How to teach speaking

HOW

TO

TEACH

SPEAKING

Created by:

Arnima Rusida

Dewi Novita

The ability to speak fluently presupposes not only a knowledge of language features, but also the ability to process information and language ‘on the spot’.

Elements of speaking

• connected speech• Expressive devices• Lexis and grammar• Negotiation language

Language features

A useful thing teachers can do, therefore, is to offer them phrase such as the following:

(I’m sorry) I didn’t quite catch that(I’m sorry) I don’t understandWhat exactly does X mean?Could you explain that egain, please?

We can help our students to stucture discourse by giving them language such as the following:

The important thing to grasp is that ...To begin with/And finally ...What I am trying to say is that ...What i mean is ...The point I am trying to make is that ....... Or, to put it another way ...Etc.

Without speaking, show that you do not understand what the speakers is saying, by looking confused, scratching your head in confusion, etc. However, only do this once

Without speaking, show that you do not agree with something the speakers is saying, by looking angry, shaking your head, etc. However, only do this one.

• Language processing• Interacting with others• (on-the-spot) information processing

Mental/social processing

Many of the classroom speaking activities which are currently in use fall at or near the communicative end of the communication continuum. In this section we will look at some of the most widely-used.

Clasroom speaking activities

Students will often act out dialogues they have written themselves. This frequently involves them coming out to the front of the class.

Acting from a script

Games which are designed to provoke communication between students frequently depend on an information gap so that one students has to talk to a partner in order to solve a puzzle, draw a picture (describe and draw), put things in the right order (describe and arrange), or find similarities and differences between pictures.

Communication games

For examples

Two students speak but at a prearranged signal one of the participants has to reach into the fishbowl and take out one of the many pieces of paper on which students have previously written phrase, questions, and sentences. They have to incorporate these into the conversation straight away.

One of the reason that discussions fail (when they do) is that students are reluctant t give an opinion in front of the whole class, particularly if they cannot think of anything to say and are not, anyway, confident of the language they might use to say it. Many students feel extremely exposed in discusiion situations.

Discussion

The class has to decide between a range of options, such as:

The invigilator should ignore it.She should give the student a sign to show that she’s seen (so that the student will stop).She should call the family and tell them the student was cheating.She should inform the examining board so that the student will not be able to take that exam again.

A popular kind of activity is the prepared talk where a student (or student) makes a presentation on a topic of their own choice. Such talks are not designed for informal spontaneous conversation; because they are more ‘writing-like’ than this. However, if possible, students should speak from notes rather than from a script.

Preaper talks

Questionnaires are useful because, by being pre-planned, they ensure that both questioner and respondent have something to say to each other.

Questionnairs

For a simulation o work it must, according to Ken Jones, have the following characteristics:

• Reality of function• A simulated environment• Structure.

Simulation and role-play

However, three have particular relevance if we are trying to get students to speak fluently:

• Prompter• Participant• Feedback provider

The roles of the teacher