Symposium, University of Stockholm

5 October, 2012

Professor Anne Burns Aston University, Birmingham and University of New

South Wales, Sydney

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All my students can read and write well, but they are poor at speaking and listening.

Some of my students sound very “bookish” when they speak – it’s as if they are reading from a book!

Many of my students are too afraid to talk in class. They are shy and lack confidence. My students love to

speak, but they make a lot of grammatical mistakes.

}  A complex and dynamic skill }  Involves use of several simultaneous processes –

cognitive and physical

}  Challenging aspect of language learning because knowledge and skills have to be activated in real-time

}  Therefore needs to be taught explicitly in the classroom – simply “doing” speaking activities is not the same as learning the knowledge and skills of speaking

Teacher M realised from early in her career

that it was important to develop her students’ speaking abilities. She wanted to make sure that her students had plenty of opportunities to communicate with one another in English, so she set aside two lessons a week for speaking practice. She planned many interesting activities for her students.

Her lessons were carefully guided by instructional objectives. These objectives were in the form of either what the students should produce (e.g. presentations, debates, descriptions) or what they had to do (e.g. discuss, narrate, role play) Sometimes when they had finished the activities, Teacher M would ask them to present the outcomes to the rest of the class. At other times she would simply move on to another activity, such as reading or writing.

Pros Cons

}  Variety of activities }  Students enjoyed

interacting }  Opportunities to

practise speaking }  Some opportunities to

present outcomes

}  Little preparation for practising specific skills

}  Lack of explicit teaching of key areas of speaking

}  Little attention to knowledge, skills, strategy development

}  Little feedback on performance

}  Little or no follow-up

Second Language Speaking Competence

Knowledge of Language and

Discourse

Communication Strategies Core Speaking Skills

1. Language/discourse Ø Mastering the sound patterns of the language

(pronunciation - segmental and suprasegmental levels)

Ø Developing knowledge of the grammar and

vocabulary of the language (spoken structures, grammatical features, lexis)

Ø Understanding how stretches of connected speech are organised (discourse, genre, register)

2. Skills Ø Developing the ability to process speech quickly

to increase fluency (e.g. speech rate, chunking, pausing, formulaic language, discourse markers)

Ø Being able to negotiate speech (e.g. building on

previous utterances, monitoring understanding, repairing communication breakdown)

Ø Being able to manage speech (e.g. opening/

closing conversations, initiating topics, turn-taking, signalling intentions)

3. Strategies Ø Developing communication strategies (e.g.

circumlocution, vague lexis, paraphrasing, gestures, word coinage, approximation, avoidance)

Ø Using discourse strategies (questions,

clarification/repetition, reformulation, rephrasing)

   

}     

The rhythm and accent in English

sentences are very interesting. It can also help

us to speak clearly.

Sometimes I don’t know

when we speak English which

word should be stressed which

word shouldn’t .

On the oral presentation I feel a

little nervous… It reminds me that a

good speaker includes so many meanings, such as

proper tone, compatible body

gestures and so on. Many Asian people aren’t accustomed

to use body language when they speak, maybe the Asian traditional

conservative character.

I practise a lot on my own by copying

recordings I hear, but when I try

to speak to native

speakers I fail terribly.

  Anyone who has looked at large amounts of informal spoken data, for example, cannot fail to be struck by the absence of well-formed ‘sentences’ with main and subordinate clauses. Instead we often find turns that are just phrases, incomplete clauses, clauses that look like subordinate clauses but which seem not to be attached to any main clause, etc.

(McCarthy,1998:79-80)

Spoken version Written version

I was working in Turkey at the time… um I was lucky enough to have one of my colleagues doing the same program... started at the same time as me so we used to get together regularly…er sometimes as often as twice a week and would get together and compare our findings and...er because our learning styles were different as well, we, well, compensated for one another other...

At that time the teacher was working in Turkey where she was fortunate to be able to work with a colleague who started the program at the same time. They met regularly every week to compare their findings and, because their learning styles were also different, they complemented each other.

