Abuyog Community College

Abuyog, Leyte

MIDTERM
MODULE IN
REMEDIAL
INSTRUCTION IN
ENGLISH
COGNATE 1

Keep Striving!
Keep Learning!
Remedial Instruction in Speaking:
Factors that Influence Students’
Speaking Skill
 LESSON 6

INTRODUCTION
Speech is the most basic means of communication. “Speaking in a second language or
foreign language has often been viewed as the most demanding and challenging of the four
skills.” (Bailey and Savage, 1994) What specifically makes speaking in a second language or
foreign language difficult. According to Brown (1994) a number of features of spoken language
includes reduced forms such as contractions, vowel reduction, and elision; slang and idioms;
stress, rhythm, and intonation. Students who are not exposed to reduced speech will always
retain their full forms and it will become a disadvantage as a speaker of a second language.
Speaking is an activity requiring the integration of many subsystems.
Keep Learning

LEARNING OUTCOMES
At the end of this lesson, you should be able to:
Determine and discuss the factors that influence learners’ speaking skill.

DISCUSSION/LEARNING ACTIVITIES
Activity 1
Knowing Yourself
Direction: By evaluating yourself, answer the following questions in the table below.
QUESTION ANSWER
What makes you a good speaker?

Why is it important to become

proficient in speaking?

Enriching our Knowledge about Remedial Instruction in

Speaking,
LET’S READ!

Factors that Influence Learners’ Speaking

The six factors below suggest that any learner who really wants to learn to pronounce
English clearly and comprehensibly. As the teacher, you can assist in the process by gearing your
planned and unplanned instruction toward these six factors.
1. Native Language
The native language is clearly the most influential factor affecting a learner’s
pronunciation. If the teacher is familiar with the sound system of a learner’s native
language, (s)he will be better able to diagnose student difficulties. Many L1 to L2
carryovers can be overcome through a focused awareness and effort on the learner’s part.
2. Age
Children under the age of puberty generally stand an excellent chance of
“sounding like a native” if they have continued exposure in authentic contexts. Beyond
the age of puberty, while adults will almost surely maintain a “foreign accent,” there is no
particular advantage attributed to age. A fifty-year-old can be as successful as an
eighteen-year-old if all other factors are equal. The belief that “the younger, the better” in
learning a language is a myth.
3. Exposure
It is difficult to define exposure. One can actually live in a foreign country for
some time but not take advantage of being “with the people.” Research seems to support
the notion that the quality and intensity of exposure are more important than mere length
of time. If class time spent focusing on pronunciation demands the full attention and
interest of students, then they stand a good chance of reaching their goals.
4. Innate phonetic ability
Often referred to as having an “ear” for language, some people manifests a
phonetic coding ability that others do not. In many cases, if a person has had exposure to
a foreign language as a child, this “knack” is present whether the early language is
remembered or not. Others are simply more attuned to phonetic discriminations. Some
people would have you believe that you either have such a knack, or you don’t.
Strategies-based instruction, however, has proven that some elements of learning are a
matter of an awareness of your own limitations combined with a conscious focus on
doing something to compensate for those limitations. Therefore, if pronunciation seems
to be 18 naturally difficult for some students, they should not despair; with some effort
and concentration, they can improve their competence.
5. Identity and language ego
Another influence is one’s attitude toward speakers of the target language and the
extent to which the language ego identifies with those speakers. Learners need to be
reminded of the importance
6. Motivation and concern for good pronunciation
Some learners are not particularly concerned about their pronunciation, while
others are. The extent to which learners’ intrinsic motivation propels them toward
improvement will be perhaps the strongest influence of all six of the factors in this list. If
that motivation and concern are high, then the necessary effort will be expended in
pursuit of goals. As the teacher, you can help learners to perceive or develop that
motivation by showing, among other things, how clarity of speech is significant in
shaping their self-image and, ultimately, in reaching some of their higher goal
ASSESSMENT

Directions: By assessing your own, as a future language educator, what are the factors that
influence you to become a good speaker? What are your ways for you to achieve it? Explain
your thoughts and give example.
 LESSON 7
Remedial Instruction in Speaking:
Problems that language learners’ face
during Speaking

INTRODUCTION
As mentioned in the earlier lesson, speaking is one of the tough skill to learn. Yes, there
are gifted who are proficient in using a language and fluent in using it, yet there are still who find
speaking as challenging.
In this lesson you will be notified with the different problems that language learners’
faced during speaking. But, remember that whatever problems or difficulty you have in speaking,
it just need a couple of practice and willingness for you to overcome it.

Keep Learning

LEARNING OUTCOMES
At the end of this lesson, you should be able to:
Identify and discuss the problems that language learners’ face during speaking.

DISCUSSION/LEARNING ACTIVITIES
Activity 1
Knowing Yourself
Direction: By evaluating yourself, answer the following questions in the table below.
QUESTION ANSWER
Have you experience being afraid in
speaking in front of the crowd?

Why are you afraid to do the thing?

Enriching our Knowledge about Remedial Instruction in

Speaking,
LET’S READ!

Problems that language learners face during speaking

 Students often think that the ability to speak a language is the product of language
learning, but speaking is also a crucial part of the language learning process. Effective instructors
teach students speaking strategies—using minimal responses, recognizing scripts, and using
language to talk about language—that they can use to help themselves expand their knowledge
of the language and their confidence in using it. These instructors help students learn to speak so
that the students can use speaking to learn.

Douglas Brown (2000) identified eight factors that can make speaking
difficult.

1. Clustering
Fluent speech is phrasal, not word by word. Learners can organize their output
both
2. Reduced forms
Contractions, elisions, reduced vowels, etc., all form special problems in teaching
spoken English. Students who don’t learn colloquial contractions can sometimes develop
a stilted, bookish quality of speaking that in turn stigmatizes them.
3. Performance variables
One of the advantages of spoken language is that the process of thinking as you
speak allows you to manifest a certain number of performance hesitations, pauses,
backtracking, and corrections. Learners can actually be taught how to pause and hesitate.
For example, in English our “thinking time” is not silent; we insert certain “fillers” such
as uh, um, well, you know, I mean, like, etc. One of the most salient differences between
native and nonnative speakers of a language is in their hesitation phenomena.
4. Colloquial language
Make sure your students are reasonably well acquainted with the words, idioms,
and phrases of colloquial language and those they get practice in producing these forms.
5. Rate of delivery
Another salient characteristic of fluency is rate of delivery. One of the language
teacher’s tasks in teaching spoken English is to help learners achieve an acceptable speed
along with other attributes of fluency.
6. Stress, rhythm

7. m, and intonation
This is the most important characteristic of English pronunciation. The stress
timed rhythm of spoken English and its intonation patterns convey important messages.
8. Interaction
Learning to produce waves of language in a vacuum—without interlocutors—
would rob speaking skill of its richest component: the creativity of conversational
negotiation.

ANALYSIS
Why do you think people faced these different factors in speaking?
\

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ASSESSMENT

Directions: By assessing your own, what are the factors that cause your difficulty in
speaking? Explain your thoughts and give example.
 LESSON 8
Remedial Instruction in Speaking: Tips on
How to Improve Your English Speaking Skills

INTRODUCTION
English is the world’s lingua franca, a common language that people with different native
languages can use to communicate. English now spans across countries and cultures, and the
ability to speak it well will open many doors for your career and social life.

The more fluent you are in English, the more interesting, exciting and insightful
conversations you can have.
In this lesson, you will learn the different strategies on how to hone your speaking skill. As a
future language educator, the capability to speak the English language fluently is a great advantage and
key.

Keep Learning

LEARNING OUTCOMES
At the end of this lesson, you should be able to:
Determine and discuss the helpful tips in good speaking.

DISCUSSION/LEARNING ACTIVITIES
Activity 1
Direction: Answer question in the table below.
QUESTION ANSWER

What are your strategies or ways in

enhancing your fluency in English
language?

Enriching our Knowledge about Remedial Instruction in

Speaking,
LET’S READ!

Tips on How to Improve Your English Speaking Skills

 English is the world’s lingua franca, a common language that people with different native
languages can use to communicate. English now spans across countries and cultures, and the
ability to speak it well will open many doors for your career and social life.

The more fluent you are in English, the more interesting, exciting and insightful
conversations you can have.

It enables life-enriching experiences like traveling, studying and working abroad, not
only in the US but also many other countries where English is widely spoken.

The world is your oyster (the world is yours).

The other good news is that you can improve English speaking skills without a classroom
partner or stressful lessons. It’s totally possible to have fun and master speaking a language at the
same time.

Pronouncing the words correctly is the key to eloquence, but it is not everything. This article will
take you beyond the foundational aspects to reach communicative competence.

Build a Strong Foundation in Speaking

In order to express yourself eloquently in English, you need a wide variety of vocabulary
and the correct pronunciation.

1. Expand your vocabulary

Learn New Words Every Day

Gleaning new words day in, day out is a good way to widen your vocabulary. Commit to
a suitable target: it can be three daily words or it can be ten daily words.

Even if you only have time to learn one new word per day, it is still worth trying. By
learning one word every day, after one year you will have learned 365 new English words.

Write the number down to remind yourself frequently. If you have a learning partner, share it
with her so that she can check on your progress.

Some good resources for words are the news, songs and TV shows, depending on your
daily habits. If you love listening to music, pay attention to the lyrics and take note of the words
you do not know. Songs often contain a lot of useful vocabulary, phrases and expressions,
therefore, they are great for learning English. You can do the same thing with FluentU videos.

Fluently takes real-world videos—like music videos, movie trailers, news and inspiring
talks—and turns them into personalized language learning lessons.

Learn Words in Phrases and Chunks

It is important that you learn words in groups. For example, you refer to beverages as a
glass of wine, a pint of beer, a cup of tea, a pot of coffee, etc. It is better to learn those phrases
than merely wine, beer, tea and so on.

You can also benefit from learning words that are related. The moon has four phases
during a lunar month: crescent, gibbon, waxing and waning. It is more efficient to learn all four
words at the same time.

2. Improve your pronunciation

You might know a lot of words, but if you fail to say them correctly, you will not be
understood. That seems like a waste of the time spent on remembering words, right?
 When using online dictionaries such as Macmillan and Merriam-Webster, make use of
the little speaker symbol to check the pronunciation of any word that you are not sure about.
There are English pronunciation tutorials on YouTube or podcasts like English Pronunciation
Pod or American English Pronunciation to teach you the many aspects of American English
pronunciation.

When you are ready for something more challenging, try out tongue twisters. Some
examples are available here. Personally, I love the Fork handles sketch from the show “The Two
Ronnies.” It might not be a typical example of everyday conversation, but it shows you the
richness of spoken English. Besides, you will have a good laugh.

Learning proper English pronunciation is essential for excelling in conversations with

English speakers and even in situations in school or at work.

For excelling in business English, the resource that we would most recommend for this is
Creativa.

Creativa provides premium, highly produced videos for learning English and business
communication skills. Creativa provides entertaining videos, useful but unexpected tips, and
goes beyond just English to teach you body language, intonation and the pronunciation of
specific English dialects like North American English. Creativa is a new product from the
FluentU team.

Here’s a sample video from Creativa’s Mastering Business Video Calls in English
course, which has tips for expressing yourself effectively:

3. Learn the natural flow of English

Being able to say individual words correctly is great, but the secret of speaking fluently in
English lies in the flow of sentences. Whenever you read a piece of poetry, listen to a melodic
song or watch a hilarious sitcom, pay attention to the following:

Linking. Notice how native speakers link words together: joining two sounds, making a
sound to disappear or changing a sound for a better flow.
Contractions. Contractions are shortened forms of two words. For example:
I + am = I’m
he + will = he’ll
they + have = they’ve
do + not = don’t
Stress. There are stressed syllables in a word and stressed words in a sentence.
Rhythm. The rhythm is the overall result of stress, contractions and linking. It is the ups and
downs, the musical feature of English.

4. Build English speaking confidence

One of the biggest barriers to developing English speaking skills is confidence. It is
certainly something that all language learners have difficulty with and one of the best ways to
overcome this is to get out there and practice.

If you think you’ve got what it takes, then get out there and practice English with
strangers!

