1. Ester Boldú

2. Don’t take notes!
 Find all the information and resources at:
http://anglester.blogspot.com

3. Outline:
1. Definition of “Speaking”.
2. Definition of “Teaching Speaking”.
3. Elements of a Speaking Activity.
4. Activities to Enhance Fluency
5. Designing a Speaking Activity
6. Assessment and Grading
7. Advices and Resources

4. 1. Definition of Speaking:
“Speaking" is the process of building and
sharing meaning through the use of verbal and
non-verbal symbols, in a variety of context”.
(Chaney, 1998, p.13).

5. 1. What is “Speaking”?
 Speaking is the primary mode of
communication
 All humans learn to speak as part of their natural
biological development
 An important component of the language
teaching
 Speaking exercises are integral in the adoption
of another language

6. 1.Components of a Speaking Activity
• Contextualized practice - clear the link
between linguistic form and communicative
function
• Opportunity to personalize language -
students can express their own ideas,
feelings, preferences and opinions
• An awareness of the social use of language -
appropriate social behavior and the
language that accompanies it
• Opportunity to build confidence - build
confidence in students to produce
language quickly and automatically

7. 1. What are the types of
classroom performance ?
 Imitative (this should be limited) – repetition drill
 Intensive – practice a
grammatical/phonological feature
 Responsive – to respond to a question
 Transactional (dialogue) – to convey
information
 Interpersonal (dialogue) – to interact socially
 Extensive – monologue
(intermediate/advanced)

8. “Teaching Speaking" is to teach ESL learners
to select appropriate words and sentences
according to the proper social setting,
audience, situation and subject matter.
2. Definition of Teaching Speaking:

10. • Speaking is the most important skill, as it is
the last step in language acquisition.
• It is a tough job for teachers to engage
student to speak, because there are some
barriers and affective filters.
• You can write or read or learn grammar or
listen individually, but you can not speak
with yourself so teaching speaking needs
more consideration.
2. Some Teaching Considerations:

11. 2. How Do We Teach Speaking?
Present new vocabulary words and
grammatical structures in situational and
communicative contexts.
Use the language quickly and confidently with
few pauses, which is called fluency.
Produce the English speech sounds and sound
patterns.
Use word stress, intonation patterns and the
rhythm of the second language.

12. 2. What are the principles for
Teaching Speaking ?
 Focus on fluency and accuracy (depending on
objective).
 Develop speaking strategies and motivating
techniques.
 Use authentic language in meaningful contexts.
 Provide appropriate feedback and correction.
 Optimize the natural link between listening and
speaking (and other skills).
 Give students the opportunity to initiate
oral communication.

13. 2. Stages for Speaking Activities.
Pre-communicative: Where mainly accuracy-
based activities are used. They tend to be the
most controlled.
Practice stage: These are fluency based
activities where they tend to be less controlled.
Communicative interaction or production
stage: Free activities and improvisations.

14. 2. Some examples for teaching
speaking
 Interviews
 Guessing games
 Ranking exercises
 Discussions
 Problem-solving activities
 Role plays
 Simulations

15. 2. What are the common
speaking strategies ?
 Asking for clarification (what? Pardon?).
 Asking someone to repeat something.
 Using fillers and conversation maintenance cues
(uh-huh, right, yeah, okay, hmm).
 Getting someone’s attention.
 Using paraphrases for structures one can’t
produce.
 Using formulaic expressions.
 Using mime and non-verbal expressions.

16. TASK 1: Brainstorming
Discuss with your partner possible reasons why
learners do not speak English in class. Write a
couple of these reasons on a paper sheet.
Come up with a couple of ideas to encourage
students to speak.
2. Why Learners Do Not Speak?

17. 2. Why Learners Do Not Speak?
 They have nothing to say.
 They feel silly speaking a language in which they know
they are making mistakes.
 It is artificial to communicate with your classmate in a
foreign language.
 They do not have the English level to express the
concepts that the teacher wants them to express.
 It is very tiring to concentrate on producing in a foreign
language; especially when your level is low.
 The topic is boring.

18.  Lack of curriculum emphasis on speaking
skills.
 Teachers limited English proficiency.
 Class conditions do not favor oral
activities.
 Limited opportunities outside of class to
practice.
 Examination system does not
emphasize oral skills.
2. Reasons for poor speaking Skills

19. 2. Suggestions:
Create a purpose for class communication.
Allow enough time for thinking.
Give enough input before students speak.
Select topics suitable for the learners’
proficiency (level, age…).
Create a reward/punishment system for
speaking in English. (extra points – 0,25)
Avoid over correction (Accuracy vs. Fluency)

20. Organizer: Get Ss engaged and set the activity.
Prompter: Provide Ss with chunks not words.
Observer: Analyze what causes communication
breakdowns.
Participant: Do not initiate the conversation.
Feedback provider: Tell Ss how proficient their
performance was.
Resource: Provide Ss with tools to improve their
oral performance.
Friendly: Establishes a good rapport with Ss.
2. Characteristics of Teacher in
Speaking Activities:

21. 3. Teacher’s Role:
Increase the Learners’ Role and Responsibility…
 Use learner centred activities
 Focus on the learner talk time
Adjust Feedback/Error Correction…
 Choose the right time to correct students
 Choose the right way to correct students
Integrating Skills
 Combination of listening, speaking, reading,
and writing in classroom activities.
 Teachers create activities that imitate real
world language use.

22. 3. Elements of a Successful
Speaking Activity:
Provide Appropriate Input
Integrate Skills
Use Variety of Aids
Create a Purpose for Speaking
Base your Lesson on Real Life Situation
Tailor to the Needs

23. 3. Getting students to speak
• Games: surveying games, bandit and sheriff,
shopping games, taboo…
• Drilling: standing in circles then throw the ball
to question-answer each other, using pictures
(from books or cards), ask and answer
questions in pairs/groups, telephone game
• Singing: We’re table number one, The finger
song, Can I have a pen?
• Chanting: What time is it?,
• Storytelling: retelling stories

24. 3. Communicative Activities:
Classroom activities are designed to get learners
speak and listen to one another (communicate).
TASK 2: Question
Which of the following is a communicative task?
a) Students read a prepared speech.
b) Students read a story and look at the picture.
c) One student reads the instructions and the
other fixes the machine.
…And a speaking task?

25. Find the Difference
Discussions
Debates
Projects (News)
Benefits?
Fostering critical thinking
Quick decision making and justify themselves
Disagreeing with the others politely
4. Activities To Promote Speaking:

26. Examples
Oral presentations Celebrations/News

27. Role-Play
Simulations
Benefits?
Motivating the students
Increasing the self-confidence of hesitant
students
4. Role-Play & Simulations:

28. <http://www.onestopenglish.com/skills/speaking/lesson-plans/pdf-
content/speaking-skills-lesson-plans-the-wedding-party-
worksheet/teachers-notes-intermediate/149714.article>
Example:

29. 4. Storytelling & Story Completion:
Storytelling
Story Completion
Benefits?
 Fostering creative thinking
 Expressing ideas in the format of beginning,
development and ending, and teaching the
characters and setting of a story

30.  Picture Describing (comparing&contrasting)
 Picture Narrating
 Benefits?
 Fostering the creativity and imagination.
 Improving public speaking skills.
 Finding similarities and differences.
 Speculating feelings and future actions.
4. Picture Describing &
Picture Narrating:

31. 4. Interviews & Reporting:
Interviews
Reporting
Benefits?
Giving students a chance to practise their
speaking.
Helping them becoming socialised.

32. Example:
www.finchpark.com/books/TWA_China/pdf-files/045_news_interview_1.pdf

33. 4. Brainstorming & Playing Cards:
 Brainstorming
 Playing Cards
 Benefits:
 Never criticise learners’ ideas.
 Collaborative working.
 Teacher should state at the beginning of the
activity some rules (Ss are not allowed to
prepare yes-no questions, they should
answer with complete sentences, etc.)

34. TASK 3: Your Example
Create one activity covering these points. Then,
critique one of your peers’ activities using these
criteria.
 Controlled – Creative?
 Level (s) of production?
 Teacher roles?
 Accuracy, fluency, communicative?
 Language focus?
 Other skills?
 Stage in a lesson?
 Seating arrangement?

