Majorship : English
Focus : Teaching Listening & Speaking
LET Competency : Demonstrate understanding of the nature
of the four language macro-components
(listening, speaking, reading, writing, including grammar) and the theoretical
bases, principles, methods, and strategies in teaching these components.
Introduction
Listening is the neglected
communication skill. While all of us have had instruction in reading, writing,
and speaking, few have had any formal instruction in listening. Most of us spend
seven of every 10 minutes of our waking time in some form of communication
activity. Of these seven minutes (or 70% of the time we are awake), 10% is
spent writing, 15% reading, 30% talking, and 45% listening.
Think of it! We spend nearly half of
our communication time listening, but few of us make any real effort to be
better listeners. For those who do, however, the effort pays great dividends—higher
productivity, faster learning, and better relationships.
Listening is more than merely
hearing words. Listening is an active process by which students receive,
construct meaning from, and respond to spoken and or nonverbal messages
(Emmert, 1994). As such, it forms an integral part of the communication process
and should not be separated from the other language arts. Listening
comprehension complements reading comprehension. Verbally clarifying the spoken
message before, during, and after a presentation enhances listening
comprehension. Writing, in turn, clarifies and documents the spoken message.
The Goal of Teaching
Listening
As
teachers, we want to produce students, who even if they do not have complete
control of the grammar or an extensive lexicon, can fend for themselves in
communication situations. In the case of listening, this means producing students
who can use listening strategies to maximize their comprehension of aural
input, identify relevant and non-relevant information, and tolerate less than
word-by-word comprehension.
The Nature of Listening
Listening
takes up as much as 50% of our everyday communication time. It is the main
channel of classroom instruction and the most used language skill at work and
at home. Many learners want to develop effective listening comprehension
because it is crucial to their academic, professional, and personal success.
When we teach listening we consider what
the object of our instruction is. We look at ideas that have influenced
thinking on learner listening in English language teaching.
Kinds
of Listening
Teachers can help students become
effective listeners by making them aware of the different kinds of listening,
the different purposes for listening, and the qualities of good listeners.
Wolvin and Coakley (1992) identify four different kinds of listening:
- Comprehensive (Informational) Listening--Students
listen for the content of the message.
- Critical (Evaluative) Listening--Students
judge the message.
- Appreciative (Aesthetic) Listening--Students
listen for enjoyment.
- Therapeutic (Empathetic) Listening--Students
listen to support others but not judge them.
Traditionally, secondary schools have concentrated on the
comprehensive and critical kinds of listening. Teachers need to provide
experiences in all four kinds. For example, listening to literature read,
listening to radio plays, and watching films develop appreciative in addition
to comprehensive and critical listening. When students provide supportive
communication in collaborative groups, they are promoting therapeutic
listening. For example, the listening behavior can show understanding, acceptance,
and trust, all of which facilitate communication. Students benefit from
exposure to all four types of listening.
Listening is a general purpose in
most learning situations. To be effective
listeners,
however, students need a more specific focus than just attending to what is
said.
See the following chart which contrasts effective and ineffective listening
habits.
The
Purposes for Listening
Listening
requires conscious mental effort and specific purpose. The purposes for
listening relate to "types" of listening:
- Are you
listening to receive information?
- Are you
listening to follow instructions?
- Are you
listening to evaluate information?
- Are you
listening for pleasure?
- Are you
listening to empathize?
Students should be able to determine
what their purpose should be in any given listening situation (see figure
below).
Listening
Comprehension skills or Enabling skills
§
Listening for detail—involves listening for specific
information
§ Listening for
gist—listen for main ideas
§
Drawing inferences—ability to
fill in gaps in the input
§ Listening selectively—listen only
to specific parts of the input.
§
Making predictions—ability to
anticipate before and during listening what one is going to
hear.
Listening
as a PRODUCT
It shows what listeners do in order to
demonstrate their understanding. It is described in terms of outcomes which are
stated either verbally or non-verbally.
