This action research was conducted with the intention to improve the socio-cultural knowledge and language learning for international students in a pathway course in preparation for their university studies (undergraduate and postgraduate) in a major Australian university. The action research project was run in a five-week circle, involving students, in groups, preparing, conducting five conversations outside the classroom, and reflecting on the conversations. Teacher intervention occurred both before and after each conversation. Pre-task intervention included guidance in question structures, pronunciation. Post-task intervention included providing feedback after listening to recordings. Group work has been found to benefit  international students working in cross-cultural contexts, including improved communication and acceptance of diversity (Cabrera et al., 2002) and enhanced communication skills, task achievement and language learning even in a homogeneous group setting with all members being Chinese  (Li, 2014; Li, Remedios, & Clarke, 2014). This research asked in what ways groupwork could facilitate the learning of socio-culture and language in an English pathway course. A diversity of data types were collected including a learner needs survey, audio recordings of preparation by group or pairs before each conversation with a person beyond the classroom, audio recordings of group reflection after each conversation, written summary of the reflections, audio recordings of post-task interviews with each group, and an end-of-course survey. Results show an overall positive response from participants.  Students reported increase in confidence and skills in speaking, appreciation of groupwork, and improvement in cross-cultural awareness. It was also evident that participants with a positive perspective of groupwork showed a high level of engagement in and completion rate of the tasks. These skills can prepare students in their destination courses at university. This project might be able to inform the curriculum design in English language pathway courses at tertiary education.