
Jack: Guess what?
Sam: Er … you scored all the goals?
Jack: No, not quite all of them … I scored two though.
Sam: Sweet!
Jack: Anyway, how are you? What 6) ________________?
Sam: Not much. I had homework most of the weekend.
Jack: Yeah, me 7) _________.
Sam: But I did go to see a concert on Saturday night.
Jack: Really? 8) _________________?
Sam: Me and Makayla went to see Blue Tigers.
Jack: Oh … 9) _________________?
Sam: It was better than good. It was amazing! The singer was brilliant!
Jack: Lucky you. I didn’t 10) _____________________
Sam: Neither did we till the last minute. Next time they come you’ll have to come too.
Jack: Yeah, definitely! That would be great … if you remember to invite me.

Task 6: (10 minutes)

You’re going to have a conversation with your friend on the topic
“Food”. Using the prompts given, frame questions that you would
like to ask him/her.
 Favourite food, restaurant, cuisine
 Reasons for being favourite
 Recently visited restaurant
 Best food there
 The place it is located in

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 Spoken English Intermediate
Module 2
Conversation Skills
Time: 1 hr

You can further expand the conversation by adding more

questions.

Task 7: (10 minutes)

Work with your edmodo buddy. Have a face-to-face or a telephone conversation on the
script that you wrote. Do not see the script while you’re having the conversation. You
can also record it and post it in edmodo to get comments from your friends.

References:

 https://www.verywell.com/how-to-join-a-conversation-3894035

 https://www.verywell.com/how-do-i-ask-follow-up-questions-during-small-talk-3024865

 http://conversation-skills-core.com/questions-boost-conversation

 https://learnenglishteens.britishcouncil.org/skills/speaking-skills-practice/different-opinions

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