Teaching Speaking
Firoozeh Shojaee, M.A., Kazeroon Azad University
firoozeh_shojaee@yahoo.com
‫ددد فلد خمه يف دده‬
‫د‬
‫فا اددد‬.‫ ا ناددآ‬. ‫هدددم اله ددض هردده فعفيددض خمهلف دده قفيددگ اي ددز نلآلددز ددآابلد‬
‫ و حتهعب اخميمها اد‬،‫ فسنهد فلنرتنز‬،‫ قبيل كفههبه كالسيك‬.‫ انهبع قفيفد ف‬.‫به ه فض ده ف‬
‫اهندهد فل د‬.‫ففددهع اآ د بيددها ددده فسددز سددده چ ددهع عو سدده‬
‫دده فسدز‬
‫چكيده‬
‫دع فبفدددف وصآادديها خمه يف دده‬
‫لده ممآهدض هده ن ده نشدهل‬. ‫فد و‬.‫ نا خمه يف ه كنرتل ده و ن‬.‫خمه يف ه فعفيض ده فسز بخمد ف‬
‫ دعو دل دده دع‬.‫ففددهع فاددهش دفد و اب بددض هنددآفا شددد ف‬
‫فل د خمه يف دده عف اددد نددآفا ايدف هنددض بددض هنددآفا كددال‬
‫قسمز متهل اآعد فسففهده قهفع دفد‬
Abstract
The aim of the present study is to show various activities
that can be done in order to practice speaking. These activities
are collected from various sources including classic books,
Internet documents, and teachers’ experience.
First, characteristics of successful speaking activities
are presented. Second, four practical ways of organizing speaking
activities are stated. Then, various controlled and free activities
and their subclasses are described. These activities can be used
either as a separate lesson in speaking classrooms or as part of
other lessons to practice the new language.
Introduction
The most important skill is speaking, and many learners are
interested in speaking. Therefore, teachers should do their best to
provide students with the best speaking activities. The goal of a
speaking class should be to encourage the acquisition of
communication skills and to foster real communication in and out
of the classroom.
Speaking is a language skill. In order to practice a skill
students will usually not use new language, but will use language
they already know. Therefore, the teacher doesn’t need to
introduce new language.
1
When the teacher is planning a lesson or part of a lesson
where the focus is only on improving and practicing speaking, the
presentation and guided practice phases should be shorter and
lead quickly on to the main part of the lesson (the production
phase). Activities, which are done in this phase, should have
special characteristics in order to help students improve their
speaking ability.
Characteristics of a Successful Speaking Activity
According to Ur (1996) an effective speaking activity has the
following features:
1.
Learners talk a lot. Classroom activities must be designed
in such ways that provide opportunities for learners to talk a
lot.
2.
All get a chance to speak. A minority of talkative students
should not dominate Classroom discussions, and
contributions must be fairly distributed. Classroom activities
must be designed in ways that help all the students to take
risk.
3.
Motivation is high. Learners are eager to speak because
they are interested in the topic, and want to contribute to
achieving a task objective.
4.
Language is comprehensible. Learners express
themselves in utterances that are relevant, easily
comprehensible to each other, and of an acceptable level of
language accuracy. The teacher must also base the activity
on easy language so that the students can use the language
fluently without hesitation.
5.
Students speak the target language. The teacher must
keep students speaking the foreign language.
Ways of Organizing Speaking Activities
The way in which a classroom is organized can have a
significant influence on language learning processes. The
dominant view of second language classroom processes today
favors a great amount of student-centered learning instead of the
traditional teacher-dominated classroom. The teacher-dominated
classroom is characterized by the teacher’s speaking most of the
time, leading activities, and constantly passing judgments on
students performance, whereas in a highly student-centered
classroom, students will be observed working individually or in
2
pairs and small groups. The followings are different ways of
organizing classroom activities according to Doff (1990):
Pair work: the teacher divides the whole class into pairs.
Every student works with his or her partner and all the pairs
work at the same time.
2.
Open or public pair work: as with the pair work, the
class will be divided into pairs, and each pair of students
speaks in turn in front of the class.
3.
Group work: the teacher divides the class into small
groups to work together, and as in pair work, all the groups
work at the same time.
4.
Whole class activity: the whole class takes part into an
activity together. An example of this activity is Circle games
These games involve the learners sitting in a circle and working
as a whole class.
1.
Choosing different ways of organizing the class depends
on many things, for example, the activity, level of the students,
personal characteristics of the students, the teacher, subject matter,
and so on. Doff (1990) argued that for certain types of activities, pair
works and group works have a number of advantages over working
with the whole class. These advantages are as the followings:
1.
Pair works and group works give students far more
chance to speak English.
2.
Working in pairs or groups encourages the students to be
more involved and to concentrate on the task.
3.
Students feel less anxiety when they are working privately
than when they are on show in front of the whole class.
4.
Pair works and group works encourage the students to
share ideas and knowledge .
Speaking activities
This section deals with techniques for getting students to
communicate with each other in English. The aim of such
activities is to develop a pattern of language interaction within the
classroom, which is as close as possible to that used by native
speakers in normal life.
The students must be motivated to speak, or need to speak in
order to complete the activity. Very young learners aren't
3
motivated by new language; they're motivated by an activity. It can
be very difficult to get them to speak if they really don't see the
point.
The teacher needs to plan the lesson in a step by step way.
Students start with guided and controlled activities and move
toward less-guided and more student-centered and creative
activities. Guided activities, which are easy and short, will help all
students to speak or write with few mistakes in a controlled
situation. As their confidence and interest grow, less-guided
activities will encourage them to speak and write more confidently.
A. Controlled Speaking Activities
In controlled practice the teacher can model the forms to be
produced, and provides linguistically correct input. It is very
important that the teacher doesn’t teach new structures and new
vocabulary in a speaking activity; speaking activities will be used
either to practice the new language or as a separate lesson.
The teacher allows the students to practice the material, and
s/he controls and reinforces the forms practiced and moves from
controlled practice to guided practice. Controlled communicative
activities are as the followings:
1. Interview
Interview can be used as a speaking activity. It can be done
in different ways; therefore, guidelines are necessary for students
to establish the way in which interviews should be conducted.


