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kev7161
Joined: 06 Feb 2004
Posts: 5880
Location: Suzhou, China
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 Posted: Sat Aug 27, 2005 10:19 pm Post subject: How to teach "Spoken (Oral)" English |
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There's a thread going over in the off-topic forum that is basically about having a textbook for your "spoken" English class that some find fairly worthless. Some think that "spoken" English classes don't really need a textbook to be successful while others think maybe certain text series are better than others. What I don't see too often are suggestions by teachers on how THEY think a "spoken" English class should be taught. What are some tried and true methods you've used that proved successful?
Lately, I've seen about a HUNDRED posts asking about this school or that or questions about visas and residence permits, but very few ideas from teachers on texts, games, activities, or other ideas teachers can use in the classroom. It is the start of the new term, after all. Now seems to be as good as time as any to put some of your ideas here. There are several "newbies" and even some old hands that may gain some insights. If you're curious about the thread I refer to above, here's the link (you have to log in to view it I think):
http://www.eslcafe.com/forums/job/viewtopic.php?t=28689 |
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randyj
Joined: 19 Jan 2003
Posts: 460
Location: Nanjing, Jiangsu, China
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| Posted: Sun Aug 28, 2005 1:46 am Post subject: |
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Anything a teacher can do to stimulate students' speaking is worthwhile. For college-level, I rely upon group activities and discussions. Communication is key, so I try to minimize interruptions to correct grammar and pronunciation as much as possible. Grammar is the enemy. Playing cards are a good way to determine group composition. I like to begin each class with examples of three English idioms, then move to an exercise or activity (avoiding the word "game" here). There are plenty of books detailing activities, like "Keep Talking", by Klippel, or "Five-Minute Activities", by Ur and Wright. Assigned textbooks, no matter how dismal, probably contain something useful. This year I hope to use some movies.
In my opinion, a native speaker is better suited to instruct classes in speaking, Chinese-speaking teachers better to teach the rest, as much as it is possible to separate the elements of language. A good measure of success in any speaking class is the number of students actually speaking, warts and all. |
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Roger
Joined: 19 Jan 2003
Posts: 9138
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| Posted: Sun Aug 28, 2005 7:17 am Post subject: |
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| randyj wrote: |
. . Grammar is the enemy.
In my opinion, a native speaker is better suited to instruct classes in speaking, Chinese-speaking teachers better to teach the rest, as much as it is possible to separate the elements of language. A good measure of success in any speaking class is the number of students actually speaking, warts and all. |
First off: There are DEDICATED fora for teaching methdology and instruction queries and discussion, but fewer and fewer people make an effort at visiting those fora. Why? Perhaps because too many think knowing Chomsky and Krashen theory empowers them to opine competently enough.
The truth is that there should not be any separation between "oral" and theory classes. China is one of the world's only countries where this occurs. Why? Because the Chinese English teachers are too complacent or lazy to use English in their classrooms. This is their major methodological fault. The assumption that native English speakers can replace them in special oral workshop-style classes is a delusion. To train young learners in the use of a second or foreign tongue their first teachers must be role models that lead their flocks by practising what they preach. This is not the case with Chinese teachers. They often need the comfort zone of their own mother tongue more than their students do, and in setting their bad example they mislead their students into accepting this as a fait accompli.
Why should anyone respect Chinese English teachers if the latter content themselves with teaching ex cathedra, i.e. following to the dot on an 'i' the contents of a book without thinking a second about it? And if they blindly follow their textbooks - preferably Chinese-made ones full of adulterated English and faulty expressions and grammar - then they set their students up for hardship, and us for unbridgeable traps and gaps.
The malaise we are witnessing in Chinese classrooms is man-made and has nothing to do with Chinese cultural undercurrents. Yes, if you accept that embarrassment should be avoided in the interest of keeping someone's "face", then it is a "cultural" phenomenon, but I for one am not convinced. I think speaking requires gusto, or interest, in doing it, and if interest is there you will speak the lingo, then listen to critical feedback and make amends. Try tell a Chinese teacher how wrong his "TH" sounds to you - or his poor grammar! People who cannot improve their own mastery of English should not teach English to their own students. And by "teaching" I mean more than merely saying words aloud and having the class repeat after you; also grammar should be taught DIFFERENTLY in order to have a lasting effect. Vocabulary and grammar are not mere "knowledge" but elements that together form a language.
