What is 'speaking' in the elementary level classroom?

Speaking and elementary learners - speaking article

Unfortunately, I think that all too often, 'speaking' can be confined to students answering the teacher's questions or repetition and manipulation of form. As my elementary students have limited linguistic resources, it can be difficult to find ways to get them to really 'push' their productive skills in a meaningful way.

  • Lesson paradigms
  • Three example lessons
    • Talking about my room
    • Parents
    • Teenage advice
  • Personalisation
  • Creating the need to communicate
  • Quality of teacher feedback
  • Conclusion

 

Lesson paradigms
In 'Learning Teaching,' Jim Scrivener proposes a teaching sequence model which he calls 'ARC.' He suggests that any teaching sequence could potentially have three elements to it: 'Authentic use,' 'Restricted use' and 'Clarification and focus.' Hence ARC. In this model,

  • 'Authentic use' means exposure to or practice of real language use
  • 'Restricted use' means controlled practice of language
  • 'Clarification and focus' means drawing our students' attention to form.

 

These elements of the lesson can appear in any order in the lesson, depending on aims, level and focus.

'Authentic use'
is not confined to speaking, it incorporates any elements which allow the students to engage with the language in an authentic way. It could include any of the four skills. In this article, I'd like to look at the 'authentic use' element of the lesson and see what it might mean in terms of elementary speaking. I'll describe three very different lessons which introduce speaking in a more 'real life' way to our elementary learners.

Three example lessons
Talking about my room (Using here is / there are / is there…? / are there…?)

  • Pre-teach or revise items of furniture and right, left, top, bottom and if you haven't already taught these, 'there is' and 'there are'.
  • The students should sit in pairs back to back. If this isn't possible you can use large card or their books to 'hide' the individual student's work.
  • Each student draws their ideal room or favourite room in their house on the top half of a large sheet of paper. They should not show anyone.
  • On the bottom half of the paper, each student draws an empty 'box'
  • Students take it in turns to describe their room/ draw their partner's room on the paper.
  • The teacher then comments on content and does a small amount of correction.

 

Parents (Using adjectives which describe character / comparatives)

  • Pre-teach or revise 10 character adjectives e.g. kind, fair, intelligent, honest etc.
  • Write the list on the board.
  • Ask the students to decide which 8 qualities are important in a parent (or teacher).
  • Each student writes their own individual list of 7 in order of importance.
  • Students then share their lists in pairs and try to agree on one list.
  • Students can then work in groups of four together and see how similar or different their lists are.
  • Get group representatives to give feedback to the class.
  • The teacher can then comment on content and give a small amount of correction if necessary.

 

Teenage advice (Using: should)

  • Find or write a simple story about a teenager with a 'problem'. The story should be believable and should include a number of decisions. Leave it open-ended.

    Download sample story 43K pdf

 

  • Cut the story into four or five separate paragraphs so that at the end of each section there is a decision to be made.
  • Students then work in groups of four, with a chairperson.
  • Give out the first paragraph. Students read and decide for themselves what they think s/he should do.
  • Groups then compare ideas.
  • Get some brief open-class feedback from around the class, but don't correct errors.
  • Do the same with each paragraph, with feedback after each section. Monitor throughout.
  • Final feedback on what s/he should do at end of story from group representatives.

 

Personalisation
These exercises all involve a degree of personalisation. Instead of talking about a fictional picture in a course book, students are creating their own meanings. We all like to talk about ourselves and our lives. This makes the lesson transcend the level of 'practice phase' and move into the realms of 'real communication.'

The students will relate to the teenage problem, as it's likely to be one that they or their friends have had. It allows them to deal with personal issues in a safe context, as they're talking about someone else.

Creating the need to communicate
The activities all involve an element of information gap and demand that the students interact in order to complete the tasks. In the first lesson they have to communicate because they can't see each other's drawing, the only way to get the information is to speak. The ordering exercise in the second lesson also helps them to focus. If the students are engaged, they are striving or 'pushing' to communicate. Any potential frustration when they find the 'gaps' in their language skills is offset by the intrinsically interesting and engaging nature of the tasks.

Quality of teacher feedback
As always, it's essential to give feedback on content as well as language. Otherwise, the message we're giving to our students is that only the language element is important. In this case, some comments about different rooms you've heard about during monitoring will be helpful.

What will you do about correction of the 'form'? Well, it's unlikely that the students will get everything right first time. What I try to do is select one element to correct immediately, for example pronunciation of 'schwa', and then decide to review at another time.

Conclusion
It's important for elementary students to go beyond simple repetition and manipulation of form. They sometimes need to get away from mere 'language practice' and to strive to communicate meaningfully about topics which really concern them. This will inevitably mean mistakes, and sometimes frustration. Both these are part of language learning and shouldn't be avoided. If as teachers we give good quality feedback on content as well as language, we will encourage our students to strive to create their own meanings through English.

References
'Learning Teaching' Scrivener, Jim, Heinemann 1994

Sue Leather, freelance trainer and writer

Downloads
should.pdf42.61 KB

Comments

Submitted by Mih.Hurtado on Thu, 01/04/2024 - 04:03

I really love the sort of activity in which the students must use only oral language to communicate. Apart from it's so funny, it's also exciting.

