Speaking Of all the four skills (speaking , listening, reading, and writing) speaking seems intuitively the most important. Most foreign language learners are primarily interested in learning to speak.

Objectives To become aware of what is involved in speaking. To become aware of the implications for classroom practice. To identify different task types. To be able to evaluate a variety of speaking activities and adapt speaking tasks.

What Needs to be Taught To communicate To have a genuine purpose To interact, negotiate To choose own vocabulary To understand that we can’t predict responses To use all resources to produce and understand communication

Theory Learning a foreign language is not just a matter of memorizing a different set of names for the things around us; it is also an educational experience. Since our language is closely linked with our personality and culture, why not use the process of acquiring a new language to gain further insights into our personality and culture? Learning to talk about their likes and dislike may bring about a greater awareness of their values and aims in their lives for students. Traditional textbook exercises do not, as a rule, forge a link between the learners and the foreign language in such a way that the learners identify with it. Learning is more effective if the learners are actively involved in the process.

Research Shows… The characteristics of a successful speaking activity are: Learners talk a lot-as much as possible of the period of time allotted to the activity in in fact occupied by learner talk. Participation is even- all get a chance to speak Motivation is high- learners are eager to speak: because they are interested in the topic and have something new to say about it Language is of an acceptable level- learners express themselves in utterances that are relevant

Research Shows… The problems with speaking activities are: Inhibition- students are worried about making mistakes, fearful of criticism or losing face, or simply shy of the attention that their speech attracts. Nothing to say- they have no motive to express themselves beyond the guilty feeling that they should be speaking. Low or uneven participation- this problem is compounded by the tendency of some learners to dominate, while others speak very little of not at all. Mother-tongue use- in classes where all or a number of the learners share the same mother tongue, they may tend to use it: because it is easier and because it feels unnatural to speak to one another in a foreign language.

What the Teacher can do to Help Solve Problems in Speaking Use group work Base the activity on easy language Make a careful choice of topic and task to stimulate interest Give some instruction on training in discussion skills Keep students speaking the target language Talk together with students as much as possible Give a lot of encouragement and praise Provide a lot of pair and group work so that everyone gets a chance to speak Teach learners to be tolerant to each other Correct mistakes at the end of the lesson in private Don’t correct all mistakes Teach your class ‘helping’ language Base the activity on easy language. Teach or review essential vocabulary before the activity starts. Delegate some teacher’s responsibilities to dominating students: let them help each other and monitor group work Set tasks with clear purposes relevant to students’ age and interest. Make sure that all the students are motivated.

Practical Application/Teaching Techniques Types of activities: Interviews Surveys Questionnaires Guessing games Communication games Drama Debates Simulations Role plays Problem-solving activities

Testing Speaking Testing speaking is listening to students and evaluating how effectively they communicated. What will be the aim of the task? What language will be produced? What will the communicative features be? Will the learner be able to equally participate? Will it be suitable for learners? What will be the language preparation? What are the instructions/ what will be the procedure? Will there be any follow-up?

References Books: Internet Links: Channell, Joanna. Vague Language. Oxford University Press. 1994.- Complete Text Klippel, Friederike. Keep Talking. Cambridge University Press. 1994.- Complete Text Tsui, Amy B.M. English Conversation. Oxford University Press. 1994- Complete Text Ur, Penny. A Course in Language Teaching. Cambridge University Press. 1991.- Module 9 Teaching Speaking Internet Links: www.notewordy.com/PDFs/Impromptu_Stratefies.pdf http://www.nclrc.org/essentials/speaking/spindex.htm http://flankerpress.com/jmoore/2040/guidelines.htm

Conclusion A teacher affects eternity: he can never tell where his/her influence stops. Henry Adams