What is speaking? Speaking is a productive skill, like writing. It involves using speech to express meanings to other people. Key concepts Tick the things on this list which people often do when they speak. 1 pronounce words 2 answer questions 3 use intonation 4 ask for clarification and/or explanation 5 correct themselves 6 take part in discussions 7 change the content and/or style of their speech according to how their listener responds 8 greet people 9 plan what they will say 10 smile 11 ask for and give information 12 respond appropriately 13 persuade 14 start speaking when someone else stops 15 tell stories 16 use fully accurate grammar and vocabulary 17 use tenses 18 take part in conversations We usually do all these things when we speak except 9 and 16. Speaking does not allow us time to do these except in formal speaking such as making speeches. Here is a list of the categories that the other points are examples of: • grammar and vocabulary (17) • functions (2,4, 6, 8, 11, 12, 13, 15) • features of connected speech (1, 3) • appropriacy (12) • body language (10) • interaction (5, 7, 14,18). Interaction is two-way communication that involves using language and body language to keep our listener involved in what we are saying and to check that they understand our meaning. Examples of these interactive strategies are: making eye contact, using facial expressions, asking check questions (e.g. 'Do you understand?'), clarifying your meaning (e.g. 'Imean 'What I'm trying to say is ...'), confirming understanding (e.g. 'mm', 'right'). We speak with fluency and accuracy. Fluency is speaking at a normal speed, without hesitation, repetition or self-correction, and with smooth use of connected speech. Accuracy in speaking is the use of correct forms of grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation. When we speak, we use different aspects of speaking depending on the type of speaking we are involved in. If you go to a shop to buy some sweets and ask the shopkeeper 'How much?', then leave after he/she replies, you don't use many of them. If you go to the bank to ask the bank manager to lend you $500,000, you will probably need to use many more. If you eat a meal with all your relatives, you will also use many in conversation with them. As you can see, speaking is a complex activity. Key concepts and the language teaching classroom • We can develop learners' speaking skills by focusing regularly on particular aspects of ' speaking, e.g. fluency, pronunciation, grammatical accuracy, body language. • In many classes learners do controlled practice activities (activities in which they can use only language that has just been taught). These are a very limited kind of speaking because they just focus on accuracy in speaking and not on communication, interaction or fluency. Controlled practice activities can provide useful, if limited, preparation for speaking. • Tasks and less controlled practice activities give more opportunity than controlled activities for learners to practise communication, interaction and fluency. • Sometimes learners speak more willingly in class when they have a reason for communicating, e.g. to solve a problem or to give other classmates some information they need. • Because speaking is such a complex skill, learners in the classroom may need a lot of help to prepare for speaking, e.g. practice of necessary vocabulary, time to organise their ideas and what they want to say, practice in pronouncing new words and expressions, practice in carrying out a task, before they speak freely. • Learners, especially beginners and children, may need time to take in and process all the new language they hear before they produce it in speaking. • The activities in a speaking lesson often follow this pattern: 1 Lead-in: an introduction to the topic of the lesson plus, sometimes, activities focusing on the new language 2 Practice activities or tasks in which learners have opportunities to use the new language 3 Post-task activities: activities in which learners discuss the topic freely and/or ask the teacher questions about the language used. FOLLOW-UP ACTIVITY (See page 172 for answers) |v^Efeeiltles of some materials on teaching speaking are numbered 1-10 below. Match the titles | with the aspects of speaking <;