CONVERSATION VS SPEAKING

Conversation and Speaking, what is the difference between the two? For many, the use of these terms are interchangeable. However, as a professional in second language acquisition, I find it necessary to define the differences which exist between these two opposite sides of this productive skill - speech.  Let´s start with the idea of conversation.

A conversation is an exchange of ideas, questions, answers and comments between two or more people. TThe key here is the exchange and engagement between both parties. A conversation is in general more open, it allows for students to express themselves, connect vocabulary, and use studied grammatical structures without their thoughts being disrupted. On one side of the spectrum this permits students to speak at length, openly and builds confidence and with practice eliminate the necessity to think, translate then spoken which sometimes cause unnatural pauses and breaks in their sentences and phrases.

On the other side of the spectrum are speaking exercises. These exercises focus on a specific part of speech. The focus could be something simple such as prepositions of time, wherein, the class will focus on the correct use of structure and grammar. Essentially, putting a small part of the language 'in a box', and the use of strategies such as 'repeat after me' and repetition with the focus on the accuracy and precision of the grammatical tool or structure being learned and practiced. These two ideas are not static or polar opposites, language is far too dynamic for that. Any class that deals with the productive skill of speech can either be exclusive conversation or speaking based or have a mixture of these opposite sides of speech.

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