My main research interest over the last few years has been to look at oral interaction in the classroom between learners working in small groups. These learners are all French speakers studying English for specific purposes as part of their courses in higher education establishments in France. They share a common linguistic background in that they have all been through the French system of education and, thus, have had several years of language teaching in secondary school before going on to higher education. This point is important when considering that the approach to language teaching which I propose here depends on a pre-existing knowledge of the language which has yet to be mobilised by the learner for efficient language production. Analysis of recordings of learners speaking in group interactions has been invaluable in designing a plan of action for group work in the classroom. The activities themselves form the basis of this plan and so I will begin by describing their structure, how they can be presented to the class, how they can be classified and introduced into a syllabus, and some tips concerning classroom management for group work. I will also present the optimum conditions for group work and some of the problems encountered concerning learner attitudes before finally describing the nature of the input and the production of the output.