Buenavista Community College

College of Hospitality Management Education

Cangawa, Buenavista, Bohol
Tel. No. (038) 513-9178
(038) 513-9035

Subject: INTERACTIVE ENGLISH

I. TOPIC : THE NATURE OF SPEAKING SKILL & PRONUNCIATION

Week 7 : November 9-13, 2020

II. LEARNING OBJECTIVES

At the end of the lesson, students should be able to:

1. Distinguish lacking in speaking skills & examine to overcome it.

2. Discover different tips to improve speaking skill.

III. OVERVIEW

This lesson will let the students to be acquainted with the different tips to improve
speaking skill and pronunciation. They will be guided on how to overcome their fears
and doubts. It could also enlighten the students how it makes speaking meaningful and
purposeful.

IV. LEARNING CONTENT

UNLOCKING OF DIFFICULT WORDS

Custom : an action or way of behaving that is usual and traditional

among the people in a particular group or place

Colloquialisms : a word or phrase that is used mostly in informal speech.

Profound : having or showing great knowledge or understanding.

THE NATURE OF SPEAKING SKILL

Speaking is an act of making vocal sounds. We can say that speaking means to
converse, or expressing one’s thoughts and feelings in spoken language. To speak
often implies conveying information. It may be from an informal remark to a scholarly
presentation to a formal address.
Speaking Skills:
 Speaking skills are the skills that give us the ability to communicate effectively.

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  These skills allow the speaker, to convey his message in a passionate,
thoughtful, and convincing manner.
 Speaking skills also help to assure that one won’t be misunderstood by those
who are listening.
Speaking is the productive skill in the oral mode. It, like the other skills, is more
complicated than it seems at first and involves more than just pronouncing words.
There are three kinds of speaking situation in which we find ourselves:
1. interactive,
2. Partially interactive, and
3. Non-interactive.
 Interactive speaking situations include face-to-face conversations and telephone
calls, in which we are alternately listening and speaking, and in which we have a
chance to ask for clarification, repetition, or slower speech from our conversion
partner.
 Some speaking situations are partially interactive, such as when giving a speech
to a live audience, where the convention is that the audience does not interrupt
the speech. The speaker nevertheless can see the audience and judge from the
expressions in their faces and body language whether or not he or she is being
understood.
 Few speaking situations may be totally non-interactive, such as when recording a
speech for a radio broadcast.
In all the above explained conditions speaking is always a headache for most of
the people. Although the fear of speaking is common, studies show that ability to
speaking can be enhanced by improving speaking skills.
What to do before speaking?
The first step to speaking is to think and the first step to perfect speaking is to
think positive. Good speakers have the ability to quickly analyze and absorb the
information given to them, assess it fast and to make a decision and communicate that
decision to other, Keep in mind too:
1. Be an active listener:
The key ingredient towards making you a person who can think on the spot and
respond intelligently is to be an active listener. This means listening carefully and giving
your full attention to the words, tone, emotion and logic behind what the other one is
saying.
2. Be a quick organizer of thoughts:
All of us have the ability to think fast. The trick is to adopt some frameworks or models
to structure new information into something coherent that we can respond with. One can
break down issues or ideas into past, present and future.

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3. Structure your speech in your mind:
These are useful frameworks to organize ideas and thoughts quickly.
The basic structure of any speech involves:
 Opening
 Body
 Conclusion
It is very useful in delivering speeches and specially for speaking in situations
such as table topics during meetings or other times when called upon to “say some
words”. Thinking before speaking is important for us to add value in terms of
communicating our thoughts, ideas and feelings. We can touch lives through deeds and
we can touch lives through speech.
Some speaking skills are:
1. Be prepared and practice.
The more you know what you want to say, the better you’ll get at it. First,
brainstorm the topic of your speech and research it, if you need to. Write down all the
points you want to make and then organize them into an outline. Then, practice your
speech out loud at least 3 to 5 times.
2. Know your audience.
The better you know your audience or listeners, the easier it will be to connect to
them as you speak. When you are able to make that connection, you’ll hold their
attention.
3. Pay attention to the old KISS principle, that is, Keep It Short and Simple.
When you are speaking don’t beat around the bush or try to impress with
complex metaphors. Stories, however, can be a powerful public speaking tool,
especially when they contain at least a hint of humor. But again, keep them short and
on point. Shorter messages leave more impression. They’re also easier for your
audience to remember.
4. Interact with your audience.
Lectures will rarely have the same impact on an audience that an open
discussion will. Look for opportunities to involve your audience in what you are speaking
about. Ask for validation of points you are making (“Am I right?” “Has that ever
happened to you?”) Or allow time for questions. Also, make sure to establish eye
contact with your audience, and keep it throughout your speech.
5. Speak with sincerity and passion.
When a person wants to leave a lasting impression with the audience about
one’s topic then be sure that you are true to yourself and your topic as you speak. Don’t
be afraid to inject enthusiasm and passion into the speech as well.
6. Close your speech in a memorable way.