In one word: these Chinese teachers fail their students by always speaking Mandarin or a vernacular to them when they should use English. Now you tell me we can correct their habits a decade after they had their first English lesson by holding English conversation cvlasses? Ridiculous!
They don't even have a CULTURE THAT IS OPEN TO THE IDEA OF HOLDING DISCUSSIONS. They are not used to questioning any authoritative statement! They have never learnt to RELATE to others! They are intellectually underfed!
I don't agree at all with the proposition that they must speak as much as possible - "warts and all". Do they need a FT to do that? I don't think so! They can do that among themselves! It doesn't take a TEACHER to make someone speak a foreign tongue! Anyone can talk to themselves! What's more, where is the AUDIENCE? Who are they talking to? The FT? No, thank you - I am not interested in listening to their chitchat or their mangled English for entire hours!
I don't even think it very original to pair them up and have them rehearse preconceived dialogues. What's the point?
The one common denominator I find in all Chinese people is this: there is an extremely low interest in listening to others, a lack of politeness to let someone speak their mind. TVs and radios are on while people are busy cooking, chatting with others or dining - and not listening to the speakers. In schools it is exactly the same. Their listening skill is simply undeveloped. FTs who allow themselves to be misused as that FOREIGN FACE don't help Chinese English learners - it isn't my face that forces them to speak English!
Thus it is imperative to train them at paying attention to others and to make them aware of what others say before they give their own opinions. This is why I feel textbooks are useless - they mislead learners into not listening and into focusing on the written message beneath their eyes. It is like watching TV and commenting on it - Chinese TV programmes routinely come with transcripts so the individual watcher doesn't even have to listen. WE SHOULD TRAIN THEM TO RELY ON THEIR HEARING and deprive them of any visual aide, be it writings on black boards or textbooks.
If you really feel like you want to help your Chinese charges get a grip on the English language you will have to start from a far lower level. You have to force them to listen to speeches made by their classmates; you must ask them what was not good in the speech made by someone so that they can develop their own oratoral skills. They also muist learn to pay attention to what is REALLY and EXACTLY being said; all those grammar glitches to which they are so prone indicate poor comprehension. Quite the opposite, randyi: it is us who are the last bastion that can stop their faulty grammar to become a permanent fixture in their English!
If you feel you can't make your students speak in front of their classmates (a claim I do not believe) then you should really do something about their various shortcomings and remedy them.
My university students won't get a chance at talking about their holiday travels; sorry guys and gals, but we are at adult level and we are taking things more seriously! I will assign tasks that they have to perform in class - maximum number of words or time allocation. ANd their peers will give me and them feedback on their performance. IF they can't help each other then nobody can!
They must HEAR THEIR OWN ENGLISH in order to believe there is a lot of remedial work to be done!
And there always is more to be done than organising speeches. To train their poor listening and comprehension skills I demand that they takte dictation of ENTIRE stories. The point is that while they understand maybe 80%, even 95% of all the words used in a text of simplified English, they never understand the gist of a story, nor even any two sentences one after the other. However, when they have had to write the story down they can read it - and invariably they do understand.
Yes, they do "dictations" with their Chinese "teachers", but what kind of "dictation"??? Only SINGLE words which they memorised for the occasion! NEver entire sentences! Now pray and tell me: did you learn any foreign language this way? Neither did I! |
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randyj
Joined: 19 Jan 2003
Posts: 460
Location: Nanjing, Jiangsu, China
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| Posted: Sun Aug 28, 2005 2:39 pm Post subject: |
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I had to look up "fora". You can tell I did not ever take Latin, which I regret today.
I am not a very good teacher. I try to deal with realities and give the students what they need. A few students are motivated to speak English outside the classroom, but not many. I might like to change some aspects of the Chinese educational system and Chinese culture, but I cannot. (Such an attempt is a recipe for unhappiness.) The students need to speak more, so I just want to provide a place for them to do so. Communication is the key.
Chinese-speaking teachers of English do a good job giving the students what they need. What do students need? They need to pass tests. (The United States is moving in this direction with "No Child Left Behind".) Until recent years, these tests lacked speaking or listening components. Now oral and aural proficiencies are becoming more important, probably due to increased emphasis in testing. What's a 40-year-old Chinese-speaking teacher of English going to do?
