CIT COLLEGE OF PANIQUI FOUNDATION INC.

Paniqui, Tarlac
COLLEGE OF EDUCATION

TEACHING AND ASSESSING SPEAKING

LESSON 1: Understanding Speaking

Speaking and Its Importance

Speaking is the process of building and sharing meaning through the use of verbal and non-
verbal symbols, in a variety of contexts (Chaney, 1998)
Speaking is complex because speakers are involved in a rapid and dynamic process incurring a
high element of doing various things at the same time (Johnson,1996)
Further, Johnson (1996) describes speaking as a “combinatorial skill” that involves doing various
things at the same time including non-verbal communication skills like listening, eye contact,
and body language.
The following skills need to be developed for effective speaking in a second language.
1. Vocabulary
To be able to speak effectively, you have to acquire enough to say what you want to say
and to make you more capable of delivering exactly what you want to convey.
2. Grammar
The fewer grammar mistakes you make, the more effective is your speech. However,
your grammar doesn’t need to be 100% accurate to be an effective speaker. What is
important is the accuracy of the message that you convey while speaking.
3. Pronunciation
Pronunciation is divided into two large categories: segmentals and suprasegmentals.

The segmental features of speech are discrete units that can be auditorily identified in the
speech stream such as consonants and vowels (Crystal,2015).

The suprasegmental features (also known as prosodic features) refer to “the phonetic and
phonological aspects of spoken language that cannot necessarily reduced to individual
consonant and vowels but generally extend across several segments or syllables”
(Fletcher, 2013)

Suprasegmentals are the musical aspects of pronunciation. They are important for
marking all kinds of meanings, in particular speakers’ attitudes or stances to what they are
saying (or the person they are saying it to), and in marking out how one utterance relates
 to another (Ogden, 2009) Competent speakers possess various skills of pronunciation to
emphasize and make the communicative effect of their speech more effective.

Speech Register

Speech registers refers to the level of formality and style in speaking anchored on
different situation and contexts.

1. Frozen or Fixed Register

This type of register is often used in very formal ceremonies and must be said the
same each time we say it. This register is frozen in time, form, and content
2. Formal Register
This type often follows a prescriptive format. It is used in formal settings and is
usually impersonal. This includes academic language.
3. Consultative Register
This is the standard form of communication. The speaker uses the participation and
feedback of the listener.
4. Casual Register
This is an informal speech, usually used between friends, or colleagues who have
things to share. This is free and easy participation of both speaker and listener.
5. Intimate Register
The last type is a conversation between two very close individuals. It is described by
an economy of words, with a high dance of non-verbal communication.

Speech Act
Speech act refers to an utterance expressed by an individual that presents information and
performs an action as well. The speech act theory of Austin and Searle captures all the possible
functions of language by classifying the kinds of action that can be performed by speech. It is
categorized as locutionary, illocutionary, and perlocutionary.

The locutionary act is the act of making an expressive meaning. This is an utterance that
produces literal meaning based on what is said by the speaker.

An illocutionary act (force) is the meaning one wishes to convey. It is an utterance that has social
function in mind.
 Stating an opinion, confirming or denying something;
 Making a prediction, a promise, request;
 Issuing an order or decision; and
 Giving advice or permission

A perlocutionary act is the effect of our words that entails a person to do something. This is what
the hearer does in response to the utterance
Speech Delivery

One way of categorizing a speech is the way it is delivered. The types of speech delivery are
impromptu, extemporaneous, manuscript, and memorized.

Impromptu speaking involves delivering a message on the spur of the moment without
preparation and predetermination. The speaker is provided on the spot with a topic and she/he
will say something about it.

Extemporaneous speaking consists of delivering a speech in a conversation fashion using notes.

This is planned and prepared but the speaker uses an outline only as reference while speaking.
This is the style most professional and experienced public speakers prefer since the
extemporaneous method of delivery have a more natural flow.

Manuscript speaking consists of reading fully scripted speech. It is useful when a message
needs to be delivered in precise words like the state of the nation address of the President of the
Philippines.

Memorized speaking is delivering a scripted speech from memory. Memorization allows the
speaker to be free of notes. However, there is stress associated with it since it will entail the
speaker to commit to memorize what she/he has to say.

Teaching and Learning Speaking

Competence in speaking involves the following components: 1.) Knowledge of language and
discourse; 2.) core speaking skills; and 3.) Communication and discourse strategies (Goh and
Burns, 2012).

Knowing these components would enable the teacher to understand that every speaking lesson
has to be supported with learning Opportunities that develop the speaking competence of the
learners across the three categories of knowledge of language and discourse, core speaking skills,
and communication strategies. At some point in speaking lesson, the teachers have to be very
observant since students may need guidance on a specific aspect of language to become effective
speakers.

The teachers need to remember that for students to be competent and effective speakers, they
must at the same time be listeners who can take into account the interactional and unpredictable
dynamics of speech (Ellis, 2014).

Goh and Burns in Burns (2019) proposed a model of teaching the speaking cycle as a basis in
teaching of speaking. Burns emphasized that the teaching speaking cycle is not meant to be
completed in just one or two lessons. It is an overall approach to supporting and scaffolding the
learning of speaking skills and strategies that can be introduced and extended over several
lessons or even a unit of work.
Teaching speaking in a second language can be challenging for both teachers and learners.
Speaking is complex because speakers are involved in a rapid and dynamic process incurring” a
high element of doing various things at the same time” (Johnson, 1996, p. 55). To teach speaking
in English entails consideration of the English Speech sounds, intonation pattern, rhythm, the use
of words and sentences accurately in social setting, and the organization and expression of such
thoughts.

1. Focus earner’s attention on Speaking

2. Provide input and/or guide planning
3. Conduct speaking tasks
4. Focus on language/skills/ Strategies
5. Repeat speaking tasks
6. Direct learners’ reflection on learning
7. Facilitate feedback on learning

1. The purpose of this is to encourage learners to plan for overall speaking development and to
prepare learners to approach a specific speaking task. Preparing for speaking includes talking
with students about what difficulties they have encountered while speaking and ways on how to
improve their ability.

2. The teacher needs to allow students to plan before the real Speaking task. Encourage the
students to read about his/her topic of interest and gather vocabulary related to the topic. The
teacher can also provide inputs to activate or reactivate learners’ linguistic knowledge.

3. Teachers provide speaking tasks for students to practice. As students are guided on how to
plan their speech in stage 2, they are expected to practice speaking in this stage focusing on how
to say it that encourages fluency of expression.

4. The teacher draws learners’ attention to selected parts of the fluency task which may include
pronunciation, grammar. And text structures, as well as vocabulary.

5. Learners carry out the speaking task(s) from stage 3 again. The difference between 3 and 5 is
that learners now have a chance to analyze and practice selected language items or skills during
stage 4, thus learners can apply this knowledge to enhance their performance (Burns, 2019)

6. The students need to monitor their speaking activity. This stage enables the learners to reflect
on their experiences when doing the speaking tasks. Reflection can be done individually, in small
group, or in pairs which can focus on the following (Burns, 2019)

7. The teacher in this stage gives feedback on the performance of the students in the speaking
tasks either through qualitative comments. Grades, narrative rubrics, and other assessment
measures.

Kayi (2006) proposed suggestions in teaching speaking that teachers might further consider.
They are the following:

1. Provide a maximum opportunity for students to speak the target language by providing a rich
environment that contains collaborative work, authentic materials and tasks, and shared
knowledge.

2. Try to involve each student in every speaking activity.

3. Reduce teacher speaking time in class while increasing speaking time of Students. Step back
and observe students.

4. Indicate positive signs when commenting on a students response.

5. Ask eliciting question such as “What do you mean? How did you reach that conclusion? “in
order to prompt students to speak more.

