Full name: Nguyễn Thị Ngọc Huyền

Date of birth: 01/08/1994

Group: FHTM112
REFLECTION ASSIGNMENT – SPEAKING 06

Questions:
1. Discuss speaking strategies you have studied during the course. Give examples.
2. Discuss ten features of natural speech. Give examples.
Answers:
1. Discuss speaking strategies you have studied during the course. Give examples.
1.1. SKILLS FOCUS
a. Expressing interests
Expressing interest during a conversation shows the speaker you are paying attention.
There are several ways to express interests in the speaker’s ideas. In addition to leaning
forward or making eye contact, you can use special words and phrases to show you are
interested in what the speaker is saying.
The following expressions can be used to express interest:
That sounds interesting.
I’ve always wanted to ……...
I was hoping to……….
I wouldn’t mind………….
Yeah. / Wow! / Mm-hmm. / Cool!
Really?
Interesting! / That’s amazing!
It is not necessary to wait until the speaker has finished talking to use these words or
phrases. You can use them throughout the conversation, whenever the speaker completes
a thought.
Example:

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 I am absolutely delighted
I am in a bad mood
She was absolutely delighted with her present!
Jenny’s over the moon with her promotion
She was absolutely gutted when she heard she hadn’t got the job.
Look on the bright side!
b.  Using Rhetorical Questions
One way that speakers introduce new topics is to ask rhetorical questions. The
speaker does not expect an answer to this kind of question. Instead, the question is used to
introduce an important idea in the lecture.
When asking a rhetorical question to introduce an idea, the speaker..
 continues talking after the question,
 does not look directly at students,
 answers his/her own question.
When the speaker expects you to answer a question, he/she ...
 stops talking after the question,
 looks directly at the students,
 asks follow-up questions, such as ‘Does anybody knows?’
Example:
Do you know what time it is?
How many times do I have to tell you not to yell in the house?
Do you want to be a failure for the rest of your life?
Where did I go wrong?
Haven’t you had enough awards this year?
c. Using Persuasive Language
There are times when you may want to convince others to accept your point of
view about something. There are a variety of strategies you can use.
• State your opinion clearly.
 I think (that) ...
 I have always thought (that) ...
 In my opinion ...
 I mean ...

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  It seems that ...
Example:
Fairness is the cornerstone of our constitution and our national identity. But as we
head into an election year, I think we need to ask ourselves whether we really
believe in a fair go for all.
• Acknowledge other people’s opinions before you disagree.
 I see what you're saying, but ...
 Yes, but….
Example:
I think the idea is great, but I am not sure about the timeline.
• Mention expert sources that share your opinion.
I heard that scientists ...
 I read that a climate expert ...
• Think of different opinion others might have and address them first.
Some people might think….but……
 Some people say ... but .
Example:
Some people think their abilities have limitations but with encouragement they can
perform much better than expected.
• Appeal to the emotions of the listener:
 Think about……
 What about…….
Example:
What about the pandemic that everyone is talking about?
d. Conversational Turns
Turn-taking refers to the process by which people in a conversation decide who is to
speak next. It depends on both cultural factors and subtle cues.
Turn-taking is a basic form of organization for conversation. Transfers from the current-
speaker to next-speaker occur at transition-places, or competition-places.
The current-speaker selects the next-speaker. The current-speaker may select the next-
speaker by foregrounding him or her. This can be done in a number of ways, including, by
looking at that person, or by asking that person a question. Actually, if the current-speaker
wishes to select the next-speaker, he or she must do so prior to the next transition-place,

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 for an undesired potential speaker may self-select at that transition-place.
Turn-taking systems can provide strong motivations for non-speakers to listen closely to
the current-speaker: only by keeping track of upcoming transition-places can an aspiring
next-speaker know when to speak; and there is always the possibility that one may be
called upon by the current-speaker.
1.2. SPEAKING SKILLS
* Changing the Topics
When giving a presentation, it is essential to let the audience know at all times what
you want to do and how you want to do it. ‘Signposting phrases’ are used to help guide
the audience through your presentation. The signposts are to show the audience
information about the presenter, the structure of the talk, and to signal that the presenter is
inviting questions from them, giving background information, referring to their
knowledge, changing the topic, referring to visuals, concluding or ending the presentation.
Following phrases are useful in maintaining a sequence of topics when the presenter is
moving on to the new topic/ point after the first one.
• Right, let’s move on to ...
• Ok, I’ll now look at/ talk about...
• Let’s turn to the issue of ...
• This leads to the next point, which is...
• This brings us directly to my next question...
• Leaving that aside for a moment, I’ll move on to ...
• This leads directly to the next part of my talk...
Example:
This leads to the next point which is the two main dangers to wildlife

2. Discuss ten features of natural speech. Give examples.

2.1.A discourse marker is a word or a phrase that plays a role in managing the flow and
structure of discourse. Since their main function is at the level of discourse (sequences of
utterances) rather than at the level of utterances or sentences, discourse markers are
relatively syntax-independent and usually do not change the truth conditional meaning of
the sentence.

Examples of discourse markers include the particles oh, well, now, then, you know, and I
mean, and the discourse connectives so, because, and, but, and or

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Discourse markers are words or phrases like anyway, right, okay, as I say, to begin with.
We use them to connect, organise and manage what we say or write or to express attitude:

[friends are talking]

A:So, I’ve decided I’m going to go to the bank and ask for a car loan.
B:That sounds like a good idea.
C:Well, you need a car.
B:Right.
A:Anyway, I was wondering if either of you would teach me how to drive.

