66
«Zamonaviy dunyoda pedagogika va psixologiya»
nomli 10-son ilmiy,
masofaviy, onlayn konferensiya
then one way to go about breaking this cultural barrier is to create and establish our own
classroom culture where speaking out loud in English is the norm. One way to do this is to
distinguish our classroom from other classrooms in our school by arranging the classroom
desks differently, in groups instead of lines etc. or by decorating the walls in English language
and culture posters. We keep on teaching it and encourage our students to ask for things and
to ask questions in English. Giving positive feedback also helps
to encourage and relax shy
students to speak more. Another way to get students motivated to speak more is to allocate a
percentage of their final grade to speaking skills and let the students know they are being
assessed continually on their speaking practice in class throughout the term.
A completely different reason for student silence may simply be that the class activities are
boring or are pitched at the wrong level. Very often our interesting communicative speaking
activities are not quite as interesting or as communicative as we think they are and all the
students are really required to do is answer 'yes' or 'no' which they do quickly and then just
sit in silence or worse talking noisily in their L1.
So maybe we need to take a closer look at the type of speaking activities you are using and see
if they really capture student interest and create a real need for communication. Another way
to encourage our students to speak in English is simply to speak in English ourselves as much
as possible in class. When students work in pairs or groups they just end up chatting in their
own language.
Is the activity or task pitched at the right level for the students? We give the students all the
tools and language they need to be able to complete the task. If the language is pitched too
high they may revert to their L1, likewise if the task is too easy they may get bored and revert
to their L1. Also, be aware of the fact that some students especially beginners, will often use
their L1 as an emotional support at first, translating everything word for word to check they
have understood the task before attempting to speak. In the case of these students simply be
patient as most likely once their confidence grows in using English their dependence on using
their L1 will begin to disappear.
Are all the students actively involved and is the activity interesting? If students do not have
something to say or do, or don't feel the need to speak, we can be sure it won't be long before
they are chatting away in their L1. Was the timing of the activity good? The timing of a
speaking activity in a class can be crucial sometimes. How many teachers have discovered that
their speaking activity ended up as a continuation of the
students break-time gossip
conducted in the L1? After break-time, why not try giving students an activity to calm them
down and make them focus before attempting speaking activities that involve groups or pair
work. Another way to discourage students speaking in their L1 is to walk around the
classroom monitoring their participation and giving support and help to students as they need
it. If certain students persist in speaking in the L1 then perhaps we should ask them to stay
behind after class and speak to them individually and explain to them the importance of
speaking English and ask them why they don't feel comfortable speaking in English in the
class. Maybe they just need some extra reassurance or they don't like working with certain
students or there is some other problem that you can help them to resolve.
When all the students speak together it gets too noisy and out of hand and I lose control of the
classroom . First of all I separate the two points a noisy classroom
and an out-of-control
classroom. A classroom full of students talking and interacting in English, even if it is noisy, is
67
«Zamonaviy dunyoda pedagogika va psixologiya»
nomli 10-son ilmiy, masofaviy, onlayn konferensiya
exactly what we want. Maybe we just feel like we are losing control because the class is
suddenly student-centered and not teacher-centered. This is an important issue to consider.
Learner-centered classrooms where learners do the talking in groups and learners have to
take responsibility for using communicative resources to complete
a task are shown to be
more conducive to language learning than teacher-centered classes .
Losing control of the classroom, on the other hand, is a different issue. Once again walking
around and monitoring the students as they are working in groups can help, as we can
naturally move over to the part of the classroom where the noise is coming from and calm the
rogue students down and focus them back on the task without
disrupting the rest of the
students who are working well in their groups. If students really get too rowdy then simply
change the pace of the class and type of activity to a more controlled task, for example a focus
on form or writing task where students have to work in silence individually. Once the
students have calmed down we can return to the original or another interactive group
activity.
Conclusion. These are just some of the problems that teachers with large classes face when
teaching speaking activities in the classroom. These problems are not new nor are the
solutions offered above. Teachers all over the world continue to face the same hurdles, but
any teacher who has overcome these difficulties and now has
a large class of energetic
students talking and working in English in groups together will tell us it is worth all the trial
and error and effort at the outset.
