Yes it is about getting the student speaking. This was stressed by one of my adult students who came back from a winter trip to Canada. He said that is what adult students need most.

I addressed this by putting chairs in a big circle (Speaking Circle) and each student asks a question and gets an answer from the person beside them. This works but a few students address their answer to me, the teacher, not to their classmate. This has to be nipped in the bud. Using this Speaking Circle also prevents one or two more advanced students from dominating the conversation. The weaker students can listen carefully and catch on to the model of the question and answer, then do their part. It is very successful in smaller classes, say 20 or fewer. Been using it for about 6 years.