Can I have my students speak in English?
One of my current concerns about language learning is the extent to my students produce oral language at the end of the school year. At the more basic level I have my students repeat a set of expressions (drills) so they, in a way, master the pronunciation and are confident to participate in controlled speaking activities. I also have my students to use written language as a support to speak in English. However I know that this type of activities just address a small area of speaking skills and are not student-centered.
In the last two days, in Matthew's class we talked about speaking macro and micro skills, types of classroom speaking performance and its principles. I had the opportunity to observe several learner-centered activities to develop speaking skills, what I noticed is that most of these activities were aligned with the communicative method. An activity that caught my attention was the one when we were asked to make an appointment with different profesionalist (jobs). I would like to apply this activity with my students because it is similar to a rel life task. However I am worried about the fact that my students are not motivated to participate due to their lack of vocabulary, low confidence on using the language and different levels of English. One solution that I can suggest to overcome this challenge is the use of "formulaic language". What I mean by formulaic language is the set of pre-established expressions that can be recalled from the mind easily, for instance: What kind of_______? Could you, __________? I am available on ____________. It is said that formulaic language helps learners of L2 to keep a conversation going,it gives them time to think about what to say next and increases their confidence using the language.
I am really interested in the use of formulaic to develop fluency in speaking, however I am curious about the challenges it represents when it comes to the development of classroom speaking activities such as the ones we did in Matthew's class.
In the last two days, in Matthew's class we talked about speaking macro and micro skills, types of classroom speaking performance and its principles. I had the opportunity to observe several learner-centered activities to develop speaking skills, what I noticed is that most of these activities were aligned with the communicative method. An activity that caught my attention was the one when we were asked to make an appointment with different profesionalist (jobs). I would like to apply this activity with my students because it is similar to a rel life task. However I am worried about the fact that my students are not motivated to participate due to their lack of vocabulary, low confidence on using the language and different levels of English. One solution that I can suggest to overcome this challenge is the use of "formulaic language". What I mean by formulaic language is the set of pre-established expressions that can be recalled from the mind easily, for instance: What kind of_______? Could you, __________? I am available on ____________. It is said that formulaic language helps learners of L2 to keep a conversation going,it gives them time to think about what to say next and increases their confidence using the language.
I am really interested in the use of formulaic to develop fluency in speaking, however I am curious about the challenges it represents when it comes to the development of classroom speaking activities such as the ones we did in Matthew's class.
I think we are saying the same things. That is, you are saying that you think you should first teach X, Y, and Z expressions to aid the Ss during the activity. Although I didn't mention the word "formulaic", that's one of the meanings when I said that we need to be sure that we've equipped Ss to be successful in the activity. Before doing any activity like that specific info gap activity, we MUST make sure Ss have the necessary vocabulary, grammar, and knowledge (included set expressions) to complete the activity.
ResponderEliminarIn short, yes. What you describe is one way to help students move from low-level knowledge to mastery.