Taking part in group discussions - CCEA

The material on this page is designed to help you with revision and preparation for your CCEA GCSE English Language assessments. It applies to Unit 2: Speaking and listening.

• Unit 2 is a controlled assessment unit, worth 20% of your final mark
• This assessment consists of three tasks, to be completed in class:
  1. Individual presentation and interaction
  2. Discussion
  3. Role play
• In each of these three tasks, you will be assessed on your ability to:
  • Communicate clearly
  • Listen and respond to others’ ideas
  • Interact with others
  • Create and sustain different roles

Useful guidance for English Language controlled assessments can be found on the CCEA support page – select the Student Guidance tab. For further advice on controlled assessments, please consult your teacher.

• Speak clearly and confidently, listen carefully and respond politely to others’ opinions
• Use eye contact, body language and sentence starters to show you’re listening and to build on arguments
• Avoid interrupting, talking over people or having side conversations during discussions
• Ask open-ended questions to encourage detailed answers and keep the conversation flowing
• Prepare your ideas in advance, use evidence to support your points and stay calm even when you disagree

A group discussion is a valuable opportunity to share ideas and express your opinion with other members of your class. For a group discussion to be useful, it’s important to listen carefully to others and respond to their opinions.

Having a discussion with a group of classmates in a more formal setting is different from the ordinary type of conversations you probably have with your friends on a daily basis. For example, when you talk with a group of friends there are probably times when you all talk at once, or disagree with one another without properly listening to what the other person has to say.

These do's and don'ts should help you to approach your discussion in the most productive way possible:

• DO speak clearly and with expression; have confidence in your ideas
• DO listen carefully to the opinion of others
• DO show you have listened to the opinion of others by commenting on what they have said
• DON'T interrupt someone when they're sharing their opinion
• DON'T talk over others; wait until they've finished speaking before you begin

In a discussion, you should aim to interact and respond to what other people are saying. Talk with confidence and let others speak. Remember that listening is as important as speaking.

You can show you are listening by:

• making eye contact with the speaker and responding to what they say
• using body language to show co-operation and understanding, for example shrugs and nods
• building on what other people say
• challenging points made by others

A good discussion has a flow to it with people agreeing and disagreeing, giving explanations for their viewpoints. Each person needs to be allowed time to speak and to share their opinion before the next person adds their point.

Things to avoid in a group discussion include:

• interruption – except maybe to show agreement, eg “Yes, I see”
• cutting people off mid-sentence
• talking over other people
• breaking off into mini-discussions within a big group

If you find taking part in discussions difficult, try planning your ideas in advance so you know you have something to share. If you don’t feel strongly about a topic, build on someone else’s point or ask a question to another member of the group.

A useful technique is to use open questions. These are questions that cannot be answered with a single word such as 'yes' or 'no'. Instead the answerer must give more detail. They can lead to a friendly and useful discussion. ‘What do you think about the character?’ is a more open question than ‘Did you like him?’

Closed questions like this can be useful sometimes – when summarising a discussion and making sure everyone has had their say, for example. They can also make people commit to an opinion one way or another. But, on the whole, discussions require open questions – and when you are asked one, you should try to give a full answer.

Make sure everyone has a chance to speak by inviting opinions. Use formal language and stay calm, especially when a topic is important to you.

Preparing to discuss

The topic you discuss will always have different viewpoints. Think about as many points of view on your topic as you can, then aim to cover the most likely in your discussion. Try to cover only the key issues in detail. If you have time, try to do some research beforehand. Facts, statistics and examples can be powerful convincers in a discussion.

When taking part in a group discussion try to use spoken Standard English. Think about your voice, eye-contact and body language. You can agree and disagree without turning your discussion into a confrontation. Show that you’re listening, and keep the discussion flowing by asking thoughtful questions.

Aim to be:

• polite – respect other people's right to their opinions
• positive – help the conversation develop by being co-operative
• balanced – listen to both sides of the discussion and respond to each

Listen carefully when other people are speaking. For example, if someone is delivering a speech or making a point in a group discussion or debate, you need to pay close attention to the points they are making.

It can help to take notes as you listen – write a few words or images down to trigger your memory when it’s your own turn to talk.

You can show that you have been listening by building on people’s arguments. Mention a point someone has made and then add your own experience or ideas. Here are some sentence starters to help you with this:

• I agree with your point about…. however…
• I’d like to add to what you said…
• When you talked about… it made me think…
• In addition to your comments about…

Remember, you don’t have to agree with everything a speaker says but conversation of any kind is a co-operative activity and it starts to fall down when it becomes confrontational or competitive. The purpose of a discussion is to open up an issue and invite a range of opinions and interpretations. In this case, you can challenge a speaker. The following sentence starters should be useful:

• I understand what you said about… but I think…
• I disagree with your point about…
• I don’t think what you said about… is valid. I would suggest…
• When you said… I wonder whether you had considered…

Listening is as important as speaking, so avoid dominating a discussion, even if you have lots to say, and encourage others to share their views too.

