Methodological Aspects Of Developing Communicative Skills
CHAPTER 2.METHODOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF DEVELOPING COMMUNICATIVE SKILLS.
2.1.Analysing language skills
2.1.1 PRODUCTIVE AND RECEPTIVE SKILLS
Language learning and teaching is often defined in terms of the four language skills: listening and reading(receptive skills) and writing and speaking (productive skills).Language testing includes sections on each of these skills and the methodology usually considers providing students with a balance of these skills. The four skills are usually interrelated because spoken interaction requires listening and writing may require previous reading or oral discussion. One of the most important goals for English teachers is to develop his/her students’ four skills .While traditional teachers prefer to work these skills one by one, the modern teachers tend to carry out all at the same time considering that these skills cannot be isolated ,all of them need to be worked together in an English language classroom in order to achieve successful teaching and learning. According to Harmer productive skills and receptive skills are” two sides of the same coin that cannot be split because one skill can reinforce another in a number of ways ,so ,input and output have to be connected in the classroom because in this way students can take more interest about deficiency skills in order to reach a proper balance related to the other skills and it makes a language construction ,students can receive an appropriate feedback from their teacher and themselves, rather than, just work one side of the coin as some teachers used to do.”1
Any learner is first of all a receiver of information : the first step is listening or reading a message and after that he/she begins to produce language. The teacher should always think about adopting an integrative approach to the teaching and practice of the language skills because the language class will become more purposeful and meaningful for the learner. The aim of language teaching is to make students understand and produce the language that they need ,to develop their autonomy in language use. By integrating skills we are offering our students a certain input that becomes a basis for further output. The conclusion is that language skills cannot be learned in isolation.
The acquisition of a second language is a highly complex process and it involves both getting the skills and using them. The question is whether the foreign language skills should be learnt in the order in which the children learn their native language .The way we order the learning of these skills has been a matter of controversy between applied linguists because mother tongue acquisition differs very much from second language
1. Harmer ,J-The practice of English Language Teaching ,Pearson Education Limited,2007
learning ,so the order of learning language skills cannot be the same. Decisions on ordering the skills depend mainly on the aims of the course. When communication skills are the main objective then we should start with listening and speaking. If reading is the primary objective ,texts may highlight deciphering techniques. If we consider motivation ,the aural-oral skills are a good starting point because most students associate language learning with something they hear and speak.
Developing receptive skills and learning vocabulary and structures do not amount to learning the language.It is only when the teacher can make the students respond by producing their own messages, we can say that they are beginning to learn the language. It is relatively easy to understand oral or written messages ,to learn vocabulary and language structures but teachers should never forget that many people who understand messages and know a certain amount of language have difficulty in actually taking part in conversation. This is the reason why ,the foreign language teacher must involve his students in activities that promote communication ,express opinions and negotiate meaning. Naturally ,in practice ,productive skills cannot be separated from receptive skills. Listening and speaking always interact with reading and writing: questions are followed by answers while listening to a text , the students take notes ,then they are asked to summarize the text or express their opinions orally or in writing. The reading of many texts may provide excellent opportunities for creative ,interaction-based activities ,and many task-based activities triggered by the reading material require a lot of writing.
The productive skills
There are four basic skills in any language :receptive skills-reading and listening and productive skills-speaking and writing. All have the same importance and whenever possible we should try to incorporate them all into our lessons if we want to adopt a balanced approach. I will focus more on productive skills: speaking and writing which are different in many ways but they both are used for the same main reason: to communicate .I think that writing is the most neglected skill because many teachers don’t like to have ”silent moments” during their classes ,they prefer having a continuous interaction with their students ,mainly by speaking . So ,writing is usually done more as a homework and it is never developed properly even if it is the most difficult skill to acquire and requires the greatest degree of accuracy. When speaking ,any mistake or misunderstanding can be cleared up ,whereas this is not possible in writing. But speaking requires a greater degree of fluency because the speaker will have less time to respond to some unpredictable circumstances. The only way to improve students ’speaking and writing skills is by asking them to use them .Productive skills are crucial because they give students the chance to practice real-life activities in the classroom.
Teaching speaking is vital and as a student seeing your speaking skills develop gives you a real sense of progress and boosts your confidence. Teaching writing is important because written communication is a basic life skill. Students will have to take notes ,write letters, reports and stories ,fill in forms, questionnaires related to education ,employment or about their interests. Writing is also an effective way of reinforcing what students had already studied ,of practicing grammar structures ,of looking up new vocabulary. Writing encourages learners’ autonomy when they are asked to do the homework or keep journals.
The role of writing in everyday life has changed very much in the last decades. The popularity of e-mail ,web forums ,Internet messenger services and text messaging has lead to an enormous increase of written communication. This new kind of communication has its own rules and rituals ,abbreviations and vocabulary ,often caused by the necessity to write quickly or within a limited word/character count .Beyond these new ways of communicating ,many people actually don’t write very much in everyday life ,and much of what they write is something short :brief messages to their friends or family ,diary entries ,postcards. The need for longer ,formal written work has diminished over the years and this can be reflected in many lessons where writing activities are neglected compared to other skills.
In order to develop writing skills ,the teacher should try to develop students’ vocabulary and structural accuracy .The development of new vocabulary is an activity which extends over all the skills of language and will be a continuous challenge for the students. Brainstorming activities and dictionary-based exercises are excellent ways that guide the students to a written task. Brainstorming involves the students in the task and activates their thoughts and previous knowledge.
Developing structural accuracy is very important in writing tasks because the student has time to work on the written text aiming at producing a perfect final version. The teacher needs to use a variety of means to make students aware of the importance of both accuracy and orthography in their writing task. Accuracy will have to be reinforced through comment and feedback from the teacher. It is also very useful to allow students to identify their own mistakes and correct them.
Writing involves spelling and forming letters correctly, writing legibly, using correct layouts and also choosing the right vocabulary. Students should also be able to use grammar correctly ,to join sentences and to use paragraphs appropriately .When we write ,we communicate about something :e.g. share an experience ,respond to an invitation. So ,I can say that both accuracy and fluency are very important in writing and when we teach we have to focus on both of them .Teachers should not expect their students to write competently without gradual and permanent training. Writing ,just like speaking ,cannot be viewed as a natural consequence of language learning; it is not simply spoken language transcribed on paper. The production of written texts is complex and requires a lot of work that needs preparation and gradual development. The students must cover the whole range of writing activities-from simple imitative ones to complex creative tasks of free writing. What is essential to understand is that students should write frequently and regularly.
In order to enable students to produce accurate ,fluent and appropriate written English ,the teacher should take into consideration a number of aspects:
1.problems of accuracy of English grammar and vocabulary;
2.problems of relating the style of writing to the requirements of a particular situation.
3.problems of expressing easily and clearly what needs to be said.
The structure of teaching writing should have three main stages. These will include :controlled writing ,guided writing ad free writing. A paragraph which requires to fill in the blanks may be a good starting point in developing writing skills and can be considered a controlled composition ,as one in which pictures prompts or memory of a model presented by the teacher, guides the students to reproduce more or less the same final product as each other. On the other hand , a composition in which the teacher presents the situation and helps the students to prepare the written work(offering written or oral assistance),is a guided composition, because each student produces a different piece of work regarding the language used, although the content and organization are essentially the same in the entire class .A free composition is an activity in which the teacher provides the title, and everything is done by the student himself.
This scale from controlled to free writing is very important in developing writing skills because only after the students become more confident in working with controlled composition ,they get then more alternatives in choosing the language and finally they produce free writing. The movement from controlled to free writing doesn’t have to be necessarily from easy to difficult. Some situational compositions which require adapting the writing to a particular style ,using specific information provided ,may be more difficult than most free topics. Generally, the controlled stage involves the production of accurate language in context ,the guided stage means the organization of material which is given and the free stage includes the production of both content and language.
When teachers target language skills, they should help their students to become active writers-people who can produce meaningful l ,accurate and appropriate written messages, inside and outside the classroom ,for different purposes. In order to help his/her students to become proficient writers, the teacher must:
-provide examples of good written structures, so that the students should get used with the characteristics (organization and style)of different discourses;
-begin by giving controlled /structured activities that will help the students to discover their own style before they are asked to develop a piece by themselves;
-give students enough time to finish their task and make sure that they use the time wisely;
-create an atmosphere that encourages positive feedback ,one that should always motivate the learners to share their work with the teachers and their classmates.
Writing is often the result of thinking ,drafting and revising techniques that require other specialized skills which are not easily developed .Teachers should encourage students to generate ideas ,to organize them clearly ,to use discourse markers and rhetorical conventions ,to put them cohesively into a written text, to edit the text using appropriate grammar and finally to produce a final coherent product. The teacher should always recommend students to think when they write ,to plan and re-examine before they present their final product.
Because writing encourages students to focus on accurate language use and due to the fact that they think when they write ,the students will also improve and develop their language as they resolve problems which the writing puts into their minds. Writing has always been used to reinforce the language that has been taught. The teacher can ask the students to write sentences using recently learnt grammar structures. If the students have recently practiced the third conditional they might be given the following task: Write two sentences about things you wish you had finished differently and two sentences about things you are pleased about.
Writing activities. Types of writing
The teacher who aims to improve his/her students’ writing skills can choose from a large variety of techniques and procedures .This choice depends on the students’ age and linguistic proficiency as well as on the level in the language course they are at. Depending on these considerations, the teacher can target different educational aims: consolidation of language and the development of different writing skills.
1)In order to achieve the consolidation of language ,that involves vocabulary and grammar structures, the teacher can use the exercises in students’ books. They generally belong to the group of objective tasks: labeling pictures ,arranging jumbled words/sentences ,conversation exercises ,cloze items.
Dictation is a very useful writing technique because it is multifunctional ,it develops listening skills ,it helps the acquisition of correct spelling ,provides the students’ active participation in error detection and correction ,and trains their skills of self-assessment. The passage for dictation must always be related to vocabulary and topics the students are familiar with. The teacher can vary dictation techniques in order to make the procedure more student-friendly. S/he can use reverse dictation in which the students listen to a text and fill in the gaps or correct their mistakes ,pair dictation where two students are given different parts of the same text and they dictate the text to each other until they both have the entire text and the dictogloss when the teacher reads a short text twice at normal speed, the students take notes and then work ,in pairs, trying to reproduce the text or create a similar one. One aim of this activity is to focus students’ attention on specific items of language by making them analyse the difference between their reproductions and the original they have heard.
Different from the traditional dictation, the modern ones have the advantage of ensuring students’ active participation and moreover they even have the opportunity to work together and to communicate in order to perform a certain task.
2)The development of writing skills is very important to make proficient language users. Writing skills are very different ,from basic spelling skills to complex abilities that allow students to produce difficult written messages ,e.g .letters ,essays, short stories. The teacher must provide complex classroom activities and use techniques that will make the students write more and more independently.
Note-taking is similar to dictation ,but instead of writing down the entire text the students listen to a text and they are only requested to put down the essential information ,e.g. key words or phrases ,important data. Note-taking can also be associated with reading tasks because having the text in front of their eyes ,the students will be able to select the essential information. When it is associated with listening ,the students are generally too focused on the text and they simply forget taking notes. The teacher should also build the students’ note-taking skills in relation to their long-term reading assignments .When students are asked to read novels ,the teacher should instruct them how to take notes that they can use later for writing an essay or for their exams.
