Improving speaking skills

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.

Analysis of questionnaire

• Processed survey data we found that 53% of students who participated in our survey fell nervous when they are speaking English:

   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.

• 47% of students don’t feel nervous when they are speaking English:

   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.

• 69% of students think that there is little room for the development communication skills in class.

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:

• A genuine reason to communicate. Findings suggest that participants felt there were many opportunities to interact naturally in English with both their peers and instructors. These included negotiating roles, advising others and arranging the performance (Sweeney and Farmer, 1995, p.7).
• A lack of formal assessment. Students commented that the atmosphere was relaxed and friendly, and that they felt more comfortable speaking in English because there was no formal assessment of their proficiency. Lack of formal assessment may also account for the increased activation of language. In fact, 56% of participants commented on their improved fluency and the growth of confidence in dealing with the unpredictable in oral interaction (Sweeney and Farmer, op cit, p.11).
• A positive attitude to error. One of the causes discussed earlier for learner's unwillingness to speak in English was the fear of making mistakes and appearing foolish. A major reason for choosing a pantomime was to reduce this threat as, in this dramatic form, mistakes can easily be disguised as intentional and add to the humour. In-depth interviews conducted after the performances revealed that many participants had developed ‘the courage to be imperfect’ (Diana Gaylord: counselling workshop), over two-thirds reporting that they were less anxious about making errors.
• Group solidarity. One benefit of the pantomime reported by over 50% of participants was that they had made new friends who, like themselves, were keen to practise speaking in English. This helped them to develop a greater group identity, evidenced by their desire, after the drama, to continue meeting and practising together (Sweeney and Farmer, 1995b, p.12). It would appear, then, that the group solidarity and friendship which developed during the pantomime lessened the threat of standing out and losing face.

 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:

• To use conversational gambits naturally;
•  To analyse , synthesize and manipulate content for specific  purpose;
• To get prepared for  speaking situations;
• To gain confidence in speaking.

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.

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.

7.http://www.ru.idebate.org

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

Appendix 3. Possible topics for debate

1. Should children be allowed to own  and use mobile phones.
2. Is homework a waste of time or use?
3. To be or not to be a vegetarian?
4.  Do reality shows harm or not?
5.  Should the government decrease age of legal driving to 16?
6.  Is marriage an outdated institution or not?
7. “What is better: cheeseburger or chikenburger?”
8.  “Will teachers be replaced by machines?”

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!