Polytechnic University of the Philippines

College of Arts and Letters

A. Mabini Campus, Anonas St., Sta. Mesa Manila, Philippines

Strategies for facilitating English learners

listening comprehension and speaking skills
across the curriculum
Prepared By:
DELCO, Blessie Joy Delco

Course/ Year and Section:

AB English 4-3

Prof. Xavier Aquino Velasco

Speaking Skills
In today's teaching climate, it's easy to forget
the importance of oral language, or speaking
and listening skills. With all the focus on
reading and writing, sometimes teachers
neglect this more basic aspect of language!
Yet students need to learn speaking skills and
have opportunities to practice making their
voices heard in a safe and constructive
environment.
 Skilled speakers can effectively present their
own points of view.
Skilled speakers are often better readers and
writers.
Skilled speakers are more confident
participants in a variety of contexts - both in
and out of school.
Skilled speakers are able to advocate for
themselves and get their academic and
emotional needs met.
Which Skills Matter?
One of the reasons teachers might feel hesitant about teaching
speaking skills is that it can feel overwhelming. Oral language is
complex, and in order to teach it properly, we need to deconstruct
it into separate skills. The following skills are important to consider
when working on speech with students:
Mechanical Skills
Students need to learn how to project, or speak at the right volume
for their audience to hear them. They need to learn how to use
intonation to express mood and how to pronounce words properly.
They must also learn how to pace their spoken language so that
they are neither too fast nor too slow to be understood.
Organizational Skills
Just as students must learn to organize their writing, they must
learn how to organize, or structure in a meaningful way, their oral
language. This means talking in logical sequence, stating thoughts in
an order that makes sense, and making sure the spoken word is
relevant to the topic of conversation.
 Expressive Skills
One of the most important aspects of speaking
is expression, or the ability to effectively
communicate ideas and feelings. Students must
learn how to say what is on their mind or make
oral arguments that get their points across.
Pragmatic Skills
Finally, students who are learning speaking skills
must gain experience with pragmatics, or the
aspect of language that has to do with social
norms and the rules of conversations. Students
need practice taking turns in conversation,
making eye contact while speaking, and
responding appropriately during dialogues.
Collaboration and Conversation

One strategy is collaboration and conversation. By

putting students in small groups or partnerships and
giving them pre-selected topics to discuss, scripts to
practice together, or questions to work on answering,
you give them a chance to listen to one another and
put their oral language skills to use. Being an effective
conversation partner involves all of the skills of
language, but students might need help getting
started, keeping a conversation going, and reflecting on
what did or did not go well in a spoken conversation.
Conversation is especially useful for students who need
to practice their expressive and pragmatic skills.
Strategies for Developing Speaking
Skills
Students often think that the ability to speak a
language is the product of language learning, but
speaking is also a crucial part of the language
learning process. Effective instructors teach
students speaking strategies -- using minimal
responses, recognizing scripts, and using
language to talk about language -- that they can
use to help themselves expand their knowledge
of the language and their confidence in using it.
These instructors help students learn to speak so
that the students can use speaking to learn.
 1. Using minimal responses
Language learners who lack confidence in their ability
to participate successfully in oral interaction often
listen in silence while others do the talking. One way to
encourage such learners to begin to participate is to
help them build up a stock of minimal responses that
they can use in different types of exchanges. Such
responses can be especially useful for beginners.
Minimal responses are predictable, often idiomatic
phrases that conversation participants use to indicate
understanding, agreement, doubt, and other responses
to what another speaker is saying. Having a stock of
such responses enables a learner to focus on what the
other participant is saying, without having to
simultaneously plan a response.
2. Recognizing scripts
Some communication situations are associated with a
predictable set of spoken exchanges -- a script. Greetings,
apologies, compliments, invitations, and other functions
that are influenced by social and cultural norms often
follow patterns or scripts. So do the transactional
exchanges involved in activities such as obtaining
information and making a purchase. In these scripts, the
relationship between a speaker's turn and the one that
follows it can often be anticipated.
Instructors can help students develop speaking ability by
making them aware of the scripts for different situations so
that they can predict what they will hear and what they will
need to say in response. Through interactive activities,
instructors can give students practice in managing and
varying the language that different scripts contain.
3. Using language to talk about
language
Language learners are often too embarrassed or shy to say anything
when they do not understand another speaker or when they realize
that a conversation partner has not understood them. Instructors
can help students overcome this reticence by assuring them that
misunderstanding and the need for clarification can occur in any
type of interaction, whatever the participants' language skill levels.
Instructors can also give students strategies and phrases to use for
clarification and comprehension check.
By encouraging students to use clarification phrases in class when
misunderstanding occurs, and by responding positively when they
do, instructors can create an authentic practice environment within
the classroom itself. As they develop control of various clarification
strategies, students will gain confidence in their ability to manage
the various communication situations that they may encounter
outside the classroom.
Some more strategies to help learners
Model language by saying aloud and writing the
ideas and concepts youre teaching.
Model what a fluent reader sounds like through
focused read-alouds.
Be explicit. Give each activity you do a name, the
simplest and most accurate name that you can,
and then repeat the activity, so students can
learn the verbal and written cues and procedures.
Tell students what they are learning about each
day and whether they will be reading, writing,
listening, or speaking.
 Make expectations clear for behavior, written
assignments, independent practice, and group
work. Write key expectations on a chart and keep
the chart posted for reference.Use a rubric
whenever possible to help students evaluate their
behavior and work.
Have students retell stories aloud. Record their
retellings in their own words to create a language
experience chart that can be used for future
reading and writing lessons with this group.
Teach choral speaking and reading (poetry may
be the most accessible format with which to
begin).
 Sing or read songs. Children can bring in a favorite song
to perform alone or as a group, but make sure you
have heard the song first and can approve it.
Have students read and perform Readers Theater
scripts.
Practice dictation, especially for learning spelling. Allow
students to take turns dictating, too. Use full sentences
for contextualizing the spelling words.
Experiment with speaking and writing in different
tenses and using different types of expressive
language. For example, say the same word or phrase
using a tone that is happy, sad, angry, and so forth. Use
facial expressionsa smile, frown, or quizzical lookto
embed more meaning in your speech. For beginners,
hold up picture cards showing expressive faces and
have them act out these expressions.
 Explain by showing, not just telling. Act it out if you
have to or use visual tools such as sketches and
diagrams or actual objects.
Correct content, not grammar. To model proper
grammar and syntax, restate or rephrase students
questions or statements. You can do this in writing too.
Dont assume that students truly understand the
subject being discussed just because they are nodding
and even answering your questions. Monitor what you
say to make sure that they understand. When in doubt,
ask the class to restate the directions youve given or
the ideas youve presented.
Ask students to give multiple meanings of a particular
word or tell whether it can be labeled a verb or a noun.
This will help students sharpen their grammar skills
and place ideas in the context of your discussion.