6. Extensive (monologue) Finally, students at intermediate to advanced levels are called on to give extended monologues in the form of oral reports, summaries, or perhaps short speeches. Here the register is more formal and deliberative. These monologues can be planned or impromptu.
Principles for Designing Speaking Techniques 1. Techniques should cover the spectrum of learner needs, from language-based focus on accuracy to message-based focus on interaction, meaning, and fluency.
2. Techniques should be intrinsically motivating.
3. Techniques should encourage the use of authentic language in meaningful contexts.
4. Provide appropriate feedback and correction.
5. Capitalize on the natural link between speaking and listening.
6. Give students opportunities to initiate oral communication.
7. Encourage the development of speaking strategies.
8. Interactive techniques
9. Individual practice: Oral dialogue journals
LECTURE 8. ORAL LANGUAGE AS AN AIM AND MEANS OF TEACHING. Plan: Oral language as an aim and a means of teaching.
2. Pre- communicative activities
3. Communicative activities
4. How communicative are different classroom activities? Language came into life as a means of communication. It exists and is alive only through speech. When we speak about teaching a foreign language, we first of all have in mind teaching it as a means of communication. Speech is a bilateral process. It includes hearing, on the one hand, and speaking , on the other. When we say “hearing” we mean auding or listening and comprehension.
Speaking exists in two forms: dialogue and monologue. We may represent it as follows:
hearing
Oral language
speaking dialogue
monologue
The syllabus requirements for oral language are as follows:
to understand the language spoken;
t o carry on a conversation and to speak a foreign language within the topics and linguistic material the syllabus sets.
This is a practical aim in teaching oral language. But oral language is not only an aim in itself, it is also a mighty means of foreign language instruction. It is a means of presenting linguistic material: sounds, words, and grammar items. It is also a means of practicing sentence patterns and vocabulary assimilation. Finally it is used for developing pronunciation habits and skills and, therefore, for reading and writing since they are closely connected with pupils’ ability to pronounce correctly what they read and write. Thus speaking is the most important part of the work during the lesson.
Oral language is a means of testing pupils’ comprehension when they hear or read a text.
Consequently oral language is:
An aim when pupils make use of the target language as a means of communication, i.e. the target language is used for
Teacher –Pupils communication in the classroom;
Pupils’ communication when talking on a topic under Teacher’s supervision;
Pupils’ communication when working at a text – discussing the problems touched in it;
Pupils’ communication during out-of-class activities in the target language;
A means of teaching and learning a foreign language when it is used (1) within the methods of acquisition of new information about a linguistic or language phenomenon and drill and transformation to form pronunciation, lexical, grammar, etc. habits in pupils; (2) for checking pupil’s comprehension.