Submitted by xavo on Fri, 09/01/2023 - 23:46

The "ARC" model proposed by Scrivener reminded me of the traditional "PPP" (Presentation, Practice, Production) we used to use in our classes. I definitely agree that we should give our students the opportunity to listen to and practice with real language; the language people are using now. I can't agree more with the idea that providing good feedback at the right time is an essential factor, not only for the students' learning process, but also for their motivation.
Something else I am going to keep in mind is that we need to be tolerant of students' errors, especially in the initial stages of their learning.

Submitted by Ann Marie on Thu, 08/31/2023 - 07:49

I heard about ARC some years ago, which, as many other teachers, I was already using without knowing it! It was interesting to reconnect with the "theory" and to get some precise examples that illustrate it.

Working with young adults, I know by experience that the "Teenage advice activity", even adapted to their age, feels too far from reality to them. Using real life examples, like someone famous who has gotten themselves into trouble, works sometimes better. But mostly, and sadly, when it comes to reading (anything), they feel like they are back at elementary school and are reluctant...

Submitted by profhasabo on Mon, 08/28/2023 - 08:55

The realm of speaking by adopting the ARC is of great benefit to both teachers and learners, adding to this one shouldn't avoid mistakes since it the pass to correction, where corrections are always are memorized by learners more than the correct ansaers.

Submitted by Jialiu on Wed, 08/02/2023 - 09:05

The ARC model is highly inspiring theorising of what speaking teachers often do unknowingly in their teaching practice, and is therefore kind of an awakening and reminder of the key points for teachers to bear in mind when planning their lessons and engaging in classroom teaching. And I will definitely incorporate some valuable elements in the design of the three example lessons in my practice.

Submitted by MilayPai on Tue, 08/01/2023 - 09:48

I also consider that speaking activities a great way of encouraging students to use language to communicate with those around them. The idea of a good warm up exercise or video makes the student more engaged in the classroom and willing to participate. It makes the lesson enjoyable and a good memory is a lasting memory.

Submitted by Krystyna Bevziuk on Thu, 07/27/2023 - 20:17

It was very nice to remember an exercise with drawing and describing the picture, also, I absolutely liked ARC, I am looking forward to use all above in my lessons.

Submitted by Galo Rivera on Wed, 07/26/2023 - 18:40

We need to apply new modern and real strategies to develop an accuracy and fluently natural speaking skill

Submitted by Tr Mie on Wed, 07/26/2023 - 07:42

I learned a lot from these activities after learning about the three methods of teaching speaking. 'Authentic use' refers to exposure to or practice with real language. 'Restricted use' refers to the controlled use of language. The phrase 'clarification and focus' refers to directing our students' attention to form. We may develop an unlimited number of lesson ideas for our respective levels of learners using these three sample words. The storytelling activity is fantastic. Thank you very much for sharing this thought.

Submitted by Nay Win on Tue, 07/25/2023 - 16:39

I have learned very important part of speaking skills. Thank you for your useful courses!

Submitted by Shakila on Thu, 07/20/2023 - 02:21

I have found very useful teaching methods.

Submitted by Kiddo22 on Fri, 07/14/2023 - 15:13

I loved the lesson samples. I will incorporate them into my lesson plan.

Submitted by maryam_Zarrabi on Fri, 07/07/2023 - 10:32

I find this article very useful. Specifically the ARC model can help teachers to make a guided lesson plan for their classes. However, I think I need more details about how to provide feedback to students if they were of different levels of language or are of different ages.

Submitted by syedWajid on Sun, 06/18/2023 - 12:06

I really like the ARC, it is wonderful article through which I learned a lot.
however, I think during speaking activities students should be given chance to use the language of real life situations so that they may understand it easily .secondly, avoid making correction particularly when student speaks, he/she may lose his/her condfidence which results in worse effects on his/her learning.

Submitted by med sab on Sat, 06/10/2023 - 16:47

The goal of teaching speaking skills is communicative efficiency. Learners should be able to
make themselves understood, using their current proficiency to the fullest. They should try to
avoid confusion in the message due to faulty pronunciation, grammar, or vocabulary, and to
observe the social and cultural rules that apply in each communication situation.

Submitted by Ehigiator . A. kate on Fri, 06/09/2023 - 19:00

I quite like the method as it will help the children express themselves freely based on the fact that they are discussing what they are familiar with. I believe they can be corrected after speaking. For the teens this method will help them develop their content without much stress. They will be able to speak more because these are some of the challenges, issues, they are facing. The teacher can correct them in area they made errors, when they are done. Actually this will help them develop good creative abilities in developing their plot.

Submitted by Priscil1 on Wed, 06/07/2023 - 04:12

I think the Authentic use is very useful. Engaging students in real life topic will encourage them to speak and they can also use it daily.