First, the topic of the interview must be determined.
Second, the purpose of the interview should be stated
carefully.


Third, we should plan the interview carefully.
Forth, the teacher should teach any special vocabulary
needed to talk about the topic.
Followings are some interview activities:
One.
The structured interview
According to Heidi Riggenbach and Anne Lazaraton (1987)
as cited by Celce-Marcia (1991) an example of this activity is
where students question each other and answer, thus exchange
4
real information, while at the same time repeating and reinforcing
specific structures. For example, Yes-No and Wh-questions:

Can you type letters? Yes I can.

How old are you? I am 15 years old.
b. Interviewing famous people
One student pretends to be a famous person. Other
students ask him/her different questions in order to find out who
s/he is. For example:

Where are you from?

Are you alive or dead…?
c. Using superlative questions
According to Gareth Reese ( N D) students can interview
each other using superlative questions. This activity practices the
superlatives in questions, and generates a great deal of student
speaking. It is a highly personalized activity, asking the students to
talk about their own experiences and opinions.
Prepare
individual questions on slips of paper. The questions should all
use the superlative form. For example,

What's the most interesting country you have
been to ?

What subjects are/were you worst at school ?

What is the tallest building you have been in ?

Who is the strangest person you have met ?

What is the greatest problem in the world today?
ffffffffffffffffffff. Interviewing experts
It is another interesting activity that is suggested by Ken
Wilson ( N D). Three students sit in a line at the front of the
class. They are the experts, but they don't know what they are
experts about. The rest of the class chooses the area of
expertise - e.g. cooking, car maintenance, and trees. The
other students then ask the experts questions and the experts
answer them.
5
Example: They are experts about cooking”.

How can we cook a chicken?

What is the best way of cooking rice?
2. Picture Activities
Pictures are useful for practicing new language in a controlled
way. There are some activities that can be done with pictures.
a. Matching Games
Games, which require students to match texts with pictures,
are ideal for beginning students who need to practice manipulating
certain structures; for example, the students match the word cup
with a picture of a cup.
b. Describing Pictures
The teacher can divide the class into groups. Each group
has a picture that all its members can see. They have two
minutes to say as many sentences as they can that describe it.
This can be done as a whole class activity.
Students can also do this activity in pairs. For example, one
student has to describe a monster in a picture with his or her own
idea or imagination, so that the other can draw it.
P1: It has three blue eyes
P2: (drawing them, listening to P1)
And one white nose
And one red mouth
And six green ears
... And it has got two blue hands....
In order to complete the task (=one is describing a picture,
and the other is drawing the picture), the pupils have to think up
sentences of their own.
c. Asking and Answering Questions
The teacher asks students to look at a picture then ask and
answer questions about it. It may be the picture of a room. The
students can ask:
What kind of room is it?
Is there a cupboard in the room?
How many chairs are there?
Where is the desk?
6
Students can also do this activity in pairs. For example, two
pupils are talking about a monster given in the same picture,
looking at it, as shown in (5).
(5) P1: What color is the monster? P2: Green.
... How many legs has it got?... It's got 6 legs....
... Has it got a tail?
... Yes, it has.
In the first task, the language is totally controlled. The pupils
are not thinking what to say. They are deliberately practicing the
language they have been given. This allows them to concentrate
on practicing the language accurately (Accuracy). They are
practicing 'saying the words,' not using the language (Controlled
Practice).
Doff (1990) believed that although the above mentioned
activity provides useful language practice, it is often not
interesting, because there is no real purpose in asking the
questions, nor any need to listen to the answers. We can make the
activity more interesting by hiding the information, either from all
the students or from some students, so that there is something
they need to find out.
d. Guessing Games
Guessing games can be done in various ways and there are
different ways of organizing them. One way is that the teacher
does the activity him or herself. The teacher can also stand aside
and let students take over the activity. Doff (1990) suggested
some guessing activities, which can be done in English language
classes for example:

The teacher has a picture, which the students can’t see.
The teacher presents a brief explanation about the picture and
then asks the students to ask questions and find out exactly
what the picture looks like or draw the picture. Hiding the
pictures gives students a genuine reason to ask questions
because they want to find out information about the picture.
They also have to listen carefully to answers, so that they draw
the pictures.

