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0:04Hi everyone and welcome to speaking
0:07skills.
0:09So the thing about teaching is you go
0:11around doing normal stuff with your life
0:12like listening and speaking and writing
0:14and then suddenly you come on a course
0:16like this and we have to dissect
0:18everything into the kind minutiae and
0:21the minute little details
0:24and that is nothing new for speaking. So
0:27you're going around chatting ways
0:29speaking to everyone and now we're going
0:31to break that down into lots of little
0:34elements because it's such a key
0:36fundamental skill for your students to
0:39learn. So let me share my screen with
0:42you and we'll crack on.
0:47Okay, so speaking skills.
0:53Okay, so you're going to understand
0:57how to develop the learners speaking
0:59abilities beyond what they speak within
1:02you know their own native language
1:04because obviously the elements that make
1:07up your native and non-native speaking
1:10abilities are so incredibly different
1:12and the process for learning these
1:14things and we'll look at the difference
1:17between accuracy based and fluency based
1:20speaking activities which is incredibly
1:22important especially for countries like
1:26Spain which has a very
1:29accuracy based education system and so
1:32looking to complement the skills for
1:34your students with fluency can be
1:37incredibly important and we'll look at
1:39that as we get towards the end of this
1:41subject.
1:43So let's think about some ways that we
1:45can develop your students speaking
1:48skills in English.
1:52So as well as the actual words we use
1:56the sentences we also have the sound and
1:58the structures. And when you come for
2:01your two weeks with us, we do actually
2:03teach the phonetics in person. They're
2:05more difficult to do online. Um and so
2:08the phonetics are really the sounds that
2:10make up each of the words and the stress
2:13and intonation.
2:15So a quick example would be something
2:17like um when we say vitamin, um I say
2:20vitamin. And if you're from the US,
2:22Canada, or any of the um rotic language
2:27areas, which we'll explain when you get
2:29there, you'll say vitamin. So it's got
2:31an I sound instead of an i sound. And
2:34there's lots of words we can think of
2:36like aluminum um and aluminium.
2:39Um and we'll we'll we'll go through a
2:41load of those. So that's the kind of
2:43sound that you need to teach. And then
2:46the stress and intonation. So stress is
2:49where we don't say, we say education.
2:53We don't say education.
2:56It's It would sound completely
2:57different. And another example would be
3:03to record. So when we record something,
3:06we and we can also have a record um of
3:09something. We can keep a record of
3:10something. So where we put the stress on
3:13the word changes it. And it's very
3:15different to a lot of other languages
3:17like Spanish where the stress is inbuilt
3:21and you can't go messing around with it.
3:23Whereas in English, we put it all over
3:24the place.
3:25Um and intonation very much can change
3:29what something means um with how you say
3:32it. So something could sound very nice
3:36or something could sound a little bit
3:37threatening depending on how you say it.
3:40So if my son asks me whether he can stay
3:44up until midnight, I might be like,
3:46"Really?" Like as in you actually want
3:48to? Or I could be like, "Really?"
3:50Um as in yeah, that's not going to
3:52happen, is it? So, just by changing the
3:55word stays the same, the stress stays
3:56the same, by just changing the
3:58intonation, it could change how someone
4:00perceives that.
4:02And I would say that this area is more
4:06of the complex areas, and it's
4:08certainly, as students move on to a B2
4:10and a C1 level,
4:12this is what I find the most beautiful,
4:15um, when teaching speaking, because it
4:17really is all the gray areas. It's all
4:19the subtlety, all the
4:21richness and beauty that makes up a
4:23language, the fact that you can change
4:25how you say a word, and it completely
4:28changes what that word means. And, yeah,
4:31it's it's it's a great part of teaching
4:34it, and it's certainly something we'll
4:35spend a lot of time teaching you how to
4:37do.
4:38And your students are always incredibly
4:40interested in this type of detail. So,
4:43that's something we definitely want to
4:45to get on top of.
4:47Obviously, the grammar and vocabulary,
4:49grammar is a hugely important part of
4:52being able to speak clearly, and having
4:55a rich vocabulary is important, so you
4:58don't want your student always saying
4:59good, good, good. You know, we want them
5:01to be able to say, "That was great. That
5:03was excellent. That was really
5:05interesting." So, we want your students
5:07to have a rich vocabulary.
5:09And we'd really like the grammar to be
5:11able to reflect what's going on. So,
5:14obviously, within the, uh, English
5:16system, the English language system, we
5:19have the present, we have the past, and
5:20we have the future.
5:22Unlike other languages, if you don't use
5:24that, it's really hard to see the
5:27context. So, having appropriate grammar
5:30is really important to understanding.
5:35Okay. And then we have formal versus
5:38informal language. And this comes up
5:40really regularly with your business
5:42English students.
5:44So, normally, your students will go to a
5:46meeting somewhere, maybe they go to the
5:48UK, the States, Canada, or they might go
5:50to France, but everyone's speaking kind
5:53of the common business language, which
5:54is English.
5:55And so, within the context of the
5:57meeting, everyone feels really
5:58comfortable because everyone's using
6:00fairly
6:01formal English. Afterwards, they may go
6:03to a bar or may go to a restaurant, and
6:06suddenly, especially the native English
6:08speakers, move into more informal
6:10language. And that's where the students
6:13really find it hard to work out what's
6:15going on. They might find it hard to
6:17find, you know,
6:18um culturally context of jokes or use of
6:22slang, use of more connected speech. So,
6:25you know, like, "How's it going?"
6:27rather than, "How are you?"
