4.

DEVELOPING SPEAKING SKILLS

Literate people have a number of different language abilities: speaking, listening,
writing and reading. Speaking and writing involve language production and are therefore
often referred to as productive skills. Listening and reading involve receiving messages and
are often referred to as receptive skills. Very often language users employ a combination of
skills at the same time. In conversation, for instance, speaking and listening happen
simultaneously. People may read and write at the same time, they may make notes or write
something based on what they are reading.
In most of the cases a certain language experience involves the use of many
different skills. Classroom teaching will have to reflect this. Even when our activities focus on
one particular skill, the focus can later shift to one or more of the other skills. The principle of
integrating skills where focus on one skill leads to practice in another should constantly
be followed, and although there are activities where individual skills may be treated
individually the principle of integration should be borne in mind.
The four major language skills are summarised in the following chart:
MEDIUM
SPEECH WRITTEN WORD
SKILL
RECEPTIVE Listening and Reading and
understanding understanding
PRODUCTIVE Speaking Writing
This is a very general picture of language skills. It does not mean that skills are
separate and should be treated as such. Very often one skill cannot be performed without
another. Moreover, in order to use language skills, competent users need a number of sub-
skills for processing the language that they use and are faced with. For instance, the way we
listen for general understanding will be different from the way we listen in order to extract
specific bits of information. The same is true for reading.
A great deal of what English teachers do in their classes can be considered
communicative, and their objective is to develop their pupils communicative competence. In
fact many teachers would probably say that they follow the Communicative Approach. They
might however find it difficult to say precisely what they mean by this, or to define
communication, as definitions can vary.
Linguistic competence is the ability to manipulate the system of the language.
Sociolinguistic competence is the awareness and ability to adapt all use of language to a
communicative context. In combination, these two competences can be said to form
communicative competence. Two other competences, strategic competence and discourse
competence, are also involved.

sociolinguistic discourse
competence competence
communicative
competence

strategic linguistic
competence competence

By the end of this lecture you should:

Anca Cehan 1
 have a clear idea of the nature of the speaking skill
be aware of the problems encountered by your pupils when developing their
speaking skill in English
know the meaning of the term communicative competence
be aware of the accuracy vs. fluency debate.
know about a wide range of classroom activities to develop accuracy and
fluency
have explored several options in the identification and correction of mistakes in
both accuracy and fluency activities.

4.1 The Speaking Skill in Communication

In considering the role of speaking as it relates to communication, and the relevance

of speaking to language teaching, you have to answer a few questions: a) why and when we
speak, b) what the speaking skill involves, and c) what factors influence speaking.

4.1.1 Why and When We Speak

We speak in order to:
get information about things or people
explain, instruct, direct
get something done
express judgement, opinions, feelings
promote warmth, friendship, etc
relate events, anecdotes, and descriptions, etc.

Can you think of other reasons for speaking? List them in the space
provided below.

Language macrofunctions
The list is endless! However, there are six underlying functions of language (or
macro functions of language):
i) directive: influencing other peoples behaviour (e.g. request for permission,
order, instructions)
ii) descriptive: talking about the world, the past, etc.
iii) expressive: expressing emotions, imagination, opinions, etc.
iv) phatic: promoting human warmth (e.g., Its cold today, isnt it?)
v) metalinguistic: talking about the language one is using (e.g. John is the subject
of the sentence).
vi) poetic: using language creatively (especially in literature and humour).
Each macro-function can be sub-divided into the functions we can identify in our
everyday interactions with people. The directive, descriptive, expressive and phatic macro-
functions and their many sub-divisions, are the most likely to be relevant to the average
general English pupil.

