Types of Discussion

The "Conclusions" (in some cases also called a Summary) chapter is a summary of the main ideas that come out from the discussion (e.g., Katz, 2009) and hence only a subset of the abstract. Usually the Conclusions sum up the discussion whereas the abstract only reiterates the most important of the conclusions.

When handled correctly, controversial topics can be a gold mine of conversation in the ESL classroom. Though it is sometimes necessary to create discussion over supplied curriculum topics, using controversial issues in the classroom allows a natural and emotional pathway to conversation.

A knowledge base (KB) is a technology used to store complex structured and unstructured information used by a computer system. The initial use of the term was in connection with expert systems which were the first knowledge-based systems.

One is to state your opinion, but make very clear that it’s an opinion, not a fact, and that other people believe differently. Another is to ask to hold your opinion until the end of the discussion, so as not to influence anyone’s thinking while it’s going on.