6:29So, this kind of formal versus informal
6:32is incredibly important. And it's also
6:34what's appropriate, you know, calling, I
6:37don't know, um
6:38some person in a company, "dude," for
6:40example, wouldn't be contextually
6:43appropriate within a more formal um
6:45context. And so, teaching your students
6:49when and how with the language,
6:51especially for your business students,
6:53is very, very important and something
6:55they very, very much need.
6:59Okay.
7:00Understanding the context and meaning,
7:02and this goes back a little bit to when,
7:04you know, the stuff we talked about with
7:06phonetics, you know, how just because a
7:09word is has that meaning doesn't mean it
7:11had that meaning because the context
7:14gave it different meaning.
7:17Um so, understanding
7:19really the whole context
7:22of the conversation to know whether
7:25it's, you know,
7:27angry or sad or disapproving.
7:31That is really, really important. I did
7:33a great activity a few years ago where I
7:36got them to watch um Friends. Friends is
7:39universal, regardless of your age.
7:41Everyone's seen Friends. And so, the
7:44first group got to watch it but with no
7:46sound.
7:47The second group were not allowed to
7:49watch it but were allowed to listen to
7:52it.
7:53So, the first group thought that
7:55everyone was angry because they saw lots
7:57of gesticulating, lots of gestures, but
8:00the other people heard it but couldn't
8:01see it and thought they sounded really
8:03happy. So, that can really have hearing
8:06the the sound and and the context of
8:09what's happening can really make a
8:11difference to to what the meaning is for
8:15your students. And there's an often lot
8:17of misinterpretation
8:19with speaking because it's so instant.
8:22Appropriate responses
8:25is something that your students can
8:27sometimes struggle with because they
8:29want to find the quickest, most
8:33not always basic, but the most concise
8:35response because obviously the more
8:37words you use, the more likely you are
8:39to make mistakes and your students want
8:41to make the most limited
8:44mistakes as possible.
8:45An example is one of my students went to
8:47a networking event and he'd had a really
8:51good year in his business and there'd
8:53been some problems in that particular
8:55the
8:56airplane industry, the
8:58aviation industry. There'd been some
9:01issues. So, he goes along and one of the
9:04other people there said, "Oh, it's been
9:07a bit of a rough year, hasn't it?" And
9:10he said, "No, it's been great."
9:13And so, that was an inappropriate
9:14response because just by the tone that
9:18was used and the intonation that was
9:20used, it was down intonation. It wasn't
9:23actually a question. So, the most
9:25appropriate response would have been,
9:28"Yes, it has been but we've been luckily
9:30enough uh luckily enough to blah blah
9:32blah blah blah." But agreement was the
9:34most appropriate response to that. And
9:36it could he said, he didn't under So, he
9:38explained all this to me and didn't
9:40understand why the guy had seemed so
9:43like agitated by his response, and they
9:46hadn't had a good meeting.
9:48And that's because it was it wasn't an
9:50appropriate response. So, knowing how to
9:53respond, especially as I said with, you
9:55know, a second ago, speaking's instant.
9:58You don't have the luxury, like you do
10:01with writing, to wait and to, you know,
10:03think about it and to, you know, think
10:06about the best way to word it. It's boom
10:07boom boom boom. And that can be really,
10:10really hard for your students when it
10:12comes to speaking skills.
10:15Which is exactly that, thinking on the
10:17spot. It's instant, and it puts students
10:20under a lot of pressure, and you'll know
10:23when you've been
10:25um
10:26using Spanish or French or whatever
10:28other languages you speak, when you are
10:30on that spot, it can feel quite quite
10:33intense.
10:36You'd think that when to speak and when
10:38to listen would be universal, but
10:40culturally it is incredibly different.
10:42In fact, it's something you have to
10:45teach your Spanish students in
10:46particular,
10:48because speaking over each other is
10:51culturally appropriate within Spain, as
10:54in it is not rude. And you'll find that
10:56when you go out with your Spanish
10:57friends, as you make Spanish friends
10:58here, there'll be lots of chat going on
11:01at the same time. And it's just not
11:03rude. It's absolutely
11:05part of the convention of speaking.
11:09The problem is when you take that into
11:12native speaking countries, it's not
11:15appropriate, and it's seen as rude. So,
11:17it's actually a skill you have to teach,
11:19for example, when your students are
11:21taking the Cambridge exam.
11:23There is a part where they have to take
11:25part in a debate.
11:27And if they interrupt each other,
11:28they're actually marked down on that,
11:30because it's not appropriate um, within
11:32the context. And so, that's just, you
11:35know, another area that you need to
11:37think of.
11:38Gestures are a huge part of
11:42us speaking. Um,
11:43we we use them all the time.
11:46And what we tend to do when we when we
11:48speak another language is we lose our
11:50gestures. We we tend to be quite rigid.
11:53We tend to go a bit like stone-like
11:55because we grow up with gestures. We
11:58grow up using our hands to indicate
12:02using gestures for, I don't know, the
12:04telephone or the gestures for for
12:06different things, a taxi or the bill,
12:08you know, universal ones. But there's
12:10loads that we use within a context that
12:12makes sense to us.
12:14So, gestures and body language tend to
12:16be things that we just don't use very
12:19well in another language. So, that might
12:22be something that you need to talk, you
12:24know, teach to your students because
12:25maybe you've got a student who's doing a
12:27presentation, um,
12:29um, a presentation to some really
12:30important people
12:33and he stands there looking like, you
12:34know, a slab of stone. Whereas, when he
12:37does it in Spanish, he's all like
12:39but um, [clears throat] and you you
12:40know, he comes alive. So, that is
12:42something again that you'll need to
12:43teach. Fillers, how to just, you know,
12:46fill phrases with however,
12:50um, nowadays, I was thinking about all
12:53these little things. Paraphrasing,
12:55again, is super super important. So, all
12:58these elements are things that you will
12:59have to teach and we'll obviously teach
13:02you how to do that teaching.