Examples
of listening outcomes:
§
Follow
instructions
§
Organize
and classify information
§
Take
effective notes
§
Take
dictation
§
Transfer
information into graphic forms
§
Reconstruct
original text
§
Make
appropriate oral respon
Listening as a PROCESS
Students do not have an innate
understanding of what effective listeners do; therefore, it is the
responsibility of teachers to share that knowledge with them. Perhaps the most
valuable way to teach listening skills is for teachers to model them
themselves, creating an environment which encourages listening. Teachers can create such an environment
by positive interaction, actively listening to all students and responding in
an open and appropriate manner. Teachers should avoid responding either
condescendingly or sarcastically. As much as possible, they should minimize
distractions and interruptions. It is important for the teacher to provide
numerous opportunities for students to practice listening skills and to become
actively engaged in the listening process.
Listening is a mental process. Our brain
processes linguistic information in three
ways:
1. Attend to signals (sounds or print) and
identify them as words.
2. Process information in the most
efficient way.
3. Draw on knowledge stored in the long-
term memory.
Anderson
proposed a three-phase language comprehension model:
v
Perception
is the encoding of sound signals
v Parsing is the process by which an
utterance is segmented according to syntactic structures or meaning cues to
create a mental representation of the combined meaning of the words.
v
Utilization
occurs when listeners relate mental representations of the input to existing knowledge
in long- term memory
Bottom–up
Listening
This
refers to a process by which sounds are used to build up units of information,
such as words, phrases, clauses and sentences before the aural input is
understood.
Top-down
processing
This refers to the application of
background knowledge to facilitate comprehension.
It
is generally believed now that both top-down and bottom-up processing occur at
the same time in what is known as parallel processing (Eysenck,1993). In some instances, one type of processing
might take precedence over the other, depending on the amount of practice an
individual has had on a specific task.
Factors that
Influence Learners’ Listening
Three
sources of information are crucial to how language learners listen:
1. Background knowledge (schematic)
2. Knowledge of the situation and co-text (contextual)
3. Knowledge of the language system
(systemic)
Listening
can be best understood as a combination of low and high inferences (Rost, 1990)
Listeners make low-level inferences when they use their knowledge of linguistic
features to infer (decode) the sounds in an utterance. To understand what a
message means, they engage in higher level inferences by using on their
knowledge of both linguistic and pragmatic nature.
Another
cognitive perspective on learner listening is the use of listening
comprehension strategies. These are
mental mechanisms used to process and manage information. The three categories
of listening strategies are:
v Cognitive : process, interpret, store
and recall information. This involves strategies such as inferencing and
prediction.
v Metacognitive : manage and facilitate
mental process; cope with difficulties during listening. Examples of such
strategies include comprehension
monitoring and visualizing.
v Social-affective : ask the help of
others to facilitate comprehension; manage one’s emotions when listening such
as confidence building and cooperation.
Stages
in a Listening Lesson
The
Phases of Listening
The
three phases of the listening process are: pre-listening,
during listening, and after listening.
Pre-listening
During
the pre-listening phase, teachers need to recognize that all students bring
different backgrounds to the listening experience. Beliefs, attitudes, and
biases of the listeners will affect the understanding of the message. In
addition to being aware of these factors, teachers should show students how
their backgrounds affect the messages they receive.
Before
listening, students need assistance to activate what they already know about
the ideas they are going to hear. Simply being told the topic is not enough.
Pre-listening activities are required to establish what is already known about
the topic, to build necessary background, and to set purpose(s) for listening.
Students need to understand that the “…act of listening requires not just
hearing but thinking, as well as a good deal of interest and information which
both speaker and listener must have in common. Speaking and listening entail
... three components: the speaker, the listener, and the meaning to be shared;
speaker, listener, and meaning form a unique triangle (King, 1984).”
The
teacher allows the learner to ‘tune in’ to the context or to the topic of a
given text. The students may perhaps express their views about the text to be
listened to; they may predict content from the title of a selection, answer a
set of questions, study and examine pictures, and sing a song or a chant. Each
of these helps students to focus on a topic, activate their schemata or prior
knowledge and allows them to use the words which they will shortly hear in the
text.
