Developing and Practicing Listening and Speaking Skills

Margarita Alemán Yépez

Javier Aguilar Bernal

Overview of Listening and Speaking Skills in Language

Learning

• To speak and listen fluently and accurately in a second language, language learners need to be able to comprehend and produce- in a native-like fashion- stress, intonation, rhythm, pacing, gestures, and body language, and they need both linguistic and sociolinguistic competence.

(Florez,1999)

• Peregoy and Boyle (2001) recommend activities such as singing, role-playing dramatizing poetry, doing show and tell, tape recording children’s book, and choral reading.

Listening and Speaking around the computer

• Learners can work around the computer with learners at their own level to obtain and practice basic skills.

• Working around the computer allows learners to test their language and content hypotheses with peers, to learn pragmatic skills before taking them outside of the classroom.

Listening and Speaking Through the Computer

• When learners are capable of interacting with more fluent speakers, they can use the computer as a conduit to native speakers and more advanced second language learners around the world.

Language Learning with the Computer

• Opportunities for learners to work interactively with the computer on listening and speaking are relatively rare because the computer cannot respond creatively or provide individualized feedback.

Supporting Listening and Speaking

1. Provide opportunities for students to notice

Noticing is important during reading and writing, but to produce fluent and comprehensible speech and to react appropriately to the others’ speech, students also need to notice their own linguistic errors.

2. Include pragmatics in lessons

• Teachers can use any of the language modes to teach norms of social appropriatness in the target language culture if they make noticing these features a lesson objective.

Teachers can help students learn Teachers can help students learn to listen and speak by giving to listen and speak by giving them time to talk to each other them time to talk to each other everyday. everyday.

Peer interaction provides Peer interaction provides practice in listening, speaking? practice in listening, speaking? Yes / NO WHY Yes / NO WHY

Learners can develop speaking, Learners can develop speaking, listening, and oral grammar skills listening, and oral grammar skills through direct instruction or by through direct instruction or by participating in content or whole participating in content or whole taskstasks

but most important is that learners but most important is that learners have opportunities to practice in a have opportunities to practice in a variety of authentic places. variety of authentic places.

Technologies for Listening Technologies for Listening and Speaking. and Speaking.

What is the usual What is the usual pattern? pattern?

For listening and For listening and speaking.speaking.

LESSON LESSON FOCUS FOCUS PREPARATION PREPARATION PRESENTACIONPRESENTACIONPRACTICEPRACTICEEVALUATION EVALUATION EXTENSION EXTENSION

LESSONLESSON : INTRODUCING CALL TO : INTRODUCING CALL TO LEARNERS LEARNERS

FOCUSFOCUS: Interviewing skills, : Interviewing skills, discussion skills, oral summary, discussion skills, oral summary, question formation, listening for question formation, listening for main ideas. main ideas.

Preparation:Preparation: show the learners the show the learners the computers that they will be using. Ask computers that they will be using. Ask them to brainstorm what computers are them to brainstorm what computers are used for. Ask what might be learnerd used for. Ask what might be learnerd with/throught computers in a language with/throught computers in a language classroom. ( what topics, vocabulary, classroom. ( what topics, vocabulary, skills) skills)

Type these lists in a word processing or Type these lists in a word processing or presentation program as the learners presentation program as the learners participate. participate.

Presentation:Presentation: create a survey with create a survey with learners to find out about previous learners to find out about previous computer use and skills among computer use and skills among members of the class or program. members of the class or program. Focus on vacabulary and grammar Focus on vacabulary and grammar points as necessary. Work with the points as necessary. Work with the class on interviewing skills, model class on interviewing skills, model procedure, and have learners procedure, and have learners practice with each other. practice with each other.

PracticePractice: have the learners : have the learners conduct the survey orally eith conduct the survey orally eith the target population and take the target population and take notes on the answers. Learners notes on the answers. Learners record all the answers they record all the answers they receive in a simple databasereceive in a simple database. .

Evaluation:Evaluation: based on the based on the answers they received have answers they received have learners add to their original list of learners add to their original list of what computers are used for and what computers are used for and what might be learned what might be learned with/through the technology. Ask with/through the technology. Ask students to keep this list and to students to keep this list and to add to it during the course. add to it during the course.

Extension:Extension: have learners, have learners, individually or in small groups, individually or in small groups, survey other laguage classes. Ask survey other laguage classes. Ask them to report their findings back them to report their findings back to the class, and then have the to the class, and then have the class discuss these findings before class discuss these findings before entering them into the database. entering them into the database.

While working on this lesson, While working on this lesson, learners are encountering and learners are encountering and practicing the target language.practicing the target language.

They are meeting learning They are meeting learning conditions such as authentic social conditions such as authentic social interaction and production and interaction and production and using technology as a learning using technology as a learning tool. tool.

Web linksWeb links

Picture vocabularyhttp://www.eflnet.com/Learn a language. Make friends. Learn a language. Make friends.

Have funHave funhttp://www.myhappyplanet.com/http://www.myhappyplanet.com/

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