Outlining is another important writing technique that the students must acquire in order to become proficient speaker or writer. The students should be taught to follow a plan when they write: first they must think of what they want to say and organize their thoughts in a systematic way ;after they have a well-defined outline they can start working on the written assignment .Outlining skills are very important for both free speaking and free writing.
Summarizing skills are crucial for both speaking and writing. The success of an application letter or a complaint one depends very much on the ability to present things clearly and succinctly. Summarizing generally follows listening and reading activities.A very efficient summarizing activity is asking students to look at their notes and re-tell the text or reproduce it in one sentence or one paragraph.
Outlining and summarizing develop the learners’ ability to organize their thoughts and express their own ideas succinctly and efficiently. These techniques may be used to prepare students for writing compositions.
Types of writing
We can distinguish three main types of writing
1.FUNCTIONAL WRITING: memos ,advertisements ,application forms ,CVs ,letters of complaint;
2.ACADEMIC WRITING: Compositions ,essays ,reports, research papers ,dictionary or encyclopedia entries;
3.CREATIVE WRITING :diaries ,informal letters ,articles ,poems ,short stories.
Each type of writing has its own features and raises different problems so the teacher must consider when s/he decides what to bring into the classroom. The purpose of the class and the students ’level must be considered when the teacher decides what will be taught and the method used.
Functional writing involves writing tasks that have a definite purpose behind their production. Memos, application or complaint letters ,adverts and CVs serve a specific function :transmitting information, expressing dissatisfaction ,showing interest in a job or displaying qualifications. Being able to complete these tasks well is very important for succeeding in the modern world. Being unable to write a good letter of application or CV can have serious negative consequences because poor writing skills can create very bad first impressions and this might jeopardize future opportunities to get a job .On the other hand ,if you have a complaint but you can’t write clearly and concisely to show your dissatisfaction ,the possibility that things are going to be rectified in a correct and timely manner is highly reduced. Therefore ,teachers should always remember to endow their students with consistent functional writing skills. Indeed ,teaching functional writing can be boring if teachers don’t take into account the age and preoccupations of the students. The teacher will notice a higher level of engagement with older students who become aware of the importance of writing a letter of application or a CV for their future career.
Academic writing also serves a clear purpose and function. When writing essays or reports ,the writer is trying to bring information on a specific topic ,having a certain goal in his mind. Academic writing has the purpose of organizing the information in order to support an argument and it has a more complex structure than functional writing. For example writing a memo involves presenting facts and instructions with little explanation while an essay must have a statement that indicates what the writer is arguing for and the essay that follows will present the information in such a way to support this opening statement. Academic writing requires more work and competence , more research on the topic and needs a high level of commitment and seriousness from students.
Creative writing can also have a clear purpose but it is more open and free than the other two types which are basically functional or argumentative. Creative writing is expressive and shows the writer’s feelings in a free and artistic way and it requires the student to think about topics at a more personal level. This type of writing can take different forms :letters to friends ,poems or short stories ,diary entries or newspaper articles. Because it does not constrain the student to follow some rigorous rules, creative writing can be an excellent and engaging way to approach writing in the classroom.
Creative writing is” a journey of self-discovery ,and self –discovery promotes effective learning” 2. It gives students a sense of achievement more significant than any other written product.
Even if writing creatively and imaginatively is not an easy task and the students may find unsure and lacking in confidence in the early stages of the process ,the teacher should never give up firing up the students’ own creative ideas. Creative writing requires the students to spread their own linguistic wings and use the language they learnt to express complex thoughts and it’s also a motivating opportunity for students to display their work for a wider audience because it may not just be the teacher the one who will read this work. We can ask them to write short stories or poems ,to write journals or to create their own dramatic scenarios. This will not be an easy task for them because of the limitations many students come up against when writing in a foreign language. They will not respond well to teacher’s invitation of being ambitious and taking risks. But, for some of them creative tasks will open up new ways of expressing more personal and complex thoughts.
Teacher’s task in teaching writing is crucial. Some of the most important tasks s/he has to perform during and after student’s writing are the following:
1.Demonstrating-as I have already said students need to become aware of writing conventions and genre constraints in specific types of writing and teachers must be able to draw these features to their attention.
2.Gaffield-Vile, N. 1998. Creative Writing in the ELT Classroom. Modern English Teacher Journal 7 (3):31-36
2.Motivating and provoking-students sometimes cannot find their words ,mainly in creative writing tasks. Here the teacher can help them, provoke them into having ideas,building enthusiasm and interest in the task and persuading them that it can really be fun. Sometimes the teacher can prepare some suggestions before starting the lesson so when students get stuck s/he can immediately help them without thinking of ideas on the spot.
3.Supporting-students will need help and reassurance once they start working with ideas and means to carry them out. Teachers always need to be supportive when students are writing in class and prepared to help them to overcome possible difficulties.
4.Responding –the way the teacher responds to students’ written work can be separated in two main categories: responding and evaluating.When we just respond ,we have a supportive reaction to a piece of writing and we are trying to improve it.
At this stage we won’t grade the work or judge it as a finished product.
5.Evaluating-when we evaluate our students’ work for test purposes, the teachers must indicate where they made mistakes and grade them. Teachers are confronted with different types of mistakes: syntax(word order),concord(agreement between the subject and the verb),collocations(words which appear together) or word choice. However ,we should never forget that intensive correction can be counter-motivating. We can turn correction into a more positive and useful experience by choosing some of these techniques:
1. Selective correction –involves focusing on a specific language structure(verb tenses ,word order, punctuation).Students need to know about this and they will concentrate more on the area that will be corrected. This type of correction will bring more commitment and enthusiasm and it’s also a good learning tool.
2.Using marking scales-is frequent when correcting students’ written work and tests. This will help students who fail on grammar ,for example, but do well in a task which involves the use of vocabulary. Teachers might give marks for each category chosen for students(e.g .grammar, vocabulary, coherence or cohesion).Besides indicating the mistakes such marking has the advantage of helping students to focus on the particular areas they need to practice more.
3.Using correction symbols –may be done in order to avoid an overuse of red pink and has the advantage of encouraging students to think about the mistake they made and correct it themselves. These symbols must be known by the students and they will be able to make the necessary adjustments in their writing. These will make correction less damaging if we just underline the mistake discreetly and write the symbol in the margin(S=spelling. WO= word order etc.)
4.Reformulation –is a very good way of showing our students how they could write their works more correctly. The teacher tells the students how s/he would write the incorrect sentence instead of asking them to notice the mistake and correct it. Thus ,the student learns from comparing correct and incorrect versions.
Using visual and audio stimuli to foster writing skills
Motivating students to write can be one of the most challenging tasks for the teacher but stimuli like music ,pictures and movies can be a very effective way of stimulating students to begin writing. The teacher can choose a song ,plays it to the students and asks them to write down the feelings and thoughts that the music arouses in them. Music is very important for students and it can also provide them a quasi-meditative audio sensation that will allow them to concentrate more on the task. Pictures taken from magazines ,newspapers, books can be used in the same way to enable students to tap their creative imagination and translate the images into descriptive or narrative passages. Movies are also very stimulating and students can build their own plots.
Whatever techniques teachers might use in the classroom ,they should never forget that writing is a complex process that develops and strengthens over time. They need to teach and require their students good writing habits from an early age in order to become able to write strong compositions in the future.
Speaking may be considered the most important skill the student can get in the foreign language and very good speaking activities should be extremely engaging and will bring tremendous satisfaction. Speaking must not be viewed as a natural consequence of learning :just merely understanding the message and having the language necessary for the answer do not guarantee the student’s ability to produce a correct and meaningful answer. There might be some factors that can prevent students from being active speakers:
Students’ vocabulary could be passive ,that means words which they can recognize but they are unable to say them when it’s necessary;
Students’ anxiety and shyness are very powerful inhibiting features ;
Students’ lack of practice in coping with communicative strategies makes them unable to get them actively involved in the conversation.
The teacher must work hard not only to develop students’ linguistic proficiency but also to reduce their anxiety and become confident in expressing their ideas. The teacher should always provide wide opportunities for the students to speak spontaneously and take part in conversations. The activities used in the classroom should always provoke students’ minds and motivate them to get involved in speaking activities. The teacher must always offer any necessary support and guidance, trying to avoid being intrusive and suppressing students’ desire for creativity and autonomy. The atmosphere in the classroom should be friendly and encouraging so that students can get rid of anxiety and start talking. Speaking is at the beginning stage tightly controlled by the teacher then while progress is made there should be less strict guidance ,culminating with situations where the student is free to produce fluent statements appropriate to the situation.
Speech conditions
The conditions in which speaking occurs have an important role in determining the degree of fluency. Researchers have found some factors which make speaking easy or difficult.
Cognitive factors
-familiarity with the topic: when students are more familiar with the topic ,it becomes easier for them to talk so choosing topics like families,personal interests,friends is more appropriate than something very removed from everyday life.
-familiarity with the genre :giving a lecture or a speech will be almost an impossible task if you’re unfamiliar with those particular genres.
-familiarity with the interlocutors :it is a well-known belief that the more you know the person you are talking to ,the easier will be share your knowledge.
Affective factors
-feelings regarding the topic and the participants :if you are willing to deal with the topic
you’re talking about and to the other participants it will be easier to communicate.
-self-consciousness: if you’re not ready to talk will have a negative effect on your performance or the idea that you’re evaluated can also be prejudicial.
Performance factors
-speaking face-to-face you can monitor your interlocutor’s responses ,you can use gesture and it’s generally easier than talking on the phone ,for example.
-degree of collaboration-if you give a presentation on your own is generally harder than doing it with your classmates because you can’t count on peer support.
-planning and rehearsal time: the more time you have to prepare your task, the easier it will become.
-time pressure :if there is a degree of emergency, it is possible to increase the difficulty for the speaker.
-environmental conditions :trying to speak on a noisy background can be really difficult.
It is obvious that all these factors cannot predict the difficulty or ease of speaking because they all interact with personality factors ,like introversion and extraversion.
Developing speaking skills is a long-term process and the student cannot be expected to be proficient speakers from the very beginning. Thus ,in the early stages of language learning ,the teacher must always offer help and guidance. To motivate students to speak ,the teacher must direct them from fully controlled activities ,through guided activities until they finally reach free communication.
1.Controlled activities. At the beginner level of language learning(also called the manipulative phase)when students acquire the basic vocabulary and structures through drills and exercises, controlled activities are preferred. When students start learning a language, they don’t have the necessary skilss to produce messages on their own,so the teacher ‘s main goal is to introduce new vocabulary and develop basic language skills.When they start learning a foreign language,students need a model for their own language and they mainly rely on the text and on the teacher for the language they begin to produce.This initial stage in acquiring knowledge in the foreign language is basically imitative,students just repeat words and structures or read aloud the texts.At this level,reading aloud is very important because students have the chance to practice pronunciation,stress,intonation and are corrected by the teacher.Controlled practice is a repetitive exercise of language items in conditions where the possibility of making mistakes is very much reduced. Drilling-which involves imitating and repeating words and phrases may be a useful technique because it draws attention to material that students might not otherwise have registered. Drilling acts as a fine tuning for gaining articulatory control over language more than as a learning technique .By memorizing chunks of language ,students get control over their fluent articulation and they increase their fluency store. Chants are a more playful way of practicing because they are contextualized and the chunks are more memorable than in standard drilling. To function better ,the chants should have repeated examples of short ,multi-word sequences and a consistent rhythm. Milling activities are a way of providing repetitive practice of formulaic language and offer a more communicative framework for the activities. It consists in walking around and asking other students questions in order to complete a survey or find a close match.For example ,students can be asked to find out how brave the class is by asking three or four questions that fits this frame:” Would you ever go alone in the forest?”,”Are you afraid of snakes?”,”Would you save someone who is in danger, risking your own life?”.Then they survey the rest of the class by counting the affirmative answers. This will involve repeating the question but in a context that requires attention because they need to note the answer .According to cognitive skill theory, diverting attention away from a repetitive and monotonous task forces the streamlining of the separate components into a fluid procedure.
