Action Reasearch Speaking Motivation

7/31/2019 Action Reasearch Speaking Motivation

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IH Matar, Teacher Development Forums

Get talking!

In this session we will:

reflect and discuss issues related to developing speaking skills in primary school pupils

look at management and motivation difficulties in working with large groups

investigate the features of a wide range of speaking activities suitable for different ages

and levels

Typical problems when teaching large monolingual groups.What do you think are the causes of these problems? What are the possible solutions?

Students won't talk or say anything.

When students work in pairs or groups they just end up chatting in their own language.

When all the students speak together it gets too noisy and out of hand and I lose controlof the classroom.

SupportWe can provide support for our learners in many ways, for example:

- support through motivating topicsIf children are to talk meaningfully in English they must have something they want to say. Theteacher needs to take responsibility for adjusting tasks and topics so that they relate to pupils'interests. One of the best ways of achieving this is by building an element of choice for pupils

- support through task structureChildren often benefit from knowing what is going to happen at the different stages of a task.Security is provided if a task has a clear and achievable goal - a communicative orinterpersonal purpose. Preparation is vital through providing opportunities for short languagepractice activities before the main task

- support through language practice

Children need more than interest in a topic and a purpose for a task. They need sufficientlanguage to do so. Controlled practice of the target language should include:

Models of the language from listening.

Plentiful opportunities for repeated listening

Plentiful opportunities to say the words or phrases

Feedback on production to improve both fluency and accuracy.

Group and pair workTeachers of large classes have tried different strategies:

open and closed pairs

mixed-ability groups: The more able learners in the group can help the others to master

the work so that the teacher need not teach some parts..

same-ability groups: The teacher can leave the groups of faster learners to get on withthe work on their own. S/he can give extra help to individual learners in the slower groups.

using group leaders/monitors: Some teachers appoint faster, more able learners as groupleaders or monitors who can help slower learners.

monitoring the groups yourself: The teacher needs to move around the classroom to seewhat progress learners are making and what problems are coming up. S/he can giveadvice, encouragement and extra individual help where it is needed.

using active / passive learners: for speaking activities you can divide students into activeand passive learners. The active students are the ones who speak English. The passivelearners can participate without speaking English. They could be the ones who write thedialogue, for example or they could do types of self-access work.

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Activity types

Highly controlled spoken practiceThis is not speaking as such but oral language practice. This type of work is useful in largeclasses because it is very focussed and easily managed by teachers. With a few adaptationsthis type of work can easily be made more communicative.

Drills/chantsThere was a lot of drilling in the dialogue building task sequence. This is designed to supportlearners by providing controlled rehearsal time, by providing an opportunity for short languagepractice activities prior to the main speaking task. Furthermore it drilling can help provide afocus on phonology, such as sounds, stresses and intonation.Drilling has a bad reputation, seen as behaviourist in methodology and as being mechanicaland impersonal. It is not hard to imagine, however, drilling activities which offer studentsmore than the traditional 'listen and repeat drill.

The task is particularly suitable for younger children but could work with children up to 9 or 10.It is communicative and motivating. The fact that the children chant in unison provides supportfor weaker or shy students. Language is simple and practised repetitively.

Other drill activities:

Rub out words/ sentences off the board gradually. Can the children tell you what wasthere? Eg. Retelling stories eliciting back the story from learners. Building this up onthe board with learners either as a skeleton text or using the word wall technique.

Repeat if true eg. facts. Paris is the capital of France.

Repeat if true, but correct if false. Eg. Canada is the biggest country in the world

Repeat if true for you. Eg. I like teaching

Repeat if true for a picture which you show the class.

Other ways to work on pronunciation

Lip reading spelling dictations, etc Repeat the words.

Mazes (two example suitable for 5th and 6th primary.

Tongue twisters (examples from )

Categorising according to word stress

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Less controlled practice

Information gap activities are quite controlled and are intended to provide oral practice ofspecific language items. A gap in knowledge, or content or opinion underpins much of real-lifecommunication and in the foreign language classroom it can provide a good starting point fordeveloping speaking skills with larger groups.

What colour is your .?Aims: practice the question What colour is your +object. Response Its + colour

Students start with two blank T-shirts. Dictate some objects, for example, banana, apple,pineapple, pear, melon, etc. Prepare this to practise lexical sets from your coursebook.The children draw the objects on the T-shirts one set on each T-shirt.Tell the students to colour in the objects on one of the T-shirts, using any colours they knowthe name of.In pairs students ask and answer questions. They colour in the second T-shirt the same astheir partners.

Some other examples include: Weather maps

School timetables

Agendas

Picture dictations / Picasso dictations / etc.

Spot the differences

Battleships

Find someone who (pictures or words)

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Towards freer speaking

Student presentations: Show and tell.

Writing a story and a story book. Telling this to other, younger students.

Videoing students performances. This can have a profound effect on motivation

Integrating skills.

Recording students speaking and using these as the basis other classroom activities,such as dictations or listening comprehension work.

20 questionsAims: semi-controlled speaking practice, making questions.Think of an animal (famous person, etc). Do a class example and brainstorm usefulquestions.Students discover the animal by asking yes/no questions.

TabooAims: semi-controlled speaking practice, developing communicationstrategies to convey the meaning of unknown lexis.

Work in pairs or small groups. Each pair / group has a set of cards.One person describes the object on the card without using any ofthe words that follows.

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Get talking! Session materials

Typical problems when teaching large monolingual groups.

What do you think are the causes of these problems? What are the possible solutions?

Students won't talk or say anything.

When students work in pairs or groups they just end up chatting in their own language.

When all the students speak together it gets too noisy and out of hand and I lose controlof the classroom.

Hear / say Hear / say Student AAim: to practice language in a cognitive way through a pairs speaking activity.Work in pairs. Students A starts. Student B look on the back pageStudent B

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Student A

Start 12936

11208 33765

81310 42391

98945 23410

51831 75319


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Student B

Hear42391 11208

23410 Finish

12936 51831

33765 98945

75319 81310

Documents

Action Reasearch Speaking Motivation