Drastic changes in the educational system are nothing new. I digress, but some history is relevant. After Mao broke off with Russia in the late 1950s, at some point (someone help me with the exact date) English was substituted for Russian as the primary foreign language in China literally overnight. Imagine being a teacher of Russian and being told that tomorrow you would teach English. Most of the teachers affected by that change have probably retired, but I wonder how much of its legacy remains. |
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go_ABs
Joined: 08 Aug 2004
Posts: 507
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| Posted: Sun Aug 28, 2005 3:43 pm Post subject: |
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Rog, you're a far more experienced teacher than many members of this board, I'm not doubting that. Nor am I asking you to defend yourself, but I - and others, I'm sure - would perhaps appreciate your telling us a bit more about your lessons.
I read a lot about what you don't do in class, and only a bit about what you do do: short speeches, comprehension questions, dictation.
I wonder if you would indulge me in taking us through a typical lesson? Step by step for those teachers who could learn something useful from you? I'm sure many would appreciate it. |
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Roger
Joined: 19 Jan 2003
Posts: 9138
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| Posted: Mon Aug 29, 2005 5:20 am Post subject: |
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| go_ABs wrote: |
Rog, you're a far more experienced teacher
Step by step for those teachers who could learn something useful from you? I'm sure many would appreciate it. |
go_ABs, I don't go for flattery but I accept the crown from your hands. "Experience" is the keyword, and why?
I do not need to look at those textbooks any more to judge whether they are the stuff that would help me put some English communications skills in my students. Most don't - except NEW CONCEPT ENGLISH, which is, sadly, out of favour with most these days (and, to be honest, it has to be admitted it is a series of books that really does need a complete overhaul). I would, however, give this series the thumbs-up even so and even now because, frankly, no other series is anywhere near as good as they are, and as well structured and building on existing Enlgish from level to level. (I have to add one criticism, though: the series is BILINGUAL, and you know my opinion on that). BUt here is why it is a good series (especially tomes 2 and 3): you won't need to "plan" your lesson down to every five minutes! Every lesson is a holistic whole, paying attention to one particular grammar aspect, some peculiarities of the English language (spelling anomalies, pronunciation aberrations, you name it the book has it). IT also improves all four language skills a student must acquire!
Alas, as hinted above, I am seldom given this book for the use in class. Thus, I am dependent on my own resources. Luckily, I know what works (at least what worked in some of my classes) and what seldom or never works (corroborated by the findings of many fellow teachers). My experience, go-ABs, goes back to 1994 when I taught my first classes of future English teachers in China. I have taught at every level since and also put in a 2-year stint working at an international (British) school, which gave me a welcome respite from the mainland school drudgery!
So, to answer your question, I will address the different students I imagine taking English classes:
- Preschool level/kindergarten:
It is here that a solid foundation for future English competency can be laid. It is imperative that learners acquire structures of English, not mere vocables. They also need to learn to think, and thus to conceptionalise the world. In some cases, my learners would learn an English name before they actually know how to say it in Chinese.
How to do class: you have to be ACTIVE, and in a PHYSICAL sense too: motivate your learners to move around with you, to execute instructions or orders. It works!
Learners won't need any Mandarin/Cantonese whatever! You have to think of their intellectual level, and thus you have to limit your own vocabulary to suit their interests and intellectual capacity. Topics to be covered in English would typically revolve around the children's life: body and its parts, how to use them (use the TPR method); for man-made objects you teach them to DRAW and by drawing, you name the component parts of those objects: a car, a house, a fridge, etc.
Not only do you teach NOUNS as names of objects but you also input appropriate and grammatically correct language: "I have two armS" versus "my cat has no arm".
You asked me, go_ABs, to provide a step-by-step approach; I can't oblige because I plan for an entire term rather than the individual lesson; of course, the individual lesson needs fine-tuning and some planning, but I think you can agree we can skip it here in the case of preschoolers. Their classes never last longer than 30 minutes anyway!
At PRIMARY SCHOOL LEVEL
it is necesssary to find out what their Chinese teachers have covered; the crux is to recycle the vocab taught; grammar has to be taken into account as well; typically your learners have been taught - albeit in a rather perfunctory manner - the use of articles or the present tense, how to form questions and negative statements; it is now your duty to come back to these topics.
The first 5 to 10 minutes is devoted to introducing the lesson by explaining which structural element is going to be used or recycled. Let's suppose you want them to practise ASKING NEGATIVE QUESTIONS ("Didn't you go home during the summer holidays?").
