Motivating speaking and problems involved

Speaking may be challenging for many learners. Although, some teenagers are eager to speak in their L1, if they need to speak L2 they can remain silent. So, a teacher should motivate such learners to speak English. 

If a student is motivated, even the shyest person will start speaking. The thing is that a teacher should make learners want to speak, and it can be challenging. 

Generally, teenagers (both younger and older) have a lot to say. But they should be in the right mood. And the task is to set that mood. 

So, what activities can a teacher suggest?

• speaking in pairs - information gap fill activities
• speaking to the class - presentation 
• group discussions 
• games
• role plays

Many teacher find it easier to work with tests and written activities as there are lots of them available in stores, on websites etc. Moreover, it is easier to control such tasks. 

So, speaking activities require hard work from a teacher. They can face lots of problem while setting speaking activities. 

• a teacher should control all students as they can speak at the same time (especially if you have a big class);
• if a teacher sets pair work, they should control the work of each pair;
• a teacher should create true to life tasks if they want speaking activities to be a success;
• a teacher should make everybody in class want to speak ;
• a teacher should control that everybody has spoken up on a subject, even shy students;
• in the class there may be students of different abilities, so a teacher should create appropriate tasks ;
• a teacher should correct students etc. 

So, a lot of factors may be discouraging for teachers. 

Learners may be reluctant to speak. There are many reasons for that and, I believe, that the first step to make speaking activities more motivating, is to understand WHY your students are silent. 

• Do they have anything to say on the topic? Is the subject relevant to the present times?
• Do your learners have the language to speak?
• Do your learners understand that mistakes are OK?
• Is the atmosphere in class friendly? Is somebody too pushy? 
• Do your learners have enough time to prepare their speech?
• Have you learners already discussed this subject millions of times? 

So, if a teacher wants to motivate their learners to take active part in discussion, they should bear in mind the following rules:

• Don’t single out one learner;
• Give learners time to practise;
• Make sure learners are prepared linguistically;
• Match activities to learners’ own experiences;
• Find the right time to work on correction;
• Know about your learners’ free-time activities;
• Find out what learners study in other subjects;

Before setting any speaking activity, it is essential to understand what language your learners will need. So, a teacher should first practise that language so that students were able to perform speaking activities successfully. 

Having the linguistic resources (grammar and vocabulary) is absolutely necessary for successful completion of an activity. If learners are not able to produce the language, they cannot practise it.

Role plays and simulations can be successful ways to get teenagers speaking:

• In role plays, we give learners information about their character and personality;
• In simulations, we ask learners to perform as though they were in a real-world situation, that may or may not have happened to them, e.g. buying a cinema ticket;

A lot of learners enjoy both role plays and simulations. In role plays, learners are more fixated on the language they use as they don't have to think what they would say themselves. Whereas in simulations they practise their behaviour if they are faced with a similar situation in the real world. 

Presentations can be also found interesting. However, they require hard work. 

Nowadays, it is essential that everybody could speak in public. This skill is very demanding and that's why we, teachers, should help our learns to acquire it. 

The presentation is often the final part of a multi-layered task, which will involve many speaking moments.

1.      First, we should choose the topic that everybody will be pleased with. And it is hard! However, we should not forget that the topic should be interesting for students and not for a teacher! So, this topic should be relevant to their interests and hobbies. A teacher can make a list of several topics and learners are to choose one. This will be extremely motivating as teenagers like having freedom of chose. And don't forget that the topic shouldn't be the one they have already discussed at every subject. 

2.     Once you have chosen the topic, you need to set up the activity. Presentations can have many steps:

• brainstorming language 

Before doing presentations, your learners should be familiar with the language proper to the subject. Ask them question, for example, "How can we describe a place we like". Write down the variants on the board so that students could use them. 

• listening to an example

Your learners should know what is expected from them. So, give them an example. 

• playing a game relevant to the topic

It can be a guessing game. For example, if the topic is "places you really like", your students can make questions to their friend in order to guess the place they are thinking about. This is useful as learners practise the language.

• practising with a friend

This stage is often left out but it is very important. Your learners should have practice. And their classmates can help them and give feedback. 

If learners have an opportunity to practise they feel more self-confident and motivated.

• doing the presentation

Now, they are ready to make a presentation. 

• asking the presenter a question

While someone is speaking, the rest of the class shouldn't get bored. Tell them that after their classmates' presentation someone will need to ask a question. But don't say who. That way they each need to think about a question to ask. 

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How can a teacher increase STT (Student Talking Time)?

Links:

http://www.cambridgeenglishteacher.org/courses/details/19104