6. Provide written feedback like “Your presentation. It was a good job. I really appreciated your
efforts in preparing the materials and efficient use of your voice…

7. Do not correct students' pronunciation mistakes very often while they are speaking. Correction
should not distract the students from his/her speech.

8. Circulate around the classroom to ensure that students are on the right track and see whether
they need your help while they work in groups or pairs.

9. Provide the vocabulary beforehand that students need in speaking activities.

10. Diagnose problems faced by Students who have difficulty in expressing themselves in the
target language and provide more opportunities to practice the spoken language.

Speaking Tasks

For many years and even until now, English language teachers have continued to teach through
repetitive drills or memorization of dialogues. However, the goal of teaching speaking is to make
students express themselves correctly and effectively to be understood. To teach speaking
communicatively is to provide varied speaking tasks that enable students to communicate in real-
life scenarios. The main of speaking tasks is to help students develop fluency. To develop
students’ speaking skills, they need intensive practice.

Below are some examples of speaking tasks that teaches can employ in their classes.

1. Discussion- A discussion is carried out to arrive a t a conclusion, to share ideas about an

event, or to find solutions. The teacher needs to orient the students on purpose of the
discussion so time will not be wasted on talking about other things.
Examples of discussion points:
 a) Students at all levels of the educational ladder in the Philippines are still staying at
home due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Is it already safe for the students to go back to
face-to-face classes? Why? or why not?
b) Mental Wellness amidst the pandemic: Myth or Reality
c) Learners in the 21st century and beyond
2. Your last words is mine
The first student starts telling a story; another continues using the last word uttered by the
first student, then another student continues until the whole story is finished.
3. Short Speech
Given a time frame, students are given a topic and deliver a speech before the class.
4. Guess the picture
One student has the picture and the partner needs to guess what’s in the picture by asking
probing questions and clarification.
5. Role Play
In the role play, students pretend they are in various social contexts and have a variety of
social roles. This exercise will encourage the students to speak in real-life situations.
6. Interviews
Students interview an interesting personality in the community and report to the class the
results of the interview.
7. Narrating or telling a friend about an amusing weekend experience.
8. Playing games that engage students in conversation.
9. Conducting class debates.
Assessing Speaking
Assessing the speaking skills of students can be very challenging for teachers of English. It is
because when a person speaks, it involves doing various skills at the same time like using
appropriate vocabulary, correct grammar, pronunciation, and other non-verbal
communication skills. Porto (1997) and Omar (2001) indicated that developing oral skills is a
real challenge for many teachers of English as a second language since the students do not
live in an English-speaking environment.
Pronunciation, vocabulary, accuracy, interaction, and fluency are important components of
students’ overall speaking competencies. Using different assessment techniques is the best
way for educators to get a clear picture of each student’s speaking abilities.
Assessing speaking skills entails teachers to pay attention to the following:
1. Fluency
Fluency means speaking easily, reasonably quickly without having to stop and pause a
lot.
2. Pronunciation
Pronunciation is the act of producing the sounds of speech, including articulation, stress,
and intonation.
3. Vocabulary
 This refers to the body of words used in a particular language Vocabulary is usually
assessed through vocabulary tests, using multiple choice or fill-in-the-blanks.
4. Accuracy
This refers to the correct use of the language system. Language teachers expand
grammatical constructs by going beyond the assessment grammatical form and meaning
to grammatical use.
5. Interaction
This refers to the ability to interact with others during communicative tasks.
Types of Speaking Assessment Tasks

Brown (2004:141) provides five types of tasks that teachers can use to assess the speaking ability
of students.

1.Imitative

This involves repeating a small stretch of language and focusing on pronunciation. Test maker
considers using this type of assessment if he is not interested in the test taker’s competence in
understanding. The competence assessed is that of purely phonetic, prosodic, lexical, and
grammatical (pronunciation).

