ENGLISH LANGUAGE
PAPER III : SPEAKING - PART A : DISCUSSION
Non-verbal skills
Eyes / Open your eyes wideEyes not hidden behind fringe
Look at everyone, esp. while introducing / ending the discussion
Ears / Listen to the others in Part I to ‘steal’ their ideas
Listen to the others in Part II to give responses
Mouth / Smile
Face / Show your feelings through facial expressions
Head / Nod your head to show your interest / agreement
Hands / Nothing in hands, including tissue & pen
Both hands on desk
Show your palms
Move your hands only for emphasis / attracting attention (below your chin)
Body / Sit straight
Dress smartly
Verbal skills
Mouth / Speak loudly to show confidencePronounce the ending sounds clearly: /s, t, d, k/
Pause when necessary
Use good intonation: key words – louder, longer, higher
Generating ideas
Ways to generate ideas / Suggest: What, Why, When, Where, Who, How (+adj / +adv)Mention your personal experiences / feelings (real / unreal)
Give real-life examples
Listen to the other members’ ideas, and give relevant responses
Communication strategies
A.Basic Structure
A1.Getting started
A2.Moving the discussion forward
A3.Ending
B.Basic Response
B1.Expressing opinion
B2.Inviting opinions
B3. Introducing a new point
C.No New Ideas
C1. Using fillers to think and link
C2. Having no idea
C3. Referring to something someone said earlier
D.Ideas Not Clear
D1. Asking group members to speak up
D2.Encouraging passive group members to speak
D3. Asking for clarification / repetition
D4. Checking if you understand the others
D5. Checking if the others understand you
D6. Clarifying what you have said
E.Agree ; Disagree
E1.Expressing agreement
E2.Expressing partial agreement
E3. Expressing disagreement
E4. Responding to disagreement
E5. Giving neutral response
E6. Contributing regularly without giving ideas
F.Stopping Lousy Members
F1. Stopping repetitive talk
F2. Stopping unproductive talk
F3. Stopping irrelevant talk
F4.Stopping an argument
F5. Stopping aggressive group members
F6.Responding to unnecessary interruption
Communication strategies & Corresponding expressions
A.Basic Structure
A1.Getting started
1. / Well, let’s begin our discussionLet’s (get started/ start)
Shall we start?
Does anyone mind if I start first?
Is everyone / Are we ready to start?
2. / According to
the instructions, / We’re (here to/supposed to / going to) / talk about/ discuss (topic)
decide/ choose/ suggest/plan.(task)
We (need/ have) to…
What we aim at is…
What we (have to / are going to) (do/ decide/ discuss) is …
The central issue/ Our chief concern is…
Our (task/ aim/ objective) is to…
This (project/ survey/ research) is geared to…
3. / There are … things we need to discuss today.
(Let me / I’d like to) start by saying that…
To begin with, …
My first idea is that…
Shall we / Let’s / Perhaps we could / -discuss / decide / talk about … first? / -and then (move/go) on to… later?
-and then… and …finally?
A2.Seeking consensus & Moving the discussion forward
Good / Well, we have decided… / Should we / Let’s (move along / go on / move on / proceed) to…Let’s turn our attention to…
Now, shall we discuss…
The next thing we need to talk about / decide is…
That’s exactly what I think. At the same time, we can also…
If we’re in agreement,…/ So, if we all agree / think,…
I think we’re going over the same ground now.
I think we’ve heard everybody’s ideas.
Let’s come to an agreement on this point.
Sorry, I think we need to decide… now as we still need to discuss other things like…
Alright. Any problem? Anybody? No? Fine. Why don’t we talk about…?
Let’s decide … so that we can move on to discuss other items.
A3.Ending
1. / We’ve heard everybody’s viewpoints.2. / I think its time to make/ reach a decision
Let’s make up our minds, shall we?
So far we’ve talked about / decided / agreed so far ...
What we’ve decided so far is...
Does everyone (agree to/ that we should)...?
3. / Are we all clear about what we are going to do?
Is there anything else we ought to consider now?
I think we’ve covered (everything/ the main points).
Have we covered everything?
Have we forgotten to discuss anything?
Does anyone have anything to add? X? Y? Z?
4. / OK. So that’s what we’ll do.
