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TeachingEnglish: How to teach speaking

Develop your understanding of speaking skills and explore teaching techniques and activities that promote oral communication in the classroom for a range of ages and levels. Enrolment for How to teach speaking is closed. Find resources connected to the course contents on this page, and sign up for our newsletter to keep up to date on when our courses open.

A Black teacher and a learner in a wheelchair smiling at each other. There are other learners of different genders and ethnic backgrounds sitting at the same table.
TeachingEnglish
Understanding
9–12 hours
Start: 03/04/25
End: 30/09/25
Certificate
Workbook
Online community

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Enrolment for How to teach speaking is closed. Sign up for our newsletter, and we'll keep you updated when enrolment will open next. In the meantime, if you’re interested in learning more about How to teach speaking, you can view helpful resources here.

How will the course help you?

By the end of How to teach speaking, you'll be able to:

  • evaluate and adapt activities to promote meaningful communication
  • adapt tasks to maximise learner interaction
  • identify and justify appropriate speaking activities that effectively support specific lesson objectives.

What resources can you access any time?

  • A free workbook with extra learning content and resources connected to the course contents
  • A dedicated Facebook community of course participants with up-to-date insight, resources and innovative teaching ideas for you to try out (Facebook account required)
  • Learning content related to our courses on Facebook and YouTube
  • Live events and recordings with course tutors and language teaching experts on Facebook and YouTube
  • Sign up for our newsletter to keep up to date on when our courses open

What are the self-study modules?

Module 1 – Understanding speaking – key terms and issues

The aim of this module is to explore key terms and issues in the teaching of speaking. You'll look at how to evaluate and modify activities in terms of communicative quality, and consider how to get your learners using 'real speaking', not just completing grammar tasks.

Module 2 – Understanding speaking – maximising interaction

The aim of this module is to introduce you to a range of techniques and activities which promote speaking in your classroom. You'll look at the benefits of pair and group work and adapt tasks to maximise learner interaction.

Module 3 – Understanding language practice activities

The aim of this module is to explore and evaluate a range of practice activities. The module also looks at flexible activities that can be adapted for different ages and levels. You have the opportunity to select appropriate activities which match with lesson aims, and justify your choices.

Course reviews

What have other teachers said about how How to teach speaking helped them?

"Today, I taught a beginner class how to participate in a role-play activity for the first time. Instead of giving them instructions and then moving on straight to the speaking activity, I extended the speaking practice by eliciting what a role-play is, and brainstorming possible situations and roles reducing teacher speaking time. Also, after the role-play I extended the activity by asking them how they felt during the role-play encouraging them to express their personality and inout on the activity."

Course participant, Argentina

"After learning about the importance of fluency-focused activities, I started including short speaking tasks earlier in my lessons instead of leaving them until the end. For example, I now use pair discussions or role-plays in the middle of class to give students more time to practise speaking freely. This has helped boost their confidence and made lessons more interactive."

Course participant, Malaysia

"The British Council, TeachingEnglish course on how to teach speaking was very insightful.  For example, I learned the importance of using communicative activities like role-plays in speaking lessons. I now regularly incorporate role-plays into my daily classes, allowing students to practice real-life conversations in a supportive environment to boost their confidence and helps improve their speaking skills more effectively."

Course participant, Nigeria

Do you have more questions?

Please see our FAQs or access further support through our Help button.

Downloads
File attachments
How to teach speaking workbook 20251.12 MB
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Comments

Hi Nilufar,
I am sorry to hear you had technical problems, I hope that they reappeared for you so you could complete.
best regards,
Anne
TeachingEnglish team

Submitted by Bunmi Adesanya on Sat, 03/26/2022 - 09:34

I can't access any course, I can't find "My Portfolio" on the menu bar

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 04/07/2022 - 08:46

Hi,
I hope you have found this now - it may have been linked to some technical problems caused by an upgrade to the site. It should be fine now.
Anne
TeachingEnglish team

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 03/07/2022 - 18:51

Dear all, I have tied, but seems not have a button to click on and access the course whereas the ones one pays it works.

Submitted by Cath McLellan on Tue, 03/08/2022 - 12:08

Hello

This course has now finished and is no longer available for registration. It will be offered again later in 2022.

Thanks,

Cath

TE Team

Submitted by Su Sandy Htay on Fri, 03/04/2022 - 05:31

Hello. I tried the steps that you mentioned to enroll in the course. I went to "My course" and clicked the Explore all courses and nothing happened later. Would you please help me?

