Building

the Speaking Skill

Ben Goldstein

The problem with speaking...

The speaking component of many

coursebooks indicate that speaking
activities are often simply exercises in
vocalising grammar.

Sco% Thornbury, How to Teach Speaking (Pearson)

 Among the many obstacles encountered by

material developers in a%emp>ng to replicate
genuine communica>on are its intrinsic
unpredictability and rela7ve complexity, both of
which must be regarded as inherent
characteris>cs of spoken language...

(Bao Dat: Materials for developing speaking skills from
Tomlinson, B. (2003) Developing Materials for Language Teaching. Con>nuum Press.
London)

5 principles (Timmis, 2014)

1 The syllabus in a course should be text-
driven.
2 Texts should be used as a basis for
language work on selected lexical,
gramma>cal, or discourse features.
3 Tasks which facilitate comprehension
should precede text analysis tasks.
4 Language focus work should reect what
we know about the nature of language.
5 Language tasks should focus on discovery
and no>cing rather than produc>on.

OVERVIEW

! A. Spoken Language

! What linguis>c informa>on is required to be a

successful user?


! B. Criteria for designing speaking tasks
! How can this informa>on be made available for use?


! C. A dialogic pedagogy


! Whats the link with teacher & learner roles?

Part A
Spoken Language

So, right now Ive been learning English for what 15 years? Its
most of my life going to class and its reached a point when the class
has just become this thing that is repeated again and again: you go to
class, you sit at a desk, you open the book, the teacher comes
and ...and... and more or less everything is the same. Its like that task
at the beginning of the unit that I really hate when the teacher comes
and tells shows you a photo and asks you: Whos this people?, and
What do you think are they going to? and the answer is these people
are models and theyve been posing for this photo, this is the real
answer but the teacher... what they want us to invent is a certain story
that only the teacher knows the answer, so it becomes It ends up
being more a role model game than an English class. And Im not
proficient enough to give up I still have to learn, because I havent
reached the perfection yet, but the only moment I enjoy in class its
when theres a certain link with reality when whats happening outside
comes into the class and when I can connect what I learn with what I
do when I know the answers, when Im not treated like a stupid
teenager because Im not.

What language does Dani have at his

disposal?
!Basic conjunctions: and, so, but
!Deictic devices: here/there; now/then, this/that, go/
come
!Simple verb tense forms: sit, open
!Aspect to frame information and provide narrative
background: Ive been studying
!When and what to layer information
!Word clusters: again and again, reach a point

So, right now Ive been learning English for what 15 years? Its most
of my life going to class and its reached a point when the class has just
become this thing that is repeated again and again: you go to class, you
sit at a desk, you open the book, the teacher comes and ...and... and
more or less everything is the same. Its like that task at the beginning of
the unit that I really hate when the teacher comes and tells shows you
a photo and asks you: Whos this people? and What do you think are
they going to? and the answer is these people are models and theyve
been posing for this photo, this is the real answer but the teacher... what
they want us to invent is a certain story that only the teacher knows the
answer, so it becomes.. It ends up being more a role model game than
an English class. And Im not proficient enough to give up I still have to
learn, because I havent reached the perfection yet, but the only moment
I enjoy in class its when theres a certain link with reality when whats
happening outside comes into the class and when I can connect what I
learn with what I do when I know the answers, when Im not treated like a
stupid teenager because Im not.

What can Dani do well?

! Construct a narrative and situate himself and the listener
within it.
! Use subordinate clauses (complex relative clauses) &
cleft sentences (the only moment I enjoy, its when).
! Use quotations and questions (and he asks you) to
relate events as they happened.
! Use examples to support argument (its like that task).

What can Dani do well?

! Express opinion and use appropriate intonation to
emphasize (this is the real answer / because Im not).
! Engage and involve the listener directly (you sit at a
desk).
! Use vague language (more or less, this thing).
! Rephrase and repair after false starts (it becomes; it
ends up being).

In spoken language we know that

1. Common words are very common (top 3000
represent 85% text).
2. Discourse markers are prevalent (10 of the
most frequent 50 words according to CIC).
3. Present tense outnumbers past tense by four
to one.

In spoken language we know that

4. Active voice predominates over passive.
5. Word clusters / chunks are ever present.
6. Certain words occur more frequently (e.g.
absolutely 4x more common in spoken than
written language)

Part B
Criteria for speaking tasks

Criteria for speaking tasks

1. Produc>vity
2. Purposefulness
3. Interac>vity
4. Challenge
5. Authen>city


(Sco% Thornbury: How to Teach Speaking)

! Produc>vity

How much language is generated in classroom
tasks (e.g. informa>on gap), or in tasks where
only a few students take part?

! Purposefulness


How many speaking tasks have a clear
outcome?

! Interac>vity

Do speaking tasks take into account the
interlocutor, the eect on the listener?

! Challenge

How stretched are the learners by a speaking
task? Do they experience a sense of
achievement doing it?

! Authen>city

Do the tasks have at least some rela>on to real-
life language use?

Do students perform in real opera>ng
condi>ons? e.g. spontaneously, unassisted,
with minimal prepara>on?

Three processes

1. Learners need to become aware of this knowledge
base. (awareness-raising)

2. They need to integrate these features into their
exis>ng interlanguage. (appropria=on)

3. They need to develop the capacity to mobilise these
features themselves under real->me condi>ons.
(autonomy)

1. Awareness-raising

2. Appropria>on

3. Autonomy

Part C
A dialogic pedagogy

A ra>onale for eec>ve speaking tasks

1. Focus on both sharing and processing informa>on

2. Respect for learner control of meanings

3. Poten>al for a range of learner choices

4. Concern for learner aec>vity

5. U>liza>on of individual knowledge

(Bao Dat: Materials for developing speaking skills from
Tomlinson, B. (2003) Developing Materials for Language Teaching. Con>nuum
Press. London)

A dialogic pedagogy

The language I learn in the classroom is a
communal product derived through a jointly
constructed process.

Breen, M. The social context for language
learning

A dialogic pedagogy

Arguably, speaking skills are best developed
when learners learn eventually to take control
of their own performance from an insider
perspec>ve rather than being constantly
dictated to by outsider manipula>on.

Bao Dat

Some shoulds
1 Speaking tasks should not be the mere
vocaliza>on of grammar.

2 Classes should be conversa>on-driven.

3 We should keep abreast of new uses in spoken
language.

Some shoulds
4 Teachers and learners should, where possible,
feel able to form a joint dialogue.

5 Real-world contexts and aims should form the
basis of speaking tasks.

6 In good teaching, the responsive should
prevail over the pre-emp>ve.

!but the only moment I enjoy in

class its when theres a certain link
with reality when whats happening
outside comes into the class and
when I can connect what I learn with
what I do, when I know the
answers