It seems we’ve finished our task. / That’s right!
But since we’re running short of time, shall we continue our discussion later?
5. / Let’s stop here.
Right, then, let’s end the discussion at this point.
That’s all we have decided today.
That’s all we have time (for / to discuss / to decide on) today
That’s it for today’s discussion.
6. / I hope we can make achievement through our cooperation. / Any relevant wishes.
7. / Thank you everybody / everyone for your ideas and comments.
B.Basic Response
B1.Expressing opinion
Shall we/ Could we … / In my opinion,.../ In my view,... / Would it be possible (or other adj.) to…Let’s … / I think/ believe/ suppose/ propose/ suggest… / (Perhaps/ Maybe) we could…
Why don’ t we… / It seems to me that… / (I’d like to/ May I) suggest that…
Why not… / Personally, I’d prefer… / (Do you think/ Would it be/ Wouldn’t it be) a good idea to...
How / What about… / As I see it,…
B2.Inviting opinions/ views/ ideas/ suggestions/ comments
What do you have in mind? / Any comments / suggestions?How do you (feel about/ react to/ see) this? / What are your feelings about this?
Would you / anyone like to say a few words on…? / (Has anyone/ Have you) got a different idea?
I wonder if (you have / anyone has) any comment to make. / Concerning …, any more ideas?
Do you think this idea is good (or other adj.) / will work? / Could/ Would you / anyone like to comment?
This is what I think. Anyone wants to comment on it? / How does that sound (to you)?
B3. Introducing a new point
We also mustn’t forget… / There’s one point I’d like to make…Don’t forget, we also need to discuss… / Another point to mention/ talk about is…
C.No New Ideas
C1. Using fillers to think and link
Well…you know / Mm / But / Okay / I mean / You see / Let me see / What I want to say is / I don’t knowC2. Having no idea
I’m sorry, (I am afraid) I have no idea.I’m not sure about that. / Let me think about it. I’ll come back to you later.
I don’t really know.
Well, it all depends.
Well, it’s hard to say.
C3. Referring to something someone said earlier/ linking contributions
Going back to the point about… / And, to reinforce what I/ you have said…You mentioned… / Like what you’ve mentioned a moment ago…
As you/ I said earlier…
D.Ideas Not Clear
D1. Asking group members to speak up
Sorry, I can’t hear you. Can you speak louder / up, please?D2.Encouraging passive group members to speak– ask specific Qs which require short answers only !!!
We haven’t heard from you yet, X. Shall WE ask for her opinions? X? …Which option do you think is better, … or …, X?
Is that what you think, X?
How about you, X? What do you think? (double questions)
Perhaps we can hear X’s opinions.
D3. Asking for clarification / repetition
Sorry, / but I don’t quite understand/ sure…but I’m not with you.
I’m not very clear about…
I don’t quite follow you.
I can’t quite hear you.
I don’t think we understand what you mean. / What exactly do you mean by…
Could you explain that, please?
Would you mind saying that again?
Can you say that again?
Can you repeat what you’ve said?
Could you be more specific?
Could you elaborate on / clarify that?
D4. Checking if you understand the others
Do you mean that… / You mean…, right? / So, what you’re saying is… / So, you’re saying that…D5. Checking if the others understand you
Do you take my point? / Do you understand me? / Did I make myself clear?
D6. Clarifying what you have said
I mean…/ What I really mean is… / What I’m trying to say is…In other words… / Let me explain / put it (another/ this way).
E.(Agree / Disagree ) + reasons!
E1.Expressing agreement
Right / TrueGood / Great / Perfect / Excellent / Terrific
Exactly / Definitely / Absolutely / Certainly / Sure
Amazing / Fantastic / Fabulous / Cool / Lovely / Marvellous / Wonderful
Sensible / Reasonable / Possible / Feasible / Practical / Pragmatic / Useful
Interesting / Fascinating / Exciting / Creative / Impressive / Comprehensive
Yes, let’s do it. / It sounds good (or other adj.).
I’d go along with you. / I like/ love your idea.
That may work. / You are right / That’s true / That’s right.
That’s exactly (etc) what I think. / I think this is (probably vs absolutely) true.
I have no objection. / What a good (or other adj.) idea! / That’s a good idea.
