Introduction ×

Definitions of Speaking skill √

Type of speaking √

Importance of Speaking skill √

Accuracy and Fluency √

Reasons of teaching speaking √

Elements of speaking √

Factors concerning speaking √

Pronunciation ×

Assessment of Speaking Skill ×

Difficulties in Speaking √

Classroom activities to enhance speaking skill ×

Conclusion ×

fluent speech contains reduced forms, such as contractions, vowel reduction, and elision, so that

learners who are not exposed to or who do not get sufficient practice with reduced speech will

retain their rather formal-sounding full forms. The same can be said for the use of slang and

idioms in speech: Without facility in using these ubiquitous features of spoken language, learners

are apt to sound bookish. Students must also acquire the stress, rhythm, and intonation of
English, a complicated task for many (see Goodwin’s chapter on teaching pronunciation in this

volume). Perhaps the most difficult aspect of spoken English is that it is almost always

accomplished via interaction with at least one other speaker. This means that a variety of

demands are in place at once: monitoring and understanding the other speaker (s), thinking about

one’s own contribution, producing that contribution, monitoring its effect, and so on.

A large percentage of the world’s language learners study English in order to develop

proficiency in speaking.

The ability to speak a second or foreign language well is a very complex task if we try to

understand the nature of what appears to be involved.

To begin with, speaking is used for many different purposes, and each purpose involves different

skills.

When we use casual conversation, for example, our purposes may be to make social contact with

people, to establish rapport, or to engage in the harmless chitchat that occupies much of the time

we spend with friends. When we engage in discussion with someone, on the other hand, the

purpose may be to seek or express opinions, to persuade someone about something, or to clarify

information.

In some situations, we use speaking to give instructions or to get things done. We may use
speaking to describe things, to complain about people’s behavior, to make polite requests, or to

entertain people with jokes and anecdotes.

Factors to Consider: Developing Adult EFL Students’ Speaking: Abilities Kang Shumin

Introduction

Learning to speak a foreign language requires more than knowing its grammatical and

semantic rules.

Learners must also acquire the knowledge of how native speakers use the language in the context

of structured interpersonal exchange, in which many factors interact.

Therefore, it is difficult for EFL learners, especially adults, to speak the target language fluently

and appropriately.

In order to provide effective guidance in developing competent speakers of English, it is

necessary to examine the factors affecting adult learners’ oral communication, components

underlying speaking proficiency, and specific skills or strategies used in communication. This

paper explores these aspects so that teachers can more effectively help adult learners develop

their abilities to communicate in the target language. Speaking a language is especially difficult

for foreign language learners because effective oral communication requires the ability to use the

language appropriately in social interactions. Diversity in interaction involves not only verbal

communication, but also paralinguistic elements of speech such as pitch, stress, and intonation.

In addition, nonlinguistic elements such as gestures and body language/posture, facial

expression, and so on may accompany speech or convey messages directly without any

accompanying speech. In addition, “there is tremendous variation cross-culturally and cross-

linguistically in the specific interpretations of gestures and body language” (Brown, 1994, p.

241).

New idea: New book. Nunan TESOL Methods, 2015.

Introduction

When we say someone knows Korean, Spanish, or any other language for that matter, we

assume that they can speak the language. It would be odd if they claimed proficiency in the

language on the basis of being able to read it. Of course, there are people who are fluent readers

of a language but who have no facility when it comes to listening or speaking. In fact, the

grammar-translation method, which dominated foreign language instruction for many years –

and in some places still does – turned out learners who could read and write but who were

incapable of understanding the spoken language or to speak it themselves. When I was in high

school, one of my best friends was the son of Croatian immigrants. He could understand

Croatian perfectly when his parents or grandparents spoke to him, but always answered them in

English. When I asked him to teach me Croatian, he replied that he didn’t know the language.

Whether this was true, or whether there were deeper (and possibly darker) reasons for his refusal

to speak Croatian, I never knew, but I remember being disappointed that he wouldn’t teach me

even a phrase or two of his heritage languages. When I observe the teaching and learning of

speaking, I find it useful to draw a distinction between ‘reproductive’ speaking and ‘creative’

speaking. In reproductive speaking, the learner reproduces language forms provided by the

teacher or some other aural model. In the audiolingual segment of the vignette in Chapter 1, the

learners were reproducing and manipulating the language models and cues provided by the

teacher. In creative language use, the learners do not regurgitate the meanings of others, but

create their own meanings. Both reproductive and creative language are necessary in developing
speaking. Good teachers are aware of the proportion of reproductive and creative speaking work

they require of their learners, and are able to match the proportions to the proficiency level and

needs of their students. Often students prefer reproductive oral work because it is ‘safer’ as the

risk of making mistakes is minimized. Again, good speaking teachers create a non-threatening

environment and encourage learners to leave their comfort zone and engage in tasks that require

creative language use. Remember that, while speaking and writing are productive skills, spoken

and written language are quite different. These differences manifest themselves in different

ways.

New idea: New book: Practical English language Teaching. David Nunan, 2003

What is speaking?

If you have learned a language other than your own, which of the four skills-listening, speaking,

reading, or writing-did you find to be the hardest? Many people feel that speaking in a new

language is harder than reading, writing, or listening for two reasons. First, unlike reading or

writing, speaking happens in real time: usually the person you are talking to is waiting for you to

speak right then. Second, when you speak, you cannot edit and revise what you wish to say, as

you can if you are writing. In language teaching, the four skills are described in terms of their

direction. Language generated by the learner (in speech or writing) is referred to as productive.