Submitted by Cath McLellan on Mon, 03/07/2022 - 09:01

Hello

This course is now finished and closed for registration. It will be offered again later in 2022, so please check back.

Thanks,

Cath
TE Team

Submitted by Siegfried on Fri, 02/18/2022 - 02:37

I'm trying to enroll in it but I can't find how.
I think it's because it's not schedule by the moment
I have just enrolled to "How to teach pronunciation" but I want to enroll in speaking too.
Could you help me please?

Submitted by Cath McLellan on Mon, 02/21/2022 - 09:05

Hi Siegfried,

This course is no longer available for enrolment. The course will be offered again later in 2022.

Thanks,

Cath

TE Team

Submitted by Thammarat on Sun, 02/06/2022 - 10:13

Hello everyone

I am Tommy from Thailand. It is very invaluable and useful for me as a teacher to learn and also improve myself in language teaching.

Many effectively practical activities I have gotten out of the course.

keep going on !

thanks

 

Submitted by Aeschylus on Fri, 02/04/2022 - 15:11

Good day,

I enrolled and finished the online courses. is there anything else as a requirement for my certificate; I can't find it from "my award" tab

Submitted by Cath McLellan on Mon, 02/07/2022 - 09:51

Hello Aeschylus

If you have completed the course but can't access your certificate, you need to contact the technical team using the orange "Help" button on the courses homepage. They will be able to resolve this issue for you.

Cath

TE Team

Submitted by Lamiaa Aamer on Thu, 02/03/2022 - 19:29

I have finished the "How to Teach Speaking" course today but I couldn't download the certificate. I tried to log out and in again to find that my progress was erased from my profile along the "How to Teach Listening" and "How to Motivate Learners" courses that I finished last year.

Please help me get back on track as I need that certificate and I don't wanna go through the courses all over again.

Best Regards,
Lamiaa

Submitted by Cath McLellan on Mon, 02/07/2022 - 09:49

Hi Lamiaa

Sorry you are having problems with getting your certificate. To resolve this issue you need to contact the technical team using the orange "Help" button in the botttom-right-hand corner of the courses page.

Thanks

Cath

TE Team

Submitted by ridha217 on Thu, 02/03/2022 - 06:57

Hello,

I would like to inform you that I was notified about acheiving the course and receiving the "Teaching pathways, How to teach speaking" Certficate, but unfortunately I cannot see it on My awards list.

My appologies if this would disturb you.

Submitted by Cath McLellan on Thu, 02/03/2022 - 13:41

Hello ridha217

If you have completed the course but have not received your certificate, please can you use the orange "Help" button on the course page to contact the technical team? They will be able to help you resolve this issue.

Thanks,
Cath

TE Team

Submitted by Maryem on Tue, 02/01/2022 - 18:43

I tried to join this course but there is no green tab on the right. I've checked it many times and ended up with the same thing: no green tab to enroll.

Hi Maryem

This course is no longer available for enrolment. We expect to offer the course again later in the year.

Thanks,
Cath

TE Team

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 01/27/2022 - 15:40

I have worked on all the modules and exercises but my name remains appeared unknown user on certificate of completion. I have checked all the stages and modules many times but the problem remains unsolved. Please, kindly request solution on this issue. Thank you.

Submitted by KatarinaT on Wed, 01/26/2022 - 21:12

Hello, I do not have the option to enroll 'Teaching pathways: how to teach speaking',

I have seen the comments and followed the suggestions, but I do not have this course as an option in "Explore all courses" ., I only had Teaching pathways: How to teach pronunciation. I have succesfully enrolled this course, but not the one - how to teach speaking. Please help. 

 

Hi KatarinaT

If you are enrolled and can access the "Explore all courses" page, but the course doesn't appear, could you please use the orange "Help" button in the bottom right-hand corner of the page to report this to the technical team - they should be able to help resolve this for you.

Thanks,
Cath

TE Team

Hello Asma Skhiri

You need to follow steps 1-4 above. Once you have created an account and logged on,  you will see the "My Portfolio" tab at the top of this page in the menu bar. Click on this and then "My Courses". This will take you to the courses homepage. There you can click on "Explore all courses", where you will see all the courses that are currently available and you can click on the ones you want to register for.

