Speaking problem is a topical problem in our time because in many countries more and more people start learning English as foreign language.Our project is about improving speaking skills.
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project "Improving speaking skills" | 112 КБ |
ПРАВИТЕЛЬСТВО САНКТ – ПЕТЕРБУРГА
КОМИТЕТ ПО ОБРАЗОВАНИЮ
Государственное бюджетное общеобразовательное учреждение средняя общеобразовательная школа № 490 Красногвардейского административного района г. Санкт – Петербурга
Адрес: Новочеркасский проспект, дом 50, корпус 3
телефон/факс )(812 )444-43-42, e-mail: sc490krasnogvard@mail.ru
ПРОЕКТНО – ИССЛЕДОВАТЕЛЬСКАЯ ДЕЯТЕЛЬНОСТЬ
ТЕМА ПРОЕКТА
Improving speaking skills
Руководитель проекта
Храброва Елена Николаевна
Учитель английского языка
Работу выполнила
Бодина Александра Дмитриевна
11 класс
г. Санкт – Петербург
2015
Contents
Introduction………………………………………………………………...3
1. What does Speaking mean?......................................................................3
2.Main kinds of difficulties in speaking……………………………………4
3. Effective ways to improve speaking skills…………………………….....7
4. Debate as one of the most effective ways to improve speaking skills… 8
5.Conclusion………………………………………………………………..11
6. References……………………………………………………………….12
7. Appendix 1……………………………………………………………….13
8. Appendix 2……………………………………………………………….15
9. Appendix 3……………………………………………………………….16
10. Appendix 4……………………………………………………………...17
Introduction
There are many people who learn English as foreign language. Many of them have good grammar and vocabulary skills but have problems with speaking.
Speaking problem is a topical problem in our time because in many countries more and more people start learning English as foreign language. People who don’t live among English-speaking others can not have a genuine spoke communication in their society. They are forced to looking for ways to speak with somebody on English language. Sometimes it is hard because often there is no person who speak with. Or we are afraid to speak wrongly and we just prefer keeping silence and do not start the communication.
We study in school with advanced study of foreign languages but nevertheless many of us have problems with speaking. I and my classmates decided to explore this problem and find the ways to overcome the difficulties in speaking. We understand the need of English speaking skills to:
-communicate with friends from other countries;
-have a good work in the future;
-subject to exchanging programs in university;
-travel to other countries without difficulties in overcoming of language barrier;
-watch movies and series in original voice;
-understand English-language songs etc;
Only writing and listening skills are not enough for us. Speaking is very important part of language.
Our project is about improving speaking skills.
1.What does Speaking mean?
Speaking is a process that includes understanding of sounding speech and realization of vocal sayings in sounding form. Communication is the process of transferring signals/messages between a sender and a receiver through various methods (written words, nonverbal cues, spoken words). It is also the mechanism we use to establish and modify relationships.
There are two forms of speaking:
-monologue (it is a part of speech when somebody speaks solo, without anybody else in front of audience);
-dialogue (it is when two or more people talk to each other, discussion).
2.Main kinds of difficulties in speaking
We have made up a special questionnaire to find out main pro difficulties in speaking.
About 30 senior students were asked. A questionnaire you can see here.
Item No | Statements | Opinion | ||
Agree | Disagree | Undecided | ||
1 | I never feel quite sure of myself while I am speaking English | |||
2 | In a speaking class, I forget things I know. | |||
3 | I feel confident while I am speaking English. . | |||
4 | I feel that my vocabulary is small when I am speaking English. | |||
5 | I am afraid that other students will laugh at me while I am speaking English | |||
6 | I have pronunciation problem when I am speaking English. | |||
7 | I have no fear of speaking English. | |||
8 | I can feel my heart pounding when I am going to be called on. | |||
9 | I feel relaxed while I am speaking English. | |||
10 | It embarrasses me to volunteer to go out first to speak English | |||
11 | I face the prospect of speaking English with confidence. | |||
12 | 13 Certain parts of my body feel very tense and rigid while I am speaking English. | |||
13 | I dislike using my voice and body expressively while I am speaking English. | |||
14 | There is little room for the development of communication skills in class. | |||
15 | Even if I am very well prepared, I feel anxious about speaking English | |||
16 | I am shy to begin communication with Native speakers |
Analysis of questionnaire
53% are forget all things they know in a speaking class;
61% are feel that their vocabulary is small;
46% have pronunciation problem;
38% feel their hearts pounding when they are going to be called on;
38% feel anxious even they are very well prepared.
69% feel confident while they are speaking English;
76% have no fear of speaking English;
53% feel relaxed while they are speaking English;
61% face the prospect of speaking English with confidence.
Speaking has main kinds of difficulties:
-small vocabulary. Many people don’t learn new words and their synonyms therefore sometimes they can not find words to describe something what are they talking about;
-pronunciation problem. There is nobody who can understand anyone who distorts words. It is hard to listen and understand wrongly pronounced texts;
-lack of practice. It is the most important part in speaking. There are many people who have enough vocabulary and right pronunciation but they just have nobody to speak with or they are too shy to begin communication with others who can help them. Therefore they can not improve their skills in spoke communication.
- the anxiety of losing face in front of classmates and teachers. Students are concerned about their lack of proficiency and are fearful of making mistakes.
- a lack of confidence in their ability and discourages them from interacting orally: Students who feel inadequate in their language abilities tend to protect their self-image by not participating in class communication.
-teachers are often under pressure to cover the heavy content load in syllabuses in preparation for examinations and there tends in examinations to be an emphasis on factual knowledge which leaves little room for the development of communication skills (Johnson, 1994). In order to complete the syllabus, there is a substantial use of mixed code by teachers throughout secondary level (ECR 4, 1989) and, in some cases, English is used minimally (Lai, 1993, p.13). Thus, the indication is that there is little time or opportunity for students to practice and develop their speaking skills.
3. Effective ways to improve speaking skills
Recommendations
There are many ways to eliminate the problem with speaking:
-practicing speaking every chance you get!
-learning English words every day;
-overcoming shyness and become communicating with native speakers
-making friends with people from other countries so you’re not tempted to speak in your own language;
-reading English books, newspapers;
-asking teacher to include more speaking exercises to study program;
-watching English films and series;
-listening to English music;
- DON’T BE AFRAID TO MAKE MISTAKES! The more you speak, the faster you learn – and that is why you’re here!
4. Debate as one of the most effective ways
to improve speaking skills
One of the most effective ways to improve speaking skills are debate.
Debate is contention in argument, dispute, controversy, discussion, especially the discussion of questions of public interest. This multystep activity enables students to debate issue related to a thematic unit. (1) The distinctive feature of debates are:
There are a lot of debates formats: Parliamentary Debate ,Team Debate, Lincoln-Douglas Debate, Mock Trial, Public Forum Debate etc.
We have chosen a format of debate Team or Karl Popper Debate.
The Karl-Popper format focuses on relevant and often deeply divisive propositions, emphasizing the development of critical thinking skills and tolerance for differing viewpoints. Debaters work together in teams of three and must research both sides of each issue. Each team is given the opportunity to offer arguments and direct questions to the opposing team. Judges then offer constructive feedback, commenting on logical flaws, insufficient evidence or arguments that debaters may have overlooked.
This format was developed for use in secondary school programs and competitions. It is popular in Central and Eastern Europe and in Russia. It is the format employed at the annual IDEA Youth Forum – a two week debate event for secondary school students from all over the world.
The distinguishing features of the format are: cross-examination, when four of the six debaters ask their opponents questions; and preparation time, when debaters can prepare before their speeches. This format emphasizes team work and is a good format for beginner debaters, because each speaker in this debate speaks once only and members of the team need to communicate with each other during the designated preparation time.
Aims of debate are:
Procedure of debates
1.We set a date of debate and invited audience.
2. We set a topic of debate “ Who is better as pets: cats or dogs”, divided the group into two teams.
3.For homework, each group had to read articles to the topic.
4. We summarised content in order each member understands it and specified pros and cons.
5. We made up a table of pros and cons and practiced debate speaking.
6.Then each team practiced in reorganizing the content in order to predict the arguments of opposing team.
7. The next step is working with question strategies where each team member trains to ask, response and use proper gambits.
8. Students familiarized with criteria of Debate learning the Score sheet.
9.We assigned roles and made individual and team preparation.
