Let pair work carry on while learners can hear their partner, take turns and move the task forward. Step in when they start repeating themselves over other voices, miss a turn or give up trying to join in. A quick volume reset can get the same conversation going again.
By Gav & Em, How to English TEFL Podcast
What does productive classroom talk sound like?
Imagine two pairs deciding where to hold a class party. One pair gets animated, laughs and asks, ‘What about the park if it rains?’ Both learners respond and agree on a back-up. At the next table, someone says ‘Sorry, what?’ twice, then nods and lets their partner decide. The first pair is louder. The second is where you need to check in.
- Listen for the task. Are learners asking follow-up questions, comparing options or making a decision?
- Check audibility. Can a learner hear an ordinary speaking voice from the person they’re working with? Notice repeated requests to speak up or learners leaning in and still missing words.
- Watch who gets a turn. Check a pair at the edge of the room as well as the busiest table. A learner may be listening or thinking, so check discreetly before treating quietness as a problem.
If one pair is struggling, start there. Ask ‘Can you hear each other from where you’re sitting?’ Move them away from the competing sound or let them sit closer and face each other. Use a whole-class reset when several pairs have started talking over one another.
Try this in your next lesson · The volume reset
Use it mid-task. Keep the same partners, question and goal for the first restart so you can compare what happens.
- Pause with a cue. Use a signal you’ve practised, such as a raised hand and ‘Pause’. Wait for the room to settle. Put the restart instruction on the board so learners can see it as well as hear it.
- Model a voice for one partner. Face someone nearby and show the volume you mean. Say, ‘Same question. Use a voice your partner can hear. Take turns. Go back to the idea you were discussing.’ Keep it at a comfortable speaking level.
- Restart for 30–60 seconds. Go back to two pairs you checked before the pause. Ask both learners to tell each other one thing they just heard. A word or short phrase is enough for beginners.
- Decide whether it worked. Keep going if both learners could catch a detail and had a chance to speak. If they still couldn’t hear, try more space between pairs or stagger which groups speak first. If they could hear but one person still did all the talking, give each partner a timed turn and check again.
Example. Before the reset, one learner gives up asking what their partner said. Afterwards, they can say ‘You chose the park’ and their partner can say ‘You said it might rain’. They’ve heard each other and both have something to contribute.
What if one learner still can’t hear?
Ask privately what would make the exchange easier. They might prefer a different seat, a clear view of their partner’s face, or the key options in writing. If the room echoes or nearby groups are still hard to tune out, change where or when people speak and repeat the same check.
Hear Gav and Em discuss group chatter
In Teach and Learn in Groups (S01E18), Gav welcomes the moment when learners start chatting with each other. Em brings up what happens when she needs their attention and how loud the room can get. The reset above is a classroom activity you can try alongside that discussion.
Read the video transcript
Because we’ve all been there where even you know with groups you’ve had for a long time and they’re all just chatting to each other and that is when they get to know each other that they start getting friendly and they do chat and then you’ve got to try and keep control or get their attention and you have got to stand up and be like that sounds like a perfect lesson if they’re all chatting with each other they couldn’t do it in their own language before the lesson starts and then when the lesson starts you’ve got to be like okay right now we’re doing this. Is that where you tap the board with the chalk?
I don’t do that, no. What can you do then? I’m not a board tapper. Do you drop something? I usually just kind of look at them, like why are you still talking? I think in China I used to raise one hand. Oh that’s nice. And that worked really well. I’m not sure that works. I’m not suggesting that that’s for all Chinese people.
Yeah, of course you You just, you raise your voice and you say, okay, everyone. Yeah, it’s like- It depends how loud it is in the room. Good morning, everybody. Yeah, that’s what I do.
Hear the full discussion in the S01E18 episode guide, or try the ready-to-use information gap in When Should You Use Open Pairs and Closed Pairs?.