Students will ordinarly understand the question asked POSITIVELY )"Did you go home...?"); their form teacher will have taught them how to form a NEGATIVE STATEMENT ("I did NOT/didn't..."), and that will be all they "know" though they won't really have internalised it. So in the remaining 35 to 40 minutes you have them juggle the two versions of negative and positive question, using a variety of verbs they ought to remember.
It might jog their memories if you ask them to write down sample questions (but not copying them from the blackboard).
I try to find those among them who can do such a job on their own; their example will then be used by the rest of the class. Students help students. And students use their own imagination.
The crux is: each student must speak UP so that his or her peers can here each student! I won't do any chorussing as their own teachers are wont of doing. And mistakes get corrected - I ask their peers to say "correct" or "not correct".
With UNIVERSITY or high school students,
my approach is geared more to their practical experiences in life. What with their long exposure to the mind-numbing learning by rote I feel I have to liven up class so as to rouse them from their stupour.
Suppose we are talking about our home; they usually have a remarkable vocabulary (cell phone, DVD, TV, car...), but they lack the experience in talking about these gadgets; other concepts also connected to households may, however, escape them: bathroom, bathroom fixtures, kitchen and kitchen utensils; and what is in a living-room or a bedroom?
I might then stick posters on strategic pillars or walls around the school, preferably on different floors so that students have to walk or better still: run.
I would form them into teams composed of both genders (I choose the first person and that one has to appoint several of his or her classmates; the requirement that their teams must be mixed boys/girls helps split up cliques).
They will have to compete against each other in buying household appliances and decoration materials in a "shopping mall"; they will have a fixed amount for their purchases and they must select the items they need or want from all these wall posters.
Now I admit I haven't "planned step by step" but teaching English is mainly a social experience and doesn't require a minute-by-minute planning. If that is your cup of tea I would again refer you to NEWE CONCEPT ENGLISH.
When my students turn in their shopping lists they have to speak to their peers about their choices, and they have to make whole sentences.
I also agree this sort of activity is not ideal for every lesson; it is a good one to be used once in a while. As for my dictations, they too are intended as occasional (say, monthly) exercise to enhance their hearing. A short story of around 200 to 250 words in simplified English can be told in just 3 minutes (try and see for yourself!).
You then tell it a second time, and your students will still look with blank eyes at you (those stories are written using a vocabulary of 1800 basic English vocables!). By now, maybe 10 minutes have elapsed (including your prodding them with your questions about the story). So you finally read it aloud to them, including the punctuation marks (you will have to teach them those first!).
The first reading (including up to 2 repetitions per clause/sentence) will take around 30 minutes (I can tell you that based on my experience). Think about this huge time increase: 3 minutes telling a story, 30 minutes READING it aloud SLOWLY, repeating it up to 2 times...
Now you have approximately 10 minutes left. Have one of your students read it aloud and wonder: why did he or she understand "Mr Palm was a trouble busy man..." when your dictation clearly and repeatedly said "Mr Wang was a travelling businessman...".
To help them understand the story it is necessary of course to give them a perfect text to compare; this text can be written by one of them during the dictation - on the blackboard. You can then ask the class to proofread their peer's writing after each sentence. This is how they learn the most in order to stop making those mistakes their own teachers never cared about. |
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Mideatoo
Joined: 19 Jul 2005
Posts: 424
Location: ...IF YOU SAY SO...
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| Posted: Mon Aug 29, 2005 5:25 am Post subject: Re: How to teach "Spoken (Oral)" English |
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| kev7161 wrote: |
How to teach "Spoken (Oral)" English
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Guess what���� I speak to them and they speak back to me..........
Roger you totally cracked-me-up (no offense big- guru) |
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lanaluv
Joined: 15 Jun 2005
Posts: 21
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| Posted: Mon Aug 29, 2005 11:16 am Post subject: |
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Great suggestions for university students, Roger. But. . .I have just found out that one of my business English speaking classes has 99 students! The classroom has no AV equipment - only a chalkboard. I've been teaching for nearly 40 years, including one year in China, and thought nothing could faze me, but I admit that this is daunting. My other oral classes have @70 students.
Anyone have any suggestions? (I've already made it known that the class size will be a problem. I'd be surprized if a change is made.) |
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Roger
Joined: 19 Jan 2003
Posts: 9138
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| Posted: Mon Aug 29, 2005 12:39 pm Post subject: |
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| lanaluv wrote: |
Great suggestions for university students, Roger. But. . .I have just found out that one of my business English speaking classes has 99 students! The classroom has no AV equipment - only a chalkboard. I've been teaching for nearly 40 years, including one year in China, and thought nothing could faze me, but I admit that this is daunting. My other oral classes have @70 students.
