4. ⢠Please tell us who you are
⢠the ages or stages of the students you teach
⢠in what setting or settings you teach them
⢠and what has brought you here today to invest
in self-improvement
11. First things first
⢠The primacy of speaking, the skill that matters
most
⢠In Greece, the skill that often lags behind the
others.
12. Greek challenges
⢠The cult of âthe materialâ
⢠The dominance of grammar
⢠The climate of exams
13. ⢠To speak effectively, grammar, vocabulary,
register, pronunciation, and of course listening
ability must come together seamlessly and
almost automatically.
14. ⢠Then and now
⢠Your students are ready to speak
⢠Are you?
15. Getting students to speak in class
⢠Speaking time: do the math
⢠Now, redo the math
â Choral work
â Pair and group work
21. ⢠Teaching speaking is a way of enabling
students to own English for themselves. Their
ultimate goal in acquiring the language should
be for them to find their own voice in it,
literally. Every class you teach should help
them down that path.
22. What is the right age to speaking activities?
⢠Younger learners
⢠Teenagers
⢠Adults
23. Speech vs. writing
⢠Speech is oral and aural. It is phonetic. Itâs all about how we
make air vibrate, and how those vibrations are decoded by
listeners.
⢠Speech has intonation! Emphasis, color, pauses, so much
may be conveyed by tone of voice and other strictly oral
features.
⢠Speaking is accompanied (in person) by non-linguistic
features such as facial expression and body language.
⢠Speech often employs a less formal register. Spoken English
uses more Germanic phrasal verbs vs. their single-word
Latin-French equivalents, for example.
24. ⢠Spoken English uses far more contractions than written English.
⢠Speech is less tightly structured than writing â more âandsâ and
âbutsâ, for example, more hesitations and changes of direction.
⢠Speech has no punctuation, no paragraphs, no visible shape or end.
The shape is supplied by âdiscourse markersâ and other spoken
signposts.
⢠Speech includes many more questions and other linguistic features
characteristic of interaction.
⢠Speakers adjust their speech in response to what their interlocutors
say back to them or in response to their facial expressions and body
language.
25. Contractions
⢠Donât you agree? Isnât what Iâm saying making sense.
Hadnât you thought of that before? Maybe you
shouldâve been teaching more contractions all along.
By now youâve caught on to the fact that Iâm using a
contraction for every verb Iâm saying. Or maybe you
hadnât even noticed. You wouldnâtâve noticed if you
were used to hearing everyday English. So, you ask,
whatâs the problem? And if there is a problem, what
are we gonna do about it?
⢠Of course, I can take it one step further. Doncha âgree?
Hadnâtja thoughta that before? I dunno, maybe you
shoulda been teachinâ more contractionsâŚ
29. Sample pronunciation activities
⢠s/z
â˘
⢠a small child; a heavy smoker; a basic requirement; a large increase;
⢠a close friend; close the door; use a spoon; user-friendly; whatâs the use?
â˘
⢠silent letters
â˘
⢠an honest man; a great honor; farm-raised salmon; an ancient castle;
⢠fasten your seat belts; a double-edged sword
â˘
⢠the âshâ
â˘
⢠You should have no trouble with it.
⢠I was shocked to see him there.
⢠Which Michigan exam are you taking, the lower or the proficiency?
⢠Are you anxious about it?
⢠Do you collect seashells?
⢠Did you hurt your shoulder?
⢠She married a soldier, a sergeant, in fact.
30. ⢠âuiâ
⢠You should eat at least one piece of fruit every day.
⢠He bought a new suit for the interview.
⢠âLife, liberty, and the pursuit of happinessâ
â˘
⢠âooâ
⢠What a good book!
⢠Youâre stepping on my foot, you fool.
⢠Donât look now, but heâs coming back.
⢠Oh no, the tub has overflowed and flooded the floor!
â˘
⢠âuhâ
⢠What country is she from?
⢠Above all, be on time.
⢠I plan to study multimedia in London.
⢠It takes courage to start your own company under current conditions.
⢠Thatâs the one I wanted, because it was the only color I liked.
â˘
⢠short âiâ vs. âeeâ
⢠Iâve been living in this house in the village since I was six years old.
⢠Itâs time to leave for the airport.
⢠At Christmastime we decorate a ship.
⢠Iâm in the video business.
31. Enhanced speaking for exams
âSure, why not? Everybody wants to be famous
now. You get much money, everybody is talking for
you, they see you on the street and they know you.
I would like to be a famous football player and play
for PAOK.â
vs.
âFamous? Yes, but on my own terms. Fame is great,
we all want our share of glory, to earn a lot of
money, to be recognized on the street, but not at
the expense ofâŚâ
32. Some exam resources
⢠ESOL (Cambridge) FCE speaking âactual testâ videos:
⢠https://www.teachers.cambridgeesol.org/ts/teachingresources/resourced
etails?resId=7186
⢠http://www.splendid-speaking.com/products/task_sheets/latest_task.pdf
⢠The MSU exam website has useful sets of sample exam speaking prompts
and videos:
⢠http://www.msu-exams.gr/misc/celc_oral.pdf
⢠http://www.msu-
exams.gr/swift.jsp?CMRCode=17A953GS3&CMCCode=3031
⢠http://www.msu-exams.gr/misc/celp_oral.pdf
⢠http://www.msu-exams.gr/swift.jsp?CMCCode=3005&extLang=
⢠But the essence of preparation is simply comfort and skill in speaking,
which comes with free practice.
33. Discourse markers and handy phrases to
connect and contrastâŚ
⢠Actually,
⢠In fact,
⢠As a matter of fact,
⢠Well,
⢠For one thing,âŚ. and for another,âŚ.
⢠On (the) one hand,⌠(but) on the other,âŚ
â˘
⢠Let me say first of all thatâŚ
⢠The first thing I want to say is thatâŚ
⢠I want to add thatâŚ
⢠Let me point out thatâŚ
⢠I want to stress the fact thatâŚ
34. (a few more)
⢠FormerlyâŚbut now
⢠In the pastâŚbut now
⢠WhereasâŚ
⢠Instead ofâŚ
⢠AlthoughâŚ
⢠In spite of the fact thatâŚ
⢠DespiteâŚ
⢠Contrary to what you might expect,
⢠In contrast toâŚ
35. Expressing opinion
⢠I think that...
⢠I believe thatâŚ
⢠I strongly/ firmly believe thatâŚ
⢠It is my belief thatâŚ
⢠Personally, I feel thatâŚ
⢠In my opinion,âŚ
⢠In my view,âŚ
⢠To my way of thinking,âŚ
⢠As I see it,âŚ
⢠The way I see it,âŚ
⢠As far as I can see,âŚ
⢠I would argue that...
⢠I am of the opinion thatâŚ
⢠I agree with those who think thatâŚ
⢠I support the view thatâŚ
⢠I have come to the conclusion thatâŚ