1. Chapter 7
Speaking

2. Conversation and Discussion classes
Topics and
Cues
Structuring
talk
Avoiding the
talk-talk loop
Open
Questions
Playing the devil’s advocate

3. Communicative Activities
 An activity that has communication as its main aim (as opposed to practice of particular language items) ?
A communication activity will normally involve an ‘information gap (when one person knows something that the other one doesn’t). Such gaps between people give us a need and desire to communicate with each other.

4. A few keys to getting a good discussion going…
Frame the discussion well
Preparation time
Don’t interrupt the flow
Specific problems are more productive than general issues
Role cards
Buzz groups
Break the rules

5. Some common communicative activities
Picture difference tasks
Group planning tasks
List sequencing tasks/ranking tasks
Pyramid discussion
Board games
Puzzles and Problems

6. How to organize learners in ‘Speaking tasks’
Make eye contact with those they are speaking to
Hear clearly what the other person/people are saying
Be reasonably close together

7. Other common speaking activities: “Role-play”
 Activity where students take on a character or make use of given information or ideas in order to get speaking practice

8. Role-play (cont.)

9. Role-play (cont.)

10. “Real-play”
 A variety of ‘role-play’ in which students play themselves in familiar contexts, perhaps to help study and resolve problems they have had in these situations

11. Real-play (cont.)

12. “Simulation”
A large-scale role-play. Role cards are normally used, but quite a lot of other printed and recorded background information as well (memos, news flashes, graphs, articles, etc.) causing participants to take note of the data and re-adjust their positions.
The intention is to create a much more complete, complex ‘world’ (business company, television studio, government body, etc.)

13. General concepts about ‘Accuracy’ & ‘Fluency’
Refers to the ability to produce grammatically correct sentences, but may not include the ability to speak/write fluently. Accuracy activities teach ‘new language’ or may focus on developing correct language.
Fluency
Speaking naturally without worrying too much about being 100% correct. Fluency activities normally allow learners to try out language they ‘already understand’ and have ‘learned’, but not yet made part of their repertoire.

14. Fluency, Accuracy and Communication
You often need to decide whether to focus on one or the other. There are times in classroom work where a focus on getting language correct is more useful than a focus on fluency and vice versa.

15. Running a ‘Fluency Activity’

16. Ideas for correction work after a fluency activity
Write up a number of sentences used during the activity and discuss them with your students
Write a number of sentences on the board. Give pens/chalk to Ss and encourage them to make corrections
Invent and write out a story that includes a number of errors you overheard during the activity. Hand out the story the next day and the students (pairs/whole group), find the errors and correct them
Write out two lists (A&B). Each list has the same sentences, but there are mistakes in one or the other. Divided in two groups (A&B). Students need to reach conclusions about which sentences are correct.

17. Scaffolding
Refers to the way a competent language speaker helps a less competent one to communicate by both encouraging and providing possible elements of the conversation.
Does not interfere too much with the flow of conversation
Offers useful language feedback
Actually helps the speaker to construct his conversation
It isn’t a normal conversation in the sense that the teacher/listener is not aiming to contribute any personal stories/opinions of his/her own; the aim of his/her own speaking is solely to help the speaker tell his story

18. Scaffolding Techniques
Showing interest and agreeing
Concisely asking for clarification
Encouragement echo
Echoing meaning
Asking ‘conversation oiling questions’
Asking brief questions (or using sentence heads)
Unobtrusively saying the correct form of an incorrect word (only if it contributes to communication)
Giving the correct pronunciation of words in replies without drawing any particular attention to it
Unobtrusively giving a word/phrase that the speaker is looking for

19. Different kinds of Speaking (speech genre)
 A genre is a variety of speech/writing expected to be found in a particular place, with particular people, in a particular context, to achieve a particular result, using a particular channel (e.g. face-to-face/phone), etc.
It is often characterized by specific choices about style, manner, tone, quantity, volume, directness, choice of words, formality, type of content, etc.

20. Some ‘speech genres’ Telling a joke in a cafe Meeting people
at an informal party
Discussing sales in a
business meeting
Asking for directions
on the street
Leaving an
answer phone message
Agreeing the price
for a business deal

21. Analyzing a ‘genre’

22. Try this…
What characteristics do you find when people speak in the following contexts?

23. 1

24. 3 2

25. 4 5

26. 6 7

27. 8 9

28. Why is ‘genre’ important?
A language learner needs to learn not only grammar, pronunciation, etc. but appropriate ways of speaking in different situations as well (these may be significantly different in the target culture)
We must give learners chances to select appropriate genres and planning the appropriate language needed for a variety of different speaking situations and audiences to ensure successful communication

29. Factors involved in ‘Speech Acts’
Pronunciation
Choosing and maintaining
a suitable level of politeness
Organizing
information
Interaction
Context
Listening
Speaking
strategies
Language
items

30. Stages in a ‘Speaking Lesson’ (Basic lesson sequence)
1. Set task
Stages in a ‘Speaking Lesson’ (Basic lesson sequence)
2. Plan the speaking
3. Rehearse the speaking
4. Do the task
5. Feedback/Review the success
6. Add/Correct/Revise
7. Redo the task
* Exposure to example

31. Designed as a companion for “Learning Teaching” by J. Gonzales
Office of Academic Research - ICPNA