E2.Expressing partial agreement – point out the weaknesses of that idea & give alternative suggestions !!!
Well, I agree with you (in part/ up to a point/ to some extent),Yes/ OK/ True/ Maybe / Perhaps,
That might work,
That’s true,
You could be right,...
I suppose that’s possible,
I understand / see your point/ what you mean,
Well, I’m not really sure (that’s a good idea).
That’s one way of looking at it.
I’m not really sure that’s possible (or other adj.) / about it. / (but) / -the problem with that is...
-my main worry is...
-what about
-we could also...
-would/ wouldn’t it be better if we...
-do/ don’t you think we should…?
-have you thought about...
-I believe we’d better…
-we shouldn’t / don’t forget that…
-you got to remember that…
-the fact is…
-I’d rather we…
I doubt if it will work.
That’s true only if …
E3. Expressing disagreement – point out the weaknesses of that idea & give alternative suggestions !!!
Actually, (I’m afraid ) I can’t agree with/ go along with you. / I think it’s unlikely that...Well, I don’t really think that’s right (or other adj.) / I’m afraid I can’t go along with you.
I don’t think we should do that / that will work? / Do you really think that will work?
E4. Responding to disagreement/ Persuading the others to accept your point
Actually, you are right / you have a point …I guess you are right to say that …
Actually, your suggestion is better.
I see what you mean …
I believe that’s possible. / But / I don’t see what the problem is with …
that’s not the point / issue. I think …
won’t it be better if …?
please think about my point, I really do believe it’s better to …
if you think about it, the advantage of my suggestion is that …
I think my suggestion Is a much better solution to …
E5. Giving neutral response
I see what you mean.E6. Contributing regularly without giving ideas
Aha..Aha… (nodding your head to show agreement)F.Stopping Lousy Members
Hang on / Excuse me / Sorry / Sorry to interrupt / Well / Look / OK / Just a moment / As time is running out, + F1-F6F1. Stopping repetitive talk
I think that’s the point X has mentioned, so… / We’re both talking about the same thingI think we’ve covered that point. / We’re going round in circles.
F2. Stopping unproductive talk
So much then for this. / Let’s move on to another task / point.I think we’ve said enough about that.
OK. I don’t think we are going to agree on this.
Well, I think we’ve exhausted that point.
F3. Stopping irrelevant talk
I’m afraid our discussion has strayed from topic. / -Let’s go/ get back to...-Let’s stick to the point. -Should we concentrate on…
-Should we come back to the point on…?
- I think we are supposed to talk about…
- Don’t forget we’re supposed to talk about...
- Remember our task is to...
- I think we are discussing … now.
I’m afraid we are a bit off the point here.
Sorry, but we are not discussing…
We are getting off the track.
We have digressed from the discussion topic.
We’ve lost sight of the main point.
You have missed the point.
I don’t think we need to talk about...
F4.Stopping an argument
There’s no point in arguing. / I think you two have all your say,Let’s not argue over this. / I think we all have our say,
Let’s not argue over this point. / We all have expressed our opinions,
There’s no point in arguing. / I think both of you are right.
I think Y is right to say that…
You’ve convinced me.
Both sides sound reasonable,
Perhaps we can ask X’s opinion. / And we should work together to arrive at an agreement.
Shall we listen to X’s idea? / We should try to reach an agreement on…
But should we listen to X too? / Can we try to agree on… so that we can move on to discuss…
We need to decide... /agree on… / compromise on…
Let’s come to an agreement.
but I’m more convinced that… / We should try to reach an agreement on…
Now I propose… / We’d better discuss…
F5. Stopping aggressive group members- at the end of a complete thought or sentence, or during hesitation !!!
Y, we understand your point, butY, your point is well taken, but / I really must say…
(may I / can I / if I could) just make a point / say something/ come in /jump in here
I’d like to make a point / say something/ come in /jump in here.
I wonder what X / the others think(s) about this.
(let’s / shall we) hear what (X has / the others have) to say about this.
perhaps we should listen to others’ opinions.
we need to consider what others’ would like to say.
F6.Responding to unnecessary interruption
Sorry, can you wait until I have finished my sentence?Sorry, I haven’t finished my sentence yet.