13:06Okay. So, moving on.
13:09So, these are looking at some kinds of
13:12activities you can do in the classroom
13:14with your students.
13:15So, these are our lower levels.
13:17Now, A1s
13:19are
13:21few and far between now, certainly in
13:23Spain. But if you go into more Asian
13:26countries.
13:27Some of more
13:31Yeah, Asian countries tend to be where
13:33you'll find more absolute beginners. You
13:36tend to find
13:38false beginners more in Spain these days
13:41and across Europe because
13:43um
13:44most people have had exposure to Spanish
13:47to English now within the school system
13:50rather than French or German which would
13:51have been traditional back in the day.
13:54When I first started teaching, my first
13:56class was actually a group of absolute
13:58beginners. Um they were in their 60s
14:01and they were offered gym membership and
14:03wanted to do English classes instead cuz
14:06they were due for retirement and wanted
14:07to travel.
14:08And they knew a football player called
14:10David Beckham who was living in Madrid
14:12at the time and Coca-Cola.
14:14>> [gasps]
14:15>> And that was it.
14:16>> [clears throat]
14:16>> Um and I'm terrible at drawing. I had
14:18one of the funniest years ever teaching
14:20and it really taught me a huge amount
14:22about how
14:26much we use words to explain. And with
14:30lower levels, the more words you use,
14:33the more you confuse your students. Um
14:36so it's a really different way of
14:39teaching.
14:40So you can do basic Q&As with your lower
14:43levels, you know, personal information,
14:45how was your weekend, etc. etc. Some
14:48really basic role plays that have a
14:50structure.
14:52What you'll find with a lot of your
14:53lower levels is they get really nervous
14:55and anxious about the speaking
14:56activities. So giving them a really good
15:00model and giving them a really good
15:03structure around it that's simple
15:06is the most effective things to do.
15:10If it's too complicated
15:12or they have to go too far out of what
15:15they're comfortable with, you tend to
15:17not get much success.
15:19Um when I was doing my TEFL course,
15:22I taught some A1s who had to get on my
15:25bus. I was taking them on a
15:27um a visit around London, and it was a
15:30bit complicated, and they didn't want to
15:32get on my bus, and it was an incredibly
15:34cringe um class. It didn't go very well.
15:37So, a good model on how to do it,
15:41good information, basic, and really,
15:44really easy to explain is really the
15:47types of things we want to do. Story
15:49dice are excellent where you get six,
15:52and they can just have pictures on them,
15:54and they can come up with some basic um
15:57story or questions or plan
16:01work really, really well. So, keep it
16:04super, super, super simple with the
16:06basic levels. As the students are moving
16:08on to B1, they can definitely deal with
16:11more
16:12um and get a little bit more
16:14interesting.
16:16With higher levels, B2s, C1s, and C2s,
16:20you really, really want to be pushing
16:22them.
16:23In order to get from a B2 to a C1 or a
16:25C1 to a C2, it's all about the nuances.
16:29It's all about them taking risks with
16:31the language. They can't be too focused
16:33on accuracy. They want to be more
16:35focused on fluency. So, really pushing
16:38them to do some interesting stuff.
16:41It might be a simple debate where they
16:43have to take on a particular
16:46um
16:47point of view. It's always good to give
16:49your students what point of view they're
16:51going to take on. Otherwise, everyone
16:53just says they agree with everyone else.
16:54So, you know, Barcelona's better than
16:57Madrid, Madrid's better than Barcelona
16:59was a good controversial one.
17:01Um blue is better than red.
17:03So, just a typical balloon debate.
17:06Presentations where you get them to do a
17:08presentation can be phenomenal.
17:10One of the ones I do with C1s and C2s is
17:13I get them to do the presentation three
17:15times. So, it has to be a 1-minute
17:17presentation about something they like.
17:20And the presentation they have to do it
17:22Well, they actually do it four times in
17:23total. So, they they prep it for a 10
17:25minutes. They give the presentation.
17:28And it can be about literally anything.
17:30Cooking, golf,
17:32tennis, I don't care what it's about.
17:34And
17:36and then everyone writes some notes
17:38about how well that went. Um I record
17:40them so they can see it on my phone,
17:43which is always good so they can compare
17:44the first one and the last one. The next
17:47one, I make them do it only with
17:50gestures, only with body language. And I
17:52don't mean like, you know, it's a TV,
17:55it's a two words. I just mean they
17:58they're saying it in their head,
18:00but they're using their body as they
18:02would do giving a presentation. So, you
18:04know, like I am using my hands, using my
18:07gestures, stuff like that. As I say, we
18:08tend to lose that when we whenever we
18:12present in a in a foreign language. We
18:14find it so much harder. The next one, I
18:17make them do it only using humming, like
18:22because again, we tend to be fairly
18:24monotone when we go into another
18:26presentation. So, in their own language,
18:28it's all, you know, and then this
18:30happened and this happened. And then you
18:31go into another language and it's like,
18:32"You know, the thing here." And you're
18:34like, "Do do do do do."
18:36So, it's really good to get them to hum
18:39it and to just use the intonation going
18:42up and down. And then the last time they
18:44do it, they put that all back together.
