Académique Documents
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Speaking Skills
written by Paula Ellis Freelance
Trainers Notes
List of contents of this session
List of contents
Overview of the session and its main aims
Session outline
Page 1
Page 2
Page 3
Stages
Notes to tutor for stage 1
Materials for stage 1
Page 4
Page 5
Page 6
Page 7
Page 8
Page 10
Page 12
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Session Outline
Stage 1: What does the speaking skill involve?
a) Trainees discuss the differences between accuracy and
fluency speaking.
b) Trainees consider some of the elements that are involved
in speaking, from paralinguistic features to the purpose of
speech and the etiquette involved in having a conversation.
c) trainees discuss the different types of speaking eg.
transactional and interactional and consider the difference
between planned and unplanned speaking.
15 - 20 minutes
20 - 25 minutes
10 minutes
10 - 15 minutes
10 15 minutes
Once the trainees have had time to brainstorm, reveal some of the
points on the OHT and ask them to compare their ideas. You may
wish to add some of the trainees ideas to the list or clarify any points
they didnt come up during their brainstorm.
FLUENCY
COMMUNICATION
ACCURACY
Group trainees and tell them they are to look at the selection of
coursebooks (or supplementary resources) they have been given and
find examples of the activities listed on the OHT. Explain that they
might not find all the examples listed and that some activity types may
be used on several occasions.
Debates
Discussions
Role Plays
Information Gaps
Surveys
Questionnaires
Guessing Games
Board Games
Presentations
Hand out Sheet 3 for the trainees to discuss in their groups. Explain
that you would like them to comer to an agreement on their answers.
After the trainees have finished in their groups, organise a mingle peer
feedback stage for the trainees to discuss their ideas with trainees
from other groups.
making a note of how the students are completing the task, if they are
taking any shortcuts or getting caught up in tangents. Make a note of
language used throughout the activity both good examples and some
common errors that you hear (these can be grammatical, lexical or
phonological.) It is also helpful to assess students communication
strategies this can be their ability to interrupt, get their point across
politely or forcefully and invite others to give their opinion.
3 Should the teacher participate in the activity? Why/why not?
It is generally better for the teacher not to participate in the activity as this
will reduce the opportunities for the students to speak and change the
balance of power. Students often defer to the teachers opinion and it can
quickly become a monologue! If the teacher takes part in the activity, it also
prevents them from monitoring effectively.
4 What decisions might the teacher make during the activity?
The teacher might decide to adjust the time limit for the activity if he or she
feels the students need more or less time. They may decide to manage the
participation by moving students or expanding smaller buzz groups into
larger groups or by reducing the groups size for a future activity. The
teacher may also prioritise areas to focus on in feedback and make a note
of how the students responded to the task type for future reference.
5 What form should feedback take after the activity?
It is very important for the teacher to allow students to give feedback on
the content of the activity before dealing with language errors. Some
students are resistant to free speaking activities as they feel they dont
receive useful feedback. Always consider how the students achieved the
task, and think of giving them feedback on their communication strategies
as well as the interesting, correct, or incorrect language they used to
achieve the task. One wonderful way to allow students to monitor their
own speaking abilities is to video record students as they complete a
speaking activity and then watch the recording as a class this is
obviously dependent on school resources and technical know-how!
10
11
Lead in stage
Prediction Stage
Language Lessons
12
Once the trainees are underway, you can choose to hand out the
solutions cards for them to match up.
Give trainees more time to think of any other problems and solutions
that they can add to their lists and share with the other groups in
feedback.
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