How to use 4/3/2 strategy to develop oral language

4/3/2 is a useful technique for developing oral fluency. Learners give the same talk to three different learners with decreasing time to do it.

The learners work in pairs. Learner A talks to Learner B and has a time limit of four minutes to do this. B just listens and does not interrupt or question. When the four minutes are up, the teacher says, "Change partners". Learner A then moves to a new Learner B. The teacher says "Begin" and Learner A gives exactly the same talk to the new partner but this time has only three minutes. When the three minutes are up, the teacher says "Stop. Change partners." With a new partner, Learner A now has two minutes to talk. During the three deliveries of the same story, the B learners do not talk and each listens to three different people. When the A learners have given their talk three times, the B learners can now go through the same sequence, this time as speakers.