One student stands at the front of the class with a picture
in his or her hands and other students guess.
7

Another technique is that two students stand at the front of
the class. One shows the picture to the class but not to the
other student. The other student guesses and the rest of the
class response in chorus. This activity can also be organized
with students working in small groups. The teacher gives a
picture to one student in each group, and the others in the
group try to guess it.
e. Exchanging information
This activity can be done in various ways as Doff (1990)
suggested. For example, the students can be in pairs; each
member of the pair has a different picture. Without showing each
other their pictures they have to find out what the differences are
between them by describing each picture, or asking questions
about them. For example, “In my picture there’s a boy lying in
bed”, “There is a ball”…
To make the activity more interesting Nik Peachy (ND)
suggested an interesting activity. The teacher can cut pictures out
of a magazine. S/he should make sure to cut out enough for half
the class. Then, s/he should follow the following procedure:

Put the students into pairs, one policeman and one
witness, and the witness from each pair comes to the front of
the class .

Give each one a picture of a person to look at. Tell them
that the person in the picture is a criminal. They shouldn't let
anyone else see the picture.

Once they've had a couple of minutes to look at the
picture, take all the pictures back and then send the witnesses
back to their seats.

Their partner, the policemen, then has to ask questions
and make notes so that they build up some idea of what the
person in the picture looks like.

Once they have their description, put all the pictures on
the floor at the front of the class and get the policemen to come
to the front of the class and see if they can find the picture that
the witness described.

You should make sure that the witnesses remain silent
until all the policemen have 'arrested' the picture of their choice .
8

You can then try this again reversing the roles this time.
This gives the students a chance to learn from any mistakes
that they may have made the first time round.

You can make the activity more difficult by selecting
pictures of people who look more similar (same age / sex etc.)
or easier by having a greater range of people.
3. Information Gap Activities
A popular, well-known type of activity is the information gap.
In this type of the activity, one group has half of the information
required to complete the task and the other group has the other
half (or pairs of students). The two groups need to exchange
information or guess to complete the task
One.
Exchange Information
According to Sheryl Carvalho ( ND) possible examples of
tasks are:
Making an arrangement: each group has a diary, with
appointments already filled in. They need to exchange
information in order to agree when they can meet.
Giving/receiving directions: 2 sets of maps, each
with information missing. 2 sets of directions for these
missing places. The students again need to exchange
information in order to complete their maps.
Crosswords: each group has some of the answers.
They need to make up appropriate questions and then
exchange, or ask appropriate questions. Hopefully, the
students will be more concerned about completing the
crossword, rather than worrying about speaking.
Find your partner. Information is written on slips of
paper, which can be matched in some way. Each student
receives a paper then the students of the class mingle and
exchange information in order to find their partner. E.g. for a
group of 10 students, to practice colors. Color in 5 slips of
paper and write the words for these colors on the other slips.
Students ask each other "What color have you got?" in order
to find their partner. (The point of this activity from the
students’ perspective is finding their partner, not necessarily
the practice of the language.)
9
Shopping list: Doff (1990) suggested an activity that makes
students exchange information. Students sit in pairs. One student
is a customer, and has a shopping list, another student is a shop
assistant, and has a list of items in the shop and their prices. They
do not look at each other’s list. The customer tries to buy things.
For example:
A: Have you got any tea?
B: Yes, I have.
A: How much does it cost?
B: 10 dollars
Doctors and patients: Gillie Cunningham (ND) who is a
Teacher and Teacher Trainer suggested this activity. You should
do this in this way:

Divide your class in half, half of the students are doctors,
half are patients.

Put the patients in an area of the class that becomes the
waiting room.

The patients should either come up with their own
symptoms, or you can give them a few ideas. The one who
wakes up in the morning feeling sick, the one who can’t sleep
or the one who’s putting on a lot of weight or the one who’s
losing weight.

You can have any kind of ailment you want and the idea is
that every patient should visit every doctor and get advice from
that doctor.

Be careful to set a time limit for each consultation with the
doctors.

Once the patients have visited each doctor – they may
want to make notes of the advice given – they return to the
waiting area and decide who was the best doctor, and perhaps
who was the craziest! Meanwhile, the doctors all get together,
because they are at a medical conference, and they have to
compare the advice they’d given – and perhaps decide who
was the craziest patient!

