TEACHING SPEAKING

Introduction

Speech is the most basic means of communication.”Speaking in a second

language or foreign language has often been viewed as the most demanding and
challenging of the four skills.” (Bailey and Savage, 1994) What specifically makes
speaking in a second language or foreign language difficult. According to Brown
(1994) a number of features of spoken language includes reduced forms such as
contractions, vowel reduction, and elision; slang and idioms; stress, rhythm, and
intonation. Students who are not exposed to reduced speech will always retain
their full forms and it will become a disadvantage as a speaker of a second
language. Speaking is an activity requiring the integration of many subsystems.

The Goal of 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.

The Nature of Speaking

Oral communication is a two-way process between speaker and listener (or

listeners) and involves the productive skill of speaking and the receptive skill of
understanding (or listening with understanding). Both speaker and listener have a
positive function to perform. In simple terms, the speaker has to encode the
message he wishes to convey in appropriate language, while the listener (no less
actively) has to decode (or interpret) the message.

Different views of speaking in language teaching

A review of some of the views of the current issues in teaching oral

communication can help provide some perspective to the more practical
considerations of designing speaking lessons.

1. Conversational discourse
 The benchmark of successful language acquisition is almost always the
demonstration of an ability to accomplish pragmatic goals through interactive
discourse with other speakers of the language. Although historically,
“conversation” classes have ranged from quasi-communicative drilling to free,
open, and sometimes agenda-less discussions among students; current
pedagogical research on teaching conversation has provided some parameters
for developing objectives and techniques.

Though the goals and the techniques for teaching conversation are
extremely diverse—depending on the student, teacher, and overall context of
the class—language teachers have nonetheless learned to differentiate
between transactional and interactional conversation. Instructors have
discovered techniques for teaching students conversation rules such as topic
nomination, maintaining a conversation, turn-taking, interruption, and
termination. Teachers have also learned to teach sociolinguistic
appropriateness, styles of speech, nonverbal communication, and
conversational routines. Within all these foci, the phonological, lexical, and
syntactic properties of language can be attended to, either directly or indirectly.

2. Teaching pronunciation
There has been some controversy over the role of pronunciation work in a
communicative, interactive course of study. Because the overwhelming
majority of adult learners will never acquire an accent-free command of a
foreign language, should a language program that emphasizes whole
language, meaningful contexts, and automaticity of production focus on these
tiny phonological details of language? The answer is “yes,” but in a different
way from what was perceived to be essential; a couple of decades ago.

3. Accuracy and fluency

An issue that pervades all of language performance centers on the
distinction between accuracy and fluency. In spoken language the question
we face as teachers is: How shall we prioritize the two clearly important speaker
goals of accurate (clear, articulate, grammatically and phonologically correct)
language and fluent (flowing, natural) language?

It is clear that fluency and accuracy are both important goals to pursue in
Communicative Language Teaching (CLT). While fluency may in many
communicative language courses be an initial goal in language teaching,
 accuracy is achieved to some extent by allowing students to focus on the
elements of phonology, grammar, and discourse in their spoken output.

The fluency/accuracy issue often boils down to the extent to which our
techniques should be message oriented (or teaching language use) as
opposed to language oriented (also known as teaching language usage).
Current approaches to language teaching lean strongly toward message
orientation with language usage offering a supporting role.

4. Affective factors
One of the major obstacles learners have to overcome in learning to speak
is the anxiety generated over the risks of blurting things out that are wrong,
stupid, or incomprehensible. Because of the language ego that informs people
that “you are what you speak,” learners are reluctant to be judged by hearers.
Our job as teachers is to provide the kind of warm, embracing climate that
encourages students to speak, however halting or broken their attempts may
be.

5. The interaction effect

The greatest difficulty that learners encounter in attempts to speak is not
the multiplicity of sounds, words, phrases, and discourse forms that
characterize any language, but rather the interactive nature of most
communication. Conversations are collaborative as participants engage in a
process of negotiation of meaning. So, for the learner, the matter of what you
say is often eclipsed by conventions of how to say things, when to speak, and
other discourse constraints.

David Nunan (1991) notes a further complication in interactive discourse:

what he calls the interlocutor effect, or the difficulty of a speaking task as
gauged by the skills of one’s interlocutor. In other words, one learner’s
performance is always colored by that of the person (interlocutor) he or she is
talking with.

