Intermediate learners of English often show considerable skill in communicating orally, and using language productively to solve the tasks set. However, on closer inspection, the actual language produced is often very simple and contributes little to students' language growth. The present article reports on a small-scale pedagogic intervention that attempts to redress this situation by raising students' awareness about the nature of effective talk. Results show that students are able to learn to interact in more useful ways, and that this change in the way they talk also has an effect on their ability to write more coherent texts in the foreign language.