Teaching Speaking

Theoretical Background
Many language learners regard speaking ability as the measure of knowing a language. These
learners define fluency as the ability to converse with others, much more than the ability to read,
write, or comprehend oral language. They regard speaking as the most important skill they can
acquire, and they assess their progress in terms of their accomplishments in spoken communication.
Language learners need to recognize that speaking involves three areas of knowledge:
Mechanics (pronunciation, grammar, and vocabulary): Using the right words in the right order with
the correct pronunciation
Functions (transaction and interaction): Knowing when clarity of message is essential
(transaction/information exchange) and when precise understanding is not required
(interaction/relationship building)
Social and cultural rules and norms (turn-taking, rate of speech, length of pauses between
speakers, relative roles of participants): Understanding how to take into account who is speaking to
whom, in what circumstances, about what, and for what reason.
In the communicative model of language teaching, instructors help their students develop this body
of knowledge by providing authentic practice that prepares students for real-life communication
situations. They help their students develop the ability to produce grammatically correct, logically
connected sentences that are appropriate to specific contexts, and to do so using acceptable (that is,
comprehensible) pronunciation.
Goals and Techniques for Teaching Speaking
The goal of teaching speaking skills is communicative efficiency. Learners should be able to make
themselves understood, using their current proficiency to the fullest. They should try to avoid
confusion in the message due to faulty pronunciation, grammar, or vocabulary, and to observe the
social and cultural rules that apply in each communication
situation. To help students develop communicative efficiency in speaking, instructors can use a
balanced activities approach that combines language input, structured output, and communicative
output.
Language input comes in the form of teacher talk, listening activities, reading passages, and the
language heard and read outside of class. It gives learners the material they need to begin producing
language themselves. Language input may be content oriented or form oriented. Content-oriented
input focuses on information, whether it is a simple weather report or an extended lecture on an
academic topic. Content-oriented input may also include descriptions of learning strategies and
examples of their use. Form-oriented input focuses on ways of using the language: guidance from
the teacher or another source on vocabulary, pronunciation, and grammar (linguistic competence);
appropriate things to say in specific contexts (discourse competence); expectations for rate of
speech, pause length, turn-taking, and other
social aspects of language use (sociolinguistic competence); and explicit instruction in phrases to use
to ask for clarification and repair miscommunication (strategic competence).
In the presentation part of a lesson, an instructor combines content-oriented and form oriented
input. The amount of input that is actually provided in the target language depends on students'
listening proficiency and also on the situation. For students at lower levels, or in situations where a
quick explanation on a grammar topic is needed, an explanation in English may be more appropriate
than one in the target language.
Structured output focuses on correct form. In structured output, students may have options for

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responses, but all of the options require them to use the specific form or structure that the teacher
has just introduced
Structured output is designed to make learners comfortable producing specific language items
recently introduced, sometimes in combination with previously learned items. Instructors often use
structured output exercises as a transition between the presentation stage and the practice stage of
a lesson plan. textbook exercises also often make good structured output practice activities. In
communicative output, the learners' main purpose is to complete a task, such as obtaining
information, developing a travel plan, or creating a video. To complete the task, they may use the
language that the instructor has just presented, but they also may draw on any other vocabulary,
grammar, and communication strategies that they know. In communicative output activities, the
criterion of success is whether the learner gets the message across. Accuracy is not a consideration
unless the lack of it interferes with the message.

In everyday communication, spoken exchanges take place because there is some sort of information
gap between the participants. Communicative output activities involve a similar real information
gap. In order to complete the task, students must reduce or eliminate the information gap. In these
activities, language is a tool, not an end in itself.
In a balanced activities approach, the teacher uses a variety of activities from these different
categories of input and output. Learners at all proficiency levels, including beginners, benefit from
this variety; it is more motivating, and it is also more likely to result in effective language learning.
Strategies for Developing Speaking Skills
Students often think that the ability to speak a language is the product of language learning, but
speaking is also a crucial part of the language learning process. Effective instructors teach students
speaking strategies -- using minimal responses, recognizing scripts, and using language to talk about
language -- that they can use to help themselves expand their knowledge of the language and their
confidence in using it. These instructors help students learn to speak so that the students can use
speaking to learn.
1. Using minimal responses
Language learners who lack confidence in their ability to participate successfully in oral interaction
often listen in silence while others do the talking. One way to encourage such learners to begin to
participate is to help them build up a stock of minimal responses that they can use in different types
of exchanges. Such responses can be especially useful for beginners. Minimal responses are
predictable, often idiomatic phrases that conversation participants use to indicate understanding,
agreement, doubt, and other responses to what another speaker is saying. Having a stock of such
responses enables a learner to focus on what the other participant is saying, without having to
simultaneously plan a response.
2. Recognizing scripts
Some communication situations are associated with a predictable set of spoken exchanges -- a
script. Greetings, apologies, compliments, invitations, and other functions that are influenced by
social and cultural norms often follow patterns or scripts. So do the transactional exchanges involved
in activities such as obtaining information and making a purchase. In these scripts, the relationship
between a speaker's turn and the one that follows it can often be anticipated.
Instructors can help students develop speaking ability by making them aware of the scripts for
different situations so that they can predict what they will hear and what they will need to say in
response. Through interactive activities, instructors can give students practice in managing and
varying the language that different scripts contain.

