Five Tips for Developing Students’ Communication Skills and Intercultural Skills

Category – Mediation, Global Citizenship

Five Tips for Developing Students' Communication Skills and Intercultural Skills

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Segment: Teaching Adults

Hosted by: National Geographic Learning Global

Category: Mediation, Global Citizenship

Presenter: Chia Suan Chong

OVERVIEW

Perhaps you know that your students will use English to interact and build relationships with people from around the world and you already know that they will need skills that go beyond producing accurate vocabulary and perfectly grammatical sentences. And perhaps you are not sure how best to help students develop these skills in the language classroom. “I can teach grammar very well but I’m not an expert in communication skills and intercultural skills” or “I just get students to work in groups and hope that they accidentally pick up these skills” are some things I’ve heard teachers say.

But developing communication skills and intercultural skills does not have to be accidental and you might just have more expertise to do this than you realize. In this session, we'll look at five simple things you can do to help students master these crucial soft skills in a systematic way and prepare them for international communication, using examples from the Voices program.

ABOUT THE PRESENTER

Chia Suan Chong is a writer, communication skills trainer and teacher trainer. She is the author of Successful International Communication, where she presented her ADAPT model as a framework for dealing with intercultural conflict. Delivering both online and face-to-face training to teachers and learners around the globe, Chia specializes in interactive workshops that encourage reflection for more effective international communication and improved collaboration. Currently based in York, Chia was English Teaching Professional’s award-winning resident blogger between 2012 and 2019. Chia has contributed extensively to the British Council Learn English website and holds a DELTA and a Masters in Applied Linguistics and ELT. She is a co-author for National Geographic Learning’s integrated skills series Voices, for young adult learners and adult learners of English.

What Does a Lesson Teaching Mediation Skills Look Like?

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CHIA SUAN CHONG

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OVERVIEW

With the increasing number of tools like ChatGPT and translation apps made available to the general public, our students are now able to use English to share information with more ease than ever before. But while technology might help students communicate information, it might not be able to help students cultivate relationships, build group rapport and strengthen trust in English. This re-emphasizes the importance that the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages has given to the skills of mediating concepts and mediating communication, i.e. interactional communication focused on having effective conversations and making connections with others in real-life situations. In past webinars, we’ve discussed what mediation entails, and we’ve seen suggestions of how we can tag on mediation activities to our speaking, listening, writing, and reading lessons. We now need to consider how we can teach lessons with mediation skills not just as a sub-aim or an afterthought, but as our main lesson aim. In this webinar, Chia will demo a mediation lesson from Voices from National Geographic Learning, and show how teaching students to mediate concepts and mediate communication can be simple, systematic, and similar to some of the lessons we are used to doing in ELT.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER

Chia Suan Chong is a writer, communication skills trainer, and teacher trainer. She is the author of Successful International Communication, where she presented her ADAPT model as a framework for dealing with intercultural conflict. Delivering both online and face-to-face training to teachers and learners around the globe, Chia specializes in interactive workshops that encourage reflection for more effective international communication and improved collaboration. Currently based in York, Chia was English Teaching Professional’s award-winning resident blogger between 2012 and 2019. She developed and co-wrote an online teacher training course, has contributed extensively to the British Council Learn English website and holds a DELTA and a Masters in Applied Linguistics and ELT. Chia is a co-author for Voices, an integrated series by National Geographic Learning for adult learners of English.

Developing Mediation Skills for Intercultural Communication

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CHIA SUAN CHONG

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OVERVIEW

Our students are learning English to communicate with people from around the world, with people with different cultural backgrounds and a range of communication styles. They are eager to make real connections, build relationships, and engage in meaningful conversations. In the new CEFR descriptors for mediation, the ability to facilitate a pluri-cultural space and manage communication in delicate situations has been given fresh importance and re-defines how our students can become effective communicators in English. So how can we help students successfully navigate these real, culturally rich situations? Using examples from Voices from National Geographic Learning, this interactive session demonstrates lesson ideas and activities educators can use to help our students develop the skills and language they need to communicate effectively across cultures.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER

Chia Suan Chong is a writer, communication skills trainer and a teacher trainer. She is the author of Successful International Communication, where she presented her ADAPT model as a framework for dealing with intercultural conflict. Delivering both online and face-to-face training to teachers and learners around the globe, Chia specializes in interactive workshops that encourage reflection for more effective international communication and improved collaboration. Currently based in York, Chia was English Teaching Professional’s award-winning resident blogger between 2012 and 2019. She developed and co-wrote the Pearson ELTD – an online teacher training course, has contributed extensively to the British Council Learn English website and holds a DELTA and a Masters in Applied Linguistics and ELT. Chia is a co-author for Voices, an integrated series by National Geographic Learning for adult learners of English.

Helping our Students Develop Mediation Skills

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CHIA SUAN CHONG

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OVERVIEW

What is mediation and what are we doing to help students develop this important mode of communication? A readthrough of the new CEFR descriptors tells us that students need to be able to manage turn-taking in group conversations, handle sensitive topics and foster a positive atmosphere when collaborating with others of different cultural backgrounds. As teachers, we could give our students opportunities to interact in groups and hope that they develop these mediation skills. Alternatively, we could lay focus on the strategies needed and the ways to deal with different possible scenarios that students then practice. This interactive session considers the different skills students need to develop to mediate concepts and mediate communication effectively, using examples from Voices from National Geographic Learning.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER

What if? Motivating learners in all classrooms

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Chia Suan Chong
Jair Félix

OVERVIEW

We know that speaking activities and authentic interactions are an essential part of language practice, but finding the interesting and engaging topics that motivate learners to speak can be challenging. Online teaching poses the added challenge of persuading students, who can now hide behind a screen, to communicate at length in English. The use of stories and hypothetical situations have been an established part of communication skills and intercultural skills training for many years. Asking learners, ‘What if you were in this situation?’ provokes discussions and gets students talking and sharing in ways that improve fluency and encourages personal reflection. This webinar explores how we can use these activities to motivate and engage students in all classrooms.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER

Chia Suan Chong is a writer, communication skills trainer and a teacher trainer. She is the author of Successful International Communication, where she presented her ADAPT model as a framework for dealing with intercultural conflict. Delivering both online and face-to-face training to teachers and learners around the globe, Chia specializes in interactive workshops that encourage reflection for more effective international communication and improved collaboration. Currently based in York, Chia was English Teaching Professional’s award-winning resident blogger between 2012 and 2019 and now has a regular feature ‘Not Only But Also’ in the bi-monthly ETp magazine. She has contributed extensively to Business English materials for the British Council Learn English website, is a regular ELT conference speaker and holds a DELTA and a Masters in Applied Linguistics and ELT. Chia is also a co-author for an integrated series that’s currently in development with National Geographic Learning for young adult and adult learners of English.

Jair Félix is a National Geographic Learning Senior ELT Academic Consultant for Latin America. He has a B.A. in TEFL from Universidad Autónoma de Sinaloa in Mexico and a Post-Graduate Degree on Teachers’ Development from The College of St. Mark & St. John, Plymouth, UK. Jair has been involved in language teaching and teacher training for over 23 years and has conducted workshops on various topics such as lesson planning, discourse analysis for language teachers, action research, educational technologies, and 21st century skills, among others. Jair also holds a Diploma in Teaching English for Specific Purposes (DipTESP) and the E-Tutoring Certificate from the British Council. He is a frequent presenter at ELT conferences throughout Latin America.

English Learning

All posts by : Chia Suan Chong