1、1Unit 10 Teaching Speaking Aims of the unit:Through learning and discussion,students will get to know:1.the main characteristics of spoken language2.principles for teaching speaking3.typical types of speaking activities4.How to organize speaking activities?210.1 What are the characteristics of spoke
2、n language?oSpeaking is a skill,just like swimming,driving a car,or playing ping-pong.oToo often,in the traditional classroom,the learning of English has been relegated to linguistic knowledge only,e.g.knowledge of vocabulary and grammar rules,with little or no attention paid to practising language
3、skill.3How can we tell the difference between knowledge and skill?oAccording to Bygate(1987:4)one“fundamental difference is that both can be understood and memorised,but only a skill can be imitated and practised”.4Characteristics of spoken languageoSpontaneityoTime-constraint 5Spontaneity In most s
4、ituations,people do not plan ahead of time what they are going to say.The fact that speech is spontaneous means that it is full of false starts,repetitions,incomplete sentences,and short phrases.Should we expect the students to produce complete sentences in language classroom?6Time-constraintoThe st
5、udents must be able to produce unplanned utterances in real time;otherwise people will not have the patience to listen to them.oWhich of the following activities do you think would help to prepare students for real life speech in English?7oReading aloud(needs to be supplemented with more realistic a
6、ctivities as the level increases).oGiving a prepared talk(may be used for advanced level)oLearning a piece of text or dialogue by heart more realistic activities as the level increases).oInterviewing someone,or being interviewed(Yes.It helps to prepare students for real life speech.)oDoing a drill(n
7、eeds to be supplemented with more realistic activities as the level increases).8oAlso students must consider whom they are talking to and be able to check if they are being understood.oe.g.9oKelly:Hey Jack,hows the project coming along?oJack:What project?oKelly:The one you and Craig are working on.o
8、Jack:Craig and I?oKelly:Yeah,for the science fair.oJack:Oh,that project.Its finished.Im so busy working on another project for my economics class that I almost forgot about it.I hope itll work like we want to.oKelly:Oh,Im sure it will.1010.2 Principles for teaching speaking Teacher asks the students
9、 to read the part from P159 to 160 and then gets them to think about how they can improve speaking teaching.oBalancing accuracy-based with fluency-based practicesoContextualising practiceoPersonalising practiceoBuilding up confidenceoMaximising meaningful interactionsoHelping students develop speaki
10、ng strategiesoMaking the best use of classroom learning environment to provide sufficient language input and practice for the students1110.3 Designing speaking tasksoOne important consideration:Proficiency level of the students(challenging but not too difficult.)oIf the task is too easy or too diffi
11、cult,the students may be demotivated.12Common characteristics in successful speaking tasksoMaximum foreign talkoEven participationoHigh motivationoRight language level13oMaximum foreign talk nTry to avoid students talking in the mother tongue,and avoid too much Teacher Talk.oEven participation nTry
12、to avoid outstanding students dominating discussions.Try to guarantee equal opportunities for students of different levels.oHigh motivation nInteresting topic,and clear objective.Make sure that the task is in line with the students ability 14oRight language level nThe task must be designed so that t
13、he students can complete the task successfully with the language that they have.Otherwise the task will become frustrating and the students are likely to give up or revert to the native language.1510.4 Type of speaking tasks It is important to provide the students with a variety of speaking activiti
14、es because:oA variety of speaking activities will enable students to cope with different situations in reality.oVariety helps keep motivation high.oVariety may suit students of different learning styles.16oThere are two major purposes for listening.One is to get information and the other is for soci
15、al reasons.oSince speaking is reciprocal of listening,the same is true of speaking.17oAccording to Littlewood,as has been mentioned in Unit 2(p.22)communicative speaking activities can be divided into two types:functional communication activities,and social interaction activities:18 Structural Activ
16、itiesPre-C.A.Quasi-com.Activities (sent.pattern drills,dialogues,etc.)Functional Com.Act.Com.Act.(obtaining information)Social Interaction Act.(role-playing,problem-solving,etc.)Information Gap,Choices&Feed-back)19oFor beginning students,pre-communicative activities are also necessary,which are more
17、 structural and allow the learner to practise the forms of the language.However,we should make speaking tasks as communicative as possible.20Some types of speaking activitiesoControlled activitiesoSemi-controlled activitiesoInformation-gap activitiesoDialogues and role-playsoActivities using picture
18、soProblem-solving activitiesoOther speaking activities 21Information-gap activitiesoCompare 2 activities:Activity A22oActivity B:Use the same pictures,but cut them up,paste them on cards,and give each student a different picture.23Directions:Ask your partner what is in his/her picture.Fore example:S
19、tudent A:Whats in your picture?Student B:There is _.Whats in your picture?Student A:There is _.24oObviously the second activity includes an information gap that the first one does not.oInformation-gap activities can be designed at a very elementary level,so that communicative practice can be done fr
20、om almost the very beginning of foreign language learning.25Dialogues and role-playsTwo problems with most dialogues in textbooks:oNot authentic or natural.The natural speech of native speakers is often phrases or sentence fragments full of pauses,false starts,and repetitions.oThe way most dialogues
21、 are taught.Teachers ask students to memorize dialogues by heart.26What can a teacher do to make a dialogue more communicative?Example 1:Playing the roles in a dialogue 27Step 1.Practise the dialogue in pairsA:What time is it?B:Its 3:00.Why?A:Oh,I need to go to the store!Do you want to come?B:OK.Jus
22、t a minute.I need to finish this first.28Step 2.Ask a few pairs to perform the dialogue in front of the whole class,speaking in different moods such as happy,irritated,bored,or in different role relationships such as parent and a child,husband and wife,two friends,etc.The students may paraphrase the
