Teaching Speaking

Speaking seems to be the most important skill as people who know a language are referred to as speakers of that language. Therefore, classroom activities that develop learners ability to express themselves through speech are an important component of a language course. Nevertheless, it is difficult to design and administer such activities. Characteristics of a successful speaking activity 1. Learners talk a lot. STT TTT 2. Participation is even. !lassroom discussion is not dominated by a minority of talkative participants" all get a chance to speak and contributions are fairly evenly distributed. 3. Motivation is high. #earners are eager to speak. They are interested in the topic and have something new to say about it, or they want to contribute to achieving a task ob$ective. 4. Language is of an acceptable level. #earners express themselves in utterances that are relevant, easily comprehensible to each other, and of an acceptable level of language accuracy. %n practice, however, few classroom activities succeed in satisfying all the criteria above. Proble s !ith classroo speaking activities

1. "nhibition. Speaking re&uires exposure to an audience. #earners are often inhibited about trying to say things in a foreign language in the classroom. They are worried about making mistakes, fearful of criticism or losing face, shy of the attention that their speech attracts. 2. #othing to say. 'ven if they are not inhibited, learners complain that they have nothing to say( they have no motive to speak beyond the guilty feeling that they should be speaking. 3. Lo! or uneven participation . )nly one participant can talk at a time if s*he is to be heard. This means that each one will have only very little talking time. Some learners tend to dominate, while others speak very little if at all. 4. Mother tongue use. SS tend to use their mother tongue during the speaking activities because it is easier, or it feels unnatural to speak in a foreign language. +oreover, they feel less exposed if they use it. $hat can the teacher %o to help to solve so e of these proble s& a' (se group !ork ,STT increases, whereas TTT decreasesb' )ase the activity on easy language ,fluency increases" it is good to teach or review essential vocabulary before the speaking activity startsc' Make a careful choice of topic an% task to sti ulate interest

%' *ive so e instruction or training in %iscussion skills ,+ake sure that everyone in the group contributes to the discussion. / chairperson * leader should be appointed.e' +eep SS speaking the target language ,)ne in the group can monitor and remind the participants to use the target language. /fter the activity, this monitor tells the teacher how well the group managed to keep to it. No penalty0The functions of topic an% task 11111111111111111111111111111111111111..

&, -ctivity 1. )o. /.30 p. 4/, 2enny 3r, A Course in Language Teaching.
Which of the 2 activities in box 9.3. do you find more interesting in that it produces good oral fluency practice So e conclusions1 Activity ! is a topic4based activity. %t asks participants to talk about a ,controversial- sub$ect. The main ob$ective of this activity is the discussion process itself. - goo% topic is one to which learners can relate using ideas from their own experience and knowledge. Sometimes such an activity gives learners the opportunity to go into things more deeply. Activity 2 is a task4based activity. %t asks SS to perform something. The discussion process is a means to an end. - task is essentially goal4oriented. The result is observable( notes, lists, re4arrangement of $umbled items, a drawing, a spoken summary, etc. This result should be attainable only by interaction between participants. The teachers instructions should include something like( 5each a consensus0, or 6ind out everyones opinion0 There is more talk * participation * motivation * en$oyment with task2base% speaking activities. They are considered more effective than topic4centered activities, but in a well balanced language course programme both types of oral activities should be included. 11111111111111111111111111111111111111..

&, -ctivity 2. )o. /.4.0 pp. 123 4 1250 2enny 3r, A Course in Language Teaching.
6iscussion activities "o# #ill you present the activity Will al your students participate Will they en$oy it Can you foresee any particular problem motivation& etc.( .. 6escribing pictures ,useful for beginner classes%e.g. language& participation& tas' understanding&

7. Picture %ifferences ,the specific vocabulary should be known in advance" problem( peeping at the partners picture8. Things in co on ,an ice4breaking activity,suitable for fairly advanced students" high level of participation and 9. Shopping list ,imaginative, fun list" rather sterile in the amount of talk it produces:. Solving a proble motivation" the participants get personally involved" it produces further discussion11111111111111111111111111111111111111.. Types of spoken interaction a'. "nteractional talk. %nteractional uses of language are those in which the primary purposes for communication are social. "nteractional talk is a matter of learning conventional for ulae of courtesy. '.g.( greeting, taking leave, apologi;ing, saying thank you, making small talk, telling $okes, giving compliments, making casual chat of the kind used to pass time with friends or to make encounters with strangers comfortable ,speaking about the weather, for instance-, etc. This kind of spoken interaction is listener2oriente%. The emphasis is on creating har onious interactions bet!een participants rather than on communicating information. The goal for the participants is to ake social interaction co fortable and non2threatening and to co unicate goo%!ill. The accurate and orderly presentation of information is not the primary purpose here. b'. Transactional uses of language are those in which language is being used primarily for co unicating infor ation. They are essage oriente% rather than listener4oriented. -ccurate and coherent co unication of the message is important as well as confirmation that the

