Setting up Discussions in the Language Classroom

December 2024

This issue was co-published with the JALT Performance in Education SIG

If last month’s issue on Debate wasn’t enough to fully satiate your appetite for leading in-class discussions, than never fear! This month, we’ve prepared a buffet of practical activities and lesson ideas that teachers can implement straight away into their classrooms. In this issue, let’s understand the ingredients necessary for a good class discussion.

“Discussion is an exchange of knowledge; an argument an exchange of ignorance.” –Robert Quillen

“The aim of argument, or of discussion, should not be victory, but progress.” –Joseph Joubert

APA reference for this issue:

(author). (2024). (article title, sentence case). MindBrainEd Think Tanks: Setting up Discussions in the Language Classroom, 10(12), (pages).

Watch before you read...

This month we’re looking at interactive speaking again, this time with a focus on facilitating discussions in the language classroom. In the Main video, Niall Curry gives language teachers valuable tips on how to set up discussion activities. In our More video, Charles Duhigg explains why we don’t always communicate well with one another and how we can become more successful communicators. Then, Heather Kretschmer and Curtis Kelly introduce the issue.

In the Think Tank, Harumi Kimura describes two highly structured discussion activities designed to help students examine different perspectives and express opinions. Next, Ana Paula Biazon Rocha shares a lesson plan that has students talking about their sleep habits. Then, David Kluge provides a step-by-step guide on setting up a panel discussion, while Curtis Kelly shares a collection of discussion activities from his teaching career that have been particularly enjoyable for students.

In the Plus section, Mirela C. C. Ramacciotti summarizes the contributions of three great thinkers who deepened our understanding of how language shapes the mind. Finally, David Kluge revisits debate, offering fresh insights and practical tips.

Our Thoughts on Discussion

Discussing Discussion Curtis Kelly & Heather Kretschmer

Heather: In our November issue we took a deep dive into debate. And this month, we’re focusing on a related speaking skill, one that is near and dear to your heart, Curtis.

Curtis: Yes! Discussion is the one speaking area that has always fascinated me. It has been both a ghost ship for me—hard to make happen in the Japanese college classroom—and the siren on the rocks, drawing me in. Something happens in discussion that I can’t quite place my finger on, but it intrigues me. Maybe it is that two frontal lobes are exploring and discovering in collaboration. And more. It involves the difficult task of integrating new ideas into what we already know, which often means we must discard some of those existing beliefs. It is the reshaping of our mental models, something that is not always done gently…

Think Tank Articles

Constructive Controversy for Beginners: Developing Cognitive, Social, and Language Skills Harumi Kimura

I have a problem in my “English Communication” class. It’s a required class for first-year university students. They are non-English majors. They practice spoken language interaction in the class. Students are visibly active when talking about everyday topics, such as music they like, fashion labels they prefer, movies or dramas they have recently watched, restaurants and cafes they like. They even share some bad experiences they have had in the past, like when they’ve lost something important or they’ve made a terrible mistake at a crucial moment. They are attentive to each other. They are patient when their partner or groupmate is having trouble expressing themselves in English. Nobody dominates the interaction. Nobody is left out. I see smiles on their faces and occasionally hear laughter here and there ringing through the classroom.

An English Lesson that Helps Students Sleep Better by Discussing Its Importance and Potential Strategies Ana Paula Biazon Rocha

Although sleep plays a crucial role in our physical and mental well-being, it is usually overlooked, especially in today’s fast-paced world, flooded by information and multiple screens. For this reason, this lesson aims to help B1-B2 students explore the importance of sleep and reflect on their own sleeping habits. Through engaging activities such as class discussions, quizzes, reading tasks, and goal-setting exercises, students will not only focus on the science of sleep but also on practical strategies to improve their own sleep patterns. Hopefully, by the end of the lesson, they will be better able to make informed decisions about their sleep and understand how it impacts their daily lives.

Panel Discussion: Bridge Linking Discussion and Debate David Kluge

What is the neurolinguistic basis for the use of discussion in the classroom? John Medina wrote in Brain Rules (2014, pp. 257-258) about a hypothetical situation in a medical school where the clinician professor brings in a patient to a classroom and lectures the students, identifying the disease and points to symptoms A, B, C, and D. A student asks “What about symptoms E, F, and G?” The professor says, “We don’t know about symptoms E, F, and G.” Then he adds, “Well, let’s find out!” Medina concludes that these are “the opening words of most of the great research ideas in human medicine. That’s true exploratory magic.” This story elaborates his 12th Brain Rule: We are powerful and natural explorers. As Randolph Bourne stated, “A good discussion increases the dimensions of everyone who takes part.” This also includes neurolinguistic dimensions.

A Gift Basket of My All-Time Favorite Discussion Activities after Forty Years of Teaching Curtis Kelly

My favorites. That’s a tough one. I guess I wrote the title before I really thought out what I would or would not include. After all, if I included all my favorites, we’d need two more Think Tanks. But here is a gift basket of goodies, with an extra focus on two particular types of discussion activities: values clarification and critical incident tasks. Both are used extensively in intercultural communication classes, although that is not really why I put them in this basket.

Think Tank Plus

Great Ideas from the Brain Sciences: How language(s) change(s) the mind Mirela C. C. Ramacciotti

Every language teacher knows that learning a language requires significant mental effort. While some understand that this mental work can also change brain functions and structure, fewer people know the individuals responsible for this understanding. This credit belongs, in large part, to a group known as the troika, a Russian term for a triad, consisting of L. S. Vygotsky, A. R. Luria, and A. N. Leontiev. Vygotsky introduced the concept of “inner speech,” Leontiev developed the idea of “inner programming,” and Luria contributed to the field by studying language disorders, particularly aphasias, and pioneering the field of “aphasiology.”

Developing Kinesthetic Debate by Adding Metaphor, Embodiment, Multimodality, and Even Emotion David Kluge

In the process of developing and using the two activities described below, I first approached them as just activities that I guessed would work because they required the students to stand up and move around. Later, as I got involved with neurolinguistic principles of embodiment and multimodality, I discovered why they worked as well as they did, and was able to gain a profound understanding of what to include while developing classroom materials. But my journey started with a linguistics class in college on the power of metaphors. Here is my story of two activities, Boxing and Brick Laying Plus as Debate and Roleplay Debate, and how I came to understand what I had tapped into as I developed them.

Call for Contributions: Ideas and Articles Think Tank Staff

Become a Think Tank star! Here are some of the future issue topics we are thinking about. Would you, or anyone you know, like to write about any of these? Or is there another topic you’d like to recommend? Do you have any suggestions for lead-in, or just plain interesting, videos? How about writing a book review? Or sending us a story about your experiences? Contact us.

Looking for fresh ways to get your students talking? This comprehensive list of 15+ discussion strategies offers creative formats to make classroom discussions more engaging, equitable, and academically enriching.

Whether you have time for detailed preparation or need quick, low-prep options, you’ll find ideas that suit your needs. Each strategy is clearly explained and comes with variations to fit any class. Explore how to build your students’ speaking and listening skills with practical tools that go beyond “We will discuss.”

The MindBrained Think Tanks+

is produced by the Japan Association for Language Teaching (JALT) Mind, Brain, and Education Special Interest Group (BRAIN SIG). Kyoto, Japan. (ISSN 2434-1002)

Editorial Staff

Stephen M. Ryan Curtis H. Kelly Julia Daley Afon (Mohammad) Khari

Heather Kretschmer Marc Helgesen Nicky De Proost

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