Many of the texts in students’ books are dialogues because it simulates the most frequent real-world exchange :face-to-face conversation. When they act these dialogues ,they actually imitate real-world interaction .However ,teachers shouldn’t forget that when they read aloud these dialogues ,students often focus more on the act of reading and ignore the message of the text. So, it is better to ask them to read the text several times and one of them silently. Rehearsing the text before asking them to perform in front of the class will also ease the pressure of reading aloud.
Simulation is closer to real-world interaction because the student don’t read the text but they repeat it from memory ,being allowed to make changes and use their imagination. When texts come from literature and the students are more advanced ,dramatized reading and simulation can become a complex and enjoyable activity.
Re-telling or summarizing texts are also very useful techniques at this stage. Teaching a foreign language using language games are very effective with young beginners. Because young children are not able to sit still and listen too much time ,they should be allowed to move around and something while learning. Drawing ,solving puzzles ,acting and singing are very enjoyable activities and are well suited for this age. Pointing to objects or performing actions while learning a new poem can offer a physical support for the new language and help children to concentrate more. They love such activities and acquire the language without any effort.
With teenage students ,well-chosen activities based on visual material can be pleasant and provide fast and complete learning.
Using all these types of activities ,the students have the chance to practice the new language until they form their basic linguistic habits of pronunciation and patterns. Controlled activities ,in which students produce language generally by imitating the model presented by the teacher or the textbook ,help them and give confidence. But repetition does not mean actually production of language. This is just a step to prepare students for real life and as soon as possible teachers should move them away from the models.
2.Guided practice
Human communication is unpredictable and means interaction ,creating messages ,transferring information and negotiating meaning and the teacher must involve students in creative conversation as soon as possible. In order to achieve this ,English classes should be active and interactive and focused on the production of messages than on repeating a model. After acquiring certain linguistic abilities,the teacher should move on to the stage of guided practice. Guided speaking involves learners in producing texts similar to those in their textbooks but using different material. Students don’t repeat the words from the text but paraphrase them using their imagination to enlarge the text. Students still need support and guidance ,at this level ,counting largely on the props offered by the teacher.
The question –answer exchange is the most frequent type of guided conversation and it is related to the text studied. At the beginning, the questions are asked by the teacher who guides the conversation and encourage students to produce language. Comprehension questions can also be useful to assess whether the students understand the new material. The students can gradually learn to ask similar questions and are engaged in directed conversations with their classmates.
Students are always motivated to speak if they get involved in conversations which are close to their personal experience .Home and family ,shopping and travelling ,music and movies are topics students can easily identify with. These topics can activate students’ previous knowledge of the world and provide concrete support for language production.
Teachers can also choose from a wide range of techniques for guided speaking :
joining or reordering slashed words,sentences or paragraphs to build meaningful sentences,paragraphs or texts;
continuing sentences or paragraphs using their own imagination;
using linguistic or non-linguistic props(key words,pictures) to create their own texts.
The question-answer exchange is the most accessible guide for the conversational mode but expositions may rely on other types of props :charts ,pictures ,tapes ,key words or an outline which facilitate language production. The students are taught to use these kinds of props to produce their own sentences .If the teacher asks the students to introduce themselves it is easier to give them a biographical card to fill it out-using their own information or inventing an identity for themselves. If the teacher wants a description ,s/he may offer visual support ,a map or pictures ,or linguistic props such as date, place names ,key words and phrases. A narrative exposition becomes easier and more interesting for the students if they are shown a succession of pictures with people performing different actions. Using an outline ,the students can be required to retell a story or to present a certain information. These activities are useful because they develop simultaneously several language skills: paraphrasing ,summarizing or organizing the material. Because of the oral form of the communication ,these activities train the students in using paralanguage in an useful way. They should become aware that fluency of speech ,intonation and stress ,gesture, mimicry and body language are very important and they must also pay attention to their non-linguistic behaviour.
At this stage ,the teacher can also start training the students in making guided speeches. Besides from making the students talk for a short time ,they also practice talking in front of an audience. Speaking without being interrupted and catching the audience’s attention may be difficult for students ,that’s why they need consistent guidance.
3.Free communication
There is only one small step but a very significant one from guided speaking to free production of language and communication. When student develop their fluency and proficiency of the target language ,they become able to collect the material and produce their own texts. In guided activities, teachers trained students to become more independent and to produce language freely and creatively. Obviously ,there will still be students who will need teacher’s help and others who search independence and creativity so the teacher must encourage these students to provide support for those who need to be guided. Group work will be beneficial for both types of learners: the students who need support could feel more relaxed if they are helped by their classmates and the proficient students while helping their mates might produce language in an organized way.
Free communication is more appropriate at intermediate and advanced levels when students have already acquired the linguistic luggage and the skills necessary to adapt to various situations. Teacher’s role at this stage is to organize the activity (suggesting the activity type) , to facilitate the interaction(giving advice when it’s necessary)and to analyze (by making critical observations and correcting mistakes). In order to achieve his/her educational role the teacher must involve students in activities both intellectually and emotionally. Dialogues ,role plays and improvisations are very useful to stimulate conversation and develop speaking skills. Dialogues help students to exchange and share information and they also provide an effective change of focus from teacher-led classroom interaction.
Role play and improvisations help students to use the language in order to build a character and create social relationships thus students have the opportunity to practice actual social skills. At this level, students should become able to transfer information and to functionalize the language according to the roles they take on and the situational context .Speaking activities ,which involve a drama element where learners are required to take an imaginative leap out of the restricted space of the classroom, provide useful springboard for real-life language use. Also ,formal language that does not normally occur in the classroom context can be practiced .Simulation may fit the temperament of certain learners who feel uncomfortable ”being themselves” when they talk in a second language. There is a clear distinction between role-plays and simulations. The first ones involve pretending to be another person ( an employer interviewing a job applicant) while when simulating students “play” themselves in a simulated situation ,e.g. being stuck in an elevator or phoning to arrange a trip with your friends. When playing certain roles ,the teacher must be sure that students understand the roles and the situation well and then give them freedom to create their own reality and express it meaningfully ,fluently and functionally.
With high-school students, the teacher can organize complex discussions based on different topics of general interests. Best discussions in class may arise spontaneously because of personal thoughts the learner feels to express or due to a text which triggers some debate. However ,topics for discussions may be provided by the teacher or by the students themselves under different forms: proverbs ,titles, movies ,newspaper articles. These activities involve several skills simultaneously: they are based on speaking and listening but may include reading and writing activities. In group activities all students should participate according to their own ability and language proficiency in the following way:
the students listen to a text and take notes(individually);
they discuss the text with the other students in their group and summarize in one sentence the message of the text;
they talk to other members of their group whether they agree or not with the message;
each group will be represented by a spokesman who will present the message of the text (the way they perceived it) and their opinion about it.
This activity will be followed by further discussions or the class may organize a debate. The debate is an organized form of competitive speaking in which two sides use reasoned discourse to argue about a particular topic. The aim of each side is to persuade the audience that its arguments are better than the opposite one. Debates are generally recommended for advanced learners because they require high language proficiency ,coherent presentations of their views and relevant arguments. The debate is organized around a sentence ,which will function as the title of the debate :e.g.”Generation gap”.
Advanced students may be even asked to defend a cause they would normally oppose in order to develop their strategic skills but students generally speak more fluently if they express their own feelings so the teacher should let them choose the pro or con side.
Besides improving learners’ linguistic proficiency and developing their language skills, the objective of these discussions is to increase their sensitivity and strengthen their analytic power. For example ,a discussion about different social conditions makes students re-evaluate their own situation.
While focusing on developing the students’ interactional and communicative skills ,the teacher shouldn’t forget to train students to speak fluently and freely for some length of time: to describe a person ,to express their feelings and opinions or to tell a story.
Speaking activities can be used at any stage of the lesson but they need to be managed differently according to the moment in the lesson ,the type of text ,the teacher’s goal and students’ age and proficiency.
Assessing speaking
Assessment of productive skills is more complicated than that of receptive ones. In the early stages learners can be assessed with the help of objectively scored items(arranging jumbled words ,filling in blanks etc.) because the teacher focuses on correct pronunciation or spelling ,on the choice of appropriate lexical item, conversational formula or grammatical accuracy .At later stages ,when students start producing more complex texts ,the structure and flow of the entire presentation ,its stylistic appropriacy or strategic efficiency will become the most important-and these elements require subjective assessment. Setting and marking a written test of grammar is relatively easy and time-efficient but a test of speaking is not an easy task for the teacher and for the student ,too. The challenge for the teacher is deciding and applying good assessment criteria and getting familiar with reliable techniques of assessing subjective tasks(e.g. the detailed marking scheme).
There are several types of spoken tests :interviews ,monologues ,role-plays ,collaborative tasks and discussions. After getting a sample of the learner’s speaking ability ,the teacher can choose from these two ways of assessing :either giving him/her a single score on the basis of an overall impression(holistic scoring)or giving a different score various aspects of the task (analytic scoring).Holistic scoring has the advantage of being faster and it’s more appropriate for informal testing of progress. Analytic scoring takes longer time but the teacher takes into consideration a variety of factors and these make assessment fairer and more reliable. The most important factors in the process of assessing speaking are:
Grammar and vocabulary-students are evaluated for the accurate and appropriate use of syntactic forms and vocabulary.
Discourse Management-the teacher has to observe the students’ ability to express ideas and opinions in coherent ,connected speaking. Students need to be able to produce statements in order to express or justify opinions.
Pronunciation-shows the students’ ability to produce comprehensible statements in order to carry out the task requirements which involve the production of individual sounds ,linking the words correctly ,the use of stress and intonation and finally conveying the intended meaning.
Interactive communication-refers to students’ ability to interact with the teacher or other students by answering appropriately at the required speed and rhythm to accomplish the task. It also involves using functional language and techniques to keep or repair interaction and being able to ask for clarification.
The Common European Framework(CEF0 provides very good descriptors for different language skills at each of the six levels which can be very useful criteria to assess students’ abilities. The CEF makes a clear distinction between speaking (oral production) and spoken interaction. The descriptors for oral production at all levels displayed in the table below will show what the students are required to do:
Students should also be encouraged to assess themselves ,using the criteria above ,or to assess other students.
The receptive skills
Though reading and listening are receptive skills ,this does not mean that the reader or the listener is just a passive participant in the communication because both skills require active participation. We cannot understand what we read or listen if our brain is not fully engaged with the text we are interacting with. Thus ,we need to think to understand and use all our language knowledge to get meaning from what we see or hear .However ,acquiring receptive skills is the easiest aspect of language learning ,many people being able to understand movie dialogues or articles in newspapers without having learned the language. But a person who lacks receptive skills, that means being unable to understand what is said or communicated in writing, will never become a proficient user of language. The development of efficient listening and reading skills demands a lot of work and imagination from the teacher who must consider some basic features of real-life listening and reading:
Listening is not just a manipulation of vocabulary and grammar but a process of extracting information;
The receiver is not a passive recipient of the message but he should actively interact with the text s/he is reading/listening ;
Receptive skills don’t work alone but together with the productive ones in an integrated way.
