A second problem with many conversation course books is an absence of many of the interesting features which distinguish spoken language from written language. Try transcribing some recordings of real conversations and you will soon find out why, in the interests of the sanity of all concerned, book conversations have been tidied up. It is chock full of suggestions for further reading on the many fascinating topics Richards discusses. The first decision the adventurous teacher has to make is which feature of conversation to introduce. Choose a feature of conversation that will be manageable in practice, conceptually challenging, and a feature the students can believe will help make them better conversationalists.
Some features are easier to add to textbook conversations than others.
Think about how you age going to explain it, demonstrate it, find it in real world examples, and relate it to Japanese conversations. Back channeling is a good place to start. It is nodding your head, smiling, body posture, and hand gestures. The good listener also may finish the speaker's statement or echo some of the speaker's speech. Back channeling is the way the listener yields the main channel to the speaker but at the same time participates actively by indicating his feelings and by demonstrating and keeping open his option of taking over the main channel.