Methods of teaching speech
— Did you like the
book?
— Yes, I liked it very
much.
2. The use of
contracted forms: doesn't, won't, can't, isn't, etc.
3. The use of some
abbreviations: lab (laboratory), mike (microphone), maths (mathematics), p. m.
(post meridiem), and others.
4. The use of
conversational tags. These are the words a speaker uses when he wishes to speak
without saying anything. Here is both a definition of conversational tags and
an example of their usage in conversation (they are in italics),
"Well, they are those things, you know,
which don't actually mean very much, of course, yet they are in fact
necessary in English conversation as behavior."
Besides, to carry on a
conversation pupils need words, phrases to start a conversation, to join it, to
confirm, to comment, etc. For example, well, look here, I say ..., I’d like
to tell you (for starting a talk); you see, you mean, do you mean to say that
..., and what about (for joining a conversation); / believe so, I hope, yes,
right, quite right, to be sure (for confirming what one says); / think, as far
as I know, as far as I can see, the fact is, to tell the truth, I mean to say
(for commenting), etc.
There is a great variety
of dialogue structures. Here are the principal four:
1. Question — response.
— Hello. What's your
name?
— Ann. What's yours?
— My name is
Williams
2. Question — question.
— Will you help me,
sonny?
— What shall I do,
mother?
— Will you polish
the floor today?
— Is it my turn?
— Yes, it is. Your
brother did it last time.
— Oh, all right,
then.
3. Statement — statement.
— I'd like to know
when he is going to come and see us.
—
That's difficult
to say. He is always promising but never comes.
—
It's because he
is very busy.
—
That's right. He
works hard.
4. Statement — question.
—
I'm going to the
theatre tonight.
—
Where did you get
tickets?
—
My friend got
them somewhere.
—
How did he do it?
—
I don't know.
In school teaching only one structure of dialogue is
usually used, i.e.,
question — response. More than that, pupils' dialogues are artificial and they
lack, as a rule, all the peculiarities mentioned above.
In teaching dialogue in schools it is necessary to take into
account these peculiarities and give pupils pattern dialogues to show what real
dialogues look like.[2]
1.4 Prepared and unprepared speech
Pupils' speech in both
forms may be of two kinds: prepared and unprepared. It is considered prepared
when the pupil has been given time enough to think over its content and form.
He can speak on the subject following the plan made either independently at home
or in class under the teacher's supervision. His speech will be more or less
correct and sufficiently fluent since plenty of preliminary exercises had been
done before.
In schools, however,
pupils often have to speak on a topic when they are not yet prepared for it. As
a result only bright pupils can cope with the task. In such a case the teacher
trying to find a way out 'gives his pupils a text which covers the topic.
Pupils learn and recite it in class. They reproduce the text either in the very
form it was given or slightly transform it. Reciting, though useful and
necessary in language learning, has but little to do with speech since speaking
is a creative activity and is closely connected with thinking, while reciting
has to do only with memory. Of course pupils should memorize words, word
combinations, phrases, sentence patterns, and texts to "accumulate"
the material and still it is only a prerequisite. The main objective of the
learner is to be able to use the linguistic material to express his thoughts.
This is ensured by the pupil's ability to arrange and rearrange in his own way
the material stored up in his memory. Consequently, while assigning homework it
is necessary to distinguish between reciting and speaking so that the pupil
should know what he is expected to do while preparing for the lesson — to
reproduce the text or to compile a text of his own. His answer should be
evaluated differently depending on the task set. If the pupil is to recite a
text, the teacher evaluates the quality of reproduction, i. e., exactness,
intonation and fluency. If the pupil is to speak on a subject, the teacher
evaluates not only the correctness of his speech but his skills in arranging
and rearranging the material learnt, i. e., his ability to make various transformations
within the material he uses while speaking. The teacher should encourage each
pupil to speak on the subject in his own way and thus develop pupils'
initiative and thinking.
The pupil's speech is
considered unprepared when, without any previous preparation, he can do the
following:
— Speak on a subject
suggested by the teacher. For example, winter holidays are over and pupils come
back to school. They are invited to tell the teacher and the class how each of
them spent his holidays. Pupils in turn tell the class where they were, what
they did, whether they had a good time, and so on.
— Speak on the text
read. For example, pupils have read two or three chapters of
"William". The teacher asks a pupil to give its short summary or to
tell the class the contents of the chapters as if the other pupils have not
read them.
