ELT Methodology Teaching Speaking

FROM THEORY TO PRACTICE

Instructor: Dr. Hanita Hassan

Speaking Group Feb,2011

Ehsan Ataei 1-9
Saeid Farid 10-15

Vijaya Govind 21-27

Mehrnoosh Jebelli 28-34

Somaye Mirzababaie 16-20

Teaching Listening and Speaking From Theory to Practice

(Speaking part)
Jack C. Richards First published 2008

Teaching Speaking (TS)

Speaking is the most important skill among other skills

It is a tough job for teachers to engage student to speak, because there are some barriers and affective filters

Learners judgments and self-evaluation is based on their speaking

You can write or read or learn grammar or listen individually but you can not speak with your self so teaching speaking needs more consideration

Approaches in TS
Teachers and textbooks make use of a variety of Approaches, ranging from Direct Approaches focusing on specific features of oral Interaction (e.g., Turn-taking, Topic management, and questioning strategies) to Indirect Approaches that create conditions for oral interaction through Group Work, Task work, and other strategies (Richards, 1990). We will discuss over task based approach in oral communication in an academic setting in India as an example later.

Features of Spoken Discourse

Composed of idea units (conjoined short phrases and
clauses)

May be planned (e.g., a lecture) or unplanned (e.g., a conversation) Employs more vague or common words than written language Contains slips and errors reflecting online processing Involves reciprocity (i.e., interactions are jointly
constructed)(A relation of mutual dependence, action or influence)

Shows variation (e.g., between formal and casual speech), reflecting speaker roles, speaking purpose, and the context

Conversational routines
Fixed expressions, or routines, that often has
specific functions There are routines for beginnings and endings of conversations, for leading into topics, and for moving away from one topic to another. Let me think about it. Ill be with you in a minute. It doesnt matter.

Pawley and Syder (1983) suggest that native speakers

have a repertoire of

thousands of routines like these, that their use in

appropriate situations creates

conversational discourse that sounds natural and

native-like, and that they have to be learned and used as fixed expressions.

Styles of speaking
Style of speaking is appropriate to the particular circumstances. Different styles of speaking reflect the roles, age, sex, and status of participants in interactions and also reflect the Expression of politeness.
I guess it must be quite late now? You wouldnt have the time, would you?

Lexical, phonological, and grammatical changes may be involved in producing a Suitable style of speaking, as the following alternatives illustrate:
Have you seen the boss? / Have you seen the manager? (lexical) Whachadoin? / What are you doing? (phonological)

Functions of speaking
Interactional functions deal with social relations Transactional functions deal with exchange of information

Three-part version of Brown and Yules framework

Talk as interaction Talk as transaction Talk as performance

Talk as interaction
It is in the form of conversation related to social function like Greetings, engage in small talk, recount. Main Features Has a primarily social function Reflects role relationships Reflects speakers identity May be formal or casual and Reflects degrees of politeness Uses conversational register Focus on participants and their social needs Interactive, requiring two-way participation

skills involved (talk as interaction)

Opening and closing conversations Open dialogs to practice feedback responses Choosing topic, Making small-talk Recounting personal incidents and experiences

Turn-taking, Reacting to others

Classroom group discussions and problem-solving activities A class activity during which students design a poster

Discussing sightseeing plans with a hotel clerk or tour guide

Making a telephone call to obtain flight information Asking someone for directions on the street

Buying something in a shop or Ordering food from a menu

in a restaurant

Talk as transaction
Include greetings, small talk, compliments, personal recounts, and narratives focus is on what is said or done. Communication is more important than fluency or accuracy.

Talking as transaction
First type giving and receiving information
Accuracy may not be a priority, as long as information is successfully communicated or understood. Second type obtaining goods or services Focus on message not the participants. skills involved in using talk for transactions Explaining a need or intention. Not dependent on grammatical accuracy
Information-gap activities Role plays Group discussions (checking into a hotel or ordering food in a restaurant) (asking someone for directions describing how to use somethingsharing opinions and ideasdiscussing plans)

Teaching talk as transaction

Talk as transaction is more easily planned since current communicative materials are a rich resource of group activities, information-gap activities, and role plays Role-play activities are another familiar technique for practicing real-world transactions and typically involve the following steps: Preparing Modeling and eliciting Practicing and reviewing a role play using cue cards or realia to provide language and other support.

Talk as performance
public talk transmits information before an audience, such as classroom presentations public announcements speeches welcome speech given by a university president: Good morning. Its not my intention to deliver the customary state of the university address. Theres good reason for that. It is in the form of monolog rather than dialog, often follows a recognizable format (e.g., a speech of welcome. Examples of talk as performance Giving a class report about a school trip Conducting a class debate Giving a speech of welcome Making a sales presentation Giving a lecture

The main features of talk as performance

A focus on both message and audience Predictable organization and sequencing Importance of both form and accuracy Language is more like written language Often in monolog form

skills involved in using talk as performance

Using an appropriate format Presenting information in an appropriate sequence Maintaining audience engagement Using correct pronunciation and grammar Creating an effect on the audience Using appropriate vocabulary Using an appropriate opening and closing

Note : Some students are more comfortable with talk as interaction than as performance and vice versa

Features of performances

An audience Speaker creates a product A single speaker produces longer stretches of discourse Recognizable scripts e.g., welcome speech, business presentation, class talk Accuracy of language speech is monitored for accuracy Language more formal more like written language Teaching talk as performance Use model speeches, presentations, and other model texts Examine discourse and grammatical features Ss construct and practice parallel texts