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 4.1.2 What Communicating Involves
Communicating involves two types of activity that take place almost simultaneously:
planning and execution. It is a combination of linguistic and cognitive sub-skills, social and
cultural awareness, and confidence.
Linguistic sub-skills
In their mother tongue, speakers have the ability to discriminate and manipulate
sounds and sound sequences in order to produce fluent, intelligible speech and to use
accurate and meaningful stress and intonation. They also have the ability to make linguistic
choices at the level of vocabulary and grammar, and at the level of style and register, to form
natural and meaningful sentences, appropriate to ones communicative purpose in a given
situation.
The factors which influence the speakers language choices are: a) the interlocutors
(speaker and listener); b) the code (shared language of the interlocutors); c) the message
topic and the message form, the setting / situation, the function of each utterance as it relates
to what has been said before, to what each interlocutor assumes the other already knows, to
the intended message of the speaker. The interlocutors attitudes towards each other are also
important.
Cognitive sub-skills
The cognitive sub-skills involve formulating language in the mind as a representation
of the intended meaning. This involves planning on three levels: discourse, utterance and
constituents.
Discourse takes account of the kind of communication the speaker is participating in
(e.g. joke telling; conversation; giving instructions, etc.), the situational and linguistic context,
the features of conversation and the cohesion of the utterances. Efficient speakers make
linguistic choices (grammatical, lexical, phonological) appropriate to context, follow the
conventions of spoken discourse and adopt a suitable communication strategy. They know
how to check whether the listener is interpreting the message correctly and, if necessary, can
do repairing.
The meaning of the planned utterances, is considered in terms of what function they
will have (e.g. requesting, checking, advising, etc.), the topic of the overall communication
(e.g. politics, bringing up children, etc.), what information can be taken as known and what
needs to be considered as new and how the message will be conveyed stylistically ( e.g.
straight, ironical, understated, etc.)
Speakers also need to make choices referring to specific constituents: linguistic items
(lexical units, structures, stress, intonation), and to organising these in the right order.
For native speakers planning and execution is generally a spontaneous process,
though speech errors, repetitions, hesitations, and false starts indicate that people often start
speaking before a constituent is completely planned.
Social and cultural awareness
Effective speakers are aware of social rules, show sensitivity to rules of behaviour
(e.g. turn-taking and giving attention signals) when participating in conversations, and can
select an appropriate style and register for a given situation, purpose, and listener. They are
aware of the value system of their interlocutors and show the ability to accompany speech
with appropriate meaningful non-verbal communication such as facial expressions. They are
also aware of intonation and politeness formulae in promoting good relationships.
What do you understand by confidence as a linguistic sub-skill?

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 4.2 Developing Communicative Competence in the Classroom

When organising a speaking activity, you need to bear in mind questions like:
Is the activity promoting real communication? How natural can communication
be the classroom?
What aspects of non-linguistic communication are my pupils showing: facial
expression, gesture, tone of voice?
What different registers of language can be practised in this activity? What
range of styles and registers do they need?
Do my pupils need to learn to communicate to the same degree of complexity
and subtlety?
To what extent does effective communication depend on linguistic accuracy?
There may be no certain answers to these questions. However, they develop an
awareness and an understanding of the issues which currently circulate in language
teaching.

4.2.1 Oral Practice Activities

The activities primarily designed for oral practice are grouped according to the
degree of control exerted by the teacher over the pupils language choice. They show a
gradual move from very controlled to freer. Many of the activities are flexible in this respect,
i.e. you may choose to exercise more or less control according to their aims and the pupils
needs. Teachers generally follow the traditional model of language teaching, which attempts
to realise the principles of staging learning. This model is:
presentation (including controlled oral practice)
less controlled oral practice (also called guided creativity or semi-controlled oral
practice)
freer stage. In this stage the focus may still be on the language being practised.
You will select activities that are likely to produce the language that has recently
been presented and practised. In fluency activities, this is not the case.
Practice can be graded from very controlled to semi-controlled to freer practice. This
progression gives your pupils the chance to see when and how they need to use the target
items in real life and to become more independent language users. Some activities will be
accuracy based, i.e. aimed at the correct production of specific language, but as we move
along the continuum from controlled to free, there are increasing opportunities for the pupils
to practise and develop fluency. This will occur whenever they are more interested in the
content of what they are saying than in the forms they use, when they are engrossed in an
activity and concentrating on carrying out a task.
Generally speaking, the speaking practice activities that you organise will offer your
pupils the chance to both practise specific language items and develop the speaking skill
itself, which will be useful to them in communication.
If for example, your pupils are involved in an activity where they choose an
appropriate apology for a variety of situations, they will be practising both specific apologetic
formulae and will be making linguistic choices appropriate to context. In other words, you aim
at either accuracy or fluency or at some point along the continuum that connects them.

