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This article gives a brief overview of a test of speaking
which was conducted in March 2011 among 499
learners from the final class of gimnazjum. The test
was conducted with some of the learners who took
part in the tests of English for the first European Survey on
Language Competences. The speaking test was not part of the
official test, but was designed and carried out only in Poland,
with a view to getting a picture of the level of skills learners
have in English at the end of Stage III of the school system.
as they need time to find the words they want. Similarly,
the learner who sets themselves the target of speaking
without mistakes and who still needs time to think which
structures to use when, or how to form the necessary part
of a verb, will also show a lack of fluency in their speech.
By contrast the learner who aims to get their message across
without concern for accuracy or exact choice of words will
speak with fluency but may demonstrate lower accuracy
and complexity in their speech.
Spoken competence
Speaking, an element of communicative competence,
can be divided into two main skills: spoken interaction,
where two or more speakers engage together; and spoken
production, where one speaker attempts to convey an idea,
give information, tell a story etc. Performance of each
of these two main skills involves other
skills such as selecting the appropriate
words to use, knowing how to pronounce
them correctly, selecting grammatical
structures and functional language. In
the case of interaction it is necessary
to listen to what the other person (or
people) say, understand their message
and intentions and to react appropriately,
selecting not only the language needed,
but also taking into consideration other
social factors such as level of politeness,
and cultural appropriateness. In spoken
production the speaker has to craft their
speech, organizing the order of what
to say; connecting sentences together
logically. Additionally, all of this must
be done under immense pressure of time,
as spontaneous speech takes place in ‘real time’.
For the foreign language learner attempting to speak in
real time is challenging. Research suggests (Skehan 1998)
that three areas compete in speech production: fluency,
complexity and accuracy, and that focus on one aspect
impacts on performance in the other areas. For example, if
a learner still finds it difficult to find the words they want
to use quickly and without effort and yet decides that they
must express these words in order to convey their ideas (focus
on complexity), then the fluency of their speech will suffer,
[ 68 ]
In spoken
production
the speaker
has to craft their
speech, organizing
the order of what
to say; connecting
sentences
together logically.
Additionally, all of
this must be done
under immense
pressure of time,
as spontaneous
speech takes place
in ‘real time’.
Affective factors
Speaking in a foreign language, as we have seen, is complex
and also potentially frustrating. The learner who has not
reached the level where they are able to say what they want with
reasonable ease may feel that what they are able to produce in
the foreign language does not reflect themselves as a person,
or the ideas they want to convey. They may
complain of sounding childish, that their
interlocutor will think them uneducated, or
of limited intelligence, or they may simply
give up and decline to speak or shorten their
response to a minimum. In this situation
the attitude and approach of the person they
are speaking to is key. If the interlocutor is
patient, listens empathetically, nods and
encourages and shows interest in what is
being said, rather than how it is being said,
then the learner will most likely do their best
to continue. If, however, the listener shows
impatience, fidgets, drums their fingers on
the table, or sighs heavily, embarrassment
will cause the learner to hesitate more, slow
down, repeat themselves and eventually
breakdown and stop speaking altogether.
There will most likely be a similar effect if the listener starts
to interrupt and correct the learner’s attempts to speak. The
supportive interlocutor may gently and diplomatically respond
to ‘appeals’ from the learner, by quietly supplying them with
words they appear to be searching for, or by completing their
sentences if there is a breakdown and in this way enabling
the learner to convey their message. Past experience may
influence how the learner feels about speaking. If they feel
that past attempts have been humiliating then this may block
the desire to communicate in the foreign language.