Upgrading Listening and Speaking Skills

Bernadette LongleyMacmillan Education

Lead in Questions

1. What are some of the main problems students have in learning English?

2. In what situations / contexts will your students need to listen to and speak English?

3. What are the key skills / strategies that learners need to make them more effective at speaking English?

4. How can we best bridge the gap between in-class practice and authentic real life use of English?

5. How can we make in-class listening and speaking practice more enjoyable for our learners?

Listening

“ A balanced general English course should include a variety of types of listening with accompanying activities: different interaction modes- monologues, dialogues; different contexts and situations – social events, meetings etc; different styles – formal or informal; different accents etc”

Teaching Practice Handbook

What are some of the difficulties learners face with listening activities?

catching the sounds

understanding every word

understanding fast, natural speech

needing to hear things more than once

catching the main ideas

understanding different accents/backgrounds

interpreting intonation

understanding speaker’s attitude, mood etc.

Listening Activity #1

1. Listen to the following text and write notes.

2. Answer these questions:

a. Where did she stay?

b. What does she say about the river?

c. Where did she ride her bicycle?

d. Which type of fruit did she used to pick?

Listening Activity #2 (L1,U15,P72)

1. Look at the 4 ads on page 72. What are the ads for? Which words are new to you?

2. Close your books. Listen to four speakers and fill in the table below.

Nationality?

Young/old?

Male/female?

S4S3S2S1

3. Listen and number the ads.

Listening Activity #2 (L1,U15,P72)

4. Listen again and check () the correct items.

5. Which ad appeals to you the most? Why?

Listening Activity #2 (L1,U15,P72)

Why was activity #2 a better listening activity?

Listening activity #1 Listening activity #2

1. No activity to familiarise students with speakers

1. Familiarisation with key words & speakers before starting activity

2. No warm up activity 2. Warm up activity- questions to set context

3. No explanation of the task before listening- only to ‘make notes’

3. Students knew expectations before listening

4. Only listened to text once 4. Students listened several times, each time with a different purpose

5. No opportunity to check answers 5. Students could check ideas with partner

6. Different styles (accent, age, etc)

7. Ended with a personalised question

What are the main stages in a listening skills lesson?

Encourage a personal response from your students

Arouse interest and introduce topic

Teach new key

words/phrases

Set task to focus on

overall understanding

Give feedback

Set task to focus on more detailed understanding

What are the main stages in a listening skills lesson?

1. Lead in- Arouse interest and introduce topic

2. Pre-task- Teach key words/phrases, predict content, etc

3. 1st listening- Set task to focus on overall understanding

4. Give feedback

5. 2nd listening- Set task to focus on more detailed understanding

6. Give feedback

7. Encourage a personal response from students

Learning Teaching p.174 (New Edition)

The task-feedback circle

Look at the sample unit from Learning to Listen- Level 1, Unit 7

Can you identify these stages in the unit? Arousing interest Task focusing on overall understanding Task focusing on detailed understanding

Encouraging a personal response

Arousing interest

Activity 1 (p. 34)

Task focusing on overall understanding

Activity 2 (p. 34)

Task focusing on detailed understanding

Activity 4 (p. 35)

Encouraging a personal response

Activity 8 (p.37)

Extra features

Are any other additional features included in the units?

What do you think the aim of these features is?

Train your ear

Activity 6 (p.36)

Test yourself

Activity 7 (p. 37)

arouse interest in topic

L

PP

A

E

S

pre-teach important words/phrases

personalise where possible

Final points to help students to understand a listening text

let students share with their partner before whole class discussion

encourage students to use the listening strategies they employ in their own language

set the task before the tape is listened to

Learning to Listen – The listening course with attitude!

Speaking

“ Every opportunity for speaking in the classroom should be taken. It is by trying to communicate that students realize their need for language and by speaking that they increase their fluency and confidence.”

Teaching Practice Handbook

Dialogue A

A: Hi! Where are you from?

B: I’m from Sydney.

A: Why did you come to Beijing?

B: To study.

A: How long are you planning to study here?

B: Two years. What is wrong with this dialogue?

Dialogue B

A: Hi! Where are you from?

B: I’m from Sydney. I’ve just moved to Beijing to study. How about you?

A: I’m from Korea. I’ve been living here for 6 months. How long are you planning to study here?

B: Two years. But I might stay longer, if I can master Chinese! Are you a student, too?

What makes this conversation ‘successful’?

AnswerAdd

Ask

What works in the classroom?

Think of a lesson that you taught recently that went well.

What was the lesson about? How did you get the learners interested? What were your learners talking about? How was the speaking activity set up? How did you make sure the learners felt

confident to speak English? Why do you think the lesson worked well?

What topics interest your learners?