Classroom tasks should simulate real-world listening and reading.
In real life we have a purpose when we listen or read: to get some information or instruction or merely for pleasure. For example ,watching a movie is a typical real-life listening activity ,in which even if some parts are incomprehensible we manage to get an overall understanding. Magazine- or guidebook-reading are typical real –world activities where we decide on the most interesting items and only then we get to the linear reading of that article.
Classroom receptive tasks should follow real-world perception ,both in purpose and technique. In order to decode a text ,the students must target its overall meaning and not its individual elements. Students should always be encouraged to use the contextual clues to elicit meaning instead of being dependent on dictionaries for every new word.
The development of efficient receptive skills can take long time and the teacher must adopt appropriate strategies to guide the students. Setting tasks that are beyond students’ ability(reading or listening to a text which is too difficult)may puzzle and discourage them. The teacher should facilitate students’ understanding by supporting them in their efforts of decoding and interpreting texts. The students must be led from controlled reception of the message (in which they are told what to listen for or what information to search in the text),through b guided activities (which provide some support but give them freedom to observe and analyze) until the final stage of free reception(where the students work with the text independently).
When choosing the texts for the classroom activities ,the teachers should take into consideration the students ’age and level as well as their personal interests. With beginners ,the texts chosen must be short and simple to help them decode the massage more easily. At intermediate and advanced levels, texts become longer and more complicated in terms of language and content. These texts also contain a relatively large number of unknown words but if students know how to handle listening and reading strategies ,they will be able not only to handle with their content but also to contribute meaning to it and take an attitude. Besides considerations of age and linguistic proficiency ,the teacher should choose texts for the students which will stir their imagination ,will challenge and involve them.
The ability to read and, even more importantly, to understand what is read, is a critical one for the successful development of the student in our educational system. It has been obvious, in recent years, that young students spend less and less time reading and more time using the computer in order to acquire knowledge and information. It is a real challenge for them to start reading a book and understand what is unveiled in front of their eyes, moreover, if the book is written in a different language than their native one. English as Foreign Language (EFL) in reading activities might bring many problems for the young readers because they might not be able to decode or understand what they are reading. Numerous problems can appear if the reader does not possess a degree of comprehension and it is a real challenge to understand the words in a sentence. Even if the students understand all words and the whole sentence, they might not be able to understand the relationship between sentences and the meaning of the text as a whole.3
We can define reading as a conscious and unconscious thinking process. The reader applies many strategies to reconstruct the meaning that the author is assumed to have intended. The reader does this by comparing the information in the text to his or his background knowledge and prior experience 4. Also, reading helps people actively participate in social, cultural and professional life and lead them to a higher educational attainment. If reading does not become a part of a learner’s life, it is very probable that difficulties appear in developing new skills.
3.Danielle S. McNamara: The Importance of Teaching Reading Strategies, Perspectives on Language and Literacy, Spring 2009
4 Beatrice S. Mikulecky: Teaching reading in a Second Language, Pearson Longman, 2008
It is rather obvious that many readers lack the ability to understand different genres of texts such as narratives or novels. They also need knowledge in that specific domain (such as history, science, economics, politics etc.) in order to understand the material they are reading. Some of the texts read may contain unfamiliar words or concepts which can make the process even more difficult. When a foreign language is involved, the readers are effectively blocked until they find a Romanian correspondent for the words and it is quite difficult for them to understand the main idea of the text. The teacher should instruct the students to use different strategies to help them overcome this barrier. Textbooks also offer texts with a wide range of domains and fields that help learners improve their vocabulary and support their needs during the reading process. It is very important that they reach the level of explaining for themselves ,orally or in writing, the meaning of the written text. This is called self-explanation and is a good technique for young readers to use when they read outside the classroom.
Every time they read, the students develop a reading attitude that can be defined as “the feelings towards reading that causes a learner to read actively or avoid a reading situation”5. Self-confidence and insecurity may determine a reader to read more or to stop reading altogether. Teachers must have a positive attitude towards reading in order to encourage their students. Learning a new language involves familiarity with the ways of thinking, writing, reading and speaking into that language. One of the most important things is to accept the information contained in the text even if it might not be suitable for their tastes, at first. As reading is continued, they could discover something familiar or interesting which can lead to long-term retention. The first thing the second-language students have to do is to “think in English” in order to read in English effectively. The teacher needs to instruct and train their learners towards new ways of thinking about texts. Some cognitive psychologists have shown in their research that students” learn new strategies or thinking processes most effectively when they are aware of what they are doing “6. The clearly offered instructions help students become conscious of the processes they are going to experience, monitoring their comprehension and applying adequate strategies. It has been developed the idea that” students can be encouraged by their teacher to talk to each other about how they make sense of a text”7. If the native language literacy is achieved by a person from birth by socializing with others into their native language, the second language literacy is achieved through continuous study and work (following the steps of the curriculum at school or through extracurricular activities, such as book clubs, reading outside school classes).
5.Alexander and Filler, 1976 cited in Yamashita, 2004
6.Idem 1 7.Hoffman and Heath, 1986
After the teacher guided learners through the steps they should take for effective reading, progress can be measured and assessed using different methods. These are useful for both student and teacher: the former acknowledge the level he or she reached during this process and the latter can use it to fill in the gaps or orientate the reader towards improvement. Students can recognize the familiar words in texts, use their previous knowledge in order to relate to newly acquired information and establish a connection to what will be taught or learned. They can express themselves identifying aspects they like or situations similar to their experiences. If learners start reading (preferably aloud so that the teacher can correct them if the case) they can understand the main ideas and the topic using more than one strategy (syntactic, contextual). Unfamiliar words can be deducted from context and meaning is established using synonyms, antonyms or definitions. Key aspects in learning how to read can be covered as word recognition is developed. The Romanian curricula includes between four and six different indicators for word identification and knowledge of phonics and at least three indicators for fluency 8. The process of reading is most of the times useful and meaningful if the reader has the ability of analysing the context and is encouraged to do some research about the author. This might help them understand whether the author’s opinion can be supported by their own or not. They can bring arguments and examples, they can initiate debates on a given topic or they can freely express their opinions. Our main purpose as English teachers is to help our students to acquire the communicative competence. This is why, if learners find it difficult to comprehend the nuances, creativity and versatility 9, it is the teacher who leads them on the right path. A foreign language, either spoken or written, comes in a variety of discourse types and a teacher tries to introduce the learners as many of these as possible. Kinneavy (1983) introduced a classification of discourse types helping the teachers improve their students’ level of knowledge and increase their interest in reading a text. The first type is an expressive one focusing on the personal expression (and here we should mention letters, diaries etc.), the second type is transactional, focusing on the reader as well as on the message sent to the reader (advertising, business letters, editorials, instructions etc.) and the third type is poetic and focuses on form and language (drama, poetry, novels, short stories etc.). These discourse types play an extremely important role in the teaching process because they support vocabulary, structure and testing learners’ comprehension .10
8.Teaching Reading in Europe: Contexts, Policies and Practices, European Commission
9. Christine Savvidou, “An Integrated Approach to Teaching Literature in the EFL Classroom”, 2004. Online: http://iteslj.org/Techniques/Savvidou-Literature.html
10. Hoffman and Heath,1986
There is an increase in the perception that literature is too complex to become accessible to young readers and that a foreign language learner can find too difficult while trying to do it. Several researchers show that the desire to broaden the learners’ horizons by exposing them to literary texts usually brings disappointing results. It is required great effort from the learner to interpret literary texts, to find meaning in what they read as it might be detached from the reader’s immediate social context .It is not easy for them to read the book in English, but if teachers try to find texts with suitable levels for their students, the reading process is gradually becoming interesting to them and they are more open to future reading. The reader must also choose books containing topics he or she is interested in. This way the reading is not seen as punishment or as ordeal, but rather as a way to acquire more information on that particular topic he or she found suitable. If the students find it too difficult to read a certain text, they tend to never try again. This is why the teacher has the important role of finding adequate authentic texts for their level of knowledge and he or she needs to use them with proper activities. Students should feel reading could be something fun, worth doing in a relaxing manner and in an adequate environment.
The stages in the learning process raise different educational problems and according to them ,the teacher must have different goals and priorities. In the early stages of language acquisition the main problem is language improvement and the teacher focuses more on introducing new vocabulary and grammar ,on supporting students in their efforts to decode the meaning of the texts. Special attention is paid to correct pronunciation so reading aloud is a basic technique at this stage.But students who read alone concentrate more on the fact of reading out loud and fail to understand the meaning and the message of the text. Therefore ,students should be encouraged to develop global reading skills which will allow working with the text as a whole and getting the message fast and accurately. Different types of text require different reading techniques and the students should be trained to select the appropriate one according to the text.
1.Global reading-fast silent reading can be used when students start a new unit and are first asked to leaf through the pages and skim the texts to see what the unit is about. Then they can skim and scan each individual text in order to catch a global meaning or to find relevant details and specific information. As a reading technique ,skimming means reading the text fast in order to extract the main idea of the text, skipping parts of the text which are not very important. Scanning involves reading for specific information or certain details in a text without reading the text. Both these techniques help the students to focus on the message as a whole and they increase the speed and efficiency of the decoding task.
2.Sentence-level reading
After the students understood the message of the text ,the teachers must guide the students towards sentence-level reading that means reading the text linearly ,focusing on the meaning and organization of the individual sentences.The teacher has an important role in explaining to the learners the purpose of the strategies and he or she can demonstrate models and guide them in their acquisition so that they can use them independently. Some of these strategies might include:
Comprehension monitoring, where readers learn to monitor how well they comprehend ;
Cooperative learning, where students learn reading strategies and discuss reading materials together;
Use of graphic and semantic organisers (including story maps), where readers make graphic representations of the material to assist comprehension and memory;
Question answering, where readers answer questions posed by the teacher and receive immediate feedback;
Question generation, where readers learn to ask themselves and answer inferential questions
Story structure, where students learn to use the structure of the story as a means of helping them recall story content and answer questions about what they have read;
Summarisation, where readers are taught to summarise ideas and generalise from the text information.
Whatever technique the teacher might use ,the main aim is to help students to become flexible readers(readers who can choose the best technique suited for the type of text they read),active ones(capable of interacting with the text)and reflective (readers who can personalize the subject of the text and learn from it).
Communicative teaching focuses on the use of authentic texts for teaching foreign languages so many English textbooks are written by native speakers and the students will have the opportunity of reading genuine and meaningful texts which will facilitate language development.
2.1.2 The importance of speech training in teaching English
Due to the fact that the main function of language is to be a means of communicating information between people, it is imperative that the teaching of English in schools should aim at developing students’ ability to express their thoughts and understand other people’s thoughts ,who verbalize in English. The contemporary conception regarding foreign language teaching is that students can learn to speak if they are properly train. Developing speaking skills requires gradually training from the very first stage of learning in a systematic and continuous way. Research has shown that speaking involves more than the ability to make grammatically correct sentences and pronounce them because speaking is interactive and demands the capacity of co-operating .
Because speech production takes place in real time is mainly linear .Words follow words ,phrases follow phrases and at the level of utterance speech is produced utterance-by-utterance. This contingent feature of speech, in which each utterance depends on the previous one ,accounts for its spontaneity.
The speaking ability may be defined as the ability to use in normal communication situation the system of pronunciation ,stress ,intonation ,grammatical structure and vocabulary of the foreign language at a normal rate of delivery for native speakers of the language.
