Learning to speak, speaking to learn: how to help students' speaking skills to be both accurate and fluent Chris Morris.

Learning to speak, speaking to learn: how to help students' speaking skills to be both accurate and fluent

Chris Morris

Outline

•Why are students reluctant to speak?

•Learning to speak - accuracy

•Authentic speech vs classroom speech

•Speaking to learn - fluency

What students are afraid of

• making grammar mistakes (from

over-correction?)

• appearing foolish

• sounding strange or foreign

• not having enough vocabulary

• not knowing what to say

As a result,

• they speak hesitantly

• there are long pauses

• they struggle for vocabulary

• often give up

Language Knowledge•vocabulary and fixed expressions•grammar and language rules•spelling and pronunciation• idioms

Communicative Competence• introduce myself and others• ask for information• follow movies and TV programmes

• describe my home • talk about my family• apologise for a mistake

Learning to speak - building good foundations for speaking

• Learner challenge 1 – searching for

vocabulary and content

• Learner challenge 2 – accuracy. Drills for

grammar and phonology

• Learner challenge 3 – fluency. Strategies

for communication

Good foundations 1: vocabulary and content

Preparing to speak

Listening as a model

Speaking task allows for preparation and rehearsal

Good foundations 2: accuracy focus – grammar & phonology

• Build confidence through repetition and chain drills

• Make controlled activities into a game

•Natural speed

•Attention to word stress and weak forms

Grammar exercise acted out as a role play

Speaking to learn – good foundations 3: fluency

“You learn to speak by speaking, to study by studying, to run by running, to work by working; ..... (Anatole France)

By speaking together, students will:• learn and consolidate grammar and vocabulary• make errors and test hypotheses about language• negotiate meaning

Speaking in the real world

• What features does natural, conversational speech have?

Look at this native speaker conversation:

Jo is a teacher and Alice is 9 years old

(Thanks to Jo Abeels, final year TESOL undergraduate student, University of Wolverhampton, and Alice, her informant.)

Jo: Alice, you go to primary school. Tell me what subjects you take.Alice: maths literacy science ... (2 secs.) erm handwriting ... (4 secs) and historyJo: ... and choose any one of those subjects and tell me what you doAlice: um, maths ... I did a grid .... a grid you know the

grid ... yeah .... mmm ... it’s for adding up ... (3 secs) and um we do like sub...traction and

addition ... em... (2 secs) and ... (6 secs) and graphs ... (2 secs) and do a lot of homeworkJo: ... and what type of homework do you get for maths?Alice: ... (2 secs) erm ... (2 secs) we get we get like you know the grid we do that at school as well so you can do your times tables ... yeah ... it’s helped me ... (3 secs) I feel more confident now

Speaking in the classroom

•Dialogues are frequent in teaching materials

•But they are usually controlled for vocabulary and grammar

•Turn-taking is unnaturally regular

•Therefore students are exposed to models of spoken discourse that are unnatural

A: Hello ummB: Can I help you?A: Have you by any chance got anything on Bath?B: I’m awfully sorry we haven’t… um I don’t know where you can try for Bath actuallyA: You haven’t no noB: Um I don’t know really ... you could perhaps try Pickfords in Littlewoods, they might be able to help youA: No ... in Littlewoods is itB: Yes, they’re inside there nowA: OK thanks

Hiroko: A man is uh ... drinking c-coffee or tea with uh the saucer of the uh uh coffee set is in his uh knee

Izumi: in him kneeHiroko: uh on his kneeIzumi: yeahHiroko: on his kneeIzumi: so sorry ... on his knee

Learning correct language

V: if you see Karima before she goes will you give her this? 

A: she’s gone tomorrow morning V: will you have time to give it to her then before she

goes?A: she’s gone tomorrow morning eight about half past

eightV: but will you see her before then?A: eh?... half past eight the plane went at half past

eight tomorrow..V: tomorrow?A: aaaah, no today, today morning.V: ah, she’s gone ... this morning.A: this morning ... she’s gone

Negotiating meaning

Strategies• Don’t worry about making mistakes. Keep talking!

• Use gestures or mime if you can’t think of a word you need. Don’t stop speaking.

• Show that you are listening: smile, nod your head, make comments like Right, OK, yeah, mm

• Keep a conversation going: you know, I mean,

• Don’t just give one word answers. Expand your answers whenever possible.

Useful for exams!

Speaking tasks framework

• set the scene

• listening model of task

• analysis of model /controlled practice

• give instructions for task

• individual/group thinking time/note-taking

• task rehearsal

• task production

• feedback

listening model

set the scene

Accuracy + controlled practice

give instructionsfor task

What’s Missing?

• set the scene

• listening model of task

• analysis of model /controlled practice

• give instructions for task

• individual/group thinking time/note-taking

• task rehearsal

• task production

• feedback

What’s missing?

• individual/group thinking time/note-taking

• task rehearsal

• feedback