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SPEAKING SKILLS

1. INTRODUCTION

Speaking is a productive (creative, useful) skill because a speaker needs a listener. So, it is more complex than listening. It often follows listening. The more you listen, the more you speak. In Pakistan and most of other countries, it is a neglected skill. As, Martin Bygate observes in his book ‘Speaking’ that speaking is ‘an undervalued skill’, because we can almost all speak, and so take the skill too much for granted. Further, he says that this relative neglect may perhaps also be due to the fact that speaking is transient (temporary, momentary) and improvised, and can therefore be viewed as facile, superficial, or glib.

However, it is observed by researchers that speaking is a skill which a learner requires to communicate. As, Martin Bygate observes that our learners often need to be able to speak with confidence in order to carry out many of their most basic transactions (contact, communication). It is the skill by which they are most frequently judged, and through which they may make or lose friends. It is the vehicle par excellence of social solidarity (unity, harmony), of social ranking, of professional advancement and of business. It is also a medium through which much language is learnt, and which for many is particularly conducive (favourable, advantageous) to learning. Perhaps, then, the teaching of speaking merits more thought.

TEFL focuses the teacher’s attention to facilitate the oral expression of students. Teacher should know a variety of strategies and exercises to ensure that each student is getting enough and relevant practice in speaking English to develop fluency and confidence. Fluency is not the only objective or aim of oral proficiency but accuracy of pronunciation comes along with it. If the F.L.L. (Foreign Language Learner) wants to speak with the native speakers or others, the teacher should help them to acquire following sub-skills involved in speaking process:-

Good pronunciation of individual sounds Appropriate selection of vocabulary Correct stressing of words. e.g. ‘I want to go out’. Correct grammatical patterns Good features of connected speech e.g. ‘I’m going out’ Appropriate pace or proper word-linking. e.g. ‘No, I’m a student.’ Effective cohesion i.e. linking between ideas. Idea should match the situation

2. BASIC PROCEDURES OF TEACHING SPEAKING SKILLSFollowing basic procedures should be adopted to teach speaking skill. An oral lesson

which aims to teach new structures or functions is often divided into three stages, commonly known as the presentation stage, the practice or accuracy practice stage and the production, freer or fluency practice stage.

PRESENTATION STAGEIt is also known as pre-speaking stage. At this stage, usually, the

teacher does most of the talking and the student listen. Following procedures should be adopted at this stage by the teacher:-

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Build up the situational context. This can be done through the use of pictures, a dialogue, a tape, chatting, etc.

Elicit the new language from the students or tell it to them. Focus the student’s attention on the marked situation. Check the students’ understanding of the concepts behind the new

language.

PRACTICE STAGEIt is also known as while-speaking stage. At this stage, the role of the

teacher is to provide maximum practice within controlled, but realistic and contextualized framework. Following procedures should be adopted by teacher at this stage:-

Provide the guidance for utterances. Give clear and realistic prompts One or two brief drills to allow practice with the form of the language. One or two controlled communicative activities to consolidate

(combine, join, unite) the meaning of the new language.

PRODUCTION STAGEAt this stage, the students are allowed to use new language in freer,

more creative ways. The procedures involved at this stage are:- To allow students to work at their own pace To motivate students To check how much has really been learnt

3. TECHNIQUES TO DEVELOP SPEAKING SKILLS

DIALOGUEDialogue is the best tool or technique which a teacher can use to present

conversational language. Dialogues are useful for the development of accuracy and fluency in speech. One technique is to write the names of the two dialogue characters on each side of the blackboard and to stand by the appropriate name as you play part. A teacher can change hats as he/she goes from one side of the blackboard to the other side and this could be enjoyable for the learners.

A surprisingly popular technique used to enhance oral fluency is the ‘disappearing dialogue’ technique. It is founded on sheer memorization. It consists mainly of the cumulative rubbing-out of bits of a blackboard dialogue. The simplest way is to write the dialogue in three imaginary columns, so that erasing from right to left is done quickly and easily. You challenge pairs of students to remember it as you successively (one after another, in sequence) rub out column 3 and column 2.

Similarly, Donn Byrne in ‘Teaching Oral English’ lists ten steps in presenting new language through a dialogue.

1.1. Establish the setting2.2. Establish personal link with situation 3.3. Pre-teach selected items4.4. Set a listening task5.5. Ask the students to listen.6.6. Ask the students to read silently as they listen.7.7. Ask the students to listen and repeat. 8.8. Explain any difficulties.

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9.9. Ask the students to practice saying the dialogue.10.10. Get the students to dramatize the dialogue.

The other techniques used for practicing the new langue or to enhance speaking skill of learners are as follow:

Information Gap ActivitiesIn this technique, students are given different bits of information. By sharing this

separate information, they can complete a task, each student asks the other for their missing pieces of information:-

The Store Inventory

Store List AApples 5 Meters 3 LitersBananas

In the pairs the students might work like this:-A. How many apples are there?B. 15 Kg. (A writes 15 Kilos in his list and B writes Apples in his list)B. How much milk do you have in your list?A. 3 Liters (B writes 3 Liters in his list and A adds Milk)

Communicative Games These include a set of sample activities out of which some are described in terms of the actions which the participants have to perform in order to complete the tasks. For example:-

1. Describe and draw 2. Describe and arrange 3. Find the difference 4. Ask the right question

In ‘describe and draw’ activities, one student describes a picture, and the others draw it. In ‘Describe and arrange’, one student describes a structure made of rods, match sticks or simple objects and the others reconstruct it without seeing the original. For ‘Find the difference’ two students each have a picture, one slightly different from the other. Without seeing each other’s pictures, they must winkle out (extract, draw out, get out) the differences.

Oral Drills Oral drills are another way for developing speaking skill. Examples are given for question-and-answer drills. For example, four phase drills consisting of Q-A-Q-A:A. Is Salman English?B. No, he isn’t.A. Where is he from then?B. He’s Pakistani.

DiscussionsThese include group work and are considered as important techniques.

Store List B15 Kg. Milk. Cloth.1 Dozen.

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For example, a teacher can ask the students to ‘look at the given picture and say what you think is happening.’ Martin Bygate calls such type of techniques as ‘project-based interaction activities’.

Role-play TechniqueIt is a free student activity. Students produce their own language. For example, one

student has lost a bag. He is at the police station reporting it to the police. The other student is police officer, and asks for details.