ESL Library.com

http://www.esl-library.com/
Target group: Adult and Teenage learners Intermediate to Advanced    

Summary of site

The ESL Library produce lesson plans and flash cards  that are particularly designed for English conversation classes.  These resources which are available for down loading and copying on a  membership basis. But membership is not expensive: ($22 US for 3 Months, $55US for a year)

The site is easy to navigate and each model of activity has samples you can download to view in detail. It clearly states the resources are designed for adult and teenage learners from at intermediate level.
 

The lesson plans are constructed with attention to varied modes of learning, interaction and problem solving. The format is very traditional - similar to what you would find in a text book-

but with some dimensions that relate to  CALL modes of learning and information access, such as; Ebooks,  blog list posts with Audio MP3s,  and  direct hyperlinks to  news articles.

The advantage of these resources is you can choose exactly what suites your curriculum or students, you can reduce paper by supplying to students as a down load to work on computers and you can adjust the activity and the size of handout to suit the time for the activity. They claim to add new resources  monthly, which seems to be correct as there were some discussion lesson plans referring to recent news items and students can preview the lesson in weekly podcasts.

Two resources designed specifically for conversation activities.

Discussion Starters lesson plans  Are a series of worksheets based on topics designed to get students talking. They have chosen topics that are relevant today such as; protest , tipping, road rage, and flu shots . Each lesson contains warm-up questions, an audio file, a reading, vocabulary review, comprehension and discussion tasks, and class survey templates.  Intermediate

Everyday Idioms  - Is a conversation course in the form of a  serialized ebook,  with  15 conversations with a uni student Kate, who deals with the ups and downs of campus life during her first year. Each lesson introduces new idioms in a short dialog between Kate and another member of the cast. The resource includes vocabulary review, discussion tasks, and pair activities. Intermediate to advanced

Note this is an American product so based on American spelling. However the themes are generic and topical conversation lessons pick up on global and generic events.

 
A teaching idea / speaking and conversation
Using these resources for conversation activities is pretty straight forward as they are designed for this.  I would get the students to prepare by providing elements as homework before class. The Discussion Starters have a short text but with the e-zine / serial story I would keep the ‘next episode anticipation for class’ and ask them to prepare to talk about an issue that comes out of the story – e.g.  ‘What would your parents feel if you proposed to live in a co-ed dorm? / or what would you think if your daughter/ sister proposed to live in a co-ed dorm?’ (depending on the students)