That’s right, by following the tips in the video, you’ll be able to focus on a sometimes
forgotten component of language learning: confidence! After a while, you’ll completely rid
yourself of any English speaking fear building a strong foundation in the language.
5. Speech shadowing
In a nutshell, this technique is about imitation. You listen to how a native speaker says
something and try to copy it.
Pick your favorite video with subtitles. Make sure that it is something you enjoy
watching because you will…
Listen to it many times. Listen to the video once and read the subtitles to get a good grasp
of the general content and flow. While you are playing it again, complete the next step.
Imitate the narrator sentence by sentence. Play. Listen. Pause. Speak. Record (optional).
Copy the speech pattern as best as you can. If you choose to record your practice, you can
compare yours and the original. Or else, just listen to your own sound and be critical of the
difference or similarity. Repeat this step until the end of the video.
6. Self-talk
Talk to yourself in English loudly. It can be anything from a suggestion like, “Shall we
go get a glass of water?” or a reminder, “I need to do a load of laundry today.”

Alternatively, pick up a book and read a couple of pages out loud. This exercise might
slow down your reading, but it will speed up your speaking skills.

You can also record yourself, listen to the recording and watch out for any wrong
pronunciations. If it is possible, ask for feedback from a native speaker.
7. Think in English
If you already think in English, it takes less time to produce or respond in everyday
conversations. No translation needed!

A good way to start rethinking is to keep a diary where you express your daily thoughts
in English. It does not have to be perfect, it is more about getting out thoughts in English with
less and less effort.

8. Retell a story in English

Take the challenge a step further by retelling a story. You retrace other people’s line of
thoughts in your own words.

I would start with a familiar story from your culture. Your translation needs to convey not
only the meaning of words but all rhetorical and cultural nuances.

Alternatively, you can choose different words to retell a simple story in English. Start
from the basics, reading something like a fairy tale or a fable. Either way will be beneficial to
your English communication skills.

Frequently Practice to Improve Your English Speaking Skills

Practice makes perfect, so do speak English in plenty. Some people think that they do not have
the opportunity to practice speaking because they do not live in the US or another English-
speaking country. They might also be discouraged because English is not used at their
workplace, or they do not know any native speakers.

There is some validity in those excuses, but do not let them hinder your learning. Thanks
to the growth of globalization and technology, you have more chances than ever to practice
speaking English. You’ll find many ideas below.

9. Participate in public speaking events

Big universities, theaters and culture societies organize events like open debates, spoken
word readings and improvised storytelling gatherings. These are places where you can come and
mingle with like-minded people and practice speaking English.
 Many cities are now hosting TED or TEDx talks where you can register to participate and
share your innovative ideas. Check the events page of your local university to see if there are any
available. It might be a nerve-racking experience, but it would be great for your English!

10. Go to language cafes

If public speaking terrifies you (and I know it does for many), you can opt for language
cafes. Those cafes create a friendly and relaxing atmosphere for people who want to practice and
exchange languages.

You can find language cafes through local universities or the Meetup groups available in
your cities.

11. Using apps

Another option is to use an app to talk to native speakers online, in the comfort of your
own home. Some popular apps are HelloTalk and Tandem. Basically, you register for an
account, introduce yourself, your native language and your hobbies. The app will find you some
matches—the people who speak English and want to practice the language you know well. All
you need to do is to press a few buttons and start talking.

12. Chat with Siri

I find chatting with Siri is a great way to force myself to speak more clearly. As Siri is a
machine, you cannot rely on environmental clues and facial gestures to get your ideas across.
Your words are the only tool you have to make yourself understood. Thus, you need to speak as
clearly and precisely as you could.

Another plus point of using Siri is that she is always available (as long as your phone is
charged and connected to a WiFi network). Just press the home button and start asking questions.

If you own an Android smartphone, you can practice speaking with Google Now.

NOTE:
So, off you go! Choose your preferred method to expand your vocabulary, correct your
pronunciation, and boost your English speaking with the methods that are right for you. Do not
forget to practice as much as possible.

And One More Thing...

If you like learning English through movies and online media, you should also check out
FluentU. FluentU lets you learn English from popular talk shows, catchy music videos and funny
commercials, as you can see here:

ASSESSMENT

Directions: With your learning in this lesson, what are your tips or pieces of advice for
yourself and for your classmates to enhance speaking skill? Elaborate your answer.
 LESSON 9
Remedial Instruction in Speaking:
Speaking activities, Aids and Supporting
Materials

INTRODUCTION
What are the different aims of speaking activities?
Broadly speaking, there are two main reasons for getting students to speak during a
lesson:

 to give students practice of language items (vocabulary, grammar functions etc.) –

a language practice aim
 to develop students’ ability to speak fluently and interactively – a speaking
fluency aim
If the speaking activity is preceded by activities that present and give controlled written
practice of grammar or vocabulary items, the speaking activity will have a language practice aim.
If the speaking activity comes before a text (reading or listening) or just involves speaking for
speaking’s sake, then the activity will have a speaking fluency aim. With speaking fluency
activities, it often doesn’t matter what vocabulary and grammar students use and whether it’s
accurate nor not. The learning outcome is for students to gain confidence in speaking English.
However, you often need to give students time to prepare and think about what they’re going to
say before they speak.

