ELT2 Teaching Speaking By: Bui Tri Vu Nam

I. INTRODUCTION
• To most people, speaking is the easiest aspect of learning a foreign language.
• Speaking is fundamental to human communication.

In our daily life, we speak more than we write.

 Goal of an English course is truly to enable students to communicate in English. In the
classroom, ss are able to perform some kind of oral tasks.

 PURPOSES
* practicing language (vocabulary, structures)

* developing students’ speaking skills:

=> communication =>

=> negotiation =>

 DIFFICULTIES & SOLUTIONS

Problems Solutions

1. students’ inhibition (shyness, worry about -  students feel

making mistakes…) more secure when talking in small groups –

unwilling to speak in front to the full class

2. nothing to say - choose easy / interesting topics

3. uneven participation - use pair work

Characteristics of a successful speaking activity:

1. Learners talk a lot
2. Participation is even
3. Motivation is high
4. Lang. is of an acceptable level

II. SPEAKING ACTIVITIES & TEACHING STEPS:

Below is a list of different kinds of speaking activities (1 - 8). Match these to the descriptions of
the activities (a - h).
SPEAKING ACTIVITIES

1. discussion 2. questionnaire
3. ranking activity 4. jigsaw activity

5. role-play 6. simulation

7. communication game 8. problem solving activity

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ELT2 Teaching Speaking By: Bui Tri Vu Nam

DESCRIPTIONS
a. Students read brief restaurant reviews then discuss an order for a list of restaurants from the best to
worst.
b. Students are given a logic puzzle and talk about possible answers in pairs or small groups.
c. In groups students pretend they are having a city council meeting to decide if some trees in the main
street should be cut down or not. Each student has a different role to play, but they use their own
names.
d. In small groups, students put forward their ideas about global warming and what should be done about
it.
e. Students work in pairs, each with a picture. Both pictures are very similar, but there are some small
differences. Without showing each other their pictures, they describe their pictures in order to spot the
differences.
f. Students move around the class asking each other about their last holiday destination as well as their
ideal holiday destination.
g. Different students read different information about a murder mystery. They form a group and share
their information in order to try and solve the mystery.
h. In pairs, students pretend to be neighbours. One neighbour thinks his partner a bit too noisy.

II.1 CONTROLLED SPEAKING ACTIVITIES

a) Social formulas and short dialogues
b) Substitution drills (Pattern practice/Grammar exercises)
c) Reading a text and answering questions

- Social formulas and short dialogues

• Topic: Greetings
• Expressions
Formal
* Good morning/afternoon/evening
How are you? /How are you doing?
I’m fine/very well.
Informal
* Hi/ Hello/ Hullo
How’s things?
Are you OK?
Fine/ so so/ not bad

DIALOGUE DIALOGUE (Dialogue Build)

Jane: Hi, Bill. Jane: ___, Bill.
Bill: Hi, Jane. How are you? Bill: Hi, Jane. ______ are you?
Jane: I’m fine. And you? Jane: I’m ________. And ______?
Bill: I’m OK. Thanks. Bill: I’m OK. ______.

T=Tony, M=Monique T=Tony, M=Monique (Dialogue Build)

T Excuse me, are you Ms Bresson?
M Yes, that’s right.
T May I introduce myself? I’m Tony White.
How do you do?
M How do you do, Mr White?
T Excuse _____, are you Ms Bresson?
M Yes, _____ right.
T May I ________ myself? I’m Tony White.
_____ do you do?
M How do you do, Mr White?

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ELT2 Teaching Speaking By: Bui Tri Vu Nam

 Substitution drill
Work with a partner. Use the cues given in the box.

A: What time does the movie start? concert 8 p.m. / 10.30

B: 7. 30 p. m.
soccer match 3 p.m. / 5 or 6
A: And when does it end? game show 11 a.m. / 1.30
B: 1 0 o’clock.

 Substitution drill
Work in pairs to practise the conversation; then do it again, replacing these underlined words with
those provided in (1) and (2).
A: Let’s go camping.(1) It can have a lot of fun. B: Yes, let’s do that.(2)

(1) (2)
Entertainment activities Agree/ Disagree
• Play football • I quite agree with you.
• Listen to music • Great.
• Do cooking • I can’t agree with you more.
• Go dancing • I can’t agree with you there.
• Play ping-pong • No, I don’t think so.
• Read newspapers • Yes. Let’s do that.
• Sing karaoke • That’s a good idea.
• Go swimming • I don’t think that’s a good idea.
• Go shopping………. • …………………………

TEACHING STEPS
A controlled speaking task (dialogue, substitution)
I. Pre –task
1- giving & explaining task
2- pre-teaching vocab. & structures
3- forming pairs/groups
4- giving clear instructions (roles & time)
5- Demonstration (if necessary)
II. While-task
• Ss work in pairs/groups
• T. walks around, monitors, prevents use of L1, gives help, takes notes

III. Post-task
• Ss report back (closed pairs/ open pairs)
• T. gives comments & sums up focussed points

II.2 COMMUNICATIVE EXERCISES

* Information gap exercises (elementary/Intermediate)

Ask your friend questions to find out information
Student A:
Ha Anh loves _______ music because it keeps her
happy. She really likes
_____________________ – they are easy to
listen to. Their songs cheer her up whenever she
feels bad. She listens to them ______________.
to fill in the blanks
Student B:
Ha Anh loves pop music because it
___________________. She really likes the
Back Street
Boys – they are _____________________.
Their songs cheer her up whenever she feels bad.

