英语教学法教程unit10 teaching speaking

Unit10TeachingSpeakingAimsoftheunit:Throughlearninganddiscussion,studentswillgettoknow:1.themaincharacteristicsofspokenlanguage2.principlesforteachingspeaking3.typicaltypesofspeakingactivities4.Howtoorganizespeakingactivities?10.1Whatarethecharacteristicsofspokenlanguage?Speakingisaskill,justlikeswimming,drivingacar,orplayingping-pong.Toooften,inthetraditionalclassroom,thelearningofEnglishhasbeenrelegatedtolinguisticknowledgeonly,e.g.knowledgeofvocabularyandgrammarrules,withlittleornoattentionpaidtopractisinglanguageskill.Howcanwetellthedifferencebetweenknowledgeandskill?AccordingtoBygate(1987:4)one“fundamentaldifferenceisthatbothcanbeunderstoodandmemorised,butonlyaskillcanbeimitatedandpractised”.CharacteristicsofspokenlanguageSpontaneityTime-constraintSpontaneityInmostsituations,peopledonotplanaheadoftimewhattheyaregoingtosay.Thefactthatspeechisspontaneousmeansthatitisfulloffalsestarts,repetitions,incompletesentences,andshortphrases.Shouldweexpectthestudentstoproducecompletesentencesinlanguageclassroom?Time-constraintThestudentsmustbeabletoproduceunplannedutterancesinrealtime;otherwisepeoplewillnothavethepatiencetolistentothem.WhichofthefollowingactivitiesdoyouthinkwouldhelptopreparestudentsforreallifespeechinEnglish?Readingaloud(needstobesupplementedwithmorerealisticactivitiesasthelevelincreases).Givingapreparedtalk(maybeusedforadvancedlevel)Learningapieceoftextordialoguebyheartmorerealisticactivitiesasthelevelincreases).Interviewingsomeone,orbeinginterviewed(Yes.Ithelpstopreparestudentsforreallifespeech.)Doingadrill(needstobesupplementedwithmorerealisticactivitiesasthelevelincreases).Alsostudentsmustconsiderwhomtheyaretalkingtoandbeabletocheckiftheyarebeingunderstood.e.g.Kelly:HeyJack,how’stheprojectcomingalong?Jack:Whatproject?Kelly:TheoneyouandCraigareworkingon.Jack:CraigandI?Kelly:Yeah,forthesciencefair.Jack:Oh,thatproject.It’sfinished.I’msobusyworkingonanotherprojectformyeconomicsclassthatIalmostforgotaboutit.Ihopeit’llworklikewewantto.Kelly:Oh,I’msureitwill.10.2PrinciplesforteachingspeakingTeacherasksthestudentstoreadthepartfromP159to160andthengetsthemtothinkabouthowtheycanimprovespeakingteaching.Balancingaccuracy-basedwithfluency-basedpracticesContextualisingpracticePersonalisingpracticeBuildingupconfidenceMaximisingmeaningfulinteractionsHelpingstudentsdevelopspeakingstrategiesMakingthebestuseofclassroomlearningenvironmenttoprovidesufficientlanguageinputandpracticeforthestudents10.3DesigningspeakingtasksOneimportantconsideration:Proficiencylevelofthestudents(challengingbutnottoodifficult.)Ifthetaskistooeasyortoodifficult,thestudentsmaybedemotivated.CommoncharacteristicsinsuccessfulspeakingtasksMaximumforeigntalkEvenparticipationHighmotivationRightlanguagelevelMaximumforeigntalkTrytoavoidstudents’talkinginthemothertongue,andavoidtoomuchTeacherTalk.EvenparticipationTrytoavoidoutstandingstudents’dominatingdiscussions.Trytoguaranteeequalopportunitiesforstudentsofdifferentlevels.HighmotivationInterestingtopic,andclearobjective.Makesurethatthetaskisinlinewiththestudents’abilityRightlanguagelevelThetaskmustbedesignedsothatthestudentscancompletethetasksuccessfullywiththelanguagethattheyhave.Otherwisethetaskwillbecomefrustratingandthestudentsarelikelytogiveuporreverttothenativelanguage.10.4TypeofspeakingtasksItisimportanttoprovidethestudentswithavarietyofspeakingactivitiesbecause:Avarietyofspeakingactivitieswillenablestudentstocopewithdifferentsituationsinreality.Varietyhelpskeepmotivationhigh.Varietymaysuitstudentsofdifferentlearningstyles.Therearetwomajorpurposesforlistening.Oneistogetinformationandtheotherisforsocialreasons.Sincespeakingisreciprocaloflistening,thesameistrueofspeaking.AccordingtoLittlewood,ashasbeenmentionedinUnit2(p.22)communicativespeakingactivitiescanbedividedintotwotypes:functionalcommunicationactivities,andsocialinteractionactivities:StructuralActivitiesPre-C.A.Quasi-com.Activities(sent.patterndrills,dialogues,etc.)FunctionalCom.Act.Com.Act.(obtaininginformation)SocialInteractionAct.(role-playing,problem-solving,etc.)InformationGap,Choices&Feed-back)Forbeginningstudents,pre-communicativeactivitiesarealsonecessary,whicharemorestructuralandallowthelearnertopractisetheformsofthelanguage.However,weshouldmakespeakingtasksascommunicativeaspossible.SometypesofspeakingactivitiesControlledactivitiesSemi-controlledactivitiesInformation-gapactivitiesDialoguesandrole-playsActivitiesusingpicturesProblem-solvingactivitiesOtherspeakingactivitiesInformation-gapactivitiesCompare2activities:ActivityAActivityB:Usethesamepictures,butcutthemup,pastethemoncards,andgiveeachstudentadifferentpicture.Directions:Askyourpartnerwhatisinhis/herpicture.Foreexample:StudentA:What’sinyourpicture?StudentB:Thereis__________.What’sinyourpicture?StudentA:Thereis__________.Obviouslythesecondactivityincludesaninformationgapthatthefirstonedoesnot.Information-gapactivitiescanbedesignedataveryelementarylevel,sothatcommunicativepracticecanbedonefromalmosttheverybeginn