As a Pro tutor, you already know the golden rule: student output is the priority. But what happens when your student gives short answers? Or seems unsure? Or just goes… quiet?
This is where facilitation skills come in.
The best tutors know how to gently guide students to speak more, whether they’re shy, struggling to find the right words, or unsure of what’s expected. Here are some practical strategies to keep the conversation flowing!
Teach pragmatics
Pragmatics is the study of how we use language in real-world situations, including how we take turns, show interest, stay polite, and build a natural flow in conversation. If a student is replying with one-word answers, short sentences, or suddenly going quiet in a lesson, use it as a teachable moment!
Tutor: What did you do today
Student: I went shopping.
Tutor: (waits)
Student: (looks awkward)
Tutor: (gestures for elaboration)
Student: Oh, er…I bought a present for my niece.
Tutor: (waits)
Student: (looks awkward)
Tutor: gestures towards themselves
Student: Oh…er…what did you do today, teacher?
Tutor: I’ve been teaching most of the day, thanks for asking!
You’d be surprised how quickly even shy students can get used to a more natural conversation flow. You can also explicitly teach these kinds of pragmatics skills (elaborating with details, turn-taking, asking follow up questions etc.) by pointing them out to students directly. Helping your students boost their skills in pragmatics can make for more lively and natural conversations!
💡Pro Tip: The Cambly Library offers engaging materials on pragmatics, including the "Well-Spoken: Daily Life Parts 1 and 2" courses, which are entirely dedicated to the topic. Additionally, the "Basic Conversation Topics" course incorporates pragmatics for effective communication in the last slides of each lesson.
Ensure that students understand you
Often, students don’t respond simply because they don’t understand what you’re saying, not because they don’t want to talk. Instead of presuming a student is quiet or disinterested, take a moment to ask yourself if you are sure that the student is understanding your instructions or explanations. Even experienced tutors can fall into the trap of overestimating student comprehension. So, make sure you
- Speak clearly with vocabulary and expressions tailored to the student’s level. Avoid overloading with complicated grammar, idioms, or multiple questions at once.
- As mentioned in our resource, Keeping the Focus on Student Talk Time, make sure to pause to allow processing time. A little silence is golden!
- Check comprehension! Instead of ‘do you understand?’ which may produce a vague nod or an unsure yes from a student saving face, ask concept-checking questions that require a response.
Example 1
Tutor: So this word here ‘exhausted’, it means very...?
Student: Very tired.
Tutor: Yes! Good.
Example 2
Tutor: So it says here she was ‘disappointed’ about the situation. Is she happy or sad about it?
Student: Sad about it.
Tutor: Very, very sad or just (makes a sighing gesture)
Student: (makes the same sighing gesture and laughs)
💡Pro Tip: Students will often give both verbal and non-verbal cues that suggest they don’t follow. Look out for blank stares, furrowed brows, fidgeting, avoiding eye contact, or vague answers or nods. This is the time to jump in with concept checking questions!
Scaffolding and making sentence templates
Scaffolding means offering structured support to give your student confidence in learning and using new language in conversation. Sometimes students simply lack the linguistic knowledge to keep a conversation going and this is where you need to step in. First, try to give the student the chance to make their own attempt at the target sentence/language. Then, you can then use their hesitation, errors or inability to make the sentence a clear teachable moment. You can usually follow these steps:
- Ask the question using the target language.Wait for a response.
- Model your own correct response in a full sentence.
- Write it in the chatbox along with a sentence template version underneath.
- Have the student repeat.
- If applicable, substitute language that could also be used in the same sentence template (see example below.)
Example 1
Tutor: What is your favorite food?
A1 Beginner: Er…favorite…food…er…pizza.
Tutor: Ok! We can say “my favorite food is pizza”. Can you say that?
(writes in chatbox)
My favorite food is pizza.
My favorite_____is______.
A1 Beginner: My favorite food is pizza.
Tutor: Great! What is your favorite sport?
A1 Beginner: Sport? Ah, my favorite sport is basketball.
💡Pro Tip: While this is not scaffolding in order to facilitate conversation as with lower level learners, you can use a similar chatbox technique with higher level learners as a means to help them master more advanced grammar structures.
Example 2
Tutor: If you hadn’t studied nursing at university, what else would you have studied?
B2 Student: Hmm…I would study English or literature or something like that.
Tutor: Oh yeah? By the way, my question used the third conditional. It’s a useful structure for advanced learners. We could say “if I hadn’t studied nursing at university, I would have studied English or something like that.” I’ll write the sentence and template in the chatbox for you.
(writes in chatbox)
If I hadn’t studied nursing at university, I would have studied English or something like that
If I hadn’t______, I would have_______.
If +S+ had+ past participle, S+ would/could+ have+ past participle
B2 Student: If I hadn’t studied nursing at university, I would have studied English or something like that.
Tutor: Good! We’re short on time today but would you like to practice this structure in a future lesson?
B2 Student: Yeah, it’s a tricky one to use. I’ll review it and then we can practice next time!
Tutor: Sounds good.
Stay attentive, build confidence
Facilitating a great session is about making sure the student is in the best possible position to use and refine their English as much as possible. So when a student gives a short answer or struggles to respond, avoid the temptation to label the student as ‘quiet’ or even ‘not interested’. Instead, as a Pro tutor, ask yourself:
What steps can I take in this moment to get this particular student engaged and talking?
It could be to encourage elaboration, check comprehension, or scaffold a response, or just wait it out. But know that as a Pro tutor, your awareness, guidance and expertise will make all the difference to our students!