Fluency requires practice. Our students also know that speaking English can be both satisfying and stressful. Therefore, we require speaking activities in class – and strongly suggest ways to speak more out of class. Our students want to be fluent, but they often hesitate to practice their speaking skills. Many students do not want to risk making mistakes, being misunderstood, and feeling awkward. Some prefer to silently take notes, and speak as little as possible in their English classes. We have all probably faced this situation.

Yet, as far as I know, there is no magical shortcut to fluency except practice. Our English students must practice speaking – in pairs and in small groups – even if it feels awkward. “Practice makes perfect” goes a popular proverb. Although perfection seems like a dubious ideal, practice certainly makes progress. And our students want to make meaningful progress in their speaking skills and gain greater fluency.

That’s why creating a comfortable class atmosphere remains essential. One effective way to reduce grade anxiety or classroom stress is to clearly emphasize that some activities will focus more on fluency” and other speaking activities will focus more on “accuracy”. For instance, including one casual fluency activity per class helps students simply exchange ideas and engage in low risk, safe communication between themselves.

Speaking exercises can be added across the ESL curriculum. You can often drop a short communicative exercise even in acadenuc writing classes. Fluency, after all, requires practice. Casual, ungraded classroom conversations also increase student confidence and create a more lively ESL classroom.

Asking students to reflect and share their experiences as an English learner can often lead to fascinating conversations and compelling essays. Here’s a favorite fluency activity called Learning English that I’ve used with both intermediate and advanced ESL students in both oral skills and writing classes. When I taught advanced ESL at Santa Monica Community College, I often used Learning English to introduce their first essay. Students often responded with enthusiasm. Perhaps your English students will too.

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During these difficult economic times, however, I would suggest that ESL and even EFL instructors working with college and university students also should focus on practical employment skills. Videotaping practice interviews – and longer is better – remains an invaluable tool.

Yet ESL teachers can also help ESL/EFL students conduct research for possible jobs with information interviews. A common practice in the United States, informational interviews allow job seekers to meet working professionals in their field, collect detailed information on working lives, and expand their network of valuable contacts. Sometimes it also leads to job leads, internships, and even jobs.

More About Informational Interviews on the Web

Vanderbilt University, an elite private university in Tennessee, has compiled an impressive list of 60 informational interviews from a wide variety of disciplines and professions. (Peabody is a leading school of Education within Vanderbilt University). These provide illuminating examples of real-life informational interviews. Note: some speakers have a strong southern accent.
http://streams.peabody.vanderbilt.edu/hod1210/sort_field.htm

Here’s a solid collection of typical informational interview questions from About.com, a fairly reliable New York Times-owned website. Questions are divided into Occupational and Functional categories.
http://jobsearch.about.com/od/infointerviews/a/infointervquest.htm

Here’s a basic video, perhaps targeted for adult education and community college students, that reviews the fundamentals of conducting an informational interview.
http://education-portal.com/videos/Conducting_an_Informational_Interview_Video.html

Naturally, many students hope to find job leads from their informational interviews. ESL students can always use more practice job interviews. This chapter of potential job interview questions and quotations comes from Compelling Conversations that I have used with community college, adult education, and university students.
http://www.compellingconversations.com/pdf/practicing_job_interview.pdf

From my perspective, holding both long mock job interviews and hearing trip reports of information interviews are practical, effective uses of precious classroom time.

Have you added informational interviews to your advanced ESL class yet? If not, why not?

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• Are you ready?
• Are you prepared?
• Aren’t you nervous?
• Do you have enough time to do that?
• When are you going to sleep?

Friends – and close relatives – ask these questions out of concern and curiosity.  I appreciate their questions and enjoy our discussions.  My confidence can lead me to underestimate the difficulty of  projects, tasks, and chores. I should manage time better, probably reduce my commitments, and prioritize more. Yet that’s easier said than done when pursuing multiple projects and working with people on different continents. I also like my work, and appreciate new challenges.  And I can draw on a considerable amount of experience as a  world traveler and English teacher. Despite approaching deadlines, I tend to feel strangely comfortable.

For instance, this week I left Los Angeles to begin a new position creating a Practical and Academic English program in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Packing for a ten-week summer trip takes considerable time. So does writing up detailed course descriptions, planning professional development workshops, and writing a high school graduation speech. Tracking Compelling Conversations book orders, planning website and blog changes, and interviewing ESL/EFL teachers also takes time. So sleep becomes a lower priority and friends keep asking those few simple, reasonable questions.