2. Intensive

1.1 Reading aloud

Brown (2004) suggests that reading aloud can be used as a companion for other more
communicative tasks.
1.2 DRT is beneficial to elicit a specific grammatical form or a transformation of a sentence
which requires minimal processing like producing English stress patterns, words in stressed
and unstressed positions, rhythmic structure, and intonational contours; produce reduced
forms of words and phrases and using an adequate number of lexical units (words),
grammatical word classes (nouns, verbs, etc.), systems (e.g., tense, agreement, pluralization),
word order, patterns, rules, forms. (Brown, 2004)
1.3 Sentence/Dialogue Completion
This type will probably be beneficial only for assessing the test taker’s micro skill of
providing the right chunks of language and other pronunciation feature

3. Responsive

These are speaking tasks that involve responses to spoken prompts, some of these
examples are question and answer, giving instructions and directions, and paraphrasing.
4. Interactive

This refers to interactional and transactional conversations. Some examples are:

A. Interview
In conducting an interview, the teacher must create a relaxed atmosphere, must talk less, and
listen more so he/she can collect more information about the students, and the topics must be
within the interest and knowledge of the students.

b. Drama-like Task

O’ Malley (1996:85) divides the drama-like task into thre types: improvisations, role play, and
simulation. The difference of each is the preparation and scripting. Improvisation gives very little
opportunity for students to prepare for the situation and may incite creativity in using the
language. Role play provides a little longer time students to prepare although scripting is highly
unlikely. Meanwhile, simulation (including debate) requires planning and decision-making

c. Discussions and Conversations

Discussions and conversations (Brown, 2004: 175) are inform assessments to performance in 1)
starting, maintaining, and ending topic; 2) getting attention, interrupting, and controlling; 3)
clarifying questioning and paraphrasing; 4) signaling for comprehension (eg. Nodding); 5) using
appropriate intonation patterns; 6) using kinesics, eye contact and body language; 7) being polite,
being formal and other sociolinguistic situation.

d. Games

Games that can elicit spoken language objectively can be used as an informal assessment for
speaking.

5. Extensive (monologue)

a. Speech (Oral Presentation or oral report)

It is commonly practiced to present a report, paper, or design in a school setting. An oral

presentation can be used to assess the speaking skill holistically or analytically.

b. Picture-cued Story Telling

Similar to the limited version, at this level, the main consideration of using a picture or series of
pictures is to make it into a stimulus for longer story or description.

c. Retelling a Story or New Event

The focus is usually on the meaningfulness of the relationship of events within the story, fluency,
and interaction with the audience (Brown, 2004).

Assessing Speaking Using Rubrics

In speaking assessment, the teacher needs to integrate all the parameters that constitute effective
speaking. The use of rubrics is very helpful in assessing speaking. Rubrics help improve student
performance since students are aware of what areas they can improve on.

There are two types of rubrics that can be used in assessing speaking: (1) holistic and (2)
analytical.

The holistic rubric leads the rater to evaluate or score the overall components of communicative
competence without separately considering another component of language production. Nitko
(2001) further said that a holistic rubric is more appropriate when the task requires students to
create various responses. Principally, the holistic rating rubric reports the overall quality,
proficiency, and understanding of the content while speaking.

Another type is an analytic rubric. This rubric requires the rater to evaluate or score the
components of language production separately (Moskal, 2000; Nitko, 2001). It scores
performance in different subcategories such as grammar, vocabulary, comprehension, fluency,
pronunciation, and task completion.

O’Malley (1996:65) suggests several steps in developing rubric: (1) Set criteria of task success;
(2) Set dimensions of language to be assessed (grammar, vocabulary, fluency, pronunciation.
Etc); (3) Give appropriate weight to each dimension (if the omission is possible, do); (4) Focus
on what test taker can do, instead of what they cannot.