Seminar Discussion Skills Flashcards

Grade 10 · English · Flashcards

Core moves, concepts, and vocabulary for participating effectively in advanced academic seminar discussions.

Flashcards

Socratic Seminar

A structured discussion in which participants use evidence and reasoning to collaboratively explore an open question; teacher facilitates, students lead.

Active Listening

Tracking the argument's development, attending to specific points made by others, and preparing contributions that genuinely respond to what was said.

Building On

Seminar move: extend or deepen a previous speaker's point — 'Adding to what X said, the evidence on page Y suggests...'

Push Back

Seminar move: respectfully challenge a claim with specific evidence — 'I want to complicate that — on page X, the author actually...'

Synthesis Move

Seminar move: connect two or more previous contributions into a unified insight — 'Both X and Y's points suggest that the central tension is...'

Dead Contribution

Vague agreement ('I agree'), repetition of a previous point, or anecdote without textual grounding — adds no analytical value.

Inquiry Stance

Entering discussion with genuine openness to changing one's thinking based on evidence and reasoning; the opposite of debate's fixed-position advocacy.

Textual Grounding

Citing specific page numbers and quotations to anchor claims; transforms opinion into an interpretive argument others can evaluate.

Facilitation (peer)

Asking follow-up questions, inviting quieter peers, or connecting disparate ideas — advanced behavior that improves group discussion quality.

Seminar Preparation

Pre-seminar annotation of key passages, formation of a working thesis or question, and anticipation of likely discussion threads.

Turn-Taking Etiquette

Waiting for speakers to finish before responding, not monopolizing air time, and ensuring all voices have space — the social contract of effective seminars.

Intellectual Revision

Publicly updating one's position based on compelling evidence from peers — a sign of genuine inquiry, not weakness.

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