Spoken language Written language

Basic unit is the clause (utterance) Basic unit is the sentence

Conjunction (and, but, so) used to build text

Subordinate clauses used to build text

Use of formulaic chunks (I was lucky enough)

Little use of formulaic language

Informal language preferred (we used to get together)

Formal language preferred (they met)

Range of noticeable performance effects (hesitations, pauses, repeats, false starts, incompletion)

Few/no noticeable performance effects

Frequent use of ellipsis (omission of grammatical elements)

Little use of ellipsis

Frequent use of personal pronouns (I, we)

Limited use of personal pronouns

a) Transactions (pragmatic) Transactions involve exchanging information

or goods and services (e.g. Seeking information about a job, calling an ambulance)

b) Interactions (interpersonal) Interactions involve creating and

maintaining social relationships (e.g. chatting with friends or family, making small talk)

 

1. Focus learners

attention on speaking

2. Provide input and/or guided

planning

3. Conduct speaking tasks

4. Focus on language skills and strategies

5. Repeat speaking tasks

6. Direct learners’

reflections on learning

7. Facilitate feedback on

learning

Get students to think about their experiences in learning to speak a second language  

It is important that you spend some time thinking about your

own learning processes. To help you get started here are some simple questions. Write short responses to each one.

  }  What is your main reason for learning to speak English? }  What did you like most about learning to speak English? Was

there anything you did not like? }  Do you feel nervous or anxious when you speak English? }  List three things about your speaking that you would like to

improve?

 

}     

Explaining a Procedure or Process: Planning and Rehearsing   Part I Guidelines to help you prepare for the task   1) Identify a topic you are interested in or know quite a lot about

(e.g. How to make your favourite fruit salad)   2) Write the main points you want to cover in the space provided

below:    3) Write down a phrase or an expression you would use to show that

you will be moving from point i to point ii and then on to point iii.   Part II Rehearsal (Optional) Practise giving the explanation. Use the points you have made and

link your ideas by using the signposting words you have just identified. Don’t write down everything you want to say, so that you can practise bringing in different points!

 

The purpose of this stage is to provide learners with a context where they can practise speaking through a communication task.

The task should encourage the learners to express meaning

with whatever linguistic knowledge, skills and strategies they have. In other words, this stage of the cycle encourages learners to develop fluency of expression without having to pay too much attention to accuracy of form.

Their efforts are also made less demanding by the teacher-

guided or individual pre-task planning that has taken place in stage 2.

Stage 4 of the Cycle is aimed at creating opportunities for learners to improve language accuracy, as well as to enhance their effective use of skills and strategies.

In this stage, the teacher draws learners’ attention to selected

‘parts’ of the fluency task they have completed. The parts include language features such as pronunciation, grammar and text structures, as well as vocabulary

At this stage, learners carry out the speaking task of Stage 3 again.

The difference between Stage 3 and Stage 5 is that learners have

had a chance to analyse and practise selected language items or skills during Stage 4. Therefore, they are able to apply this knowledge to enhance their performance.

Repetitions could be carried out by: 1.  Repeating parts of the original task 2.  Repeating the entire task 3.  Having students change groups or partners 4.  Introducing a new task similar to the one learners have just

done (e.g. instead of the topic of making a fruit salad, learners could give instructions about a topic of their own choice. So that they rehearse a procedure genre again).

Evaluating My Speaking Performance 1) In this week’s lessons, I learned to do the following in spoken English:   2) I also learned to use the following useful expressions that can help me speak

more effectively:   3) This is how I feel about my learning this week:(Put a check√ next to the

sentence that best describes how you feel right now. a. I am confident that I can do this again ( ) b. I am not very confident that I can do this again ( ) c. I am still unsure about what I have to say and do in such a situation. ( )

Your teacher’s / classmate’s response:

In this final stage of the Teaching Speaking Cycle, the teacher provides learners with feedback on their performance in earlier stages of the cycle, for example: }  Comments or grades on an individual student’s skills and

performance from observation sheets used during the speaking task

}  Exchange of written individual learner reflections and comments on each other’s progress and achievements

}  Consolidated comments from the teacher based on written reflections from the class

}  Written comments in students’ journal }  Comments and informal assessment in learner blogs

Approach DIRECT (Control) INDIRECT (Transfer) Aim

develop enabling skills

develop interaction strategies

Focus accuracy language analysis

fluency language for communication

Characteristics

controlled language use skill getting pedagogic pre-communicative part-task practice

‘authentic’ / functional language use skill using real-life communicative whole task practice

Activities drills pattern practice structure manipulation language awareness consciousness raising

discussions information gaps project work role plays simulations talking circles

Interaction more teacher-led more learner-centred

Course book text Authentic text

A: I want to make an appointment with Dr Brown

B: Who’s calling please? A: Mary Park B: Are you a new patient? A: Yes I am. I need a physical for

a new job. B: Can you come in on Thursday

at 2.30? A: Yes, I can. Thank you. B: OK, we will see you then.

