Me
and...
One reason
for students to be done very quickly when you give them a topic
to talk about could be that they don't have a model for what you
expect of them. Perhaps hey also feel that they don't know enough
about a subject or should only talk about "facts". Perhaps
giving them a model can help.Tell them that they should treat
the topic as a start for a conversation from their own perspective
and experience rather than as an "abstract" general
knowledge subject.
Here's one
example. The topic is "Egypt"
Model 1 (short
and boring):
Egypt is in
Africa. The capital is Cairo. There is the river Nile and there
are famous pyramids. Er, that’s it.
Model 2 (ideal,
and if the students knows more it could be much longer; the language
has been kept simple so as not to set the aim too high):
I’ve
never been to Egypt. In fact, I’ve never been to Africa
at all. I’m sure Egypt would be worth visiting, although
it could be very hot there. If I went there on holiday I would
certainly visit the pyramids. I suppose Cairo is a huge city and
I am not sure whether I would be safe there. There have been attacks
on tourists in Egypt. I think it was some years ago. I would also
like to travel on the Nile. Unfortunately I do not speak Arabic
but because so many tourists come to Egypt a lot of people perhaps
understand English at least in the major tourist spots. One thing
I’m worried about are that when you visit such places there
could be lots of people trying to sell you something. That can
be very annoying. But I’m sure a holiday in Egypt could
be quite fascinating, especially travelling through the desert.
