Teaching Speaking

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Aims of the session:

To understand the speaking process To consider what is involved in effective speaking To discuss what we can do in the classroom to provide meaningful communication To look at some practical activities to develop speaking skills
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The Speaking Process

The apparent ease of speech production by competent speakers belies the complex cognitive processes involved and masks the many factors that influence the output. These processes are often overlooked in the classroom, where teachers attention is focused mainly on the product (Goh & Burns 2012).

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The Speaking Process

In fluent conversations, a speaker may produce 2 or 3 words per second by retrieval from a memory store of tens of thousands of items (Levelt, Roelofs & Meyer 1999) Actually involves remarkably complex underlying processes that express both form, or structure, and meaning, or content. These interrelated processes are represented in Levelts (1989) speech production model.
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The Speaking Process

Levelts (1989) model of Speech Processing

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The Speaking Process

a)

Conceptual Preparation (Conceptualization) Initial stage of speech production. The process whereby speakers select the topic or information they wish to express. Ideas will depend on speakers world knowledge. In classroom activities, learners need to think about what to say before or while they are saying it. 3/17/13

) )

The Speaking Process

b) Formulation

Ideas that exist in the speakers mind during CP are mapped on to specific words in the mental lexicon and strung together (Garman 1990) This stage is perhaps the most challenging for L2 learners because of the lexicogrammatical choices that have to be made.
Depends on knowledge of the L2 grammatical system (syntax & lexis) & knowledge of registers suitable for the 3/17/13

The Speaking Process

c) Articulation

Speakers activate & control specific muscle groups of the articulatory system (vocal tract, larynx & lungs) to convey the message through sound waves. The phonological encodings are largely automatized for L1 speakers. This is not the case for many L2 learners, who need to consciously think about sounds, stress & 3/17/13 intonation as they speak.

The Speaking Process

d) Self-monitoring

A key metacognitive process involving the checking of ones speech for accuracy & acceptability. Competent speakers typically notice errors in pronunciation & grammar, & dysfluencies (Levelt et al. 1999). L2 speakers self-monitor their structural accuracy & pragmatic appropriacy with 3/17/13 varying degrees of success (Burns 1998;

Rate of Speech Production

What factors affect the rate of speech processing?

Degree of automatization: cognitive processes that are automatized through constant use & rehearsal (Shiffrin & Schneider 1977; Segalowitz 2003). Little demand on processing capacity
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Rate of Speech Production

A learners conceptualization & formulation processes may become automatized due to prior knowledge of, e.g.:

facts social & academic conventions discourse structures lexis & grammatical structures

Rate also depends on speed of lexical access from long-term memory (Levelt et al. 1999). This can be improved by learning formulaic phrases (If I were you) & 3/17/13

Key Features of Learners Speech

Cognitive & affective factors during speech production heavy demand on L2 learners Can have a direct impact on quality of learners spoken language. So, what aspects of the spoken product do teachers typically focus on?
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Key Features of Learners Speech

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(Bygate 1998; Skehan 1996)

Key Features of Learners Speech

Effects of cognitive-processing demands on learners:

Insufficient cognitive resources to produce speech that is both fluent & accurate. Will most likely sacrifice accuracy in formulating their utterance. Insufficient time incomplete retrieval of lexis & grammatical rules from LTM.

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Key Features of Learners Speech

When some processes, e.g., lexical retrieval, are partially automatized, learners may demonstrate language complexity:

Longer & more precise utterances

a)

The teacher blew the whistle. The children ran as fast as they could. The teacher blew the whistle, and the children ran as fast as they could. As soon as they heard the teachers whistle, the children ran as fast as they could. As soon as they heard the teachers whistle, the children who were standing at the back ran as fast as they could.

b)

a)

b)

Represents an important stage in L1 & L2 development

3/17/13 The extent to which complexity is found depends greatly on the

Who have you spoken to today/yesterday (face to face)? How have these conversations been different?

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Purposes for Speaking

Two main purposes:

A transactional function

Primarily conveys information & facilitates the exchange of goods or services

An interpersonal function

Primarily establishes & maintains social relations.

