Structure:
Your discussion should follow this structure:
Part 1: Your initial response or thoughts on the prompt (2 minutes each; 4 minutes total)
· You and your partner will both speak for two minutes uninterrupted, giving your thoughts on the prompt.
· When you are giving your own ideas, you may want to:
o Talk about your initial reaction when you learned about a contemporary issue,
o Talk about how your thoughts changed after you researched the issue,
o Talk about something that the issue reminded you of, e.g., a film or news story,
o Talk about the theories that you use to understand the issue.
Part 2: Your reply to your partner (1 minute each; 2 minutes total)
· You and your partner will both respond, one-by-one, to each other’s Part 1 speech, respectfully commenting on their ideas or any responses you might have.
· When you are responding to the other student’s ideas, you may want to:
o Talk about things that they said which you found interesting,
o Talk about things that they said that you agreed with,
o Talk about things that they said that you disagreed with,
o Talk about things that they said which made you think about other sources.
Part 3: Open discussion between you and your partner (4 minutes)
· You and your partner will then have an open discussion about the issues covered in the first 6 minutes.
· You can ask each other questions and have further dialogue (two-way conversation), but it must remain on-topic.
· Your teacher can help you with language questions and may ask you both questions if you are struggling, but your marks may be affected if you need teacher help to keep talking.
· When you and the other student are discussing the issue, you may want to:
o Talk about areas that neither of you covered in your talks
o Talk about other arguments, especially if you agreed
o Change to a different sub-topic and talk about that
Note: you should speak within these timings and your teacher will let you know when time limits are coming up. If you are not finished with your point when the time runs out, you will be allowed to finish but not further develop your thought.
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