18:47And then we compare version one and
18:49version four. And the difference is
18:52incredible. You know, they can use their
18:54body, their intonation is better. So,
18:56that can be a really good one. Um
18:58presentations about anything
19:00interesting, you know,
19:02setting up a TED Talk, anything like
19:04that are great. Games, students always
19:06into games, whatever that might be. Um
19:08role plays
19:10for both general English English, again,
19:12role play cards can be super effective
19:15and really, really get your students um
19:18moving and getting involved with the
19:22English, which is so important.
19:24With children,
19:25children are up for anything, um but
19:28there has to be with children, there has
19:30to be
19:31a sense to it. There has to be really
19:34strict boundaries. It's a bit about like
19:37the A1s and A2s that we talked about at
19:39the top, that you know, there has to be
19:42really clear guidelines around it,
19:44otherwise it can get wild and out and
19:46out of control quite quickly. So, flash
19:48cards are really good to keep them on
19:49track. They love a good tongue twister.
19:52The great thing about tongue twisters
19:54is, particularly with children, where
19:57their muscles are still setting,
19:59um it can give a greater range, so that
20:03they're more able to pronounce words
20:05more effectively in other languages. Uh
20:09the way we use, and and you'll learn
20:12this when we do when we do phonetics,
20:15the way our mouth moves and the way we
20:17use our tongue and all the muscles and
20:19all the parts and our teeth and
20:20everything, how that all works together,
20:22becomes really set, which is why it's so
20:25hard to actually speak another language
20:27and sound native, or it's one of the
20:29reasons.
20:30So, with youngsters, as there is there
20:33there's still some flex and growth with
20:36their muscles, it's great to get them
20:38doing tongue twisters because it just
20:40it's a bit like going to the gym, it
20:41just gives that flexibility and then and
20:44elasticity.
20:46Games, it's kids. I mean, what's not to
20:49love about games? Obviously, songs, they
20:51love songs as well. Um any props that
20:54they can describe, any props that they
20:56can get involved with, even if it's like
20:58fruit and animals and things like that,
21:01they absolutely love. So, so get
21:03creative when it comes to kids for
21:05speaking skills.
21:07And they won't be speaking very much at
21:09school. And so there can be a sense of
21:13shyness or not wanting to do it. So the
21:16more fun you bring in, the more likely
21:18you are to get And I'd say that with all
21:19of it. You know, the more fun speaking
21:21activities are, the more likely they're
21:24going to forget about their
21:26their embarrassment and actually get on
21:28and and really enjoy it.
21:31So, which brings us on to, you know,
21:34what um
21:36problems and frustrations and barrier to
21:41speaking that we come across in the
21:43classroom. And certainly inhibitions.
21:46There is I I mentioned it uh la
21:49vergüenza. It's like this embarrassment
21:51is like a national treasure um
21:53especially in the in um
21:56Spain. And it is this, you know, my
21:58English isn't and my my English isn't
22:00very good. And they're an A2. Um you
22:03know, they can do absolutely fine or
22:05they're actually a C1. Um but they feel
22:08that they they can't speak perfectly so
22:11they don't speak at all. So there's
22:13frustrations with not being able to find
22:15the word.
22:16And obviously fear of ridicule ridicule.
22:19And I think we all have that to some
22:20extent. But you know, it's really rare
22:23that anyone is ever rude or laughs at
22:26you when you go out and try another
22:27language. People are normally very, very
22:29encouraging. And we want our students to
22:33to really feel
22:35more excited to use the language and
22:38that being able to speak in you know, in
22:41English gives them so many more
22:42opportunities.
22:44It's about taking that risk.
22:46Class size can definitely be an issue
22:48especially with children's classes.
22:50There tends to be bigger children's
22:52classes. So there's the opportunity to
22:55actually um be able to speak, you know,
22:58quite often which which is is lacking.
23:01So thinking through how you can work in
23:03smaller groups, can work really, really
23:06well.
23:08Group dynamics can be a definite
23:10problem. I had
23:13a group
23:14quite a while ago where the boss was
23:16there
23:17and he wasn't he should have actually
23:19been in the lower-level group, but given
23:21that he was the boss and he was paying,
23:22he didn't want to be in that group. He
23:24wanted to be in the higher-level group.
23:27It was incredibly awkward and nobody
23:29else wanted to speak because they knew
23:32that they were better than him and that
23:34he would feel uncomfortable and just
23:36whole dynamics was just oh, it was
23:38really awful. So, group dynamics, you
23:41know, really think that through. Again,
23:43you know, with something like that, you
23:45might put different people in different
23:46groups. So, I could move him around to
23:48work with different groups so that
23:49everyone got an opportunity to speak in
23:51smaller groups.
23:53Sometimes you have shy students, they
23:55might not want to go first. You know,
23:57just think just different things you can
23:59think about.
24:01And just the controlled environment, you
24:02know, what
24:05you know, it might be noisy, it might be
24:08that other people are looking. There's
24:10all sorts of different things that um
24:13can make people feel uncomfortable
24:15within the environment you're in. So,
24:17you know, if you're in long lines like
24:19that, that doesn't really work for
24:21teaching
24:22for speaking skills. So, try and get
24:25people, even if it's to turn to the
24:27person that way or turn to the person
24:29that way, that can, you know, empower
24:31work, that can make um a real
24:33difference.
24:34>> [snorts]
24:34>> So, teacher talk time and student talk
24:37time, this is something you've come
24:38across in teaching skills.
24:41Obviously, we want the teacher talk time
24:43to be um
24:45low as possible and the student talk
24:47time as high as possible and that's
24:49something you need to look at. The lower
24:51the level, the higher the teacher talk
24:53times. By the time you get to the C2,
24:55honestly, you should be able to go out,
24:56go to the bar, have a few drinks, and
24:58come back,
24:59and they'd still be rocking away with
25:01it. You know, you should have minimal
25:02input. You're really there to do error
25:05correction and encourage.
