oral proficiency
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TRANSCRIPT
SPEAKINGICELT
Leticia Adelina Ruiz GuerreroMA in ELT
Reflect on your own practiceHow much do your students speak in
class?How do you prepare speaking activities in
the class?What materials do you use?What particular problems do your
students have?In what ways do you encourage real
communication to take place in your class?
The main goal in teaching the productive skill of speaking will be oral fluency.
The term ‘fluency’ is sometimes used in different ways. Agree on what you understand by this term.
Oral fluency can be defined as the ability to express oneself intelligibly, reasonably accurately and without too much hesitation.
Task 1: Reflection on experience
Think of a foreign language you have learned, and preferably one that you speak quite well.
How would you assess your oral fluency in relation to other skills in the language?
Which aspects of your learning of the language most contributed to the development of your fluency?
Task 1:What experience do you think would be
most useful to you in order to enable you to develop your fluency yet further?
It is sometimes argued that fluency develops naturally in response to a need to communicate. To what extent is this point of view confirmed by your own experience of learning languages?
To attain the goal of achieving oral fluency, you will have to bring the students from the stage where they are mainly imitating a model of some kind, or responding to cues, to the point where they can use the language freely to express their own ideas.
Training studentsLevel 1: practice in the manipulation of the fixed elements of the language (phonological and grammatical patterns, together with vocabulary);
Level 2: opportunities for the expression of personal meaning.
Level 1 workChorus work
(model – repeat)
Back chaining
Front chaining
Mechanical drills
Substitution drills
Transformation drills
Level 2 workMeaningful practice
Guessing drillsImaginary situationsOpen-ended responses
Free practiceDiscussion activitiesSpoken interactionsOral production
Their relative importance, in terms of the amount of attention we need to pay to them at different stages of the language program, may be represented as follows:
Focus on
accuracy fluency
Focus on
fluencyaccuracy
Characteristics of a successful speaking activity
Learners talk a lot.Participation is even.Motivation is high.Language is of an acceptable level.
Problems with speaking activities
Inhibition.Nothing to say.Low or uneven participation.
Mother-tongue use.
To solve some of the problemsUse group work.Base the activity on easy language.Make a careful choice of topic and task to stimulate interest.
Give some instruction or training in discussion skills.
Keep students speaking the target language.
Techniques-Correction1. It is best to work so students make as few mistakes as possible.
2. It is best to correct all the mistakes students make.
3. It is useful to encourage students to correct each other.
4. Mistakes are best corrected as soon as the student makes them.
5. Too much correction is as bad as too little.
Correction Mistakes are a natural part of the learning process.
Give students the chance to correct themselves.
Involve the class.Isolate the problem.The student must use the correct language.
Correction There are many kinds of mistakes.Correcting register and
appropriacy needs tact.Correct promptly for accuracy,
afterwards for fluency.Don’t over-correct.Reformulation is often better than
correction.Use class discussion as a basic
method of correcting written work.
The silent learnerHere are now some of the problems of the ‘silent learner’ – the student who finds great difficulty in contributing to any kind of discussion in English, and who is reluctant to take advantage of opportunities to develop oral fluency.
Problems with fluencyA) Inhibition / lack of confidence.
B) Fear of making ‘mistakes’.
C) The feeling of having nothing to say on the subject.
D) Lack of appropriate language.
E) Lack of practice in conventions of conversational interaction.
Task 2:Solving the problem
Brainstorm measures the teacher can take to help with each of these problems.
Look at the following list of measures. Add further items you have brainstormed to this list.
Write ‘a’, ‘b’, ‘c’, ‘d’, or ‘e’ beside each of the measures in your revised list according to which of the previous ‘problems’ it is intended to address.
List of measures:Pre-teach key vocabulary.Thoroughly prepare for any discussion through brainstorming and exchange of ideas.
Organize the class so that activities take place in small groups.
Provide ‘stimulus’ materials (e.g. texts on topics to be discussed).
…Pursue and justify a policy of placing low priority on correctness and correction in certain activities.
Teach exponents of defining (e.g. ‘a thing which you do … with’; ‘a thing for …ing’) and of eliciting unknown words (e.g. ‘what do you call a thing for …ing?’).