There are several strategies that
students and their teachers can use to prepare for a listening experience. They
can:
- Activate Existing Knowledge. Students should be encouraged to
ask the question: What do I already know about this topic? From this
teachers and students can determine what information they need in order to
get the most from the message. Students can brainstorm, discuss, read,
view films or photos, and write and share journal entries.
- Build Prior Knowledge. Teachers can provide the
appropriate background information including information about the
speaker, topic of the presentation, purpose of the presentation, and the
concepts and vocabulary that are likely to be embedded in the presentation.
Teachers may rely upon the oral interpretation to convey the meanings of
unfamiliar words, leaving the discussion of these words until after the
presentation. At this stage, teachers need to point out the role that oral
punctuation, body language, and tone play in an oral presentation.
- Review Standards for Listening. Teachers should stress the
importance of the audience's role in a listening situation. There is an
interactive relationship between audience and speaker, each affecting the
other. Teachers can outline the following considerations to students:
- Students have to be
physically prepared for listening. They need to see and hear the
speaker. If notes are to be taken, they should have paper and pencil at
hand.
- Students need to be
attentive. In many cultures, though not all,
it is expected that the listener look directly at the speaker and
indicate attention and interest by body language. The listener should
never talk when a speaker is talking. Listeners should put distractions
and problems aside.
- "Listen to others as you would have them listen
to you."
- Establish
Purpose. Teachers
should encourage students to ask: "Why am I listening?"
"What is my purpose?" Students should be encouraged to
articulate their purpose.
- Am I listening to
understand? Students should approach the speech with an open mind. If
they have strong personal opinions, they should be encouraged to
recognize their own biases.
- Am I listening to
remember? Students should look for the main ideas and how the speech
is organized. They can fill in the secondary details later.
- Am I listening to
evaluate? Students should ask themselves if the speaker is qualified
and if the message is legitimate. They should be alert to errors in the
speaker's thinking processes, particularly bias, sweeping
generalizations, propaganda devices, and charged words that may attempt
to sway by prejudice or deceit rather than fact.
- Am I listening to
be entertained? Students should listen for those elements that make
for an enjoyable experience (e.g., emotive language, imagery, mood,
humor, presentation skills).
- Am I listening to
support? Students should listen closely to determine how other
individuals are feeling and respond appropriately (e.g., clarify,
paraphrase, sympathize, encourage).
Before a speaker's presentation,
teachers also can have students formulate questions that they predict will be
answered during the presentation. If the questions are not answered, students
may pose the questions to the speaker. Students should as well be encouraged to
jot down questions during listening.
An
additional strategy is called TQLR. It consists of the following steps:
T – Tune-in
(The listener must tune-in to the speaker and the subject, mentally calling up everything known about the subject and shutting out all distractions.)
(The listener must tune-in to the speaker and the subject, mentally calling up everything known about the subject and shutting out all distractions.)
Q -- Question
(The listener should mentally formulate questions. What will this speaker say about this topic? What is the speaker's background? I wonder if the speaker will talk about...?)
(The listener should mentally formulate questions. What will this speaker say about this topic? What is the speaker's background? I wonder if the speaker will talk about...?)
L -- Listen
(The listener should organize the information as it is received, anticipating what the speaker will say next and reacting mentally to everything heard.)
(The listener should organize the information as it is received, anticipating what the speaker will say next and reacting mentally to everything heard.)
R -- Review
(The listener should go over what has been said, summarize, and evaluate constantly. Main ideas should be separated from subordinate ones.)
(The listener should go over what has been said, summarize, and evaluate constantly. Main ideas should be separated from subordinate ones.)
- Use a Listening Guide. A guide may provide an overview
of the presentation, its main ideas, questions to be answered while
listening, a summary of the presentation, or an outline. For example, a
guide such as the following could be used by students during a
presentation in class.