Accuracy Fluency

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 Accuracy vs. fluency
Accuracy activities are activities in which you aim for the pupils to concentrate on the
language they are using. These include manipulating, practising and freely using particular
items of language (e.g. a substitution drill to practise the form of the present perfect, an
elicited dialogue to practise apologising, a free stage to practise conditional II; etc.)
Fluency activities are activities where you want the pupils to concentrate on what
they are using the language for. Language is seen as a tool to be used to fulfil whatever the
pupils are engaged in doing (e.g. a pupil is explaining to a classmate how to do something).

What choices will you make when deciding for an accuracy or a fluency
activity? Write you answer in the space provided below.

All these choices have implications on how the activity contributes to the pupils
overall speaking skill in all its various dimensions.
In the course of teaching both accuracy and fluency must be worked on and
developed, and must both be a part of your teaching at any level. In some activities, e.g.
semi-controlled practice, it may well be difficult to separate the two. It is however difficult to
work effectively on both at once. It will be helpful if you decide what the main priority is for
any given activity. Both advanced classes, which are already relatively fluent, and early levels
classes may need emphasis on accuracy work. Fluency activities may be graded to the
abilities of the pupils, both in terms of the level and amount of language needed to complete
the task and in terms of the amount of autonomy your pupils are able to cope with. What is
important, is to give all levels classes opportunities to use language creatively and for their
own purposes.
Whether an activity is accuracy or fluency-biased may not depend on the activity
itself, but on the way in which you set it up: are the pupils told to use particular language or
are they free to use any language at their disposal? Similarly, the kind of feedback you give
may determine whether the pupils see the activities in terms of accuracy or fluency.
Controlled practice activities
The aim of controlled practice activities is to provide practice in manipulating and
discriminating sounds, stress, intonation, formal components (e.g. word order) and in
reinforcing and discriminating meaning.
a) Repetition practice. A variety of drills may be employed at the controlled practice
stage of a lesson, usually starting with choral and individual repetition practice and then
extending into substitution drills, often followed by a question and answer drill.
Repetition and substitution practice is based on the model provided by the teacher.
The pupils repeat in chorus or individually the model given. In the substitution drills, you also
provide the new word.

What procedure would you use for a question and answer drill?
Compare your answer with the one suggested at the end of the unit.

b) Action chain / Chain drill. One way of ensuring a lot of question practice is to do
the drill as an action chain or chain drill. Pupils sit in a circle and P 1 asks P2, P2 asks P3, and

Anca Cehan 5
so on. It is essential to set this up clearly, and it helps to keep all the prompt or picture cards
moving in the same direction.
c) Mingling activity. Another way of maximising practice is to extend the drill into a
mingling activity, where pupils walk around the class asking their questions to as many other
pupils as possible. This can also be a question and answer drill in which the pupils may
respond to written or picture prompts or, depending on the nature of the questions, may be
giving genuine (communicative) answers based on their own experience.
d) The Information Gap technique can be applied to question and answer
practice. If you ask the pupils to give answers based on their own experience (e.g. about their
likes or dislikes) there is a natural information gap as the questioner probably does not know
the answer. For other types of material the information gap may be supplied by the teacher.
Example
Pupils A and B have the same account of the life of Jim Walter, but each account has
different pieces of information blanked out. The target structures are Past Tense Simple and
wh- question forms. The level of study is elementary.