…Provide learners with specific training in communication strategies (e.g. circumlocution, hypothesizing on the basis of features of the learners’ first language or on the basis of the learners’ existing knowledge of English itself).
Focus initially on information rather than opinion.
…Encourage and organize discussion of learning skills and objectives. Try to convince the learners of the value of trying to express themselves beyond their apparent linguistic limits, encouraging them to accept that ‘mistakes are inevitable’ in some activities in which the main focus is on oral communication.
...Analyze a (video) tape of native speakers involved in heated discussion, asking learners to pay attention to the speed and pitch of speech, body movements and gestures.
Precede activities with extensive stages of preparation of some of the language the teacher has anticipated students may need to use during the activity.
Task 3: Comparing two activities
Stage 1: Experience. Try out in teams the two activities handed out. Keep an eye on what you are assigned to do on your role card.
Stage 2: Comparing. Now compare the activities. In general, which one would you say is better?
Topic- and Task-based activitiesActivity 1 is topic-
based.This activity asks
participants to talk about a certain subject.
The main objective is the discussion process itself.
Activity 2 is Task-based.
This activity asks participants to perform something.
The discussion process is a means to an end.
Topic-based activitiesA good topic is one to which learners can relate using ideas from their own experience and knowledge.
It should also represent a genuine controversy.
Don’t feed all the arguments to the class, leave room for their own initiative!
Task-based activitiesA task is usually goal oriented.It requires the participants to achieve an objective expressed in an observable result.
The result is only attainable by interaction between participants.
A task is enhanced if there is a visual focus to base the talking on.
DISCUSSION SKILLSUsing rejoindersAsking follow-up questionsSeeking clarificationgiving clarificationUsing comprehension checksSoliciting and using detailsInterruptingExpressing opinionsVolunteering answersReferring to information and opinion
sourcesHelping discussion leadersLeading a discussion
Kehe, D. and Kehe, P. Discussion Strategies, beyond everyday conversation
Task 4: Discussion activities
Volunteers!Stage 1: Preparation. Select one of the activities and prepare to present it to a group of your peers.
Stage 2: Experience. Do the activity, participate and observe the work.
Stage 3: Reflection. After finishing, discuss the activity.
Discussion activitiesDescribing pictures.Picture differences.Things in common.Shopping list.Solving a problem.
Other kinds of spoken interaction
Interactional talk. Culture-linked. This is a matter of learning conventional formulae of courtesy.
Long turns. Speaking at length is specially relevant to advanced or academic students.
Varied situations, feelings, relationships. Give practice in a wide variety of contexts.
Teaching ideasInteractional talk: practicing patterns
as in Conversation and Dialogues in action (Dornyei and Thurrell, 1992)
Long turns: telling stories and jokes, describing people or places, recounting a film, play or book, giving short lectures or talks, arguing for or against a case.
Varied situations, feelings, relationships: dialogues, plays, simulations, role-play.
Activities for Oral productionExplanation and Description
Role-play and Dramatizations
Discussion / Conversation
Games and Problem solving
Explanation and DescriptionInterpretations of graphs, maps, diagrams.
Mini-speeches on topics or interest.Street directions, or directions for a journey.
Instructions for operating something.Describing a process.
Role-play and DramatizationsExtending or continuing a set dialogue.
Inventing a conversation for characters in a picture.
Social events (shopping, party, interview, travel).
Dramatizing a sequence (family discussion, witnesses to a car accident).
Discussion / ConversationInterpretations of pictures (making up a story or speculating).
Social issues (traffic, pollution, education, role of women).
Personal experience (discussion of horoscopes, disasters; plans for the future, holidays).
Pictures for opinions (fashion, pop stars).
Games and Problem solvingGuessing games (yes/no, twenty questions, glug, personalities, hide and seek).
Elimination games (just a minute, don’t answer yes or no, Simon says).
Problems (find the difference, arrange a meeting).
To test or not to test?Choosing an appropriate elicitation technique is only part of the problem when testing oral proficiency; there are many other difficulties associated with design, administration and assessment.