- Situation:
Speaker's name:
Date:
Occasion: - What is the general subject of
this talk?
- What is the main point or
message of this talk?
- What is the speaker's
organizational plan?
- What transitional expressions
(e.g., firstly, secondly, in contrast, in conclusion) does the speaker
use?
- Does the speaker digress from
the main point?
- Write the speaker's main point
in no more than three sentences.
What
is your personal reaction to the talk?
While- Listening Stage
While-listening
tasks are what students are asked to do during listening time. The listening
tasks should be enjoyable and meaningful to the students. It should be simple
and easy to handle. It should provide opportunities for students to succeed.
Students need to understand the implications of rate in the
listening process. Nichols (1948) found that people listen and think at four
times the normal conversation rate. Students have to be encouraged to use the
"rate gap" to actively process the message. In order to use that
extra time wisely.
Effective listeners: - connect—make connections with people,
places, situations, and ideas they know
- find
meaning—determine
what the speaker is saying about people, places, and ideas
- question—pay attention to those words and
ideas that are unclear
- make
and confirm predictions—try
to determine what will be said next
- make
inferences—determine
speaker's intent by "listening between the lines"; infer what
the speaker does not actually say
- reflect and evaluate—respond to what has been heard and
pass judgment.
"Comprehension
is enormously improved when the speaker's schema or organizational pattern is
perceived by the listener" (Devine, 1982). Teach students the various structures
(e.g., short story, essay, poetry, play), organizational patterns (e.g.,
logical, chronological, spatial), and transitional devices. Effective listeners can follow spoken
discourse when they recognize key signal expressions such as the following:
- Example words: for example, for instance, thus,
in other words, as an illustration
Usually found in: generalization plus
example (but may be found in enumeration and argumentation)
- Time words: first, second, third, meanwhile,
next, finally, at last, today, tomorrow, soon
Usually found in: narration,
chronological patterns, directions (and whenever events or examples are
presented in a time sequence)
•
Addition words: in addition, also, furthermore, moreover, another example
Usually found in: Enumeration,
description, and sometimes in generalization plus example
- Result words: as a result, so, accordingly,
therefore, thus
Usually found in: Cause and effect
- Contrast words: however, but, in contrast, on the
other hand, nevertheless
Usually found
in: comparison and contrast (and whenever speaker makes a comparison or
contrast in another pattern) (Devine, 1982).
Most students need practice in making
inferences while listening. A simple way to help students become aware that
there is meaning between the lines is to read a passage from literature which
describes a character's actions, appearance, or surroundings. From this
information, students make inferences about the character's personality.
Teachers should keep in mind that the purpose of an exercise such as this is
not to elicit the exact answer, but to provide opportunities for students to
make various inferences. Students also need to be aware of the inferences they
can make from non-verbal cues. A speaker's tone and body language can convey a
message as well.
Teachers can also encourage guided
imagery when students are listening to presentations that have many visual
images, details, or descriptive words. Students can form mental pictures to
help them remember while listening.
Although listeners need not capture
on paper everything they hear, there are times that students need to focus on
the message and need to record certain words and phrases. Such note-making
("listening with pen in hand") forces students to attend to the
message. Devine (1982) suggests strategies such as the following:
- Give
questions in advance and remind listeners to listen for possible answers.
- Provide
a rough outline, map, chart, or graph for students to complete as they
follow the lecture.
- Have
students jot down "new-to-me" items (simple lists of facts or
insights that the listener has not heard before).
- Use a
formal note-taking system.
Transcribing or writing down live or recorded speech
can sharpen students' listening, spelling, and punctuation skills.
- Teacher
selects an interesting piece of writing.
- The
selection is read aloud to the class (and perhaps discussed).
- The
teacher then dictates the passage slowly to the class. The students
transcribe the form and conventions (i.e., spelling, punctuation, and
capitalization) as accurately as possible.
- Students
compare their transcription with distributed copies of the original.
