Activities for speaking skills in the classroom

When assisting students in the development of their oral skills, there are some tips and techniques that teachers can use to minimize students’ anxiety and to make the development as efficient and practical as possible. This way, students will learn more and have increased motivation to continue this skill development.

  • Create authentic practice activities that are as similar to real life as possible.
  • Create different contexts in which students can practice to broaden their vocabulary and experiential horizons.
  • Provide scaffolding and support for each context; this means making sure students are aware of the appropriate vocabulary and what social or cultural norms are appropriate.
  • Don’t focus solely on errors; correct as much as each student can handle, more advanced students can often handle more correction, but avoid excessive correction if it will promote anxiety.
  • Be aware of Higgs, and what students at different levels can focus On.
  • Give students options to use when responding to questions and teach them those options; allow them to use minimal responses if it reduces anxiety but make sure all students are aware of the possibilities. This allows for differentiation, as students can use the level of response that they feel comfortable with.
  • Develop routines involving certain scripts (ie greetings, compliments, asking certain questions) so students become comfortable and familiar with those scripts.
  • Use gestures to help get meaning across and encourage students to do the same; emphasize that what is important is the meaning.