Annual Conference of the Association for Bahá'í Studies, North America 

August 29 - September 1, San Francisco

 

Presented by Irshat Madyarov,

Teaching assistant in the Intensive English Program,

West Virginia University

irshat@yahoo.com

 

Successful Consultation Skills Activity

 

The idea was adapted from the Unfortunate Teacher Types activity offered at a Teacher Training Seminar facilitated by Kevin McCaughey at Orenburg State University, Russia, March, 2001.

 

Level: intermediate to advanced.

Time: 50 min.

 

The purpose of this activity is to provide students with necessary skills for an effective consultation and give an opportunity to practice these skills in a collaborative task.

 

Procedure:

1.   Open a discussion about consultation skills. A situation where such skills will be needed would be helpful (e.g., a family of 3-4 people deciding how to spend their summer vacation; friends thinking where to go on the weekend, etc.). You might have your students brainstorm some qualities that would facilitate a healthy constructive consultation (e.g., being clear when explaining your opinion, listening to others, not being selfish, respecting opinions of others, etc.).

 

2.   Students read the descriptions of the unfortunate negotiator types (attached). Make sure they understand each description.

 

3.   Divide the students into groups of 4 to 6. Each student chooses a piece of paper on which is written one negotiator type. Ask students not to reveal their negotiator type.

 

4.   Each group role-plays a consultation, each student taking on the role of his/her unfortunate negotiator type. Topics and situations can be chosen depending on the theme of the lesson and distributed on paper to each group.

 

      Example: You are a group of tourists visiting Paris. None of you speaks French, and you have only one guide. You have time to visit one of the following places: 1) Disney Land; 2) The Grand Louvre, 3) Cityrama tour: Notre-Dame Cathedral, Square Sarbonne, Eiffel Tower, Opera square; 4) going to the Opera Notre-Dame de Paris).

 

      When finished, the students try to guess who was acting which negotiator type.

 

5.   Once all the groups perform, students get a collaborative task which is similar to the previous activity except that in this case the students should try to consult in a most efficient and successful way. Again, the situations can be tailored to the current theme of the lesson, but complicated enough to inspire the students for a longer consultation.

Unfortunate negotiator types

 

The pushy ones are always bursting with ideas, but are too enthusiastic and preoccupied with themselves to let anybody else suggest anything different from their own ideas. They might get offended when interrupted or opposed by others. However, they have immense potential to be successful negotiators if they are encouraged to listen to others and respect their opinions.

 

The conformists dread suggesting anything new. Rather, they tend to agree with others. Most likely, these negotiators underestimate their capacities. They should be reminded that however crazy or silly their ideas might sound they all contribute to the solution of the problem. In fact, these types of negotiators can be excellent peace-makers in the group, provided they learn how to be independent of others.

 

The side-trackers might seem like the Pushy ones in that they are often full of energy. However, the trick about these negotiators is that they enjoy unpredictably switching the main topic of the discussion to a completely unrelated area ending up sharing a story or a joke they heard the other day. Their enthusiasm should be used for the benefit of the consultation. So make sure you politely interrupt them and bring them back on the right track.

 

The under-explainers seem to know something important but either for the lack of confidence or communicative skills nobody can get their point. It’s a good idea to be patient with them, encourage, and support them by asking clarifying questions. Despite their indecisive look, they might suggest unexpectedly valuable ideas.

 

The over-explainers are the opposite of the previous. They indulge in getting across their ideas. Their explanations are too long, detailed, confusing, and often discourage others. They should be politely reminded to stick to the point.

 

The hurriers go much too fast. This can make the consultation tense and panicky. Sometimes, they are big troublemakers. They should be calmed down and reminded that hurrying won’t do any good. In fact, their participation can be really helpful when the consultation gets bogged down in useless details or is affected by the Side-tracker. Here, they can significantly accelerate the flow of the discussion.