Anyone have any suggestions? (I've already made it known that the class size will be a problem. I'd be surprized if a change is made.) |
I know how you feel! I find teaching any class of more than 30 people a daunting task; Chinese primary school classes seldom have fewer than 40, often 50 and not seldom 60. The problem is the same as with smaller classes - except that it grows exponentially!
But I also had classes of 70 and more; once I taught at a vocational school and the suggestion was that I use a microphone to be heard in the classroom (which was more like a theater). I refused (Chinese teachers almost always use mikes in our university - I don't get it, as it encourages students to continue their private conversations).
The first time around, my class had just 70 students, the second time the number had icnreased a little, and the third time it was 96.
SOme colleagues of ours suggest breaking up such monster classes into two; nice idea - if the school goes along with you. If not, then what? Again, what are you going to do to help your learners to understand English better? It will depend on them to a larger extent than it does on you. Those dictations work with classes of any size although the bigger the less wieldy and the more time-consuming your classes tend to be.
How about this: select VOLUNTEERS for public speeches (there are always some students that will volunteer if promised a higher mark than if they get tested at the end of the term; what's more, some are original and spontaneous and a real pleasure to listen to; the rest of the class must pay attention and you must test them at the end of that student's speech on whether they actually listened.
I have noticed that if you reward students with extra freedoms ("you have passed your speaking exam and don't need to take part in the 'final' exam they will feel encouraged. This is how I get volunteers. The "final" exam may seat half of the class rather than all 76 of them!
Those who give a public speech set standards for the class to follow; the more shy ones will perhaps perform adequately in a face-to-face interview you hold with them as their final examination. What topics and what time frame are up to you to decide; when I do my exam this way I normally tell students to come at intervalls; then I sit some of them in a waiting room and have one randomly choose one question out of a pile of numbered cards with questions overleaf; they will also have to abide by a limit - say, speak on this topic/answer this question in no more than 2/3 minutes.
If your school takes your classes seriously they will ask you how much time you need for your final exam, and what kind of facilities you require (I typically need one room where to conduct the interview/face/to/face with the student, one room where 3 to 4 students wait and another room where one student at a time prepares for the interview; that room must be soundproof. |
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ryleeys
Joined: 18 Jan 2005
Posts: 1101
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| Posted: Mon Aug 29, 2005 1:00 pm Post subject: |
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From my understanding, there are three types of learning: Audio, visual, and manual (doing).
I think focusing on a single one is going to lead to trouble, i.e. some students missing the point. Therefore, I focus on all 3.
I use PowerPoint quite a lot in my lessons... but I don't focus on it. I put a few key things on there, mostly pictures and a key point. But then I don't talk to the slide, per se. I get away from it and it just acts as wallpaper for the lesson.
I then transition into the explanation. I believe that to some extent, the teacher does have to lecture and explain certain aspects... even idiom usage. Honestly, I can't go into details because, of course, the focus of the "lecture" will be different for each topic.
In combination with the explanation and audio part of the lesson, I work in the "doing" part. I rarely stand in the front for an extended period of time. Whatever the setup of the classroom is, I find some way to get in and among the students. Walking in and out with the students, sitting down at strategic times, and exagerrating all of your actions really aides this. Plus it keeps the kids in the back (of any age) awake.
That being said, the most important skill for this type of class is adaptability. My greatest asset as a teacher is my ability to think on my feet. If the lesson isn't going where I want it to, I have no qualms about reading the class and adjusting to where it needs to go. |
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bubblebubble
Joined: 08 Jun 2005
Posts: 155
Location: Hong Kong/Vancouver
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| Posted: Tue Aug 30, 2005 6:36 am Post subject: |
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here are some of the things i do for oral lessons:
- drama
- singing
- listening to music / songs dedication
- movie / drama series - role play in ALL sorts of situation
- group disccusion (but students don't usually have the discipline to speak in English most of the time)
- phonics
in my opinion, oral lessons are suppose to be fun and easy. don't drown your students with something very difficult. walk around the classroom, chat with them, do some little 'show and tell' or ask the older kids/ adults to do some sharing. as they are talking, write down a few mistake (not all) on the board and ask the whole class to focus on the difficult pronunciations.
good luck! |
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