1. Chris Fuller
Talking about spontaneity
www.chrisfuller.typepad.com
@chrisfullerisms
Chrisfullerinspain@hotmail.com
2. “Across all phases speaking is the least well
developed of all the skills. Students’ inability to be
able to say what they want to say in a new
language has a negative impact on their confidence
and enthusiasm.”
OFSTED,
“The Changing Landscape of Languages”, July 2008
OfSTED
3. Who am I?
Spanish teacher
Former SSAT Lead Practitioner
Educational consultant for
creativity
Looking forward to getting back
into the classroom
A learner
16. Thinking of the task
Can you be creative when you can only achieve a
right / wrong answer?
• open ended, not transactional
• need for room to debate / present arguments
17. Language of Speculation
What do our pupils want to be able to express?
• argumentative attitudes
• can be colloquial
• developing during the years
• needs planning into SoW
• the art of circumlocution
19. What is “Group Talk”?
At Wildern School, the sustained use of Group Talk has brought
about improved learning outcomes and examination results.
Pupil results have clearly risen in the GCSE speaking component.
Most significantly, Group Talk has raised the achievement of
‘middle boys’ whose ability to improvise oral responses
compensates for a lack of revision. Wildern School’s GCSE
results in MFL show boys performing equally as well as girls.
Greg Horton, Wildern School
20. What is “Group Talk”?
The Group Talk project was born out of dissatisfaction with
traditional formulaic speaking activities, and the need to engage
learners through a more dynamic and spontaneous use of
language. In a Group Talk environment, pupils sit around tables
and interact within small groups. Conversations are prompted by
a given stimulus and then sustained through opinion, conjecture
and debate. Pupils learn how to agree or, better still, disagree
with the views of their peers. ‘Ni hablar!’ ‘Du spinnst!’ ‘Tu
rigoles!’ is the language of Group Talk at its animated best.
21. What is “Group Talk”?
• only the target language is spoken
• interaction between a small group of pupils
• tasks demand opinion, conjecture and debate
• responses are spontaneous
• there is no set finishing time
41. Pupil bingo
I agree I disagree an opinion criticise
someone
else
answer a
question
negative perfect but justified
argument
conditional
furthermore extended
sentence
however imperfect make a
suggestion
years 10 / 11? Important not to let the fun disappear!
43. Young people come to classrooms with a range of digital
technology experiences, and just as we seek to build on
other types of knowledge skills and experience, so too the
literacy practitioner needs to understand what learners
bring, and do not bring, to the classroom.
Julia Davies and Guy Merchant,
University of Sheffield,
“Negotiating the Blogosphere: Educational Possibilities”, 2009