Implications for teaching

Three core issues need to be addressed in planning speaking activities for an English class. The first is to determine what kinds of speaking skills the class will focus on. The second issue is to identifying teaching strategies to teach (i.e., provide opportunities for learners to acquire) each kind of talk. The third issue involved in planning speaking activities is determining the expected level of performance on a speaking task and the criteria that will be used to assess student performance

Goals for a successful speaking lesson/course

o o o o o o o o o o o o o o Activities address specific aspects of oral skills e.g., talk as interaction, transaction, or performance Sufficient language and other supports for tasks Balance of accuracy and fluency activities Modeling for speaking activities Activities are suitable for students of different proficiency levels Ss have sample talking time Ss participate actively in lessons Grammar and pronunciation errors are addressed appropriately Activities have take-away value A progression from controlled practice to freer practice Opportunities for personalization Ss experience success The pleasure factor

Teaching Oral communication skills

by Mojibor Rahman
A task based approach based on Indirect approaches

Students : engineering and technology students at

Indian institute.

Students Target : less proficient students

Students goal: to be master in language Oral

communication covers formal presentations to participation in teams and meetings

Setting :academic experience in teaching communication

According to Halliday oral communication defined as sociological encounter ,in oral communication exchange of meaning happens and some realities are created . Communication is a dynamic interactive process that involves the effective transmission of facts, ideas, thoughts, feelings and values. It is not passive and does not just happen; It is dynamic because it involves a variety of forces and activities interacting over time.

Communication is an interactive process

it includes some steps called process, besides during these steps some changes happen in the relation and interaction between people.

Effective oral communication

Be Confident in Academic ,professional and personal environments eye contact body language style understanding the audience adapting to the audience active and reflexive listening politeness precision conciseness

Task based approach

A task is a work plan; that is, it takes the form of materials for researching or teaching language. The general perception among language teachers and educators that task-based teaching is mainly directed at improving students abilities to use the target language rather than at enabling them to acquire new linguistic skills (Samuda, 2000) Task four criteria 1. meaning 2.a goal which needs to be worked towards 3. the activity is outcome-evaluated 4. A real-world relationship

Widdowson argues that exercise and task differ

with regard to the kind of meaning, goal, and outcome

they are directed towards. An exercise is premised on the need to develop linguistic skills as a prerequisite for the learning of communicative abilities, while a task is based on the assumption that linguistic abilities

are developed through communicative activity

Willis (1996: 356) Identifies eight purposes for Task-based language teaching 1. to give learners confidence in trying out whatever

language they know;

2. to give learners experience of spontaneous interaction 3. to develop learners confidence that they can achieve communicative go 4. to give learners chances for negotiating turns to speak

5. to engage learners in using language purposefully and cooperatively 6. to make learners participate in a complete interaction, not just one-off sentences;

7. to give learners chances to try out communication

strategies;(communicative effectiveness )

8. to give learners the chance to benefit from noticing

how others express similar meanings;(L2 acquisition)

Balance between Communicative tasks and other tasks Communicative tasks

promoting students' confidence Improve students communicative abilities provide opportunities for trying out communication strategies

But
Fail the development in linguistic skills

Oral Communication Skills

Skills Offered to prepare the students to take more advance level prepares the students to use the language in the real-life situations (academic, social or professional situations)

1. The nature, purpose and characteristics of good conversation 2. Phonological forms to use in speech 3. Developing conversation skills with a sense of stress, intonation and meaning 4. Use of question tags 5. Starting, maintaining and finishing conversations 6. Standard conversational exchange 7. Spoken language idioms

8. Effective listening and attention to others

9. Gestures and body language

10. Dos and Donts in conversation

11. Telephonic conversation

12. Functions of English in conversation: introductions, greetings, clarifications,

explanations, interruptions, opinions,

13. Agreement and disagreement, complaints, apologies 14. Participating in informal discussions and situations 15. Using information to make some decision, i.e., making social arrangements with friends 16. Reproducing information in some form (question/answer, summarizing, oral reporting, etc.)

Core Activities
( Show strengths and weaknesses of the students )

Individual oral presentations

Practice in class participation Discussion skills(informal discussion)

Oral presentations: In between the discussion/debate activity, the students are asked to prepare a topic assigned to them and present in the class. This activity is less emphasized because we have a full-fledged course in Oral Presentation Skills. Students make formal oral presentations. Each presentation is followed by a question/answer period, and concluded by the teachers comment.

In class participation (Role-play): For this activity, the students are asked to make group of three to five students. In the beginning The teacher listens the performances of the students and comments on the individual performances. He points out the errors of the individual students. At the end of the semester, students are assessed using these tasks Discussion/debate: This core activity runs every week. The students are engaged in a formal/informal discussion/debate activity on an assigned topic. This activity is completely student-led, i.e., students play all the roles (conductor, observer, group presenter, and participating members).It is more appropriate to call this activity a "discussion/debate" activity because it includes both group discussions and debates, including a little bit of oral presentation.

Conclusion
activity in speaking divided to interactions, transactions, or performances Always Consider Model of activities Divided activity stages Needed language support Needed resources Needed learning arrangements Expected level of performance Time and ways of feedback task-based approach in teaching oral communication has much potential, but it has a long way to go. majority of the Students understand the tasks and found the experience to be rewarding, interesting, and educationally beneficial. Students involved in the task because the tasks were giving the feeling of real life situation Their final performances were much improved(70 percent students scored grade A) Problems in carrying out these tasks: Sometimes it went out of control from the hand of students or from the hand of the teacher.

Reasons for poor speaking skills

Lack of curriculum emphasis on speaking skills

Teachers 'limited English proficiency Class conditions do not favor oral activities Limited opportunities outside of class to practice Examination system does not emphasize oral skills