They are good questions and fine conversation starters too. In our often-hectic world, many people make the same “good mistakes” as me. As a result, these simple questions seem about time management seem timeless. English teachers can – and I’d suggest should – introduce these practical questions to their students. Business English teachers and workplace instructors, of course, frequently include entire lessons to personal time management skills. Letting students ask these questions and interview each other will also lead to interesting classroom conversations.

By the way,  despite my last minute style, I was actually quite prepared. I quickly packed, arrived safely in Vietnam and lead an engaging workshop on creating autotelic materials for EFL students.  Experience and expertise help – even on limited sleep!

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Experienced English teachers know that students must learn paraphrasing skills for academic writing assignments. Likewise paraphrasing remains a vital skill for English language learners to participate in academic classrooms, everyday conversations, social situations, and commercial transactions.

The ability to re-phrase and re-state, usually called paraphrasing, allows English students to confirm information, accurately convey information, and avoid plagiarism problems in writing papers. As a result, paraphrasing is usually emphasized in English as a Second Language (ESL) and English as a Foreign Language (EFL) writing classes. Classes and teachers focusing on oral skills from academic presentations to simple conversations should also devote some attention to paraphrasing too.

English language students, whether university or adult and young or old, must learn to confirm information by asking clarification questions. This critical skill will increase their ability to collect information, avoid costly mistakes, and reduce their everyday stress level. Some useful phrases for a listener to ask include:

Are you saying…?
Do you mean?
What are you getting at?
If I understand you correctly, you are saying …
So you are saying… Right?
Did I get that right?

Speakers can also check to see if their group members and classmates understand their directions.

Are you with me?
Can you understand me?
Was I going too fast?
Should I rephrase that?
Do you follow?
Is that clear?
Should I repeat the directions?
Do you want me to repeat that?
Would it be better for me to repeat that?
Can I answer any questions?
Is anybody lost?

Asking advanced English students to repeat directions, in different words, can also be an effective group activity. The directions can be to a physical location (home, campus building, museum) or how to do something simple like finding a definition or sending an email. You can also extend the assignment by requesting detailed directions on a complicated procedure such as getting a driver’s license, applying for a visa, or choosing a new laptop.

Further, you can ask students to share an autobiographical story. Student A tells a story, and Student B retells that story with different words to Student C. This paraphrasing exercise also helps build a larger, more practical vocabulary.

Another teaching technique that I’ve found useful is asking students to paraphrase proverbs and quotations. This exercise, done in groups of two, is often followed by asking if students agree or disagree with the proverb or quotation. Of course, students have to give a reason and/or an example. ESL tutors and lucky English teachers with small classes can elaborate this technique to match student interests.

If English students can accurately paraphrase a reading, a radio segment, or a verbal statement, they can actively participate in common conversations and classroom discussions. Many English teachers underestimate the importance of this skill, and assume students understand more than they might. Verbal paraphrasing activities allow both students and teachers to assess listening comprehension skills in a natural, authentic manner.

Therefore, verbal paraphrasing deserves more attention in speaking activities – especially in high intermediate and advanced levels! Don’t you agree?

What techniques or exercises do you use to improve paraphrasing skills?

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Do you have a way with words? Are you a lover of word trivia and origins? Are you an English teacher? If so, consider listening to the celebrated public radio show in 2009!

Forget forcing students to memorize boring vocabulary lists. Get your English students engaged in the story of English words, their origins, and multiple uses. Your English students will also learn those that vital academic world list – in context and with a vivid stories.

A Way with Words, another outstanding public radio show, is co-hosted by Martha Barnette and Grant Barrett (who writes an annual buzzwords of the year survey for the New York Times.) The hour long program examines the English language as the hosts answer listeners’ questions about intriguing aspects of the English language, including grammar, vocabulary, idioms, slang, dialects, speaking, and writing. Web visitors can also listen to episodes online, down MP3s, and subscribe to podcasts for free.

While the show is better for English teachers and writers than most English language learners or adult ESL students, listeners will gain a greater appreciation for and knowledge of our strange, fascinating language.