Pupil A Pupil B
15th May 19, Jim Walter 15th May 1970, Jim Walter
was born in , Great Britain. was born in Brighton, .
1977: He started school 19: He started school.
1999: He married Ella Burns. 1999: He married, etc.
Pupils A has to ask: Pupil B has to ask:
What year was Jim Walter born? When did he start school?
Where was he born?, etc. Who did he marry in 1999?, etc.
Existing materials can be easily adapted to make information gap material, by typing
out the material with gaps included.
e) Imposed dialogues. At a low level, an imposed dialogue may be used as a way of
giving very controlled practice. Here is a basic procedure for such a dialogue:
a) Establish situation and characters, then use listening drill;
b) Organise repetition drill sequence to establish: first line, second line, first +
second lines together, third line, first + second + third lines together, etc., up to maximum six
seven lines. The idea is for the pupils to learn the dialogue by drilling it, so that they are
able to say it to each other in pairs by the end.
Example
The aim of the activity is to practise Could I have, How much? and food vocabulary
(countables and uncountables).
Customer: Good morning.
Shopkeeper: Good morning.
Customer: Could I have five apples please?
Shopkeeper: Certainly, sir.
Customer: How much are they?
Shopkeeper: 10p each, sir. 50 pence please.
Customer: Thank you.
Once the dialogue is established, give each customer three other items to buy and
each shopkeeper three other prices.
How much drilling is advisable and when depends on the level of your pupils and the
nature of the language item (easy vs. difficult). In drilling, the language choice is kept to a
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minimum through the linguistic and situational limits set up by you. In this way the practice of
a particular rule can be focussed on. In controlled activities the primary aim is fluidity, i.e. the
rapid and accurate production of patterns or sentences. Within the limitations on choice,
some creativity and real communication are, however, possible.

Mechanical, meaningful and communicative drills

Many drills provide merely mechanical practice of form, but this is not true of all drills.
A drill is mechanical when the sentence(s) being practised have no context and the prompts
that generate the manipulations of form are provided at random either by the teacher or the
material (as in repetition, substitution and transformation drills). Such practice is useful in
promoting fluidity.
Meaningful drills provide both context, and the mechanical manipulation necessary
for accurate fluidity. Although designed for paired practice, they are not truly communicative

Why cannot meaningful drills be considered communicative?

Communicative drills, combine the mechanical practice and context principles, but
also add the information gap principle.
Meaningful and communicative drills and imposed dialogues can promote
reinforcement of meaning.
Controlled practice and pair work
Though many controlled practice activities are usually done with you as focus, most
can be extended into pairs practice to increase the amount of practice each individual pupil
gets. It may be necessary to demonstrate the activity in open pairs (i.e. across the class)
before letting pupils practise in closed pairs. This is particularly true of information gap
activities.
Personalisation of controlled practice activities
Even at the controlled stage of the lesson, you may allow your pupils some
opportunity to experiment with the language more freely and creatively. You may ask them,
for instance, to add their own examples at any stage in the controlled practice.
It is also common practice to include a personalisation stage towards the end of the
initial presentation stage, where the pupils relate the language they are learning to their own
lives and experience. For instance, if they have been working on there is / there are in the
context of rooms and furniture, they may at this stage describe their own rooms. Or; if the
structure is used to do they can talk about their childhood, education, former habits, etc.
Some structures, however, may be difficult to personalise. At the personalisation stage the
activity is usually quite short so as not to demand too much of the pupils.

Principles of controlled oral practice

Controlled oral practice is essential. Controlled refers to the control and limitation on
the range of language choice open to the pupils while practising, and not to the degree of
authority you impose on the class. It promotes fluidity with sounds and sound sequences,
with rhythm and intonation. It can also promote fluidity with stock phrases (e.g. How do you
do?, Do you mind if I...).
Controlled oral practice activities allow the pupils to experiment with a language
structure within a limited range of choice. At the same time, they give you the chance to
provide correction on grammar and phonology.

Anca Cehan 7
 Correction in controlled practice activities
As an alternative to you always giving the corrected model, other pupils in the class
can be called upon to give the correct version as a model. However, correction during this
stage has to be mediated through you.

What advice would you give your friend about how to organise
correction during the language presentation stage of the lesson?

Controlled practice and communicative language teaching

Drills are lively and snappy if done with vitality, technical precision, and humour. They
are good for varying pace and practising quick pronunciation or form. Pupils like drills
because they are safe, i.e. they have little chance of making mistakes. Drills, however, can
be predictable, mechanical and unnatural.
The preoccupation with communicative teaching has made some teachers believe
that the communicative activities equip the pupils with the chosen language item(s), which
can be internalised more efficiently in communicative activities. This assumption has led to a
rejection of controlled practice activities. However, the pupils need opportunities for controlled
practice, followed up with further semi-controlled practice in later lessons.