Critical thinking plays a major role in effective
listening. Listening in order to analyze and evaluate requires students to
evaluate a speaker's arguments and the value of the ideas, appropriateness of
the evidence, and the persuasive techniques employed. Effective listeners apply
the principles of sound thinking and reasoning to the messages they hear at
home, in school, in the workplace, or in the media.
Planning
and structuring classroom activities to model and encourage students to listen
critically is important. Students should learn to:
- Analyze the message
Critical listeners are concerned first
with understanding accurately and completely what they hear (Brownell, 1996).
Students should identify the speaker's topic, purpose, intended audience, and
context. The most frequent critical listening context is persuasion. They
should keep an open-minded and objective attitude as they strive to identify
the main idea(s)/thesis/claim and the supporting arguments/points/anecdotes.
They should ask relevant questions and restate perceptions to make sure they
have understood correctly. Taking notes will enhance their listening.
- Analyze the speaker
Critical
listeners must understand the reliability of the speaker. Is the speaker
credible? Trustworthy? An expert? Dynamic?
- Analyze the speaker's evidence
Critical listeners must understand the
nature and appropriateness of the evidence and reasoning. What evidence is
used? Expert testimony? Facts? Statistics? Examples? Reasons? Opinions?
Inappropriate evidence might include untrustworthy testimony; inadequate,
incorrect, inappropriate, or irrelevant facts, statistics, or examples; or
quotations out of context or incomplete.
- Analyze the speaker's reasoning
Critical listeners must understand the
logic and reasoning of the speaker. Is this evidence developed in logical
arguments such as deductive, inductive, causal, or analogous? Faulty reasoning
might include hasty or over-inclusive generalization, either-or argument,
causal fallacy (therefore, because of this), non sequitur (confusion of cause
and effect), reasoning in a circle, begging or ignoring the question, false
analogy, attacking the person instead of the idea, or guilt by association.
- Analyze the speaker's emotional
appeals
Critical listeners must understand that
persuaders often rely on emotional appeal as well as evidence and reasoning.
Critical listeners, therefore, must recognize effective persuasive appeals and
propaganda devices. A skilled critical listener identifies and discounts
deceptive persuasive appeals such as powerful connotative (loaded) words,
doublespeak, appeals to fears, prejudice, discontent, flattery, stereotype, or
tradition. The listener must also identify and discount propaganda techniques
such as bandwagon appeals, glittering generalities, inappropriate testimonials,
pseudo-scientific evidence, card-stacking, and name-calling.
Problems that Language Learners Face
During Listening
Text
Three types
of text feature can affect listening:
1. phonology and speech rate
2. discourse features
3. text types
Task
They are
influenced by the types of question, the amount of time and whether or not the
listener can get the information repeated.
Interlocutor (speaker)
This includes
accent, fluency, gender, and standard or non standard usage.
Listener
Listener
characteristics include: language proficiency, gender, memory, interest,
purpose, prior knowledge, attention, accuracy of pronunciation, topic
familiarity, and established learning habits.
Process
This refers to
type of processing that listeners use, whether top-down or bottom-up or both.
The type of listening strategy used by the listener is an important factor.
Post-Listening Stage
This is usually
at the end of a lesson. These are off-shoots or extension of the work done at
the pre- and while listening stage. At this stage the students have time to
think, reflect, discuss and to write.
Students need to act upon what they have heard to clarify
meaning and extend their thinking. Well-planned post-listening activities are
just as important as those before and during. Some examples follow.
- To begin with, students can ask questions
of themselves and the speaker to clarify their understanding and confirm
their assumptions.
- Hook and Evans (1982) suggest that
the post-mortem is a very useful device. Students should talk about
what the speaker said, question statements of opinion, amplify certain
remarks, and identify parallel incidents from life and literature.
- Students
can summarize a speaker's presentation orally, in writing, or as an
outline. In addition to the traditional outline format, students could use
time lines, flow charts, ladders, circles, diagrams, webs, or maps.
- Students
can review their notes and add information that they did not have
an opportunity to record during the speech.
