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Contents

A.In the restaurant .......................................................................................................... 46 I actor ............................................................................................................................. 46 II actor ............................................................................................................................ 46 Teacher's notes ............................................................................................................... 46 B.Taxi court role ........................................................................................................... 47 Passenger: ...................................................................................................................... 47 Cabbie: ........................................................................................................................... 47 You do not think you should be in taxi court. Saturday night, you picked up a drunk man and his girlfriend. He was so drunk that you couldn't understand his directions. You repeated "Cadman Plaza?". The customer was already kissing his girlfriend and didn't answer. ................................................................................................................. 47 C. Neighbors at odds role cards .................................................................................... 47 Create the atmosphere of a block of flats. There are many residents. Introduce the topic to the pupils. Ask if the pupils have neighbors and what relations they have with their neighbors. ....................................................................................................................... 47 The first resident aprt.102 .............................................................................................. 47 The second resident aprt.202 ......................................................................................... 48

Introduction

As a future teacher at a middle school, my main objective will be to help

the pupils to master English at a high level. This fact makes us use such

terms that are generally handled in methodology. They are: approach,

technique, method. When we use the word approach we mean that an idea

or theory is being applied, that whatever the teacher does, certain theoretical

2

principles are always borne in mind. When we talk about a technique, we

mean a procedure used in classroom. Finally, a method is a set of procedures

or a collection of techniques used in a systematic way which it is hoped to

result in efficient learning. A technique is the narrowest term, meaning one

single procedure. A method will consist of a number of techniques, probably

arranged in a specific order. The word approach is much more general and

has the implication that whatever method or techniques the teacher uses, he

does not feel bound by these, but only by the theory in which will fit in with

his approach, then we will adopt them. Different approaches may share the

same techniques and even the same methods, and different methods may

share the same techniques, some techniques have developed independently

but many of the important ones have arisen particular methods.

Language teaching is a side of education that makes use not only of the

language materials but of pragmatics. One of the most important approaches

in teaching English as a second language is the communicative one. We

throw forward this idea because the essence of the relations in life is

created thanks to communication.

The aim of my paper is to bring home to the great majority ways to help

the pupils to handle successfully the language.

Aim and tasks of the investigation have made us use the following

methods:

- the analytical methods;

- the comparative methods;

- the elements of the statistical methods.

The structure of the paper is as follows: it consists of an introduction,

three chapters, conclusion and bibliography.

3

In Introduction the importance of the topic investigation is discussed

the aims, tasks and methods used throughout the research.

Chapter 1 is devoted to the theoretical aspect of the question that is the

language teaching, its history, its methods, approaches and techniques.

Chapter 2 touches upon the communicative approach, its necessity and

its history. It comes out according to different opinions this approach stands

at the bases of the development of speech habits at foreign language

learners. The role of the teacher is to encourage and to motivate the pupils’

participation.

In Chapter 3 you can find the classification of the communicative

activities according to their structure and the aim of their usage. We propose

some exercises too that may help all the teachers in heightening the fluency.

In Conclusion the results of the licenta paper investigation are summed.

The Bibliography includes the list of literature and the web sites used in

the investigation.

CHAPTER ONE: General Issues of Teaching English as a

Foreign Language

§1.1The needs of a foreign language teaching

When Aristotle wrote All we do is done with an eye to something else over

two thousand years ago 1 , he probably did not realize that he would be helping

introduce a book on human teaching.

1 www.methodenglish.com

4

Language teaching came into its own as a profession in the last century.

Central to this phenomenon was the emergence of the concept of "methods"

of language teaching. The method concept in language teaching—the notion

of a systematic set of teaching practices based on a particular theory of

language and language learning—is a powerful one, and the quest for better

methods was a preoccupation of teachers and applied linguists throughout

the 20th century. Howatt's (1984)2 overview documents the history of

changes of practice in language teaching throughout history, bringing the

chronology up through the Direct Method in the 20th century. One of the

most lasting legacies of the Direct Method has been the notion of "method"

itself.

Methodology in language teaching has been characterized in a variety of

ways. When speaking about methodology 3 main terms are very important.

A more or less classical formulation suggests that methodology is that

which links theory and practice. Theory statements would include theories of

what language is and how language is learned or, more specifically, theories

of second language acquisition (SLA). Such theories are linked to various

design features of language instruction. These design features might include

stated objectives, syllabus specifications, types of activities, roles of

teachers, learners, materials, and so forth. Design features in turn are linked

to actual teaching and learning practices as observed in the environments

where language teaching and learning take place. This whole complex of

elements defines language teaching methodology. When the linguists and the

language specialists sought to improve the quality of language teaching in

2 Larsen-Freeman, D. (2000). Techniques and principles in language teaching. Oxford: Oxford University

Press.-p.29

5

the late 19th century, they often did so by referring to general principles and

theories concerning how languages are learned, how knowledge of language

is represented and organized in memory, or how language itself is structured.

The early applied linguistics such as Henry Sweet, Otto Jespersen, Harold

Palmer3, elaborated principles and theoretically accountable approaches to

the design of language teaching. When they analyzed all the principles a lot

of things were left out. An attempt to clarify the differences, Edward

Anthony proposed a scheme. He identified three levels of conceptualization

and organization, which he termed as approach, method and technique.

…an approach is asset of correlative assumptions dealing with the nature of

language teaching and learning. An approach is axiomatic. It describes the

nature of the subject matter to be taught.

…….method is an overall plan for the orderly presentation of language

material…………… An approach is axiomatic, a method is procedural.

Within one approach there can be many methods.

A technique is implementational –that which happens in the classroom.4

Following Anthony, approach refers to theories about the nature of the

language and language learning that serve as the source of practices and

principles in language teaching. In order for an approach to lead to a method,

it is necessary to develop a design for the instructional system. Design is the

level of method analysis in which we consider what the objectives of a

method are, how language content is selected and organized within the

method, the types of learning tasks, the roles of learners, the role of the

teachers, the role of instructional material. 5

3 Richards, J Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching, Cambridge University Press.2001-p.184 Richards, J Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching, Cambridge University Press.2001-p.19

5 Richards, J., & Rodgers, T. (2001). Approaches and methods in language Teaching (2nd ed.). Cambridge:

Cambridge University Press.-p.56

6

§1.2Schools of Language Teaching Methodology

Within methodology a distinction is often made between methods and

approaches, in which methods are held to be fixed teaching systems with

prescribed techniques and practices, whereas approaches represent language

teaching philosophies that can be interpreted and applied in a variety of

different ways in the classroom. This distinction is probably most usefully

seen as defining a continuum of entities ranging from highly prescribed

methods to loosely described approaches.

7

The period from the 1950s to the 1980s has often been referred to as "The

Age of Methods," 6during which a number of quite detailed prescriptions for

language teaching were proposed. Situational Language Teaching evolved in

the United Kingdom while a parallel method, Audio-Lingualism, emerged in

the United States. In the middle-methods period, a variety of methods were

proclaimed as successors to the then prevailing Situational Language

Teaching and Audio-Lingual methods. These alternatives were promoted

under such titles as Silent Way, Suggestopedia, Community Language

Learning, and Total Physical Response. In the 1980s, these methods in turn

came to be overshadowed by more interactive views of language teaching,

which collectively came to be known as Communicative Language Teaching

(CLT). Communicative Language Teaching advocates subscribed to a broad

set of principles such as these:

• Learners learn a language through using it to communicate.

• Authentic and meaningful communication should be the goal of

classroom activities.

• Fluency is an important dimension of communication.

• Communication involves the integration of different language skills.

• Learning is a process of creative construction and involves trial and error.

However, CLT advocates avoided prescribing the set of practices through

which these principles could best be realized, thus putting CLT clearly on

the approach rather than the method end of the spectrum.

Communicative Language Teaching has spawned a number of off-shoots

that share the same basic set of principles, but which spell out philosophical

details or envision instructional practices in somewhat diverse ways. These

6 Howatt, A. (1984). A history of English language teaching. Oxford: Oxford University Press.-p.78

8

CLT spin-off approaches include The Natural Approach, Cooperative

Language Learning, Content-Based Teaching, and Task-Based Teaching.

It is difficult to describe these various methods briefly and yet fairly, and

such a task is well beyond the scope of this paper. However, several up-to-

date texts are available that do detail differences and similarities among the

many different approaches and methods that have been proposed. 7Perhaps it

is possible to get a sense of the range of method proposals by looking at a

synoptic view of the roles defined for teachers and learners within various

methods. Such a synoptic (perhaps scanty) view can be seen in the following

chart.

TEACHING METHODS AND TEACHER & LEARNER

ROLES

MethodTeacher

RolesLearner Roles

Situational Language

Teaching

Context Setter

Error

Corrector

Imitator

Memorizer

Audio-lingualism

Language

Modeler

Drill Leader

Pattern

Practicer

Accuracy

EnthusiastCommunicative Language

Teaching

Needs Analyst

Task Designer

Improvisor

NegotiatorTotal Physical Response Commander

Action

Order Taker

Performer

7 Richards, J., & Rodgers, T. (2001). Approaches and methods in language Teaching (2nd ed.). Cambridge:

Cambridge University Press.-p.90

9

MonitorCommunity Language

Learning

Counselor

Paraphraser

Collaborator

Whole Person

The Natural ApproachActor

Props User

Guesser

Immerser

Suggestopedia

Auto-

hypnotist

Authority

Figure

Relaxer

True-Believer

As suggested in the chart, some schools of methodology see the teacher as

ideal language model and commander of classroom activity (e.g., Audio-

Lingual Method, Natural Approach, Suggestopedia, Total Physical

Response) whereas others see the teacher as background facilitator and

classroom colleague to the learners (e.g., Communicative Language

Teaching, Cooperative Language Learning).

There are other global issues to which spokespersons for the various

methods and approaches respond in alternative ways. For example, should

second language learning by adults be modeled on first language learning by

children? One set of schools (e.g., Total Physical Response, Natural

Approach) notes that first language acquisition is the only universally

successful model of language learning we have, and thus that second

language pedagogy must necessarily model itself on first language

acquisition. An opposed view (e.g., Silent Way, Suggestopedia) observes that

adults have different brains, interests, timing constraints, and learning

environments than do children, and that adult classroom learning therefore

10

has to be fashioned in a way quite dissimilar to the way in which nature

fashions how first languages are learned by children.

Another key distinction turns on the role of perception versus production in

early stages of language learning. One school of thought proposes that

learners should begin to communicate, to use a new language actively, on

first contact (e.g., Audio-Lingual Method, Silent Way, Community Language

Learning), while the other school of thought states that an initial and

prolonged period of reception (listening, reading) should precede any

attempts at production (e.g., Natural Approach).

§1.3 The Future of Methodology

The future is always uncertain, and this is no less true in anticipating

methodological directions in second language teaching than in any other

field. Some current predictions assume the carrying on and refinement of

current trends; others appear a bit more science-fiction-like in their vision.

Outlined below are 10 scenarios that are likely to shape the teaching of

11

second languages in the next decades of the new millennium. These

methodological candidates are given identifying labels in a somewhat

tongue-in-cheek style, perhaps a bit reminiscent of yesteryear's method

labels.

1. Teacher/Learner Collaborates8

Matchmaking techniques will be developed which will link learners and

teachers with similar styles and approaches to language learning.

Looking at the Teacher and Learner roles sketched in Figure 2, one can

anticipate development of a system in which the preferential ways in

which teachers teach and learners learn can be matched in instructional

settings, perhaps via on-line computer networks or other technological

resources.

2. Method Synergistics 9

Crossbreeding elements from various methods into a common program

of instruction seems an appropriate way to find those practices which

best support effective learning. Methods and approaches have usually

been proposed as idiosyncratic and unique, yet it appears reasonable to

combine practices from different approaches where the philosophical

foundations are similar. One might call such an approach "Disciplined

Eclecticism."

8 Pawley, A., & Syder, F. (1983). Two puzzles for linguistic theory: Native-like selection and native-like

fluency. In J. Richards & R. Schmidt (Eds.), Language and communication. London: Longman.-p.67



12

3. Curriculum Developmentalism 10

Language teaching has not profited much from more general views of

educational design. The curriculum perspective comes from general

education and views successful instruction as an interweaving of

Knowledge, Instructional, Learner, and Administrative considerations.

From this perspective, methodology is viewed as only one of several

instructional considerations that are necessarily thought out and realized

in conjunction with all other curricular considerations.

4. Content-Basics11

Content-based instruction assumes that language learning is a by-product

of focus on meaning--on acquiring some specific topical content--and

that content topics to support language learning should be chosen to best

match learner needs and interests and to promote optimal development of

second language competence. A critical question for language educators

is "what content" and "how much content" best supports language

learning. The natural content for language educators is literature and

language itself, and we are beginning to see a resurgence of interest in

literature and in the topic of "language: the basic human technology" as

sources of content in language teaching.

5. Multintelligencia 12

The notion here is adapted from the Multiple Intelligences view of 10 Pawley, A., & Syder, F. (1983). Two puzzles for linguistic theory: Native-like selection and native-like






13

human talents proposed by Howard Gardner (1983). This model is one of

a variety of learning style models that have been proposed in general

education with follow-up inquiry by language educators. The chart below

shows Gardner's proposed eight native intelligences and indicates

classroom language-rich task types that play to each of these particular

intelligences. The challenge here is to identify these intelligences in

individuallearners and then to determine appropriate and realistic

instructional tasks in response.

INTELLIGENCE TYPES AND

APPROPRIATE EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIES

Intellegence

TypeEducational Activities

Linguisticlectures, worksheets, word games,

journals, debates

Logical puzzles, estimations, problem solving

Spatialcharts, diagrams, graphic organizers,

drawing, films

Bodily hands-on, mime, craft, demonstrations

Musical singing, poetry, Jazz Chants, mood music

Interpersonal group work, peer tutoring, class projects

Intrapersonalreflection, interest centers, personal

values tasks

Naturalistfield trips, show and tell, plant and

animal projects

6. Total Functional Response 13



14

Communicative Language Teaching was founded (and floundered) on

earlier notional/functional proposals for the description of languages.

Now new leads in discourse and genre analysis, schema theory,

pragmatics, and systemic/functional grammar are rekindling an interest in

functionally based approaches to language teaching. One pedagogical

proposal has led to a widespread reconsideration of the first and second

language program in Australian schools where instruction turns on five

basic text genres identified as Report, Procedure, Explanation,

Exposition, and Recount. Refinement of functional models will lead to

increased attention to genre and text types in both first and second

language instruction.

7. Strategopedia 14

"Learning to Learn" is the key theme in an instructional focus on

language learning strategies. Such strategies include, at the most basic

level, memory tricks, and at higher levels, cognitive and metacognitive

strategies for learning, thinking, planning, and self-monitoring. Research

findings suggest that strategies can indeed be taught to language learners,

that learners will apply these strategies in language learning tasks, and

that such application does produce significant gains in language learning.

Simple and yet highly effective strategies, such as those that help learners

remember and access new second language vocabulary items, will attract

considerable instructional interest in Strategopedia.

Pawley, A., & Syder, F. (1983). Two puzzles for linguistic theory: Native-like selection and native-like


14 www.wikepedia.com

15

8. Lexical Phraseology

The lexical phraseology view holds that only "a minority of spoken

clauses are entirely novel creations" and that "memorized clauses and

clause-sequences form a high proportion of the fluent stretches of speech

heard in every day conversation." One estimate is that "the number of

memorized complete clauses and sentences known to the mature English

speaker probably amounts, at least, to several hundreds of thousands" .

Understanding of the use of lexical phrases has been immensely aided by

large-scale computer studies of language corpora, which have provided

hard data to support the speculative inquiries into lexical phraseology of

second language acquisition researchers. For language teachers, the

results of such inquiries have led to conclusions that language teaching

should center on these memorized lexical patterns and the ways they can

be pieced together, along with the ways they vary and the situations in

which they occur.

9. O-zone Whole Language

Renewed interest in some type of "Focus on Form" has provided a major

impetus for recent second language acquisition (SLA) research. "Focus

on Form" proposals, variously labeled as consciousness-raising, noticing,

attending, and enhancing input, are founded on the assumption that

students will learn only what they are aware of. Whole Language

proponents have claimed that one way to increase learner awareness of

how language works is through a course of study that incorporates

broader engagement with language, including literary study, process

writing, authentic content, and learner collaboration.

10. Full-Frontal Communicativity

We know that the linguistic part of human communication represents

16

only a small fraction of total meaning. At least one applied linguist has

gone so far as to claim that, "We communicate so much information non-

verbally in conversations that often the verbal aspect of the conversation

is negligible." Despite these cautions, language teaching has chosen to

restrict its attention to the linguistic component of human

communication, even when the approach is labeled Communicative. The

methodological proposal is to provide instructional focus on the non-

linguistic aspects of communication, including rhythm, speed, pitch,

intonation, tone, and hesitation phenomena in speech and gesture, facial

expression, posture, and distance in non-verbal messaging.

Chapter II. Language Communication Teaching

§2.1 The Essence of Communicational Approach

The subject matter of my research is the development of speech habits at

school during the classes of English. When speaking about the development

of the speech, we refer to communicative language teaching approach.

Communication is the process of passing information and understanding

from one person to another. The communication process involves six basic

elements: sender (encoder), message, channel, receiver (decoder), noise, and

17

feedback. Supervisors can improve communication skills by becoming

aware of these elements and how they contribute to successful

communication. Communication can break down at any one of these

elements.

Sender Encodes

The sender initiates the communication process. When the sender has

decided on a meaning, he or she encodes a message, and selects a channel

for transmitting the message to a receiver. To encode is to put a message into

18

words or images. The message is the information that the sender wants to

transmit. The medium is the means of communication, such as print, mass,

electrical, and digital. As a sender, the supervisor should define the purpose

of the message, construct each message with the receiver in mind, select the

best medium, time each transmission thoughtfully, and seek feedback. Words

can be verbal - written and spoken. Words are used to create pictures and

stories (scenarios) are used to create involvement.

This is the essence of the communicative language teaching approach. The

origins of CLT are to be found in the changes in the British language

teaching tradition from the late 1960’s. Until then the situational language

teaching represented the major British approach to teaching English as

foreign language in situational language teaching, the language was taught

by practicing

Basic structures in situation-based activities. In the mid 60’s. British applied

linguists began to call into question the theoretical assumptions underlying

situational language teaching:

By the end of the 60’s it was clear that the situational approach had run its

course…………15

This was a response to the sorts of criticisms the American linguist Noam

Chomsky had leveled at the structural linguistic theory in his classic book

Syntactic Structures. Chomsky had demonstrated that the current standard

Structural theories of the language were incapable to account for the

fundamental characteristic of the language- the creativity and uniqueness of

individual sentences. The other linguists saw that the need to focus in

15 Richards, J., & Rodgers, T. (2001). Approaches and methods in language Teaching (2nd ed.).

Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.-p.153

19

http://mediahistory.umn.edu/

language on communicative proficiency rather than on mere mastery

structures. Scholars who advocated this view were C. Candlin,

H.widdowson, J.Firth, D.Hymes, W. Labov.Both American and British

proponents now see it is an approach that aims to make the communicatice

competence the goal of language teaching; to develop procedures for the

teaching of four language skills that acknowledge the interdependence of

language and communication. CLT is more than an integration of

grammatical and functional teaching. Littlewood states :

One of the most characteristic features of CLT is that it pays systematic

attention to functional as well as to the grammatical aspects of the

language.16

This means using procedures where learners work in pairs employing

available language resources in problem solving tasks . The development

of this approach is the essence of the society, without the communication the

child , the pupil and the society can not live.

A more pedagogical analysis of the CLT was given by Henry Widdowson.

He identifies four dimensions of communicative competence :

Grammatical competence is what refers to Chomsky’s linguistic

competence. It is the domain of grammatical and lexical capacity.

Sociolinguistic competence to an understanding of the social context in

which communication takes place, including role relationships, the shared

information of the participants.


Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.-p155

20

Discourse competence refers to the interpretation of individual message

elements.

Strategic competence refers to the copying strategies that communicator

employs to initiate, maintain and terminate the conversation.

When speaking about the implementation of the CLT in school, we can say

that Piepho draws the attention to the following objectives:17

1. An integrative and content level

2. A linguistic and instrumental level

3. An effective level of expressing interpersonal relationships( a means

of expressing values and judgments about oneself and the others)

4. A level of individual learning needs( remedial learning based on

error analysis)

5. A general educational level of extra-linguistic goals( language

learning within the school curriculum)

The emphasis in CLT on the processes of communication leads to different

roles for the learners. Thus candling says that the role of the learner is that

of a negotiator18.There is an acknowledgement that learners bring

preconceptions of what teaching and learning should be like. The teacher

has a role too. In such a way according to Breen:





21

The teacher has two main roles: the first role is to facilitate the

communication between the participants in the classroom……the second

role is to act as an independent participant within the learning- teaching

group.

The other roles of the teacher according to Jack C.Richards are needs

analyst,

Councelor, and group process manager.

The needs analyst is the teacher’s responsibility for determining and

responding to learner language needs. Typically these assignments contain

items that attempt to determine an individual’s motivation for studying the

language.

The teacher counselor is expected to exemplify an effective communicator

seeking to maximize the meshing of speaker intention and of the hearer

interpretation, through the use of paraphrase, confirmation and feedback.

CLT procedures often require teachers to acquire less teacher-centered

classroom management skills. It is the teacher’s job to organize the

classroom as a setting for communication. Guidelines for classroom

practice suggest that during an activity the teacher monitors, encourages

and suppresses the inclination to have gaps in grammar and lexis. The

focus on fluency and comprehensibility may cause anxiety among teachers

that are accustomed to seeing error suppression and correction as the major

instructional responsibility.

A great variety of materials are used to support CLT approach. The

materials currently used are text- based, task- based and realia.

22

There are a lot of textbooks designed to direct and support CLT. Their

tables of content sometimes suggest a kind of grading and sequencing of

language practice not unlike those found in structurally organized texts.

Some of these are written around a largely structural syllabus, with slight

reformatting to justify their claims to be based on a communicative

approach.

A variety of games, role plays, simulations and task- based communication

activities have been prepared to support CLT. These typically are in-one-of-

a-kind items: exercise handbooks, cue cards, activity cards, pair-

communication practice materials and student interaction booklets. In pair

communication materials enter two sets of material for pair of student.

They contain different information. Sometimes the information is

complementary and the partners must fit their parts in the jigsaw. Others

assume different role relationships for the partners.

Many proponents of CLT have advocated the use of authentic, from-life

materials. These might include language-based realia, such as signs,

magazines, newspapers, visual sources around which the communicative

activities can be built.

Generally all the activities that are used in developing the speech habits

should undergo a procedure.

23

Structural activities

Pre-communicative activities

Quasi-communicative activities

Functional communication

Communicative activities

Social interactional activities

As you can observe the class of communication is supposed to be very well

structured if we want to achieve results. Thus before the speaking begins it

is necessary to prepare the class for the topic. The pupils are given

structures for training, then they are supposed to introduce the formulas in

some situations.

This is going to take a period of time before the speaking itself starts. When

the pupils have a command of the formulas they are given the intended

tasks. Only after it different types of discourses are used. To sum up I

would like to mention that the preparation and the training of CLT is a very

hardworking and a time-taking job.

24

Chapter III. Oral Communication Skills in Pedagogical

Research.

When someone asks you Do you speak English?, they usually mean if you

can carry on a conversation. The goals and the techniques for teaching

conversation are diverse, depending on the student, teacher, context, class.

Recent pedagogical research on teaching conversation has provided some

parameters for developing objectives and techniques.

Generally speaking when working on CLT we are interested in fluency and

comprehension. There has been a controversy over the role of

pronunciation work in a communicative course. The problem is that the

foreign language learners will never keep in mind perfectly the stress and

the intonation.

This fact as many others can bring to misunderstanding.

There are many cases in the everyday usage of CLT when the pupils meet

some problems. This is related to some peculiarities of the language.

§3.1What makes Speaking Difficult?19

Douglas Brown in his book Teaching by Principles draws the attention of

the teachers to some things that may stop the understanding.

• Clustering. Fluent speech is phrasal, not word by word. Learners can

organize their output both cognitively and physically. When we

speak we break our speech in small parts. Clauses are common

19 Brown ,D. Teaching by Principles, Second Edition. San Francisco State University.2001-p.270

25

constituents, but the phrases within the clauses are more easily

retained. This the job of the teacher when handling a communication.

• Reduced forms. This is a process where some unstressed syllables

are lost in the flow of speech. In English there are a lot of reduced

forms. They phonological(Dijeetjt), morphological(I’ll),

syntactical(tomorrow, may be). These reductions pose a lot of

difficulties, especially for language learners who were exposed to

full forms.

• Rate of delivery. The speed can stop the understanding too. That is

why you are supposed to teach the pupils the speed along with other

attributes of the fluency. The learners will nevertheless be able to

comprehend the speech a any rate of delivery.

• Stress, rhythm and intonation. This is the most important feature of

English. The stress-timed, along with its intonation patterns convey

important messages. Intonation patterns are very important; they are

supposed to be taught to understand subtle meaning conveyed by

these.

• Colloquial language. Make sure your pupils are reasonably well

acquainted with the words, phrases from the colloquial language.

As you could observe the problem that we have tried to bring to your

judgment is Teaching Speech Habits. It is a topic that is linked to

methodology and it is worth studying as the communication is the essence of

our living. My practical chapter will be centered around techniques that are

26

necessary in developing speaking, and principles for designing speaking

techniques.

§3.2Principles for Designing Speaking Techniques.20

20 Brown ,D. Teaching by Principles, Second Edition. San Francisco State University.2001-p.275

27

1. Use techniques that cover the spectrum of learner needs, from

language-based focus on accuracy to message based focus on

interaction, meaning and fluency. In our current zeal for interactive

language teaching, we can easily slip into a pattern of providing zesty

content- based, the interactive activities that do not capitalize on

grammatical pointers. When you begin a game make sure that your

task include techniques that help the students to perceive and use the

building blocks of language.

2. Provide intrinsically motivating techniques. Try all the time to appeal

to students ‘ultimate goal, interests. Even if the activity does not send

the students into ecstasy, it make them understand how they will

benefit them.

3. Encourage the use of authentic language in meaningful contexts.It

takes energy to devise authentic contexts and meaningful interaction,

but with the help of a storehouse of teacher resource material it can be

done.

4. Provide appropriate feedback and correction. In TEFL situations,

students are totally dependent on the teacher for useful linguistic

feedback. It important that you take advantage of you knowledge to

inject the kinds of corrective feedback that are appropriate for the

moment.

5. Capitalize on the natural link between speaking and listening. Many

interactive techniques include both speaking and listening. We are

supposed to integrate these two skills.

28

6. Give students to initiate oral communication. Part of oral

communication competence is the ability to initiate conversation, to

nominate topics.

7. Encourage the development of speaking strategies. The concept of

strategic competence is one that few beginning language students are

aware of. The students are supposed to participate in the development

of the dialogue. There some of the possibilities:

• Asking for clarification

• Asking someone to repeat smth.

• Using mime and nonverbal expression to convey meaning

• Getting someone’s attention.

• Using paraphrases.

As you notice each class of speaking is a hard work as you should achieve

the most important goal in teaching a foreign language, this is ability to

speak and understand the interlocutor.

According to Richards21 to major approaches characterize current teaching

for conversation: an indirect approach and a direct approach.

The indirect approach implies that one does not actually teach conversation,

but rather the students acquire conversational competence by engaging in

meaningful tasks.

21 Klippel, F. Getting Students to Talk: Communicative Fluency Activities for Language teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.1984-p.67

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A direct approach explicitly calls the students’ attention to conversational

rules, conventions and strategies.

Thus the conversational classes according to Marianne Celce-Murcia can be

divided into:

1. Imitative. A very limited portion of classroom speaking time may be

spent generating human tape recorder speech, where the students

practice an intonation contour. Imitation of this kind is trained not for

the purpose of meaningful interaction, but for focusing on particular

element of language form. They offer limited practice through

repetitions. They allow focusing on one element of the language. They

can help in establishing psychomotor patterns there are some pieces of

advice for teachers:

Keep them short

Keep them simple

Make students know why they are doing the drill.

Limit them to phonology or grammar points.

Don’t overuse them.

2. Intensive . Intensive speaking goes beyond the imitative to include

any speaking performance that is designed to practice some

phonological grammatical aspect of language. Intensive speaking can

be self initiated, where students are going over some certain forms of

language.

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3. Responsive. A good deal of student speech is responsive, that means

questions and answers. They may be of different types, beginning

from the trivial ones: How are you?, Who is on duty, finishing with

How do you find life in Moldova?. The only condition is that these

questions do not expand into dialogues.

• Use the questions!

1. ________________ has been dating his/her SO for more than a year. How long?

2. ________________ was not sleeping at midnight last night. What?

3. ________________ was going to school when s/he fell in love for the first time. Who?

4. ________________ has been playing a sport for more than 5 years. Which?

5. ________________ was doing English homework when s/he realized that Jim is a great teacher. Why?

6. ________________ is thinking about something other than English. What?

7. ________________ has been studying English for more than five years. How long?

8. ________________ is getting good grades in his/her classes. How good?

9. ________________ has been planning something special for a long time. What? How long?

10. _______________ was out drinking Saturday night. Where? Who?

11. _______________ has recently been studying English very hard.

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Why?

12. _______________ has been playing a computer game for more that three years. Which?

• Fill in sentences can be attributed to responsive activities

1.______________ has been to Australia.

2. ______________ has been to a country in North America.

3. ______________ has been to a country in South America.

4. ______________ has been to a country in Europe.

5. ______________ has been to another country in Asia.

6. ______________ enjoys flying.

7. ______________ enjoys traveling by train.

8. ______________ enjoys being a passenger in a car.

9. ______________ enjoys driving cars.

Write down three places you'd like to visit. These should be places that you have never been to before.

1.

2.

1. ________________ enjoys cooking. What...?

Do you enjoy cooking? What do you like to cook?

2. ________________ doesn't enjoy cooking. How often...?

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Do you enjoy cooking? How often do you cook?

3. ________________ likes to listen to music. What kind...?

Do you like to listen to music? What kind of music do you like?

4. ________________ doesn't mind studying English. Why...?

5. ________________ doesn't like studying English. Why...?

6. ________________ likes pizza. How often...?

7. ________________ hates pizza. Why...?

8. ________________ loves animals. Why...?

9. ________________ really likes to watch TV. What...?

10. _______________ really dislikes watching TV. How often...?

11. _______________ is thinking about a TV show right now. Which...?

12. _______________ likes his or her job. Why...?

13. _______________ doesn't like to exercise. Why...?

4.Transactional. Transactional language, carried out for the purpose of

conveying or exchanging specific information, is an extended form of

responsive language. Generally we can speak about the talk referring to

transactional language. The work can be divided into:

pre-speaking activity

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Students need to choose topics that interest them. They should have a clear

idea of the topic, when and where they will be presenting the talk, the

purpose of the talk, and the nature of the audience. Next, they need to gather

information and develop an outline for the talk. An outline helps students

develop a comfortable familiarity with their material. Students may wish to

prepare index cards with points outlined on them and they may choose to

use visual aids to enhance their presentations (e.g., use of a slide projector,

computer display, audio or video recordings, overhead transparencies, chart

paper or chalkboard, posters, photographs, illustrations, or graphs).