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3. Using language to talk about language
Language learners are often too embarrassed or shy to say anything when they do not understand
another speaker or when they realize that a conversation partner has not that misunderstanding
and the need for clarification can occur in any type of interaction, whatever the participants'
language skill levels. Instructors can also give students strategies and phrases to use for clarification
and comprehension check. By encouraging students to use clarification phrases in class when
misunderstanding occurs, and by responding positively when they do, instructors can create an
authentic practice environment within the classroom itself. As they develop control of various
clarification strategies, students will gain confidence in their ability to manage the various
communication situations that they may encounter outside the classroom.
Developing Speaking Activities
Traditional classroom speaking practice often takes the form of drills in which one person asks a
question and another gives an answer. The question and the answer are structured and predictable,
and often there is only one correct, predetermined answer. The purpose of asking and answering
the question is to demonstrate the ability to ask and answer the question
In contrast, the purpose of real communication is to accomplish a task, such as conveying a
telephone message, obtaining information, or expressing an opinion. In real communication,
participants must manage uncertainty about what the other person will say. Authentic
communication involves an information gap; each participant has information that the other does
not have. In addition, to achieve their purpose, participants may have to clarify their meaning or ask
for confirmation of their own understanding.

To create classroom speaking activities that will develop communicative competence, instructors
need to incorporate a purpose and an information gap and allow for multiple forms of expression.
However, quantity alone will not necessarily produce competent speakers. Instructors need to
combine structured output activities, which allow for error correction and increased accuracy, with
communicative output activities that give students opportunities to practice language use more
freely.
Structured Output Activities
Two common kinds of structured output activities are information gap and jigsaw activities. In both
these types of activities, students complete a task by obtaining missing information, a feature the
activities have in common with real communication. However, information gap and jigsaw activities
also set up practice on specific items of language. In this respect they are more like drills than like
communication.
Communicative Output Activities
Communicative output activities allow students to practice using all of the language they know in
situations that resemble real settings. In these activities, students must work together to develop a
plan, resolve a problem, or complete a task. The most common types of communicative output
activity are role plays and discussions .
In role plays, students are assigned roles and put into situations that they may eventually encounter
outside the classroom. Because role plays imitate life, the range of language functions that may be
used expands considerably. Also, the role relationships among the students as they play their parts
call for them to practice and develop their sociolinguistic competence. They have to use language
that is appropriate to the situation and to the characters.
Students usually find role playing enjoyable, but students who lack self-confidence or have lower
proficiency levels may find them intimidating at first.
Discussions, like role plays, succeed when the instructor prepares students first, and then gets out of
the way. To succeed with discussions:
Prepare the students: Give them input (both topical information and language forms) so that they

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will have something to say and the language with which to say it.
Offer choices: Let students suggest the topic for discussion or choose from several options.
Discussion does not always have to be about serious issues. Students are likely to be more
motivated to participate if the topic is television programs, plans for a vacation, or news about
mutual friends. Weighty topics like how to combat pollution are not as engaging and place heavy
demands on students' linguistic competence.
Set a goal or outcome: This can be a group product, such as a letter to the editor, or individual
reports on the views of others in the group.
Use small groups instead of whole-class discussion: Large groups can make participation difficult.
Keep it short: Give students a defined period of time, not more than 8-10 minutes, for discussion.
Allow them to stop sooner if they run out of things to say.
Allow students to participate in their own way: Not every student will feel comfortable talking
about every topic. Do not expect all of them to contribute equally to the conversation.
Do topical follow-up: Have students report to the class on the results of their discussion.
Do linguistic follow-up: After the discussion is over, give feedback on grammar
or pronunciation problems you have heard. This can wait until another class
period when you plan to review pronunciation or grammar anyway.
Through well-prepared communicative output activities such as role plays and
discussions, you can encourage students to experiment and innovate with the language,
and create a supportive atmosphere that allows them to make mistakes without fear of
embarrassment. This will contribute to their self-confidence as speakers and to their
motivation to learn more.

