Analytical Essay: The Teaching Of Speaking

The theme of the research paper is ‘The Teaching of Speaking’. For the teacher it is very essential to know how to teach speaking foreign language correctly and to be able to do that. That is why there are several methods and manners how to give the knowledge in an easier manner to the students.

The aim:

To investigate what methods are used to teach speaking are used mostly and find out as many as possible teaching speaking methods.

The enabling objectives:

to find out and study theory on the teaching of speaking(mention the theme)

to collect and summarize the gained data

to draw conclusions

The research question:

Which methods are used to improve teaching the teaching of speaking?

The methods of research:

analysis of the theoretical material

case study

The tools of research and data collection:

analysis of the teaching of speaking methods

1.THE TEACHING OF SPEAKING

What is speaking? In fact, speaking is an action carrying out the information or expressing feelings and emotions, person’s thoughts in spoken language. Speaking is also “the process of building and sharing meaning through the use of verbal and non-verbal symbols, in a variety of contexts” (Chaney, 1998, p. 13). By the teaching of speaking is meant to produce the English speech sounds and sound patterns, use word and sentence stress, intonation patterns and the rhythm of the language, select appropriate words and sentences according to the proper social setting, audience, situation and subject matter, organize their thoughts in a meaningful and logical sequence and use language as a means of expressing values and judgments (Online 2).

1.1Strategies for Developing Speaking Skills

According to the internet source, students often think that the ability to speak a language is the product of language learning, but speaking is also an important part of the language learning process. Effective instructors teach students speaking strategies – using minimal responses, recognizing scripts, and using language to talk about language (Online 1). These strategies can help students to enlarge their knowledge of language. If the students are confident in speaking, it would be more easier to receive the other information while learning.

1.1.1Using minimal responses

Language learners who are not confident about their ability to participate successfully in oral disscussions often listen in silence while others do the talking. One way to encourage such learners to begin to participate is to help them build up a stock of minimal responses that they can use in different types of exchanges. Such responses can be especially useful for beginners (Online 1).

Minimal responses are predictable, often idiomatic phrases that conversation participants use to indicate understanding, agreement, doubt, and other responses to what another speaker is saying. Having a stock of such responses enables a learner to focus on what the other participant is saying, without having to simultaneously plan a response (Online 1).

1.1.2Recognizing scripts

Some communication situations are associated with a predictable set of spoken exchanges a script. Greetings, apologies, compliments, invitations, and other functions that are influenced by social and cultural norms often follow patterns or scripts. So do the transactional exchanges involved in activities such as obtaining information and making a purchase. In these scripts, the relationship between a speaker’s turn and the one that follows it can often be anticipated.

Instructors can help students develop speaking ability by making them aware of the scripts for different situations so that they can predict what they will hear and what they will need to say in response. Through interactive activities, instructors can give students practice in managing and varying the language that different scripts contain.

1.1.3Using language to talk about language

Language learners are often too embarrassed or shy to say anything when they do not understand another speaker or when they realize that a conversation partner has not understood them. Instructors can help students overcome this reticence by assuring them that misunderstanding and the need for clarification can occur in any type of interaction, whatever the participants’ language skill levels. Instructors can also give students strategies and phrases to use for clarification and comprehension check.

By encouraging students to use clarification phrases in class when misunderstanding occurs, and by responding positively when they do, instructors can create an authentic practice environment within the classroom itself. As they develop control of various clarification strategies, students will gain confidence in their ability to manage the various communication situations that they may encounter outside the classroom.

1.2How to teach speaking

According to the given internet sources, now many linguists and teachers consider that students can improve their communication and speaking skills working into groups together with other students and playing real-life situations in the target language. To achieve the goal of speaking well, the students need to improve their language fluency (speaking smoothly), pronunciation (saying words properly) and enunciation (saying words and phrases clearly) (Online 4).

Fluency comes from practice. Every English speaking person cannot improve speaking smoothly in some two months, it comes after longer time. T o get to the aim, there should be made speech of long, complicated sentences. For example, to build more fluent speech, a helper could be discussions, presentations, role plays, negations, debates, interviews and meetings.

‘Pronunciation is the ability to say words properly with the correct sounds in the correct places’ (Online 4). To make words sound correctly, it can take very long time to develop the pronunciation.

As suggested in the internet source, the student should focus on working on specific vowels, trouble consonants, and working on understanding movement and location of mouth and tongue when making sounds (Online 4).

‘In phonetics, enunciation is the act of speaking. Good enunciation is the act of speaking clearly and concisely’ (Online 5). If the enunciation of the speech is pure, others will not be able to understand speaker’s speech. To avoid misunderstandings in the communication towards others, according to the internet sources, the student should pay attention to trouble word combinations, reductions, sentence and word level stress points and sentence level intonation patterns.

2.WHICH TEACHING METHODS ARE MORE PREFERABLE FOR STUDENTS THEMSELVES

If there were a questionnaire, the aim of it would be to clear up which of the teaching methods are more understandable and useful for the students themselves. No one can answer to this question more precise and honestly as the students.

CONCLUSIONS

The teaching of speaking means that the teacher gives the knowledge to the student how to communicate with others, to produce sounds, words correctly and clearly, to use precisely intonation patterns, to choose appropriate themes which to speak to the proper social setting and audience.

There are a lot of teaching methods which can be used in the teaching process, but, in my opinion, more preferable methods are those who are easier and understandable for the students.

For instance, to make your speech more fluent and clearer, it can be enough to read articles with complicated vocabulary and sentence structure aloud every day.

Rounding up, if the teacher is teaching in a simple manner and understandable for students.

THESIS

Speaking is an action carrying out the information or expressing feelings and emotions, person’s thoughts in spoken language.

Many linguists and teachers consider that students can improve their communication and speaking skills working into groups together with other students and playing real-life situations in the target language.

To build more fluent speech, a helper could be discussions, presentations, role plays, negations, debates, interviews and meetings.

Fluency comes from practice. Every English speaking person cannot improve speaking smoothly in some two months, it comes after longer time.

Effective instructors teach students speaking strategies – using minimal responses, recognizing scripts, and using language to talk about language.