— Speak on the text
heard. For example, pupils listened to the text "Great Britain"
(there is a map of Great Britain on the wall). The teacher asks them (in turn)
to come up to the map and speak on Great Britain. While speaking pupils can use
the information they have just received or appeal to their knowledge about
the country.
— Discuss a problem
or problems touched upon in the text read or heard. For example, pupils read
about education in Great Britain. After the teacher makes sure that his pupils
understand the text and have a certain idea of the system of education in Great
Britain, he arranges a discussion on the problem. He asks his pupils to compare
the system of education in Great Britain and in our country. The teacher
stimulates pupils' speech either by questions or through wrong statements.
— Have an interview
with "a foreigner". For example, pupils are studying the topic
"London". The teacher may arrange an interview. One of the pupils is
"a Londoner". The classmates ask him various questions and express
their opinions on the subjects under discussion.
— Help a
"foreigner", for example, to find the way to the main street or
square of the town; or instruct him as to the places of interest in the town.
This may be done directly or with the help of "an interpreter".
There are, of course,
other techniques for stimulating pupils' unprepared speech. The teacher chooses
the techniques most suitable for his pupils since he knows their aptitudes,
their progress in the language, the time he has at his disposal for developing
speaking skills, the concrete material at which pupils are working.
In conclusion it should
be said that prepared and unprepared speech must be developed simultaneously
from the very beginning. The relationship between prepared and unprepared
speech should vary depending on the stage of learning the language. In the
junior stage prepared speech takes the lead, while in the senior stage
unprepared speech should prevail.[6]
1.5 Mistakes and how to correct them
It is natural while
learning a foreign language that pupils make mistakes. They make mistakes in
auding when they misunderstand something in a text. They make mistakes in
speaking when pupils mispronounce a word, violate the order of words in a
sentence, misuse a preposition, an article, use wrong intonation, etc. The
teacher's main aim is to prevent pupils' errors. There is a good rule:
"Correct mistakes before they occur." In other words, careful teaching
results in correct English, i. e., pupils make very few mistakes. However, they
make them, and the problem is how to correct pupils’ errors.
If a pupil misunderstands
something when auding the teacher should do his best to ensure comprehension.
He suggests that the pupil should either listen to the sentence again; if he does
not understand it properly the teacher or the classmates help him to paraphrase
the sentence or translate" it, or see it written. The latter often helps
if pupils do not get used to hearing, if they are eye-learners. As far as
speaking is concerned it is the teacher who corrects pupils' mistakes. It is a
bad habit of some teachers to ask pupils to notice mistakes when their
classmate is called in front of the class to speak.
This is due to the
following reasons. Firstly, pupils' attention is drawn, not to what the
classmate says, but to how he says it, i. e., not to the content, but to the
form. If we admit that the form may not always be correct, then why should we
concentrate pupils' attention on the form? Moreover, when pupils' attention is
centered on errors, they often do not grasp what the classmate says, and that
is why they cannot ask questions or continue the story he has told them.
Secondly, the pupil who speaks
thinks more about how to say something instead of what to say. No
speaking is possible when the speaker has to concentrate on the form. He makes
more errors under this condition. More than that, he often refuses to speak
when he sees the classmates raise their hands after he has uttered his first
sentence. This does not encourage the learner to speak.
Accordingly when a pupil
is called to the front of the class to speak, the class is invited to follow
what he says so that they may be able to ask questions or to go on with the
story when he stops.
There is a great variety
of techniques at the teacher's disposal. He selects the one that is most
suitable for the occasion.
1. If a pupil makes a
mistake in something which is familiar to him, it is preferable to correct it
at once. But in order not to confuse the pupil and stop his narration the teacher
helps the child with the correct version.
Pupil: My mother get up
at 7 o'clock.
Teacher: I see, your
mother gets up earlier than you.
Pupil: Yes, my mother
gets up at 7.
2. If a pupil makes a
mistake in something which he has not learned yet the teacher corrects his
mistakes after he has finished speaking.
Pupil: She first visited
us in 1960.
She is a good friend of
ours since.
The teacher gives the
correct sentence: She has been a good friend of ours since.
If many pupils make the
same mistakes, for instance, in prepositions (go in instead of go to),
articles (the Moscow instead of Moscow, or Volga instead
of the Volga), in tense forms (the Present Continuous instead of the
Present Indefinite) the teacher makes note of them and gets the pupils to
perform drill exercises after answering questions.[5]
The teacher should not
emphasize incorrect forms in any way or they will be memorized along with the
correct ones, for instance: Books is. Do you say "books is"? You
shouldn't say "books is". What should you say?
