Language
Conversation
GroupsCombining Learning with Fun!
Beth Kupper-Herr Leeward Community College,
Hawaii
Beth Kupper-Herr, Leeward CC
Let’s start with an
icebreaker…2
Beth Kupper-Herr, Leeward CC 3
What the groups are all about
•Who•What•How
•When•Where•Why
…and “what else”
4
WHO
• Participants• Students taking language classes
• Language instructors• promote program• extra credit• resource for leaders
• Leaders • Native speaker students
• Coordinator • organizes groups• trains and works with leaders
• communicates with instructors• provides attendance data
Beth Kupper-Herr, Leeward CC
Beth Kupper-Herr, Leeward CC 5
WHAT(overview)
• Small group led by native speaker
• Purposes: • improve speaking and comfort level• learn about culture and country• have fun!
• Meet one hour per week
• Membership is set (encourage cohesion, bonding)
• Participation is voluntary…• but when students sign up, they are told “This is a
commitment”
Beth Kupper-Herr, Leeward CC 6
WHAT(overview, continued)
•English (ESL)•Spanish• Japanese
•Hawaiian•Korean•Chinese
This semester, we offer groups for
23 groups!
Beth Kupper-Herr, Leeward CC 7
HOWget enough leaders
Beth Kupper-Herr, Leeward CC 8
HOWset up groups
Beth Kupper-Herr, Leeward CC 9
HOWset up groups
• Assign students to groups (4 – 6 per group)
• Accept that you can’t always get every student into a group
• Track attendance (we use TutorTrac)
Beth Kupper-Herr, Leeward CC 10
HOWget started
Beth Kupper-Herr, Leeward CC 11
HOWkeep records
Beth Kupper-Herr, Leeward CC 12
WHERE• Groups meet inside & outside
• Groups can get noisy!
• Have sheets & mats
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WHEN• Time & day
• When leaders are available• When students are available• Soon after class meets
• Minimum 5 weeks, maximum 10 weeks
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WHYBenefits for students
Who has a YELLOW paper?
Beth Kupper-Herr, Leeward CC 15
WHYBenefits for leaders
Who has a BLUE paper?
Beth Kupper-Herr, Leeward CC 16
WHYBenefits for instructors
Who has a GREEN paper?
Beth Kupper-Herr, Leeward CC 17
ISSUES, POTENTIAL PROBLEMS & DECISION POINTS
•Attendance? •Stay flexible•Stay positive
•Mixed levels? •Pay or volunteer?
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WHAT ELSE? extensions or variations of the
program• Foundation building groups (101
level) • More peer group activities for
our Learning Resource Center
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Conversation Celebrationa major event!
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Some groups went outside…
Beth Kupper-Herr, Leeward CC 21
Faculty joined in…
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Games, snacks, fun!
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More activities to try• Calendar chat• Conversation starters• Charades• See Conversation Leader Guide for
more• Conversation leaders have great
ideas!
Beth Kupper-Herr, Leeward CC 24
Thanks for coming!
Additional copies of handouts distributed at this session can be downloaded from:
http://tiny.cc/languagegroups
Want to continue the “conversation”? Contact me at [email protected]
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