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ELT2 Teaching Speaking By: Bui Tri Vu Nam

She has got a Walkman so she can listen to music She listens to them all the time. She has got a
when she’s out. At home she always has the radio Walkman so she can listen to music when she’s
on and she watches pop programs on TV. out. At home she always has the radio on and she
watches pop programs on TV.

* Exchanging personal information/ Survey (elementary): Ss tell each other about their own lives,
interests, experiences etc. There is a natural information gap because everybody has something slightly
different to say.

FREE TIME PLANS

1. Listen and repeat. Then practice with a partner
Tuan What are you going to do tonight?
Lan I’m going to do my homework.
Tuan What are you going to do tomorrow?
Lan It is Sunday. I’m going to visit my friend. Then we’re going to see a movie. What about you?
Tuan Tonight I’m going to play badminton. Tomorrow, I’m going to watch a soccer match.
2. Practice
Complete this table with your free time plans and conduct a dialogue with your partner.
a. Ask your partner what his/her plan for tonight, tomorrow, next week is. Write information about
your partner in column C.
b. Answer his/her questions.
Your plans Your partner’s plan
tonight
tomorrow
next week

* Interview
Here are two apartment ads. They do not give very much information. Choose one and make up at
least 5 questions to ask the house owners on the phone.
• Beautiful apartment, walk to campus. Call 555-2009 for more information.
• Two-bedroom apartment. $500. Good location. Call 555-1828.

* Role play (Upper- Inter.; Advanced)

- A role play activity based on a dialogue
- Interviews based on a text
- Free role play
A role-play activity must have:
• Situation
• Roles
ROLE CARD A
Student A: You are a tourist on vacation in Ho Chi Minh City. You want to visit these places: a market, a museum,
and a restaurant for lunch. Ask the tourist information officer to suggest where you could go. Use these
expressions:
Could you give me some information, please?
Would you mind if I asked you a question?
I want to visit a market. Could you suggest one?
Do you mind suggesting one?
That sounds interesting.
No. I don’t want to go there.

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ELT2 Teaching Speaking By: Bui Tri Vu Nam

ROLE CARD B
Student B: You are a tourist information officer at Saigon Tourist. A tourist is going to ask you for help. You should
make suggestions about which places to visit. The following information will help you.
Market Museums
Thai Binh Market History Museum
Ben Thanh Market Open 8 am – 11.30 am and 1 pm – 4 pm daily
Open approx. 5 am – 8 pm (except Monday)

Restaurants Revolutionary Museum

Cuong’s Vegetarian Restaurant Open 8 am – 11.30 am and 2 pm – 4.30 pm
Good Food Vietnamese Restaurant Tuesday through Sunday
Lucky’s Ice-Cream Café
Open approx. 11 am – 11 pm. Stamps and Coins Market
Open 10 am – 7 pm

* Guessing games:
Group work or whole class practice: one student thinks of an occupation (e.g. a doctor, a nurse,
an engineer, a worker…). Other students ask YES-NO questions to identify his/her occupation.
Language: Do you work in a hospital?
Do you meet many people at work?
Do you operate a machine?
…
* Discussion: (Inter., Upper-Inter.)
- freer activity to develop fluency in speaking
- employing pairwork/groupwork

Common topics:
• Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of living in big cities.
• Talk about the solutions to the flooding situation in HCMC.
* Presentation (solo-work)

1) Describe a vacation you have really enjoyed. 2) Describe a movie that made a strong
Include: impression on you.
• where you went Include:
• who you travelled with • which movie it was
• what you did • what the movie was about
• why you enjoyed it • who the main stars were
• why you enjoyed it

IV. PROCEDURE
A long speaking activity (discussion)
1- Pre –speaking
1- well-chosen topic given.
2- careful preparation (pre-teach/elicit vocab., structures, ideas)
3- forming groups + nominate secretary/reporter.
4- setting the task in motion.

2- While- speaking
- SS work in groups.
- T. walks around for help.

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ELT2 Teaching Speaking By: Bui Tri Vu Nam

3- Post- speaking
- Reporting back (representatives of groups report back).
- Checking: T’s comments & summary of focussed points.

To sum up, below are suggested steps of speak ing lesson, put them in the correct order.