Features:
• Free downloads
• Thematic episodes accompanied by a reading text
• Discussion points
• All past episodes are archived chronologically for easy browsing
• Free subscriptions
Site URL: http://www.waywordradio.org/
Word mavens might also be interested in New York Times column on buzzwords:

http://ideas.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/12/22/whats-your-buzzword-of-2008/#comment-2671

Check it out!

Finally, let’s hope that everyone smiles more and sighs less in 2009 than in 2008!

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Looking for a clear, detailed chart to evaluate the speaking skills of your students? Check out the practical chart with ten categories for listening comprehension and speaking skills developed by the United States Office of Refugee Resettlement and revised by the Spring Institute for Intercultural Learning. Where did I find it? As so often, I went to the Center for Applied Linguistics website.

This chart seems quite sensible for most teaching situations with clear Student Performance Level (SPL) descriptors. The descriptors for listening comprehension and oral communication are intended to establish a consistent standard that government agencies, educational institutions, and non-profits can all use to share evaluations. Despite the bureaucratic title, the chart itself contains excellent descriptions that English teachers and testers can use for adult English language learners. After having been in several long faculty discussions over standards for oral skills, I appreciate the explicit standards combined with some flexibility.

This chart, developed for adult refugees, resembles other charts, yet includes more details and an explicit acknowledgment of economics. I like that awareness even if this factor can sometimes be misused to justify low standards in adult education programs. (After all, illiterate peasants move to the United States, Canada, England, and Australia in hopes of improving their economic and social status.) Our job as educators is to provide our students with the language skills to live fuller, more satisfying lives – in English – wherever they choose to live and work.

Here it it:
Student Performance Level (SPL) Descriptors for Listening Comprehension and Oral Communication
SPL General Language Ability Listening Comprehension Oral Communication

0 No ability whatsoever
– No listening comprehension ability whatsoever
– No speaking ability whatsoever

1 Functions minimally, if at all, in English. Can handle only very routine entry-level jobs that do not require oral communication, and in which all tasks can be easily demonstrated. A native speaker used to dealing with limited English speakers can rarely communicate with a person at this level except through gestures.
Understands only a few isolated words, and extremely simple learned phrases.
Vocabulary limited to a few isolated words. No control of grammar.

2 - Functions in a very limited way in situations related to immediate needs. Can handle only routine entry-level jobs that do not require oral communication, and in which all tasks can be easily demonstrated. A native English speaker used to dealing with limited English speakers will have great difficulty communicating with a person at this level.
- Understands a limited number of very simple learned phrases, spoken slowly with frequent repetitions.
- Expresses a limited number of immediate survival needs using very simple learned phrases.

3 - Functions with some difficulty in situations related to immediate needs. Can han¬dle routine entry-level jobs that involve only the most basic oral communication, and in which all tasks can be demonstrated. A native English speaker used to dealing with limited English speakers will have great difficulty communicating with a person at this level.
- Understands simple learned phrases, spoken slowly with frequent repetitions.
- Expresses immediate survival needs using simple learned phrases.

4 Can satisfy basic survival needs and a few very routine social demands. Can handle entry-level jobs that involve some simple oral communication, but in which tasks can be easily demonstrated. A native English speaker used to dealing with limited English speakers will have difficulty communicating with a person at this level.
- Understands simple learned phrases easily, and some simple new phrases containing familiar vocabulary, spoken slowly with frequent repetitions.
- Expresses basic survival needs including asking and responding to related questions, using both learned and a limited number of new phrases. Participates in basic conversations in a few very routine social situations. Speaks with hesitation and frequent pauses. Some control of basic grammar.

5 Can satisfy basic survival needs and some limited social demands. Can handle jobs and job training that involve following simple oral instructions but in which most tasks can also be demonstrated. A native English speaker used to dealing with limited English speakers will have some difficulty communicating with a person at this level.
- Understands learned phrases easily and short new phrases containing familiar vocabulary spoken slowly with repetition. Has limited ability to understand on the telephone.
- Functions independently in most face-to-face basic survival situations but needs some help. Asks and responds to direct questions on familiar and some unfamiliar subjects. Still relies on learned phrases but also uses new phrases (i.e., speaks with some creativity) but with hesitation and pauses. Communicates on the phone to express a limited number of survival needs, but with some difficulty. Participates in basic conversations in a limited number of social situations. Can occasionally clarify general meaning.