You may be given a stimulus (like a piece of text or an object) as the focus of a group discussion.

If you are given a stimulus in advance, this will give you time to research your topic and to decide how you intend to respond to the stimulus you have been given.

The stimulus

The stimulus may introduce a topic of controversy and therefore encourage different points of view. For example, you may be given information regarding migration and each member of your group will need to respond to the material. Some of your class mates will agree with the material whilst others will not. This does not matter; in fact it is better if there are a variety of different viewpoints in the group as this will lead to a more interesting discussion.

Responding to the stimulus

The most effective way of responding to the stimulus is by providing a thoughtful, detailed argument. Remember to include plenty of reasons for your opinion. It is important that you include evidence to support what you say. This evidence may come in the form ofanecdotes, statistics, the opinions of other people you have talked to during your research, or quotes from books or internet sites.

Things to remember

You must present your points in a logical and clear manner. Do not worry if someone has a different point of view from you – continue to make your points in a confident way. Your comments are expected to be mature and perceptive; you should suggest reasons to explain why you have a particular point of view and you should be able to summarise your points throughout the discussion.

Being a good listener is not just about being quiet when someone is speaking. Listening skills are about actively listening to what other members of the group have to say, and then responding to the points they have made. It is perfectly acceptable to either agree or disagree with what another member of the group has said as long as you do it in the right way.

Some points to remember

Regardless of whether you agree or disagree with what someone has said, it is important that you wait until they have finished speaking before you begin talking.

Remember not to belittle other people’s opinions. You can disagree with them without trying to suggest that your opinion is the only one that counts. Some examples of appropriate things to say are:

• I agree with the point you're making, and I’d like to add…
• That is an interesting point, however I feel that…
• I can see why you believe that, but I feel…
• Although that is a very valid opinion, I feel that…
• On the other hand, it is also possible to believe that…

Sentence starters such as these will help you to put your point across in a convincing but polite manner.

It’s important to show you are an active listener. Remember to try and move the conversation forward, particularly if the discussion is beginning to falter or if the same comments are being repeated several times. See if you can pick up on the things people say, respond to them appropriately and help move the discussion forward.

An important part of your discussion work will be the ability to ask questions. This will not only help you to move the discussion forward but it will also give you an opportunity to pick up on specific things other group members have said, discover more about their opinion and respond in an in-depth manner to points they have made.

It might seem like an easy part of the discussion, but asking questions can be trickier than you think.

Different types of questions

There are two different types of questions that can be asked. These are:

Open-ended questions

Open-ended questions prompt your listener to answer in a much more detailed way. They cannot give a simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer, but must be prepared to provide plenty of detail and give reasons for why they believe their opinion is the correct one.

Closed questions

Closed questions are much simpler and generally require a one-word response such as ‘yes’ or ‘no’. Closed questions can be useful; sometimes a closed question can successfully force someone to commit to their opinion. For example:

Journalist: Do you think it was the right decision to sell your star footballer at this point in the season?

Football Manager: These are difficult decisions and the team remains strong going into the next match.

Here the manager has avoided directly answering yes or no. You could use this technique yourself in a discussion, to avoid answering a closed question directly.

Here are some examples of other closed questions:

• Do you think capital punishment should be abolished?
• Do you think there is too much crime in London?
• Do you think graffiti is wrong?
• If you had a choice, would you wear school uniform?

Here are examples of how you could ask the same questions in a more open-ended way that would require more detailed responses:

• Why do you think capital punishment should be abolished?
• A recent newspaper report claimed that crime in London is on the rise. Why do you think this might be the case?
• Some people claim that graffiti is a legitimate form of street art. Do you agree with this and can you give your reasons why/why not?
• Why do you think we, pupils, should be given a choice about school uniform?

Remember

If you ask open-ended questions, you will be given more information to comment on. At the same time, if you are asked an open question you must give as much detail as you can in your answer.

During a group discussion it’s important to use Standard English and speak in a clear and fluent way.

It might be useful to prepare some possible sentence starters to use whilst contributing to the discussion, or when responding to questions that you might be asked.

Here is a list of possible sentence starters for your discussion:

• Another perspective is…
• On the other hand…
• I fully believe that…
• It has been suggested that… however…
• This particular piece of evidence implies that…
• It has been put forward that… but I believe…
• Having listened to all the points that have been made, I still feel that…
• Although many people have suggested that…
• Firstly, it should be noted that…
• Despite listening to some very convincing arguments, I still believe that…
• Finally, I would like to point out that…

You must have confidence in your own opinion. Do not be afraid to say what you think, just make sure that you do it in a clear and logical way.

Top tips

• Use Standard English throughout the discussion
• Ask open-ended questions
• Give your opinion in an organised manner, providing evidence for your suggestions
• Listen carefully to the opinions of others
• Comment on what other people say in an appropriate manner
• Try to prepare a few sentence starters to help structure your response
• If the conversation falters, try to move it forward by introducing new points or by asking appropriate questions

Watch and listen to this group discussion on voting. Notice how everybody takes their turn in a calm and orderly manner.