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EducationJournalIttf^^g.©7/H»ChineseUniversityofHongKong1996Winter1995,Vol.23,No.2ISSN1025-1936/HKS50TeachingConversationintheSecondLanguageClassroom:ProblemsandProspectsPAULSZETheChineseUniversityofHongKongThecurrentskillsorientationtosecondlanguageteachingandcom-municationactivitiesemployedincommunicativeapproacheshavein-creasedtheamountofspeakingpracticeintheclassroom.Yet,thelevelofconversationalcompetencereachedbymostinstructedsecondlanguagelearnersisfarfromsatisfactory.Thispaperdrawsonconceptsfromcon-versationalanalysis,classroomdiscourse,andcommunicativecompetenceinarguingforadirectapproachtotheteachingofconversationskills.Itshowsthatmaterialsandclassroomactivitiesusedincommunicativelan-guageteachingoftenfailtoaddresstheinteractionaldimensionofconver-sation.Thepapersuggestsprinciplesandactivitiesforthedevelopmentofconversationalcompetenceintheclassroom.Itiscommonpracticeforgeneral-purposesecond/foreignlanguageprogrammestoincorporatetheteachingofspeakingskills.Therecognitionofspeakingaspartandparcel01asecondlanguagecurriculumisreflectedingeneralmethodologytexts(e.g.,Bowen,Madsen,&Hilferty,1985;Doff,1988;Nunan,1991),aswellasinsecondlanguagesyllabuses(e.g.,CurriculumDevelopmentCommittee/Council[CDC],1981,1983,1994).Speakingisoftenbrokendownintosubskills,oneofwhichistheabilitytotakepartinaconversationinthetargetlanguage.Thisabilityisoftenbelievedtobepartofalearner'scommunicativecompetence(FaerchandKasper,1983),theultimategoalofsecondlanguagelearning.Nunan(1991)suggestedthattomostpeople,masteringtheartofspeakingisthesinglemostimportantaspectoflearningasecondorforeignlanguage,andsuccessismeasuredintermsoftheabilitytocarryoutaconversa-tioninthelanguage(p.39).Theimportanceattachedtoconversational230PaulSzecompetencecanbeseenintheinclusionofaconversationsectioninmanylanguageproficiency/achievementtests(e.g.,AustralianSecondLanguageProficiencyRatings,InternationalEnglishLanguageTestingSystemHongKongCertificateofEducationExamination(HKCE),HongKongAdvancedLevelExamination(HKAL);seeBoyleandFalvey,1994,forareviewofthemajorlocalandinternationalproficiencytests).Coursebooksforgeneral-purposesecondlanguageprogrammesinvariablyembodymaterialsfordevelopinglearners'oralcompetence.Yet,despiteinsightsprovidedbydiscourseanalystsintotheworkingsofconversation,secondlanguagematerialscontinuetopresentcontrivedandartificialdialogueswhichpurporttobedevelopinglearners'speakingskills.Classroomproceduresforteachingconversationoftenamounttonothingmorethantheparrotingofdialogues(RichardsandSchmidt,1983,p.126).Afteryearsofconversationpractice,manylearnersarestillunabletoengageingenuineconversationinthetargetlanguage.Examiners'ReportoftheHongKongCertificateofEducationExam.(HongKongExaminationsAuthority[HKEA],1993)hasthefollowingcommentoncandidates'conversationalcompetence:Manycandidatescouldnotholdamorethanrudimentaryconversationmainlyduetoalackofvocabularytoexpresstheirideaseffectively....ManycandidatessatisfiedthemselveswithYesandNoanswers.Infact,iftheyhadtakentheinitiativetosayabitmore,theywouldhavescoredamuchbettermark.(p.103)Whetherthisweaknesswasduetocandidates'lackofvocabularyisopentodiscussion,butthisinadequacyinconversationalcompetenceiscommonamongsecondlanguagelearners:theinabilitytotakeuplongturnsinconversationisafeatureofmanysecondlanguagespeakers,whokeeptoshortturnsandappeartobelessthancollaborativeconversationalpartners(Richards,1990,p.70).Acloserexaminationofthecurrentmaterialsandtechniquesforteachingconversationsuggeststhattheydonotactuallydeveloplearners'conversationalcompetence.Generalmethodologycoursebooksgiveguidanceontheteachingofspeakingbutareinfactpayinglittleattentiontotheteachingofconversation.Thispaperarguesthatthissituationresultsfromconceptualconfusionovertheteachingofspeaking.Itwillbeginwithareviewofthecharac-teristicsofconversationaldiscourse.Itwillthenpointoutthatmostclass-roomdiscourseintheformofinteractionbetweenteacherandlearners,isTeachingConversationintheSecondLanguageClassroom231jnotconducivetofosteringlearners'conversationalskills.Thepaperwillthenarguefortheteachingofspecificconversationalskills.Inthisdiscus-sion,someofthepracticeswithincommunicativelanguageteachingwillbeexaminedanditwillbeshownthatalthoughsuchactivitiesarecarried[outinthespokenmode,theydonotnecessarilydeveloplearners'conver-sationalcompetence.Thepaperwillconcludewithadiscussionoftheprinciplesforteachingconversationandsuggestionsforclassroomac-tivitiesthatimproveconversationalskills.WhatIsConversation?Beforewelookintothenatureofconversation,wemustaddresstheissueofwhatkindoftalkqualifiesasconversation.Whilemonologuessuchaslectures,speechesandTVnewsreportsareobviouslytoberuledout,talkinvolvingmorethanonespeakerdoesnotnecessarilyconstituteconversa-tion.Taketheclassroom.Eventhoughtheremaybeagreatdealoforalinteractionbetweenteacherandstudentsduringalesson,fewpeoplewouldacceptthattheteacherishavingagenuineconversationwiththestudents.Whatisconversation,then?Goffman(1976)offeredthefollow-ingdefinition:...conversation,restrictivelydefined,mig