Chapter II. Speaking in teaching
practice
2.1 Speech and oral exercises
We must distinguish
speech and oral exercises for they are often mixed up by the teacher.
Speech is a process of
communication by means of language. For example, (1) a pupil tells the class a
story about something which once happened to him; (2) the teacher asks
questions on the story read by the pupils at home and starts a discussion; (3)
pupils speak on the pictures suggested by the teacher, each tries to say what
others have not mentioned; (4) pupils listen to the story and get some new
information from the text; (5) they see a sound film and learn about something
new from it, etc.
Oral exercises are used
for the pupils to assimilate phonetics, grammar, and vocabulary. They are
mostly drill exercises and the teacher turns to them whenever he works at enriching
pupils' knowledge in vocabulary and grammar, at improving pupils'
pronunciation, etc. For example, reciting a rhyme or a poem is considered to be
an excellent oral exercise for drilling pronunciation and for developing speech
habits. Making up sentences following the model is an excellent oral exercise
for fixing a sentence pattern and words which fit the pattern in the pupils'
mind. Making statements with the words or phrases the teacher gives is another
valuable oral exercise which allows the teacher to retain them in his pupils'
memory through manifold repetitions.
Oral exercises are quite
indispensable to developing speech. However, they only prepare pupils for
speaking and cannot be considered to be “speech” as some teachers are apt to
think and who are often satisfied with oral exercises which pupils perform
following the model; they seldom use stimuli for developing pupils' auding and
speaking in the target language.[5]
In order to get a better
understanding of what speech is we are to consider the psychological and
linguistic characteristics of speech.
2.2 Techniques the teacher uses to develop
hearing
To fulfil the task the
teacher must train his pupils in listening comprehension beginning with the
first lesson and throughout the whole period of instruction. These are the
techniques the teacher uses for the purpose:
1. The teacher uses the
foreign language:
(a) when giving
the class instructions;
(b) when presenting
new language material (words, sentence patterns);
(c) when checking pupils'
comprehension;
(d) when
consolidating the material presented;
(e) when checking
pupils' assimilation of the language material covered.
These are the cases when
the target language is used as a means of communication and a means of
teaching. There is a great deal of auding in all the points of the lesson. This
raises the problem of the teacher's speech during the lesson. It should be correct,
sufficiently loud, clear, and expressive. But many of the teachers are too
talkative. We can hear them speaking most of the time. Moreover, some teachers
speak a great deal in Russian.
Conducting a lesson in a
foreign language gives the teacher an opportunity to develop pupils' abilities
in hearing; to train them in listening to him attentively during the lesson; to
demonstrate the language as a means of communication; to provide favorable
conditions for the assimilation of the language; to perfect his own speaking
skills; to keep his own speech under control, i. e., to keep himself from undue
talkativeness.
2. The teacher uses drill
and speech exercises for developing listening comprehension.
We can group drill
exercises into exercises designed for overcoming linguistic difficulties, and
exercises which can eliminate psychological difficulties.
The first group of drill
exercises includes:
(a) phonetic
exercises which will help the teacher to develop his pupils' ear for English
sounds:
— Listen to the following
words and raise your hands when you hear the words with [ae] (The teacher says:
desk, pen, ten, bag, etc.)
— Listen to the
following pairs of words and say in what sound they differ: pen — pin; bed —
bad; eyes — ice; white — wide.
(b) lexical exercises
which will help the teacher to develop pupils' skills in recognizing words:
— Listen to the
words and recognize the word boy among other words: a baby, a toy, a boat, a
boy, a girl.
— Listen to the
following words and raise your hands when you hear the words referring to
plants: street, tree, grass, class, flower, tower.
— Listen to the
following sentences and say whether the word country has the same meaning in
both sentences:
I usually spent my
holidays in the country.
The Soviet Union is a
large country.
(c) grammar exercises
which help the teacher to develop pupils' skills in recognizing grammar forms
and structures:
— Listen to the
following words and raise your hands when you hear words in plural: desk,
tables, book, box, pens, books, boxes, etc.
— Listen to the
following sentences and say in which one the word help is used as a noun.
He can help you. I need
his help.
The second group of drill
exercises includes:
(a) exercises which
help the teacher to develop his pupils' auditory memory:
— Listen to the
following words and try to memorize them. (The teacher pronounces a number of
words pointing to the object each denotes: a carrot, a potato, a cucumber, a
tomato. Afterwards pupils are told to point to the object the teacher
names.)
Ñòðàíèöû: 1, 2, 3
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