speaking. Be accepting of the idea that their talk in such situations will
inevitably be less accurate than in a more structured task.
4 Use guided activities where necessary. That sounds like a contradiction
with tip 3, but really it’s a question of sensitivity to starting points. Learners
with little experience of oral work may clam up completely if given a task
involving spontaneous speech. For such learners, the scaffolding of a learnt
or heavily guided dialogue can give much needed confidence.
5 Consider role plays. They have been criticized on the grounds that they ask
learners to make believe—but they also provide an opportunity for learners
to imagine a wide variety of situations, relationships and attitudes and
attempt to convey these in language. If you use role plays regularly, learners
can ‘catch on’ and willingly suspend their disbelief. For more ideas on role
plays, see 26.
6 Use task-based activities. A good way to generate language without putting
learners into roles is to ask them to collaborate towards an objective, for
example, to list the qualities of a good teacher. Language is then a means to
an end as well as a subject of practice. Tasks like this can feel very realistic
to learners.
7 Try out new tasks with friends or colleagues. Sometimes it’s hard to tell
what kind of language a particular speaking task is likely to generate. If you
do the task yourself, or ask some other competent speakers to do it, you will
get a better idea of its linguistic demands.
8 Make learners aware of varied speaking needs. Many learners associate
speaking with free discussion, where fluency is more important than
accuracy; they may not expect other kinds of speaking activity. In the world
outside, though, they may need to use planned, or semi-planned, as well as
spontaneous speech.
9 Give some practice at long turns. The skill of telling a story, or giving a
short presentation, is very different from the skill of participating in a
conversation or oral transaction. Practise this, especially if you know your
learners need to perform a particular type of long turn. It’s often useful to
pay special attention to linking words and phrases, which can make a long
turn sound smooth.
10 Link speaking to other tasks. In this way different kinds of speech can be
practised. For example, if groups of learners are preparing a guide to their
town, they will need to speak to brainstorm ideas, to manage the production
of the written version and to assess its acceptability: three very different
types of speech.
11 Correct spoken language selectively. The point of speaking activities is for
learners to produce language in real time—do not inhibit them by picking up
on every mistake. One technique is to go around listening to groups, and
keep some time in the lesson to discuss ‘common’ mistakes. Not all
learners’ language use will change as a result, but some may be ready to
make the change you are asking for.34 LANGUAGE WORK IN THE CLASSROOM