З.В.Сабагинова
ЯНАО Ямальский р-н с.Яр-Сале
МБОУ «Ямальская школа-интернат»
Speaking is one thing that we cannot do alone.So we should practice as much as possible where there are people to speak to.As far as we know nobody will create English speaking environment for us unless we do it for ourselves.We should choose a partner or a friend with who we can practice speaking English every day. Now let's face the problems during the speaking:
* fear of being laughed at
* lack of vocabulary
* grammar mistakes
* pronunciation
One way to tackle this problem is to find the root of the problem and start from there. If the problem is cultural, it is unusual for students to talk out loud in class, or if students feel really shy about talking in front of other students then one way to go about breaking this cultural barrier is to create and establish your own classroom culture where speaking out loud in English is the norm. To do this is to distinguish your classroom from other classrooms in your school by arranging the classroom desks differently, in groups instead of lines etc. or by decorating the walls in English language and culture posters. From one day teach your students classroom language and keep on teaching it and encourage your students to ask for things and to ask questions in English. Giving positive feedback also helps to encourage and relax shy students to speak more.
A completely different reason for student silence may simply be that the class activities are boring or pitched at the wrong level. So maybe you need to take a closer look at the type of speaking activities you are using and see if they really capture student interest and create a real need for communication.
Another way to encourage your students to speak in English is simply to speak in English yourself as much as possible in class. If you are shy about speaking in English, how can you expect your students to overcome their fears about speaking English? The more you practice the more you will improve your own oral skills as well as help your students improve theirs. Make sure you give the students all the tools and language they need to be able to complete the task. If the language is pitched too high they may revert to their L1, likewise if the task is too easy they may get bored and revert to their L1. Also, be aware of the fact that some students especially beginners, will often use their L1 as an emotional support at first, translating everything word for word to check they have understood the task before attempting to speak. In the case of these students simply be patient as most likely once their confidence grows in using English their dependence on using their L1 will begin to disappear.
The timing of a speaking activity in a class can be crucial sometimes. After break-time, why not try giving students an activity to calm them down and make them focus before attempting speaking activities that involve groups or pair work. Another way to discourage students speaking in their L1 is to walk around the classroom monitoring their participation and giving support and help to students as they need it. Explain to them the importance of speaking English and ask them why they don't feel comfortable speaking English in the class. Maybe they just need some extra reassurance or they don't like working with certain students or there is some other problem that you can help them to resolve.
Sometimes when all the students speak together it gets too noisy and out of hand and you lose control of the classroom. A classroom full of students talking and interacting in English, even if it is noisy, is exactly what you want. Maybe you just feel like you are losing control because the class is suddenly student centered and not teacher centered. This is an important issue to consider. Learner-centered classrooms where learners do the talking in groups and learners have to take responsibility for using communicative resources to complete a task are shown to be more conducive to language learning than teacher-centered classes (Long & Richards 1987). Once the students have calmed down you can return to the original or another interactive group activity.
References:
1. Long M.H & Richards, J.C. (1987). Methodology in TESOL. USA: Heinle&Heinle.
2. Nunan. D. (1991) Language Teaching Methodology. UK: Prentice Hall International (Chapter two & three)
3. Tanner .R. & Green.C.(1998) Tasks for teacher education. UK. Addisson Wesley Longman. Ltd.
4. Notes from own experience. Sabaginova Z.V. Yamalskаyа boarding school.
5. http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk
