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 Understanding Speaking

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Join date : 2009-09-23
Age : 49
Location : Changwon, Korea / Ottawa, Canada

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PostSubject: Understanding Speaking   Understanding Speaking I_icon_minitimeSat Oct 10, 2009 2:45 pm

3) Discover: Examine two different textbooks and rank exercises from least to most meaningful. Explain your ranking in a brief report.
  • Examine speaking exercises in two textbooks from different levels.

  • Choose approximately 4-5 speaking exercises from both and rank them from most to least meaningful, according to the criteria discussed in the lesson.

  • In a brief report, describe each exercise and explain the reasons for your ranking.
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PostSubject: Understanding Speaking Essay   Understanding Speaking I_icon_minitimeTue Oct 13, 2009 8:30 am

There are a number of EFL/ESL textbooks available in bookstores and choosing the right one may not be as simple as plucking a book from a shelf. Most coursebooks have an arrangement of activities aimed at improving language learning areas such as listening, writing, speaking and reading. In this report, I analyze 8 speaking tasks from two textbooks, four from each, I use with my young learners: English Land 5 and Boost! Speaking1. Each activity is rated from least to most meaningful according to criteria presented in the module “Understanding Speaking”. An important note regarding the analysis of these activities; they are analyzed on how they are presented in the coursebook and not on how the teacher can modify the activities in order to make them meaningful.

English Land 5 presents and array of speaking tasks per unit. I will focus on the speaking activities presented in the first unit of the book. In this unit the key vocabulary centers on hobbies and the key unit language (or grammar focus) are ‘Do you like (hobby)? Yes, I do. / No, I don’t’, and ‘I’m good at (hobby). Are you good at (hobby)? Yes, I am. / No I’m not.’

The first speaking task is a ‘Listen and Say’ activity in which a boy and a girl have a brief exchange. Some key vocabulary and language function from the unit are presented. I would place this activity as meaningful because it presents socially acceptable language, it promotes language functions such as suggestions and agreements and it introduces language chunks “Do you want to do something?” which the learner can internalize and personalize. On the other hand, the activity does not encourage interaction, active listening, and does not promote different registers.

‘Write. Then practice.’ is the second speaking activity to be analyzed. In this activity, learners are required to fill out a few blanks with a hobby of their choice. Then they are asked to question their partner by formulating questions using ‘Do you like (hobby)?’ or ‘Does he/she like (hobby)?’, and respond with ‘Yes, I do. No, I don’t.’ I would rate this activity as meaningless. The only criterion the activity fulfills is that of requiring the participants to actively listen in order to correctly answer the question and even this criterion can be circumvented because the words formulating the questions are in the textbook. I do not believe the activity is promoting or presenting socially acceptable language, language functions, ‘real’ interaction (there is no dialogue), expressions commonly spoken rather than written and most importantly the activity does not require the learner to adapt and personalize the questions.

‘Listen and read. Then read and write. Role-play.’ is the third speaking activity to be ranked according to their usefulness in developing speaking skill. This activity requires the learner to listen to a short skit in which a unit language function is put into evidence. They are then asked to read it. I believe this to be a personal reading because the learners are asked to role-play the skit. Following they are asked to answer some reading comprehension questions. These questions focus on the key unit language. Finally, they are asked to role-play the skit. I would rank this activity as a little meaningful. The learners need to be listening in order to speak in turn, however they are not asked to adapt the skit in order to make it fit their reality, therefore the listening is not very active. Moreover, even though the skit presents socially acceptable language, the use of contractions and short responses, it does not present any language functions, and it does not take into account pronunciation.

‘Talk about your week.’ is the last speaking activity to be ranked. This speaking activity requires learners to orally respond to the question: What activities do you have after school? This activity could be very meaningful; however like all of the previous activities in the book there is a sample response provided on the previous page which does not encourage the learners to develop their responses. Furthermore, the example does not reinforce any of the unit’s key language. The activity does not promote interaction, yet there is room for the learner to use socially acceptable language, to personalize his/her response, to take into account register and to use expressions which are more commonly spoken than written. Other than failing on the interactive front, the activity does not require active listening, and the use of any language functions. For those reasons, I would rank this activity as being a little meaningful.

Boost! Speaking 1 is a speaking coursebook, therefore it should comes as no surprise that there is an abundance of speaking activities. As with English Land 5, I will focus solely on the first unit: Introductions. Whereas English Land focuses on key vocabulary and unit language (grammar focus), Boost! Speaking focuses on skills which means the activities are meant to improve the learners speaking ability.

The first activity is titled ‘Speaking Practice’. This activity presents four sentences that are related to introductions. In each sentence there is a word or group of words that is of different color from the main text. These words are to be replaced with other words provided. The learners are asked to listen and repeat and then pair up and take turns in saying each sentence aloud. The activity would rank a little meaningful because it presents socially acceptable language, it shows the learner where the language can be adapted, and it provides expressions more commonly spoken than written. To be ranked higher it would have to promote interaction, active listening, some sort of functional language and a chance for the learners to personalize the language.

The second activity is twofold. The learners must pair up, and prepare a dialogue introducing each other. Then they must present it to the class. This activity is considered very meaningful. The activity gives the learners a chance to interact with each other, during the creation of the dialogue, to use socially acceptable language, to adapt, internalize and personalize the language they have learned, to use spoken expressions, and to listen actively. Even though the learners may be reading their dialogue to their classmates, the creative process must be taken into account.

‘Pronunciation focus’ is the next speaking activity to be analyzed. This ‘Listen and repeat’ activity is divided into three sections: ‘Sounds’, ‘Words’, ‘Sentences’. In the Sounds section learners are asked to listen and repeat Sounds, in the Words section the focus is on syllable stress and in the Sentences section the focus is on word stress. The emphasis of the activity is pronunciation and stress and for this I can comfortably say that the activity fulfills the requirement of promoting pronunciation. This is, however, the only criterion the activity fulfills which I would qualify it as a little meaningful. One must remember that if words are not pronounced clearly or sentences not stress appropriately communication can be hindered.

The last speaking activity provided in the unit is called the ‘Integration’. In this activity learners are asked to answer 3 questions and then asked two other classmates for their answers. Once the answers gathered the learner presents the information to the class. Out of the 8 activities I have looked at, this is the only one that would rank highly meaningful. It encourages interaction, it requires active listening, it permits the learner to internalize and personalize the information gathered throughout the unit, it takes into account language functions (asking for repetition and/or clarification), and it encourages socially acceptable language (the use of contractions and fillers). A well rounded speaking activity.

As aforementioned in the introduction, all speaking activities were ranked according to the manner they were presented in the textbook. It is important to note that all activities can be highly meaningful with the intervention of the teacher.
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