Why should we focus on speaking ?The answer is clear ,because many students regard speaking as the most important skill they can acquire and they self-assess their progress in terms of the accomplishments they made in spoken communication. The joy of sharing ideas with others in English is immense for students. That’s why ,teachers must help students to produce grammatically correct and logically connected sentences which are suitable to specific contexts in a rich environment that involves collaborative work, authentic materials and tasks and also shared knowledge. Many English teachers support the idea that the best way to acquire speaking skills is by interacting. So ,the teachers should create situations in the class where students have real-life communication ,activities which are connected to their daily life ,and will give them the chance to practice oral language. Language learners must become able to recognize that speaking involves three main areas of knowledge:
Mechanics(pronunciation ,grammar and vocabulary)which involves using the right words in the correct order with the correct pronunciation;
Functions(transaction and interactions) –mean knowing when clarity of the message is essential(transaction/information exchange)and when exact understanding is not required(interaction/relationship building)
Social and cultural rules and norms(turn-taking ,rate of speech ,length of pauses between speakers and the roles of participants) involve understanding who is speaking to whom ,the circumstances and the reason.
Effective teachers should teach their students speaking strategies-minimal responses ,recognizing scripts and using the language to talk about language-which can support them to enlarge their knowledge of language and their confidence in using it.
1.Using minimal responses
Students who lack confidence in taking part actively in oral interaction will often listen in silence what the others talk. A good way to encourage these students to participate would be to help them build up a luggage of minimal responses that can be used in different types of exchanges. These responses can be extremely useful for beginners and they are predictable ,frequently idiomatic phrases that the participants in a conversation use to show understanding ,agreement ,refuse, doubt and other possible responses to what the interlocutor is saying.
2.Recognizing scripts
Some of the communication situations are connected to a predictable set of spoken exchanges-a script. Greetings ,apologies ,invitations and other functions that are influenced by social and cultural habits often follow patterns or scripts. In these scripts ,the relationship between the a speaker’s turn and the other who follows can be easily anticipated. Teachers can help students to develop the ability to speak by making them aware of the scripts for different situations in order to predict what they will hear and what they have to answer.
3.Using language to talk about language
Students are often too embarrassed or shy to say something when they don’t completely understand another speaker or they don’t manage to make their partners understand what they say. Teachers can help them overcome this difficulty by assuring them that misunderstanding and the necessity of clarification can appear in any type of interaction ,no matter what the speaker’s language skill level is. They could be trained to use different strategies and phrases for clarification and comprehension check. While they develop various clarification strategies ,students will get more confidence in their own ability to face different communication situation they may be confronted with outside the classroom.
Students should be taught critical thinking ,how to present oneself as a speaker in different occasions and how to function in a variety of speaking environments. Besides the language used to transmit information students should know about other elements when talking :eye contact ,body language ,style, adapting to the audience ,politeness ,precision and conciseness.
At advanced levels teachers should start training students to make actual speeches ,which involve speaking in front of an audience on a given subject and for a given number of minutes. For many people doing a speech is one of their biggest fears and for students could be the ultimate challenge .Many students are very nervous the first time they have speak in front of an audience but practice will make them overcome this problem and they will start enjoying doing this. The students will have the opportunity to develop their fluency and thoughtful writing combined with social interaction. Practice in speech-making will determine the students to learn how to organize their material logically ,use paralanguage effectively and assess other students’ performances. A speech requires knowing the language well and serious preparation. The teacher should teach the students speech terminology ,how to make a speech outline (using an adequate introduction ,body and conclusion) and also how to keep the audience’s attention .The role of the audience is an essential element they have to understand because it will be the one who will assess the style of the speech and the content and will also offer a valuable feedback to the speaker. Getting the experience of public speaking ,students will become more powerful communicators in all the areas of live communication will improve their self-confidence. I really think that all schools should teach students the public speaking skills they need for educational progress ,for work and for a beneficial participation in society.
2.1.3 The nature of communication and oral interaction
Speaking is one way to communicate ideas and messages orally. To enable students to communicate, we need to apply the language in real communication. According to Gert and Hans “ speaking is speech or utterances with the purpose of having intention to be recognized by speaker and the receiver processes the statements in order to recognize their intentions”.11 Brown and Yule stated that “speaking is depending on the complexity of the information to be communicated; however, the speaker sometimes finds it difficult to clarify what they want to say”12. Rebecca stated that “speaking is the first mode in which children acquire language, it is part of the daily involvement of most people with language activities, and it is the prime motor of language change. It also provides our main data for understanding bilingualism and language contact.”13
Language has two important features :productivity and structural complexity. Language allows every person to produce statements in an infinite numbers of contexts where the language is constructed ,modeled and developed to suit different communicative needs. Humans have a natural general capacity for language and they are able to communicate in an endless variety of ways. Language bases both on structure and on semantic properties to conduct meaning. Communication is extremely varied and complex because of the language which is a hugely structured system and permits an infinite number of permutations. The structure is of different categories :the organization
11 Rickheit, Gert and Strohner, Hans. 2008. Handbook of Communication Competence. Germany 12.Brown, Gillian and Yule, George. 1999. Teaching the spoken Language. Cambridge University Press
13.Hughes, Rebecca. 2006. Spoken English, TESOL, and applied Linguistics: Challenges for Theory and Practice.
of a fixed range of sounds ,the order of words in phrases and sentences, the semantic and grammatical relations between words ,the use of inflections ,the connection between stress ,intonation and rhythm in producing speaking and the connection between paralinguistic features The speaker’s ability to perform actions using the language is closely connected to the functional potential of the language. Linguists generally agree that language has some general functions which can be easily identified:
an informational function, which is the most important and means that people use the language to send and get information ;
a directive function in which the speaker tries to control or influence the listener;
an expressive/personal function because people use the language to express feelings and attitudes :likes or dislikes ,anger ,politeness ,fears ,wishes and hopes.
an aesthetic function, i.e. people use the language to please the ear ,for enjoyment in poetry,rhymes,songs.
a phatic function ,i.e using the language for establishing relationships. Speakers often talk in a ritualised way in which what s/he says is not as important as the fact that s/ he says it :comments on the weather ,questions about the interlocutor’s wellbeing ,congratulating him/her on his/her birthday.
These functions frequently mix and interweave but they are very useful for making the difference and understanding what the speaker wants to say.
Human communication is based on cooperative and shared intentions and it is essential to the development of each person ,to the formation and continued existence of groups and also to the interrelations among these groups. Communication has started from the very beginning of human history and many proofs have shown that effective communication is the main factor that developed civilization through history .This is the reason why communication is thought a multi-culture phenomenon. Ancient Greeks ,ancient Egyptians ,Arabs ,Europeans and Americans had their own strong effect upon communication.Several definitions have tried to clarify the concept of communication:
Louis A. Allen defines, ‘Communication is the sum total of all the things that a person does, when he wants to create an understanding in the mind of another. It involves a systematic and continuous process of telling, listening and understanding’.14
14. Business communication: An introduction (google books)
Therefore, communication has the main aim to inform, or express a certain point of view or to elicit action.
Schramm describes communication as “A tool that makes societies possible and distinguish human from other societies.” 15
Berelson and Steiner define communication as “The transmission of information, ideas, emotions, skills through the use of symbols, words, pictures, figures, and graph.”16
In conclusion, communication can be best described as an appropriate exchange of information between a sender and a receiver in order to achieve a desired goal. Not every person has the natural ability to effectively express himself and that’s why the importance of communication skills is obvious. Incomplete or defective communication reduces the purpose of communication and the result may have damaging consequences. Thus ,it is essential for us to understand what must be communicated and then communicating in the right way-whether in our personal ,professional or social life.
There are two main forms of communication between people:
1.Verbal communication which consists of:
-oral communication such as monologue ,dialogue ,discussion between two people or telephone calls.
-visual communication which include maps ,traffic signals ,advertisements ,maps etc.
-written communication such as letters ,memos ,documents.
-electronic which means communication through computer ,modem ,e-mail ,social networks.
2.Non-verbal communication which includes facial expression(frowning ,smiling ,grimacing) ,voice(tone and speech rhythm) ,body movement(positions of arms and legs and distancing).
According to these two basic forms of communication ,we can distinguish the following types of communication:
.
15. Schramm, W. (1954). How communication works. In W. Schramm (Ed.), The process and effects of mass communication. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press
16. Berelson, B., & Steiner, G. (1964). Human behavior: An inventory of scientific findings. New York: Harcourt, Brace, and World.t
1.intrapersonal communication is a sort of transaction which occurs within the individual usually in a silent way and it involves thinking ,deciding ,remembering or dreaming. The individual produces and receives the same information and this type of communication appears in everybody’s experience
2. Interpersonal communication involves a face-to-face interaction and has the advantage of being a two-way communication process with an immediate feedback. This type of communication can be very influential it because can change attitudes and behaviours.
Teaching and learning are interactive processes which demand a dynamic participation both of the teacher and the students. This means exchanging social ,cultural and institutional information within a specific pedagogical goal. The act of communicating to your students is obviously a demanding activity because there are many factors which might interfere in the process of interaction such as motivation, the organization of the classroom ,the human and material resources ,apprehension ,teaching methods and ,of course, the number and age of the students. All these factors decide the quality of oral interaction because they can block or encourage communication between teachers and their students.
2.2.Learning-teaching strategies
2.2.1 Learner differences and learning styles. Encouraging co-operative learning and creativity.
Students’ age has a major influence upon the whole educational process ,teaching material and the strategies and activities used in the classroom. Even if students within the same class will have important personal differences ,the teacher should always remember some general considerations regarding age groups.
Young learners(age 5-12) are oriented towards things which are visible and perceivable and they always need sensory input and activities which will capture their attention and interest immediately. Their ability of being focused on one activity only doesn’t last too long so they need dynamic and practical activities and we should avoid using too much theoretical/abstract presentations(because they could be bored or would be beyond their comprehension).Teachers ,at this level, should provide his/her students many learning experiences which will determine them to get information from different sources because their ability to learn and discover new things is extraordinary at this age.
Young learners learn best if they are actively involved in pleasant practical activities-games ,drawing things, physical movement or songs. At this age ,playing and learning should both be used in order to create a cheerful ,relaxing and supportive atmosphere.
Teenagers (age 12-18) show a greater ability for abstract and logical thinking ,passionate commitment to an activity they prefer ,a longer attention span but distractions of emotional nature ,their tendency of being superficial and rebellious make working with them as a teacher a real challenge.
“Adolescence is bound up ,after all ,with a pronounced search for identity and a need for self-esteem ;adolescents need to feel good about themselves and valued. All of this is reflected in the secondary student who convincingly argued that a good teacher is –someone who knows our names”17.
Therefore ,teenagers need constant approval from their teacher and from their classmates. Teachers must create activities that should stir their imagination ,use material which is relevant and involving and will challenge their inventiveness. The students need a reliable feedback and powerful confidence –building strategies.
Adults are endowed with well-developed cognitive skills and remarkable abilities for abstract thinking. They have their own expectations about the learning process ,they prefer rules and schemes which will provide them a systematic view of the language ,are more disciplined than other age groups and have a clear understanding of why they are learning. Despite all these features ,learning a foreign language at this age might be a quite difficult task because it’s harder to acquire a new linguistic system as an adult and they tend to be more preoccupied with their professional and personal life. Adults can learn a foreign language either because they have a strong motivation(getting a job) or being involved in very enjoyable activities.
