PRINCIPLES IN TEACHING SPEAKING

There are certain principles for teachers to remember when it comes to speaking
lessons. First, it is important to provide learners with something to talk about.
Second, teachers are advised to create opportunities for students to interact by using
group work and pair work. Third, it is also essential to manipulate physical
arrangements to promote speaking practice. Next, planning speaking tasks that
involve negotiation for meaning is of great importance. Moreover, teachers should
design both transactional and interpersonal speaking activities. Finally, it is
important to personalize the content of speaking activities whenever possible.

STAGES IN A SPEAKING LESSON

There are three main stages in a common speaking lesson:

The first stage is preparing for the speaking task (providing input and/or guide
planning).

This stage focuses learners’ attention on speaking. Students think about a speaking
activity, what it involves and what they can anticipate. The language input in this
stage includes teacher talk, listening activities, reading passages, and the language
heard and read outside of class. The language input can be either content-oriented
(focuses on information) or form-oriented (focuses on ways of using the language).
The second stage is conducting the speaking task. There are two major types of
speaking activities in this stage: structured output activities, and communicative
output activities. Structured output activities focus on correct form. Students may
have options for response but all of the options require them to use the specific form
or structure the teacher has just introduced. In communicative output activities,
students practice using all of the language they know in situations that resemble real
settings

Stage three is facilitating feedback on learning in which teacher provides feedback

on students’ performance.

PRACTICAL NOTES IN TEACHING SPEAKING

Here are several useful practical notes in teaching speaking.

First, try out new tasks with friends and colleagues:

Sometimes it's hard to tell what kind of language a particular speaking task is likely
to generate. If you do the task yourself, or ask some other competent speakers to do
it, you will get a better idea of its linguistic demands.

Second, make leaners aware of varied speaking needs:

Many learners associate speaking with free discussion, where fluency is more
important than accuracy; they may not expect other kinds of speaking activity. In the
world outside, though/ they may need to use planned, or semi-planned, as well as
spontaneous speech.

Third, give some practice at long run:

The skill of telling a story, or giving a short presentation, is very different from the
skill of participating in a conversation or oral transaction. Practise this, especially if
you know you: learners need to perform a particular type of long turn. It's often
useful t pay special attention to linking words and phrases, which can make long turn
sound smooth.

Fourth, link speaking to other tasks:

In this way different kinds of speech can be practised. For example, if groups of
learners are preparing a guide to their town, they will need to speak to brainstorm
ideas, to manage the production of the written version and to assess its acceptability:
three very different types of speech.

Finally, correct spoken language selectively:

The point of speaking activities is for learners to produce language in real time —
do not inhibit them by picking up on every mistake. One technique is to go around
listening to groups, and keep some time in the lesson to discuss 'common’ mistakes.
Not all learners' language use will change as a result, but some may be ready to make
the change you are asking for.