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TeachingEnglish: How to teach speaking

Enrolment for 'TeachingEnglish: How to teach speaking' is now 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.

Two young adults - male and female - talking and smiling in an outdoor cafe
© Matt Wright

Welcome to 'TeachingEnglish: How to teach speaking'

How will the course help you?

Develop your understanding of speaking skills and explore teaching techniques and activities which promote oral communication in the classroom for a range of ages and levels.

What does the course include?

How to teach speaking is a free self-study training course, which is divided into three hour modules. It also includes:

  • A dedicated Facebook community of course participants with up-to-date insight, resources and innovative ideas for you to try out.
  • Engaging discussions taking place in the Facebook community
  • A free workbook with extra learning content and resources.

What will you learn?

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. 

By the end of this module, you will be able to:

- recognise issues related to accuracy and fluency in speaking practice
- distinguish between oral activities which practise grammar and oral activities which are communicative
- evaluate a range of speaking activities
- modify activities to make them more effective in developing oral communication skills.

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 student interaction.

By the end of this module, you will be able to:

- distinguish between oral activities which practise grammar and oral activities which are communicative
- adapt reading tasks to make them more communicative.

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.

By the end of this module, you will be able to:

- identify the skills and language that different activities practise and address some common concerns about practice activities
- use songs, stories and mobile phones in a variety of ways for classroom language practice
- choose language practice activities which correspond to your lesson aims and learners' needs.

When is the course?

Enrolment for 'TeachingEnglish: How to teach speaking' is now closed. Sign up to the free newsletter to keep up to date on when our courses open.

How much does the course cost?

The course is free.

How can you get a certificate?

You will receive a certificate if you successfully complete all self-study modules.

What level of English do you need?

Minimum CEFR B1

What can you do now?

If you're interested in learning more about teaching speaking, you can:

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Comments

Hi Khamis

To enrol on the course, follow the instructions (Steps 1-5) above. Remember you need to first create an account if you don't have one.

Hope that helps,

Cath

TE Team

Submitted by Esther80 on Sat, 12/18/2021 - 22:17

I can't enroll in this course, how can I do it?

Submitted by Cath McLellan on Mon, 12/20/2021 - 12:58

Hi Esther80

To enrol, you need to create an account (you can click on the link above) - once you've done that, you will be able to sign up for the course. 

Hope that helps,
Cath

TE Team

Hi salimayoucefi

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

The green tab is not available, after accessing the courses homepage all I see is my personal details and no further options that relate to the course. I don't know how else to access the activities.
I am signed in and I have signed up for the course.

Hi,

I am sorry you are having this problem. 

Log in, above your personal details do you see a menu bar? If on a mobile click the three lines to open the Menu.

Do you see a Menu option My portfolio? If you do, click My courses.

If you don't see the My portfolio menu, return to the Training page and follow the steps to Visit our course website

Kirsteen

Hi,

I am sorry you are having this problem. Log in, above your personal details do you see a menu bar? If on a mobile click the three lines to open the Menu.

Do you see a Menu option My portfolio? If you do, click My courses. If you don't see the My portfolio menu, return to the Training page and follow the steps to Visit our course website

Hope that helps!
Anne
TeachingEnglish team

Submitted by VidyaEng on Thu, 07/28/2022 - 18:42

Hi Team,

Given the high demand for the course, could you please let us know when this course will become available again? I am sure it will be a valuable guide to ESL teachers.

Thanks,

Hi VidyaEng,

We don't have course dates yet for a new run of this course, it will be announced on the on the main training page when it runs again :   https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/training.  The current course available is online skills for 21st century teachers at  https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/teaching-pathways-online-skills-21st-century-teachers and just announced is the next course on How to teach Grammar https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/teaching-pathways-how-teach-grammar Hope you find a course that interests you soon until a new run of How to Teach Speaking. 

Anne

TeachingEnglish team

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Fri, 05/13/2022 - 14:35

Hi Reansha,
This course is not running at the moment ( so you wouldn't see it in your portfolio). If you can't see your portfolio at all try logging out and then back in again, and clear cache to see if that helps.
Anne
TeachingEnglish team

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sat, 07/16/2022 - 15:58

HI Muh_Ali,

If you can see your portfolio, then you are okay - the course should be visible there from the course start date ( 19th July). We look forward to seeing you there :).   If you can't see your Portfolio  then I hope the following instructions help, get back in touch here if they don't!

