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

Beth Kupper-Herr, Leeward CC 13

WHEN• Time & day

• When leaders are available• When students are available• Soon after class meets

• Minimum 5 weeks, maximum 10 weeks

Beth Kupper-Herr, Leeward CC 14

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?

Beth Kupper-Herr, Leeward CC 18

WHAT ELSE? extensions or variations of the

program• Foundation building groups (101

level) • More peer group activities for

our Learning Resource Center

Beth Kupper-Herr, Leeward CC 19

Conversation Celebrationa major event!

Beth Kupper-Herr, Leeward CC 20

Some groups went outside…

Beth Kupper-Herr, Leeward CC 21

Faculty joined in…

Beth Kupper-Herr, Leeward CC 22

Games, snacks, fun!

Beth Kupper-Herr, Leeward CC 23

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 bethkh@hawaii.edu