Students should be encouraged to practice their talks in front of an

imaginary audience, a mirror, or a friend. Together the teacher and students

may create a list of guidelines for practice similar to the one below:

• monitor volume and rate of speed to be sure everyone can hear and

understand you

• practice the use of emphasis and pitch so your voice sounds natural

• use appropriate nonverbal cues for emphasis and interest

• practice using the index cards in a discreet way

• review index cards to be sure that the notes spark your memory and

support you as you speak

• Review your talk (e.g., ask: "Have I omitted anything important or

included anything unnecessary? Do my points flow smoothly and

logically from one to the other?")

• review visual aids to determine their effectiveness

• practice using the visuals (number them if you have several).

The talk itself

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If the student is prepared, the interest talk itself should be an enjoyable

experience. Interest talks can take a variety of forms, from a five-minute

review of a movie to a fifteen-minute slide presentation accompanied by

explanations. Students should be reminded to speak in a relaxed but

enthusiastic and confident manner.

After the Talk

Peer assessment could be done by three or four members of the class, rather

than the entire class. The assessors could write answers to questions such as

the following:

• What were the purposes of the talk?

• How well was the talk timed? Explain.

• Were visual aids used? If so, explain why they were (or were not)

helpful.

• Was the talk presented in logical sequence? Comment.

• Did the audience seem interested? How do you know?

• What might this student do in the future to improve the presentation?

We propose some transactional activities:

I.Questions that can initiate a dialogue. 22

A.1. ________________ writes down how s/he spends time. How long/ (you)

write/how you spend your time? (present perfect continuous)

2. ________________ is very punctual. Why/be/you punctual? (present

simple)

22 www.eslogo.com

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3. ________________ is disoraganized. Can you/give/me an example?

(present simple)

4. ________________ uses a planner to organize his/her time commitments.

How long/use/a planner? (present perfect continuous)

5. ________________ studies in between classes. What subjects/do/you

study? (present simple) How much time do you/spend/studying between classes?

(present simple)

6. ________________ went out during midterm week, even though s/he knew

it would be better to saty home and study. What/ (you) study/for?

7. ________________ is too busy. Why/be/you busy? (present simple)

8. ________________ usually has to cram the day before a test.

What/happen/when you take the test? (present simple)

9. ________________ has pulled an all nighter to study for a test. Which test/

(you) study/for? (past continuous)

10. _______________ recently had to make an excuse for not doing his/her

homework. Why/ (not) (you) do/your homework? (past simple)

11. _______________ often feels tired. Why/ (you) feel/tired? (present

simple)

12. _______________ doesn't sleep enough. Why/ (you) sleep/enough?

(present simple)

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B.1. ________________ enjoys cooking. What...?

Do you enjoy cooking? What do you like to cook?

2. ________________ doesn't enjoy cooking. How often...?

Do you enjoy cooking? How often do you cook?

3. ________________ likes to listen to music. What kind...?

Do you like to listen to music? What kind of music do you like?

4. ________________ doesn't mind studying English. Why...?

5. ________________ doesn't like studying English. Why...?

6. ________________ likes pizza. How often...?

7. ________________ hates pizza. Why...?

8. ________________ loves animals. Why...?

9. ________________ really likes to watch TV. What...?

10. _______________ really dislikes watching TV. How often...?

11. _______________ is thinking about a TV show right now. Which...?

12. _______________ likes his or her job. Why...?

13. _______________ doesn't like to exercise. Why...?

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C. Christmas Questions

How do you usually celebrate Christmas? Will this Christmas be different?

How long does it take you to do your Christmas shopping? What are you getting

for your friends and relatives?

How much money do you usually spend around Christmas time?

Do you listen to (or sing) Christmas carols?

What's your favorite Christmas special on TV? Why?

II. Interview can initiate a conversation.

A. Interview your partner, using the following questions as a guide. Feel free

to add your own questions. Then, individually write the draft copy of a

speech you will use to introduce him/her. Once your draft copy has been

completed, sit down with your partner and help each other edit your work

for the final copy. Then do your final copy. Practice what you are going to

say with your partner. Then you will be ready to present your introduction to

the class.

· When were you born? Where?

· How many people are members of your family?

· Have you ever had any accidents? If so, briefly describe what happened.

· What activities do you enjoy in your spare time?

· What is your favorite subject at school? Why?

· What is the most exciting thing that has ever happened to you?

· If you could make any dream come true, what would you do?

· What would you like to do when you get older?

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· What is your favorite time of year? Why?

B. Give the students some information about a personality.

Organize a press conference with journalists and the interwiee.

1. Queen Elisabeth the 2nd

2. William Shakespeare

3. One of the teachers

4. Tom Cruise

C. Describe the pictures or draw and describe the pictures.

D.

• interviewer and another as a character from a novel, story, or poem.

The interviewer needs to establish a time and place being referred to

in the selection, and then ask questions of the character. The character

should be encouraged to elaborate when replying, rather than giving

one-word answers.

• A variation would be to have one student, who has not taken on any

identity, approach and wait for a second student (who has decided to

"be" a particular character). The second student would establish an

identity, and establish what the circumstances are through actions and

conversation. The first would "become" the character needed to

respond to the second, after recognizing the second person's identity.

Then the second student could become the one without an identity,

waiting for a third student to approach, and so on.

• In a more complicated four-person exercise, two students become

certain characters from a selection, with the other two becoming their

consciences. The consciences talk to their characters, saying the things

that are supposedly "driving" the characters' thoughts and actions. The

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two characters interact as any two people might, take cues from their

consciences. Each character can react only to what the other says (and

does) and his/her own conscience. He/she cannot hear the other

person's conscience.

5.Interpersonal. Transactional type of activities resembles the interpersonal,

but they differ as the interpersonal activities should involve the following

factors:

A casual register

Emotionally charged language

Slang

Ellipsis

Sarcasm

A covert agenda

As a result here we can include: role-playing, puppetry, telephone,

announcements.

A.Telephoning.23 The telephone is an important tool for personal, school,

and business use because of the rapid communication it permits. Therefore,

there is need to reinforce personal speaking and listening abilities regarding

telephone use.

Before Telephoning Students could brainstorm ideas about

basic telephone etiquette and generate a list such as the

following:

• answer the telephone as quickly as possible

23 Bygate,M. Speaking. Oxford University Press. 1995-p.76

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• identify yourself immediately when receiving or placing a call

• keep the call brief and the talk relevant

• show respect for the listener's time and give full attention to the

conversation

• offer to take a message if the call is for another person and record the

message in writing

• treat every caller politely and professionally

• be helpful and co-operative

• prepare for receiving and placing calls by planning what you might

say and anticipating what you might hear (e.g., list dates, write down

important questions, keep standard message pads as well as important

reference material near the telephone)

• follow up telephone conversations with notes or letters, when

appropriate.

While Telephoning

Students must have authentic reasons for telephoning when they are

practicing their skills in the English language arts classroom. Reasons can

include the following:

• to inquire about suitable times and dates for a trip to the museum, as a

follow up to a unit in historical fiction

• to plan a visit to a senior citizens' home for an "adopt a grandparent"

reading program

• to order materials for a research report or other project

• to order class tickets to a theatre performance

• to inquire about details concerning a class trip

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• to invite or arrange for a community speaker, author, or storyteller to

come to the class.

While telephoning, the student should practice the techniques previously

established by the class.

After Telephoning

As soon as possible after telephoning, students should complete a self-

assessment form based upon criteria established prior to their placing the

call. A sample checklist follows.

Sample Telephone Self-assessment Checklist

Reason for Call:

1. Was I polite and professional?

2. Did I identify myself immediately?

3. Was I prepared with notes and a note pad?

4. Did I attend to the listener?

5. Did I show respect for my listener?

6. Did I keep the call brief and on topic?

7. Did I double check my facts?

8. Did I follow up on the conversation with a note or letter?

Items for telephoning:

1. A call to a friend.

2. a call to a famous person.

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3. a call to the president of Moldova to ask when the salaries will be raised.

4. a call to the parents telling about the future husband.

5. a call to a boy friend.

6. a call to the favorite actor, actress.

