The Conversation Class: Teaching Speaking

1. Warm up: Rate the following speaking skills on a scale of 1-7, 1 being the most important:

Fluency Grammar/accuracy Compensation (fillers, hesitators) Strategic competence (appropriacy) Lexis (vocabulary, collocations) Communication (the speaker got what he/she wanted) Intelligibility (pronunciation)

2. How important is speaking when learning a language? (like learning how to drive a car without ever getting behind the wheel) “Speaking is fundamental…even for students whose emphasis is somewhere else.”

3. What are the problems with teaching speaking? a. Students need something meaningful to talk about. A lot of speaking activities only occur in the “cyberspace of TEFL”. When was the last time you asked someone what he/she does in his/her free time? Present – routines and past – holidays (typical book activities). Then there is the case of a 16- year-old and a 40-year-old and questions the older one didn’t want to answer. Also, greetings. a. Activities: small role plays using greetings b. Discuss these questions: What’s the best time of the day to: Do sport or exercise? Have a glass of wine? Have an injection? Put on face cream? (Answer considering the body, not the person.) In class, had an article which confirmed/rejected answers, led to a class discussion that was more authentic because responding to an article, which we do in real life. c. Ask yourself: When was the last time I used this language? What are people really talking about with this language? Give some grammar and have participants think of some topics. b. Activities often require more imagination than students have. a. Difficult to answer: what are your goals in life, what will be happening in the next 50 years? b. Give students a role or attitude: example: “I lent George some money yesterday” pessimist (you’ll never get it back). Do a couple activities together. c. Students often agree. One way to help is to put them into groups of 3 (not 2) or to mix the sexes. d. Turn a speaking activity into a game: answer yes to everything, students have to guess what is true and what is false, or “Obsessions” (students are given a topic and must make small talk with others, always trying to lead the conversation to their topic, the topic they are “obsessed” about). 4. What is the importance of pronunciation? Findings of a study: of 40 breakdowns in communication, due to: 1 world knowledge 3 ambiguous 1 grammar 8 lexis 27 pronunciation

Yet in classes, studies have found that: 70% is focused on grammar 20% on vocabulary 5% on pronunciation

Why is there this gap? (brainstorm)

1. belief that pronunciation has no rules (students) 2. teacher insecurity (natives with symbols, IPA, and non natives with different pronunciation from book) 3. belief that some aspects cannot be taught 4. not dealt with in the coursebooks 5. pronunciation not relevant at higher levels 6. pronunciation cannot be taught/changed after a certain age (14) 7. experts, especially sociolinguists, claim that there is no such thing as correct pronunciation.

Yet natives interviewed say “correct” or acceptable pronunciation (Received Pronunciation in British English) is associated with same values perceived essential for socio-economic success: 1. intelligence 2. professional competence 3. persuasiveness 4. diligence 5. social privilege

5. Reflection and Action Plan: How do you plan to incorporate speaking into your teaching/coursebook? What changes will you make? (Jot down for two minutes)

Evaluations