The students’ linguistic proficiency is the major element that should be considered when choosing the material and the teaching strategy. The teacher will use for beginners ,who need basic language, skills simple texts and extensive drilling. Intermediate students will be involved in more complex activities that will guide them towards free production and independent work. Advanced learners should be exposed to various authentic materials and activities that will help them develop their analytic spirit and encourage their creativity.
A good teacher should always be aware that a class is made of individuals with different personalities,
interests ,attitudes ,motivation and intelligence levels. We should take into consideration
17. Harmer,J 2007 How to teach English 2nd edn Pearson Education Ltd
all these factors and try to respond to these students individually while we teach the group as a whole with the same educational purpose.
The students’ personalities and their language styles influence the teacher’s strategic choices. There are generally four major learning styles:
Visual ,i.e learning through seeing..Visual students imprint things into their memory with the help of visual stimuli(pictures ,wall displays ,posters ,flash cards ,instructional videos. Using accurate visual cues ,the students will show a lot of progress and learn faster.
Auditory ,i.e. learning through hearing. Auditory students rely on auditory cues ,such as audio tapes ,verbal instructions ,explanations ,dialogues and discussions and they manage to solve problems by talking about them. For this type of learners pair and group work are more beneficial. Songs ,rhythm and memorization drills are useful techniques.
Kinesthetic ,i.e. learning through moving. Kinesthetic activities are effective for students who learn better if they are involved in activities which require a physical activity(moving around, rearranging things ,competitions ,role-plays).These students are dynamic and need to experience things directly
Tactile ,i.e. learning through touching. Tactile students recall the information by connecting it to a sensation of touch and they rely on demonstration ,writing or drawing to facilitate learning.
Although we all react to all these stimuli ,it seems that one of them is more powerful and helps us learning and remembering the things we learnt easier.
Another thing that helps us to understand the differences among students is offered by the concept of Multiple Intelligences ,who was first proposed by Howard Gardner. He suggested that each person is endowed with a variety of intelligences to different degrees:
Linguistic intelligence ("word smart")
Logical-mathematical intelligence ("number/reasoning smart")
Spatial intelligence ("picture smart")
Bodily-Kinesthetic intelligence ("body smart")
Musical intelligence ("music smart")
Interpersonal intelligence ("people smart")
Intrapersonal intelligence ("self smart")
Naturalist intelligence ("nature smart")
This particular mixture of these forms of intelligence will determine our favourite learning styles that will explain our interests ,abilities and talents. There are simple tests which can determine what type of intelligence is the most powerful in each individual. Gardner said that schools focus more on linguistic and mathematical intelligence but we should also highly appreciate students who show gifts in other intelligences :music ,dancing ,arts etc. He suggests that teachers should be trained to promote in their lessons a wide variety of activities using music, cooperative learning, art activities, role play, multimedia, field trips, inner reflection. According to this theory ,we can’t describe a person as being “intelligent” or “unintelligent” because while we are limited in one area ,we have stronger abilities in another one.
Teachers should always take into consideration the fact that there are different learning styles and preferences in a classroom and provide a wide range of activities in order to cater for individual differences and needs.
Another aspect of learner differences lies in the students ’cultural/educational background. Some students grew up in families where education is highly valued and they were supported by their parents in their intellectual development. Unfortunately ,there are children who come from a less supportive family and they need special attention and help. When students have different cultural backgrounds ,they might feel different from their classmates ,they could respond in a distinctive way to the topics in the curriculum.
Therefore ,teachers should be sensitive to all these different backgrounds and use materials, topics and teaching techniques that will not offend anyone in the group. It is extremely important that teachers should establish a good ,relaxing and friendly atmosphere from the very beginning by encouraging students to express freely and uninhibitedly their thoughts and feelings. A pleasant classroom atmosphere allows students to develop critical thinking as well as creativity and finally will shape their individual learning styles.
Cooperative learning has shown that students working in small groups will develop an intellectual exchange that encourages creative thinking and their problem-solving abilities. In order to achieve their group’s task ,students must exchange ideas ,information, make plans and suggest solutions. This permanent exchange of ideas and viewpoints will support their intellectual growth and will stimulate broader thinking. Besides intellectual growth ,cooperative learning consolidates students’ social and personal development. Studies have shown that in cooperative learning groups ,two factors will assure student’s achievement :group goals and individual accountability .The first one refers to the fact that group members should be inter-dependent ,working together to achieve a common goal. The second one refers to providing opportunities for each member in the group to accomplish a specific task and bring their unique contribution.
Another important element in cooperative learning is making students familiar with interpersonal skills –eye contact ,encouraging the other members in your group ,using quiet voices , sharing and disagreeing in a positive way ,listening to each other .
Teachers who want to encourage creativity in their classroom should give students different options and freedom in their assignments and projects. Researches have shown that creativity is encouraged not by charging students with too many assignments and rules but offering them opportunities to develop their own creative thinking. Albert Einstein said once :’’Creativity is intelligence having fun”.All the teachers should be aware that creative students who are more flexible and better problem solver will become more able to adapt to technological advances ,will deal better with changes in their lives and will always take advantage of new opportunities. Educating a student does not mean absolutely to help them pass their exams but to provide them the skills they need to have a rich and successful life, to empower them with the ability to solve any problems they might encounter in the future. Teachers should encourage students to become creative by inspiring them to be curious ,engaged and also interested in the world around and within them. Every invention in the world was the product of a creative mind,a person who could use the previous information and knowlwdge and improved it to make something completely new and original.
Fleith said that “in a climate in which fear,one right answer,little acceptance for a variety of students products ,extreme levels of competition ,and many extrinsic rewards are predominant ,it is difficult to foster high levels of creativity”18.
Creativity can be nurtured by English teachers using some of the following ideas:
Visual aids :students can look at photos or paintings and make up stories based on them.
Integrate music :teachers play different kinds of music and ask students to visualize the scenes that might happen while the music is playing or ask them to draw ,write a poem or create a very short story.
Allow students the freedom and autonomy to explore their ideas and to do what they like/want.
Give them the opportunity to express divergent thought. Encourage students to find more solutions to a problem.
Encourage students to make mistakes and fail. Children who are afraid of failure and being judged will curb their own creative thought. Establish a relaxed, non-judgemental environment, where students feel confident enough not to worry that
18.Fleith,Denise de Sonza.(2000).Teacher and [anonimizat] of Creativity in the Classroom Environment ,.Roeper Review,22(3) and 148-153
their every move/word/idea is being analyzed for errors. This means focusing on what they are trying to express rather than concentrating on the imperfect way they might say it.
Praise questions that reflect curiosity. Thus ,students will connect curiosity to a positive attitude and will make a habit from asking smart and meaningful questions. Teachers should value creative ideas and reward students for a unique question
Use creative problem solving that naturally occur in everyday life.
Improvisations are very good opportunities for flexible communicative interaction in the classroom, primarily created to promote spontaneous, complex, fluent and contextually appropriate language use between students in the classroom. The main focus is on promoting experimental oral practice in planned, but partially unpredictable situations in which students are permitted and encouraged to share their individual ideas and messages in many different ways( verbally and non-verbally) activating and developing their entire communicative repertory.
Provide a learning environment which is bright ,colourful and has stimulating objects(lots of books ,exotic flowers ,unusual objects ,a bust of Shakespeare ,plastic model of the brain)in order to attract and keep the child’s interest and also promote questioning and discussion. It is obvious that these facilities must be appropriate to the child’s age and level of education.
the attitude of the teacher. A teacher who is interested in the topic he/she is teaching and the student’s development will naturally provide stimulus to the students and they will naturally respond by learning and being interested in the topic. A teacher who is bored and uninterested will transmit that attitude to the students who will not be interested in the topic being taught and so they won’t learn anything.
By integrating creative thinking in our English lessons, students manage to develop relevant cognitive skills. These are observing, questioning, comparing, contrasting, imagining and hypothesizing, which are absolutely necessary in all areas of the curriculum. They also develop metacognitive skills, like the ability to evaluate and reflect critically on their own progress and learning outcomes.
We should also make a clear distinction between teaching creatively and teaching for creativity. Teaching creatively is when teachers use their own creative skills to make ideas and content more interesting. The most creative teachers are the ones they manage to find a way of connecting what they're teaching to their student’s interests.
On the other hand, teaching for creativity means that the teacher designs his/her activities in order to encourage other people to think creatively. We encourage students to experiment, to innovate, not giving them all the answers but providing them the tools they need to find out what the answers could be or to explore new avenues.
2.2.2 Teacher’s role in creating a communicative activity
The teacher’s ability to cause the production of language greatly depends on his/her talent in preparing challenging communicative tasks. It is also very important that the students should have the desire to communicate and take part in activities. In order to achieve this ,the teacher must always choose interesting texts and topics and devise the activities in the classroom to stir students’ imagination and interest and also motivate them to share opinions and ideas. A well-defined situational context and a communicative aim activate the students’ personal previous knowledge and experiences, increase their motivation and facilitate learning.
Communicative activities should have real purposes and involve students in finding information, breaking down barriers ,talking about themselves and learning about the culture. Even if a lesson is focused on developing reading or writing skills ,communicative activities should be integrated into the lesson. Teachers should never stop researching and exploring new opportunities that promote communication in the classroom.
The roles of teachers and learners have changed dramatically in communicative language teaching. Students should be involved in activities based on a cooperative rather than individualistic approach to language learning. Students must be trained to listen to their peers in group work or pair work tasks rather than depending only on the teacher as a model. On the other hand ,the teachers should learn to assume the role of facilitator and monitor.
According to J. Harmer , teachers “need to be prompters, encouraging
students, pushing them to achieve more, feeding in a bit of information or language to
help them proceed. At other times, we may need to act as feedback providers (helping
students to evaluate their performance) or as assessors (telling students how well they have done or giving them grades, etc). We also need to be able to function as a resource (for language information, etc) when students need to consult us and, at times, as a language tutor (that is, an advisor who responds to what the student is doing and advises them onwhat to do next).”19
Another important role of the teacher in the classroom is to establish a good relationship with his/her students. As we all know ,students are very sensitive and
19.Jeremy Harmer ,”How to teach English”, Pearson Education Limited 2007
interested in what the teacher thinks of them and the way they are treated. A good relationship occurs when our students become aware of our professionalism but also when they feel understood ,supported and when the teacher shows his desire to listen to them without judging and offending their opinions. It is also very important that teachers act as participants during the classroom activity because working together can be very motivating for the students. The teacher will become part of the group and participate in the activity with the other group members while he/she can still continue to guide the other students. A good teacher should be students’ friend in their complex journey of acquiring different skills in the target language.
Not every communicative activity is the same. It is also worth saying that the way a lesson actually unfolds will always be influenced by the students themselves. The lesson needs to be alert and flexible and the teachers should use some of the following “ingredients” in creating a good communicative activity:
Find a "realistic" communicative context or situation.
Establish a clear objective or purpose.
Make sure there is an "information gap" or "opinion gap".
Generate students’ interest.
Allow students’ preparation time if it is necessary.
Be aware of the likely conversational framework or format.
Be aware of any useful/relevant conversational gambits.
Be a model for your students
Make appropriate student groupings.
Monitor.
Involve students in the self-correction of errors.
Provide a sense of conclusion.
Communicative activities can be organized at any stage of the lesson :before the text (as pre-reading or listening activities),during it(while-reading or listening tasks)and after it (as after –reading/listening tasks).It is obvious that the teacher should manage these activities differently,according to the moent of the lesson, the type of text ,his/her aim and finally taking into consideration the students’age and language proficiency.