4.2.2 Less Controlled Practice

The aim of less controlled practice activities is to offer either more pronunciation
practice or more practice of recently learned language. They provide context to reinforce the
meaning of recently learned language or in making linguistic choices. Thus the pupils may
become more linguistically independent.
Though some part of these activities will be teacher-centred (e.g. setting it up, drilling
for intonation, etc.) pair work is likely to play a great part in this stage of the lesson.
Correction in less controlled practice activities
Correction will still be necessary for target items, but your pupils may now be able to
correct each other to a large extent. You will still be needed for some correction (e.g.
intonation, pronunciation of lexical items not included in the controlled stages) and as a
resource for the language needed by individual pupils or groups.
Adapting controlled practice activities for less controlled practice
A number of activities used for controlled practice may be adapted for less controlled
practice. For example, an information gap may be based on a jigsaw reading. Thus it will
provide pupils with the opportunity to use target items in new contexts.
Similarly, dialogues may be handled in a less controlled way. Instead of using an
imposed dialogue, you may use a) a cued dialogue, b) a completion dialogue or c) an elicited
dialogue. These activities can be used to revise and consolidate structures, vocabulary, or
functional exponents, to give pupils an opportunity to practise making linguistic choices, to
help them assimilate new language into their existing pool or to develop their use of rhythm
and intonation.
Examples
a) Cued dialogues will be acted out.
Pupil A Pupil B
You meet B in the street You meet A in the street
Greet B Greet A
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 Ask B where he is going Say you are going for a walk
Suggest somewhere to go Reject As suggestion. Make a
together different suggestion.
Accept Bs suggestion Express pleasure
(after W. Littlewood Communicative Language Teaching, CUP)

b) In a completion dialogue activity, half the pupils get one part of the dialogue,
the other half get the other part. In pairs or groups the pupils work out possible responses.
Then they re-form in new pairs so that the two roles interlock, and they read out the
utterances they have devised. The original prompt dialogues are set aside during this
interlock session. The ensuing dialogue is usually coherent and the pupils intrigued by their
own ingenuity.
Pupil A Pupil B
Two sisters one has just arrived Two sisters - one has just arrived
home and looks ill. home and looks ill.
Jenny: You look awful Sue! Jenny:
Sue: ..!
. Sue: I feel awful.
Jenny: What on earths the Jenny:
matter? ?
Sue: Sue: Ive got a dreadful stomach-
ache.
Jenny: Have you eaten anything Jenny:
unusual? .?
Sue:
. Sue: No, nothing special, only that
Chinese meal last night.
Jenny: Thats probably what Jenny:
caused it. You should go and lie
down.
Sue: Sue: Yes, I think youre right, I will.

c) An elicited dialogue is usually based on blackboard drawings, pictures, or
mime. The length of the dialogue will depend on the pupils level. Be prepared to allow for
slight variations in each line if your pupils offer appropriate alternatives during the eliciting
phase.
Set scene and characters, pre-teach essential vocabulary, then give first prompt (e.g.
mime, picture, drawing) and ask What does he say? Select one of the pupils offers, elicit any
necessary correction, have it repeated, and then standardise it yourself for pronunciation,
rhythm and intonation. Give the pupils individual practice and correction. Move on and give
prompt for second line, asking And what does she say? Elicit, correct, standardise, and
practise. Now there are two lines, so give the pupils open pair practice. Elicit third line,
following the same procedure, leading again to open pair practice of all three lines. Elicit
fourth, fifth lines, etc. and use the same procedure, until the entire dialogue has been elicited
and practised. Finally, the pupils go into closed pairs to practise the dialogue and finish by
acting it out in front of the class.