6 Can satisfy most survival needs and limited social demands. Can handle jobs and job training that involve following simple oral and written instructions and diagrams. A native English speaker not used to dealing with limited English speak¬ers will be able to communicate with a person at this level on familiar topics, but with difficulty and some effort.
- Understands conversations containing some unfamiliar vocabulary on many every¬day subjects, with a need for repetition, rewording or slower speech. Has some ability to understand without face-to-face contact (e.g. on the telephone, TV).
- Functions independently in most survival situations, but needs some help. Relies less on learned phrases; speaks with creativity, but with hesitation. Communicates on the phone on familiar subjects but with some difficulty. Participates with some confidence in social situations when addressed directly. Can sometimes clarify general meaning by rewording. Control of basic grammar evident, but inconsistent; may attempt to use more difficult grammar but with almost no control.

7 Can satisfy survival needs and routine work and social demands. Can handle work that involves following oral and simple written instructions in familiar and some unfamiliar situations. A native English speaker not used to dealing with limited English speakers can generally communicate with a person at this level on familiar topics.
- Understands conversations on most everyday subjects at normal speed when addressed directly; may need repetition, rewording, or slower speech. Understands routine work-related conversations. Increasing ability to understand without face-to-face contact (telephone, TV, radio). Has difficulty following conversation between native speakers.
- Functions independently in survival and many social and work situations, but may need help occasion¬ally. Communicates on the phone on familiar subjects. Expands on basic ideas in conversation, but still speaks with hesitation while searching for appropriate vocabulary and grammar. Clarifies general meaning easily, and can sometimes convey exact meaning. Controls basic grammar, but not more difficult grammar.

8 Can participate effectively in social and familiar work situations. A native English speaker not used to dealing with limited English speakers can communicate with a person at this level on almost all topics.
- Understands general conversation and conversation on technical subjects in own field. Understands without face-to-face contact (telephone, TV, radio); may have difficulty following rapid or colloquial speech. Understands most conversations between native speakers; may miss details if speech is very rapid or colloquial or if subject is unfamiliar.
– Participates effectively in practical and social conversation and in technical discussions in own field. Speaks fluently in both familiar and unfamiliar situations; can handle problem situations. Conveys and explains exact meaning of complex ideas. Good control of grammar.

9 Can participate fluently and accurately in practical, social, and work situations. A native English speaker not used to dealing with limited English speakers can communicate easily with a person at this level.
- Understands almost all speech in any context. Occasionally confused by highly colloquial or regional speech.
- Approximates a native speaker’s fluency and ability to convey own ideas precisely, even in unfamiliar situations. Speaks without effort. Excellent control of grammar with no apparent patterns of weakness.

10 Ability equal to that of a native speaker of the same socioeconomic level.
- Listening comprehension equal to that of a native speaker of the same socioeconomic level.
– Speaking skill equal to that of a native speaker of the same socioeconomic level.

Original chart from http://www.cal.org/caela/esl_resources/slspls.html

These standards, of course, remain more relevant for adult educators, social workers, and workplace programs than more academic programs. English teachers should, however, create classroom activities where students can engage in extended conversations in English on a wide variety of topics. The higher levels of this chart (SPL 9-10) articulate an excellent standard for all English language learners, including academic English and Business English students.

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Here’s a quick checklist that ESL teachers that I created for a recent CATESOL workshop called “Techniques for a More Democratic Classroom”. My core assumption remains that giving students more opportunities to literally speak, write, and share their insights leads to a more engaging, dynamic, and valuable classroom experience.  I will write more on this topic in a few days, but here are some questions to consider.

1. Who do you currently teach? How would you describe the students?

1. What are some of their personal interests?

1. How can student interests be better incorporated into the curriculum?

1. Which assignments do students currently choose? Which seems most successful? Why?
2. What are some benefits of greater student participation?
3. What are some risks of greater student participation?
4. Do you want to increase the number of choices students make?
5. What critical language skills can be taught by tapping into their interests?
6. How can you tweak current material to better individualize instruction?
7. What internet resources can you use to augment the current curriculum?
8. Which exercises or activities do you find most successful in your classroom?
9. What decisions do you keep as your prerogative as the instructor?
10. Will your students become self-directed learners?
11. How can you encourage that possibility?
12. How can you create a more democratic classroom?
13. What are some obstacles to a more democratic classroom?
14. How does technology encourage a more democratic classroom?