It’s usually a great fun lesson, students love it because
there is lots of speaking practice and they can use their
imaginations and senses of humor.
10
b. Guessing Games
Sheryl Carvalho (ND) also suggested a guessing game.
Secretly put an object in a paper bag or hide it. Then, get the
students to guess what's in the bag, by asking an appropriate
question. The student who guesses correctly takes over from the
teacher. Do this a couple of times, and then let the students take
over. Students can do this group vs. group, or in pairs.
Another version of that activity is that the teacher sends two
students out of the room. The other students hide an object. The
two students come back and guess what the object is and where it
is hidden, by asking questions, e.g.
Is it made of wood?
Is it a pencil?
Is it on this side of the room?
Another guessing activity is that one student chooses a job,
and mimes a typical activity which it involves. The others try to
guess the job by asking questions either about the activity or the
job, e.g.:
Were you mending something?
Were you digging?
Do you work outside?
Two.
Exchanging Personal Information
Daily life: According to Doff (1990)
forms of communicative activity in the
students to tell each other about their
experiences, etc. Students can ask about
example:
When do you get up?
When do you have breakfast?
When do you go to school?
one of the interesting
classroom is for the
own lives, interests,
their daily routine, for
Family Tree: Daphne (ND) believed that it's amazing how
students can't stop telling their friends about themselves. The
teacher can also introduce a class of second language learners to
the family tree and the different relationships between people in
the family - in-laws, step-family, cousins, paternal and maternal
11
sides etc. even terms like widow, widower and divorcee. Then, the
teacher can get them to draw their own family tree and share it
with their friends, giving 10 minutes each to tell and ask about a
particular member in their family, e.g. grandparents, aunts,
cousins, siblings etc. Students could hardly stop talking! This is
one lesson that saw students continuing their discussion even
after
the
bell
rang.
Plans for the summer: according to Clare Lavery (ND)
students can also focus on plans for the summer (not just a
holiday) and use them to preview the language needed to talk
about plans. The teacher can ask students to note down key
words while s/he is speaking: “This July I’m planning to work in
my Uncle’s shop and I’m going to do some reading for my
university course next year. I would like to play a bit of tennis and
spend some time with my friends”. The teacher can ask students
to do the same exercise in pairs. Note taking will help them listen
carefully. The teacher should go round the class asking students
to tell about their partner’s plans.
4. Playing Controlled Roles
Role-play is used to refer to all types of activities where
learners imagine themselves in a situation outside the classroom,
sometimes playing the role of someone other than themselves,
and using the language appropriate to this new context. Role play
increases motivation and adds interest to a lesson, it gives a
chance to use the language in new contexts and for new topics,
and encourages the students natural expressions and intonation,
as well as gestures. Role- play is a way of bringing situations from
real life into the classroom. It can be based on a text or dialogue
from the textbook. In order to have a role- play based on a
dialogue, it is better to explain about dialogue, and ways of
teaching a dialogue.
Dialogue is a traditional language learning technique in which
the learners are taught a brief dialogue which they learn by heart,
and then they perform it in pairs, or in front of the whole class.
Learners can be asked to perform the dialogue in different ways,
in different moods, and in different role relationships. The actual
words of the text can be varied, other ideas substituted, and the
rest of the dialogue adopted accordingly. Through different
dialogues the students learn how to greet, take leaves, begin and
12
end conversations, apologize, thank and so on. The conversation
might sound something like this.
Sarah: Hi, Tom. How is everything?
Tom: Not bad. How are you?
Sarah: Pretty good, thanks.
Tom: Sarah, this is Paulo. He is from Brazil.
Sarah: Hello, Paulo. Are you on vacation?
Paulo: No, I’m a student here.
Sarah: Oh, are you studying English?
Paulo: Well, yes, I am .
Richard (1998 : 5)
A dialogue can be a basis for role- play activities. The teacher
can call out pairs of students and ask them to have conversation
based on the dialogue. The conversation can be similar to the one
in the textbook but not exactly the same. The students should
think of new places, people, and questions.
B. Free Speaking Activities
All students of English, whether they are intermediate,
advanced or beginners, need to have a lot of practice using their
English freely in the classroom to practice the language they have
learned. Free speaking activities should be planned for the
Production phase of a lesson. For advanced students, these
activities can be planned to fill a whole lesson or series of lessons.
The objective of these types of production activities is to
improve the students’ fluency in English without the immediate
help of the teacher.
1. Free Role Play Activities
Free role-play activities are not based on situations and
dialogues that are in the textbook. The students have to decide
what language to use and how the conversation should develop.
The teacher must prepare for a role-play in the class. The teacher
or the students determine the situation for role-play. Then the
teacher can discuss what the speakers might say or let students
discuss together. It is also possible to ask students to prepare a
13
role-play for homework and perform it later in the class. Teachers
can plan role-play activities based on the work of Regina (1997):
a. Before the Role-Play
Explore possibilities concerning sources for role- plays.
While literature is the most frequently used source, the media and
students' life experiences are also rich sources of role- play
situations and issues. The teacher should carefully plan for
integration of all language processes into the role- play. The
following describes a method of planning a role- play:
choose a topic or theme (one that has a number of
potential learning concepts) currently under study
select a concept, being sure that there is a compelling
issue involved, that it has human conflict within it, and that
there are roles to play for the number of students to be
involved
decide upon a key question about the concept or issue
selected
list the possible viewpoints that might be adopted
place each viewpoint within a situation (or set of
circumstances) in such a way that those characters involved
are faced with a problem which needs resolving
Choose a situation for the drama and roles for
students and teacher .
The next step is to select one of the situations to begin with
and choose viewpoints for participants. For example, students
may choose the situation in which "The White family meets with
Social Services personnel"; then they must decide who will play
each role.
Further preparation for role- play includes the following:
engaging students in activities that foster commitment
in the role play (e.g., questioning, interviewing, narration,
drawing, guided imagery)
setting up the room physically (this may vary from
simply rearranging desks to more complicated changes
including furniture and lighting)
having students decide how they will first enter the role
(giving all the information needed, speaking with the voice
they wish to establish; allowing others to understand
14
immediately who they are, where they are, and what is
happening)
b. During Role Play
It is important that students feel safe taking risks as they
enter into various roles. Establishing expectations and rules (e.g.,
no put-downs) with students can help students to be supportive of
each other during the role-play.
If the role-play has been planned effectively and all the steps
have been carried through, the experience should be satisfying
and positive for all participants.
The teacher can have different roles while role-play. Some of
the possible teacher roles are:
Facilitator :Students may need new language to be
'fed' in by the teacher. If rehearsal time is appropriate the
feeding in of new language should take place at this stage .
Spectator: The teacher watches the role-play and
offers comments and advice at the end.
Participant :It is sometimes appropriate
involved and take part in the role-play yourself.
to
get
c. After the Role-Play
Assessment of role-plays will mainly occur through reflective
discussion and through assessment of the products. Student
participation is important; however, participation does not always
involve talking. It is possible for a student who has remained very
quiet during the role-play to write effectively and thoughtfully about
the experience.
2. Simulation Activities
According to Ur (1996) in simulations the individual
participants speak and react as themselves, but the group role,
situation and task they are given are imaginary ones. They usually
work in small groups, and there is no audience.
For example:
(students work in-groups) someone has donated a large sum of
money to your school. Imagine that you are members of the
committee. One person is the chairperson. Decide how this money
should be spent. When the meeting is over, each group can tell
another group its plan, or can write up a report of the meeting.
15
3. Discussion Activities
As cited by Ur (1996) discussions give students practice in
expressing ideas orally in an organized manner and enables them
to arrive at conclusions, clarify or modify ideas, resolve
differences, and find alternative solutions.
Groupings of three to five are good for effective discussion.
Everyone is able to contribute to the discussion as a listener and
as a speaker. In addition, a small group draws out quieter students
who may not contribute to larger group discussions .
In a small discussion group, students are able to structure
their own ideas and experiences. Depending on the classroom
and the circumstances, groups may be either student-selected or
determined by the teacher. Leadership in discussion groups may
emerge without appointment, but on occasion it may be advisable
to appoint leaders, giving each group member a particular
responsibility. Groups need to be rearranged from time to time to
allow students to work with a variety of peers.
According to Regina (1997) teachers should pay attention to
before, during, and after discussion activities.
a. Before the Discussion
Before the discussion begins, it is necessary for the group to
establish the purpose. An overall purpose, for instance, might be
to explore responses to a video the students have viewed; or it
might be to consider the effect of The Great Depression on a
particular writer. It is important that discussion questions are
consistent with the purposes set by the group.
Students could generate a list of questions to address before
beginning the discussion. Such a list might include :
What role will each group member take ?
What do we already know or believe about the topic ?
What do we want or need to find out ?
How will we go about finding answers to our
questions ?
How will we assess what we have accomplished ?
With whom will we share our findings ?
16
In addition to setting goals, students could produce a list of
discussion guidelines for the group to follow.
b. During the Discussion
It is important for students to know that there are no hidden
agendas, and that purposes and practices of the discussion have
been previously determined. Discussion is guided by the central
purpose of developing the group's knowledge or understanding of
the matter being discussed. The discussion should be openended, not requiring students to come to a single conclusion.
Students should be encouraged to listen closely to all ideas,
ask probing questions, summarize or paraphrase ideas, express
support for one another, summarize concepts, and check for
agreement. They should understand that, when opinions differ,
they are criticizing ideas and not people. Besides giving reasons
for or defending viewpoints, they must practice integrating ideas
and appreciating others' viewpoints.
There are different ways of organizing discussion activities in
the classroom students can sit in pairs, groups, or they can sit is
circle and talk as a whole class activity.
Talking Circles is a way of organizing whole class
discussion that is suggested by Regina (1997). Talking Circles
