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able to learn simple questions such as ‘What time does it
start?’ by heart. For example, common wh-questions can be
selected from the course book and printed on slips of paper,
with the answers on others. Learners can then play a range
of different games in pairs with these, such as ‘memory’
(turn the slips face down, mix them up and then in turn
each person turns over two until they find
matching pairs) where the rule is that
they have to read the question and answer
aloud each time they turn the cards over.
Another game using the same cards is
a ‘mingle’ activity, where individuals
in a group have to move around saying
aloud the question or answer they have
until they find their partner. Once they
have found them they sit down. The
checking phase of the activity is that the
questions are read aloud, followed by the
correct answers. More advanced versions
of the same tasks can be invented by
removing some of the letters in words, by
removing words and leaving blanks or by
giving questions or answers with the words in the wrong
order. Clearly, however, the ‘basic’ versions need to be very
familiar before trying more difficult ones.
What is happening in all these tasks is repetition of
questions and answers to common questions, but rather
than trying to sit at home and learn them by heart (which
seems not to happen very often!) learners are learning
them by being actively engaged in fun-like activities.
Finally, we need to reflect on how speaking is being
assessed in class. Is spontaneous speaking being tested? Or is
it only prepared speeches and reading aloud? If learners work
in pairs doing short speaking activities in class it is possible
to listen to and grade one or two pairs during each task. In
this way in about four lessons all the learners in the group can
be graded. Alternatively, learners can have several minutes
in pairs to practice and then selected pairs can be asked
to do their task while the rest listen, although this is more
demanding for the learners as it increases the stress involved.
If learners seem reluctant to speak in class then it is
worth considering whether it is not the teacher who is
the source of the problem. Does the teacher’s behavior
follow the pattern for the patient, supportive interlocutor
[ 72 ]
If learners seem
reluctant to speak
in class then it
is worth considering
whether it is not
the teacher who is
the source of the
problem. Does the
teacher’s behavior
follow the pattern
for the patient,
supportive
interlocutor
described above?
described above? By insisting on accuracy has the task
become too demanding? If task achievement-getting the
message across somehow-becomes the first goal, rather
than having to say everything correctly, then some learners
may become more willing to try to speak. A simple way
to check one’s own classroom behavior is to discreetly
make a recording of a lesson. Listening
to oneself is very revealing! (And for
those on the career advancement
ladder, working on the development
of assessment of speaking would make
a good topic for a case study.)
The design and implementation of
the Test of Spoken Competence for class
three gimnazjum has led to a larger study,
Badanie Uczenie się i Nauczanie Języków
Obcych (BUNJO), the first part of which
has just finished. Within Part Two of the
study a second administration of the Test
of Spoken Competence is planned and
once this is over ( in 2013) the sets of test
materials described in this article will be
made available to teachers.
Bibliography
• Council for Cultural Co-operation Education Committee,
Modern Languages Division, Strasbourg. (2001)
Common European framework of reference for languages:
learning, teaching, assessment. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press.
• Foster, P. and Skehan, P. (1996) The influence of planning
and task type on second language performance.
Studies in Second Language Acquisition. 18, 299-323.
• Skehan, P. (1998) A cognitive approach to language learning.
Oxford: Oxford University Press.
* Tekst można przeczytać także w polskiej wersji językowej
na stronie www.jows.pl..
[ dr Melanie Ellis ]
Trains future teachers at the Foreign Language Teacher Training College
in Zabrze and conducts educational research at the Educational Research
Institute in Warsaw.