APPLIED LINGUISTICS for BA Students in English
LANGUAGE SKILLS
Classification of language skills
Productive Skills
Speaking
1. Historic Background
Of all the four simplex skills (listening, reading, speaking, writing) speaking seems to be the most important as people who know a language are referred to as ‘speakers’ of that language, as if speaking included all other kinds of knowing a language. The importance of speaking has always been recognized but the various methods put different degrees of emphasis on it. In Cognitive code learning immediate oral communication had little significance while in Direct method immediate communication was a must. In Berlitz method oral communication had commercial purpose so in the above mentioned two methods linguistic structures were subordinated to communicative purposes. In Audio-lingual method based on pattern drills bottom-up approach could be observed. In the pattern drills used by the Audio-lingual method various structures and pronunciation patterns were practiced. This consolidation aimed to prepare various speech functions, that is why we can call them functional. For example, Can I have your name? or What’s your name? – structures prepared the speech function ‘Introduction’. In most methods code should be taught first, then the use of language and not simultaneously. The function of reading aloud and learning by heart have very important role in developing speaking skills and language patterns.
2. Analytic approach to develop speaking skills
Speaking skills can be developed following the bottom-up approach consisting of the following sub-skills:
1. organic basis of skills (articulation basis) – from sound formation to accurate respiration
2. rapid speech – to achieve fluent speech at the required speed
3. parts of speech, tenses, sequence of tenses, word order and other grammatical rules – for a speaker it is necessary to have language competence including the categories mentioned above
4. collocations – a competent speaker has to be aware of the collocations used in the target language e.g. expect a baby, wait for the bus
5. stress, intonation, rhythm – belong to the pronunciation close to that of native speakers language learners are supposed to acquire, native like pronunciation which makes their speaking comprehensible
6. speech functions – students are expected to be aware of language patterns used in various communicative situations such as greetings, introduction, inviting guests, finding the way, etc.
7. gestures, non-verbal means – in addition to verbal communication a person who wants to communicate, is supposed to use non-verbal means as well such as gestures, facial expressions, etc.
8. compensation strategies – while focusing on developing speaking skills teachers are expected to prepare students for compensating their lack of knowledge in the act of speech, for example, using synonyms, antonyms, circum locutions, etc.
9. cohesion, coherence – if the speaker wants to deliver a speech, an oral presentation, he is expected to connect the sentences and the paragraphs to make the text cohesive.
3. Conditions and interactions in speaking
Speaking goes on according to certain rules and time limits of coding and decoding which can be called processing condition. Speakers use certain strategies to overcome their difficulties with rapid speech so they use elliptic sentences if they want to save time. They can hesitate this way. Another condition between people communicating is reciprocity condition which covers routines, negotiation skills. The partners in a dialogue need negotiation skills which mean managing discourse. They have to be aware of various techniques for turn-taking and processing discourse. We must teach action- response, what we mean by preferred, not preferred responses, etc.
4. Types of speech
According to the persons participating in the act of speech we can distinguish three types of speech: monologue, dialogue and discourse. In a monologue there is only one participant: the person speaking about something or presenting something. In a dialogue there are two participants: a person giving information and his partner receiving information. In a discourse there are more than two participants talking about a topic.
5. How to develop speaking skills
There are various types of speaking activities such as:
1. responsive performance (questions-answers) – guessing games
2. imitative performance (repetition) – memory games/look, listen and repeat/songs, chants/retelling a story
3. intensive performance (drills) – reading aloud
4. extensive performance (monologue) – retelling a story/picture description
5. drama activities (acting out, role play, simulation) – listen and participate
6. Popular activities to develop speaking skills
• Questions-answers – students are expected to spot the differences between two pictures
• Picture cues can be used to make students describe pictures and drawings, they can be asked to sequence pictures in chronological order etc.
• Role play, acting out – means: repeating the words of certain characters in a story while role play means to add something new, individual to the words of the characters in the story
• Miming – gives only a prompt for the students to talk about
• Simulation – is a problem-solving activity in which several students can take part
• Memory games – are very important for developing students’ thinking skills as well as their proficiency in English
• Jigsaw tasks
• Twenty Questions (barkochba)
• Interviews – students can make interviews with the author of a story or the with the main character of the story, etc.
• For and Against (debates) – students can be prepared for arguing for and against something
• Projects – certain projects must be given to groups of students so that they can learn how to plan a city for example, or how to make an itinerary of a journey etc.; during these activities they will learn how to share responsibilities and how to cooperate with each other
• Monologues (with special focus on unity, cohesion, coherence) to develop discourse competence – can be a welcome speech or a speech of a politician to encourage people to vote for him, etc.
7. Problems of developing speaking skills
The lack of quality control makes developing speaking skills difficult because it is very difficult to set up clear criteria for assessment. English teachers must be authentic though some of them have never been to a country in which English is spoken so it is a requirement for them to give authentic texts to the students. It is always a difficult dilemma for the teachers what to focus on fluency or accuracy. If your student is fluent, s/he will not pay much attention to accuracy though accuracy is important for passing the message. Each English lesson must be intercultural though a lot of teachers have not spent any time in an English speaking country.
