Sessions

Cultivating Classroom Community Through Small Talk

The presenter analyzes the use of brief, teacher-centered small talk over two terms to Japanese high school EFL learners. Two end of term surveys and one end of year class evaluation indicated that students appreciated these anecdotes as a tool to improve their listening skills, warm-up, learn more about their teacher, and create a comfortable classroom environment. Reflections are offered for those interested in implementing small talk in a similar style in their own classrooms.