The discourse markers in this extract have a number of uses:so marks the beginning of a
new part of the conversation.

well marks a change in the focus (from getting a car loan to needing a car).

right marks a response (B is agreeing with C).

anyway marks a shift in topic (from buying a new car to having driving lessons).

We use different discourse markers in speaking and writing. In speaking, the following
discourse markers are very common:

2.2. Informal grammar

Informal grammar allows the use of nonstandard English forms, colloquial vocabulary
and typically shorter sentence structures. Informal language is more commonly used in
situations that are more relaxed and involve people we know well. This is the kind of
everyday language we use when talking with friends or family.

Informal This experiment worked out just fine.

Formal This experiment was successful.

2.3. Hedges

We use hedges to soften what we say or write. Hedges are an important part of polite
conversation. They make what we say less direct.Typically, hedges are adjectives or
adverbs, but can also consist of clauses. In some cases, a hedge could be regarded as a
form of euphemism, allow speakers and writers to signal a level of caution in making an
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assertion.

Here is a list of words that are considered hedges : Perhaps, maybe, admittedly, might,
possibly, likely, probably, predominantly, presumably, so to speak, seems, appears, may,
think, to some extent, suggests, sometimes, often, around, roughly, fairly, usually, etc.

Examples: If you buy homeowner's insurance, you are hedging yourself against fires,
break-ins, or other unforeseen disasters,etc

2.4.Ellipsis technique - a solution to avoid repeating words in a sentence..Ellipsis is the

technique of omitting a phrase if the preceding clause or sentence already mentions it.

Examples: "After school I went to her house, which was a few blocks away, and then
came

- Ellipsis a situation in which words are left out of a sentence but the sentence can still be
understood:

An example of ellipsis is "What percentage was left?" "20." (= 20 percent) home.

There are three reasons for that. The first is … so reason has been omitted while it should
be The first reason is that…

2.5. Onomatopoeia

Onomatopoeia is a figure of speech in which words evoke the actual sound of the thing
they’re Sound words, also known as onomatopoeia, can make a poem or piece of writing
appeal to the sense of hearing. Words like bam, whoosh or slap sound just like the thing
they refer to. Take a look at five categories of onomatopoeic examples, grouped by letter
combinations that are commonly used to represent certain sounds.fer to or describe. Such
a word itself is also called onomatopoeia.

Examples: - Common onomatopoeias include animal noises such as oink, meow (or
miaow), roar, and chirp

The “boom” of a firework exploding, the “tick tock” of a clock, and the “ding dong” of a
doorbell

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2.6. Abbreviation

Definition of abbreviation: a shortened form of a written word or phrase used in place

of the whole word or phrase . Abbreviations may be used to save space and time, to avoid
repetition of long words and phrases, or simply to conform to conventional usage.

"VIP" is an abbreviation of" Very Important Person"

"COD" is an abbreviation of " Cash On Delivery"

2.7. Colloquialism

The word “colloquialism” as a literary device, colloquialism refers to the usage of

informal or everyday language in literature. Colloquialisms are generally geographic in
nature, in that a colloquial expression often belongs to a regional or local dialect.

Colloquialism is similar to slang, but the definition of colloquialism has some key
differences as described below.

Examples Colloquial: One famous colloquial difference in the United States is the
way a person refers to a carbonated beverage such as the words “soda”, “pop”, “soft
drink”, and “Coke” (used as a generic term and not just to refer to the brand).

There are numerous differences between American English and British English,
such as :

“truck”/“lorry”

“soccer”/“football”

“If you want to say 1:45

"Quarter to two" (UK) / "Quarter of two" (US)

Bookshop / Bookstore , Sweets /Candy, biscuits/ cookies, etc

2.8. Pun is a form of word play that exploits multiple meanings of a term, or of similar-
sounding words, for an intended humorous or rhetorical effect.

Examples of homophonic puns are:

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 + A bicycle can't stand on its own because it is two-tired.
+ A pessimist's blood type is always B-negative.

A joke is a display of humour in which words are used within a specific and well-
defined narrative structure to make people laugh and is usually not meant to be taken
seriously.It takes the form of a story, usually with dialogue, and ends in a punch line. It is
in the punch line that the audience becomes aware that the story contains a second,
conflicting meaning.

Examples

+ A boiled egg every morning is hard to beat.

2.9.Fixed Expression are fixed phrases in English, they are often confused with Idiom. A
fixed expression is a combination of words which express an idea. It has taken on more
meaning that the individual words while still maintaining a lexical connection. It is
frequently used in certain circumstances to express a specific idea

+ A fixed expression is a group of words that expresses a specific idea.

Eg: Fixed Expression

+ Wash the dishes (but not "clean the dishes" or "bathe the dishes")

+ Come into mind (but not "arrive in my mind" or "come into brain")

+ Sorry I kept you waiting. (More natural: Sorry I made you wait)

2.10. Effective stress and tone

Effective stress can be defined as the stress that keeps particles together. In soil, it is
the combined effect of pore water pressure and total stress that keeps it together. It can
also be defined in equation form as the total stress minus the pore pressure.

Tone refers to the pitch that is used to speak. English has a particularly wide pitch
range that allows speakers to vary their pitch by making it rise or fall when expressing an
utterance (e.g. sentence or question). Stress refers to an increased loudness for a syllable
in a word or for a word in a phrase, sentence, or question.

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 Your stress and tone in "certain words" act as audible clues to your audience; like
signposts indicating your meaning.

+ I thought your brother was a bus conductor (not your sister)

+ I thought your brother was a bus conductor (not a bus driver)

So the meaning of this short sentence can be changed, depending on which word is
stressed!

In conclusion, I consider ten features of natural speech as an important point to

improve pronunciation skill because effective communication is the ultimate goal of
learning a foreign language.