Productive Skills: Speaking

Speaking Skills: A Comprehensive Guide for Teacher Educators

Characteristics of Speaking

Speaking is a complex, interactive process that involves the construction of meaning through verbal and non-verbal communication. Unlike writing, speaking is spontaneous, contextual, and requires real-time processing of both linguistic and paralinguistic elements.

Key Characteristics of Speaking:

• Interactive Nature: Speaking involves producing and receiving information simultaneously, requiring speakers to process input while formulating responses.

• Real-time Processing: Speakers must construct meaning instantly without extensive planning time, making it cognitively demanding.

• Contextual Dependency: Effective speaking depends heavily on situational factors, audience awareness, and cultural appropriateness.

• Multimodal Communication: Speaking encompasses verbal elements (words, grammar, pronunciation) and non-verbal elements (gestures, facial expressions, body language).

• Fluency and Accuracy Balance: Speakers must balance smooth delivery with linguistic correctness to ensure effective communication.

Sub-skills of Speaking

Rather than treating speaking as a monolithic skill, effective language instruction focuses on developing specific speaking sub-skills or micro-skills. These sub-skills work together to create competent oral communication.

Core Speaking Sub-skills:

• Fluency: The ability to speak with logical flow without excessive planning or rehearsing. Fluency involves speaking smoothly with minimal hesitations, pauses, or repetitions while maintaining coherent idea development.

• Accuracy with Words and Pronunciation: Students must use words, structures, and pronunciation accurately to ensure comprehensibility. Inaccurate usage can lead to miscommunication or confusion, making this sub-skill fundamental for practical communication.

• Functions: The ability to employ specific phrases for communicative purposes, such as giving advice, apologising, making suggestions, or expressing opinions. This sub-skill enables speakers to accomplish specific communicative goals effectively.

• Appropriacy: The capacity to use language appropriate for specific situations and make informed decisions about formality levels, vocabulary choice, and grammatical structures.

• Turn-taking Skills: The ability to manage conversational flow through appropriate interjection, yielding speaking time, and maintaining conversational coherence.

• Repair and Repetition: The competence to repeat or rephrase parts of a conversation when comprehension issues arise. This involves recognising communication breakdowns and implementing appropriate repair strategies.

• Range of Words and Grammar: The ability to use specific vocabulary and grammatical structures appropriate for particular topics or tasks. This sub-skill enables speakers to communicate effectively across various domains and situations.

• Discourse Markers: The use of organisational language elements (e.g., firstly, secondly, on the other hand) to structure spoken discourse and enhance comprehension.

• Pronunciation and Intonation: The correct articulation of sounds combined with appropriate rhythm and pitch patterns. These elements significantly influence communication clarity and meaning conveyance.

• Interaction and Negotiation: The ability to engage with interlocutors, ask for clarification, and negotiate meaning collaboratively.

Features of Effective Oral Skills Lessons

Effective oral skills instruction goes beyond simply having students "speak" in the classroom; it involves systematically teaching specific speaking competencies. Research identifies several essential features of practical oral skills lessons.

• Clear Learning Objectives: Every practical speaking lesson begins with tangible, measurable objectives, such as initiating conversations, asking and answering topic-specific questions, or delivering brief presentations.

• Systematic Skill Development: Effective lessons address the combinatorial nature of speaking, including linguistic features (pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary), discoursal elements (turn-taking, coherence), and communication strategies.

• Pre-task Preparation: Successful speaking lessons include preparation phases where students receive linguistic input and strategic guidance to reduce cognitive load during speaking.

• Authentic Practice Opportunities: Activities should mirror real-world communication contexts, such as debates, storytelling, interviews, and simulations.

• Interactive Focus: Practical lessons emphasise interaction through group activities, pair work, and class discussions, building a classroom community.

• Scaffolded Learning Environment: Effective lessons create safe spaces where students can take risks, make mistakes, and learn from errors.

• Varied Activity Types: Use of creative, varied approaches, including current events discussions, technology integration, and game-based learning, ensures engagement and stimulation.

• Focus on Meaning and Form: While communication is paramount, lessons address linguistic accuracy through targeted feedback and correction.

• Metacognitive Awareness: Instruction helps students develop awareness of their speaking processes and self-regulation strategies, supporting long-term learning.

Speaking Activities for Language Learning

Diverse speaking activities allow students to practice and develop oral communication competencies. These activities should target specific sub-skills while maintaining engagement and authenticity.

Presentation-Based Activities:

• Two-Minute Talks: Students deliver short presentations focusing on discourse markers and signposting language.

• Mini-Presentations: Students prepare and deliver brief presentations with a clear structure (introduction, body, conclusion), practising organisational skills.

Interactive Communication Activities:

• Role-Playing and Simulations: Students assume different roles and engage in realistic scenarios, practising functional language and appropriacy.

• Information Gap Activities: Describe and Draw require clear, accurate communication and repair strategies.

• Interviewer Activities: Students conduct interviews, practising question formation, turn-taking, and active listening.

Creative and Game-Based Activities:

• Group Storytelling: Collaborative story creation enhances fluency, creativity, and turn-taking.

• Twenty Questions / Guess Who: Encourages question formation and deductive reasoning.

• Spot the Lie: Combines critical thinking with communication skills.

Discussion and Debate Activities:

• Agony Aunt Activities: Practice functional language when giving advice and expressing opinions.

• Polling Activities: Students survey classmates and report findings, practising data collection and presentation.

• Debate and Discussion: Structured engagement on issues enhances argumentation and critical thinking.

Skill-Specific Activities:

• Pronunciation Drills: Target specific sounds or intonation patterns, beneficial for learners with different L1 backgrounds.

• Fluency Development: Activities that prioritise meaning to build confidence and automaticity.

• Accuracy Practice: Controlled practice of grammar or vocabulary to ensure correct usage.

Pedagogical Implications

Understanding the complexity of speaking skills requires teacher educators to:

• Recognise speaking as a multifaceted competency requiring systematic instruction.

• Design lessons that address specific sub-skills, not treat speaking as a single ability.

• Create supportive environments that encourage risk-taking and learning from mistakes.

• Balance fluency and accuracy based on student needs and objectives.

• Implement diverse activities that maintain engagement and target specific outcomes.

• Provide effective feedback that promotes continued learning and development.

Useful Links

https://www.gcu.edu/blog/teaching-school-administration/esl-speaking-activities

https://www.kenlackman.com/files/speakingsubskillshandout13poland_2_.pdf

https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1225673.pdf