Teaching Speaking 2013

7/29/2019 Teaching Speaking 2013

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Teaching Speaking


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Aims of the session:

To understand the speaking process

To consider what is involved in effectivespeaking

To discuss what we can do in theclassroom to provide meaningfulcommunication

To look at some practical activities todevelop speaking skills


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The Speaking Process

The apparent ease of speech productionby competent speakers belies thecomplex cognitive processes involved andmasks the many factors that influence the

output. These processes are oftenoverlooked in the classroom, whereteachers attention is focused mainly onthe product (Goh & Burns 2012).


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In fluent conversations, a speaker mayproduce 2 or 3 words per second by retrievalfrom a memory store of tens of thousands ofitems (Levelt, Roelofs & Meyer 1999)

Actually involves remarkably complexunderlying processes that express both form,or structure, and meaning, or content.

These interrelated processes are representedin Levelts (1989) speech production model.


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Levelts (1989) model of Speech Processing


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a)

Conceptual Preparation (Conceptualization)

) Initial stage of speech production.

) The process whereby speakers select thetopic or information they wish to express.

) Ideas will depend on speakers world

knowledge.) In classroom activities, learners need to

think about what to say before or while they

are saying it.


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b) Formulation

Ideas that exist in the speakers mind during

CP are mapped on to specific words in themental lexicon and strung together(Garman1990)

This stage is perhaps the most challengingfor L2 learners because of the lexico-grammatical choices that have to be made.

Depends on knowledge of the L2 grammatical system

(syntax & lexis) & knowledge of registers suitable for the


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c) Articulation

Speakers activate & control specific muscle

groups of the articulatory system (vocal tract,larynx & lungs) to convey the messagethrough sound waves.

The phonological encodings are largelyautomatized for L1 speakers. This is not thecase for many L2 learners, who need toconsciously think about sounds, stress &

intonation as they speak.


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d) Self-monitoring

A key metacognitive process involving the

checking of ones speech for accuracy &acceptability.

Competent speakers typically notice errors

in pronunciation & grammar, & dysfluencies(Levelt et al. 1999).

L2 speakers self-monitor their structural

accuracy & pragmatic appropriacy withvar in de rees of success Burns 1998


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Rate of Speech Production

What factors affect the rate of speechprocessing?

Degree of automatization: cognitiveprocesses that are automatized throughconstant use & rehearsal (Shiffrin &Schneider1977; Segalowitz 2003).

Little demand on processing capacity


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Rate of Speech Production A learners conceptualization & formulation

processes may become automatized due toprior knowledge of, e.g.:

facts

social & academic conventions discourse structures

lexis & grammatical structures

Rate also depends on speed of lexicalaccess from long-term memory (Levelt et al.1999). This can be improved by learning

formulaic phrases(If I were you)&


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Key Features of Learners Speech

Cognitive & affective factors during speechproduction heavy demand on L2 learners

Can have a direct impact on quality oflearners spoken language.

So, what aspects of the spoken product doteachers typically focus on?


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(Bygate 1998; Skehan 1996)


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Effects of cognitive-processing demands onlearners:

Insufficient cognitive resources to producespeech that is both fluent & accurate.

Will most likely sacrifice accuracy in formulatingtheir utterance.

Insufficient time incomplete retrieval of lexis &grammatical rules from LTM.


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Key Features of Learners Speech When some processes, e.g., lexical retrieval, are partially automatized,

learners may demonstrate language complexity:

Longer & more precise utterances

a) The teacher blew the whistle. The children ran as fast as theycould.

b) The teacher blew the whistle, andthe children ran as fast asthey could.

a) As soon as they heard the teachers whistle, the children ran asfast as they could.

b) As soon as they heard the teachers whistle, the children whowere standing at the backran as fast as they could.

Represents an important stage in L1 & L2 development

The extent to which complexity is found depends greatly on the


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Who have you spoken to today/yesterday(face to face)?

How have these conversations beendifferent?


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Purposes for Speaking

Two main purposes:

A transactional function

Primarily conveys information & facilitates theexchange of goods or services

An interpersonal function Primarily establishes & maintains social relations.

These 2 basic ur oses enerate various

Classify the following speech genres using the


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Classify the following speech genres using thefollowing criteria:purpose is it transactional or interpersonal?participation- is it interactive or non-interactive?

planning is it planned or unplanned (or partlyplanned)?

