Group Discussion
We have a Drop In on this day at our main centre in Harlesden and you are most welcome to come along.
Developing group discussion skills is useful for everyday life as we regularly find ourselves having discussions amongst friends, family and colleagues. These may vary from very informal chats about day-to-day things, to more serious topics, for example a discussion about a recent new story or a problem that needs to be solved.
Additionally, group discussions are increasingly being used in the job market during interviews and selection procedures. These can take a variety of formats, but the key skills remain very similar.
Last but not least, group discussions offer an opportunity for extended speaking (and listening!) practice by all of the contributors. Group discussion practice and skill development is therefore useful for all users.
Types of discussion
There are a variety of different types of discussions that occur naturally. These include discussions where users have to:
Make decisions (e.g. decide who to invite to a party and where to seat them)
Give and / or share their opinions on a given topic (e.g. discussing beliefs about the effectiveness of capital punishment)
Create something (e.g. plan and make a poster as a medium for feedback on a language course)
Solve a problem (e.g. discussing the situations behind a series of logic problems)
Some discussion topics may fall into more than one of these categories, and we consider a variety of formats to which users can apply the skills they are learning.
Useful sub-skills for users
There are a number of different sub-skills which users will need to be able to successfully and effectively participate in a group discussion. Users need to develop the ability to:
Analyse.
This skill can be developed by giving users the topic individually and asking them to brainstorm or mind-map all of the possible sub-topics they could speak about. The users can then swap their notes and assess or analyse the relevance of each of the sub-topics their partner has included. Together, the users then draw up a fresh list or mind-map and discuss how the sub-topics might be linked together, along with examples or reasons for any arguments they might have.
Persuade.
This skill comes in useful when users need to make decisions on how to do something (e.g. which candidate should get a job). A fun activity to develop this skill is to give groups of users this topic and ask them decide on the profile of the perfect candidate, creating a list of 7 adjectives. The users are then re-grouped and asked to persuade the other members of the group that their selection is the best while compiling a second, negotiated list. The group members who retain the most from their original lists are the winners. We can note down useful phrases that the hear people use while doing this task and we discuss these at the end for future reference.
Control emotions.
This can be practised by giving users a fairly controversial topic, such as ‘Friends are more important than family’ and asking the students to decide whether they agree, disagree or have no opinion, making notes on their main arguments to support their viewpoint. We can divide users into groups ensuring that there is a mix of views within each group. Explain that for this discussion, the aim is to keep their voices low and try to control their emotions as far as possible. Monitoring and giving feedback on these areas.
Support.
One of the most important things for this skill is for users to learn when it is and isn’t appropriate to interrupt and how to do it. Very often people will talk over each other in an effort to get their point across and forget to listen.
To practice this, we ask users to make a list in small groups of when it is and isn’t appropriate to interrupt other speakers. They should include things like ‘not appropriate during the middle of a point, if the speaker has not said very much previously, or when you are feeling angry and liable to say something you’ll regret’. It is appropriate when the speaker has been dominating the discussion for too long, what the speaker is saying is completely irrelevant to the topic, or you don’t understand the point he / she has made’.
Giving users a list of phrases which they might use to interrupt politely (e.g. ‘Can i just add something here?’, ‘Sorry I ’d just like to clarify something,’ etc.) The users can for example write five of these on slips of paper (one per slip) and have a group discussion on a given topic. The aim is to use all of the language on their slips. When they have used a phrase, they put the slip in the middle of the table. The other people in the group judge whether the interruption was appropriate / polite. If not, they take the slip back and try again.
Use functional language.
We draw up a list of useful functional language for the users to refer to. This could include phrases for functions such as ‘Giving reasons’, ‘Giving your opinion’, ‘Agreeing and disagreeing’, etc. For each group discussion, you can then refer them to the appropriate section of the list and give them a few moments to consider the language before beginning the discussion.
The above explanation of Group Discussion Skills was taken with thanks from HERE.
Faith Session
We run a group focused on Faith every forthnight.
There is a good explanation of what Faith is on the Wikipedia website HERE.
Another definition of Faith taken from the online Dictionary.com is:
faith (fāth)
n.
1. Confident belief in the truth, value, or trustworthiness of a person, idea, or thing.
2. Belief that does not rest on logical proof or material evidence. See Synonyms at belief, trust.
3. Loyalty to a person or thing; allegiance: keeping faith with one's supporters.
often Faith Christianity The theological virtue defined as secure belief in God and a trusting acceptance of God's will.
4. The body of dogma of a religion: the Muslim faith.
5. A set of principles or beliefs.
You can access Dictionary.com for more information HERE.
Image above sourced from HERE