Before reading a new text ,the teacher should have three main aims:
1.introducing the new vocabulary in order to facilitate the reading;
2.activating the students’ previous knowledge and personal experience;
3.stirring their imagination for the text they will read ,involving them emotionally and motivating them.
When the students have understood the general idea of the new topic ,the teacher can organize a conversational activity ,such as a role-play related to the topic ,in order to prepare them for the text and activate their personal experience.
Communicative activities can also be organized as while -listening/while-reading tasks ,especially when the text is too long or difficult. The teacher may stop the reading many times in order to make sure that the students understood the text and ask comprehension questions ,point out essential information or listen to their opinion.
After-reading communicative activities give the teacher feedback on how well the students understood the text and provide opportunities to practice the new items. They also help the students to understand deeper the text ,to personalize the topic and expand the text through communicative activities.
Teachers play a crucial role both in preparing students to communicate effectively in different situations and creating a relaxing and non-threatening language environment that diminishes the students’ anxiety and encourages them to speak.
2.2.3 Motivating the students to communicate and fostering independent thinking
There are different factors that can contribute to students’ desire to learn. All the teachers should be aware of the importance of motivation in any learning. Regarding learning a second language William Littlewood made the following observation :
“In second language learning as in every other field of human learning, motivation is the critical force which determines whether a learner embarks on a task at all, how much energy he devotes to it, and how long he perseveres. It is a complex phenomenon and includes many components: the individual’s drive, need for achievement and success, curiosity, desire for stimulation and new experience, and so on. These factors play a role in every kind of learning situation. The teacher has to activate these motivational components in the students …” (Littlewood 1987: 53).
The essence of motivation is passion for what you do ,thing which relates to a person’s intrinsic goals and desires. I think that a successful language acquisition is connected to learner’s passion and teachers should try to find ways to start this passion. A good teacher should determine the sources of intrinsic motivation and find methods to connect them with external motivational factors. This kind of motivation – which usually comes from outside the school and may be determined by a number of external factors such as the attitude of society, family and friends to the subject in question- is called extrinsic motivation.
20. Littlewood, William. 1987 [1984]. Foreign and Second Language Learning: Language Acquisition Research and Its Implications for the Classroom. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
On the other hand ,intrinsic motivation is determined by what happens inside the classroom including the teacher’s methods ,the activities the students get involved and also their perception of their progress in language learning. Because students have different reasons for studying English, it is important for teachers to identify their reasons and needs and to find good motivational strategies. We all know that motivation fluctuates and it is quite difficult for the teacher to keep always his/her students’ motivation at a high level .We should never forget that students’ motivation is influenced by doing things they enjoy so teachers should keep an eye on activities they respond well and the ones they feel less engaged.
A successful language learner is one who has the ability to use the language to accomplish communication goals.
Teachers should always promote engagement in language learning using some of these ideas:
• Encouraging students to use the language spontaneously to communicate ideas, feelings, and opinions;
• Asking students to identify informal out-of-class language learning experiences ;
• Asking students to evaluate their own progress in terms of increases in their functional proficiency.
Give them a sense of achievement. We all know that success brings motivation and a possible failure demotivates students. Therefore ,we should try to make sure that our students are successful and thus motivated to learn more.
Show students you care about them and you are willing to help .Their self –esteem is an important factor for success and motivation.
Involve students in competitions which are great opportunities to motivate students. There are many ways to foster a spirit of competition in our classes- games, contests, projects.
A very good motivational method is giving our students rewards (diplomas, stickers, books)according to their age and their personality.
Bring new ,fresh materials in the class which will reengage the students and make them more interested.
Vary your teaching methods! Incorporate activities where students take part actively and allow for more immediate feedback. Problem-based learning ,collaborative learning ,experiments and also using technology will be good opportunities for student interaction.
Provide constructive feedback because students want to be recognized for their hard work and many of them view grades as a primary motivation for their scholastic efforts.
Students' motivation for learning a language grows when they see connections between what they do in the classroom and what they hope to do with the language in the future. Their attention is higher when classroom activities are relevant to their other interests. To make these connections, we should ask students to think about the situations when they may use the language in future. They should be asked to be as specific as possible. For each way of using language, ask them to list specific communication tasks that they will have to do. Teachers could use these purposes and tasks as the basis for task-oriented classroom communication activities.
Some lower level students will respond that they don't plan to use the language. We should encourage these students to develop an imaginary situation for themselves in which they have some reason for using the language. In doing this, some students could reflect upon the ways in which they really might use it, and others will understand that purpose is an essential part of language learning.
Besides motivation ,another teacher ‘s primary goal is to develop the students’ desire and ability to think on their own. Independent thinking means the desire of a person to make up his mind that the information which is presented is true or reasonable. It is different from critical thinking which is the process of collecting and processing information to reach a logical conclusion. Independent thinkers feel the desire to think for oneself and the need to understand the world based on personal observations and experiences rather than relying on other people’s thoughts. They trust their own ability to make judgments even if they contradict what other people say and know that it’s better to make your own mistakes than somebody else’s.
If teachers want to foster students’ independent thinking ,they should start by giving them more decision-making responsibilities . We shouldn’t give them the final product of our thinking but letting them discover the way to solve different problems ,students will start developing independent thinking skills. Good ways to foster independent thinking are to encourage students to ask questions and then find the answers on their own ,give them choices of doing a task and the liberty to make errors . Students should be aware that learning independent thinking skills will help them be more efficient and successful in the future.
Thinking is a complex process which involves inquiry ,innovation ,creativity ,analysis, synthesis ,self-confidence and independence .Students should be trained to be critical on what they see and hear ,to question information and irrational assumptions. An independent thinker will always strengthen the team he belongs to because he will be able to bring different ideas and solutions. They have the desire to share ideas that differ from those of the rest of the team and require further explanations.
Leo Tolstoy said :“Freethinkers are those who are willing to use their minds without prejudice and without fearing to understand things that clash with their own customs, privileges, or beliefs. This state of mind is not common, but it is essential for right thinking…”21
Independent thinkers need an explanation for everything, then they analyze the information patiently and process it attentively to find the best solution. These students are demanding, sometimes they overwhelm the teacher with their requests for further information and more pertinent solutions ,but they are creative ,learn fast and eager to work more. Students who manage to think on their own will be able to go to the next level of learning and a teacher will know that he/she managed to foster independent thinking when the students start asking a lot of questions.
2.3.Using techniques and strategies for creating effective communication skills
2.3.1Communication strategies
As I previously said the teacher should use all available resources and a variety of different strategies in order to promote communication in the classroom. A successful use of these strategies in second language teaching is called strategic competence . which is mainly achieved by using communication strategies. While learning a second language ,students will face different communication problems caused by insufficient linguistic resources. Communication strategies are” strategies that learners use to overcome these problems in order to convey their intended meaning”.22 Strategies used may include paraphrasing, substitution, coining new words, switching to the first language, and asking for clarification .23 These strategies, with the exception of switching languages, are also used by native speakers.24
The most commonly encountered communication strategies are:
1.circumlocution ,i.e. using different ambiguous words or phrases to express things ,ideas or views. Ambiguity means that the information the speaker transmits can have multiple meanings. An example could be “I get a red in my head” which means being “shy”.
There are different types of ambiguous and roundabout language : euphemism and innuendo.
21. Leo Tolstoy, War and Peace (1862)
22.Richards, Jack C.; Schmidt, Richard, eds. (2009). "Communication strategy". Longman Dictionary of Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics. New York: Longman.
23/24 . Ellis, Rod (2008). The Study of Second Language Acquisition. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press
Euphemism is the use of circumlocution in order to avoid using offensive words. Some common examples are: underprivileged or economically disadvantaged which substitute the word poor , enhanced interrogation for torture ,put to sleep for euthanized ,passed away for died. Euphemism is used to refer to taboo topics in a polite way.
According to the Advanced Oxford Learner's Dictionary, an innuendo is "an indirect remark about somebody or something, usually suggesting something bad, mean or rude". It is usually an insinuation about a person or thing.
2.word coinage: refers to learners creating new words or phrases for words that they do not know.
Such examples could be “vegetarianist ”for vegetarian ,a ”picture place” for an art gallery.
3.foregnizing a word: learners may insert a word from their first language into a sentence ,hoping that the interlocutor could understand.
4.semantic avoidance: speakers may avoid a problematic word by using a different one, for example replacing the irregular verb make with the regular one ask ,which is easier to use.
5.approximation:invoves using alternative words ,such as “work table” for “workbench”.
6.using words which express an all-purpose ,such as” thing”,”staff”,”make”.
7.asking for clarification is also a communication strategy in which the speaker appeals for help asking his interlocutor for the correct word.
8. Code-switching -when communicating with others in foreign languages, there is always a switching from L2 to L1. For example, foreign classroom students often share the L1 with their teacher, which allows them to switch code extensively between L2 and L1.
9.non-verbal strategies ,i.e. using mime or gesture to replace verbal communication in order to convey the intended meaning.
The speaker can decide that the message he wants to transmit couldn’t be achievable and adopt an avoidance strategy which means either giving up the message or replacing it with a clearer one. Another type of strategy is the discourse strategy which involves borrowing from the interlocutor segments from his statements or repeating what he said. These strategies could be very useful for learners because they provide them a degree of communicative effectiveness above their present linguistic means. Researchers have discovered three components of communication strategies: problematicity , meaning that the person identifies a communication problem; consciousness, meaning that the person is aware of the problem and is consciously using a strategy to solve it; and intentionality, which implies that the person has the ability of making a choice between options for overcoming a communication problem.
Canale suggested that communication strategies involve any attempt to “enhance the effectiveness of communication”25.Therefore,any speaker who uses different strategies to preserve communication ,fix breakdowns in comprehension or prevent miscommunication proves strategic competence.
Communication strategies help learners to maintain a conversation and also to take part in it and they have an important role in second language acquisition. Without using these strategies ,learners will avoid risk-taking in communicating in specific conversation topics or situations. Tarone defines communicative strategies as “mutual attempts of two interlocutors to agree on a meaning in situations where requisite meaning strategies do not seem to be shared “26 .
In a successful communication both the speaker and the listener are actively involved. When the participants are aware of the fact that they don’t understand each other, they will choose one of the strategies before in order to reach a particular communicative goal. Rod Ellis suggested that” the communication strategies that learners use may be characteristic of the stage of development which they have reached”27.
2.3.2 Specific techniques for developing communicative skills
As I’ve already mentioned before communication is an interactive process and it is essential both in teaching and learning a foreign language.
25.Canale, M. (1983). From communicative competence to communicative language pedagogy. In Richards, J. C., & Schmidt, R. W. (Eds.), Language and Communication, 2-27. London: Longman.
26. Tarone, E. (1980) Communication Strategies, Foreigner talk and repair in interlanguage. Language Learning Research Club, University of Michigan
27.Ellis, Rod (2008). The Study of Second Language Acquisition. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press .
The teacher should focus on both the linguistic and paralinguistic features of the communication process while he/she develops students’ communicative skills. These features are the effective use of words/phrases ,building grammatically comprehensible sentences and a correct use of voice and intonation. One of the most efficient way to improve communicative skills is to make learners comfortable with the target language ,i.e. shedding their inhibitions and minimizing their hesitations. The teacher should maximize speaking opportunities by creating some of the following conditions that will promote communication:
1.productivity –a communicative activity should be greatly language productive in order create the best conditions for independent language use.
2.purposefulness-language productivity can be enlarged by making sure that the communicative activity has a clear purpose .For example ,making a decision on a particular topic can encourage the students to participate in an activity. If the activity has also a competitive element it will be even more helpful.