P: I’m just calling to confirm an appointment with Dr Edith for the first of October

R: oh P: because it was so far in advance

I was told to... R: I see what you mean, to see if

she’s going to be in that day P: that’s right R: oh, we may not know yet P: oh I see R: first of October... Edith...yet P: yes R: there she is, okay you made

one... what’s your name? P: at nine fifteen R: got it, got it

Structure: Often unnaturally focused on certain grammatical features

Turn-taking: Very distinct, speakers get equal turns, few hesitations/overlaps

Disc.markers: (oh, er, well, right) usually absent Formality: Biased towards standard

forms/structures (leaves out slang, idioms, ellipsis, expletives)

Vocabulary: Generally restricted to one field of discourse

Context: Little natural redundancy of meaning in context; explicit references to people, things and experiences

}  The inclusion of language variation and variety

}  The development of English as a lingua franca and sub-varieties of English }  The “fallacy” of the native speaker as target

}  The relevance of the codification of ‘standard’ varieties

}  Notions of intelligibility & comprehensibility

}  Resources for teaching speaking could include:

visual images, radio, television, video/

DVD, film, podcasts, mobile phones, the Internet, and recordings of spoken interactions collected by the teacher or

students (including permission).

}  Do the materials/resources promote the speaking skills that are most needed by the students?

}  Do they give learners genuine reasons to communicate and to speak and act as themselves?

}  Do they facilitate the cognitive aspects of speaking?

}  Do they extend students’ awareness of metalinguistic strategies?

}  Do they highlight the cultural and social purposes of different kinds of speaking tasks and texts?

(Goh & Burns, 2012:  192)

Goals a)  to equip teachers with the skills to enable them to

explore and address their own identified teaching challenges

b)  to share outcomes of the research Raise professionalism by: 1.  direct development of teachers involved; 2.  development of teacher peer networks; 3.  increased teacher engagement with research; 4.  teachers furthering their professional development.

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}  Language college in Western Australia }  Mixed nationality class (including Japanese,

Korean, Chinese, Thai) }  Level approximately B2-C1 CEFR }  General English course }  Rolling enrolment – attendance varies from 1

week – 10 weeks }  Diverse learning goals }  Focus of research was on teaching

pronunciation

“Pronunciation is often neglected yet makes a huge difference in the confidence and communicative ability and motivation of students”

How can students be encouraged to become

more aware of the specific aspects of their

pronunciation difficulties?

1.  Brendan explored students current awareness of difficulties and previous experience of instruction through a survey.

2.  Students did a self-assessment using a needs analysis checklist of segmental and suprasegmental skills.

3.  They evaluated their comprehension of native and non-native speaker and concluded that nativeness was not a pre-requisite for comprehensibility.

4.  Students recorded themselves speaking and analysed their difficulties.

5.  After completing several pronunciation activities on personal difficulties they were rerecorded and completed a further survey.

.

}  Language college in South Australia }  Mixed nationality class of 18 (12 from China) }  Level approximately B2-C1 CEFR }  General Academic English course for university

preparation }  Some students enrolled for 40 weeks, others for

25 weeks }  Goals were university preparation at UG or PG

level }  Focus of research was on teaching listening and

speaking for academic participation

“A case study I did with 18 Chinese students showed that, outside the classroom, students spent an average of 4 minutes per day speaking English.”

“ In what ways can authentic listening and speaking practice be

introduced to students?

1.  Coral selected a range of podcasts for authentic listening. She asked students to listen outside class and email 5 questions to her.

2.  Students were given feedback on their questions and then used them for pair and group discussion, quizzes or debates in class.

3.  She obtained feedback from students by asking them to rate the difficulty of the listening and used this information to select further podcasts.

4.  She also monitored student performance through audio and video recordings, group/pair observation and interviews.

5.  Students reported that over time listening became easier and they valued being able to prepare for seminars through discussion.

.

1.  Help learners to target pronunciation at suprasegmental (stress, intonation) as well as segmental (syllable/word sound) levels.

2.  Put pronunciation into context – integrate practice features within relevant/motivating speaking materials.

3.  Stress intelligibility and comprehensibility rather than native-speakerness.

4.  Provide a balance and relationship between enabling skills and interaction skills.

5.  But always work towards meaning and communication.

6.  Ensure preparation and scaffolding that work towards task completion.

7.  Provide explicit guidance for skill and strategy development.

8.  Give multiple and diverse opportunities for practising tasks that have a logical relationship.

9.  Embed feedback on various stages of task performance and on development of knowledge about spoken language, core skills and speaking strategies.

10.  Show awareness of affective factors - anxiety, nervousness, embarrassment.

For more information go to:

www.professoranneburns.com

Just published: Goh, C. M. M. & Burns, A. (2012). Teaching

speaking: A holistic approach. New York: Cambridge University Press.