What I’d like to share with you are materials on small talk that I have used in the first unit of an academic oral communication skills course or in a workshop series for graduate EAL students. This is a skill set that puzzles and intimidates many learners because it can often involve both routine (e.g., cycling through familiar utterances or conversational topics) and spontaneous (e.g., moving beyond routines to longer conversation) speech. The challenges are multifold in the sense that one must be familiar with a set of conversational exchanges that are linguistically, culturally, and situationally appropriate. In an article of this length, it is not possible to cover all of the many fascinating factors that can come into play in small talk (see Coupland, 2000; Holmes, 2005). The main goal of this brief article is to provide some mechanics and strategies to get your students started, because the first step is often the hardest. The materials provided here have been refined, tested, and re-implemented in highly successful academic communication skills courses and workshops for many years across several institutions.

The simple, five-stage segment on small talk generally proceeds as follows:

Stage 1: Facing challenges and exploring hidden assumptions
Stage 2: Entering conversations
Stage 3: Maintaining conversations
Stage 4: Exiting conversations
Stage 5: Putting it all together―Let’s mingle!

STAGE 1. FACING CHALLENGES AND EXPLORING HIDDEN ASSUMPTIONS

This warm-up stage involves first asking students do a quick mingling activity, with the main goal being getting to know each other. Their experience will then serve as the basis of the discussion in Stage 1 and the reflection in Stage 5, so that both the discussion and reflection can become more meaningful and have a greater impact on learning. The exploration of questions during this stage serves two key functions: (a) As students talk, they get to know each other; fostering this communication from the outset is important especially in speaking courses; and (b) The questions are designed to prompt students to explore their tacit assumptions, as well as those of their peers, so that they can become increasingly aware of how culturally shaped assumptions and expectations can cause miscommunication or affect one’s ability to solve communication problems.

I usually open with the questions: What is small talk? Is small talk really small? What’s your perception of small talk? (These questions elicit responses about the various ways learners from different cultures may perceive small talk.) What purposes does it serve? Follow-up questions, on topics such as how one decides what form to use when addressing professors (Dr., Professor, or his/her first name) and what circumstances (e.g., formal vs. informal gatherings) or cultural factors (e.g., perceived power distance; refer to Hofstede [2001] or visit Geert Hofstede’s Web site for definitions of his cultural dimensions) might influence one’s choices of ways to address others, always generate wonderfully rich and lively discussions that prompt students to open up about their preferred communication practices. The associated nonlinguistic cues (e.g., gestures and body language) and culturally appropriate or inappropriate topics are also great small-talk-related questions that can generate an interesting discussion that promotes inclusiveness and sharing. The topics then serve as handy starters during the next stage of learning.

STAGE 2. ENTERING CONVERSATIONS

By this stage, learners will have discovered that small talk helps facilitate the connections that lead to professional conversations. Engaging in small talk in various academic settings (or even on the street, outside of the academic arena) helps learners convey interest and connect with others on future occasions. To make this most intimidating stage more manageable, break the process down into three phases: (1) simple greetings and responses, (2) immediate shared topics, and (3) longer conversations.

(1)Simple greetings and responses:The first phase, which is the one that learners are most familiar with, consists of mostly formulaic expressions and greetings, such as “How are you?” “It’s nice to meet/see you.” “How are things with you?” and responses such as “I am fine. How about you?” “It’s nice to see you too.” “Great! And you?” As most students will tell you, however, they often feel awkward after uttering those simple greetings and responses, because they are searching for words to say next. It is in this phase of the conversation that the common topics for small talk discussed during the previous stage come into play.

(2) Immediate shared topics: In the second phase, link the discussion back to the warm-up questions discussed earlier. Use those topics to elicit common expressions that learners may have used to engage in small talk. For example:

• Weather: How are you liking this weather?
• Research: How is your research going?
• Course: What courses are you taking this term?
• Location: Do you have classes in this building?
• Event: Are you planning to go to the colloquium talk this week?
  
• Friend: I don’t know if you remember me, but I am Seon Young – Andrew’s friend. [Remind learners to give the other speakers a gift by reminding others of their names and not asking: “Do you remember my name?”]

(3) Longer conversations: In this third stage, encourage learners to pursue and expand their comfort levels by engaging in longer conversations when opportunities arise. This enables learners to get to know others beyond the surface level and to lay the groundwork for future conversations. Here are some ways to start a longer conversation:

• Linking to a previous conversation: The last time I saw you, you were about to head off to a conference in Boston. How was it?
• A shared experience: Have you finished the reading for Thursday’s seminar? What did you think of the article?
• Linking to information you know: I hear that you used to work at [organization]. How did you like working there?
• Interest: There was a really good article in Science last week that might be of interest to you….
• Events, movies, etc.: On Friday, I went with some friends to see The Amazing Spiderman. Have you seen it?

In each phase, it is important to encourage learners to add their own expressions to each starter. The idea is to help learners build their conversational repertoires, so that they can avoid using the same phrase every time. (Finding themselves stuck with the same phrase is a common challenge expressed by the learners I have taught over the past decade.) A few other pointers that I often share with learners for this stage are (a) convey approachability, (b) assume responsibility for the conversation (e.g., learn to take the initiative in a conversation in order to create speaking opportunities, and don’t expect others to change the way they communicate; the only response or behavior we can manage is our own), and (c) prepare some safe topics to start building conversational skills and confidence.

STAGE 3. MAINTAINING CONVERSATIONS

Now that learners have a broadened awareness of the multiple ways to start conversations, another commonly raised challenge relates to quickly running out of things to say after one or two minutes of small talk. This brings us to the third stage: how to maintain conversations.