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 A: Good afternoon. Id like a double room please.
B: Yes sir. Would you like a bath and colour television?
A: Yes, please.
B: Would you like breakfast in your room tomorrow morning?
A: No, thank you. How much is it going to cost?
B: Er ... 50 sir.
A: etc.
Example
Use a drawing or a picture as a prompt: man and woman at hotel counter. Say :This
is Mr. OConnor. Where is he? And whos this? Point to the pupils and gesture two fingers.
Ask: What does Mr. OConnor say to hotel receptionist? Possible elicitations from pupils:
a. Hello, I can find here a room for two persons?
b. Excuse me, have you in this hotel a double room?
c. Good evening I want a room for two people.
Choose one elicitation and mould it by prompts or gestures until it is linguistically and
sociolinguistically correct. This is then used as the model and it is drilled. The other lines are
prompted and elicited in a similar way.
Narrative building
Elicited narratives can be used to revise and consolidate structures or vocabulary.
They give the pupils an opportunity to practise making choices, to practise continuous
speaking, or to help them assimilate new language into their existing pool of language. There
are two types of elicited narratives: i) blackboard drawings, pictures, or sounds, and ii) mime
stories.
i) Blackboard drawings, pictures, or sounds. Select or draw a series of
pictures and find a story or monologue to fit, containing natural use of structure or
vocabulary. Set scene, characters, time and context. Pre-teach necessary vocabulary.
Display first picture on blackboard, prompt, select elicitations, standardise, practise,
recap, and move on. Display second picture on blackboard and repeat the same
procedure. Be careful that link-words are practised too. Finally recap whole story
ensuring linking of sentences.
To exploit group work: a) mix up pictures and ask the pupils to sort them out
themselves; b) leave out the key picture and ask the pupils to supply the missing
element; c) give the pupils random flash cards which they have to sequence; d) give a
written story or joke chopped up and ask them to reconstruct it.
ii) Mime stories. Develop a set of clear instruction gestures. Use a
mimeable story containing natural use of structure or vocabulary. Establish instructions
and check if the pupils have understood. Pre-teach vocabulary if necessary. Set
scene, characters and time context clearly. Mime each stage clearly - elicit, select,
standardise, practise, recap, move on to next mime. Follow the same procedure. Make
sure sentences are linked naturally. Recap whole story, ensuring sentence linking
where necessary and involving as many pupils as possible.

What activities would you use as follow-up for narratives?

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 Even less controlled narrative building
Pupils need practice in other aspects of monologues, and in particular in discourse
linking and in different discourse types, e.g. joke telling, explanations, instructions, directions,
relating events, or telling anecdotes.
Narrative building of this type is a pre-communicative activity. It helps the pupils to
cope with problems of tackling monologues, but it is not a natural or authentic activity, as we
seldom tell stories or relate events from pictures.
Think of a situation where the pupils may recount an event naturally, e.g. going to a
police station to report something, reporting something to a newspaperman, or giving
reasons for being late for school. Feed in narrative devices, such as Youll never guess what
happened next! or Do you know what happened next? plus responses: No, what? or
Really? Leave the story open-ended for the pupils to carry on in groups or for homework.
What advice would you give a friend who is going to use a narrative in
the lesson?

Games
Language games are an ideal activity for providing semi-controlled practice, as the
nature of the game tends to restrict the actual language used. Some games are so limited in
the language they require that they can be used for controlled practice e.g. Spot the invisible
fly, where you choose the location of the fly and the pupils guess, asking Is it on my nose /
in your bag / under the table? etc. The winning pupil chooses the next location.
Most games, however, allow for some choice in the language used. Playing the game
may lead naturally to the use of language items the pupils have not come across in other
classroom activities, but which may be useful to them in other circumstances. These phrases
may be pre-taught, or taught as they crop up in the game. (Pupils often, for example, want to
know the verb to cheat or the phrase Its your turn, etc.)
Depending on the way you set up the activity, some games may be adapted to
provide freer practice.
Example Alibi
Two pupils are accused of a crime that took place within a fixed period of several
hours the day before. They go out of the room and plot their joint alibi, while the police who
remain in the classroom prepare questions to ask them. The suspects are then questioned
one at a time and the police try to break their alibi. If you prompt, help or correct in the
preparation stage, the activity is semi-controlled. If, however, the class are left to their own
devices, the game allows for freer practice, as they can ask any questions they want.

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 4.2.3 Freer Practice
The aims of these activities can be to increase the pupils ability to deal with the
unpredictable, to give them maximum opportunity for self-expression, for the exploitation of
their language resources and for the practice of their communicative skills. They encourage
pupils independence and risk-taking rather than risk-avoiding strategies. They give them
more practice in making linguistically and socially appropriate choices. Your role in such
activities is of advisor, facilitator, monitor, or guide.
At the freer stage, the pupils choice of language is not directly prompted by you.
The activities are likely to lead naturally to the production of the target language. However,
some teachers like to preface the activity with instructions like Try to use the language we
have been practising or Try to use the Past Perfect, etc. In general, the success or
otherwise of a free practice activity depends on how far the pupils get into the activity, and
this basically depends on a few factors.