25:07>> [snorts]
25:08>> Fear of correction is definitely
25:10something that comes up. People don't
25:12like to be corrected,
25:14but the only way we make progress is to
25:16be corrected. So, the way I do it, and
25:18you'll learn to do this in error and
25:20correction, one of the inputs we have on
25:22this course,
25:23is to make sure you don't correct in the
25:26middle of someone doing a presentation
25:28or someone speaking. Write it down, go
25:31back to them at the end, and hopefully
25:33they can self-correct.
25:34Um if not, it can be a group correction.
25:37But But yeah, correction's rubbish. I
25:39mean, who likes that? But it's part of
25:41the process, and it's in the way that
25:43you deliver that can make the real
25:45difference for that.
25:46Previous bad learning experience is
25:48huge. You'll be amazed at how much
25:50baggage your students bring in from, you
25:52know, horrible teachers at school where
25:54they were made to look stupid, or they
25:56had to stand up and do this. Um everyone
25:58laughed at them, etc., etc.
26:01We need therapists
26:03for um for people who've gone through
26:05horrible experiences with their English
26:06classes, because there's so much of
26:09that.
26:10So, really look out for that. You know,
26:11if you've got someone who's clearly
26:13looking uncomfortable,
26:15really try and work out what's going on
26:17with them, and try to come up with
26:18techniques to get them, you know, moving
26:22into group work or a little bit of pair
26:24work that maybe will help them build
26:27their confidence a little bit.
26:29People who are not keen on pair work is
26:32always problematic, because
26:34what they want um is normally to be the
26:37person who speaks with you, the teacher.
26:39They only see that your input is of
26:41value. What's the point of learning from
26:44Patricia next door, who makes as many
26:46mistakes as as she does?
26:48That can be really, really hard. So,
26:50often with people like that
26:53it's about getting them to, you know, do
26:55more debates, more pair work, sorry,
26:57more presentation work. Things like that
27:00can be helpful because pair work is a
27:02key fundamental of kind of the
27:05activities you do with speaking
27:07activities.
27:09It's really common to have a lot of your
27:11Spanish students in particular and a lot
27:13of students from China in particular who
27:16prefer to write rather than speak.
27:18Whereas you'll find with some of your
27:20more like your Italian students, German
27:23students are more than happy to speak as
27:25much as possible cuz they've their
27:27education system has encouraged
27:30speaking. It's encouraged confidence
27:33and, you know, the levels are quite
27:35high.
27:36It's really typical for students to want
27:39to write, speak given that that's what
27:40they've been used to. For you it's about
27:42the education to educate them, to show
27:45them that, you know, progress is made
27:47through speaking, taking risks with the
27:49language. It would be weird to go out
27:52and write notes to someone
27:54if you're looking to travel
27:56or for business and things like that,
27:58you know, speaking is how we communicate
28:01really effectively. So, just constant
28:03encouragement.
28:05Translating from native tongue is
28:07really, really common with your
28:08students.
28:10I don't have issues with translation in
28:14in absolute
28:16because sometimes a word can be really,
28:18really quick for your students to get,
28:20but what you'll often get is someone who
28:23constantly translates for someone else
28:24in the classroom. And if they're
28:26constantly translating, it will
28:28absolutely slow down. And it generally
28:31the need for translation really comes
28:34from a control and perfectionism point
28:37of view most of the time. So, your
28:39students don't want to do it unless it's
28:41perfect. It's like the child that
28:44doesn't speak until they're three cuz
28:45they were saving it all up
28:47in order to to burst out there in the
28:49world, you know, speaking full
28:51sentences.
28:53Again, it's about creating trust,
28:56creating a safe space for your students
28:58to take some risks, and just by bit by
29:01bit encouraging them. Loss of face
29:03status is really, really common. It's
29:05particularly common when you've got that
29:07boss-employee
29:09ratio, which is really, really
29:11difficult, and you could have some
29:14students from cultures where the
29:16male-female dynamic is unfortunate. I
29:20had two students where from Japan where
29:24it would have been very unacceptable in
29:27their particular
29:29situation for the woman to
29:34answer before the male student.
29:37Unfortunately, she had a much higher
29:40speaking level than he did, and was
29:43generally did all her homework, and was
29:45super engaged. But, because of this this
29:49cultural status, it was it was really
29:52difficult. So, I got them changed into
29:53different classes, and she just flew. He
29:56didn't make any more progress cuz he
29:57never did his homework.
29:59Um and yeah, if they're used to more
30:01controlled learning environments like at
30:02school where they're kind of spoon-fed
30:05all the time, and they're only allowed
30:07to say this little word once a week,
30:10that can be hard for students to, you
30:11know, take risks and get out there.
30:15So, those are the main things for
30:16students.
30:17And for teachers, there's equally, well,
30:20not equally, but there's still a few
30:23areas that causes the same kind of
30:25problems. So, class size is definitely
30:27an issue for you as well. You know,
30:29giving people opportunities, why which
30:31is why it's so important, as I say, to
30:34try and set up the pair work and the
30:36small group work.
30:38And again, the environment we talked
30:39about, the lines of seats, or if it's
30:42just not really conducive for that for
30:44noise and things. Again, little groups
30:47can make such a huge difference.
30:50Time of day can actually make a massive
30:53difference to all of your classes, but
30:55particularly to speaking.