Hope that helps,

Cath
TE Team

Submitted by sabreen saleh on Sat, 01/22/2022 - 14:20

Hello 

I have completed uni 1 and 2 but my score is still zero. Any advice, please?

Submitted by Cath McLellan on Mon, 01/24/2022 - 09:43

Hi sabreen saleh

Sorry to hear that you are having problems with your progress being recorded. Can you report this to the course technical team? You need to contact them by using the orange "Help" button on the bottom right hand corner of the courses page.

Thanks,

Cath
TE Team

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 01/20/2022 - 22:59

Hi, I´m Max Vicente from Angola.

I'm interested to learn how to teach speaking. 

Submitted by BAKHITOGREBA on Wed, 01/19/2022 - 14:08

KINDLY, HOW DO I ENROLL IN THIS COURSE?

 

Submitted by Cath McLellan on Thu, 01/20/2022 - 15:07

Hi Bakhitogreba,

To enrol,  you need to follow steps 1-4 above. If you have created an account, make sure you are logged in. Then you will see a tab next to the Home button on the top of this page that says "My Portfolio" - if you click on this and then "My courses", this will take you to the courses homepage.   From here you can click on "Explore all courses" (a green tab on the right) - you will be able to see all the available courses, and can click on "Enrol in activity" for the courses that interest you.

Hope that helps,

Cath

TE Team

Hi adedayo

If you have created an account, make sure you are logged in. Then you will see a tab next to the Home button on the top of this page that says "My Portfolio" - if you click on this and then "My courses", this will take you to the courses homepage.   From here you can click on "Explore all courses" (a green tab on the right) - you will be able to see all the available courses, and can click on "Enrol in activity" for the courses that interest you.

Hope that helps,

Cath

TE Team

Hello May

Are you enrolled on the course? You need to follow steps 1-4 above. Then you can go to "My Portfolio" at the top of this page, and access the course homepage. If you are on the courses page and you cannot access the course content, please use the orange "Help" button in the bottom right hand corner of the page.

Hope that helps

Cath
TE Team

Submitted by Ss samah on Tue, 01/18/2022 - 10:35

I do all the steps 

But i can't join the course i need? Any help?

How enrolling to the course

Hi Ss samah,

If you have followed the steps then you should have an account and be logged in. You just need to go to the courses homepage,  then click on "Explore all courses" (the green tab on the right). There you can see all the available courses and just click on "Enrol in activity" for the courses you are interested in.

Thanks

Cath
TE Team

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sun, 01/16/2022 - 10:24

I really enjoy how to teach speaking course . I got many thing useful . I must often follow British Council from now on 

Submitted by Regina del Ros… on Fri, 01/14/2022 - 03:45

I really happy to participate in thus course. 

Hello LeeThuy,

If you are working through the course but are unable to save your progress, could you please report this to the technical team by clicking on the orange "Help" button in the bottom right hand of the screen on the course page?

Thanks,
Cath

Submitted by Ola_ on Thu, 01/13/2022 - 12:33

I teach English to undergraduate students who need to boost their communication skill. 

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 01/12/2022 - 13:51

I could not find My Portfolio or my courses,when I logged in. Please help me.

Submitted by Paul Braddock on Thu, 01/13/2022 - 08:54

Dear Dilki

You have not enrolled on the course. Please log in to your account first. 

When you have logged in, please click HERE to go to the course website. 

Click to 'Enrol in Activity'

The next time you log in to your TeachingEnglish account, you will see 'MY PORTFOLIO' at the top of the page. 

Regards

Paul (TeachingEnglish team)

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 01/12/2022 - 13:43

When I log in it appears ' Session limit exceeded' So please help me

Dear Dilki

This message appears when you are already logged in to your TeachingEnglish account on a different browser, for example Microsoft Edge. To continue, you just need to select a session to disconnect. You can only be logged in to your account on one browser for security reasons.

I hope that helps,

Regards

Paul (TeachingEnglish team)

Hi Mohamed, It looks like you have enrolled in the course. Congratulations!

To access the course, please see the instructions below:

On a desktop or laptop computer:
1. Log in to your free TeachingEnglish account.

2. If you have enrolled in the course, you will see 'MY PORTFOLIO' in the menu bar at the top of the page next to the Home button.

3. Move your mouse over MY PORTFOLIO to see the drop-down menu.

4. Click on ‘My courses’ to access your training.

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