teaching speaking skills

 

What is Speaking? 

When we talk of a person who knows a language, we usually tend to mean that that person is able to produce meaningful sentences in that language; in other words (s)he can speak that language. Thus the claim that (S)he knows English usually includes the statement that (S)he can speak English. The teaching of a second or foreign language therefore, one way or other covers the teaching of speaking skills. It is safe to assume that many learners starting to learn a foreign language usually seek an improved competency in their productive skills; namely writing and speaking. These learners assess their progress in the target language in terms of their ability to speak fluently in communication.

Historical Background 

At present, developing fluency not just the accuracy has become a major objective in language teaching methodology (Brown, 1993). However, the emphasis on the communicative value of language teaching is not actually new. When we look at Kelly’s (1969 in Stern 1991) historical study of the language teaching methods, we realize that the issue has pursued three major objectives:  social (language as a form of communication),  artistic literary (language as a vehicle for artistic creation and appreciation),  philosophical (linguistic analysis).

The Types of Classroom Practice Activities 

Awareness Raising Activities According to Cognitivise, awareness raising is the prerequisite stimuli that either restructure or awaken the learner’s mental representation (Thornbury, 2005). In the awareness stage, the learner performs activities that enable him/her to notice a new knowledge or situation.

Controlled Activities 

Making learners to become fluent speakers, controlled practice helps them to learn the control of speaking skills. Drill and chants, in this case involve practicing that control. In a drill type exercise the learner is given words, phrases and even whole utterances to mechanically repeat and imitate so that (s)he is supposed to notice and use the piece of useful language supposed to be produced automatically in everyday conversations.

Autonomous Activities 

Since one of the main objectives of the foreign language class is to create autonomous learners who achieve a certain degree of fluency and automaticity in speaking competence, activities requiring the learner to produce authentic language should be carried out. According to Thornbury (2005), the speaking activities that enable the learners to produce autonomous language should include the conditions of productivity, purposefulness, interactivity, challenge, safety and authenticity.

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