Module :
Ø the process of building and sharing meaning through the use of verbal and non-
verbal symbols , in a variety of contexts”
Teaching speaking is to teach our learners to:
Ø Produce the English speech sounds and sound patterns
Ø Use word and sentence stress, intonation patterns and the rhythm of the second
language.
Ø Select appropriate words and sentences according to the proper social setting,
audience, situation and subject matter
Ø Organize their thoughts in a meaningful and logical sequence.
Ø Use language as a means of expressing values and judgments.
Ø Use the language quickly and confidently with few unnatural pauses, which is called
as fluency. (Nunan, 2003)

H. D. BROWN’S PRINCIPLES FOR TEACHING SPEAKING SKILLS

1. Focus on Both Fluency & accuracy :

Make sure your tasks starts with Fluency based tasks and goes on till they reach the
Accuracy based level

2. Provide Intrinsically motivating techniques

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Help students see how the activity will benefit them .

3.Encourage the use of Authentic language in meaningful contexts

There are plenty of resources that can help you to use real Authentic materials .

4.Provide Appropriate Feedback

Encouragement and appropriate feedback at the right moment is the key to success in
developing the skill

5.Capitaliza on the Natural Link between speaking and Listening

The 2 skills can reinforce each other. Skills in producing language are often initiated through
comprehension

6.Give students Opportunities to initiate Oral communication

Lat them nominate topics, ask questions , control conversations and change the subjects

7.

Stages of Teaching Speaking :

• PRE _ SPEAKING
• Step 1: Set ground rules / review previous feedback
• Step 2: Selecting a teaching point
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 • Step 3: Providing help in order to enable students to proceed with the
activity
• While Speaking
• Step 4: Proceeding with the activity
• Post speaking
• Step 5: Evaluating progress
•
1. Pre- Speaking :

Pre Speaking

Review previous feed back

2. Selecting teaching point :

• suggestions for general categories for the teaching of communicative
competence:
• Establishing and maintaining social relations. (i.e.) Greetings, introductions,
wishes for social occasions, polite inquiries, making agreements, giving
directions, apologies, refusals, excuses, encouraging, discouraging, persuading
others, expressing impatience, surprise, making promises, hedging, and teasing
• Discussing ideas. Possible texts to use for discussion are menus, concert
programs, airline timetables, selections from letters from English-speaking
• correspondents, magazine or newspaper articles, etc.
• Playing with language. (i.e.) crossword puzzles, vocabulary expansion quizzes,
Scrabble games, Charades, etc. .
• Entertaining others. (i.e.) singing, making music, acting as hosts for a radio call-in

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 program or a television talk show, etc.
• Displaying one's achievements. (i.e.) giving public presentations
o Providing help in order to enable students to proceed with the activity
• After selecting a teaching point, the teacher provides help with necessary
vocabulary, grammar structure, sample phrases, and background knowledge so
that the practice activity may proceed smoothly.
•
While Speaking : Proceeding with the activity
There are some things to take into consideration upon grouping students.
• It depends on the type of activity, but most group activities require no more than 5
students in each group.
• Shy students and outgoing should be mixed in each group.
• The group leader should be switched often so that every student has a chance to
lead the group. Also, group members should be changed often enough that all
students in the class can get to know each other.
• Along with grouping students, sequencing the activities is also important for success.
• The reason some communicative activities fail is because the teacher expects the
students to act as close friends from the beginning of the course, although they are
strangers.
• The teacher should first give low-risk, non-personal contacting activities, such as
games, information gathering, reporting, problem-solving, etc., and then proceed to
high-risk, person activities.
• Here are some commonly used communicative competence activities and sample
exercises, starting with low-risk, non-personal activities and going to high-risk,
• personal activities.
A – Discussion
• Discussion differs from conversation in that it generally has an identifiable purpose,
such as coming to a clearer understanding of characters' roles in a drama or
exploring the possibilities for publishing student writing.
• Discussion assists students in the development of reasoning, critical thinking, and
problem-solving skills.
• It gives them 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.
• In discussions students may encounter viewpoints different from their own.
They come to see that there are many problems for which there is no one appropriate
solution
• Before the discussion begins, it is necessary for the group to establish the purpose.
• 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?
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 • With whom will we share our findings?
• In addition to setting goals, students could produce a list of discussion guidelines for
the group to follow
Discussion is guided by the central purpose of developing the group's knowledge or
understanding of the matter being discussed.
• The discussion should be open-ended, 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 practise integrating
ideas and appreciating others' viewpoints
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.
• 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.
• An assessment form could be filled out by one group member, based upon the
consensus of the entire group.
B - Conversation
• Conversation serves many functions.
• People use conversation to establish relationships through personal expression, to
find out information, and to compare views with others.
• Conversation provides a means for sharing experiences and solving problems.
• Teachers can capitalize on the critical role of conversation in students' lives and use
it to enhance their language learning.
• Students should have opportunities to talk about a variety of topics such as projects,
books, characters, television programs, and videos.
• Because what students talk about is easier for them to write about, the topics of
their conversations often act as springboards for their writing.
• It is important for students to converse about topics of personal interest.
• arrange a particular class period where, immediately upon entering the classroom,
students go to designated spaces to sit together in small groups and talk for ten
minutes about such topics as a television program or a school activity.
• invite students, at the beginning or conclusion of the school day, to sit comfortably
in a circle and talk about the day's activities (e.g., What happened or what did not
happen? What interested them and why?).
C - Community-Oriented Tasks
• In this exercise, the students go out of the classroom and gather information on a
certain subject.
• The students are required to interact in English in order to gather the information.