B. Announcements

Making announcements can serve as useful oral speaking practice at any

grade level. As with other types of speech activities, criteria for making

announcements should be developed by the class. These criteria should

address the recommended format and manner of presentation and serve as

guidelines for the students. Some guidelines include the following:

· provide all necessary and relevant information (who, what, when, where,

how)

· record and review key points prior to making the announcement

· confirm accuracy of information

· use vocabulary that is appropriate for the audience

· speak in a friendly and enthusiastic manner

· speak slowly, audibly, and clearly

· observe listeners to be certain they are understanding the message and

clarify as needed.

Listeners should be encouraged to concentrate on the speaker making the

announcement, taking care not to become distracted. As well, listeners

should give appropriate responses to the speaker, confirming their

understanding or asking questions for clarification.

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Items for developing this activity:

• Take some magazines or newspapers as New Yorker, Digest,

Forum. Let the children read the headlines and let them make

announcements on the information they have read.

• Let the children make announcements of different kinds:

meeting, selling of the house, presentation of oneself.

2.Role playing. It is a type of activity that is not so much expanded on in

our country and it is highly preferred in Europe and in America. As Martin

Bygate notes in his book Speaking………….it is something that not only

trains the language but also make the pupils live and think about the carries

of the language they are training……….24We fully agree with this as the

student or pupil that is involved in role playing tries to act and to think about

his acting. Thus the teacher pays attention to cultural and functional sides of

the language. Role play provides the opportunity for students to develop and

revise their understanding and perspectives by exploring thoughts and

feelings of characters in given situations. The teacher may take a role,

becoming an active participant in promoting independent thinking and co-

operative learning.

Role play helps students to develop:

• empathy as they examine others' ideas, feelings, and points of view

• oral expression and interpretation skills as they use language to

describe perceptions, emotions, and reactions

• decision-making and problem-solving skills as they gain experience in

independent thinking and co-operative learning

24 Bygate,M. Speaking. Oxford University Press. 1995-p.100

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• speaking and listening abilities.

Before the Role Play Explore possibilities concerning sources for role

plays. While literature is the most frequently used source, the media and

students' life experiences are also rich sources of role play situations and

issues. Carefully plan for integration of all language processes into the role

play. The following describes a method of planning a role play:

• choose a topic or theme (one that has a number of potential learning

concepts) currently under study

• identify relevant concepts within the topic (webbing is useful for

discovering possibilities)

• select a concept, being sure that there is a compelling issue involved,

that it has human conflict within it, and that there are roles to play for

the number of students to be involved

• decide upon a key question about the concept or issue selected

• list the possible viewpoints that might be adopted

• place each viewpoint within a situation (or set of circumstances) in

such a way that those characters involved are faced with a problem

which needs resolving

• choose a situation for the drama, and roles for students and teacher.

During Role Play It is important that students feel safe taking risks as they

enter into various roles. Establishing expectations and rules (e.g., no put-

downs) with students can help students to be supportive of each other during

the role play. Listeners should be encouraged to observe attentively so that

they are prepared to respond and discuss following the drama.

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If the role play has been planned effectively and all the steps have been

carried through, the experience should be satisfying and positive for all

participants.

After the Role Play Assessment of role plays will mainly occur through

reflective discussion and through assessment of the products which develop

in response to the drama (e.g., written work, art work). Student participation

is important; however, participation does not always involve talking. It is

possible for a student who has remained very quiet during the role play to

write effectively and thoughtfully about the experience.

Activities:

A.In the restaurant25

I actor

You own a restaurant. You need a server (waiter or waitress). Decide if you

will hire the interviewee.

II actor

You have never worked in a restaurant before, but you really need a job (and

the money)!

Teacher's notes

1. Set the scene. Create the atmosphere of a restaurant.

2. Put the two actors together and let them decide what they are going to tell.

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http://www.englishtips.org/teaching

3.Retell the students about the Americans or Englishmen and their

preferences.

B.Taxi court role 26

You are a judge in taxi court. A customer will complain about a driver, and

the driver will be there to defend himself. You must decide if the taxi driver

should be punished. If punishment is necessary, decide what is appropriate.

Passenger:

You are complaining about a taxi driver because he took you to the wrong

destination. You live on Mace Street in The Bronx, but he took you to

Cadman plaza in Brooklyn. The driver wasted your time so you don't want

to pay.

Cabbie:

You do not think you should be in taxi court. Saturday night, you picked up

a drunk man and his girlfriend. He was so drunk that you couldn't

understand his directions. You repeated "Cadman Plaza?". The customer was

already kissing his girlfriend and didn't answer.

C. Neighbors at odds role cards

Create the atmosphere of a block of flats. There are many residents.

Introduce the topic to the pupils. Ask if the pupils have neighbors and what

relations they have with their neighbors.

The first resident aprt.102

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http://www.englishtips.org/teaching

It's 7:00 AM. You are a drummer, and a music major. Today is your senior

recital. If you don't play well you can't graduate so you have to practice as

much as possible.

The second resident aprt.202

It's 7:00 AM. You were up until 4:00 AM preparing for an important

business meeting. You have to give your presentation at 9:30, and you really

need another hour or two to sleep. You can't sleep because the person who

lives downstairs is playing the drums.

3.Puppetry.In the classroom, puppets are creations that "come to life" with

the help of student puppeteers. Almost any object can be a puppet. An

effective puppet is one that can be manipulated easily; however, it is not

what the puppet looks like that counts, but rather how the student feels

about, and uses, the puppet. Puppets can be incorporated into a variety of

oral language strategies including storytelling, oral reporting, and choral

speaking. Even Littlewood spoke about this activity in his book Teaching

Oral Communication 27as being effective in raising the interest of the

pupils and the development of the language.

Puppetry is a valuable learning practice for many reasons:

• Dressing and decorating puppets require imagination. Each puppet

must become a character through its costume and through the way it is

decorated or painted.

• Puppetry requires students to engage in speaking activity; the use of

the puppet has the advantage of shielding the speaker who is shy.

27 Littlewood, W. Teaching Oral Communication. Oxford: Blackwell.1992-p.45

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• Puppetry offers an avenue of expression, allowing the puppeteer to

express the thoughts and feelings of the characters being portrayed.

• Working with puppets demands co-operation; students learn to work

together for a successful performance.

• Puppetry is inexpensive; excellent results may be obtained within the

most limited budget.

• Puppets are capable of behaviors (e.g., fighting) and feats (e.g., flying,

shrinking) which would be undesirable or impossible for student

performers.

• Telling stories with puppets is fun; it provides students with

enjoyment.

Some guidelines for preparing for puppetry activities include the following:

• The teacher and students discuss the characteristics that make a

puppet play interesting to watch. Student responses are listed and

posted.

• The teacher asks students to suggest stories they have read or to create

their own stories that may be turned into puppet plays.

• The teacher and students discuss the types of puppets which might be

suitable for each story, and that are practical given time, cost, and

materials available.

• The teacher and students list a set of guidelines and tasks required for

adapting and presenting a story as a puppet play (e.g., audience

attention span, availability of materials for making puppets and sets,

special skills required).

• Students form groups of 4-6, with each group responsible for selecting

or creating a story; adapting it to oral dialogue format; creating

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puppets, sets and props; and practicing the play. Emphasis in rehearsal

must be on creating and maintaining consistent voices and movements

for each of the puppet characters. Students not handling puppets might

serve as technical crew (e.g., lighting, sound).

• Groups are given time to organize and accomplish their tasks.

During the performance of puppet plays, consider the following:

• As each group shares its play with the class, listening students are

encouraged to record positive comments and constructive suggestions

to help the group members refine their performance.

• The teacher should record anecdotal notes regarding the performance.

• If plays are to be presented to other audiences (e.g., a class of younger

children), groups should be given the opportunity to rehearse several

times before the presentation.

• The teacher and students may wish to record puppet plays on video to

be stored with the puppets.

• Familiar folk and fairy tales are dependable choices for puppet plays.

Some additional puppetry activities include choric work with puppets,

situational role playing with puppets, interviews, and small group

problem solving. Students could also explore the puppetry of various

cultures.