3.interactivity-activities in the classroom should demand the students to take into consideration the effect they have upon their audience. Even monologic speaking tasks (such as talks and presentations) should be completed in situations where there is a possibility of interaction(questions or comments to make the activity more interesting and comprehensible).
4.challenge-the activities should challenge the students to use all their available communicative resources to achieve the task. Obviously ,the degree of difficulty shouldn’t be very high because it will inhibit the students .
5.safety-even if the activities should be challenging for the students they also need to feel sure that they will be supported by their teacher whenever they need .
6.authenticity-communicative activities should always be related to real-life language use. Students need to be trained to perform in real conditions ,which means for them to be spontaneous ,unassisted and able to use all their existing resources.
The teacher should design classroom activities that could be used to implement a communicative approach, such as group work, task work, and information gap activities. These could be achieved through the following activities in which the students will focus on their ability to use communication skills to achieve a task:
1. Information gathering activities: students will conduct surveys and interviews in which they will have to collect information based on the topic the teacher suggested. Students prepare –in pairs or small groups-the questions. Doing surveys can be a useful way of making the students to interact, produce question forms and collect and analyze real information .Students can also conduct interviews with various people. Making interviews with people gives students a chance to practice their speaking skills not only in class but also outside and helps them develop their social skills. After interviews, each student can present his or her study to the class .Students can be encouraged to interview each other and "introduce" their partner to the class .
2. Opinion-sharing activities: activities where students are required to compare values, opinions, beliefs.
3. Information-transfer activities: these demand students to take information that is presented in one form, and represent it in a different form.
4. Role plays activities: activities in which students are assigned roles and improvise a scene or exchange based on given information or clues. In these activities, students are put into situations that they may eventually encounter outside the classroom. Because role plays imitate real-life situations , the range of language functions that may be used enlarges considerably. Also, the role relationships among the students as they play their parts asks them to practice and develop their sociolinguistic competence. They have to use language that is adequate to the situation and to the characters.
Students usually find role playing entertaining, but students who lack self-confidence or have lower proficiency levels may feel intimidated at the beginning.
5. Discussion/debate: The students should be involved in a formal/informal discussion/debate activity on a given topic. This activity is completely student-led, students will play all the roles (conductor, observer, group presenter, and participating members). After performance, students will be given feedback individually. They should be informed about the errors they made in order to take care in the next performance. In this way ,they will improve a lot gradually.
6.Information gap activities require students to work in pairs and interact. The main idea of this activity is that one student has the information that other one does not have and the partners will share their information. Information gap activities can serve many purposes such as solving a problem or collecting information. Each partner plays an important role because the task cannot be finished if the partners do not provide the information the others need. These activities are efficient because all the students have the opportunity to talk extensively in the target language.
7. Jigsaw activities -are more elaborate information gap activities that can be done with several partners. In a jigsaw activity, each partner has one or a few pieces of the "puzzle," and the partners must work together to fit all the pieces into a complete picture. The puzzle piece may take one of several forms. It may be one panel from a comic strip or one photo from a set that tells a story. It may be one sentence from a written narrative. There might be different opinions so the students need to resolve the difference and thus they will be compelled to use the language as much as possible.
8. Oral presentations: the students are asked to prepare a topic assigned to them and present in the class. Students will make formal presentations. Each presentation will be followed by a question/answer time and concluded by the teacher’s comment.
9.Story-telling is a very good technique to develop communication skills in English because as we all know children have an innate love of stories. Stories create a magic world in the classroom and a sense of wonder at the world. Stories can teach students about life, about themselves and about other people. Storytelling is a good opportunity for students to develop understanding, respect and appreciation for other cultures around the world and can build up a positive attitude to people from different countries, races and religions. Storytelling can enhance intercultural understanding and communication and they are appropriate at any level of studying English if they are adapted to students’ age. They can be used either to remember and retell the plot or to ask students to continue the story.
The students may find some of these activities rewarding, intrinsically interesting and educationally beneficial. Besides the activities the students do during English classes ,the teacher should encourage his/her students to develop their communications skills outside school. The following advice might be very helpful for them:
1. Read more – Simply increasing what you read( texts, novels, newspapers etc) can improve their vocabulary, help them express ideas more clearly and eliminate weaknesses in their language skills.
2. Prepare (if you can)– If the student knows of an approaching situation in which he/she needs to communicate in English, he/she should take time out to think about the questions he/she may be asked and what answers he/she might give.
3.Join an English club –this will provide an opportunity for English language learners to practice using English in a relaxed and friendly location. English clubs give students the possibility to practice English in a relaxed, informal environment, and to meet new people.
4.Take part in English competitions-students who take part in competitions where they have the opportunity to talk in English to other teachers or students will develop their self-confidence and will get a different feedback about their language proficiency.
2.3.3 Teaching aids for stimulating and improving communication
English teachers are in a constant search of resources which may help learners increase their level of language proficiency. As a matter of fact, the permanent use of the foreign language in class should be conducted through good techniques and procedures. Therefore, the learner’s mastery of the four skills and his/her language fluency depends to a great extent on the teacher’s use of the most appropriate methods of teaching the speaking skill. Obviously ,the most important resource in the classroom is the student who brings in the outside world and his personal experiences. However ,the teacher can use different objects ,pictures ,cards to present and manipulate language. Some of these are:
1.Realia,i.e. using real objects in the classroom, is a useful teaching tool for stimulating student’s activity. It is more appropriate for young students who will find these objects(plastic fruit ,cardboards, dolls, coins)interesting and will provide a starting point for different communication activities. The teacher can show the objects to the students and ask them to make a statement about each object. Realia is not only good for conversation but it tends to make the lesson really memorable for young students.
2.Pictures are very good materials that promote and facilitate learning .They can be flashcards ,large wall pictures ,cue cards ,photographs or illustrations. Pictures can be very useful for different communication activities .One good example is „Describe and Draw ”,where one student has to describe a picture ,given by the teacher ,and another one has to draw using his classmate’s description .Pictures provide good opportunities to encourage creative writing ,students being asked to invent a story based on the images they see. The teachers can use the pictures in a variety of ways ,according to his/her personal taste ,the aim of the lesson and the students’ age. Pictures have a special attractiveness and utility in foreign language teaching because they can spark the student’s imagination and invite him/her to speak. Pictures must be visible for all students ,they shouldn’t be crowded but dynamic. Dynamism may be assured by using a series of drawings which together make up a complete story. If they are carefully selected and used, they will allow teachers to talk less while the class speaks more ,thereby avoiding one major problem in foreign language teaching: teacher’s dominance and students’ silence.
3.Coursebooks- are generally very well –prepared and they provide a clear syllabus ,motivating texts, contain CDs or video materials and are a very attractive resource. They also have teacher’s guide which offers possible solutions and procedures to use in the classroom. Many teachers use their textbooks as the starting point for their lessons and change it to make it more appropriate and interesting for their students.
4.Boards- are very useful in the classroom either for explaining things ,drawing, filling -in sentences, playing games or for displaying things on them(pictures ,posters ,charts).
5.The overhead projector –is a very useful equipment because we can show our students pictures, diagrams ,texts and we can create a lot of interesting activities. We can also ask our students to make power point presentations (on different topics) at home and present them during classes. The OHP minimizes the time the teacher spends writing on the board, with his or her back to the class .Therefore, when using the OHP the teacher can have simultaneous control over his/her class and materials. Materials can be prepared in advance but the teacher can also make any necessary additions.
5.Using CD players-is a good opportunity for students to improve their listening ,writing and speaking skills. Students can be asked to fill in a text while they listen ,to continue the text they’ve heard ,to give their opinion about it.
Besides these resources the teachers use increasingly technology in the classroom, which has become very important in every person’s private and professional life. Teacher training programmes are organized all over the world in order to develop teachers’ skills in using ICT in education. Technology in education isn’t something new, it has been used for decades :tape recorders ,language laboratories and video have been introduced in classrooms since 1960s.Computer-based materials for language teaching ,also called CALL(Computer Assisted Language Learning) occurred at the beginning of the 1980s.Because the access to technology has become widespread all over the world ,CALL has moved beyond the use of computer programs to embrace the use of Internet and web-based tools.
New generations grow up with technology in their lives which has become an important and integrated part of their daily activities and they increasingly expect schools to provide them opportunities to learn using modern technology. However ,there are numerous teachers who are reluctant in using technology during their classes either because of their lack of confidence or lack of training.
There has been a great tendency towards the use of technology and its integration into the curriculum during the last years. Particularly, the use of audio-visual materials in foreign language teaching classrooms has increased rapidly because of the large emphasis on communicative techniques, and it is obvious that the use of these devices is a great support for foreign language teachers in stimulating and facilitating the target language.
Internet provides excellent authentic tasks and materials as well as access to a variety of interesting and challenging English language teaching materials. Students can find almost anything they want on the internet: newspapers ,books ,lyrics etc. Computers, tablets and e-readers can all be good instruments in learning English because they offer interactive and motivating and challenging activities for students of all ages.
Using websites –the web is a source of content which can be used as a window on the wider world, outside the class and it’s also a good collection of authentic materials. Teacher’s choice of the website will depend mainly on what he/she wants to achieve. Many students today are more used to work with computer-based texts and information Teachers can design their own website and ask students to make their own. Teachers can publish anything they consider helpful on their website.
Blogs ,wikis and podcasts are very useful computer tools (social software)which allow people to communicate and collaborate online.” A blog is essentially a web page with regular diary or journal entries. The term is short for web log. A wiki is a collaborative web space, consisting of a number of pages that can be edited by any user. The term comes from the Hawaiian word for 'quick', A podcast is an audio and/or video file that is 'broadcast' via the Internet and can be downloaded to a computer or mobile device such as an MP3 player for listening/viewing”.28 The use of these tools can be extremely motivating for students if the teachers are very competent in using them. They will encourage interaction and communication.
Using Internet-based project work
Internet can be considered an enormous encyclopedia because it provides students a fast access to numerous information which they can use to achieve their project tasks. Project work online can vary from a simple low-level project like making a presentation of a famous person to high-level investigative work where students research a particular topic and present their opinions in a report or debate. An example of a low-level project would be “My favourite actor/singer” in which students have to search and find information about his/her background ,private life ,films ,awards and other interesting things.
A high-level project could be about “Global warming” or “Pollution” where students have to examine these serious issues in depth. It is especially appropriate for upper –intermediate levels and above because they require the students complex thinking and reasoning processes.
Using e-learning in the classroom
E-learning or technology in learning means using Internet ,CD-ROMs or any other portable devices (mobile phones ,laptops ,tablets)in order to enhance students’ interaction in the classroom. Online learning is usually delivered through a learning platform ,the most popular now being Moodle .This learning platform combines multiple tools and activities for teaching and for organizing learning. The practical advantage of using Moodle is that users (learners and teachers) only need one login and need to get used to only one user interface. Other advantage is protection of users and their data, provides good tools for assessment and grading for each student. Unfortunately ,online learning is not cheap and even if the teachers train continuously to introduce these modern techniques in schools they are quite difficult to implement due to the lack of financial resources ,bad Internet connections ,few computers in schools.
28.Gavin Dudeney and Nicky Hockly “How to teach English with technology”,Pearson Education Limited,2007
The main advantage of using technology in the classroom is connectivity which allows students to communicate more and I can say that one of the most important things the Internet has done is breaking down the physical barriers. In conclusion, using all these teaching aids effectively can enhance students’ motivation to learn ,focus attention, increase interest and also develop their language skills.
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