Discussion Skills

1. Discussion Skills For the 2nd semester

2. Discussion Skills 1 How to express opinions agreement and disagreement

3. Express Opinions • Agree/ disagree • Expand discussions

4. 1.Express Opinions • (Personally), I think …+[opinion] • I feel that … • My feeling is that … • It seems to me … • In my opinion,… • From my point of view, … • If you ask me, … • No doubt about it, … • As I see it, … • If you ask me … • It strikes that …

5. Agreement • Absolutely • I agree (completely). • I quite agree. • I couldn't agree more. • That’s exactly what I was thinking. • That’s just how I see it. • That’s a good point. • That’s worth thinking about. • Your are right. • That may be.

6. Disagreement • I disagree. • I’m afraid I don’t agree./ I wouldn't agree. • I’m sorry but I really can’t agree. • I’m not sure I agree with you. • I'm not so sure about that.

7. Disagreement • Do you think so? • I wouldn’t say that exactly. • To be honest, not everybody… • Not really. • (I’m afraid) that’s not how I see it. • That’s not the way I see it. • You can’t be serious. • I’m not convinced by your argument. • I’m afraid I have a different opinion. • Well, my opinion is… • Well, yes, but …

8. Disagreement • Come off it. • Are you kidding? • Don’t make me laugh. • I disagree. • I don’t think so. • I can't agree at all. • Nonsense! Rubbish! • That’s ridiculous.

9. Expand discussions A: [opinion expression] + [opinion] B: "Why?" A: "Because + [reason] + [signal (e.g., How about you?)]" B: Agree (then say, "Let's go to the next one.") or Disagree (then return to Line 1)

10. Discussion Skills 2 How to ask for and give an opinion

11. How to ask for information (Formal-informal) • I was wondering where you stood on the question of …? • What’s your opinion of…? • What’s your opinion on …? • What do you think of /about …? • How do you find …? • How do you feel about …? • What do you reckon about …? • What / How about …?

12. How to ask for information • Could you please tell me your opinion on… • Would you please comment on… • Can you tell me your opinion on… • I’m wondering what’s your opinion on… • Can you say something on… • Do you think… • Do you agree that…

13. How to give an opinion(Formal—informal) • It would seem to me that… • As far as I am able to judge… • As far as I’m concerned… • I’d like to point out … • I’d just like to say… • From my point of view, I think… • If you want my opinion… • Personally, I think… • As I see it… • Frankly, I think…

14. Howto give an opinion • I reckon… • To tell you the truth, I think… • Well, in my opinion… • Believe it or not, I think… • One thing I should mention is that…

15. Discussion Skills 3 1. How to ask for more detailed information 2. How to ask for clarification 3. How to give clarification

16. How to ask for more detailed information • I wonder if you could explain about …in more detail? • Could I ask you a little more about … in more detail? • I’m afraid I’m not quite clear about ... • I’m afraid I’m not quite clear about how you DO… • I’m interested in knowing more about ... • How exactly do you DO…?

17. How to ask for more information • Could you fill me a bit on …? • Can you put me in the picture about …? • Can you give more details? • Can you give me some examples? • Can you explain it more clearly? • Can you say something more about it? • Please give me an example.

18. How to ask for clarification • I’m afraid I’m not quite clear what you mean by … • I’m sorry, I don’t understand what you mean by … • I’m sorry, but could you explain what you mean by … • What (exactly) do you mean by … • What (exactly) are you trying to say? • What are you getting at?

19. How to ask for clarification What do you mean by …? Hold on, do you mean …? Just a second, do you mean …? Doesn't that mean the same as …? Sorry to interrupt, but what does … mean? When you say…,do you mean….? You said …, what do you mean? When you say…, are you thinking …?

20. How to give clarification • Well, the point I’m trying to make is that… • Well, what I’m trying to say is that… • What I mean is that… • All I’m trying to say is that… • Well, what I’m getting at is that… • Ah, I mean… • Um, I think… • Well, Let me see. ….

21. Discussion Skills 4 How to rephrase How to generalize

22. How to rephrase your own statements • That’s not quite what I meant… • Let me put it in another way… • Sorry, let me explain… • My understanding is that… • I think you mean… • If I’m right, you mean… • …., Is that what you mean?

23. How to make generalizations • I’m inclined (not) to DO… • I tend not to Do… • In the vast majority of cases, … • In most cases, … • In my opinion, … • Generally speaking, … • In general, … • By and large, … • On the whole, …

24. Discussion Skills 5 How to interrupt Other tips

25. How to interrupt • I’d like to add something here, if I may. … • I have a point (to make) here. … • May I say something here. … • Can I interrupt (you) for a moment? … • Sorry to interrupt, but… • Excuse me, but… • Wait a minute! … • Hold on! … • Hang on! …

26. How to express mild disbelief or surprise • Is it?”, • “Can he?” • repetition of part of what the other speaker has said • questions like “What do you mean?” or “Really?” or “Is that so?” etc.

27. How toease the tone In spoken English comment clauses like • “I think”, • ‘I’m afraid”, • “I suppose”, • “You know”, • “I believe”, • “I dare say”, • “I hope”, etc, are often used to make a negative statement less abrupt.

28. How to show modesty • A: Can you swim? • B: I’m not a good swimmer, but I go swimming sometimes. • B’s answer is a good example of expressing what one can do in a modest way.