Let me illustrate my opinion with an example. One Monday I asked my students to tell me what they had done over the weekend. One student said that she had visited the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow, I asked her what her impressions were of the gallery. “It was very interesting and useful,” she replied with little hesitation. “How was it useful?” I said, intrigued by her response. She seemed frustrated that she hadn’t “given the right answer”. So she just repeated herself, “It was interesting and useful.” Then I understood. That phrase was one that she had learned and practiced, but it had little relationship to her true feelings about the Tretyakov Gallery. She repeated it just as she would an answer in a grammar drill.

This student’s response and others like them helped me come to the conclusion that my pupils needed more chances to develop the skill of natural communication in English. I needed to find an activity which would make my pupils feel comfortable enough to apply their grammar skills and draw on their vocabularies as they express how they truly view the world. The result is an activity I call “in the spotlight”.

One of the difficulties all teachers face is that a classroom is not designed for “natural” communication. The classroom is a place where information is given and received. The room is arranged like a theatre designed to view a one-man/one-woman performance. The teacher is the center and the only focal point. The students sit either side by side or with their backs to each other. This arrangement isolates the pupil from the teacher and his or her classmates. The desks and textbooks emphasize further the separation from teacher and student. And while the pupils may take every opportunity they can to communicate with their desk mates, it’s rarely in English or about the subject at hand. When they do make comments to the class as a whole, they often feel that they are “being graded” or that there is a “right” or “wrong” answer to every question.

For these reasons, a discussion “in the spotlight” is arranged in a tight circle with chairs in a space at the front or back of the room. I have found that it does not matter if the classroom has little space. This is an activity where “cramped” actually means “cozy”. Before joining the circle, I make certain that the pupils have left their textbooks, notebooks and dictionaries at their desks. These tools help learning but impede communication.

When the students have joined the circle, I tell them that we are going to have a conversation, but there are certain rules. I tell them that many American Indian tribes have a tradition of sitting in a circle around a campfire to have a discussion. Any person in the circle has the right to speak, but only while holding a torch which is passed from Indian to Indian. Since for obvious reasons we cannot have torches in the classroom, we have a “spotlight” instead. The “spotlight” can be a toy, a ball or a small flashlight, anything that you can throw easily around the circle to the student whose turn it is to speak. In my classes, I use a bright yellow stuffed sun. The toy helps the pupil feel at ease when speaking to the whole group. Moreover, the other students know that they have to be given the toy in order to speak.

Another rule is that no student can correct the grammar or pronunciation of another student during the activity. This rule applies to the teacher as well. English teachers have to learn to suppress their natural tendency to correct their pupils errors during activities such as this. Communicative exercises are not the time to make corrections. Rather they provide a chance for your students to speak. While speaking freely they should not feel like their answers are being evaluated, so the teacher must also learn to “act naturally” in the circle.

When I have explained the rule of how to use the “spotlight,” I then ask a question which is usually related to a theme we are studying in class. If you are trying this activity for the first time you might try start with the question “What is your earliest memory?” This question can be used with any level from advanced to beginners. It is a good way to revise the past simple. I give each student the chance to answer the question, but I ask the pupils randomly, rather than in a clockwise or counter clockwise order. I find that the pupils are forced to listen more attentively when they don’t know whose turn will be next.

After you have tried a “spotlight” discussion with a class, you can use this activity in many other ways. I have used it to discuss my pupils’ reactions to their home reading. Sometimes I write questions on slips of paper and the students pull them randomly out of a hat. And I have even used it simply as a way to get my pupils to tell me about their families or what their plans are for the future.

You may be concerned that this activity would cause discipline problems or be impossible with active or rowdy classes. I have found, however, that it has the opposite effect. Even my most energetic, poorly behaved groups seem to calm down once we sit in the circle and talk. In fact, “spotlight” discussions can create an atmosphere in groups that you rarely feel in a classroom. As the students share their feelings with you and their classmates, you establish an atmosphere of trust. After a few tries, you may notice a greater closeness within the group. Your students will notice the difference as well. When I have had my pupils evaluate my classes, I have been surprised to find that my classes’ favorite activity is not any of the games we play but our “in the spotlight” talks.

The reason for this success, I feel, lies not in the fact that the activity is unusual, although your pupils may never have done anything like it before. The students may be intrigued by the exotic “American Indian” rules for the game, but that also is not enough to make it worthwhile. The activity is successful because it feels literally close to home. When my English language groups sit in a close-knit circle and discuss some issue, suddenly it doesn’t seem like we are in a classroom. It feels more like sitting around a table in a Russian kitchen with a cup of tea. In this respect, this conversational arrangement is an extension of the wonderful Russian tradition of the zastolnaya beseda, or table discussion where any family member, friend or guest feels free to express him/herself. When an atmosphere is created where a student feels confident and at ease, true communication in English can really begin.

By Jon Jensen,
Peace Corps Volunteer in Korolyov

Bresnihan, B. and B. Stoops. 1996. Three ways that work! Oral Fluency Practice in the EFL Classroom. English Teaching Forum, 34, 3-4, pp. 30-37