Submitted by bassiouni mohamed on Fri, 06/02/2023 - 21:38

I think this method of teaching speaking is enjoyable than the repetition and it is more effective

Submitted by alis_47 on Fri, 06/02/2023 - 10:32

In my opinion, we should avoid correction in speaking only and only when the student is speaking, in order not to make the other students hesitate to speak and be afraid that when the make mistakes teachers interrupt them and they will be embarrassed among the other students. But when the student finish speaking, I ask him/her if he/she made any mistakes aiming that he/she discovers the mistake by him/herself and correct it. That happened many times and the student discovers the mistake and corrects it. Otherwise, I ask the other students to do so. If all of them cannot discover the mistake and then correct it, I will do it myself, because leaving the mistakes as they are, make the student careless about them and then he/she get use of them as if they are not mistakes.

Submitted by OLGA ZETA on Wed, 05/31/2023 - 15:58

I appreciated the focus on emotional intelligence for both teacher and learner. Mistakes and frustration are steps of learning with a certain function and dignity. During the lessons we must give space to this experience and allow it: only in this way can the interlingua be improved.

Submitted by kikamarie on Tue, 05/30/2023 - 02:52

Speaking is more effective when the teens speak about real topics and they have the need to communicate. When you use an active and dynamic ideas they get easy in the conversation.

Submitted by MrSlaih on Mon, 05/29/2023 - 16:53

This are really helpful activities and I believe improvisation in the area of relativeness can go a long way to encouraging learners to participate fully.

Submitted by Natmet on Sun, 05/28/2023 - 14:57

Incredible how what I am doing is put into a concise way.
Thnks for this article that gives me pathway of turning out what I do into a more professional way.
Thnks.

Submitted by Amal Alwaseef on Sun, 05/28/2023 - 12:45

I recognized that teaching speaking through pair work, group work and role playing is more effective.

Submitted by Shahla Yusibova on Thu, 06/15/2023 - 09:48

In reply to by Amal Alwaseef

I absolutely agree with that. Group work is more effective than teacher-student communication. I like taking notes while my students have a group discussion afterward I can give them feedback.

Submitted by micco on Fri, 05/26/2023 - 14:51

I love the idea of authentic class.
Yeah, it’d be a part of learning language to feel some frustration. Yet this kind of real lessons would provide motivation for students to get over it.

Submitted by laolao.1712 on Tue, 05/23/2023 - 07:14

I have found a very useful teaching method

Submitted by SyedAqeel on Tue, 05/23/2023 - 05:30

Developing Speaking Skills through activities, pertaining real life situations, are really helpful. Especially at elementary level, students can be engaged in such activities i.e. story telling, pair work, group work and then taking feedback.
ARC rule is useful for creating lesson plan and implementing it in the class. Overall this lesson is commendable.

Submitted by souriresabine on Tue, 05/23/2023 - 03:28

The sample story, What Kate Should Do, is such a good example for me to find ways to get my students to really 'push' their productive skills in a meaningful way. Thanks a million.

Submitted by Thulasimani P on Wed, 05/10/2023 - 16:45

I got some ideas about some speaking activities. I am thinking about customizing them for my adult classroom.

Submitted by Yang Kaizhong on Tue, 05/09/2023 - 02:41

Before learning this course, I don't know how to teach my students really, but after this, I think I have got some directions.

Submitted by monikachan on Sat, 05/06/2023 - 01:45

The part about personalization and information gap gives me new insights into the ways to involve students in class. It does help me. Thank you!

Submitted by ZAFAR SIDDIQUE on Sun, 04/30/2023 - 15:47

Though the entire article was good, I found the ARC Model quite a useful takeaway. It sounds very appropriate as the use of real and authentic language makes learning easier. Furthermore, the story shared in the PDF form offers a good model for it.

Submitted by Ms Mary on Sun, 04/23/2023 - 05:12

I think all of these items that have been exposed are important. Personalisation and Creating the need to communicate are part of the engagement-producing elements to consider when planning the lesson. Thanks a lot.
It makes me think holistically when planning.

Submitted by jayeeta on Sat, 04/15/2023 - 15:05

This was really helpful especially theARC , i had no idea about it and it is explained very well also. I also liked the PERSONALISATION part, this is so much better than asking a child to speak about something fictional.Children can relate far more with there own surrounding than with something fictional.

Submitted by amod advantage on Wed, 02/02/2022 - 15:36

I find this a very useful piece of information. Especially about ARC. I did not have any prior knowledge about ARC but was using it in my classes unknowingly. Now I will refine my method and follow it (ARC). Thanks a lot

Submitted by saccassuncao on Fri, 09/04/2015 - 12:47

I consider that speaking activities such as role plays are an excellent way of getting your students to practise their English. They simulate real life situations and allow them to act out what they would do in a real situation. There are two ways a role play can go: scripted and non-scripted. With a scripted role play, I usually use an example in a text book. This is a good idea for a warm up exercise, by getting everyone to split up into pairs and allow them to speak to their partner, taking on different roles. Non-scripted ones are when students are given a role each and must use whatever knowledge they have in order to speak with that partner. For example a mobile call, going to a shop, sharing opinion.

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