message has been understood. 7.plicitness and %irectness of the message are essential. '.g.( news broadcasts, lectures, descriptions, instructions, etc. c' Long turns refer to the ability to speak at length, to formulate a long string of utterances. %t needs cultivating. '.g.( telling stories * $okes, describing a place * person * process, recounting the plot of a film * play * book, giving a short lecture * talk, arguing a case for or against a proposal, etc. %' Short turns consist of .47 utterances ,various games can be mentioned here-. e' 8ole play refers to all sorts of activities where learners imagine themselves in a situation outside the classroom. SS are no longer limited to the kind of language used by learners in a classroom. They can be shopkeepers or spies, grandparents or children, authority figures or subordinated" they can be bold or frightened, irritated or amused, disapproving or affectionate" they can be anywhere.

8ole play activities help to vary the kinds of spoken interaction that learners can experience in the classroom. Techni9ues involve% in role play activities1 Plays < an expansion of the dialogue techni&ue. / class learn and perform a play or something they have read or composed themselves. 6ra!back( rehearsals and other preparations are ti e2consu ing. They are appropriate for the end of a course or years studies, or for school festivals. Si ulations < the individual participants speak and react as the selves, but the group role0 situation : task they are given is an i aginary one. 8ole play < participants are given a situation and a proble or task, as in simulations, but they are also allotted in%ivi%ual roles, which may be written out on cards. %t is often done in pairs or in groups. The groups or pairs i provise their role4 play between themselves simultaneously, with no audience. ,Sometimes it can be performed in front of the classroom by volunteers.- This is an extremely effective techni&ue if the students are confident and cooperative. / preliminary demonstration or rehearsal by the teacher together with a student volunteer can be very helpful. Structured task or topic4based activities with clear goals are a good basis for classroom talk in the foreign language, particularly at elementary and intermediate levels. =owever, the kind of talking they give practice in is in some respects limited( more advanced learners may need a wide range of activity types. ;ther co unicative activities that involve speaking skills

/. *uessing ga es. This is a type of controlled activity, but SS ask the &uestions they want not those the teacher wants. e.g. The teacher has a picture which s*he doesnt show to the class. S*he gives only some hints about it ,>%n my picture there is a man, a woman and a train.?- The SS should ask &uestions to find out exactly what the picture looks like. The teacher answers by @es * No. Then the SS try to draw the picture the way they imagine it. /t the end, the teacher shows SS the picture. ;ther e.a ples1 guess the picture ,of a famous person * place-" guess the sentence" mime ,the teacher gives a student a strip of paper with some instructions" one student mimes, the others guess-" hiding an ob$ect ,. or 7 SS get out of the classroom" an ob$ect is hidden" when they come back they ask the others some &uestions and guess what the hidden ob$ect is-, etc.

). 7.changing infor ation a'. <infor ation2gap= e.ercises are done in pairs. The SS are given different information. Ay asking &uestions and giving answers they fill in some gaps. e.g. Student B ,customerShopping list 2 7 packets tea 4 . kilo sugar 4 . can orange $uice 4 7 kilos rice 4 . kilo beans 4 . kilo oranges The customer asks &uestions of the type >=ave you got any teaD =ow much is itD % would like 7 packets, please.? The dialogue between the two is built according to the format of such social encounters. b'. e.changing personal infor ation ,see the handouts from /. Eoff111111111111111111111111111111111111111 ;ral testing Student @ ,shop assistant>ou sell tea < :C p a packet sugar < 8C p a kilo rice < 7C p a kilo orange $uice < 7: p a can

&, -ctivity 3.
6iscussion about whether it is worth testing SS oral proficiency or not, given that oral testing is difficult to design, to administer and to assess. Possible i%eas1 >es, because of the back!ash effect of such an exam * test" speaking is a very important skill that has to be tested" some SS speak well but write badly ,oral testing gives SS e&ual chances to succeed-, etc. #o0 because it is difficult to design such a test" it is difficult to assess ,the spoken discourse is not static-" difficult to establish marking criteria for fluency, accuracy, knowledge, interactional &ualities in the participants, etc." it is time4consuming. ???????????????????????????????????????...