Factors that Influence Learners’ Speaking

The six factors below suggest that any learner who really wants to can
learn to pronounce English clearly and comprehensibly. As the teacher, you can
assist in the process by gearing your planned and unplanned instruction toward
these six factors.

1. Native Language
The native language is clearly the most influential factor affecting a learner’s
pronunciation. If the teacher is familiar with the sound system of a learner’s
 native language, (s)he will be better able to diagnose student difficulties. Many
L1 to L2 carryovers can be overcome through a focused awareness and effort
on the learner’s part.

2. Age
Children under the age of puberty generally stand an excellent chance
of “sounding like a native” if they have continued exposure in authentic
contexts. Beyond the age of puberty, while adults will almost surely maintain a
“foreign accent,” there is no particular advantage attributed to age. A fifty-year-
old can be as successful as an eighteen-year-old if all other factors are equal.
The belief that “the younger, the better” in learning a language is a myth.

3. Exposure
It is difficult to define exposure. One can actually live in a foreign country for
some time but not take advantage of being “with the people.” Research seems
to support the notion that the quality and intensity of exposure are more
important than mere length of time. If class time spent focusing on
pronunciation demands the full attention and interest of students, then they
stand a good chance of reaching their goals.

4. Innate phonetic ability

Often referred to as having an “ear” for language, some people manifests a
phonetic coding ability that others do not. In many cases, if a person has had
exposure to a foreign language as a child, this “knack” is present whether the
early language is remembered or not. Others are simply more attuned to
phonetic discriminations. Some people would have you believe that you either
have such a knack, or you don’t. Strategies-based instruction, however, has
proven that some elements of learning are a matter of an awareness of your
own limitations combined with a conscious focus on doing something to
compensate for those limitations. Therefore, if pronunciation seems to be
naturally difficult for some students, they should not despair; with some effort
and concentration, they can improve their competence.

5. Identity and language ego

Another influence is one’s attitude toward speakers of the target language
and the extent to which the language ego identifies with those speakers.
Learners need to be reminded of the importance

6. Motivation and concern for good pronunciation

 Some learners are not particularly concerned about their pronunciation,
while others are. The extent to which learners’ intrinsic motivation propels them
toward improvement will be perhaps the strongest influence of all six of the
factors in this list. If that motivation and concern are high, then the necessary
effort will be expended in pursuit of goals. As the teacher, you can help learners
to perceive or develop that motivation by showing, among other things, how
clarity of speech is significant in shaping their self-image and, ultimately, in
reaching some of their higher goals.

Problems that language learners face during speaking

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.

Douglas Brown (2000) identified eight factors that can make speaking difficult.

1. Clustering
Fluent speech is phrasal, not word by word. Learners can organize their output
both cognitively and physically (in breath groups) through such clustering.

2. Redundancy
The speaker has an opportunity to make meaning clearer through the
redundancy of language. Learners can capitalize on this feature of spoken
language.

3. Reduced forms
Contractions, elisions, reduced vowels, etc., all form special problems in
teaching spoken English. Students who don’t learn colloquial contractions can
sometimes develop a stilted, bookish quality of speaking that in turn stigmatizes
them.

4. Performance variables
One of the advantages of spoken language is that the process of thinking as
you speak allows you to manifest a certain number of performance hesitations,
pauses, backtracking, and corrections. Learners can actually be taught how to
pause and hesitate. For example, in English our “thinking time” is not silent; we
 insert certain “fillers” such as uh, um, well, you know, I mean, like, etc. One of
the most salient differences between native and nonnative speakers of a
language is in their hesitation phenomena.

5. Colloquial language
Make sure your students are reasonably well acquainted with the words,
idioms, and phrases of colloquial language and those they get practice in
producing these forms.

6. Rate of delivery
Another salient characteristic of fluency is rate of delivery. One of the language
teacher’s tasks in teaching spoken English is to help learners achieve an
acceptable speed along with other attributes of fluency.

7. Stress, rhythm, and intonation

This is the most important characteristic of English pronunciation. The stress-
timed rhythm of spoken English and its intonation patterns convey important
messages.

8. Interaction
Learning to produce waves of language in a vacuum—without interlocutors—
would rob speaking skill of its richest component: the creativity of
conversational negotiation.