30:58So, um controlling people on a Monday
31:00morning can be hard cuz everyone wants
31:02to go
31:03about what happened at the weekend. But
31:05equally, end of day, you know, the end
31:07of day can be very late, particularly in
31:09Spain. You know, people can work until
31:12it's typical to work until 7:00, then
31:14have your English class, you know, you
31:16still haven't had dinner yet.
31:17So, you know, people can have low
31:20motivation at that time. So, definitely
31:23some chocolate and rewards definitely
31:26help to get people motivated.
31:29Mixed abilities is really common. If it
31:31comes down to money, so it might be a
31:33company that only has 12 employees, so
31:35they're not going to have three groups,
31:36they're going to have two groups of six.
31:38Which means you're going to have some
31:39mixed abilities. Again, that's about
31:42setting it up with group work and pair
31:44work that feels right for that
31:46particular task. So, sometimes you might
31:48want a higher level to bring up someone
31:51who's a bit of a lower level, but also
31:53the higher level needs to have an
31:54opportunity as well to some take
31:57somewhere. So, you might put some of the
31:58lower levels together for one activity
32:01and then the higher levels together for
32:03a different group activity.
32:05And give them a bit more to do.
32:07Cultural differences we've talked about.
32:09You can't always change classes for
32:12students. But what you can do is set it
32:16up so that you direct who speaks next.
32:19So, you do it round in a circle. So,
32:22you're like, "Okay, Juan first. Now,
32:26Nikita. Now, Juanita. Now, Pablo." And
32:30you go round so that everyone knows it's
32:32their turn. So, it's not a kind of
32:35choice about who speaks up and who
32:37doesn't, but everyone knows when it's
32:39their turn to have a go.
32:42Um, knowing what the mistake is. When
32:45you're first, you know, learning about
32:47grammar, um, sorry, I've missed one.
32:49Difficulty understanding what's being
32:50said.
32:52So, this is really, really, really hard
32:55when you first start, um, teaching in a
32:57new culture or with a new language. So,
33:00even when I've taught Argentinians who
33:03are speak, you know, who are obviously
33:04Spanish speakers,
33:06because of their accent, I found it
33:09really, really difficult initially to
33:10understand everything that they were
33:12saying in English, especially at the
33:13lower levels.
33:15So, what we normally say is, after the
33:18third time you've asked someone to
33:20repeat each other, nod, smile, and go,
33:22"Oh, yeah." And move on.
33:24You can get students to write things
33:26down.
33:27And it The problem is that we have a
33:30phonetic, a phonemic range. So, the word
33:33dad, we can have It can be said in this
33:37range.
33:38But if it's even here, outside that
33:41range, like someone said did,
33:43and we're like, "Did as in you did that
33:45yesterday?" They're like, "No."
33:47>> [gasps]
33:48>> And you you just don't hear it. You
33:50don't understand it, because our brain
33:52only has a range that it's willing to
33:54accept for that word, because there are
33:55millions of words.
33:57So, as I say, the rule of three,
34:00let get them to reset three times. If
34:02after the second time you're not even
34:03close, then get them to write it down,
34:05and then as I say, smile and move on.
34:08Um, knowing what the mistake is. This is
34:11to do with you being a new teacher. You
34:12don't always know how to explain a
34:14mistake or what it is, and that's just
34:16going to get, you know, come in time.
34:19And sometimes you need to fess up and
34:21go, "Honestly, I don't know the answer
34:22to this. I don't know why center is
34:24sometimes spelt with an r e and
34:27sometimes spelt with an e r." It's
34:29difference between American and British,
34:32um, spelling.
34:34And say that. Say I don't know why it's
34:36like that. I don't know why you
34:37sometimes say
34:39record and sometimes say record. I don't
34:41know why it's vitamin or vitamin. If you
34:44don't know the answer, you don't know
34:45the answer. That's what Google's for. Go
34:47away, ask us, ask Google, and always go
34:50back to your students with the answer
34:53for the next class. Nothing wrong with
34:54putting your hand up and saying you
34:55don't know.
34:57Okay. Deciding on the best time to
34:59correct mistakes. You're going to go
35:00into a lot more detail on this with
35:02error correction, but as I say, most of
35:04the time I would definitely wait until
35:07the end of when they're finished
35:10speaking and say then, you know, "Oh,
35:12you said
35:14yesterday I go." Yesterday I go? And
35:17they can normally hear and go, "Ah,
35:19yesterday I went." You're like,
35:20"Excellent, well done." And so they can
35:22they can re-correct. The only time I
35:26don't do that and when I interrupt is if
35:29it's something that's very basic. So, I
35:31might have a C1 student who keeps making
35:34a really, really basic error. So, they
35:36might be, for example, still be using
35:38the liquid S. So, they say, "I'm a
35:41Spanish." It's this uh sound that goes
35:44before
35:46S sounds. Um there's there's rules to
35:48it, but let's just say it's between
35:51before S sounds in Spanish. It's not on
35:53all of them, but for this point we're
35:55doing it. So, I don't want someone who's
35:57a C1 level making that mistake. Um I I
36:00want them to say, "I'm Spanish." and go
36:02straight into the sound. So, I might say
36:05to a student, "Right,
36:07no more. I've had enough. You're not
36:09saying this anymore. This is what we're
36:10going to work on. Every time you make
36:11it, I'm going to let you know, and
36:13you're going to correct it, and then
36:14we're going to move on." So, for
36:16everything else, I'm doing it as normal,
36:18but this particular fossilized error
36:20that I'm determined to beat out this
36:22student, I'm going to correct I'm going
36:23to correct I'm going to correct I'm
36:25going to correct until they start
36:26self-correcting. So, they say I'm a
36:29I'm Spanish. Digga digga digga. Um,
36:33so that's some little, you know,
36:36information on correct correcting
36:37mistakes, but you will do that in a lot
36:39more detail
36:40um, when you get to error correction.
