The general aims of group discussions are manifold. The most important objective is to give students the chance to ask questions

Prof. Higgins: Let’s now turn to the general aims of group discussions. I want to mention the two most important objectives which emerged from the survey at London University ; afterwards I’ll mention reasons why students find group discussions so difficult.
    In the first place, the aim which far outweighs all others in importance is that, and I quote, "students should be helped to discuss and to clarify difficulties arising from lectures or other teaching sessions. " It should be remembered that lectures are usually fairly formal and students are not really expected to interrupt the lecturer to ask a question or to disagree with a point he’s made. It’s usual to wait for the follow-up group discussion to ask questions or challenge a lecturer’s points.
    The second most important objective is, and I quote again, "to obtain more intimate and personal contact with students than is possible in lectures. " Very often lectures are attended by a relatively large number of students and it’s virtually impossible for the lecturer to give students personal attention. The discussion sessions, in smaller groups, provide this opportunity.
    Other more specific aims mentioned by Dr. Beard include: to give practice in oral presentation; to promote critical and logical thinking; to ensure that concepts and principles are understood and to provide feedback to staff on students’ progress.
    Group discussions of any type are a demanding part of any academic course and, if properly exploited by students, can be highly stimulating and extremely beneficial. Yet many students, especially non-native speakers, understandably find it difficult to take full advantage of them. There are many reasons for this. I’ll just mention three of them.
    Firstly, there’s the speed of the dialogue. This is especially the case if the student finds he’s the only non-native speaker in a group. If there’s a rapid interchange between two or more native speakers it may well prove difficult for the learner of English to follow with ease.
    Secondly, a non-native speaker may not know how to break into a discussion by drawing attention to himself politely : unfortunately it’s easy to create the wrong impression by using for instance, an unsuitable opening phrase or by choosing an inappropriate intonation pattern. Furthermore, the student may be unaware of the acceptable linguistic formulae used to express disagreement, to ask for an explanation or to interrupt another student.
    The third major difficulty is how to formulate questions quickly and accurately. It often happens that a student has something to ask but by the time he’s mentally worked out the form of this question, the discussion has moved on to another topic and his chance has gone.
    So what advice can be given to learners of English who have difficulty in participating in group discussions? Well, it’s not easy. There’s no magic formula. However, the first thing to do is to try to build up self-confidence. This can only be done by learning the language forms commonly used by native speakers to ask questions, interrupt, disagree, ask for explanation etc., and then by taking every opportunity to put them into practice. Practice putting questions to your teacher and to your fellow students; practice also asking for a point to be explained in greater detail, practice disagreeing with others’ points of view. This will definitely help you overcome any shyness you may have. Secondly, you should realize that although grammatical accuracy is important, the ability to communicate orally must be your first objective, even if you’re not using perfectly correct English constructions. So try to make a contribution to group discussions even though you may not be so sure of your grammar.