23、 underlined parts:o“go to the post office”,“go to the bank”,etc.instead of“go to the store”.o“find my jacket/shoes”,etc.instead of“finish this first”.29Example 2:Using cue cards Card AYou are talking to a new classmate.Begin the conversation with a greeting.1.Greet your partner.2.Ask your partner wh
24、ich school he/she went to before.3.Ask your partner if he/she lives near the school.4.Suggest you go shopping together after school.30Card BYou are a new student at this school.One of your classmates greets you.1.Greet your partner back.2.Answer the question.3.Answer the question.4.Respond to the su
25、ggestion.31Then students should be ready to move quickly into less controlled types of role plays,where only the situation and the relationship between the two speakers are specified:Card AYou and your friend are going out to eat lunch.You need to decide where to go.You would like to try something d
26、ifferent because youre tired of the same food.You make a suggestion.32Notice that the outcome of this role play is not specified in the cue cards.It only sets up a point of disagreement.Card B You and your friend are going out to eat lunch.You need to decide where to go.You would like to go to the p
27、lace where you always go,because you like the food.You dont agree with your friends suggestion.33Factors that affect the success of role-plays(Ur,1996:133)oTeachers enthusiasm;oCareful instructions;oClear situation and roles;oMaking sure that the students have the language they will need to carry ou
28、t the role-play.34Activities using picturesoIn groups of 3 or 4:35A secretary is appointed to mark a tick for each sentence said.Check which group has got most ticks.36In pairs:(Littlewood 1981:23-4)37In groups of 5:38Problem-solving activitiesYou are on a committee that is in charge of deciding wha
29、t to do with a small amount of money that has been donated to improve your school.You have a list of things to do,but you only have enough money for 5 of the items.You must reach a consensus(agreement)in your group on which 5 items you will spend the money.Here is the list:39oRepaint 3 classrooms.oP
30、aint lines for games on the playground.oInstall lights that automatically turn off to save electricity.oBuy curtains for 8 classrooms.This will make it easier to see the OHP(Overhead Projector)when the room is darker.oBuy sound absorption panels for 2 classrooms.This will make the classroom quieter
31、so it will be easier to hear each other.oBuy an air conditioner for one classroom.oBuy 4 new basketball hoops for the playground.oBuy 15 young trees to be planted for shade around the edge of the playground.oBuy fans for 6 classrooms.oRemodel bathroom faucets so students can wash their hands using h
32、ot and cold water.oAdd soap dispensers and hand dryers to bathrooms.40oProblem solving activities require a higher level of language proficiency,but the difficulty levels can be controlled somewhat by the topic.oIn problem-solving activities,“participants tend to become personally involved;they begi
33、n to relate the problem as an emotional issue as well as an intellectual and moral one”(Ur 1996:128).41Other speaking activitiesFind someone who e.g.Sand up and walk around the room.Ask your classmates what they like to do.Remember,you must speak in English only!42Find someone who Name likes to swim
34、 likes to play basketball likes to play badminton likes to play tennis likes to play football likes to play volleyball likes to roller skate likes to ice skate 43A model conversation can be provided.oA:Hi,Tom.oB:Hi,Sherry.oA:Im conducting a survey for our school newspaper.Could you tell me,do you li
35、ke to swim?oB:Yes,I do.In fact,usually go swimming once or twice a week.oA:Great.Would you mind signing your name here for me please?oB:Sure,there you are.oA:thanks a lot.See you around.oB:See you.44Bingo activities (This seems to be practising listening rather than speaking if the words are called
36、out by the teacher.)45Change the storyoStep 1:Form groups of 3-5;oStep 2:The group together makes a list of about 20 random verbs.e.g.go,sleep,teach,learn,jump,fall,look(at),hear,laugh,sing,etc.oStep 3:Each one writes a short story,and underlines all the verbs in the story;e.g.46 Yesterday I saw a c
37、at.She was running in the street.She had a fish in her mouth.A dog was running after the cat.The dog wanted to eat the fish too.Then the cat climbed up a tree.The dog stopped under the tree.He could not climb the tree.At last the cat ate the fish.47oStep 4:Each one read his/her story,but pauses at e
38、very verb.The group then supplies one of the random verbs into that slot.oThe results can be very funny.oA possible version may be:48 Yesterday I taught a cat.She was sleeping in the street.She learned a fish in her mouth.A dog was laughing after the cat.The dog fell to hear the fish too.Then the ca
39、t sang up a tree.The dog jumped under the tree.He could not heard the tree.At last the cat looked at the fish.49No specific responses The teacher calls out a verb and students hold up a letter card each and rush to spell a word.(This seems to be practising listening rather than speaking.)5010.5 Orga
40、nising speaking tasksAdvantages of using group work:oMore opportunities.As compared with activities for the whole class,group work enables students to talk a lot because it increases the time for each student to practise speaking in one lesson.oMore motivation.Group work helps students avoid losing
41、their face in front of a whole class,and thus it makes students courageous to speak.51oMore authenticity.Speaking in a small group is more natural than speaking in a large group,because the latter is usually more formal and requires preparation.oDifferent levels.Students can naturally perform to the
42、ir abilities more readily in small groups than in a whole class,i.e.students of different levels can participate.52oMore cooperation.Small group work helps students learn to work cooperatively and it helps develop interpersonal skill fostering development of tolerance,mutual respect and harmony.5310
43、.6 ConclusionoThe most important aspect of preparing students to speak in real life is to give them as many opportunities as possible to practise producing unplanned,spontaneous and meaningful speech under time pressure.54Homework1.What are the main characteristics of spoken language?2.What are the characteristics of successful speaking activities?3.What are the main types of speaking activities?
