IMPACT OFTEACHINGSPEAKING SKILLS TO INDIAN TECHNICAL STUDENTS

Dr. Deepanjali MishraAssistant ProfessorSchool of HumanitiesKIIT University, Bhubaneswar

TOPICS TO BE COVERED

• Importance of Communication• Concept of Speaking Skills to Engineering students• Problems of Indian Native Speakers• Overcoming the problems• Conclusion

IMPORTANCE OF COMMUNICATION• Communication is the process by which the sender

sends the message to the receiver through a medium which results in an understanding response. There are basically four skills of communication LSRW namely, Listening, Speaking, reading and Writing. Of all the skills, Speaking skills plays a pivotal role in enhancement of communication process, however this skills isn’t easy to comprehend. Lots of practice is involved if one needs to have a mastery over this skills.

THE SPEAKING APPROACH• Speaking is a communicative process of developing and

exchanging meaning through the use of words in oral form explaining a wide range of situation. It is a crucial part of second language learning and teaching. Speaking comprises of one of the four skills of communication. As we all are aware of the fact that English is globally used as a medium of communication which has gained momentum with the emerging trend of internet world, speaking skills should be developed in a more effective way along with three other skills namely Listening, Reading and Writing in-order to enhance communication.

ENGLISH AS A MEANS OF COMMUNICATION

• English has spread widely all over the world, first because of the influence of the British Empire and, second due to the pre-eminence of North American influence in the world. In Europe, English has advanced as an international language especially after World War II, leaving behind other preeminent languages such as French. English is now used by millions of speakers for a number of communicative functions across Europe. It has become the preferred language in a number of ambits like international business or EU institutions.

• English seems to have been adopted as the language of globalization these days as the language of global culture and international economy (Graddol, D. 1997: 4).

OBJECTIVES OF TEACHING SPEAKING SKILLS TO ENGINEERING STUDENTS

Getting placementHigher studiesMotivationfundamental component of human communication Tackling arguments against teaching speaking skills Enhancing grammatical contextImproving English Fluency

PROBLEMS OF INDIAN STUDENTS WHILE SPEAKING

• Environment• Grammar• Lack Fluency• Inhibition• Mother tongue Interference

OVERCOMING THE PROBLEMS

• Communicative Approach• Humanistic approach• Comparing languages• Wall posters• Talking about language• Conducting Activities

THE COMMUNICATIVE APPROACH• This approach encourages teachers to insist on the use

of English in the classroom, but by constantly nagging students to ‘speak English’ we may prove to be counter-productive. With teenagers we try to immerse them in English and give them plenty of opportunities to acquire the language. As children get older they develop a variety of different learning strategies. While they will always be open to language acquisition, they also start using conscious learning strategies.

THE HUMANISTIC APPROACH• Allow for an first language environment in the class

which may either be clearly defined area where students can retreat somewhere in order to express themselves in

• Their first language • allow time (e.g. the first or last five minutes of any

lesson) that is free for discussing their learning, the topics of the lesson, or just telling their teacher and fellow students a funny story that would take forever to tell in English and would lose all the humour, etc

COMPARING LANGUAGES

• The ability to compare their own language to English may help them overcome obstacles that mother tongue interference usually creates. Translating single words or sentences can lead to greater understanding

WALL POSTERS• Students can collate words on posters that either:

have direct translations and are very similar in both first language and English

false friends – words that seem similar but are actually different in meaning and often cause confusion

words that they often want to use but find hard to remember in English – students can choose their own criteria for such word banks.

TALKING ABOUT LANGUAGE• When students are asked to do grammar exercises, or

write together in English, or to do any work where they need to think about how English works, this is a situation when students may benefit from being allowed to use their mother tongue together. In these situations students often usefully explain grammar/lexis to each other, share ideas about how English works and actually engage in a much deeper exploration of language than one that might occur when their teacher tries to prohibit use of English

• Traditional songs

Students (in pairs or threes) choose a song in their own language and translate into English (an added challenge is to try to make it still hummable to the original tune).

• Soap operas

Similarly students choose a scene from their favourite soap opera or movie and translate into English. They can act these scenes out in front of the class later.

• The above activities encourage students to focus on translating meaning and appropriate register, not just translate single words.

• DubbingStudents can do the soap opera activity using a videoed episode of the programme, turn down the sound and speak over their English versions (this may be more appealing to more self-conscious students).

• InterpretersIn threes, students take on the roles of an interviewer, a famous person who can only speak MT and an interpreter. They must carry out an interview with the interpreter facilitating the communication.

• Tourist / Alien role plays• In pairs students are (a) themselves (b) a visitor from

another country or planet where only English is spoken.• (a) must explain an L1 instruction, menu, set of rules,

advertisement etc to the visitor

MINIMAL RESPONSE• Minimal responses are predictable, often idiomatic

phrases that conversation participants use to indicate understanding, agreement, doubt, and other responses to what another speaker is saying. Having a stock of such responses enables a learner to focus on what the other participant is saying, without having to simultaneously plan a response. This can be one way to encourage such learners to begin to participate is to help them build up a stock of minimal responses that they can use in different types of exchanges.

CONCLUSION

These are just some of the problems that teachers with large classes face when teaching speaking activities in the classroom. These problems are not new nor are the solutions offered above. Teachers all over the world continue to face the same hurdles, but any teacher who has overcome these difficulties and now has a large class of energetic students talking and working in English in groups together will tell you it is worth all the trial and error and effort at the outset.

REFERENCES•

1. Celce-Murcia. M. (2001). Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language (3rd ed). USA: Heinle&Heinle.2. Long M.H & Richards, J.C. (1987). Methodology in TESOL. USA: Heinle&Heinle. 3. Nunan. D. (1991) Language Teaching Methodology. UK: Prentice Hall International (Chapter two & three)4. Tanner .R. & Green.C.(1998) Tasks for teacher education. UK. Addisson Wesley Longman. Ltd.

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