First, try eliciting from learners the methods they use to keep the conversational ball rolling. Then, share your own experiences and strategies that you find helpful; as we all know, fear of small talk is not limited to EAL speakers. In my over-a-decade of teaching EAP, the following four strategies have stood out as being the most useful in maintaining conversations, and they are easy to keep in mind when one is running out of things to say:

(a) Expand on an old topic by adding a few facts, personal experiences, or opinions related to what was just said. For example: What you just said reminds me of….

(b) Start another round by introducing a new topic. For example: Did you hear about…?

(c) Pick up a dropped topic by revising the information given by the other speaker earlier in the conversation. Use phrases such as: You mentioned earlier that you…. Tell me more about…. To capture bits of conversation, exercising active listening skills is essential. As the components that make up the Chinese character for the word listen (shown here on the left) tellingly illustrate, the act of listening encompasses listening with respect (王) and undivided attention (一), and maximally (十) with your eye (目), your ear (耳), and your heart (心).

(d) Ask questions. Asking questions is the simplest way to keep the conversational ball rolling. Remind learners to reciprocate and collaborate in the friendly conversational match. Ask questions that require more than a simple “yes” or “no” or a one-word response. Avoid dropping the ball and keep digging by taking the initiative in a conversation and being genuinely interested in learning more about one’s interlocutor(s).

STAGE 4. EXITING CONVERSATIONS

Now what do you do when you need to get out of a conversation? I have often been asked: “Li-Shih, how do I get out of a conversation politely? I look at my watch, but that doesn’t seem to work.” Here are three simple moves with sample phrases for exiting a conversation so that your students will never feel stuck again.

Move 1: Say something positive about the person or the conversation.
E.g.: It was really nice talking to you about [subject], and I’d love to continue this conversation later.

Move 2: Indicate what you need to do or where you need to go.
E.g.: I have a seminar at 1:00, so please excuse me for rushing.

Move 3: Make one more positive comment to wrap up the conversation.
E.g.: It’s really nice to see you again.

Have learners generate different three-move combinations based on the examples you have provided. For example: “I’d love to continue this conversation, but I am heading to a meeting with my supervisor at the moment. We should get together for coffee soon.” Remind learners that it is important to respect the hints that others provide and to be aware that an implied time frame may exist when people run into each other in places where they may be en route to somewhere else.

STAGE 5. PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER―LET’S MINGLE!

Now we are ready to put it all together. I use a highly successful, fun task that simulates situations that international graduate students often encounter at departmental gatherings and academic conferences. The task provides a real-world scenario for learners to put what they have learned about small talk into action by practicing entering, maintaining, and exiting conversations.

First, clarify the two objectives that learners must accomplish in this task: (1) experiment with the conversational strategies and expressions introduced and (2) speak to everyone in the group. Then begin the mingling by asking participants to circulate among groups around the room as they make use of the strategies and expressions for entering and maintaining conversations. At the sound of the service bell or a clap of the hands, learners must use the exiting strategies and move on to speak to someone new. Note that it is not possible for all speakers to use the exit line at the same time, so encourage learners to take turns using or listening to how their peers use the exit line. Sound the bell or clap hands a few times during this exercise to allow a few rounds of practice, and with each round, remind participants to experiment with strategies, expand their linguistic repertoires, or speak to people whom they have not yet encountered.

Recall that the mingling had happened before the lesson on small talk began. The completion of the second mingling task now allows for a post-task reflection that instructors can incorporate to prompt learners to critically reflect on what they tried and/or did differently as they were engaging in small talk, what challenges they encountered, and what they can do the next time when faced with the same task/situation (Huang, 2011). Before beginning the next unit, I usually implement another 10-minute mingling activity to create an additional opportunity for recycling and consolidating what students have learned and for possible new discoveries (Nunan, 2004).

I hope that you and your students will have fun trying out small talk and that your students will be excited about making that first step toward building their confidence to engage in academic dialogues that begin with small talk. Through these efforts they will develop new relationships and a sense of belonging that arises from their improved participation in an academic or professional community. My students’ sharing of their successful attempts and growing confidence over the years is something that always invigorates me and reminds me why I love what I do and that it is a privilege to work with these highly motivated learners. I wish the same rewards to you, as you help learners realize their communication goals.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This article is based on materials presented at TESOL 2012 and Huang (2010).

REFERENCES

Coupland, J. (2000). (Ed.). Small talk. Harlow, England: Longman.

Hofstede, G. (2001). Culture’s consequences: Comparing values, behaviors, institutions and organizations across nations. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Holmes, J. (2005). When small talk is a big deal: Sociolinguistic challenges in the work place. In M. Long (Ed.), Second language needs analysis (pp. 344-372). Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.

Huang, L.-S. (2010). Academic communication skills: Conversation strategies for international graduate students. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.

Huang, L.-S. (2011, Fall). Key concepts and theories in TEAL: Reflective learning. TEAL News: The Association of B.C. Teachers of English as an Additional Language (pp. 9-13). Retrieved from http://goo.gl/WHDCR

Nunan, D. (2004). Task-based language teaching. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.

Dr. Li-Shih Huang is associate professor of applied linguistics and learning and teaching scholar-in-residence at the University of Victoria, Canada. Since her first language teaching job in 1992, and continuing with her current position, she has never left her role as a practitioner working with EAL learners in a classroom context. Li-Shih was also the recipient of TESOL’s Award for Excellence in the Development of Pedagogical Materials. Twitter: @AppLingProf