1. Teaching Oral Communication
Speaking
Listening
Rhodalyne Gallo-Crail
COTSEAL Workshop
University of California, LA, CA

2. Presentation Outline Issues in Teaching Oral Communication
Listening Approaches
Speaking Approaches
Principles in Designing Listening and Speaking
Strategies and Activities
Assessment
This part of our workshop this afternoon hopes to review some of the approaches, techniques and strategies in teaching oral communication which covers both listening and speaking.

3. Issues in Teaching Oral Communication
The Place of Pronunciation
Accuracy and Fluency
Affective Factors
The Interaction Effect
The Role of Listening
The following are some of the issues in teaching oral communication that will help us reflect on the different teaching techniques and strategies for our own classrooms.
1. Although, majority of our students would never acquire an “accent free” command of the language, I still believe that an ample emphasis begin in teaching pronunciation in any type of classroom experience (communicative - fluency or linguistic - accuracy)
2. In the late 70’s until the late 80’s there has been a great diversion in teaching that focuses on linguistic matters(articulation, grammar and accuracy) to more natural communicative language. Both extremes lack something. Accuracy and fluency both need emphasis in the classroom.
“Fluency is probably best achieved by allowing the stream of speech to flow, then, as some of this speech spills over beyond comprehensibility, the river banks of instruction on some details of phonology, grammar, or discourse will channel the speech on a more purposeful course.”
3. Affective Factors - Teachers need to provide a classroom atmosphere that would encourage students to talk no matter how broken and incomprehensible the spoken language is.
4. Emphasis on conversation in any form is important in the classroom. Oftentimes, our classroom is the only community they have in using the language. Seize that opportunity and make it work for the students.

4. Approaches that Promote Listening
Total Physical Response (TPR) worked by James Asher (1977) which gives emphasis to comprehension where students were given ample amount of language to listen before they were encourage to respond orally.
Oral communication is intertwined with one’s ability to listen. Listening as in language is a very important component of oral communication. The silent period is often times the most crucial in the language development.
Good listeners are good responders. Good listeners know how to negotiate meaning, give feedback, ask for clarification, maintain topic to make understanding or comprehension complete.
A 4th century Chinese Proverb says it more eloquently:
Not to let a word get in the way of its sentence
Nor to let a sentence get in the way of its intention
But to send your mind out to meet the intention as a guest:
That is understanding.

5. The Natural Approach also recommended a significant silent period
Stephen Krashen (1982) emphasized the importance of “comprehensible input”.
Other studies also showed the importance of training students to use different cognitive strategies to process the input. These strategies may include the following:
Retention
Feedback
Interaction
Retention - students need to make decisions on what to retain for long term, short term.
Feedback - responding information
Interaction - engaging in conversation

6. Principles for Designing Listening and Speaking Techniques (Brown, 1994)
Techniques should cover the spectrum of learner needs from language based focus on accuracy to message-based focus on interaction, meaning and fluency
Interac

7. Techniques should be intrinsically motivating
Techniques should utilize authentic language and contexts

8. Provide appropriate feedback and correction
Capitalize on the natural link between speaking and listening
Give students opportunities to initiate oral communication
Encourage the development of listening and speaking strategies

9. Listening Strategies Looking for key words
looking for nonverbal cues to meaning
predicting a speaker’s purpose by the context of the spoken discourse
associating information with one’s existing cognitive

10. TYPES of Classroom Listening Performance
Reactive
Intensive
Responsive
Selective
Extensive
Interactive

11. Speaking Strategies Asking for clarification
Asking someone to repeat something
Using fillers and conversation maintenance cues
Getting someone’s attention

12. Using paraphrases for structures one can’t produce
Appealing for assistance
Using formulaic expressions
Using mime and one-verbal expression

13. TYPES OF SPOKEN LANGUAGE (Nunan, 1991)
Monologue (planned and unplanned)
storytelling
news broadcast
readings (short stories, poems, etc.)
Dialogue (Interpersonal and Transactional)

14. Types of Dialogues Scripted Dialogue Semi-Scripted
Using Picture Cues to present scenario for dialog
Discourse Chain

15. Using Picture Cues

16. Tell what you have and how much
Discourse Chain
Son
Mother
send your son to the store
Tell mother you will go buy what she needs
Greet the store keeper. Tell her/him what you want to buy, ask how much.
Pay her and say goodbye.
Store Keeper
Tell what you have and how much

17. Techniques for Teaching Oral Communications
Pronunciation
Stress, Intonation, Pitch,
Grammar
Discourse (Speaking and Listening)
Interactive Techniques
Interviews, Guessing Games, Discussions, Roleplay, Simulations, Problem Solving Activities
Individual Practice (Oral Dialogue Journal)

18. ASSESSMENT
Activity-Based
Oral Interviews
Recorded journals