Teaching Speaking Effectively
What makes a good speaker?
Language exams rate:
 IELTS: Fluency and Coherence, Lexical Resource, Grammatical Range and Accuracy, Pronunciation
 FCE: Grammar and Vocabulary, Discourse Management, Pronunciation, Interactive Communication
Communicative Competence (Hymes; Canale and Swain)
• Grammatical Competence - knowledge of grammar
• Discourse Competence - ability to use language in interaction and communication (turn-taking, initiation)
• Sociolinguistic Competence - ability to use socially and culturally appropriate conventions of speaking (polite phrases)
• Strategic Competence - ability to use language strategically to achieve communication goals (getting what you want)
Linguistic Competence –
 Grammar
 Vocabulary
 Pronunciation
 Coherence - Textual discourse markers (After that, then, In the end)
Pragmatic Competence
o Sociolinguistic Competence
o Discourse Competence
o Strategic Competence
We cannot assume that students automatically understand all of these things; we may need to explicitly teach them. For example:
Developing Discourse Competence:
1.
Answer
2.
Add
3.
Ask
Good speaking lessons may involve pre or post-teaching
 Vocabulary
 Grammar
 Discourse markers
 Strategies for continuing conversations
 Polite language
And should have
 Accessible structure
 Clear task
 Learner autonomy
 Feedback
Teaching Speaking Effectively – Robyn O’Loghlin – May 2011
A Pre-Intermediate Speaking Task (covered three lessons)
Focus: Grammar, Vocabulary, Presentation Skills, Confidence
1. Brainstorm vocabulary connected to cities (traffic, buses, train stations)
2. Teach and practice target grammar – there is too much traffic, there are too many cars, there is not enough
public transport, there are not enough late-night buses (use plenty of time/examples/practice for this)
3. Ask learners to prepare a 2-3 minute speech on the city they are from or one that they know well (for
homework) (optional – with pictures or map).
4. Give learners a clear structure:
a. What is your city name/ Where is it?
b. Good points
c. Bad points
5. Teach appropriate linking phrases for making simple presentations: (I’m going to talk about…. Now I’ll move
on to…. Finally, I’ll tell you about)
6. (Following day) Students present speeches to the class. Give listening students a task: “Would you like to live
in this city? Why/why not?” After each presentation, give listeners time to discuss their answer together in
pairs.
7. Give feedback on errors and appropriate language.
Why did it work?
Learners had:
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Relevant grammar
Appropriate vocab
Clear task
Accessible structure
Suitable discourse markers
Autonomy
Motivation
Challenge
Feedback
Teaching Speaking Effectively – Robyn O’Loghlin – May 2011
Ideas for Intermediate - Advanced Level Students
This is part of an overview given to my Speaking-Focused Advanced Level Class Jan 2011, running 3
hours/day for 4 weeks.
Impromptu speeches
These will be one-minute speeches every day on topics that the class chooses, with no preparation. Each day you will
each write a topic connected with a letter of the alphabet and choose one of your classmates’ topics at random (eg A
– apples, Africa, arms, acrobats, acting, arrogance, ants).
Semi-impromptu speeches
These will be 2-3 minute speeches every day on topics that the class chooses. You will learn how to organize your
arguments.
Debates:
You will need to do a debate every third day. You will have one night to prepare. With a partner, you will choose a
topic. One person should argue for, and one person argue against the topic. In your debate you should use a hook,
persuasive language, and rebuttal. Each person should speak for four minutes, then respond to each others arguments
for one minute. In order to prepare your debate you can do research on the web, and you can look at sample debates
on youtube.
Persuasive speech
Your persuasive speech is on a topic of your choice. It should go for 10 minutes and then you should spend another 5
minutes keeping the class discussion going. You will do this twice in the session.
Listening
In class we will be watching some talks from the TED website. We will be looking at language that is used to open a
talk, and listening to some persuasive speeches. It would be a good idea to listen to more of these talks in your own
time.
Topic based discussion
We will be using some reading materials as prompts for discussion of a number of different topics.
Newsgroups
Every second day you should bring to class a summary of a news article that you have read. You should tell your
group members the key points of the news article (based around wh questions – Who, What, When, Where, Why,
(How). You should teach any relevant vocabulary.
Teaching Speaking Effectively – Robyn O’Loghlin – May 2011
Teaching Speaking Effectively – Robyn O’Loghlin – May 2011
Top Tips – Students need to ….
 Talk a lot
 Talk to different audiences – use pair-work, group-work, whole-class work, speaking homework
 Talk in different styles – facilitate discussions, role-plays, short presentations, long presentations, prepared
debates, spontaneous debates, story-telling, interviews, simulation exercises, one-minute speeches
 Talk on different topics – personal, abstract, business, academic
 Talk about what they are interested in
 Talk about what the people they encounter will be interested in
 Use relevant vocabulary (teach and practice it)
 Use relevant grammar (teach and practice it)
 Use relevant phrases, signposts, linking markers, interjections (teach and practice them)
 Be heard – listen to them
Recommended Reading
How to Teach Speaking. Scott Thornbury; Pearson-Longman, 2005
ISBN: 0-582-85359-1
The Internet TESL Journal
Teaching Speaking: Activities to Promote Speaking in a Second Language
Hayriye Kayi (accessible free online)
The Art of Teaching Speaking. Keith Folse, University of Michigan Press
Teaching Speaking Effectively – Robyn O’Loghlin – May 2011
Good Ideas for Speaking Classes
- add your own to the blank spaces, or talk to other teachers and get their ideas
Task/Activity
Benefits and Focus
Give students speaking homework.
Set two or three questions. In the following class,
continue speaking by setting further questions to be
discussed in pairs.
(Who did you speak to? I spoke to…)
(What did you ask him/her? I asked him…)
(What did he/she say? He/She said…)
Confidence, Practice Opportunity, Specific Task, Clear
Counters – students must (for shy students) and can
Classroom management, opportunities for all to speak,
only (for talkative students) contribute to discussions if builds class cohesion
they have buttons/counters
Teaching Speaking Effectively – Robyn O’Loghlin – May 2011
Teaching Speaking Effectively – Robyn O’Loghlin – May 2011