DEVELOPING SPEAKING SKILLS

[A] WARM UP

1. Walk around the room, play Rock, Paper & Scissors with as many different people as
possible and earn money. Answer questions about Giving Instructions to get $100 for each
answer. The person who has the most money will be able to get one purchase from the
trainer.

2. Answer the questions.

a What assumptions does this activity make about language level and learners?
b What skills does this activity practise?
c How would you adapt this activity for lower level language learners?
d At what stage of the lesson can this activity be used?
e If you used this activity, how would you round it off?
This unit focuses on fluency based speaking activities. More controlled, or restricted
activities are not dealt with in this unit.

[B] DIFFERENT SPEAKING ACTIVITIES

Communicative language teaching is based on the premise that people use language in
order to communicate. As we communicate by speaking, listening, reading and writing,
then it follows that it is useful to give direct practice in these skills - rather than using
these skills only as a means of practising particular language points.

1. Discuss the questions for the speaking activities 1- 5 on the following pages. Then complete
the table on page 5.

a. Is it practical? Consider how easy the activity is to set up and manage. For example,
does it need any materials? Do the learners need time to prepare?
b. Is it purposeful? Do the learners have a purpose for doing the activity? Is there an
outcome?
c. Is it productive? How much speaking will it generate?
d. Is it predictable? How easy is it to predict the language that the learners will need in
order to do the activity? For example, what vocabulary and grammar are they likely
to need?
e. Is it adaptable? How versatile is the activity type? For example, could you adapt it for
a higher or lower level?

Activity 1
Discussion
Work in groups. Discuss the following quotations. Do you agree or disagree with
them? Give reasons.
- A teacher should have maximal authority and minimal power. (Thomas Szasz)
- We teachers can only help the work going on, as servants wait upon a master. (Maria
Montessori)
- Technology is just a tool. In terms of getting the kids working together and motivating
them, the teacher is the most important. (Bill Gates)
1
Activity 2
Roleplay
A parent is concerned because their 8-year-old child is unhappy at school. The
parent will meet the teacher and the head teacher of the school. You will take one of
the following roles.

Student A: Parent
You are worried that your child is unhappy at school. You think she is being bullied by older children. You have
been very busy at work lately and only noticed the problem recently although your daughter says that it has existed
for som,e time.

Student B: Teacher
You have only been working at the school a few months. You know that a parent is coming to see you and the head
teacher about their daughter. You are pleased they are coming, because the girl has been disruptive in lessons.

Student C: Head teacher

You are going to have a meeting with the parent of one of the children and her teacher. You will run the meeting.
You do not know a lot about this child, but you know that her former teacher felt that she was doing well. The
girl's current teacher has only recently joined your team.

1. Work with another student who has the same role as you. Plan what you are
going to say.
2.In groups of three (A, Band C), act out the role play.

Activity 3
Survey and presentation
1 In groups of four, prepare a survey on the topic: Are you a good language
learner? Prepare six questions that you will ask the other students in the class.
For example: Do you do the homework that the teacher gives us?
a Always b Sometimes c Never.
2 Form new groups, so that each student in the new group comes
from one of the original groups. Ask the other students your
questions, and make a note of their answers.
3 Return to your original group. Share the results of your survey. Prepare a
presentation of your findings. Use expressions like Five out of ten
students always do their homework. Draw some conclusions from your
survey. For example, It would be good if we could listen to more songs in
English. This would improve our listening skills ...
4 Take turns to present your findings and conclusions to the class.

2
 Activity 4
Guessing game
1 Write six sentences about your typical daily routine. Some sentences should
be true and some should be false.
2 Work in groups of three. Take turns to read out one sentence each.
Can you guess which of your classmates' sentences are true or false? If
you are not sure, you can ask them questions.

Activity 5
Information gap
1 This is your diary for next week. Fill in five of the spaces with
arrangements you have made. For example: meeting with boss; dental
appointment.

Morning Afternoon
MONDAY
TUESDAY
WED NESDAY
THURSDAY
FRIDAY

2 You need to arrange a meeting with two colleagues. Work in

groups of three. Use your diaries to find a time when you can all
meet.

Complete the following table

a ls it b Is it C Is it d Is it e Is it
practical? purposeful? productive? predictable? adaptable?

1 Discussion

2 Roleplay

3 Survey and
presentation

3
 4 Guessing
game
5
Information
gap

2. Work in pairs. Choose one of the activities in A. Decide how you would set it up in
class. Write down the instructions you would use.

[C] CHALLENGES
1. Look at these comments about speaking by learners. What could their
teachers do to help?

Cinzia (intermediate learner from Italy):

Hyun-Joo (upper-intermediate learner from Korea):

Danijela (advanced learner from Serbia):

4
Anja
(advanced
learner from
Switzerland):

Alejandra
(intermediate
learner from
Chile):

Ali (elementary
learner from
Libya) Outside the classroom, I find it
difficult to speak sometimes
because I know the

Vera (intermediate
learner from
Russia):

5
2 What can you learn from the learners in the above activity? Complete the table.
Then compare ideas with a partner.

What we can learn from the learner

Cinzia
Hyun-Joo
Danijela
Alejandra
Ali
Anja
Vera

[D] QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

Match these postings on a web-based teachers' discussion board with the

responses.
QUESTIONS RESPONSES

1 If you could give one ti p to a new teacher a If you use groups of three or four, learners
doing speaking lessons - what would it be? · have to speak a bit louder than when they
are working in pairs.
2 What should I do at the end of pair work b No. You can't alway s restrict people to using
and group work? pa rticular forms. Correction is a way of focusing
on a variety of language points, anyway.
3 Should I feel guilty if there's no specific c Shut up! It took me ages to learn that. I'd
language point practised in a speaking exercise? ask a question and before anyone else spo ke I'd
answer my own question. I was terrified of silence.
Also if learners are ta lking, doing what you want
them to do - do n't int errupt them and stop them
doing it .
4 I taught a lesson last week and it started and d Typically, two thi ngs. One, get some of the
finished with some speaking. But the two learners to report back on what they
speaking tasks were nearly t he same. Is that OK? discussed. Two, give them some feedback on how
they said it - good st uff, mistakes, you know...
5 I can't always hear what the learners are saying . e Well, I often give some feedback afterwards
Does anyone else have t his problem? What can and may correct errors then, but I try to
you do? interrupt as little as possible - un less the error is
so bad t hat it stops communication.
6 Should I correct learners when I hear a mistake? f I often have the same conversations! I think it
can be a good thing - the learners should see an
improvement , which is good . Sometimes I just
switch th e groups round a bit so that they are not
talking to the same people.

6
 Work with a partner in your group. Look at the speaking activities provided.
Answer the following questions.
a Do you like the material? Would you be happy to use it with the appropriate group?
b Choose one of the activities. How could you make it maximally productive? For
example, how could you ensure that as many learners as possible are speaking as
much of the time as possible?
c Write the stages you would go through in order to exploit it.

(Thornbury, S., 2007. The CELTA Course Trainee Book, Student edition. ed.
Cambridge University Press, Cambridge; New York).