Learning through Pushed output

chapter 7
Presented by:
Erfaneh Maleki
Tahereh Ebrahimi
 Pushed output

❖ According to Swain ( 2005), learners can comprehend input without

having to look closely at the grammar. If , however, they are ‘’pushed’’ to
produce output, then the attention that they give to the grammar changes.
❖ The idea behind pushed output is that

Knowledge of the L2 does not

transfer automatically from
reception to production

❖ Comprehension processes involve semantic decoding

❖ Production involves syntactic processing
 Pushed output

❖ The aim of setting demanding tasks , then , is to encourage

learners to extend their use of grammatical features and words.

❖ There are other ways of making tasks demanding , including:

✓ getting learners to talk on unfamiliar topics
✓ speaking where high standards of performance are expected
✓ speaking without the opportunity for planning or preparation
✓ speaking in formal situation without the interactive support
of others
❖ Learners are pushed through encouragement or necessity ,
they have to produce spoken language in unfamiliar areas
 Pushed output

❖ Without pushed output :

learners mainly acquire language
features that are necessary for comprehension.

❖ Pushed output can result in the learner moving ‘’from a semantic

analysis of the language to a syntactic analysis of it.

❖ there are several factors to consider for pushing output

▪ a range of topics
▪ a range of text types
▪ a range of performance conditions
 Topic

❖ Learners should be pushed to speak on range of topics.

❖ Topic is most likely to have an effect on vocabulary.
❖ Topics have a relationship with amount of background knowledge.
❖ Learners should be familiar with the content.

❑ Text type:

❖ Biber ( 1989) distinguished eight major spoken and written text types
on the basis of the clustering of largely grammatical features.
 Text type

❖ These text types included:

• Intimate
• Interpersonal
• Interaction
• ‘’scientific’’
• exposition
• Imaginative
• Narrative
• Persuasion
 Text types

❖ The most useful distinctions to consider when ensuring

that learners are pushed to cope with a range of text
types are:

▪ Involved interaction versus monologue.

▪ Colloquial speech versus formal speech.
▪ Short turns versus long turns.
▪ Interactional versus transactional speech.
▪ Narrative versus non- narrative.
 Performance Conditions

❖ When learners perform speaking tasks, they can do this

under a variety of conditions.

❖ performance conditions include:

▪ Planning
▪ Time pressure
▪ Amount of support
▪ Standard of performance
 Planning

❖ Planning involves preparing for a task before the task

is performed.
❖ It involves having time to think about a given topic,
having time to prepare what to say, and taking brief
notes about what to say.
❖ Planning allows part of the work to be done before the
task.
❖ Planning had positive effects on fluency and
grammatical complexity.
❖ Planning had mixed effect on accuracy.
 Planning

❖ Giving learners a chance to prepare for tasks can increase their

chances of success.

❖ Such preparation could involve :

▪ Retelling one of the most effective ways of bringing
receptive language knowledge into productive use.
▪ Class judgment
▪ ask and answer
 Time pressure

❖ There are two kinds of planning:

▪ a) On- line planning
▪ b) Pre task planning
❖ on- line planning involves paying attention to turning ideas into
speech while they speak
❖ It has positive effect on accuracy
❖ It is helped by having plenty of time to speak
❖ Pre – task planning is more likely to allow learners to focus on
idea and allow them to access both implicit and explicit
grammatical knowledge
 Standard of Performance

❖ The pressure on learners to perform well is increased if:

• They have to speak in public
• they are aware that some judgment is going to be made on their
performance.
• Doing transactional speaking with others
 Informal speaking

❖ Informal speaking
is more casual and spontaneous . Like communication with
friends.
❖ Informal speaking involves tasks where conveying information is
not as important as maintaining friendly relationships.
❖ Brown ( 1987) calls this interactional speaking as opposed to
transactional speaking .
❖ Interactional speaking can be supported in the following ways:
1) Learners can be taught conversational strategies that can help
keep the conversation going ( Holmes and Brown , 1976). A
very useful technique for doing that is called Q-> SA+EI
 Informal Speaking

❖ 2) Having a supportive partner in a conversation can make

speaking much easier.
❖ 3) Repeated tasks can also be a good way of providing support.
❖ 4) Informal speaking can be prepared for.
❖ 5) Spoken language uses many more multi -word units than
written language
 Formal Speaking

❖ Formal speaking is affected by all the performance conditions,

time pressure, support and standard of performance.
❖ Formal speaking requires control of content, awareness of a
largely passive audience and being the focus of attention.
❖ It requires learners to use language under difficult circumstances.

❖ Brown identified the following ways of getting learners to

develop their skill in taking a long turn:
1)Learners should experience the task from the listeners’ point of
view.
2) The learners should have the opportunity to work through a
series of spoken tasks that gradually increase in complexity.
 The Nature of Formal Speaking
❖ Speaking as a part of work may involve presenting reports or
presenting a view point on a particular topic.
❖ this type of speaking has several important features ( Brown
1981):
1) It is transactional.
2) It involves taking a long turn.
3) It is influenced by written language.
4) The speaking is done in the learner’s careful style in a clear
and deliberate way with opportunity for speaker to monitor the
production.
5)It often needs teaching as it is a skill that is not a part of
typical language use.
Teaching ESL / EFL Listening and
Speaking

. Chapter 7: learning through pushed output

Professor: DR. Seyfoori
By Tahereh Ebrahimi
 Teaching formal speaking
Formal speaking involves taking long turns:

1. The speaker can look at the

2. The speaker can use a
Idea that will be presented
standard rhetorical framework
and find an effective way of
for organising the Ideas.
organising them

3. The speaker can use a 4. Group planning activity can

standard information be useful in providing help for a
framework, such as topic type. speaker.
Feature of formal speaking and their implications:
Features: Implications for teaching

- Focus on successful communication to an audience

-Transactional
- Give a high priority to planning
-Long turn
- Practise making and using notes
-Written influence
- Provide well-prepared opportunities to speak
-Careful style carefully

- Use graded tasks and give learners the chance to be

-Needs to be taught listeners
A process approach to formal speaking
 Because formal speaking is usually a planned
activity, It is possible to take a process approach to
it. This means dividing the task into parts such as
taking account of the goals and the audience,
gathering ideas, organizing ideas, making set of
speaking notes, and presenting and monitoring the
talk.
Guidelines for presenting a formal talk
 The message should be limited to three or four important
peace of information.
 The speaker should present or gradually build up a simple
outline of the main point of talk
 There should be three or four changes attention during
the talk
 The audience should be involved in the talk by having a
chance to participate through asking questions, providing
feedback, and responding to the task.
 Different foci attention
 The speaker talk to the audience.
 The audience question the speaker.
 The audience talk to each other in pairs .
 One of the audience talk to the rest of the
audience .
 The audience study a handout, see a short film or
watch a demonstration.
 Monitoring formal talk
When listen to the formal talk both teachers and learners
can look analytically to see where the strange and weakness
of the speaker lie.

-Goals and audience

-Ideas

-Organization

-Notes

-presentation
 Lets wear a thinking cap!

Explain some guideline

for presenting formal
talk!