ORAL PRACTICE

What do speaking skills involve?

Speaking a language involves using the

components correctly; making the right sounds,
choosing the right words, getting constructions
grammatically correct.

HOW TO PREPARE STUDENTS FOR REAL

COMUNICATION IN ENGLISH?

Personal response

Variaty of responses

Work in pairs or groups

Varied language

Balance accurency tast with fluency work

Less teacher talking time

CONTROL SPEAKING ACTIVITIES

A

Dorita
Monday
Visit
grandpa
3pm

Thursday

Tuesda Wednesday
y
Swimmin
Party
Dentist
5pm

7 pm

lesson
2-4pm

Friday
Soccer
Practice
7pm

WHAT ARE YOU DOING TUESDAY NIGHT?

Helen
Thursday Friday
Wednesda
Celebratio
Moms
Piano
y
n of
birthday
Independanc
Painting
Lessons
party
e
class
8 pm
7:30 pm
day
4 pm
Tuesday

Monday
Dance
classes
5 pm

4 -7 pm

Complete your own dairy

activity chart with 5
appointments. NOW; phone
your friend and organize an
evening out.

BOARD OR PICTURE PROMPTS FOR DIALOGUE

PRACTICE

Dialogue-building gives students with little

English a chance to practice beyond
sentence level. Meaningful dialogues are
essential for motivation and interest.
Give students prompts on cards or on the
board.

BOARD OR PICTURE PROMPTS FOR DIALOGUE

PRACTICE
Students must understand the situation in
order
to respond and must think about what to say.
Compare:
Traditional: You are a stranger and need
directions.
Meaningful: You are a stranger and need some
things. Ask direction to the places.

INFORMATION GAP
Traditional approaches often require students
to reproduce a written dialogue verbally.
Information gap is less artificial, providing a
purpose to speak:

INFORMATION GAP

Student A you live in San Lucas, your

friend from Antigua has invited you to a party
in Santo Domingo Hotel. Find out how to get
there and how much the ticket will cost.

Student B you are at San Lucas station.

Answer Student As questions. Find the bus
to Antigua. And calculate the cost of the
ticket.

ACTIVITIES FOR CONTROLLED PRACTICE AT ALL

LEVELS
Find someone who?
Find someone here who traveled to the United
States, who play a musical instrument.

Questionnaries
Are you adventurous or over-cautious?

TYPES OF FLUENCY PRACTICE

If students are used to focus on accuracy,
they may need time to get used to fluency
activities.
You will be able to do far more free activities
with intermediate and upwards, whereas
there will be more need for supported and
controlled work with absolute beginners and
false beginners.

TIPS FOR FLUENCY PRACTICE

Base the tasks on language that is lower
than the language used in intensive study
(e.g. reading texts).
For higher levels, give practice in speaking at
length, not just short exchanges as part of a
debate.
Keep your intervention to a minimum.
Prepare vocabulary and ideas.

EXAMPLES OF FLUENCY TASKS

Talking about yourself.

Reasons for liking a subject. Reasons for
disliking a subject
Giving your opinion.
Group planning tasks
Retelling a story or piecing together a
dialogue

ROLE PLAY: FLUENCY TASKS

Role play requires students to:

Take

on a role (imagine they are someone else)

Imagine a situation (pretend they are in another
time and place)
Improvise in their choice of language.

THE BEST TYPES OF ROLE PLAY

Draw on students own experience of the
world. It is difficult for teenagers.
Draw on situations they are likely to find
themselves in when they are travelling and/or
meeting English speakers.
Draw on familiar characters from school,
home, their textbook or maybe television.

TIPS ON THE MANAGEMENT OF ROLE PLAY

Keep a low profile.
Listen carefully.
Try not to intervene.
Keep instructions clear and concise.
Demonstrate (rehearse) the role play before
students start.
Dont force shy students to perform in front of
the whole class.