What are, in your opinion, the factors that will determine the success of
a freer practice activity?

While many of the practice activities can be adapted for freer practice, certain
activities are particularly suited to this stage of the lesson.
a) Information gaps. If, for example, you are working on reported speech, you
might base your work on a jigsaw reading or listening. The pupils, in groups, could listen to a
number of candidates (no more than three) being interviewed for the same job and would
then re-group to choose the successful applicant. At this stage it would be natural for them to
use reported speech to pool their information. Similarly, the groups could read statements
made by witnesses of an accident (or suspects for a crime, etc.) and after re-grouping they
would decide who was responsible.
b) Problem solving. Information-gap activities involve the pupils in making a
decision. Thus their free speaking has a definite aim, and they have a task to complete. This
motivating principle can also be exploited in specific problem-solving activities.
Examples
i) Tell the class Theres a dead man in the middle of a road with a pack on
his back. The class must find out what happened from you, but you can only answer
Yes or No. Thus the class will get a lot of practice in asking past simple questions.
[Answer: his parachute didnt open].
ii) Survival problems. From a list of 20 items, the pupils choose six which
would help ensure their survival on a desert island or on the moon. If treated as
hypothetical questions, these will lead naturally to practising the Conditional II. If on
the other hand, the pupils are on a sinking ship, the Conditional I or will for
spontaneous decisions is more likely to occur.
c) Games. Though most games, by their very nature, imply some measure of
control, they may well allow the pupils a wide choice of language and may be very
appropriate as free stage activities. Alibi for example can easily be set up as a freer practice
of past tenses.
d) Discussions. A discussion will offer your pupils free practice in the language of
agreeing or disagreeing, but discussion topics can be chosen to lead naturally to a variety of
other language areas. Thus a discussion of the future of the world ecological problems is

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likely to involve future tenses, and Conditionals I and II. A discussion of the merits and
importance of past discoveries and inventions will lead to the use of the Conditional III.
These examples are more suitable for higher level pupils. For lower levels discussion
topics need to be carefully chosen to ensure that the pupils have sufficient language at their
disposal to express their views. Discussion is possible however with quite early levels if the
topic is geared to pupils personal knowledge and the vocabulary required is not too complex.
Discussions on different cultural customs, celebrations and common superstitions can prove
fruitful at quite early levels.
Some discussions may involve an element of role-play. The classic example is the
balloon debate where the members of the class represent famous people (or jobs /
professions) trapped in a balloon (or rocket or nuclear shelter) where resources will only
allow one to survive, so each must justify their own existence and talk the class round to
choosing them.

What is the difference between a role-play and a simulation?

e) Role plays. A role-play is a drama-like classroom activity in which pupils take

on the role of different participants in a situation and act it out. For instance, they may play a
waiter or shop assistant and they may be involved in developing an actual character or
attitude.
f) Simulations are classroom activities that reproduce or simulate real situations
in which the pupils have various tasks or problems to solve. This often involves group
discussion and some dramatisation. They can extend over a period of several days and may
also incorporate reading, listening and writing skills as well as speaking. As with role-plays,
the pupils may or may not be required to take on a new persona.
Both role-plays and simulations may be chosen to promote the use of particular
language points, of differences in style and register.
Setting up the activity carefully is crucial to the success of any freer activity. In role-
play and discussions it is unlikely that all stages would be accomplished in one lesson. Here
are some tips:
1. Input: give input, informational or linguistic, checking use and understanding
2. Materials: choose them carefully to ensure relevance, interest, and motivation
3. Instructions: make them clear and simple.
4. Roles: give appropriate roles to the pupils, taking care not to give dominant
roles to either quiet or dominant pupils
5. Preparation time: allow your pupils the time to think, prepare, formulate
language and ideas (in groups or individually, in class or at home)
6. Class management: plan the use of props and the seating. Your role will be in
the background (monitoring, advising or participating as a peer)
7. Learners language: make notes of mistakes, and use them as a basis of future
remedial work.
8. Feedback: organise remedial work, use written consolidation, a summary of
topic points, and a summary of language points.

