Tập huấn hè 2008-5

TEACHING SPEAKING
Presented by
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
1. What kind of speaking should students do?
2. State the characteristics of a successful speaking activity.
3. Point out the problems with speaking activities and solutions to such problems.



QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

4. How should you correct speaking?
5. List the activities/tasks often used in the three main stages/phases of the lesson plan for teaching speaking
Follow-up activity
In groups, choose one speaking task in the textbook (Tieng Anh 12 nang cao), then make a lesson plan for teaching your 12-grade students.
KIND of SPEAKING
Speaking as controlled language practice.
Repetition – class work
e.g. It’s nice to meet you.
Question and answer exchange- Pair work or class work
e.g. invitations
KIND of SPEAKING
Combination of repetition and sentence making-Class work
e.g. comparatives
Sentence making - Class work and individual work
e.g. environment protection
Speaking tasks as controlled language practice should be used in the practice stage
2. Speaking as free practice
Students are using any and all the language at their command to perform some kind of oral task
Information gap – Pair work
e.g. Describe and draw
Survey – Group work
e.g. Sleep questionnaire
2. Speaking as free practice
c. Discussion – Group work
e.g. Single family versus extended family
d. Role play – Pair work
e.g. Interviewer and interviewee in a job interview
Speaking tasks as free practice should be used in the Production stage.
Top-down and bottom-up processing
Top-down processing
The speaker brings to the international communicative act a set of pre-supposition about the situation, the participants in the exchange, and the expected outcome of the exchange.
The speaker bases on their background knowledge of the sociolinguistics, rules of appropriacy and the focus on intended message with respect to the listener’s situation to make choices that form the spoken product.
Top-down and bottom-up processing
Bottom-up processing
The speaker initiates the interaction with a communicative intention. This is to be realized through utterances .
The speaker makes use of his own language knowledge, speaking skills, and communication strategies to form the spoken product (utterances).


The roles of the teacher
Prompter
- Teacher can help students and the activity to progress by offering discrete suggestions. - Students won’t feel frustrated when coming to a dead end of language or ideas if teacher’s help doesn’t disrupt the discussion or forcing them out of role.
The roles of the teacher
Participants
Teacher’s participation in discussion or role-plays will help the activity long by prompting covertly, introducing new information. Also, this will ensure continuing student engagement and generally maintain a creative atmosphere.
Teacher should not take over the classroom so that students lose opportunities for speaking.
The roles of the teacher
Feedback provider
Teacher should avoid overcorrection. Helpful and gentle correction may get students out of difficult misunderstanding and hesitations.
Characteristics of a successful speaking activity
According to Ur (2002:120), the characteristics of a speaking activity that make teachers judge it “successful” are:
Much learner’s talk
Even Participation
High motivation
Acceptable level of language accuracy
1. Much learner’s talk
It seems obvious that learners should talk as much as possible during the allotted time for speaking activity. However, teacher’s talk or pauses takes most of the class time instead.
2. Even participation
All learners have a chance to speak and contribute to the discussion. In a classroom discussion a small number of talkative participants have little opportunity to play the role of the dominant ones.
3. High motivation
Learns are highly motivated. They are interested in the topic, eager and willing to speak because they have something new to say about it.
4. Acceptable level of language accuracy
Learner’s utterances are ‘relevant, easily comprehensible to each other and of an acceptable level of languages to express themselves in a successful speaking activity.
The value of role play as a class activity
Controlled role play
+ Improvising dialogues/cued dialogues
+ Interviews based on the text
Free role play
Topics and situations for free role play
Role play increases motivation
The value of role play as a class activity
Role play gives a chance to use language in new contexts and for new topics.
Role play helps teachers build on something that students naturally enjoy.
Role play encourages students to use natural expressions and intonations as well as gestures.
Problems with speaking activities and solutions to such problems
Problems
1. Inhibition
Learners find it difficult to say things in a foreign language in the classroom because they are shy or perhaps they are afraid of making mistakes, of others’ criticism, or losing face.
Problems with speaking activities and solutions to such problems
2. Nothing to say
Learners often complain that they cannot think of anything to say. Usually, they have no motive to express themselves because they feel guilty that they should be speaking.
3. Low or uneven participation
In a large group, learners have very little talking time because of some dominant learner’s talks.
Problems with speaking activities and solutions to such problems
4. Mother-tongue use
Learners tend to use mother tongue if they are grouped with those having the same language, and particularly talking in small groups because they find it easier and more natural to speak their mother tongue than a foreign language. Teachers then would find it difficult to get learners keep to the target language.
B. SUGGESTED SOLUTIONS
1. Use group work
This increases the amount of learner’s talking time even though learners may slip into their mother tongue in their talk; and teachers cannot totally control such a thing.
B. SUGGESTED SOLUTIONS
2. Base the activity on easy language
The level of language needed for discussion should be easier. The participants find it easy to recall or produce the language, then they can speak fluently. It would be good if essential vocabulary is pre-taught and reviewed before the activity starts.

B. SUGGESTED SOLUTIONS
3. Make a careful choice of topic and task to stimulate interest.
Teachers should select interesting topic and task for learners to discuss or perform. If the purpose of the discussion is clear, the participants will be more motivated.

B. SUGGESTED SOLUTIONS
4. Give clear instruction or training in discussion skills.
Learners should be given clear instruction, told what to do, and assigned roles in a discussion.
5. Keep learners speaking the target language
Teacher might appoint a monitor to remind the participants to use the target language, or she/he has to do it herself/himself.

HOW TO CORRECT SPEAKING?
During speaking activities in controlled language practice, teachers often correct every time there is a problem to achieve accuracy.
However during speaking activities in free language practice, teachers cannot do the same thing because the ultimate purpose here is to achieve fluency. Thus, teachers should
HOW TO CORRECT SPEAKING?
+ watch, listen while speaking activities are taking place.
+ note down good points as well as shortcomings (i.e. students couldn’t make themselves understood or make serious mistakes that cause communication breakdown).
HOW TO CORRECT SPEAKING?
+ ask students point out their own mistakes and if they can correct the mistakes by themselves when the activity has finished.
+ write down the mistakes on the board or give the mistakes individually to the students concerned.
+ avoid singling students out for particular criticism.
HOW TO CORRECT SPEAKING?
If teachers interrupt students constantly for correcting mistakes they will destroy the purpose of the speaking activity and take the communicativeness out of the activity.
In short, the general principle of watching and listening so that teachers can give feedback later is usually much more appropriate.
Three main stages/phases of the lesson plan for teaching speaking
1. Pre-speaking (Presentation stage/phase)
Activities/Tasks include
Question-Answer Exchange
Communication games (Information gap)
Discussion (buzz groups)
Pre-teaching (new words/structures/…)
Three main stages/phases of the lesson plan for teaching speaking
2. While-speaking (Practice/stage/phase)
Activities/Tasks include
Cued dialogue/Controlled role play

Three main stages/phases of the lesson plan for teaching speaking
3. Post-speaking (Practice/stage/phase)
Activities/Tasks include
Role plays in new contexts (Acting out dialogues)
Reporting
Discussion (instant comment, formal debates, unplanned discussion,…)