10. We hold our debate and had the audience and juries evaluate.
11. We got evaluation of juries and filled into reflection sheets.
Debate score sheet
Debate teams were rated on the categories listed below. A scale of 1(poor) to 5 (excellent) was used.
Criteria | Description |
| The strongest possible arguments |
| Supporting arguments with good examples |
C. Organization | Introductory and concluding statements were clear and organised |
D. Questions | Questions were concise and showed weaknesses in the opposing team arguments |
E. Answers | Answers were concise and to the point |
F.Presentation | Effective communication by proper delivery, eye contact, gestures etc. |
G.Participation | All members of the team participated |
Total: |
Conclusion
There are many people who have problems with spoken communication while learning English language as foreign. It is a real problem because speaking is a main part of any language. Results of the survey showed that more of students are have small vocabulary or just feel nervous when it is time to speak in English.
We have developed a series of recommendations to overcome the main difficulties in speaking. It is 21th century now and we have a lot of opportunities to learn foreign languages and to practice in spoke communication.
Many people just have low self-esteem and they are too shy to begin communication with native speakers or they are too lazy do start learning any new words.
Everyone should overcome the fear and begin improving the speaking skills. Debate is is a good way to improve speaking skills. . There are many interesting topics of debates like “What is better: cheeseburger or chikenburger?”, “Will teachers be replaced by machines?”etc. We asked students in our class what are they think about debates as improving-speaking-skills-way. Here are some responses: Zhenya T. said that he became more unfettered. Niko R. said he learnt to express his thoughts more concretely. Artyom H. accepted learning new words and improving his pronunciation skills.
Analysis of reflection sheets “Are debates helpful?” shows that we have got positive results in our group.
80 % of students said they would use this format in the future. 67% of students agreed that their level of confidence increased. 71 % of students think they have got bigger vocabulary. 65 % of students evaluated debates as good chance for language practice. 92 % of students use more than five ways from our list of recommendations.
References:
1.Brighon,D.Master,P(1997) New ways in Content-Based education, TESOL
2.Boonkit, K. (2010). Enhancing the development of speaking skills for non-native speakers of English. ProcediaSocial and Behavioral Sciences, 2, 1305-1309. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2010.03.1
3.Farmer, R. & Sweeney, E. (1997). Are you speaking comfortably? In D. Kember, B. H. Lam, L. Yan, J. C. K.Yum& S. B. Liu (Eds.) Case Studies of Improving Teaching and Learning from the Action Learning Project (pp. 347-356). HongKong: ActionLearningProject.
4.Kriangkrai Y.&Siriluck U.A (2009).Measure of EFL Public Speaking Class Anxiety: ScaleDevelopment and Preliminary Validation and ReliabilityEnglish Language Teaching; Vol. 5, No. 12; 2012
ISSN 1916-4742 E-ISSN 1916-4750
Published by Canadian Center of ScienTasee, P.
5. Lai, M., & Jackson, J. (2008). An exploration of Chinese EFL learners’ unwillingness to communicate andforeign language anxiety. The Modern Language Journal, 92, 71-86.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4781.2008.00687.x
MacIntyre, P. D., & Gardner. R. C. (1991).
6.Tasee, P. (2009).Factors affecting English major students anxiety about speaking English. Unpublished doctoral
dissertation. Suranaree University of Technology, NakhonRatchasima.
Appendix 1
Demo-version of debate
Today we will show you reduced version of debates about cats and dogs like an example.
Two teams will have a great fight. First group consists only of one Speaker. Member of a second group is one Speaker too.
Let's get started!
Now, Cats-team-speaker will tеll you about positive aspects of keeping cats.
SPEAKER ONE , FIRST TEAM (CATS)
Cats-team-speaker:
Hello my dear friends. I want to tell you about positive aspects of having cats as pets.
Firstly, Cats are very wonderful, lovely good looking animals , they have pointy ears, mild hair,sweet appearance.
Also, there are many breeds of cats and each of them is unique. Cats are mythical animals Gods, pagan deities.
Thirdly, they are very sweet, as they come down people nerves after hard working day .
In addition, I have two cats and I am really happy as cats owner. Cats are cool.
DL: Our debates are going on and Dogs-team-speaker will tell you about positive aspects of keeping dogs.