provide safe environments in which students are able to share
their points of view with others without fear of criticism or
judgement. Talking Circles are useful when the discussion topic
has no right or wrong answer, when students are sharing feelings,
and when students are considering moral or ethical issues.
The class sits in a circle and each student has the
opportunity to speak. If the circle is large, it can be effective to seat
ten or twelve students in an inner circle and the rest in an outer
circle arranged around the inner circle. Only those in the inner
circle are allowed to speak and students take turns sitting in the
inner circle. The circle continues until the participants have nothing
further to say on the topic.
Some guidelines for Talking Circles include the following:
 Address all comments to the issue or topic, not to comments
made by other students (avoid both positive and negative
responses to another student's comments).
 Only one student speaks at a time, while others listen and
remain non-judgmental.
17
 The teacher or an appointed student serves as the facilitator
who:
 ensures that the guidelines are followed
 acknowledges contributions in non-judgmental
ways (a simple "thank you for your
thoughts/contribution" is all that is necessary)
 Clarifies comments when necessary (e.g., If I
understand you, you are saying...).
 Encourage speakers to share their comments in a way that
is easiest and most comfortable for them (e.g., personal
story, examples or metaphors, analytical statements).
 Encourage listeners to focus on the speaker, supporting the
speaker by taking an interest in what he/she says, rather
than tuning out and thinking about what they will say when it
is their turn.
There are different types of discussion activities, which can
be done in speaking classes. Following activities are some
examples:
Students sit in pairs, they talk to one another in order to
find as many things as they have in common.
Fun discussion of controversial topics is another activity
that is suggested by Paul Southan (ND). It is a fun way for
students to discuss controversial topics. It is excellent for
speaking practice. Basically, you need a controversial topic to
start. Once you have established a controversial topic, divide
your students into two groups: those who agree with the
statement and those who disagree. They now prepare their
arguments. Once you have done this, arrange your chairs so
that there are two hot seats facing each other and then place
chairs behind each of the two hot seats (enough for all of your
students).
The idea is that two students start the topic of
conversation, trying to defend their group's point of view. Once
started, you then tap any two students on their shoulders during
the conversation (Always one who is in a hot seat and one who
isn't). Once they have been tapped on the shoulder they must
stop the conversation and two new students must resume it
exactly where the other two left it. They must make it coherent
and follow the previous opinions and statements! They must
continue the sentence of the previous speaker exactly where
the previous student in the hot seat left it! It involves all the
18
students and they can't afford to sleep on the back seats
because they know they will wreck the lesson if they do!
The teacher can pre-teach some useful vocabulary they can
use prior to doing it. For example, the vocabulary associated with
the topic or which people use in debates e.g. I disagree, I think
you are right, In my opinion, to be honest etc.
Another version of that activity is to choose a controversial
statement. For example-:
‘Women are the best drivers’
‘Mobile phones should be banned from public spaces’
‘Homework should be optional’
‘Burgers are better than pizzas’
Either dictate or write the statement on the board. Students
decide if they accept, reject or modify this statement, according to
their personal opinion. When they have made their decision, you
would then say ‘OK go round the room and try to find somebody
who has the opposite opinion to you’ or ‘OK go round the room
and find someone who has a similar opinion’. Alternatively, they
could mingle in the class to find the range of opinions, like a small
survey – how many students accepted, rejected, or modified the
statement.
This activity can really stimulate discussion and the focus is
very much on the students rather than the teacher.
c. After the Discussion
Most post-discussion activities will be forms of student
reflection or self-assessment. Students should be involved in
setting criteria and in constructing the form.
Learning logs and journals serve as valuable self-assessment
tools for individuals who participate in discussion. The use of
audiotape and videotape recordings can also provide records of
students' abilities and interactions for review and analysis.
In addition to self-assessment and reflection, members of the
discussion group should assess and report on their success as a
group. One group member, based upon the consensus of the
entire group could fill out an assessment form.
4. Performance Activities
19
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
According to Heidi Riggenbach and Anne Lazaraton (1987)
as cited by Celce-Marcia (1991) performance activities are those
activities in which the students prepare beforehand and deliver a
message to a group. This activity is sometimes called Project
work. When doing project work, students have to produce an
extended piece of work with only limited guidance from the
teacher. Some activities that help students to practice speaking in
long turns are:
Telling stories
Telling jokes
Describing a person or place in detail
Recounting the plot of a film, play, or book
Giving a short lecture or talk
Arguing a case for or against a proposal
Oral report
The following paragraphs elaborate on story telling and oral
report as two sample performance activities based on the work of
Regina (1997):
5. Story Telling
According to Regina (1997) storytelling can be an enjoyable
activity for both tellers and listeners and should be engaged in at
all grade levels.
The teacher should model storytelling before expecting
students to tell stories. As well, students should have opportunities
to listen to Native Elders and other storytellers who can provide
enjoyment and act as role models for their own storytelling