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 Give your audience something to think about as you finish up your speech.
Certainly, it’s a good idea to summarize your main points one more time, but then finish
up with an inspiring story or quote, or leave them with a thought provoking question.

7. Fluency
The main goal is fluency. Remember that one don’t have to know many complex
grammatical structures to achieve that goal! First of all try to speak as fluent as possible
(even making some grammar mistakes). Then, after making one’s speaking fluent, one
can focus on grammar aspects.

Speaking skills requires in meeting:

Speaking skills are very important in business. Those who are at ease
conversationally have the ability to “connect” with others which builds rapport and,
eventually, relationships. Effective business meeting communication is very much a
learnable skill. Here are important tips on speaking well as a meeting participant.
1. Talk to the entire group.
When speaking in groups moves your eyes around and talk to anyone who’s
listening to what you have to say. “When responding to a question, address the entire
group, not just the person who asked the question.”
2. Reach out and encourage feedback.
Actively encourage comment and feedback based on what you have to
contribute.
3. Mirror the tenor of the meeting.
Another business meeting basic is establishing a comfortable atmosphere where
everyone feels at ease. One effective way to achieve that is to establish a consistency
in communication. If, for instance, most participants are keeping their remarks short, do
the same. If their tone is low and reserved, follow their lead.
4. Don’t be a time hog.
Be thorough, but don’t take much time to get your message across that you lose
other’s attention.

Micro-skills:
Here are some of the micro-skills involved in speaking.
 The speaker has to Pronounce the distinctive sounds of a language clearly
enough so that people can distinguish them. This includes making tonal
distinctions.
 Use the correct forms of words. This may mean, for example, changes in the
tense, case, or gender.
 Put words together in correct word order.

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  Use vocabulary appropriately.
 Use the language that is appropriate to the situation and the relationship to the
conversion partner.
 Make the main ideas stand out from supporting ideas or information.

Barriers while speaking:

There are certain barriers to speaking:
1. Unclear messages.
2. Lack of consistency in the communication process.
3. Incomplete sentences.
4. Not understanding the receiver.
5. Words can have different meanings to different listener.
6. Use of negative words.
How to improve speaking skills:
1. Practice where you can: Any practice is good whether you speak to someone who is
a native English speaker or not.
2. It’s important to build your confidence. If possible, use simple English sentence
structure that you know is correct, so that you can concentrate on getting your message
across.
3. Try to experiment with the English you know. Use words and phrases you know in
new situations. Native English speakers are more likely to correct you if you use the
wrong word than if you use the wrong grammar. Experimenting with vocabulary is really good
way of getting feedback.
4. Try to respond to what people say to you. You can often get clues to what people think by
looking at their body language. Respond to them in a natural way.
5. Try NOT to translate into and from your own language. This takes too much time and will
make you more hesitant.
6. If you forget a word do what native English speaker do all the time, and say things that ‘’fill’
the conversation. This is better than keeping completely silent. Try using um, or err, if you forget
the word.
7. Don’t speak too fast! It’s important to use a natural rhythm when speaking English, but if you
speak too fast it will be difficult for people to understand you.
8. Try to relax when you speak you’ll find your mouth does most of the pronunciation work for
you. When you speak English at normal speed, you’ll discover that many of the pronunciation
skills, such as linking between words, will happen automatically.
9. Remember, when speaking English try to become less hesitant and more confident. Don’t be
shy to speak the more you do it, the more confident you’ll become. Remember to be polite use
“please” and “thank you” if you ask someone to do something for you.

