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?

2. What is your favourite outdoor/ indoor game?
3. Why is it your favourite outdoor/ indoor game?
4. Are you a fan of Sachin Tendulkar?
5. If yes, why? If no, why not?

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 Spoken English Intermediate
Module 2
Conversation Skills Time: 1 hr

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: ________________________________________________

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 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?
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!
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 Spoken English Intermediate
Module 2
Conversation Skills Time: 1 hr

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
You can further expand the conversation by adding more questions.

Task 7: (10 minutes)

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 Spoken English Intermediate
Module 2
Conversation Skills Time: 1 hr

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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