Teaching the Talk: Reflections and Considerations in English Conversation Pedagogy and Curriculum

Although still dominated by grammar rules and standardized testing, recent decades in Englishlanguage study in South Korea have seen a gradual increase in focus on communicative spoken English, and as such, many educational institutions and private academies employ native English speakers to lead ‘English conversation’ classes. The ‘English’ part of an English conversation teacher’s remit receives much attention, but how much consideration is, or should be, given to ‘conversation’? What is ‘conversation’? Can it be quantified, and can it be taught? Conversation is by definition a social process, an interaction between two people, and although its rhythms, give-and-take, ask and share, and speaker and listener roles come naturally to speakers in their native languages, it seems an assumption that learners will be able to do the same in a second language. This article considers theoretical, social and cultural factors that shape conversation, and draws on the writer’s reflections, experiences and observations of English conversations played out in the Englishlearning classroom, to discuss observed differences between native and non-native ‘conversation’ and language production. It offers reflections and considerations on the cause of such differences, and the instructor’s role in balancing ‘English’ and ‘conversation’, with associated pedagogical and curricular implications.