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Ähnlich wie Bernadette Maguire: Balancing the Skills - The vital nature of Speaking
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Bernadette Maguire: Balancing the Skills - The vital nature of Speaking
- 1. Eaquals International Conference, Lisbon, 21 – 23 April 2016 Balancing the Skills The vital nature of Speaking Bernadette Maguire BRITISH COUNCIL SPAIN www.eaquals.org
- 4. www.britishcouncil.org 4 B1 - Threshold
- 5. www.britishcouncil.org 5 B2 - Vantage
- 6. www.britishcouncil.org 6 Teaching and Research Group • Group of 50 level-tested • Sciences principal academic discipline • Used English regularly (articles, e-mails, journals, academic papers etc) • Completed questionnaire & needs analysis form Number of years learning English? Level? Skills? Concerns? Needs?
- 7. www.britishcouncil.org 7 General data questionnaires • 15+ years studying English • General levels A2 – C2 • Anxiety about Speaking at all levels • Concern conversational English, even at C1+ (talking to colleagues at conferences) • Concern informal register writing (emails) • Worry about presenting in English, even at C1+ • Concern about answering questions at conferences (Will I understand?) • Most Speaking levels comparatively low (cluster at B1)
- 8. www.britishcouncil.org 8 Mid- course teachers’ evaluation • High level receptive skills, esp Reading • Lower level productive skills • Writing markedly higher than Speaking Speaking a real problem
- 9. www.britishcouncil.org 9 Language use - Speaking Overall Oral ProductionOverall Oral Production • Sustained Monologue: describing experience • Sustained Monologue: putting a case • Public Announcements • Addressing Audiences (CEF 4.4.11. Language use & Language User. ‘Oral Production’)
- 10. www.britishcouncil.org 10 Addressing audiences - presentations C1 •Can give a clear, well-structured presentation of a complex subject, expanding and supporting points of view at some length with subsidiary points, reasons and relevant examples. •Can handle interjections well, responding spontaneously and almost effortlessly. B1 •Can give a prepared straightforward presentation on a familiar topic within his/her field which is clear enough to be followed without difficulty most of the time and in which points are explained with reasonable precision. •Can take follow-up questions, but may have to ask for repetition if the speech is rapid.
- 11. www.britishcouncil.org 11 Learner Skills General Competences (CEF 5) • 1 Declarative knowledge (savoir) • 2 Skills and know-how (savoir-faire) • 3 Existential competence (savoir- être) • 4 Ability to learn (savoir-apprendre) Communicative Language Competences
- 12. www.britishcouncil.org 12 Speaking issues • General comparatively low level Speaking • Reticence to speak in class (esp. in front of group) • Apparent difficulty to pronounce non-Spanish sounds: /ə/ /з:/ and /ı/ v /i:/ • ‘Normalized’ & collective version of key sounds & key words (‘architecture’, ‘wo(/ /)ɒ rld’, ‘scientific’ etc)
- 13. www.britishcouncil.org 13 Affective filters • Confidence in general EL ability (low) • Fear of Speaking skill (high) • Fear of mistakes – effect on motivation • Resistance (conscious and sub-conscious) to production of ‘new’ sounds [/ə/ /з:/ & /ı/ v /i:/ ]
- 14. www.britishcouncil.org 14 Students However … •Successful & motivated academics •Professional interest •High level general language control •Hard workers – good at homework •Interest in professional practice BC teachers
- 16. www.britishcouncil.org 16 Action • ‘Autonomy is essentially the matter of the learner’s psychological reaction to the process and content of learning.’ David Little • Presentations central to classroom activity (do & learn – heuristic skills) • Personal & professional connection with central activity • Exploitation of group dynamic - trust
- 17. www.britishcouncil.org 17 ZPD B1/B2 C1 Zone of proximal development Assistance provided by more capable others: teachers and peers Assistance provided by self – learner autonomy Internalization – taking possession of knowledge – skill developed(ing)
- 18. www.britishcouncil.org 18 Action • Presentations used to focus on: • Intense and active error-correction • Introduction of phonemic chart & symbols • Pronunciation & intonation (drill) • Use of university intranet & Youtube
- 20. www.britishcouncil.org 20 Results • Increase in learner autonomy • Heightened awareness of personal Speaking issues • Increase in confidence across all skills • Marked improvement in level of Speaking • Identified need to prevent this situation across the board
Hinweis der Redaktion
- Imagery – ladder leading into the clouds
- Often likened to a plateau but to me it’s more like mountain-climbing since it’s absolutely necessary to get to the top in order to be able to see around at where the learner has been and where s/he is going or more like, CAN GO. The learner can decide whether or not to go any further since s/he has enough language to function and perhaps does not wish to.
- Some of the group were absolute beginners and knew no English but input varied from A1 to C2. Never taught them before as a group although some had attended regular BC courses with the ss (mostly the C1 & C2s) Questionnaire gathering basic information and specific question on expectations and concerns. We really surprised at the fact that they manifested so much concern over Speaking and actually underestimated how right they were. We expected to see a marked and immediate improvement in their Speaking, which often happens with younger students in our regular courses: come in at A2 and very quickly get up to B1 – this did not happen (Emails strictly speaking writing but actually conversational in register and in structure –)
- C1 clearly level needed for academic interaction in general: for unis in Uk etc. One clear area of preoccupation for the PDIs was interaction with an audience – they were afraid that they would be able to understand a question from the floor and/or that they would be unable to handle having to explain something they had not planned for. They were clearly very worried about face – wonder if this is the reason Spanish presenters often read their papers rather than explain them?
- Explain