3/17/13 These 2 basic purposes generate various

Classify the following speech genres using the following criteria: purpose is it transactional or interpersonal? participation- is it interactive or non-interactive? planning is it planned or unplanned (or partly planned)?
From Thornbury 2005

purpose Airport transactional announcements University lecture Telephoning a friend Radio interview TV weather forecast Asking directions in the street 3/17/13

participation Non-interactive

planning planned

purpose Airport transactional announcements University lecture transaction al interperso Telephoning a nal friend transaction Radio interview al transaction TV weather forecast al transaction al Asking directions interperso in the street nal Speech of thanks 3/17/13

participation non-interactive noninteractive interactive interactive noninteractive interactive noninteractive

planning planned planned unplanned (partly?) planned (partly?)

planned unplanned planned/unplan ned

This demonstrates how there are different reasons for communicating with others and that there are therefore different ways of doing it. What other factor can affect how we speak to others? Formal vs informal, based on level of intimacy
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With interactive speaking, what skills are involved?

Bygate says: Interaction skills involve making decisions about communication, such as: what to say, how to say it, and whether to develop it, in accordance with ones intentions, while maintaining the desired relations with others. (Bygate, 1987, p6)

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What is real speaking like? How does it differ from written language?
Speakers are typically constructing their message as they speak and this gives rise to some common features of spoken language.

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Task:

Before you look at the transcript of a spoken conversation, consider what features you expect it to have that a written text would not.

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Speakers are often constructing their message as they speak and this gives rise to some common features of spoken language.

It is easier to improvise if you use less complex syntax Because of time pressure people can abbreviate the message by using incomplete utterances and leaving out unnecessary elements (ellipsis) Use of fixed phrases or formulaic language is easier (cognitively) 3/17/13

Now analyse the text to identify features that show that it is spoken language and not written language.

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You should consider the following:

Hesitations Repetitions Tags Abandonment Incomplete utterances (and ellipsis) Vague words (e.g. thing, stuff) Discourse markers
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Pause fillers

Spoken Grammar

Recent research in corpus linguistics has provided insights into how grammatical forms differ in spoken & written discourse. Brazil 1995, Biber et al. 1999, Carter & McCarthy 2006 Teachers can now highlight features that are the norm in informal speaking situations. 3/17/13

Ellipsis: _____ you going out?

Key Features of Spoken Grammar

Discourse markers: You know, I mean, like, Mind you, So, Right, OK, Well, cos, actually Vague Language: sort of, that kind of thing Back-channelling: Mmm, Yeah, I see Hesitation: Err, Umm Heads: My brother, he lives in London
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Tails: He lives in London, my brother

All speakers do these things in interactional speaking. What other factors make a speaker a good speaker in an interactional setting?

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A good speaker uses the following skills to good effect:

Turn-taking Choosing appropriate language for the situation (lexis, grammar, intonation) Recognising the messages given by the person/people they are communicating with e.g. Anyway... to indicate a closure & return to a previous topic, Well etc. Ability to circumlocute to say what we

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We make choices in the language we use depending on the genre and style of the situation. The choices will depend on the distance or level of intimacy between the speaker and their audience and affect the grammar and lexis used.

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Helping learners with their Speaking

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Therefore as teachers we need to:

Ensure students can recognise the difference in language choices made Provide students with practice in a variety of different genres and styles
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Awareness Raising
According to Thornbury (2005), we first need to do awareness-raising activities. Look at these examples of tasks aimed at getting learners to notice features of spoken discourse. What features of speaking is each activity focusing on?

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Students can also learn a lot about what is needed in spoken language by noticing the difference between their own output and a more effective persons output (e.g., Bolitho et al. 2003). A task based approach works well for this. Jane Willis (1996) suggests that a cycle involving the performing of a task, followed by focus on an effective user of the language performing the task, will encourage learners to notice the gap. 3/17/13

Communicative Tasks

Students will also want the opportunity to practise their speaking. We need to give meaningful practice that provides a genuine need to communicate. How can we do that?

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Communicative Tasks

Characterized by the following features:

the motivation of the activity is to produce some outcome, using language; the activity takes place in real time; achieving the outcome requires the participant to interact, i.e., to listen as well as speak; because of the spontaneous & jointly constructed nature of the interaction, the outcome is not 100% predictable; there is no restriction on the language used. (Thornbury 2005)

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How could you adapt it?

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By giving each student a different picture we have established an information gap. Task 1 Look at the activities on the handout [task from Thornbury (2005) How to teach speaking]. They all aim to be communicative. To what extent are they successful?
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Task 2 Work with a partner to match types of speaking activity with an example (on handout).

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Whats 3/17/13 happening in the photo?

Useful Books

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