- Students
can analyze and evaluate critically what they have heard.
- Students
can be given opportunities to engage in activities that build on and develop
concepts acquired during an oral presentation. These may include writing
(e.g., response journal, learning log, or composition), reading
(e.g., further research on a topic or a contradictory viewpoint), art
or drama (e.g., designing a cover jacket after a book talk or
developing a mock trial concerning the topic through drama in role).
Listening
Tasks for Communicative Outcomes
Communicative
Outcomes
|
Examples
|
Lists
|
Similarities/difference/errors
|
Sequenced information
|
Picture sequences, lyrics
|
Matched items
|
Pictures with texts, themes with texts
|
Restored texts
|
Complete the gaps in a text
|
Diagrams or pictures
|
Floor plans, sketches of people
|
Notes
|
Short notes during presentations
|
One–Way Listening Tasks (transactional)
It involves listening and responding
through different ways to achieve outcomes. They do not have to interact with
the speaker while listening. It is mainly concerned with obtaining information
and knowledge.
Task
|
Response
|
Restoration
|
Include
omitted words or phrases
|
Reconstruction
|
Create
original message with words heard or noted down
|
Sorting
|
sequence,
rank, categorize items
|
Evaluation
|
identify
inconsistencies and contradictions
|
Task
|
Response
|
Matching
|
Match
information from listening to pictures or written texts
|
Jigsaw
|
Create a
whole from different parts
|
Two-way Listening tasks (interactional)
The listener has to interact with the
speaker by asking questions, offering information and expressing opinions.
Task
|
Response
|
Creative dictation
|
Dictate
to each other to complete a text
|
Description
|
Sequence/reproduce/complete pictures
or diagrams
|
Simulation
|
Listen
and express opinion in simulated situations
|
Presentation
|
Listen
and respond to formal and
informal presentations
|
Some Practical Listening Strategies
and Activities
Comprehensive Listening
Strategies (elementary)
§
Forming a picture (draw an image, then write about
it)
§
Putting information into groups (categorizing, “chunking”)
§
Asking questions (Why am I listening to this
message?; Do I know what ___ means?; Does this information make sense to me?)
§
Discovering the plan (description, sequence, comparison,
cause and effect, problem/solution)
§
Note taking (demonstrate by taking notes with the
children)
§
Getting clues from the speaker (both visual and
verbal cues)
Critical Listening (intermediate to high school)
§ Help children to recognize: persuasion
and propaganda, deceptive language, loaded words, propaganda devices.
§ Steps:
1.
introduce
the commercial(s)
2.
explain
deceptive language
3.
analyze
it
4.
review
concepts
5.
provide
practice
6. create commercials
The same
procedure applies to advertisements.
Appreciative Listening (primary)
§ Enjoyment is
reason enough to read-aloud to children.
§ Appreciative listening is important for:
reading aloud to students, repeated readings, and oral presentations.
§ Teaching Appreciative Listening:
1.
Before reading-aloud: activate prior knowledge, background,
set purpose for reading
2.
During reading-aloud: Use Directed Reading Thinking Activity
(DRTA)—make predictions, reasoning and further predictions, prove if
predictions are true
3. After
reading-aloud: share
their log and relate to their lives.
Authentic Listening
Activities (for
different levels)
§ Acting out a story from one that is read
(or being read)
§ Making or doing something by following
oral directions
§ Participating in class or group
discussions
§ Getting information by listening to an
announcement
§ Working on group projects
§ Critiquing a peer’s draft of a story
after listening to it
§ Enjoying good literature that is well
presented orally
§ Evaluating an issue that is being
debated
§ Evaluating products advertised in
commercials
§ Evaluating candidates from their
campaign speeches
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)
• Interpersonal (dialogue)
|
• Transactional dialogue—carried out for
the purpose of conveying or exchanging specific information; involves
relatively long stretches of interactive discourse
• 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 (monologue)
|
• usually for intermediate to advanced
levels; tasks 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.