After the performance of puppet plays, discuss the various aspects of the

puppet play presentations with students. Some students may choose to write

or draw in response to the puppet play they have created or viewed (e.g.,

journal writing, creating dialogue for another puppet play, illustrating the

setting).

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Using anecdotal records, the teacher should note observations made while

students were taking part in the entire activity:

• abilities to co-operate in the group task

• participation in class discussion

• combining of personal experience with knowledge of stories to create

a puppet play

• creation of believable dialogue

• efforts to use their voices to communicate the puppets' attitudes and

personalities.

Activities:

1. stage an episode from Cinderella.

2. stage an episode from Three Pigs.

3. stage an episode from a cartoon they like.

4. Stage an anecdote.

4.Games. The last and the most interesting way of developing the

communicative abilities is the game. The 20th century is generally referred to

as the year of interesting and efficient activities28. All the methodological

books that appear, all the seminars that are organized are all interactive.

Moreover this kind of work the pupils like most of all as they bring joy and

better understanding to the pupils. We want to propose some activities that

are a mixture of effective and motivating ways to improve the pupils’ ability

to speak in a foreign language.

Activities:

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A. Crazy Sentence

Listening to details can be very important when trying to solve a problem or

when attempting to follow complicated directions. Sometimes the details are

not essential but at other times these details are the most important part of

the information being conveyed.

Being able to listen carefully to what is said and to all the words that a

person is saying isn’t an easy task. Sometimes we must listen with our eyes

and observe body language, facial expressions, and eye movement in order

to get all the information needed. The better you “listen” to the details, the

more you will hear and the better you will understand what is being said.

Objective

To use good listening skills in order to win the game.

GroupSize

4 or more

Materials

-Paper

-Pensorpencils

- 2 Chairs

Description

Prior to this activity make up a dozen or so sentences that are complete and

correct but make them crazy and random; then write each sentence on a

small piece of paper. Some examples of crazy sentences are:

“My prom date had a large tattoo.”

“Big Bird is my idol.”

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“The blue cow swam over the moon.”

“It is good to eat spiders and caterpillars for breakfast.”

“Rubber bands stick to the ceiling on Christmas day.”

Be creative and come up with many more. Also, prior to the game set up two

chairs in the front of the room.

For the activity select two people from the group and ask them to sit in the

chairs that you have set up in the front of the room. Give each person a piece

of paper with one of the crazy sentences on it. The two players must read the

sentence to themselves and then engage in conversation. Each player

attempts to state his/her sentence in the course of conversation. The object is

to slip in the sentence without the other person guessing what it is. You may

wish to give them a topic to start with such as fishing, country music,

bowling, buying shoes, or anything else that has nothing to do with the

sentences. Also give them a one or two minute time limit to slip their

sentences in during the conversation. After the time limit, allow the people

in the audience to guess what the crazy sentence is and whoever guesses

correctly is given the opportunity to play the game for the next round.

DiscussionPrompts

1. What did you have to do in order to detect the hidden sentence?

2. When do you use your best listening skills? Why?

3. When is it important for you to show good listening skills?

Variations

- Each player may tell a story, instead of engaging in conversation

with one other player.

- This game can be done with three people engaging in conversation at the

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same time instead of just two.

B. Direction Direction

In our society there is a constant transfer of information from one person to

another. You must be careful when you pass information on if you want it to

stay accurate. One great example shows up in rules for a game. If you check

with people in different parts of the country you will find out that many of

the games have different rules. Someone, something changed the rules a

little bit

In this activity someone gets a set of rules and the group gets to see how

easy it can be to make mistakes in passing them on. This can be a fun way to

see what can happen when information is not passed on correctly.

Objective

For people to recognize the importance of using good communication skills

when giving directions and when receiving directions. To recognize the

difficulties encountered when interpreting what someone else said.

Group Size

2 or more

Materials

- Varies

Description

Chose a game that has a few specific rules that must be followed in order to

play the game (and enough rules to make it hard to remember them all).

Prior to the activity select one person and give him/her the direction for the

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game without telling the rest of the group. Verbally explain the game can

clearly state all of the rules.

At the time of the game, the person who has heard the rules will give the

directions to the rest of the group without any help from you. Allow the

group to play the game once through before having a group discussion or

making any corrections or clarifications in the rules of the game.

Discussion Topics

1. Was there any confusion about the rules of the game?

2. Why do you think the game was explained correctly (or incorrectly)?

3. What is important to remember when listening to others and when

giving directions?

C. Back to Back

Purpose:

To have participants become aware of the need for eye contact in

interpersonal communication.

Setting:

Room enough for participants to sit on floor in pairs.

Procedure: 1.

Have participants form dyads. Read the following

mini-lecture to the group:

55

Sit back to back with your partner and begin to talk about something that

happened to you lately - something that was a really good experience.

(Wait about one minute.)

Now, move about five feet away from your partner and continue talking.

Processing:

Ask the group members to share how this experience felt. How did it

feel for them to share a good experience with someone who turned away

from them? If the group members do not bring up the following points,

discuss them with the group:

-How strong is the need for eye contact when talking with others?

-Did you find yourself missing the nonverbal gestures and facial

expressions? Why?

-How easy was it to hear what your partner was saying?

D. Do Your Best

Objective:

To help participants discover how well they communicate.

Materials:

Sugar Cubes. Exercise Handout

Time: 20 minutes

Procedure: Divide the participants into groups of two. Have the groups

determine who will be the committee leader and who will be the committee

member. Give the committee leader the sugar cubes and exercise handout.

Tell the committee leader to read each exercise's directions before beginning

each activity.

Exercise 1Read the following instructions to your committee member.

"Your job is to stack as many blocks as you can in one minute. Each sugar

56

cube will be stacked one on top of the other in a single, vertical column.

How you stack the sugar cubes is up to you. If the column topples and time

remains, you may rebuild. Your score is the number of sugar cubes standing

in a column when I call time. Your minimum score is always one."

2. Do not specify or suggest how many sugar cubes might be stacked.

Simply say, "Do your best."

3. Time the exercise as accurately as possible. (1 minute)

4. When the exercise is finished, have the committee member count the

number of sugar cubes standing.

5. Do not comment (verbally or nonverbally) in any way on your

committee member's results. If asked directly, avoid the question.

Discussion Questions:

1. Was this exercise easy or hard?

2. How did it feel to not have any positive feedback or encouragement?

3. How did it feel to not have any say in the goal setting?

4. How is this similar to "real life" situation?

As a way of conclusion we can say that there are many ways to develop

speech habits: imitative, intensive, responsive, transactional and

interpersonal. Using these activities the speech habits are developed

gradually, from the elementary to the advanced level. The wise usage of

these activities can bring exceptional results.

57

Conclusion

Language teaching came into its own as a profession in the last century. Central

to this phenomenon was the emergence of the concept of "methods" of language

teaching. The method concept in language teaching—the notion of a systematic

set of teaching practices based on a particular theory of language and language

learning—is a powerful one, and the quest for better methods was a

preoccupation of teachers and applied linguists throughout the 20th century.

A more or less classical formulation suggests that methodology is that which

links theory and practice. Theory statements would include theories of what

language is and how language is learned or, more specifically, theories of second

language acquisition (SLA). Such theories are linked to various design features

of language instruction. These design features might include stated objectives,

syllabus specifications, types of activities, roles of teachers, learners, materials,

and so forth. Design features in turn are linked to actual teaching and learning

practices as observed in the environments where language teaching and learning

take place. This whole complex of elements defines language teaching

methodology. When the linguists and the language specialists sought to improve

the quality of language teaching in the late 19th century, they often did so by

referring to general principles and theories concerning how languages are

learned, how knowledge of language is represented and organized in memory, or

how language itself is structured. The early applied linguistics such as Henry

Sweet, Otto Jespersen, Harold Palmer, elaborated principles and theoretically

accountable approaches to the design of language teaching. When they analyzed

all the principles a lot of things were left out. An attempt to clarify the

differences, Edward Anthony proposed a scheme. He identified three levels of

2

conceptualization and organization, which he termed as approach, method and

technique.