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Conclusion:
Unlike a written text where we can re-read information, a speaker has to speak the
word. These words can’t be removed. There is no opportunity for listener to recapture
the words once they have been said to maintain listener’s attention, speech needs to be
well planned.
While speaking consider these:
 Happy is the hearing man; unhappy the speaking man
 The difference between a smart man and a wise man knows what to say, and a
wise man knows whether or not to say it.
 Speak well and live well.

PRONUNCIATION
Proper pronunciation, requires use of the right sounds when vocalizing a word
and stressing the right syllable. It requires knowing the proper way of saying a word in
the region where it is used and accepted by the majority of native speakers.

Proper articulation involves the correct use of sounds for each letter or grouping
of letters. The challenge arises when common rules are ignored due to local custom,
slang or uneducated pronunciation.

Occasionally, language takes a left turn. Certain expressions including their

mispronunciation become accepted in local language. Since these expressions have a
relationship to the way we pronounce words, what consideration should be given to
using colloquialisms.

Speech mastery requires knowing colloquialisms, local expressions and ways of

pronouncing words. It requires knowing their use. Even though you may never say
them, the ability to communicate with them may have a profound significance someday.

When would wrong speech usage be right?

First, let’s look at correct pronunciation and its application to giving a good
speech and eloquent public speaking.

Names

It starts with saying names properly. If you are going to use names, make sure
they are pronounced correctly.

Proper Name Pronunciation is essential for speakers being introduced,

introducing others, and when using them in their speeches.

Difficult Names need to be considered too.

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May I Ax you a question?

To put it in proper perspective, consider one example: many have been

genuinely troubled by regional speakers who would ax (ask) a question. The
outrage at the misuse of the word may result in sarcasm, retorting with, “Wouldn’t
you rather hatchet a question instead?” assuming it would take less energy to
use a hatchet than an ax on a question. After all sometimes questions are fragile.

Sorry to ruin your wonderful sarcasm, but the joke is on you. You see, the
pronunciation of ax was common till the 1600’s in old English.

So who is wrong? What is the correct way of saying words given any
circumstance? Before answering that, let’s look at the price of failure. What
ignorance could cost you when it comes to saying it right?

Can you see the affect misuse of the way we say words can have on us? Among
the many negative impacts it has are included…

1. It detracts from the dignity of your message.

2. It creates a mental stop sign that causes the retention of your message to be
put on hold while the mind sorts out the mistake.
3. It detracts from your dignity.
4. It can destroy your credibility
5. Usage considered uneducated can make you seem uneducated or...
6. Usage considered uneducated can make you look like your making fun of the
uneducated which will alienate some in your audience.

It can make for light hearted conversation. But it can also cause heated disputes
over what is correct.

General Guidelines: to endear yourself to an audience,

1) Best to follow what is accepted as standard by the masses locally.

2) Make sure of Local or regional pronunciation when it comes to names and
places.

Some common examples are mother vs moth-ah and father vs fath-ah. Ironically,
those same regional native speakers will take names that end with ‘ah’ like Isaiah
and substitute er making Isa-er. Regionally this may happen in the North East
US, predominantly in New England.

Correct pronunciation can also tell whether you’re an outsider or a local or

knowledgeable of local custom. Many have heard of Soho, the art district of New
York. If you were visiting and saw Houston Street and pronounced it like you
would the name of the city in Texas (Hu-ston), you would have given yourself
away as an outsider.

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 However if you pronounced it as House-ton (Thus SO-HO or South of Hous-ton),
it might give you an extra 60 seconds before they know you’re a visitor. New Yorkers
are quite sharp when it comes to native speakers.

V. ACTIVITY GUIDE
1. What are your fears in actual public speaking? How will you overcome your
fears & doubts?
2. If I’ll let you have your public speaking, what is your topic and why?

Note:
Comment down your answer immediately after answering the module.

VI. REFERENCES

https://www.speechmastery.com/pronunciation.html

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 Prepared by:

ANGELYN D. CATAD, MAED

Instructor

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