1. ‘Speak volumes’: Some closing thoughts
Martin Wedell
School of Education
University of Leeds

2. Speaking volumes in the classroom
Presupposes a broadly ‘communicative’ view of language
What is a ‘communicative’ view of language?

3. A communicative view of language
Recognises that Language is
both a body of knowledge and a set of abilities or skills that are used to apply that knowledge
Recognises that the purpose of language is to
enable humans to communicate with each other, to express and comprehend whatever interactional and transactional functions they find that they need to express and comprehend in the context of their particular life.
(Malderez and Wedell 1999)

4. A communicative view of language recognises that
language forms ( grammar and vocabulary) are necessary.
We need to know how to use these forms to be able to produce and understand language.
BUT the point of producing and understanding language is to give / obtain information and to express our opinions and feelings, according to our individual needs.

5. The forms of language matter..but
vehicles for expressing and comprehending meaning, they have no ‘intrinsic’ value.
they are as they are because people have agreed they should be so that we use language to communicate with each other.
forms are the servants of meaning.. we sometimes seem to forget this and to treat them as the rulers!

6. Two main modes of expressing / understanding meaning
All humans communicate through Speech
Most also communicate to some extent through the written word
Communication CAN take place through speech AND writing

7. Speaking Speaking is not writing..
none of us can do it perfectly all the time..
Speed
Unpredictability
Lack of knowledge about topic
Nervousness/anxiety about the situation we are in

8. Errors are normal
Spoken Communication is successful when meanings are expressed well enough to be understood as intended..
Successful spoken communication does not need to be 100% formally correct / grammatical.

9. How do we judge the success of oral communication?
How do we judge it on our first language?
Is the meaning (easily?)understandable for the listener(s)?
Can we really expect more from learners speaking in a foreign language than we expect from them ( or from ourselves) in our first language?

10. Written language communicates too, if we allow it to!
teaching reading as communication entails teaching reading as a way of understanding meanings not as a vehicle for studying forms !
Sometimes we are interested in the writer’s general idea.
Sometimes we look closely at the some details.
Sometimes we look carefully at ALL the details
Sometimes we are interested in the opinions.
Sometimes we study the vocabulary choices.
We adjust HOW we read /write to WHY we are reading/writing
We NEVER answer comprehension questions about topics we are not interested in, we rarely translate sentences into other languages or read out loud.

11. Why/when do we ’speak volumes’?
when we have something we want to say/write or when we are interested in what somebody else has said/written.
What are most people interested in talking about/listening to/writing or reading about?

12. What do we like communicating /speaking volumes about?
other people (and ourselves!!)
Every classroom is full of people who know all
about themselves and their experiences and feelings , their friends, their families and their homes.
The classroom is a great resource for topics to speak volumes about!

13. How do we use language when we communicate?
We do not always repeat memorised patterns
We freely choose the language that we use to express what we want to say /write from whatever language we know.
Teachers may need to model and /or prepare learners for communicating
BUT If we teachers always completely control the language that our learners use , they will never develop the habit/confidence to choose from what they know.

14. So what may help our learners to speak volumes?
Recognising that ‘forms’ are there to serve ‘meanings’
Recognising that comprehensible is beautiful
Recognising that interesting can be ‘local’
Recognising that we need to move from more to less language support for speaking.. From more to less control of language..
Recognising that written language also ‘communicates’, if we let it