…an approach is asset of correlative assumptions dealing with the nature of

language teaching and learning. An approach is axiomatic. It describes the

nature of the subject matter to be taught.

…….method is an overall plan for the orderly presentation of language

material…………… An approach is axiomatic, a method is procedural. Within

one approach there can be many methods.

A technique is implementational –that which happens in the classroom.

The subject matter of my research is the development of speech habits at school

during the classes of English. When speaking about the development of the

speech, we refer to communicative language teaching approach. Communication

is the process of passing information and understanding from one person to

another. The communication process involves six basic elements: sender

(encoder), message, channel, receiver (decoder), noise, and feedback.

Supervisors can improve communication skills by becoming aware of these

elements and how they contribute to successful communication. Communication

can break down at any one of these elements.

The origins of CLT are to be found in the changes in the British language

teaching tradition from the late 1960’s. Until then the situational language

teaching represented the major British approach to teaching English as foreign

language in situational language teaching, the language was taught by practicing

Basic structures in situation-based activities. In the mid 60’s. British applied

linguists began to call into question the theoretical assumptions underlying

situational language teaching:

3

By the end of the 60’s it was clear that the situational approach had run its

course…………

This was a response to the sorts of criticisms the American linguist Noam

Chomsky had leveled at the structural linguistic theory in his classic book

Syntactic Structures. Chomsky had demonstrated that the current standard

Structural theories of the language were incapable to account for the

fundamental characteristic of the language- the creativity and uniqueness of

individual sentences. The other linguists saw that the need to focus in language

on communicative proficiency rather than on mere mastery structures. Scholars

who advocated this view were C. Candlin, H.Widdowson, J.Firth, D.Hymes, W.

Labov. Both American and British proponents now see it is an approach that

aims to make the communicative competence the goal of language teaching; to

develop procedures for the teaching of four language skills that acknowledge the

interdependence of language and communication. CLT is more than an

integration of grammatical and functional teaching. Littlewood states :

One of the most characteristic features of CLT is that it pays systematic attention

to functional as well as to the grammatical aspects of the language.

This means using procedures where learners work in pairs employing available

language resources in problem solving tasks . The development of this approach

is the essence of the society, without the communication the child , the pupil and

the society can not live.

A more pedagogical analysis of the CLT was given by Henry Widdowson. He

identifies four dimensions of communicative competence :

Grammatical competence is what refers to Chomsky’s linguistic competence. It

is the domain of grammatical and lexical capacity.

4

Sociolinguistic competence to an understanding of the social context in which

communication takes place, including role relationships, the share information of

the participants.

Discourse competence refers to the interpretation of individual message

elements.

Strategic competence refers to the copying strategies that communicator employs

to initiate, maintain and terminate the conversation.

The teacher has a role too. In such a way according to Breen:

The teacher has two main roles: the first role is to facilitate the communication

between the participants in the classroom……the second role is to act as an

independent participant within the learning- teaching group.

The other roles of the teacher according to Jack C.Richards are needs analyst,

Councelor, and group process manager.

The needs analyst is the teacher’s responsibility for determining and responding

to learner language needs. Typically these assignments contain items that

attempt to determine an individual’s motivation for studying the language.

The teacher counselor is expected to exemplify an effective communicator

seeking to maximize the meshing of speaker intention and of the hearer

interpretation, through the use of paraphrase, confirmation and feedback.

CLT procedures often require teachers to acquire less teacher-centered

classroom management skills. It is the teacher’s job to organize the classroom

as a setting for communication. Guidelines for classroom practice suggest that

5

during an activity the teacher monitors, encourages and suppresses the

inclination to have gaps in grammar and lexis. The focus on fluency and

comprehensibility may cause anxiety among teachers that are accustomed to

seeing error suppression and correction as the major instructional responsibility.

A great variety of materials are used to support CLT approach. The materials

currently used are text- based, task- based and realia.

There are a lot of textbooks designed to direct and support CLT. Their tables of

content sometimes suggest a kind of grading and sequencing of language

practice not unlike those found in structurally organized texts. Some of these

are written around a largely structural syllabus, with slight reformatting to

justify their claims to be based on a communicative approach.

A variety of games, role plays, simulations and task- based communication

activities have been prepared to support CLT. These typically are in-one-of-a-

kind items: exercise handbooks, cue cards, activity cards, pair-communication

practice materials and student interaction booklets. In pair communication

materials enter two sets of material for pair of student. They contain different

information. Sometimes the information is complementary and the partners

must fit their parts in the jigsaw. Others assume different role relationships for

the partners.

Many proponents of CLT have advocated the use of authentic, from-life

materials. These might include language-based realia, such as signs, magazines,

newspapers, visual sources around which the communicative activities can be

built.

6

The conversational classes according to Marianne Celce-Murcia can be divided

into:

4. Imitative. A very limited portion of classroom speaking time may be

spent generating human tape recorder speech, where the students practice

an intonation contour. Imitation of this kind is trained not for the purpose

of meaningful interaction, but for focusing on particular element of

language form. They offer limited practice through repetitions. They allow

to focus on one element of the language.

5. Intensive. Intensive speaking goes beyond the imitative to include any

speaking performance that is designed to practice some phonological

grammatical aspect of language. Intensive speaking can be self initiated,

where students are going over some certain forms of language.

6. Responsive.A good deal of student speech is responsive, that means

questions and answers. They may be of different types, beginning from the

trivial ones: How are you?, Who is on duty, finishing with How do you

find life in Moldova?. The only condition is that this questions do not

expand into dialoques.

4.Transactional. Transactional language, carried out for the purpose of

conveying or exchanging specific information, is an extended form of

responsive language. Generally we can speak about the talk referring to

transactional language.

5.Interpersonal. Transactional type of activities resemble the interpersonal, but

they differ as the interpersonal activities should involve the following factors:

7

A casual register

Emotionally charged language

Slang

Ellipsis

Sarcasm

A covert agenda

We propose some activities that may help the teachers to make successful

conversations and to develop their students’ speech habits.

8

Bibliography.

1. Bygate,M. Speaking. Oxford University Press. 1995

2. Brown ,D. Teaching by Principles, Second Edition. San Francisco State

University.2001

3. Brumfit, D. The Communicative Approach to Language, Oxford: Oxford

University Press.1979

4. Bachman, L. Fundamental Considerations in Language Testing, Oxford:

Oxford University Press.1991

5. Christison, M. Applying multiple intelligences theory in preservice and

inservice TEFL education programs. English Teaching Forum.1998

6. Jonhson, K. Communicative Syllabus Design and

Methodology./www.google.com

7. Klippel, F. Getting Students to Talk: Communicative Fluency Activities for

Language teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.1984

8. Howatt, A. A history of English language teaching. Oxford: Oxford

University Press.1984

9. Larsen-Freeman, D. Techniques and principles in language teaching.

Oxford: Oxford University Press.2000

10.Lee, J. Making Communicative Language Teaching Happen, San

Francisco:McGraw Hill.1995

11. Littlewood, W. Teaching Oral Communication. Oxford: Blackwell.1992

12. Morrow, K. Communicate. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.1979

13. Pawley, A., & Syder, F. Two puzzles for linguistic theory: Native-like

selection and native-like fluency. In J. Richards & R. Schmidt (Eds.),

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14. Richards, J., & Rodgers, T. Approaches and methods in language

Teaching (2nd ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.2001

15. Tannen, D. Conversational Style. Norwood,NJ:Ablex.1984

16. Savignon, S. Communicative Competence: Theory and Classroom

Practice.Mass:Addison-Wesley. 1983

17. Wright, A. Roles of Teachers and Learners. Oxford: oxford University

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Implementation.Oxford: Pergamon.1983

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Oxford: Oxford University Press.1979

Web sites:

www.google.com

www.englishtips.org

www.eslogo.com

www.english methodology.org

www.wikepedia.org

10

http://www.eslogo.com/

http://www.englishtips.org/

http://www.google.com/

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