36:44Shy students are always a challenge, you
36:46know, you don't want to make someone
36:47feel awful in your class. You want to to
36:50encourage them. You want them to feel,
36:52you know, that they want to speak. So,
36:54just try to, you know, if students are
36:57reading out an answer, for example, and
37:00they've got to say it out loud, you
37:02know, if you've done some monitoring
37:03around the student and had a little
37:04look, you can see that it's correct,
37:06choose them for that one. You want them
37:08to succeed. The confident student
37:11doesn't care if they get it right or
37:12wrong. You know, it's not going to dent
37:14their confidence, but for the first shy
37:17student, it probably is.
37:19If you're, you know, you have a choice
37:22where the student goes in terms of
37:24level, and they're kind of in between a
37:27B1 and a B2, the shy student, and you
37:30can put them in the top to be the top of
37:32the group in B1 rather than the bottom
37:34of the group in B2, then I would
37:37definitely go with that because they
37:38need to build their confidence.
37:41And dominant students, oh, you'll know a
37:43dominant student because they tend to
37:44tend tend to turn up to um, most of your
37:48classes with a color-coded notebook and
37:51ask every question under the sun. And as
37:53I say, they tend to be the ones that
37:55want to speak more with you than they do
37:57with their partners because they see
37:58that as a waste of time.
38:00So, what I talked about earlier about
38:03going round in order so that everyone
38:05gets their time, don't put dominant
38:07student and shy student together,
38:08otherwise dominant student will just
38:10beat shy student down is is no good at
38:13all.
38:14And just be a little bit more, you know,
38:16where the sometimes a dominant student
38:18needs a bit more of challenge, or they
38:20They need to go up a level. You know,
38:21they they just need that bit more of a
38:24challenge. So, maybe set them a little
38:26bit harder work or
38:28say to them, "Right, I want you to be
38:30working on this particular thing."
38:32And give them a little bit more of a
38:33challenge.
38:35Okay, so that's really looking at some
38:37of the counters um problems that we can
38:41encounter.
38:42So, fluency versus accuracy.
38:45This is really important because
38:50accuracy is important because we don't
38:52want to be misunderstood.
38:54But, fluency, the ability to take risks
38:59with the language and give it a go
39:02is incredibly important. In my Spanish,
39:05I'm incredibly fluent and not very
39:08accurate at all. And I do everything,
39:11you know, so I own Lets, I own TT, I own
39:15uh companies, I run companies in Spain.
39:18I meet with all sorts of people, have
39:20all sorts of meetings, and I never worry
39:24because I have a degree of fluency
39:26rather than accuracy. Occasionally, I
39:28say things that people are like,
39:30"What?" But, most of the time, I can
39:32make myself understood perfectly well
39:35even though it's not 100% accurate.
39:38I do need to work on some more accuracy
39:39there.
39:41Okay, so with fluency, you can speak
39:42about various topics easily.
39:45However, there might be grammar mistakes
39:47um or trouble pronouncing some words.
39:49It isn't about being perfect. It's about
39:51communication, which is why I'm such a
39:54fan of fluency because it allows you to
39:57really reach that next level and to to
40:01move around the world, to move around
40:03people with a degree of confidence.
40:05People who reach fluency are confident
40:08about speaking the language.
40:11Whereas ac- accuracy is more that you're
40:13grammatically correct or want to be 100%
40:16grammatically correct. They practice
40:18their pronunciation because they want to
40:20be understood. They often speak with
40:23more hesitancy,
40:25lots more um um um you'll find because
40:31their brain is making it perfect. So,
40:33they're saying, "I um
40:37want
40:39um to go um So, you get this real
40:42hesitancy inaccuracy. But when you piece
40:45it all together, it's really really
40:47correct. Whereas with fluency, it might
40:49not be as I say as correct, but it tends
40:52to be quicker and more cohesive. So, as
40:55you can see, I'm more of a fan of
40:57fluency than accuracy.
40:59Okay. So, you can read this part um
41:03after we finish this, but there's some
41:05great books we've put there. If this is
41:07something that you're interested in,
41:09it's something that you can certainly
41:12um read more of.
41:14There is obviously a need for both.
41:16We're not saying that, you know,
41:18accuracy and fluency, one is correct and
41:20one isn't. Both are very much needed.
41:23The issue I have particularly with a lot
41:26of more dogmatic and old-fashioned
41:31educational systems, which Spain still
41:33is, a lot of the Asian countries are, as
41:36opposed to northern Europe, which much
41:38more modern, the US when it comes to
41:40languages tends to be more on the UK
41:43side, which we tend to be a bit more
41:45old-fashioned as well. Um is we tend to
41:48do this accuracy learning in isolation,
41:50rather than learning through
41:51involvement. So, it's very contained,
41:53it's very within a classroom,
41:55and, you know, I can think of years and
41:58years I spent learning French, but take
42:01me out of the classroom and put me in an
42:02actual context, put me actually in
42:05France and ask me to do anything, and
42:06I'm a complete mess.
42:08So, whereas with fluency, you're willing
42:11to give it a go. And that to me is how
42:15you you grow and evolve as a language
42:18learner. And you know, what we want is
42:21people to not always be students. We
42:23want people to be speakers of the
42:24language. And I think that's an
42:26important difference. So, accuracy is
42:28about the study of and for me fluency is
42:31about the use of. But, there has to be a
42:34mix between the two and you'll certainly
42:37be doing that when you when you, you
42:39know, the mix between these two.
