English Trailer (www.english-trailers.com) is a free, online, blended-learning environment containing activities for students to study English via movie trailers. The site includes numerous trailers containing narrative, segments of conversation, or a combination of both. Many of the segments are incomplete portions of dialogs within the movie, which English Trailers exploits through a newly created, multi-stage activity referred to as conversation catalysts. Conversation catalysts refers to using these incomplete portions as a starting point for students – working in a CALL group environment – with the objective of having students develop conversations, grounded in authentic language, in directions of their own choosing. In order to prepare students for creating a dialog from conversation catalysts, students advance through five successive stages that introduce pertinent language and controlled practice opportunities. Expansions of each activity via pull-down menus contain optional substitute phrasing and allow for varied directions in students’ dialogs. Dialog examples in both audio and written form are provided, as well as scenario primers, language objectives and exercises. This paper presents both teacher and student feedback on the effectiveness of the conversation catalysts activity.