35. What Mistakes Do ESL Teachers Make
When Designing a Speaking Activity?
5. Designing a Speaking Activity:

36. Do not provide enough input or sufficient
vocabulary beforehand
Do not provide authentic materials and shared
knowledge.
Do not monitor students’ performance.
Setting inaccurate time limit.
Give limited opportunity for students to speak the
target language and do not involve all students.
Focus on the dominant students and
ignore shy ones.
5. Mistakes of ESL Teachers (I) :

37. Do not prompt students to speak more.
Increase teacher talk time in class.
Usage of one mode of interaction.
Distract students by correcting their
pronunciation, grammar or word choice.
Give offensive signs when commenting on a
student’s response or pronunciation.
Give no or unconstructive feedback
5. Mistakes of ESL Teachers (II):

38.  Challenges of assessing speaking activities:
 What to test
 How to test
 When to asses.
 Scoring
6. Speaking Assessment Challenges:

39.  What to test?
 Fluency
 Accuracy (Grammar)
 Pronunciation
 Task Completion
 Vocabulary
 Appropriateness
 Comprehension
 Communicative Competence
6. Speaking Assessment Challenges:

40.  How to test?
 Question/ Answer
 Picture Test
 Situation Response
 Role-Play
 Formal Presentation
 Tense
6. Speaking Assessment Challenges:

41.  When to assess?
 Provide appropriate feedback and correction.
 Takes notes while pairs or groups are talking.
 Address problems to the class after the activity
without embarrassing the student who made error.
 You can write the error on the board and ask who
can correct it.
6. Speaking Assessment Challenges:

42. 6. Overview = confidence
Calendar
Sequence and Examples

43. 6. Feedback

44. Sample Scoring System:
Fluency (20%)
Pronunciation (20%)
Accuracy (20%)
Vocabulary (20%)
Task Completion (20%)
6. Speaking Assessment Challenges:

45. 6. Audience Comments Returned
to Students

46. Speaking Checklist:
Things to be aware of when evaluating speaking
(pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary):
 Pronunciation:
 Individual sounds
 Stress and Intonation
 Pausing and Phrasing
 Reductions
6. Speaking Assessment Challenges:

47. Speaking Checklist:
 Grammar:
 Verbs
 Noun Phrases
 Sentence Structure
 Individual Grammar Problems
 Functional Phrases
 Vocabulary:
 Word Choice
 Idioms and Phrasal Verbs
 Appropriateness
6. Speaking Assessment Challenges:

48. 7. Advice (I): How to improve my
conversation skills?
 Don’t be shy and self-conscious!
 Communication errors can be solved.
 A conversation is an interactive activity
involving listening and speaking from both
parties.
 It’s all about listening and asking questions.
 Do some research!
 Lulls are normal.
 If a conversation is going wrong,
it may not be your fault.

49. 7. Resources (I)
 www.eslflow.com
 http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk
 http://www.onestopenglish.com
 http://www.englishclub.com
 http://www.eslgold.com
 http://www.usingenglish.com/teachers/lesson-plans
 http://www.learnenglishfeelgood.com/esl-printables-
worksheets.html
 http://www.waze.net/oea

50. 7. Advice (I): How to improve my
pronunciation?
 Listening and reading aloud
 Writing
 Networking and making friends
 Greeting people on the street
 Having small talks in public
 Joining one-on-one conversations,
conversation and common interest groups
 Watching foreign movies with English
subtitles

51. 7. Resources (II)
 Daily Conversations:
http://www.worldenglishclub.com/daily-english-
conversations
 EBooks:
http://www.gutenberg.org
 Phrases and Expressions for Speaking:
http://www.eslgold.com/speaking/phrases.html

52. 7. And Rememeber…

53. Keep It
Simple
…Less is MORE

54. Any Volunteers?

55. Any Volunteers?

57. 7. Common teacher statements
 “My students are too shy to speak in a
group”
 “Their English level is too poor to give their
opinion”
 “There are too many students in the
classroom to do a speaking activity”
 “They are not motivated to speak in English”
 Etc.
 No more excuses!

58. Thank you for listening
Ester Boldú
Blog: anglester
Mail: esterboldu@gmail.com