Keep Learning

LEARNING OUTCOMES
At the end of this lesson, you should be able to:
 Identify and give examples of listening activities, aids and supporting materials.

DISCUSSION/LEARNING ACTIVITIES
Activity 1
What are the activities that you’ve usually do for you to enhance your speaking skill? How
helpful it is for your betterment in speaking?
 Enriching our Knowledge about Remedial Instruction in
Speaking,
LET’S READ!

How do spoken language practice speaking aims differ?

We often think about spoken language practice as being on a continuum from being
controlled to freer. For example, drilling students in a four-line dialogue containing target
language and then getting them to practice it in pairs is quite controlled. There’s little scope for
students to vary their language choices and be creative. On the other hand, a role-play activity
could be quite free. It will depend on how detailed your instruction cards are and whether you
include examples of target language for students to use. In effect, the design of a speaking
activity, and the way in which you, the teacher, set it up in class plays a part in determining how
controlled or free the activity is.

Freer spoken language practice activities tend to come at the end of a lesson in a course
book – after the language has been presented and practiced in a controlled way. However, some
teachers choose to do this activity first. Why? It can act as a useful diagnostic tool.

Differing outcomes
Imagine a speaking activity that gets students to talk about a memorable experience in
their childhood. The aim might be freer oral practice of simple past, past continuous and past
perfect. If students do this activity at the beginning of the lesson and they are using all three
tenses easily and correctly, it tells the teacher there’s little benefit in presenting the grammar
again and she can move on to something new.

If, on the other hand, the students’ language isn’t always correct, the teacher might be
able to identify which of the three tenses is most challenging for students and give this tense
greater emphasis in the lesson. In other words, it allows the teacher to address students’ specific
learning needs. Students can repeat the speaking activity (or another one that’s similar) after you
teach the language they initially found challenging.

Type of Performance Task/Response

•student simply parrots back (imitate) a
word or phrase or possibly a sentence.
•Tasks:
Imitative Speaking – word repetition
– pronunciation drills (stress,
intonation)

Intensive Speaking •one step beyond imitative speaking to

include any speaking performance that
is designed to practice some
 phonological or grammatical aspect of
language

•Tasks:
– directed response
– read-aloud
– sentence/dialogue completion tasks
– oral questionnaires
– picture-cued tasks
• short replies to teacher- or
studentinitiated questions or comments
(a good deal of student speech in the
classroom is responsive); replies do not
extend into dialogues; such speech can
Responsive Speaking be meaningful and authentic.

• Tasks:
– question and answer
– eliciting instructions and directions
– paraphrasing a story or a dialogue
•Transactional dialogue—carried out
for the purpose of conveying or
exchanging specific information;
involves relatively long stretches of
interactive discourse •Interpersonal
dialogue—carried out for the purpose
of maintaining social relationships
Interactive Speaking:
•Transactional (dialogue) •Tasks:
– interviews
•Interpersonal (dialogue)
– role play
– discussions (arriving at a consensus,
problem-solving)
– games – conversations
– information gap activity
– telling longer stories
– extended explanations
•usually for intermediate to advanced
levels; tasks involve complex,
relatively lengthy stretches of
discourse; extended monologues can be
Extensive Speaking planned or impromptu •Tasks:
(monologue) – oral reports
– summaries
– short speeches
– picture-cued storytelling
– retelling a story or a news event

ANALYSIS
What are the benefits if you practice yourself in different speaking activities? Do you think this
step is an effective way? Share your thoughts.
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ASSESSMENT
Directions: Give some examples of speaking activities that you can suggest for you and for
others that can hone your individual speaking skill. Explain how the activity be done.

SPEAKING ACTIVITIES