In this episode, I share what I have learned about how to teach speaking to English Learners. Speaking is part of our students’ everyday lives because they are learning in an English speaking environment. Because of this, it is easy to overlook the importance of more structured speaking opportunities. Speaking is also a very personal thing and can be intimidating even for native speakers.
There are six components of teaching speaking that I like to incorporate into my lessons.
- Set the rules. Students cannot engage the way you want them to if you haven’t made your expectations clear. This helps even the playing field for students and let them feel secure that they know what to do.
- Pre-teach vocab and phrases. This can be teaching students the words they need to express their thoughts or teaching students words you chose for a practice activity.
- Arrange for small group and pair work. The dynamics of a group are much more relaxed that speaking to another teacher or speaking in front of a whole class. Students are able to practice in a lower stress environment. It also mimics real life situations students will encounter the most.
- Teach speaking strategies, in particular, what to do when you don’t understand what someone is saying.
- Give choices. Have students choose the topics they want to talk about so that the conversation is more authentic and students have the motivation to talk about the topic.
- Assessment. Assessment of conversation speaking should be informal. Find a way to grade students without focusing on grammar.
Listen to the episode for more specific ideas on each of these components of teaching speaking.
Would you add anything to these tips? What do you find works well when teaching speaking?
What you will hear about teaching speaking to English Learners
- The different purposes of speaking
- Common challenges to teaching speaking
- The 6 components of a speaking lesson
- Mistakes I’ve made teaching speaking and how to avoid them
Resources
As mentioned in the episode, I am linking some useful resources!
- The ESL Teaching Roadmap – membership community for middle and high school ESL/ELL teachers. As a thank you for listening, use code ESLPODCAST for 10% off when you join.
- 25 Authentic Speaking Activities for Your ESL Classroom
- Simply Ieva ESL Teachers Pay Teachers Store
- Teachable Platform – Courses and Workshops
- Follow me on Instagram
- Join the Simply Ieva Facebook Group
You may also be interested in:
