ITAIS Newsletter - June 2021 (Plain Text Version)
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ARTICLES BEST PRACTICES FOR LEADING ONLINE CONVERSATION GROUPS WITH INTERNATIONAL GRADUATE STUDENTS: INCREASING COMMUNICATION AND ENGAGEMENT
Introduction Creating and facilitating small online conversation groups for international graduate students is a powerful way to help them improve their conversational skills and increase their connectedness with the larger campus community. At the Center for Communication Excellence in the Graduate College at Iowa State University, such groups are facilitated by trained graduate student consultants. After moving our in-person conversation groups online this past year, the consultants discovered some effective tips for starting and making the most out of these conversation groups
1. Orient your Students to the Great Indoors While this may seem like second nature as we near the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, it never hurts to do a brief orientation to your platform of choice during your first meeting. Whether you’re using Zoom, Webex, Google Meet, or others, students may not be familiar with the specific platform you have chosen and might not know what its capabilities are. Making sure everyone knows how to use functions such as emojis, chat features, muting and unmuting, and other tools of interest will pave the way for a more equitable and accessible online experience. However, navigating the platform is not just a logistical issue. We encourage the implementation of these tools, such as the clap emoji after a presentation, which can build comradery in the group. 2. Encourage Visibility and Peer-to-Peer Interactions In the same way that students need familiarity with the platform, facilitators also need to know their way around. Becoming familiar with the breakout rooms feature can go a long way in terms of developing unique opportunities for conversations. Being able to divide students into groups on the fly can do wonders for breaking up larger groups and encouraging smaller conversations. In addition, we prefer adjusting the layout settings to gallery/grid view in the platform so that everyone in the group can see each other at the same time. We also routinely encourage students to leave their cameras on so they can practice nonverbal communication and get to know each other more easily; however, we try to be understanding if connectivity issues force audio-only participation. As for facilitators, we suggest that they limit screen sharing. While it may be tempting to share a Powerpoint or Google Slide, being able to see all participants creates immediacy and encourages talk between them, and not just one-way communication with the host. 3. Bring on the Ice Breakers Whether your graduate students meet for a month or for a semester, providing time to catch up with each other and play a game can be an invaluable way to strengthen your group’s bonds. Some of our favorite platforms for icebreakers include Brightful and Bash. On Brightful, we particularly like communicative activities like, Would you rather?, Spot the Lie, Describe It, Draw & Tell, and Question of the Day. For Bash, we love Bash Phrase, which is a team-based game like Heads Up or Catch Phrase. In those games, one player gives clues so that other players can guess a word or phrase. We have also found What the GIF!? to be a crowd-pleaser. This game is like Cards Against Humanity, where players are given a descriptive title and are required to choose a GIF to match the title. Routinely using icebreakers and games adds consistency to these meetings, which can be helpful for both students and facilitators. 4. Developing your Group’s Identity After the ice is broken, dive straight into activities that encourage communication and sharing. Each group has its own personality, so during the first meeting, ask your students what kind of content they're interested in -- our groups have proven to be diverse, with a variety of interests. Some topics that have worked well include sharing short stories, recipes, and current events. Allow the students to be accountable for the group’s shared topics to promote ownership. Topics can be chosen in advance so attendees can prepare beforehand, or decided spontaneously as a way to practice on-the-spot conversation. Besides discussion, some have enjoyed sharing their experiences of engaging in physical activity challenges, deciding to walk, run, or bike so many miles before the next meeting and reporting their progress. Finally, feel free to set time aside for students to bring in real-world questions to brainstorm ideas together. As international students, they can be great resources for each other. 5. Think Future Forward International graduate students, especially those nearing graduation, greatly appreciate using our online conversation group time to practice job-oriented preparation tasks, such as interviewing, teaching, or presenting. To make it equitable, you can allow each student one or two chances to present or practice something with the group. When planning a mock interview, students may request to use Zoom because that is the platform most often used for interviews, which will make the experience more realistic. In addition, give some basic instructions and/or negotiate the roles to be played by those not presenting, such as pretending to be the target audience, asking at least one relevant question, and providing feedback. We have also created a Google Form that asked open-ended questions such as, “What was the best aspect of the mock interview?” and “What advice do you have for the candidate?” Students really appreciated it when they could see a pattern in their feedback (i.e., when multiple people suggested a similar way they could improve). Nothing is better than a student coming back the following week, saying that they landed the job or gave a great presentation! 6. Keeping a Keen Eye Being mindful of group dynamics, and cognizant of who is speaking or not, is a top priority when managing group interactions as it helps every student get the conversation practice they need. As a conversation progresses, find ways to steer the conversation to silent students. When asking a question, ask students by name for their thoughts. One tactic we suggest is having the person who is first to respond to one question be the last person asked about the next question, as students tend to speak less the later they are asked. By doing this, the amount of speaking time will even out during the session. Finally, whether in-person or online, be sure to give an appropriate amount of wait time after asking a question. 7. Be Adaptive We have all been there, creating what we think will be an excellent and engaging topic only for the group to show little interest or charge through and finish everything with 20 minutes still remaining. A solution for this is planning “pocket activities” or topics ahead of time and saving them for when needed. “Pocket activities” are activities that require little to no preparation and can be used in a moment’s notice. Such activities are great for filling unexpected chunks of time or adjusting the course of a topic that does not seem to be interesting to the students. On a related note, do not be afraid to let your graduate students take the conversation in directions you had not planned. Such spontaneity often results in the most rewarding of experiences. In Conclusion Leading online conversation groups with international graduate students is a great way to connect international students with each other and assist them with their English goals. Consistent planning, integrating activities, and encouraging participation from all students will keep students coming back week after week for more conversation practice. We hope the tips we have helped you discover new activities and ideas to integrate into your own conversation groups; if you do not have such a program, we hope we have encouraged you to begin your own moving forward! Jeanne Beck is a second year Ph.D. student in the Applied Linguistics and Technology Program at Iowa State University. Her main interests include second language assessment, teacher training, CALL, and project-based learning. Erik Goodale is a second year Ph.D. student in the Applied Linguistics and Technology Program at Iowa State University. He focuses on pronunciation and oral communication. Liberato Silva dos Santos is a Ph.D. student in the Applied Linguistics and Technology program at Iowa State University. His main interests include language assessment, CALL, written and oral academic communication, and teacher training. Kimberly Becker is a Ph.D. candidate in Applied Linguistics and Technology at Iowa State. Her main interests include disciplinary writing, corpus linguistics, and technology-enhanced language learning. Tim Kochem is a Ph.D. candidate in Applied Linguistics and Technology at Iowa State. He focuses on L2 pronunciation, teacher training, and educational technology.
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