Promoting Speaking Skills

Promoting Speaking Skills

1. Approaches

   • Pairwork
     • When to use it?
       • Starting the class with vocabulary pair work, explaining words from previous lessons to each other, Before a Listening or Reading task, predicting what will be listened or read based on the title, After the task, checking and discussing answers.
         • Why to use it?
           • It gives more students the opportunity to speak, gives the opportunity for students to learn from each other, and allows students to try out language.
             • How to place students?
               • When sitting in a semi-circle, ask students to work with the person next to them and move around to change pairs, When sitting in desks, ask them to work with the person behind or in front of them, Ask students to stand in a line from the oldest to the youngest, then pair the oldest with the youngest, the second oldest with the second youngest, etc.
                 • Types of pairwork
                   • Brainstorming, pre-reading/listening prediction activities, checking and comparing answers.
   • Role Play
     • Simple put, a role play is either when someone pretends to be someone else.
       • When to use it?
         • Starting the lesson in order to practise language taught in previous lessons, towards the end of the lesson, to force students to use the language taught in a real situation.
           • Why to use it?
             • It enhances imagination, and force students to make use of authentic language.
               • How to set up the role play?
                 • Make sure the students have clarity about the context or situation, give students enough time to prepare and discuss information, and organize the pairs, group or class and give the hardest roles to the smartest students.
                   • What to do after the role play?
                     • Discuss what happened during the role play, ask students about their perceptions about their performance and the activity in general.
     • What is it?
   • Personalization
     • What is it?
       • It is taking any topic that you might have as the theme of your class or find in the coursebook you are using, and getting students to look at it from a personal viewpoint
         • Disadvantages
           • Teachers should not personalize all the activities, generally the topics in a coursebook are fairly safe for personalization, but it is certainly worth thinking about the students in your group and if you know something might be upsetting, then don’t personalize it.
             • Why to use it?
               • Firstly, they become more relevant and meaningful to students as they can see exactly how they relate to them, students actually talk about things that matter to them and are not simply playing roles or exchanging invented information and they become more memorable.
                 • How can I set up a personalization activity?
                   • It’s important to give students time to prepare for personalization speaking tasks, then the activity will be more likely to be successful, and It is also useful to provide a model.
                     • What to do after the activity?
                       • It’s important to respond to students when they are doing a personalization activity, and get students to report back to the rest of the class on what was discussed, the most important thing is that any feedback or comments you give are constructive.
   • Problem-Solving
     • What is it?
       • There are a number of types of problem solving activities. For the sake of simplicity I'll split them into three types
         • Types
           • 1. The opinion problem-solving activity: In this type of activity students are given information to discuss where there is not necessarily one right or wrong answer. This type of activity differs from a normal discussion in that there is a built-in problem within the information.
             • Disadvantages
               • One of the major problems is that stronger students often dominate the discussions, taking over and giving the less able students little opportunity to contribute, Often, this is due to the need for one person to organize and collate information and ideas.
                 • Why to use problem-solving activities?
                   • These kinds of activities can be a lot of fun they and also very stimulating, problem-solving activities replicate 'real' speaking in that people have a need to speak. Problem-solving activities can also be an effective way of practising language items that have been taught, finally They are also a great way of developing students' cognitive abilities helping them to process language in a meaningful way.
                     • How do you set up a problem-solving activity?
                       • The first thing to consider is whether the activity uses the language you want the students to practise. If not, then ask yourself why exactly you are using it, Then, it is important to look at the language that is needed and make sure that you pre-teach any new language before they start the activity. . Finally, think about whether you want students to work alone to begin with and then discuss the problem with other students or whether you will start with pair or groupwork.
             • 2. The logical thinking problem-solving activity:In this type of problem-solving activity there is usually one correct solution. To arrive at the solution the students need to discuss information they are given and logically work out what the solution is
               • 3.The information gap problem-solving activity:. In a problem-solving information gap, getting the missing information is not the ultimate aim, but merely a stepping stone on the way to solving a problem.
   • Developing and dealing with accuracy
     • What is it?
       • Clearly, by the word accuracy we mean speaking without making mistakes, or at least limiting the number of mistakes we make. But how does an accuracy activity differ from one which is designed to develop fluency? In some cases, there is absolutely no difference in the activity or task type. The difference is on the teacher’s role during the activity and on what the teacher is focusing on.
         • Classroom Management
           • It’s quite possible to do an accuracy activity in pairs with the teacher closely monitoring to try and pick up on any problems. In this format the students are also responsible for listening carefully to their partner. However, in most accuracy activities the teacher will either keep tight control or monitor so that there is little chance of mistakes.
             • Why to use it?
               • Accuracy is often very important as many tests focus on this aspect of speaking. Accuracy can also be extremely important in the real world. This does not only apply to grammatical accuracy but also to formality, register, choice of vocabulary and pronunciation
                 • Error Correction
                   • In a drill where the teacher is tightly controlling the activity, then whenever a mistake is made the teacher needs to correct the mistake and make sure that the student who made it repeats the corrected form. there are some activities where it may not be possible to interrupt the activity. For example, when students are working in pairs there may well be too much going on at the same time for you to stop each pair every time a mistake is made. In this situation it is important to note down any mistakes you hear and can’t deal with immediately and then look at them as soon as the activity has finished.
   • Developing Fluency
     • What does it mean to be fluent?
       • Being able to speak a foreign language very well without difficulty or expressing yourself in a clear and confident way, without seeming to make an effort.
         • Why do students find it difficult to be fluent?
           • One of the main reasons is lack of confidence. Another reason is that often in a classroom everything a student says is scrutinized for mistakes. This not only affects their confidence, but also means that they spend time running through the words in their head before opening their mouth.
             • How can we help them become more fluent?
               • The best way to help students become more fluent is to give them plenty of practice. the first thing is to remember what the purpose of any fluency speaking task is. It is not to be 100% accurate and correct.Another thing that is important is that we don’t make students go into an activity ‘cold’. What I mean by this is that students aren’t asked just to speak without any time to collect their thoughts.
                 • What should I do if they make lots of mistakes?
                   • It is useful to note down any mistakes you hear as these can be dealt with at a later stage. You can do this by carrying out a review activity on particular grammar points or vocabulary items that proved to be problematic during the activity.
                     • Teacher's Role
                       • Probably the most important role for the teacher is setting up the activity. Often it is good to give students a specific role, by giving students roles, you give them a starting point from which to think about a particular issue.