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 • After gathering the information, the students then write it down on a piece of paper
and hand it in to the teacher, give an oral presentation in class, or perform a role-
play in class.
• In order to make up this type of exercise, the teacher thinks of items that the
students should know in everyday life, and makes up questions to which the
students must go out and find the information.
D - Oral Presentation
• The students are given a topic and must give a five minute presentation on that
topic.
• The topic should be given prior to the presentation so that the students can write
down their talk and hand it in to the teacher for the correction of grammatical
mistakes.
• The students then memorize the talk, and present it in class.

E - Show and Tell

• Each student brings something of personal value to class and gives a presentation on
it.
• Other students ask questions and the student who is giving the presentation
answers the questions.
F - Replaying Instruction
• A group of students are given instructions to do some kind of task.
• After completing the task, they instruct another group of students to do the same
task without showing them the instruction or outcome of their task.
• Example:
• Making Models
• A group of students are given instructions to make a model with building
bricks.
• After making the model according to the instructions, this group instructs
another group to make the same model without showing the one they made.

G - Problem-Solving Activities
• A group of students are given a problem to discuss and list of alternative
solutions. After discussing the problem, they choose one solution and explain
why they chose that solution.
H - Communication Games
• A pair of students play some kind of communication game. They complete
the game through communicating with each other in English.
• Example:
• Describe and Draw
• One student is given a picture. He describes this picture to his partner so that
his partner can draw the same picture on a piece of paper. The student who
describes the picture is not allowed to show the picture to his partner, but he
can answer the questions that are asked by his partner.
I - Interpersonal Exchange
• A pair of Students interview each other and find out each other's experiences.

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 • For example, they may find out what their partner did on the previous weekend,
what is their partner's favorite food, etc.
J - Story Construction
• Each student within a group is given a segment of a story.
• The group tries to figure out the whole story by sharing their individual segments
and discovering the order of the story through discussion.
L - Role Play
• Role Play requires some preparation.
• First, the teacher provides some background knowledge on the role play by assigning
a short reading, giving a lecture on the subject, inviting a guest speaker, showing a
film, etc.
• Next, the teacher hands out the role play which contains three parts: 1) situation, 2)
role, and 3) useful expressions and vocabulary.
• The teacher explains the role play and assigns the roles.
• Since few people enjoy playing a nasty role, it is better to assign the roles than to call
on volunteers.
• The students study the vocabulary and phrases in the role play and contemplate
their assigned roles at home.
• When they actually do the role play in class, they do it without looking at the text.
• The teacher can assist them when they get stuck. Role play is more successful when
there is an audience.
• Post speaking : Evaluating progress
• The teacher should not expect the students to do the activities perfectly, but he
should be satisfied when the students can get the meaning across.
• The teacher should never correct the students' errors during the activity because
constant correction discourages students. Instead, the teacher takes notes silently
on the student's consistent errors, and after the activity, gives individual feedback
and discusses the student's errors. ( students’ feedback is a key point here )
• In the feedback session, the teacher should point out the student's strengths first,
and then point out his errors.
• Although correction is forbidden during the activity, the teacher may help the
students on vocabulary and grammar when they ask.
• By reviewing the notes on the students' errors, the teacher becomes aware of what
the majority of the students are having problems with and may then prepare a
review lesson on those problem points.
ASSESSING SPEAKING
• Assessment instruments should reflect instruction and be incorporated from the
beginning stages of lesson planning.
• For example, if a lesson focuses on producing and recognizing signals for turn-taking
in a group discussion, the assessment tool might be a checklist to be completed by
the teacher or learners in the course of the learners' participation in the discussion.
• Finally, criteria should be clearly defined and understandable to both the teacher
and the learners.

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 Stages of a speaking lesson

Stage Aim Time Procedures Focus Comments

Warm up

Pre-Speaking Setting rules

Selecting a
teaching point

Providing help

While Speaking Speaking

activity 1

Speaking
activity 2

Post speaking Evaluating

progress

Closure

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