“Education is a kind of continuing dialogue and a dialogue assumes, in the nature of the case, different points of view.”   Robert Hutchins (1899-1977), former President of University of Chicago and educational philosopher

Do you agree? Disagree? Why? Feel free to let me know.

I’ll post an article in a few days outlining some of my thoughts and sharing some materials.

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As a new semester begins, I face the familiar task – and pleasure – of selecting new materials and creating new forms for my oral skills class. One goal is to have students use the internet more; another to provide more opportunities for peer feedback on oral presentations.

Although I do not have a conversation class this semester, I do teach a high intermediate oral skills class that focuses on academic presentations. The students come from several Asian countries and are all graduate students – almost exclusively in engineering. Workplace surveys continue to identify communication skills, including speaking skills, as a top priority for employers – especially in engineering!

The class will include several informal, short presentations in addition to the longer, more formal presentations that receive a grade.  Whenever possible, I prefer to give students to receive fairly immediate feedback, from their peers and me, on their presentations.  Students, as a result, will read peer evaluations from the entire class after giving a short presentation like a product review, extended definition, or process description. To be effective, the form must be both simple and open… with some guidance. This collective feedback often validates instructor comments and prepares students to view their videotaped presentations in a more objective manner.

Here is my new form for peer evaluations of oral presentations.It emphasizes the positive aspects, inquires about what can be improved, allows more detailed observations, and provides a simple rating system. I have used a similar format with my engineering communication courses and expect that it will work in my ESL class too. Time will tell.

Feel free to copy, modify, or share the form to fit your ESL/EFL/speech classroom needs.

————————————————————————————-

<!– /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:”Century Schoolbook”; mso-font-alt:Century; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:roman; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:647 0 0 0 159 0;} @font-face {font-family:Calibri; panose-1:2 15 5 2 2 2 4 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:swiss; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-1610611985 1073750139 0 0 159 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:”"; margin-top:0in; margin-right:0in; margin-bottom:10.0pt; margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family:”Times New Roman”; mso-fareast-language:EN-US;} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:.75in 1.0in .75in 1.0in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} –>

STUDENT: ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­____________________________________________________

TOPIC: ____________________________________________________

PEER: ____________________________________________________

Please circle the appropriate overall rating:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

———————————————————————————–

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“If a nation expects to be ignorant and free…it expects what never was and never will be.” Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), U.S. President and principal author of the Declaration of Independence

Classic quotations, like proverbs, brings in many insights from religious leaders and philosophers that go back even more than 2,000 years such as Buddha, Confucius, Aristotle, and the Biblical prophets in a compelling, succinct manner. These quotations remind us that some conversations have spanned centuries and cultures.

Further, you can pair two, three, and more quotations to present a wide range of ideas, beliefs, and perspectives. Some quotations might make you laugh, some might make you sigh, and a few might even annoy you. Yet bringing “the wisdom of the ages” into your English language classroom elevates the discussion. It can also encourage students to feel safer in presenting their idea.

This effective teaching technique helps ESL students both join the conversation, and add their own ideas. Our classrooms should be a lively place where students can explore ideas and experience free speech.

Including classic quotations also helps preserve the insights and comments of well-known and significant cultural figures. This technique helps both teachers and younger ESL and EL/Civics students escape the too-common delusion that the world began when we were born and provides a larger perspective. Sometimes knowing the speaker and historical era invites another way of looking at our modern lives.

Finally, a stunning number of both adult education and college students need to be introduced to significant artists, writers, leaders, and philosophers from the past. Academic literacy requires some degree of cultural and historical awareness. I always include the dates and identify the occupation of various figures to both introduce and gently cajole students into seeking out more information on significant cultural and historical figures.

Is adding the birth and death dates of authors really necessary? Perhaps not, but it certainly adds context. Plus, given the actual state of common knowledge among ESL students, including dates helps share the national story. After all, something is profoundly wrong with American education when a majority of American high school seniors in public schools can not name the war that occurred when Abraham Lincoln was president. I believe including quotations, in context, provides a small counter to this shocking level of historic amnesia.

I remain confident that our ESL students, especially adult immigrants seeking naturalization as U.S. citizens, will develop a solid grasp of our nation’s history. Throwing in a few quotations from historical figures can only help.

“Liberty can not be preserved without a general knowledge among the people.” John Adams (1735-1826), U.S. President and contributor to the Declaration of Independence

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