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 What kinds of questions do you need to ask yourself when using
discussions, role-plays and simulations?

Freer practice and correction

The aim at this stage is for the pupils to produce language naturally and fluently.
Once the activity is under way you will intervene as little as possible, generally only if
communication breaks down entirely. Feedback on language performance will be given after
the activity has been completed and is based on your notes, made while monitoring.
Unobtrusive correction or help with language may sometimes be supplied during the activity,
perhaps by passing the pupil concerned a note.

4.3 Speaking for Fluency

We have looked at speaking mainly as a way of providing practice in producing

specific language items. We also need to consider how speaking practice in class can help
prepare the pupils for communicating naturally in real life.
One may speak fluently and easily and yet not necessarily be able to communicate
effectively in all situations. It is important therefore to choose the activities very carefully so
that you give your pupils sufficient practice in the kinds of conversations they will need to take
part in real life.
Many kinds of speaking activities involve patterns your pupils will need outside the
classroom. You will need to make the selection and ensure the balance. Such patterns are in
operation in both monologues and dialogues. So it will be helpful for you to highlight these
patterns, possibly via a listening text. Also, you will need to highlight the reactions of the
listener (noises, questions, etc.) For instance, you need to teach the language used to give
helpful feedback to someone telling a story. At low levels the reactions taught might be simply
Mm (with appropriate intonation) or Really, while at higher levels a greater range could be
included.
Examples
Tell a story and pause at intervals to encourage your pupils to respond appropriately.
Another option is to give them possible reactions accompanying the script of story: the pupils
in groups will decide which reactions can fit where. Offer such reactions as: Ah, Oh, I see,
Hum! Typical!, Really!, What happened?, Good idea, Oh!, Very wise, Yes, of
course, What?, No, of course not, I know what you mean!, How awful / terrible /
dreadful!, Oh dear, I see!, etc.
For freer practice, your pupils can tell their own stories (prepared as homework) and
others respond or encourage them.

4.3.1 Feedback on Communication Activities

Is correction of mistakes in structure or functional exponents an appropriate follow-up
to a fluency activity? This is a question that you will decide in relation to the needs of your
pupils, but a few points are worth considering here:
1. pupils may expect this type of feedback
2. the focus has been on communication, so mistakes may not have interfered
with the pupils successful completion of the task and may therefore be irrelevant
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 3. feedback can be given on how successful communication was
4. where the pupils have struggled to communicate, some help or repair work will
be needed. This could be given in a later lesson rather than as instant feedback.

Summary
Here is a simple framework for integrating practice in communication, offered by
William Littlewood in Communicative Language Teaching:
Structural activities (1)
Pre-communicative activities
Quasi-communicative activities (2)
Functional communication activities (3)
Communicative activities
Social interaction activities (4)
(after William Littlewood, Communicative Language Teaching)

Your pupils will need preparation for communication. The activities geared to the
easy manipulation of structures (e.g. substitution drills) and the practice activities which do
not necessarily involve real communication (e.g. info gaps activities) are bridging activities.
The pupils will then be ready to practice in communicative activities (functional
communication activities and social interaction activities.)
In functional communication activities the pupils are using language for the purpose
of carrying out a task (e.g. solving a problem, reaching a consensus, etc). This type of
communication practice will be complemented by social interaction activities where the pupils
simulate the kind of conversations situations they may be involved in outside the class and
may need to choose appropriate styles, intonation patterns, etc. Role-plays and simulations
are examples of this category.
Littlewood points out that there is no clear dividing line between these different
categories; they represent differences of emphasis rather than distinct divisions. Also, at any
level all four types of activity may be employed but graded in scope and difficulty to the needs
and abilities of the pupils.

Key Concepts

communication
controlled practice
less controlled practice
freer practice
accuracy
fluency

Further Reading

1. Harmer J., 2001, The Practice of English Language Teaching, Longman

2. Littlewood W. 1981, Communicative Language Teaching, CUP

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