From Thornbury 2005

purpose participation planning

Airportannouncements transactional Non-interactive planned

University lecture

Telephoning afriend

Radio interview

TV weatherforecast

Asking directionsin the street


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purpose participation planning

Airportannouncements

transactional non-interactive planned

University lecture

Telephoning afriend

Radio interview

TV weatherforecast

Asking directionsin the street

Speech of thanks

transactionalinterpersonal

plannednon-interactiveinteractive unplanned

transactional

interactive (partly?)plannedtransaction

alnon-interactive

(partly?)planned

transaction

al

interactive unplanned

interpersonal

non-interactive

planned/unplanned


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This demonstrates how there are differentreasons for communicating with othersand that there are therefore different ways

of doing it.

What other factor can affect how we speak

to others?

Formal vs informal, based on level ofintimacy


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With interactive speaking, whatskills are involved?

Bygate says:

Interaction skills involve making decisionsabout communication, such as: what to say,how to say it, and whether to develop it, inaccordance with ones intentions, whilemaintaining the desired relations with

others. (Bygate, 1987, p6)


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does it differ from writtenlanguage?

Speakers are typically constructingtheir message as they speak and thisgives rise to some common features ofspoken language.


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Task:

Before you look at the transcript of aspoken conversation, consider whatfeatures you expect it to have that a

written text would not.


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Speakers are often constructing theirmessage as they speak and this gives rise to

some common features of spoken language.

It is easier to improvise if you use less

complex syntax Because of time pressure people can

abbreviate the message by using incomplete

utterances and leaving out unnecessaryelements (ellipsis)

Use of fixed phrases or formulaic language is

easier (cognitively)


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Now analyse the text to identify featuresthat show that it is spoken language andnot written language.


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You should consider the following:

Hesitations

Repetitions

Tags Abandonment

Incomplete utterances (and ellipsis)

Vague words (e.g. thing, stuff)

Discourse markers

Pause fillers


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Spoken Grammar

Recent research in corpus linguistics hasprovided insights into how grammaticalforms differ in spoken & written discourse.

Brazil 1995, Biberet al. 1999, Carter &McCarthy 2006

Teachers can now highlight features thatare the norm in informal speaking

situations.

K F t f S k


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Key Features of SpokenGrammar

Ellipsis: _____ you going out? Discourse markers: You know, I mean, like,

Mind you, So, Right, OK, Well, cos, actually

Vague Language: sort of, that kind ofthing

Back-channelling: Mmm, Yeah, I see

Hesitation: Err, Umm

Heads: My brother, he lives in London

Tails: He lives in London, my brother


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All speakers do these things ininteractional speaking.

What other factors make a speaker agood speaker in an interactional setting?


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A good speaker uses thefollowing skills to good effect:

Turn-taking

Choosing appropriate language for thesituation (lexis, grammar, intonation)

Recognising the messages given by theperson/people they are communicatingwith e.g. Anyway... to indicate a closure &return to a previous topic, Well etc.

Ability to circumlocute to say what we


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We make choices in the language we usedepending on the genre and style of thesituation.

The choices will depend on the distanceor level of intimacy between the speakerand their audience and affect the grammar

and lexis used.


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Helping learners with theirSpeaking


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Therefore as teachers we need to:

Ensure students can recognise thedifference in language choices made

Provide students with practice in a varietyof different genres and styles


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Awareness Raising

According to Thornbury (2005), we firstneed to do awareness-raising activities.

Look at these examples of tasks aimed atgetting learners to noticefeatures of spokendiscourse. What features of speaking is

each activity focusing on?


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Students can also learn a lot about what isneeded in spoken language by noticingthe difference between their own outputand a more effective persons output (e.g.,Bolitho et al. 2003).

A task based approach works well for this.Jane Willis (1996) suggests that a cycle

involving the performing of a task, followedby focus on an effective user of thelanguage performing the task, will

encourage learners to notice the gap.


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Communicative Tasks

Students will also want the opportunity topractise their speaking.

We need to give meaningful practice thatprovides a genuine need to communicate.How can we do that?


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Communicative Tasks

Characterized by the following features: the motivation of the activity is to produce

some outcome, using language;

the activity takes place in real time;

achieving the outcome requires the participantto interact, i.e., to listen as well as speak;

because of the spontaneous & jointly

constructed nature of the interaction, theoutcome is not 100% predictable;

there is no restriction on the language used.

(Thornbury 2005)


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How could you adapt it?


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By giving each student a different picture we

have established an information gap.Task 1

Look at the activities on the handout [task

from Thornbury (2005) How to teachspeaking].

They all aim to be communicative. To whatextent are they successful?


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Task 2

Work with a partner to match types ofspeaking activity with an example (onhandout).


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Useful Books


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Teaching Speaking 2013

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Transcript of Teaching Speaking 2013