experiences.
Storytelling allows students to internalize important aspects
of story beginnings and endings, settings, characters, and plot
lines. It provides practice in expressing ideas in thought units,
using colorful and descriptive language, developing ideas in
sequence, and choosing effective action words.
The speech abilities needed for storytelling are essentially
the same ones required for all speaking activities. Storytelling
encourages students to experiment with voice, tone, eye contact,
gestures, and facial expressions. It also lets them practice
techniques for holding audience attention. Storytelling encourages
20
reading motivation and aids listening comprehension. It can lead
directly to story writing.
As an introduction to storytelling students might tell riddles,
jokes, or personal anecdotes that have some story elements. In
each case, practice beforehand is required and close attention
must be paid to the conclusion or punch line.
To ease students into the practice of storytelling, the teacher
might suggest that they make up different endings to stories that
are old favorites and tell them to one another. After a story is read
aloud, an individual or group could create an add-on story and tell
it. Another introductory activity is having students recall one
incident in a story they have read, and telling about that incident
as though they are one of the characters involved.
When students are comfortable with the idea of storytelling
they can choose to tell tales that appeal to them. Some of the best
sources are collections of folk tales and fairytales from around the
world. These tales have been gathered from the oral tradition and
are records of human survival throughout the ages, as well as
unique glimpses into cultures. Titles of suitable collections of tales
for storytelling are listed in the bibliography that accompanies this
curriculum guide.
The following guidelines apply to storytellers in general
(teacher and students):
choose a story that you like that enables you to use
words you enjoy, and communicate enthusiasm to your
audience
look for a simple, direct story in which the plot unfolds
crisply and the characters are few
memorize only refrains or phrases used for special
effect
record yourself reading the story aloud and listen to
the tape several times
divide the story into sections, constructing the divisions
in a way that will make sense to the listeners (e.g., use a
storyboard, an outline, a diagram, or a story map)
visualize the settings and the characters (e.g., close
your eyes and imagine each location; add details of color,
shape, and light; make a mental picture of each character;
picture facial expressions, hand gestures, and mannerisms.
21
next, in your mind, silently run through the story's
action from beginning to end (e.g., picture the scenes
happening in sequence and develop a sense for which ones
happen slowly and which ones are fast-paced )
in your own words, tell the story aloud to yourself
continue with the visualization process as you speak,
using your voice to tell about the action, describe the
settings, and speak the dialogue
tell the story over a few times referring to your story
notes, if necessary
put your notes away and tell the story directly from
your moving mental images (you will have internalized the
tale by now and will know it "by heart")
tell your story on audiotape while it is fresh in your
mind and play back the recording to clarify the visual story
elements in your imagination
Practice telling your story to a live audience (family,
friends, pets) until it comes naturally .
Students may wish to tell stories from real experiences or
from their imaginations, rather than retelling stories they have
read; or they may wish to retell a story they have heard. Topics for
personal stories might include how students got their names,
favorite family possessions and the stories behind them,
grandparent stories, and family pet stories
Listeners require a physical setting that allows them comfort
during the storytelling, perhaps on a rug and cushions in the
reading corner. Listeners should be encouraged to relax and to
concentrate on understanding and enjoying the storytelling
experience.
Storytellers should find a comfortable position, look directly
at the audience, tell the story as they have practiced it, and let the
tale do its work.
Storytellers may darken the room, play music, or do
whatever helps to create an appropriate mood. They may select
visual aids or props (e.g., an article of clothing, illustrations,
wordless film) to enhance the effectiveness of their stories. These
aids offer a number of advantages:
provide the shy speaker with a prop
guide students through a sequence
22
motivate student interest
Combine visual and oral activities .
Talking with students about their listening experience after
the story has been told is an important way to develop their "story
sense". As well, discussing what they have heard allows students
to reflect on the interpretations each of them has of story and how
their own unique life experiences and prior knowledge affect those
interpretations. Students need time to explore thoughts and
feelings about story characters and events.
If an audio recording is used for self-assessment, storytellers
might listen for the effectiveness of the use of pauses, intonation,
phrasing, certain sound effects, timing, repetition, or voice pitch
and volume. They can chart these on a checklist they have
created for this purpose. If a video recording is used, they might
wish to assess posture, effectiveness of visual aids, hand
gestures, body movements, and facial expressions. After viewing
or listening to the tape and completing the checklist, students
could identify one or two areas for improvement.
In the usual classroom setting, students deliver a speech and
the teacher gives feedback, often using an evaluation form. Peer
evaluation can be a useful component of oral performance
activities since 1. Students become more than simply passive
listeners 2. The evaluation process helps students to gain
confidence in their own ability to evaluate language, and 3. The
evaluation activity itself becomes an opportunity to interact actually
in the foreign language.
6. Oral Reports
Another kind of performance activity is oral reports. In
preparing reports, students develop the ability to select material
