Group Discussion Tips

Topic 1 (Exchange students)

Your school has been asked to accept one or two exchange students next year. Your group has been asked to discuss the benefits and problems that the school might expect and make a recommendation to the principal about whether or not you think it is a good idea. You may want to talk about:

 problems adapting to Hong Kong host family and school

 what they should do during Chinese lessons

 difficulties they may have making friends

 benefits for the students at your school

 anything else you think is important

Vocabulary and ideas

Problems adapting;

They may have trouble adapting to the host family since homes are smaller here and there is less privacy. They may have to share a room, for example. There may be communication problems if’ the host family doesn’t speak much English. They may have trouble getting used to stricter rules in HK homes and schools

Chinese lessons:

They could be required to do a special project on Chinese culture, working in the library during Chinese lessons. If their English is good, they could act as a teacher’s helper in lower-form English classes.

Making friends:

Their form-teacher could appoint several students in their class to look after them until they find a group to fit in with. If the students are open and friendly this should not be a problem.

Benefits for students:

more English practice in everyday situations; opportunity to learn about different cultures; would make the school more open and international; possible foreign-language teacher; help students become more comfortable with foreigners.

Topic 2 (Careers and further education)

You are member of your school’s Careers Club. The Careers Master/Mistress has asked you to conduct a survey to find out what sorts of information and speakers Form 5 students would like on careers and further education. You may want to talk about:

 type of survey — e.g. interview, questionnaire, show of hands

 what kinds of questions to ask

 how many students to interview/survey

 when to conduct the survey

 anything else you think is important

Vocabulary and ideas

Type of survey:

interviews are like the oral exam, one interviewer and one interviewee; questionnaires are generally a series of questions on paper; a show of hands would involve going into a classroom, asking questions and counting how many hands go up in response

Kinds of questions:

open questions like ‘What kind of information would you like?’ or closed questions like ‘Would you like a speaker from City University?’

No. of students:

interviews would be too time-consuming, so you would have to interview just a sample — say 10 to 25% of PS students. A questionnaire would be more costly because you would need at least one sheet per students, and they would be different and time-consuming to design and to analyse the responses. A show of hands for a series of questions would take the least time and would be most suitable for this kind of survey where there is no need for confidentiality.

When:

Form-teacher period; first or last five minutes of the last class of the morning/afternoon; English class

Topic 3 (Keeping fit)

Your group members are comittee members of your school’s Fitness Club. The editor of the school newspaper has asked you to prepare an article recommending fun and interesting ways to keep fit. You may want to discuss;

 ball sports

 swimming

 dancing

 walking, running

 weight lifting

 windsurfing

 anything else you think is important

Vocabulary and ideas

Dancing:

aerobics/ballroomldisco/jazzJrnodern dancing; good for the legs and cardio-vascular system (heart and lungs) if you work hard; good way to meet people; useful social skill

Ball sports: team sports such as basketball and volleyball allow you to be part of a group, develop skills and have fun; individual sports such as squash and tennis are great exercise and can help develop your competition spirit

Swimming:

excellent for all-round conditioning- legs, arms, hearts and lungs

Walking, running:

can be hard work at first, but as you get in shape, it can be very enjoyable; helps lose weight; can become a social activity if you do it in a group; good for the legs, hearts and lungs

Weight lifting:

good for building muscles and shaping the body; should be done under supervision at first to avoid injury; it’s hard and doesn’t help the heart and lungs (cardio-vascular system), but can help you look better

Windsurfing:

exciting; requires good swimming skills; good for balance, strength and stamina

Topic 4 (Sports Team)

You and the three other members of your group are members of the school newspaper. The editor has asked you to discuss whether or not Form 5 students should be allowed to join sports teams. She has asked you to discuss both sides and try to come to an agreement about the newspaper’s stand on the issue. You may want to talk about:

 the importance of sports

 number of hours a week sports team members must practise

 the effect of these lost hours on studies

 anything else you think is important

Vocabulary and ideas

Importance:

builds strength and endurance; improves fitness; helps release stress; builds friendships; helps develop qualities that are important in the business world, such as cooperation and a competitive spirit

Practice time:

most teams practice twice a week for about two hours each; games are once a week, but only at certain times of the year; but the practice makes students tired so they can’t work efficiently when they get home; practices may interfere with tutorial classes; hours lost on practice is small compared to hours wasted watching TV~ playing video games, talking on the telephone, chaffing on the Internet, and sleeping too much

Effect on studies:

the students would doing other things besides studying if they were not on a school team; some students might be too tired to study after practice, but others may feel more energetic because of the healthy exercise

Topic 5 (Farewell dinner)

The members of your group are planning a farewell dinner for your principal, who is retiring.

You may want to talk about:

 place for dinner

 who should be invited

 food and drink

 activities/games

 farewell gift

 anything else you think is important

Vocabulary and ideas

Place:

hotel; restaurant; school hail

Who to invite:

teachers; senior students; school council members; past teachers; past principal; school administrative and janitorial staff~ principals from other schools who know your principal well; Education Department district education officer; principal’s husband/wife/children

Food and drink:

Western food, Chinese food or a mixture; set meal, menu choice, or buffet; soft drink, juice, tea and coffee; beer and wine? For a dinner in school, should we cook the food ourselves and take our own dinnerware, or hire a caterer to provide everything?

Activities:

speeches by people who know the principal best; speech by the principal; speech by the head of the school council, head boy/girl, etc; different tables compete in a quiz about school facts/details/history; prizes for winners

Gift:

engraved pen, watch, book, etc

Exam Reminder

1. Don’t be aggressive. If you dominate the discussion, you will be downgraded.

Each group member should have a fair chance to speak.

2. Don’t try to give a ‘solo-presentation’ for two minutes at the very beginning and be silent for the rest of the discussion.

3. When other members are hesitating, searching for words or having difficulties in carrying on with their speech, help them. Remember all of you want to have a smooth discussion. Moreover, helping your group members gives examiners a good impression.

4. Don’t worry if you have 1 minute left and you haven’t finished your discussion.

Just keep on discussing.