With the people near you talk about what topics work well and get young adult students talking

In groups make a list of 5 good speaking topics

AIM:

to get students to use the target language to interact in realistic and meaningful ways

Learning Teaching (Macmillan)

The Aims and Requirements of Speaking Activities

Fluency

Production of language in real time without undue pausing or hesitation

Complexity

Restructuring language in to more complex forms

(Thornbury 2000)

Accuracy

Extent to which a learner’s output matches an external standard

REQUIREMENTS:

Types of Speaking Activities

Accuracy-focused Fluency-focused

Controlled Activities

•E.g. repetition/drills

•Foster confidence

•Focus on correct output

Guided Activities

•E.g. model dialogues

•Use pre-taught language

Freer Activities

•E.g. group discussion

•English in ‘real time’

•Varied responses

through meaningful, realistic use of target language

Controlled Activities English Upgrade (B1, M5 p.34/78)

Guided Activities English Upgrade (B1, M11 p. 68)

Freer Activities English Upgrade (B1, M9 p.57)

Controlled, guided or freer activities?

1. Discussions 2. Guessing games3. Debates 4. Group holiday plans 5. Drills6. Questionnaires7. ‘Find someone who...’ 8. Talk shows9. Interviews10. Picture difference tasks11. Role-plays12. Ranking/ordering13. Information-gap activities14. Opinion poles

Looking at an activity

1. In groups of 4, look at the activity from English Upgrade Book 1, Module 9 p. 58 and discuss the following questions:

Is it controlled, guided or freer practice?

What language are is this activity designed to practice?

What vocabulary would students need to carry out the task?

Pair up A (p.56) Pair Up B (p. 81)

Looking at an activity

Checking predictions

2. Now two members of the group do the activity. The other two observe them.

Did they use the language you predicted they would use?

Did they use any other interesting language that you hadn’t predicted?

3. Decide as a group a lead-in activity students could do before using this activity.

Important components of speaking activities

Arouse students’ interest

Give clear instructions/aims

Teach conversational strategies

Give students time to prepare

Provide sufficient input

Monitor students

Allow for consolidation and feedback

Introduces topic vocabulary

Activates background knowledge

Gets students talking

Module 10, p. 58

English Upgrade Unit Structure1. Lead In (Warm Up)

2. Conversational Input Listen in

Module 10, p. 59

Presents conversation through focused listening

Encourages students to concentrate on meaning

Targets main idea, then details —in easy stages

3. Functional Awareness Say It Naturally

Highlights useful conversational strategies based on Listen in text

Introduces natural expressions

Gives students a chance to try them out

Module 10, p. 59

4. Conversational Skill Building Build up & Express Yourself

Module 10, p. 60

Presents target language clearly

Offers controlled practice to build up confidence

Guides through stages of conversation

Express Yourself supports freer conversation using Build up

Creates information-gap for realistic practice

Helps students use target language in new context

Balances need for repetition with engaging task

Challenges students to extend the activity

5. Topic Expansion Expand the Topic

Module 10, p. 61

6. Extra Listening Listen Up

Module 10, p. 61

Longer listening activity

Practice in listening for main ideas and for details

Features a wider range of accents than Listen in section

7. Communication Task Pair Up

Module 10, p. 62

Paired ‘information gap’ activity

Offers controlled practice tobuild up confidence

Guides through stages of conversation

Supports freer student-generated conversation

8. Consolidation and Review Check it out

Ends a unit in fun, relaxed way

Includes games, quizzes, surveys

Consolidates language encountered in unit

A chance to speak about their opinions and experiences in a less controlled way

Module 10, p. 63

Conversation Strategies

1. In pairs, make a list of 5 important conversation strategies to teach students

2. Compare with another pair and add any others to your list

Say it naturally (level 1)

Asking about names Showing you’re listening Returning a question Showing surprise Showing agreement Asking for someone’s news Responding to thanks Expressing uncertainty Asking for permission Saying goodbye

Say it naturally (level 2)

Starting a conversation Ending a conversation Showing interest Asking for an opinion Asking to speak with someone

on the phone Telling a salesperson what you want Thinking out loud Asking about a friend’s problems Checking your own understanding Expressing enthusiasm for a plan

Say it naturally (level 3)

Greeting a friend after an absence Requesting help Asking for opinions Showing agreement Adding general examples Expressing indecision Checking information Relaying a phone message Asking for clarification Emphasizing a point

Encouraging students to use conversational strategies

Discuss the following question with the person next to you.

How can you encourage students to actually use the conversational strategies that are introduced?

Encouraging students to use conversational strategies

Provide model dialogues that use and recycle the target conversational strategies

Give explicit feedback on strategy use

Get students to self-evaluate their use of strategies

Encourage students to cumulatively use the strategies that are taught and not only the one focused on in today’s lesson

Thank you for listeningFor more support visit…

www.macmillanenglish.com

www.onestopenglish.com

Listening to authentic web texts www.bbc.co.uk/radio

www.euronews.net

www.esl-lab.com

www.eviews.net

www.specialized.english.net

www.eleaston.com/listening www.englishlistening.com

ELT Journal, Jan 2004

What topics interest your learners?

With the people near you talk about what topics work well and get young adult students talking

In groups make a list of 5 good speaking topics