Speaking Tasks for Communicative Outcomes

Type of Performance Task/Response

Imitative Speaking • student simply parrots back (imitate) a word or

phrase or possibly a sentence.
• Tasks:
– word repetition
– pronunciation drills (stress, intonation)

Intensive Speaking • one step beyond imitative speaking to include any

speaking performance that is designed to practice
some phonological or grammatical aspect of
language
• Tasks:
– directed response
– read-aloud
– sentence/dialogue completion tasks
 – oral questionnaires
– picture-cued tasks

Responsive Speaking • short replies to teacher- or student-initiated

questions or comments (a good deal of student
speech in the classroom is responsive); replies do
not extend into dialogues; such speech can be
meaningful and authentic.
• Tasks:
– question and answer
– eliciting instructions and directions
– paraphrasing a story or a dialogue
Interactive Speaking : • Transactional dialogue—carried out for the
purpose of conveying or exchanging specific
• Transactional
information; involves relatively long stretches of
(dialogue)
interactive discourse
• Interpersonal (dialogue)
• Interpersonal dialogue—carried out for the
purpose of maintaining social relationships
• Tasks:
– interviews
– role play
– discussions (arriving at a consensus, problem-
solving)
– games
– conversations
– information gap activity
– telling longer stories
– extended explanations

Extensive Speaking • usually for intermediate to advanced levels; tasks

(monologue) involve complex, relatively lengthy stretches of
discourse; extended monologues can be planned
or impromptu
• Tasks:
– oral reports
– summaries
– short speeches
– picture-cued storytelling
– retelling a story or a news event

Stages in a Speaking Lesson

What is the role of the language teacher in the classroom? In the first place,
like any other teacher, the task of the language teacher is to create the best
conditions for learning. In a sense, the teacher is a means to an end: an instrument
to see that learning takes place. But in addition to this general function, a teacher
plays specific roles in different stages of the learning process.

The Presentation Stage

This is also known as the pre-activity phase of the lesson where the teacher
introduces something new to be learned. At this stage of a speaking lesson, the
teacher’s main task is to serve as a kind of informant. As the teacher, you know
the language; you select the new material to be learned and you present this in
such a way that the meaning of the new language is as clear and as memorable
as possible. The students listen and try to understand. Although they are probably
saying very little at this stage, except when invited to join in, they are by no means
passive. Always be on guard against the danger of spending too much time
presenting so much so that the students do not get enough time to practice the
language themselves.

The Practice Stage

At the practice stage it is the students’ turn to do most of the talking, while
your main task is to devise and provide the maximum amount of practice, which
must at the same time be meaningful, authentic, and memorable. This stage is
also called the While (or Main) Activity or the Speaking Activity stage. Your role
then as teacher is radically different from that at the presentation. You do the
minimum amount of talking yourself. You are like the skillful conductor of an
orchestra, giving each of the performers a chance to participate and monitoring
their performance to see that it is satisfactory.

The Production Stage

It is a pity that language learning often stops short at the practice stage or
does not go regularly beyond it. Many teachers feel that they have done their job
if they have presented the new material well and have given their students
adequate—though usually controlled—practice in it. No real learning should be
assumed to have taken place until the students are able to use the language for
themselves; provision to use language must be made part of the lesson. At any
level of attainment, the students need to be given regular and frequent
opportunities to use language freely, even if they sometimes make mistakes as a
result. This is not to say that mistakes are unimportant, but rather that free
expression is more important, and it is a great mistake to deprive students of this
opportunity.

It is through these opportunities to use language as they wish that the

students become aware that they have learned something useful to them
personally, and are encouraged to go on learning. Thus in providing the students
with activities for free expression and in discreetly watching over them as they
carry them out, you, as teacher, take on the role of manager, guide, or adviser.

Although the sequence described above—presentation → practice →

production — is a well-tried approach to language learning and is known to be
effective in average (i.e., non-privileged) classroom conditions; it should not,
however, be interpreted too literally. These stages are not recipes for organizing
all our lessons. In the first place, the actual “shape” of a lesson will depend on a
number of factors, such as the amount of time needed for each stage. Activities
at the production stage in particular can vary a great deal in length. Also, stages
tend to overlap and run into one another; for example, some practice may be part
of the presentation stage.