42:42Okay.
42:44So, what kind of students will be more
42:46accurate than fluent?
42:48Hardly surprising, science students and
42:50people studying for exams or, you know,
42:53more educational, strict educational
42:55settings definitely will be more on the
42:58accuracy side of it. So, most Spanish
43:00students who have grown up, particularly
43:03who are kind of 30 or even 25 plus, will
43:07have come from a much more
43:08accuracy-based
43:10approach to
43:12any all of the English language. So,
43:15they will have had minimal opportunity
43:17to speak. Most of their teachers would
43:18have been non-native with very low
43:20levels themselves. So, they would wanted
43:22to have controlled that environment
43:24because obviously they had limited
43:26skills. As students have gone through
43:29the system and the English level
43:31obviously has increased, then those
43:33people have come back into the education
43:35system and they've got a higher level.
43:37And now they're going on to teach. And
43:39you can see that in countries like
43:41Portugal and Germany where they've had,
43:43you know, a much that they're at a much
43:46higher standard because the people
43:48coming back in the system are higher,
43:50the people coming back in the system are
43:51higher, and it just increases all the
43:54time.
43:57And obviously extrovert students, people
43:58who have more confidence,
44:01people who have grown up in less
44:02traditional educational settings. So,
44:04that might be in northern Europe where
44:05they're encouraged to talk or in
44:07situations where they're around more
44:09English, and I think that's what's quite
44:12interesting about students who are
44:13coming through now using YouTube, is
44:16they're having a lot more
44:19>> [clears throat]
44:19>> interaction and a lot more a lot more
44:22influenced by well, influencers on
44:25YouTube. So, if they're into gaming, the
44:27chances are a lot of it's in English, if
44:30you know, music, etc. So, there's a lot
44:33more input coming in, which really
44:35should help with confidence and them
44:38learning acquiring it rather than just
44:41learning it in a more traditional
44:43setting.
44:46So, here's some activities that you can
44:48do,
44:49which
44:50you know, makes sense with with all
44:52these and we'll go through these quite
44:53quickly.
44:55So, obviously, repetition of structures
44:57and forms in class, so repetition of a
45:00particular structure, it might be, you
45:02know, I went to the supermarket and
45:04everyone says, I went to the
45:05supermarket. Or it might be
45:07pronunciation.
45:08It might be word stress, intonation, all
45:11those things we've talked about. So,
45:13that can be quite, you know, effective
45:16in terms of that.
45:18Um themed lessons to introduce grammar
45:20structures are obviously really really
45:21important. As I say,
45:23grammar is such a fundamental part of
45:25English that, you know, we need them to
45:29learn it. And most Spanish students, in
45:31fact, most students who come from more
45:33traditional backgrounds um
45:35with an education will have learned
45:38the their own language and any other
45:42foreign languages in a much more
45:44grammatical processed way, so that can
45:47be really helpful.
45:48Um
45:49games that have definitive answers, so
45:51this has to be the answer for this
45:54can be really helpful. Um corrections in
45:56the moment, as I say, when I'm when I'm
45:58trying to get someone to get rid of a
46:00fossilized error, I want to be straight
46:02on it, and if it's a particular thing
46:04that you've taught in that class that
46:07you want your students to have achieved
46:08by the end of it, then corrections in
46:10the moment can can really help them.
46:14If your students write things down, have
46:16study books, obviously the new form, you
46:18know, the I don't know, the the verb
46:22plus past participle, etc.,
46:24um makes this can be really, really
46:26helpful.
46:28Using the board is important for
46:30accuracy, so that everyone can see it.
46:32Drilling, gap fills, question-answer
46:35activities, as pair work I've talked a
46:37lot about. Dictation can actually be
46:40quite interesting because, you know,
46:43they can dictate um to each other, and
46:46they have to write it down. Dictation
46:49can often bring up
46:51uh some uncomfortable feelings with a
46:53lot of your students because dictation
46:54is a huge part of learning English.
46:57They're really massively into it.
46:59Um but it you know, it serves a purpose.
47:03Bingo, 20 questions, all those kinds of
47:05things are great for accuracy and
47:08something students love.
47:10But the more fun stuff,
47:12um
47:14with all of the fluency activities, you
47:16know, it tends to be a bit more about
47:19the doing, the process of. It's not a
47:22quick stop-start
47:24um like the accuracy ones. So, things
47:26like pair work, debates, mini
47:28presentations,
47:30um you know, group work, discussions,
47:34coming to a consensus and making a
47:36decision about something, story dice,
47:38all these kinds of things will really,
47:40really encourage fluency um throughout
47:44any kind of activities you're doing.
47:46You'll come up with a myriad of things.
47:48You know, the great thing about
47:51what's out there in the world on the
47:52internet with things like YouTube is,
47:54you know, you can get your students to
47:55watch a video, and then the next day
47:57they can do a debate or a presentation
47:59or have a discussion about it. They can
48:02do, you know, phone calls. So, you know,
48:05they each turn their back and they phone
48:07each other when they There's so many
48:08things you can do that make up good and
48:12fun fluency activity.
48:16So, yeah, for your students to really
48:17enjoy it.
48:19So, that's the basics of speaking
48:21skills. I hope that's been enjoyable and
48:23given you a bit of an insight. As I say,
48:26speaking activities make up a huge part
48:29and should make up a huge part of your
48:30classes because it's such an important
48:33skill. So, I hope this has been useful.
48:37And now I need you to pop over to your
48:39task book and there'll be a couple of
48:41questions for you to fill out and I look
48:43forward to marking them. Thanks very
48:45much. Bye-bye.

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