TYPICAL LESSONS ORDER

a. The teacher elicits or gives feedback either on the content or the performance of the
speaking activity.
b. The students spend some time planning the content of the speaking activity.

c. The teacher introduces the speaking activity and perhaps provides some information
input that will help students carry out the activity.
d. The teacher gives feedback on the language that students used in the activity and
might highlight and correct mistakes that learners made during the activity.
e. The teacher gives instructions for the activity. This might mean that the students read
some instructions or perhaps role cards.
f. The students do the speaking activity and the teacher monitors and
listens in on their progress.

III. MANAGING SPEAKING ACTIVITIES

Decide if the following ideas for speaking activities are “useful” or “not so useful”. Jot down why you think so.

IDEAS FOR MANAGING SPEAKING ACTIVITIES

IDEAS USEFUL NOT USEFUL
1. It pays to give students some thinking time before they speak.
2. It’s useful to do as much error correction as possible while
students are talking.
3. You need to think carefully about grouping and pairing students
for speaking activities.
4. It doesn’t really matter what topic you choose for speaking
activities. Students can talk about anything.
5. It’s a good idea to encourage students to think about their
speaking speed to make them sound more fluent.
6. It is sometimes helpful to base a speaking lesson on a reading or
a listening lesson.

PAIRWORK / GROUPWORK
- provides a variety of activity and of interaction.
- shy ss can benefit from group practice of this kind.

• Advantages & Problems (Textbook)

• Organising Pairwork /groupwork (Textbook)

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ELT2 Teaching Speaking By: Bui Tri Vu Nam

QUESTIONS

Task 1: For questions 1 – 7, match the activities with the teaching focuses listed A, B or C.

Teaching focuses: A appropriacy B fluency C connected speech

Activities
1. Identifying particular phonemes in conversations on audio cassette
2. Practice in speaking at a natural speed
3. Practice in greeting people informally
4. Identifying main stress in short dialogues on audio cassette
5. Practice in speaking without hesitating
6. Practice in using exponents of formal invitations
7. Practice in using intonation to show surprise

 Pair/groupwork
Task 1: Discuss the advantages and problems of using pair/groupwork.
Advantages Problems

Task 2: Read the following description of some roles that a teacher can play in the classroom and fill in the
blanks with the names of the roles on the right.

The teacher can be an active 1__________ in the group, genuinely taking part in the MONITOR
activities, contributing ideas and opinions, or relating personal experiences.
The teacher is also a 2__________ and 3___________, responding to students’ HELPER
request for help with vocabulary and grammar. By providing what the language
students ask for, at the time they actually need it to express themselves, the teacher PARTICIPANT
can facilitate more effective learning.
At other times the teacher is a 4____________, checking what learners have FACILITATOR
produced before they pass it onto other learners. This is especially desirable in, for
example grammar and examination practice activities.

Task 3
What’s the best grouping for these activities, do you think? Put W = whole class, P = pairwork, G = groupwork, or S =
solowork (individual work) in the boxes.

□ Students choose one of three alternatives when faced with an imaginary moral dilemma.
□ Students design a poster for a school event.
□ Students listen to a tape recording of a conversation.
□ Students practise saying sentences with the present perfect (I’ve lived here for six years, He’s studied here for six months).
□ Students prepare a talk on a subject of their choosing.
□ Students repeat words and phrases to make sure they can say them correctly.
□ Students work out the answers to a reading comprehension.
□ Students write a dialogue between a traveller and an immigration official.
□ Students write a paragraph about themselves.
□ The teacher explains the rule for the pronunciation of ‘s’ plural (‘pins, cups, brushes’).

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ELT2 Teaching Speaking By: Bui Tri Vu Nam

Task 4: Think of a forty-minute speaking activity as a follow-up and tell what the teacher should do to help the students
in this speaking lesson.

SPEAKING (UNIT 13 – E 10 Basic Ed.)

Activity 1: How much do you like each kind of film? Put a tick () in the right column. Then compare
your answer with your partner.

Kind of film Very much Not very much Not at all

science fiction
cartoon
horror
detective
thriller

Activity 2: Work in groups. Find out what your friends feel about each kind of film. Use the words in
the table below.
Example:

A: What do you think of horror films?

B: Oh, I find them really terrifying.

C: I don't quite agree with you. I find them very interesting.

detective films interesting
science fiction films moving
love story films good fun
cartoon films violent
war films boring
thrillers exciting
action films terrifying

Activity 3: Work with a partner. Find out his/her preferences for films. Use the cues below.
Example:
A: Which do you prefer, detective films or science fiction films?
B: Well, it's difficult to say. But I suppose I prefer science fiction films to detective ones.
• thrillers or science fiction films
• horror films or detective films
• love story films or cartoon films
• cartoon films or science fiction films

Activity 4: Work in groups. Talk about a film you have seen. Use the suggestions below.
1. Where did you see it?
2. What kind of film is it?
3. What is it about?
4. Who is/are the main character(s)?
5. How do you feel about it?
6. Why do you prefer it to other film?