SPEAKER ONE , SECOND TEAM (DOGS)
Dogs-team-speaker
Dog is a very friendly, smart and faithful pet. We can always rely on dogs, they are true friends. It is a saying: “ Cats are connected with home and dogs are connected with a man”
Dogs inspire you to go for a walk, get fresh air and become more healthy;
They can make you really happy, because they show affection and support.
DL: I see, Cats-team-speaker do not agree with previous speakers he has something to tell about negative aspects of keeping dogs
SPEAKER TWO, FIRST TEAM
Cats-team-speaker
Hello, everybody. I suppose, keeping dogs is very expensive. Dogs need a lot of food, medicine and veterinarian’s support when they are ill.
They need a lot of time for a walk several times a day. Every morning the owner must get up early and let him or herself go out with a dog , nevertheless it is raining or snowing.
If you want to travel on holidays you will have a problem as you need to find the babysitter for your dog.
DL:Next speaker of our debates is Dogs-team-speaker. Dogs-team-speaker will tell you about negative aspects of keeping cats.
SPEAKER TWO, SECOND TEAM
Dogs-team-speaker
Cat shad hair all around the apartment and you need to clean your flat very often;
Keeping cats is expensive, you need to buy food, medicine and fillers for toilet;
You must clean the toilet of your cat timely, or your flat will be not-good-smelling. It is a big problem of keeping cat because people usually study or work and sometimes they can't manage cleaning cat's toilet. Next to it, cats hum and make people nervous.
DL:Final part of our debates is questionary. And now, Cats-team-speaker is starting asking members of opposite team about dogs.
SPEAKER THREE, FIRST TEAM
Cats-team-speaker
Is it really worth taking a risk of holding a dangerous wild beast in your house just for good mood of you?
SPEAKER THREE, SECOND TEAM
Dogs-team-speaker
ANSWER:
Nice question! I listened Artyom very attentively, but I don’t agree that dogs are dangerous, could bite and all this stuff.
I want to tell you that cats can be dangerous too and they can bite people too!
Cats can scrabble or bite the owners and it can cause illness and amputation .
Its depends on different species.
Dogs-team-speaker
QUESTION:
I have listened all opinions of opposite team. So, I want to ask members from cat-team. If you're a holder of a cat, you must do cleaning and washing, in other way, the hair of your cat will be everywhere. It's a heavy problem. Cat's may be annoying. They meow loudly, scrabble the furniture. It's a problem too.
Cats-team-speaker
ANSWER
I am so sorry, but I can’t hear this!
Firstly, cat is one of the cleanest animals. They wash constantly and lick them self, easily trained to the toilet. Cats catch rats and mice and so make house cleaner!
Secondly, In Ancient Egypt cats were used for fighting against rodents.,
And finally cat is a beautiful , graceful and dexterous (проворный) animal.
CONCLUSION.
DL: So, dear speakers. I suppose we need to come to the agreement.
All in all, I think when choosing between a cat or a dog, you should consider how much time you can dedicate to the pet (dogs require more time than cats, and don’t like to be left home alone), how much you can afford to spend (dogs are more expensive than cats), and what temperament of pet you would prefer: (dogs are affectionate and faithful but cats are more independent)
Sure , keeping pets is not free of problems and we must understand these risks and problems, but our pets will repay their hosts with love and true friendship.
Appendix 2 Debate gambits
Purpose | Gambits |
To begin a statement | Basically, I belive… I would like to begin by saying… |
To support a main idea | For example… This is obvious in the caseof… |
To add another idea | In addition… I’d like also to point out that…. Now let’s look at…. |
To signal that you are finishing | In sum…. I’d like to finish by saying… Finally…. |
To ask a question | ______, would you please explain… This question is for____.... |
To give a response to statement | ____,I believe…. What do you think about this? ____, in my opinion…. Do you agree? |
To answer a question | That is a good question. I believe,…. I am glad you asked this question because….. |
Appendix 3. Possible topics for debate
Appendix 4. Recommendations
Ways to eliminate the problem with speaking:
-practicing speaking every chance you get!
-learning English words every day;
-overcoming shyness and become communicating with native speakers
-making friends with people from other countries so you’re not tempted to speak in your own language;
-reading English books, newspapers;
-asking teacher to include more speaking exercises to study program;
-watching English films and series;
-listening to English music;
DON’T BE AFRAID TO MAKE MISTAKES! The more you speak, the faster you learn!
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