appropriate to classroom topics and to the audience, and the
ability to collect and organize material (requiring skill in reading
critically, taking notes, summarizing, and outlining). Often a report
can be made more meaningful to the audience through the use of
visuals such as charts, maps, diagrams, and overhead
transparencies.
Oral reports should emerge from other English language arts
processes. If some students are not comfortable with reporting,
they can develop more confidence by taking part in other oral
activities before they are ready to give a report.
23
Reports should be written, and then presented orally.
Students need to be instructed about where and how to locate
information, how to prepare notes, and how to put the information
into their own words. (Regina 1997)
Error Correction
Students should not feel bad about making errors, so
correction must be done positively and with encouragement.
Students are learning when they make mistakes or help to correct
other students’ mistakes.
There are some questions about correcting oral errors, which
will be answered according to Baker (2003):
Question: When must a teacher correct an error ?
Answer: During the presentation phase, or during the early
stages of the Practice phase of a lesson, the teacher corrects all
errors at the same time; therefore, students know when they make
mistakes in vocabulary, grammar or pronunciation. In the later
stages of the practice phase, teachers will continue to correct, but,
as students improve, this will not happen so often. In the
production or fluency stage the teacher monitors the groups and
makes a written note of some errors s/he hears. At the end of the
lesson or at the beginning of the next lesson, puts some of them
on the board and asks students to help him or her correct them.
Question: Who should correct a student?
Answer: The teacher should point out the error and let the student
try to correct her or himself first. Other students can also be asked
to suggest a correct version.
Question: How should teachers correct errors?
Answer :
1. Let the student know there is an error:
1st.
The teacher can repeat the error and raise his/her
eyebrow or make a facial expression to show that there is an
error.
2nd.
The teacher can ask other students.
3rd.
The teacher can repeat the word with a rising intonation to
suggest that it is incorrect.
2. Help students to correct themselves and others:
1st.
Say“ nearly”. Repeat and leave a gap for the student to
correct him or herself.
24
2nd.
Say“ Not… I come yesterday … but I ….? Wait for the
student to correct him or herself.
3rd.
If the student doesn’t know the correct form, the teacher
can say, “Can anyone help? “. In this way the teacher invites
suggestions from other students.
4th.
Repeat the error and say“ :Tense ”?or“ stress ”?or other
things to help the student correct her or himself .
REFERENCES
Allen, V. F. (1983). Techniques in Teaching Vocabulary. Oxford University
Press.
Baker, J. and Westrup, H. (2003). The English Language Teacher’s
Handbook. London: Continuum.
Budden, Joanna. ( ND )Teaching English: Speaking, British Council, BBC
world service, Bush House, strand, LondonWC28 4PH, UK. Available in
http://www.teaching-english-net/try/speaktry/speaking-activities.shtml
Carvalho, Sheryl. ( ND) Teaching English: Speaking, British Council, BBC
world service, Bush House, strand, LondonWC28 4PH, UK. Available in
http://www.teaching-english-net/try/speaktry/speaking-activities.shtml
Celce-Marcia, M. (1991). Teaching English as a Second or Foreign
Language. Boston, Massachosetts: Heinel & Heinel Publishers, a Division of
Wadsworth, Inc.
Celce-Marcia, M and Hills, SH. (1988). Techniques and Resources in
Teaching Grammar. Oxford University Press.
Chastain, K. (1988). Developing Second Language Skills: Theory to Practice
(3rd ed.). San Diego, CA: Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich
Cook, V. (1991). Second Language Learning and Language Teaching.
London: Edward Arnold, a Division of Hodder & Stoughton.
Cunningham, G. (ND) Teaching English: Speaking, British Council, BBC
world service, Bush House, strand, LondonWC28 4PH, UK. Available in
http://www.teaching-english-net/try/speaktry/speaking-activities.shtml
Daphne. (ND) Teaching English: Speaking, British Council, BBC world
service, Bush House, strand, LondonWC28 4PH, UK. Available in
http://www.teaching-english-net/try/speaktry/speaking-activities.shtml
25
Doff, A. (1990). Teach English. A training course for teachers. Cambridge
University Press in association with The British Council.
Larsen-Freeman, D. (1986). Techniques and Principles in Language
Teaching. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Laverly, C. (ND) Teaching English: Speaking, British Council, BBC world
service, Bush House, strand, LondonWC28 4PH, UK. Available in
http://www.teaching-english-net/try/speaktry/speaking-activities.shtml
Moras, Solange. (2001). Teaching Vocabulary to Advanced Students: A
Lexical Approach. Karen’s Linguistics Issues. Sao Carlos, Brazil.
http://www3.telus.net/linguisticissues/teachingvocabulary.html
Peachy, N. (ND) Teaching English: Speaking, British Council, BBC world
service, Bush House, strand, LondonWC28 4PH, UK. Available in
http://www.teaching-english-net/try/speaktry/speaking-activities.shtml
Reese, G (ND ) Teaching English: Speaking , British Council , BBC world
service, Bush House, strand, LondonWC28 4PH, UK. Available in
http://www.teaching-english-net/try/speaktry/speaking-activities.shtml
Regina, SK. (1997) Speaking and Listening: Instructional Philosophy and
Teaching Suggestions. English Language arts: A curriculum Guide for the
middle level (Grade 6-9) Available http://www.sasked.gov.sk.ca/docs/mla/speaking
Southan, Paul. (ND) Teaching English: Speaking, British Council, BBC world
service, Bush House, strand, LondonWC28 4PH, UK. Available in
http://www.teaching-english-net/try/speaktry/speaking-activities.shtml
Ur, P. (1996). A Course in Language Teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press.
Wealand, Craig. ( 1999
) Teaching Vocabulary 1 and 2. Available
http://www.mansioningles.com
Wilson, Ken. (ND) Teaching English: Speaking, British Council, BBC world
service, Bush House, strand, LondonWC28 4PH, UK. Available in
http://www.teaching-english-net/try/speaktry/speaking-activities.shtml
26
27