Check that you are not logged into your TeachingEnglish account on a different device or browser. Log out of your account on all devices and browsers, and log in again. Then if you see My Portfolio, click or tap 'My courses' from MY PORTFOLIO. You should be taken to your training course on and after the start dates. If you still can't access your course, log out, clear the cache on your browser and log in again. Hope that helps!
Anne
TeachingEnglish team

Hi Win Moh Moh

Sorry to hear you are having problems - can you let us know which stage of the enrollment you are having problems with? 

Thanks

Cath

TE Team

Hello

This course has finished now, but we do expect to offer it again later in the year. Please check back for updates.

Thanks

Cath
TE Team

Dear Cath, 

I´ve already followed all the steps to do the course but I couldn´t enroll because I can´t see the "enroll" button.

Could you help me please?

Thank you, 

Verónica.

Submitted by Cath McLellan on Thu, 01/20/2022 - 15:02

Hi Verónica,

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

Submitted by Cath McLellan on Thu, 01/27/2022 - 09:54

Hi Summaiya Ashraf,

If have enrolled in the course page (by following the instructions above), "My Portfolio" is a tab that appears in the toolbar at the top of the page, next to the home page (when you are logged in). Please can you check that you are logged in?

Cath
TE Team

Submitted by nesreensherb on Wed, 09/21/2022 - 07:00

I couldn't find my courses option as I need to enroll in the speaking teaching course

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Fri, 05/13/2022 - 14:29

Hi,
This course is now finished and closed for registration. Keep your eye on the main courses page. If the course runs again in the future, you'll find information about dates there,
Anne
TE Team

Hi there
I created the account but still can’t enroll any courses.
I would be thrilled if you could help me

Submitted by Philippa on Thu, 09/29/2022 - 07:10

Hi Nilgolmohamadi,

Thanks for your interest in our courses. If you're logged into your account, click on "Training", and you'll be able to see all the courses you can enrol in. Click on the course you're interested in, and follow the instructions under "How do I sign up for the course?" further down the page. Our next course is "Focus on Professional Development", and it starts on October 4th. 

Philippa

TeachingEnglish team

Submitted by Zin Win Mar on Wed, 04/06/2022 - 13:00

Can I get certificate?

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

When you have finished the course, on the course platform (MY PORTFOLIO > My courses), go to 'My awards' in the menu. Your certificate should be there - as long as you have completed 70% of the work :).
Anne
TeachingEnglish team

Submitted by Cyn96 on Fri, 04/29/2022 - 13:59

I'm interested as well, but can't get enrolled. I already logged in, but can't find "my portfolio" section. What can I do?

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Fri, 04/29/2022 - 21:25

Hi Cyn96,
Sorry to hear you are having trouble finding 'my portfolio' - the following things have helped some people: Check that you are not logged into your TeachingEnglish account on a different device or browser. Log out of your account on all devices and browsers, and log in again. Then if you see My Portfolio, click or tap 'My courses' from MY PORTFOLIO. You should be taken to your training course. If you still can't access your course, log out, clear the cache on your browser and log in again. Hope that helps!
Anne
TeachingEnglish team

Hi Omed96,

Thanks for your interest in the course, we don't have a confirmed start date for a new run of Teaching pathways: How to Teach Spekaing yet. New dates will be published on the main page when they are programmed. We know that this course has been popular and hope to run it again within a year. The course we are running now is 'How to Teach Grammar'. If you are interested in this, you can find all the details here: https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/teaching-pathways-how-teach-grammar. It just started yesterday :). 
Anne
TE Team

Submitted by Zubaidbd on Sat, 12/18/2021 - 17:01

I wanna get ppl smarter in thinking and get them used in potential areas internationally.

Submitted by Muhammad Osama on Sat, 08/13/2022 - 21:52

I want to learn before get the certificate

Submitted by Aishaabdirisak on Mon, 08/08/2022 - 13:19

I want learn English because my English is not good

Submitted by Paul Braddock on Tue, 08/09/2022 - 11:57

Hi,

Please visit our LearnEnglish website for English language learners - https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/

Thanks

Paul (TeachingEnglish team)

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