Task 5: Debate
Stage 1: Preparation. Think about what your own arguments would be for, or against, testing oral proficiency.
Stage 2: Debate. Present your arguments to your peers, listen to their opinions. Come to a conclusion as a group.
For testing oral fluencyA language test should include all aspects
of language skill – including speaking.Speaking is arguably the most important
skill, and therefore should take priority in any language test.
Knowing that there will be a final test on speaking will guarantee that it will be work on as a skill all through out the course.
Students who speak well, but write badly will be discriminated if all the test is based on writing.
Against testing oral fluencyIt is difficult to design tests to get
learners to improvise speech.When grading speech it is difficult to
judge quickly, objectively and reliably.There are no obvious criteria for
assessment.Even if you agree on criteria, some testers
will be stricter and others more lenient. It will be difficult to get reliable, consistent assessment.
It is more time consuming, since it has to be done individually.
The following scale is loosely based on that actually used in the Israeli school-leaving exam.
The candidates are tested on fluency and accuracy, and may get a maximum of five points on each of these two aspects, ten points in all.
Accuracy FluencyLittle or no language production
Poor vocabulary, mistakes in basic grammar, may have very strong foreign accent
Adequate but not rich vocabulary, makes obvious grammar mistakes, slight foreign accent
Good range of vocabulary, occasional grammar slips, slight foreign accent
Wide vocabulary appropriately used, virtually no grammar mistakes, native-like or slight foreign accent
Little or no communication
Very hesitant and brief utterances, sometimes difficult to understand
Gets ideas across, but hesitantly and briefly
Effective communication in short turns
Easy and effective communication, uses long turns
Total score out of 10: _______
1 1
2 2
3 3
4 4
5 5
Mark each statement: agree, disagree or undecided.
1. Teachers should always speak at a natural speed.
2. Choral pronunciation is useful for all classes.
3. Students need to know phonetics.
4. “I never say ‘Good’ about a student’s pronunciation unless it is
good”.
5. Students should learn RP pronunciation.
6. Consistency is as important as accuracy for students’ pronunciation.
7. Stress and intonation are not important in beginners’ courses.
8. Stress, pitch and intonation are best shown with your hands.
9. Stress is sometimes as important as grammar.
10. Bad intonation can lead to important misunderstandings.
TECHNIQUES-SPEECHWORKDo not distort when giving a model.The model must remain the same.Use choral pronunciation.Conduct choral pronunciation decisively.
Move around the room when doing choral pronunciation.
Speechwork Keep your language to a minimum in pronunciation practices.
Vary your criterion of “good” in pronunciation practice.
Articulation is an important first step in practice.
It is helpful to do articulation practices more than once.
Speechwork Bring variety to “say after me”Something which is not a real word sometimes helps.
There is no such thing as the “c-h sound”.
The main criteria for pronunciation are consistency and intelligibility.
Teach intonation by back-chaining.
Speechwork Don’t explain intonation, demonstrate.
Show stress, pitch and intonation visually.
Refer to stress and intonation even when not specially teaching it.
Mark each statement: agree, disagree or undecided.
1. Conversation lessons need detailed preparation.
2. The best conversation lessons are usually about serious topics.
3. The teacher should encourage everyone to contribute.
4. Avoid provocative remarks in conversation classes!
5. Group work is often a good basis for a conversation lesson.
Techniques-ConversationExploit opportunities for short spontaneous conversations.
Don’t flog a dead horse.Encourage contributions without interfering.
Conversation does not need to be about serious issues.
Conversation Provocative statements are often better than questions.
Problem solving is often an excellent basis for ‘conversation’.
Encourage active listening.
BibliographyByrne, D. (1986) Teaching Oral English. England,
Longman.Dornyei, Z. and Thurrell, S (1992) Conversations and
dialogues in action. UK, Cambridge University Press.Ur, P. (1991) A course in Language Teaching,
practice and theory. UK, Cambridge University Press.
Harmer, J. (2001) The Practice of English Language Teaching. England, Longman.
Lewis, M. and Hill, J. (1992) Practical Techniques for Language Teaching. England, Language Teaching Publications.