I believe this topic is extremely important to be considered as a reflection. Cultura Inglesa is considered among the parents and students to be a school which traditionally concentrates more on grammar, rather than speaking or fluency. We need,therefore, to prove them that Cultura is also aware and preocupied with providing our students the chance to learn and practice the 4 skills right from the beginning. Teachers should let their students have the opportunity to work in pairs or in groups in order to put into practice what they are learning in class.In other words, the lesson should be less teacher-centered and more student-centered.
I really enjoyed reading this piece of article.Everything dealt with in the text,supports the idea of using English in the classroom as the only way of communication EVEN at elementary level. I AM positively IN FAVOUR OF this point of view for it helps students start developing their oral habilities right from the very beginning.
I'm afraid I agree with my friends and I would like to add that dealing with speaking the target language at elementary/first levels is an extremelly grey area. Specially because we have to consider learners autonomy, will to speak the target language, motivation and above all desire to share with their colleagues and the teacher. One thing that concerns me, however, is that sometimes, if we push them so hard they tend to feel scared and run away from the classroom and even the school! So one thing we have to bear in mind is that, we have to be tactful when dealing with target language in a beginners lesson! In a nuthell, I'd also like to add that this text is extremelly resourceful specially because I have two groups of beginners this term.
This article makes interesting points as for the importance which is currently given to speaking practice in most EFL courses. I just wonder if the ideas of Mr Smith aren't a bit one-sided as regards the variety of spoken English that he refers to. I suppose this area might be slightly more complex than it might look at first sight.
In fact, many of the conversational features that he mentions in the article vary from one English-speaking culture to another. So which pattern of English should be considered the one to approach in our classrooms and why ? In other words, you wouldn't expect a native speaker from England to conduct a conversation with the same style of responses as a native South African, for example. Not to mention the paralinguistic features, which are so particular of each culture.
On the other hand, if we think about preparing students for standardized exams, then Mr Smith's suggestions are not only relevant, but are actually a helping hand. That's because learners need a clear pattern to reproduce and that pattern should cover all the features of spoken discourse. Facilitating learners' awareness of these features is definitely a key role of the teacher.
Developing Oral Skills is not an easy task specially when concerning elementary students. This is possibily true for the fact that apart from lack of confidence, students tend to feel they do not have enough vocabulary to cope with the tasks proposed by the teacher in class. In this article, Smith suggests useful solutions concerning the way we, as teachers, conduct conversation tasks in order to avoid pitfalls and increase students' awareness of conversational rules as well as strategies. As a result we would be leading students to a successful outcome.
I really enjoyed reading the article and I liked the solutions (which are really useful) the author suggested to be used in order to help students in building confidence and awareness about the four skills, showing and proving them the only way to communicate is using English all the time they have chance to, even beginners.
I found this article very interesting and close to my classroom atmosphere. Students at lower levels are eager to speak English, but don´t feel confident enough to do so... that´s what exactly happens to my students! As teachers we should make them aware that learning a language is a process, and step by step you´ll reach your objectives. And also, it IS definetely possible to make students speak at lower levels - communication includes body language, helpful sentences and all the other things they use on their L1, just as the author says. It is a very nice topic to deal with!!
This article deals with a very important topic to be discussed. I believe that speaking practice isn’t an easy task both for teachers and students to put into practice, primarily in lower levels. Thus, we should work hard in order to promote motivating and effective speaking activities. I’ve been teaching elementary levels for a long time and I’ve noticed that sometimes we tend to underestimate students’ abilities mainly in relation to speaking; I also have noticed that when we motivate and give them confidence to speak, they always surprise us. Therefore, I can’t agree more with the author when he points out that “(…) practice in the mechanics of conversation can go along way to helping students cope both receptively and productively and the ability to handle conversation shows the learner as someone to be talked to and therefore provides them with valuable input”. I think it is important to keep this citation in mind and be aware that we should encourage elementary students to speak. From my perspective, students need awareness, motivation and autonomy to better improve their speaking and also the other abilities. It’s our responsibility to build it as facilitators.
10 comments:
I believe this topic is extremely important to be considered as a reflection. Cultura Inglesa is considered among the parents and students to be a school which traditionally concentrates more on grammar, rather than speaking or fluency. We need,therefore, to prove them that Cultura is also aware and preocupied with providing our students the chance to learn and practice the 4 skills right from the beginning.
Teachers should let their students have the opportunity to work in pairs or in groups in order to put into practice what they are learning in class.In other words, the lesson should be less teacher-centered and more student-centered.
I really enjoyed reading this piece of article.Everything dealt with in the text,supports the idea of using English in the classroom as the only way of communication EVEN at elementary level.
I AM positively IN FAVOUR OF this point of view for it helps students start developing their oral habilities right from the very beginning.
I'm afraid I agree with my friends and I would like to add that dealing with speaking the target language at elementary/first levels is an extremelly grey area. Specially because we have to consider learners autonomy, will to speak the target language, motivation and above all desire to share with their colleagues and the teacher. One thing that concerns me, however, is that sometimes, if we push them so hard they tend to feel scared and run away from the classroom and even the school! So one thing we have to bear in mind is that, we have to be tactful when dealing with target language in a beginners lesson!
In a nuthell, I'd also like to add that this text is extremelly resourceful specially because I have two groups of beginners this term.
Mea culpa
within my comment I would just like correct my words: I meant "in a nutshell" not in a nuthell.
Thanks.
This article makes interesting points as for the importance which is currently given to speaking practice in most EFL courses. I just wonder if the ideas of Mr Smith aren't a bit one-sided as regards the variety of spoken English that he refers to. I suppose this area might be slightly more complex than it might look at first sight.
In fact, many of the conversational features that he mentions in the article vary from one English-speaking culture to another. So which pattern of English should be considered the one to approach in our classrooms and why ? In other words, you wouldn't expect a native speaker from England to conduct a conversation with the same style of responses as a native South African, for example. Not to mention the paralinguistic features, which are so particular of each culture.
On the other hand, if we think about preparing students for standardized exams, then Mr Smith's suggestions are not only relevant, but are actually a helping hand. That's because learners need a clear pattern to reproduce and that pattern should cover all the features of spoken discourse. Facilitating learners' awareness of these features is definitely a key role of the teacher.
Developing Oral Skills is not an easy task specially when concerning elementary students. This is possibily true for the fact that apart from lack of confidence, students tend to feel they do not have enough vocabulary to cope with the tasks proposed by the teacher in class.
In this article, Smith suggests useful solutions concerning the way we, as teachers, conduct conversation tasks in order to avoid pitfalls and increase students' awareness of conversational rules as well as strategies. As a result we would be leading students to a successful outcome.
Dear teachers,
I would like to take the opportunity to invite you all who have elementary students such as SG 1 and 2 to try and share new ideas on the topic.
Thanks!
I really enjoyed reading the article and I liked the solutions (which are really useful) the author suggested to be used in order to help students in building confidence and awareness about the four skills, showing and proving them the only way to communicate is using English all the time they have chance to, even beginners.
I found this article very interesting and close to my classroom atmosphere. Students at lower levels are eager to speak English, but don´t feel confident enough to do so... that´s what exactly happens to my students!
As teachers we should make them aware that learning a language is a process, and step by step you´ll reach your objectives. And also, it IS definetely possible to make students speak at lower levels - communication includes body language, helpful sentences and all the other things they use on their L1, just as the author says.
It is a very nice topic to deal with!!
This article deals with a very important topic to be discussed. I believe that speaking practice isn’t an easy task both for teachers and students to put into practice, primarily in lower levels. Thus, we should work hard in order to promote motivating and effective speaking activities.
I’ve been teaching elementary levels for a long time and I’ve noticed that sometimes we tend to underestimate students’ abilities mainly in relation to speaking; I also have noticed that when we motivate and give them confidence to speak, they always surprise us. Therefore, I can’t agree more with the author when he points out that “(…) practice in the mechanics of conversation can go along way to helping students cope both receptively and productively and the ability to handle conversation shows the learner as someone to be talked to and therefore provides them with valuable input”. I think it is important to keep this citation in mind and be aware that we should encourage elementary students to speak. From my perspective, students need awareness, motivation and autonomy to better improve their speaking and also the other abilities. It’s our responsibility to build it as facilitators.
Post a Comment