Language directed at the learner (in reading or listening) is called receptive. Another important

idea is the channel, which refers to the medium of the message (aural/oral or written). Thus,

speaking is the productive aural/oral skill. It consists of producing systematic verbal utterances to

convey meaning. Teaching speaking is sometimes considered a simple process. Commercial

language schools around the world hire people with no training to teach conversation. Although
speaking is totally natural, speaking in a language other than our own is anything but simple.

Spoken language and written language differ in many significant ways.

New Idea: New book: Marianne Celce-Murcia, Teaching English as a Second or Foreign

Language 3ed, 2001.

Introduction

For most people, the ability to speak a language is synonymous with knowing that language

since speech is the most basic means of human communication. Nevertheless, “speaking in a

second or foreign language has often been viewed as the most demanding of the four skills”

(Bailey and Savage 1994) what specifically makes speaking in a second or foreign language

difficult? Brown (1994) mentions a number of features that interact to make speaking as

challenging a language skill as it is. To start,

Assessment of speaking

Introduction

From a pragmatic view of language performance. listening and speaking are almost always
closely interrelated. While it is possible to isolate some listening performance types (see Chapter
6), it is very difficult to isolate oral production tasks that do not directly involve the interaction of
aural comprehension. Only in limited contexts of speaking (monologues, speeches, or telling a
story and reading aloud) can we assess oral language without the aural participation of an
interlocutor.
While speaking is a productive skill that can be directly and empirical!) observed, those
observations are invariably colored by the accuracy and effective-ness of a test-takers listening
skill, which necessarily compromises the reliability and validity of an oral production test. How
do you know for certain that a speaking score is exclusively a measure of oral production without
the potentially frequent clarifications of an interlocutor? This interaction of speaking and
listening challenges the designer of an oral production test to tease apart, as much as possible, the
factors accounted for by aural intake.

Another challenge is the design of elicitation techniques. Because most speaking is the product
of creative construction of linguistic strings, the speaker makes choices of lexicon, structure, and
discourse. If your goal is to have test-takers demonstrate certain spoken grammatical categories,
for example, the stimulus you design must elicit those grammatical categories in ways that
prohibit the test-taker from avoiding or paraphrasing and thereby dodging production of the
target form.

New idea: New book: International Perspectives on Teaching the Four Skills in ELT. Anne
Burns · Joseph Siegel Editors. 2018.

Speaking in the Teaching–Learning Process

Learning to speak in another language is complex, as reflected in the range and types of sub-
skills that are involved in L2 oral production (Richards 2008; Goh and Burns 2012). For
instance, speakers must attend at the same time to content, morphosyntax and lexis, discourse
and information structuring, the sound system and prosody, plus appropriate register and pragma
linguistic features (see Hinkel 2012; Burns 2013). Apart from the complexity of developing the
various knowledge and skills required for speaking, the syllabus demands outlined for the first 6
years of schooling are themselves very challenging for primary pupils. The teacher must manage
this delicate process, which simultaneously entails the beginning of ESL study for these young
learners. For most learners, exposure to English must also come from the classroom itself. Even
though they are exposed to English outside class, mostly through the media, their actual use of
the language is primarily at school.
CONCLUSION

In conclusion, speaking is one of the central elements of communication. In EFL teaching, it is

an aspect that needs special attention and instruction. In order to provide effective instruction, it

is necessary for teachers of EFL to carefully examine the factors, conditions, and components

that underlie speaking effectiveness. Effective instruction derived from the careful analysis of

this area, together with sufficient language input and speech-promotion activities, will gradually

help learners speak English fluently and appropriately.

In EFL teaching, it's a side that desires special attention and instruction. so as to supply

effective instruction, it's necessary for lecturers of EFL to rigorously examine the factors,

conditions, and elements that underlie speaking effectiveness. Effective instruction derived

from the careful analysis of this space, in conjunction with spare language input and

speech-promotion activities, can step by step facilitate learners speak English fluently and

suitably.

It is an aspect of EFL teaching that requires special attention and guidance. In order to

provide successful instruction, it is important for EFL teachers to carefully analyze the

causes, conditions and components underlying the effectiveness of the instruction. Effective

instruction derived from careful study of this area, together with adequate language

feedback and speech promotion exercises, can slowly enable learners to speak English

fluently and appropriately.

Speaking, in turn, is one of the key contact components.

It is an aspect of EFL teaching that requires special attention and guidance. In order to

provide successful instruction, it is important for EFL teachers to carefully analyze the

causes, conditions and components underlying the effectiveness of the instruction. Effective

instruction derived from careful study of this area, together with adequate language

feedback and speech promotion exercises, can slowly enable learners to speak English

fluently and appropriately.

Speaking, in turn, is one of the key contact components. It is a factor of EFL educating that

requires one of a kind attention and guidance. In order to supply profitable instruction, it

is important for EFL instructors to cautiously analyze the causes, prerequisites and aspects

underlying the effectiveness of the instruction. Effective practice derived from cautious find

out about of this area, together with ample language remarks and speech promotion

exercises, can slowly allow rookies to speak English fluently and appropriately.

In this chapter we have:

■ said that speaking activities are designed to provoke ‘speaking-as-a-skill’, where there is a

purpose for talking which is not just linguistic.

■ seen how speaking activities provide opportunities for rehearsal, give both teacher and students

feedback and motivate students because of their engaging qualities. Above all, they help students

to be able to produce language automatically - a crucial stage on the way to autonomy.

In this chapter, we learned that speaking is the productive oral skill, and we contrasted speech

with writing. We noted that speaking a second or foreign language is far from simple. In fact,

speaking—especially in a language other than our ow n-is quite a complex undertaking which

involves using all the different levels of language.