James Freeman has taught English in the UK, China, Malaysia and Ecuador, and is a speaking examiner for both Cambridge YLE and Main Suite exams. In this article he shares some activity suggestions to create a safe, encouraging environment and get your students speaking confidently.
Wouldn’t it be great if you had to tell a class that the lesson is over but your students practically ignored you (in a good way!) and continued speaking enthusiastically in English? The topic of communicating in English is probably one that I encounter the most when meeting and working with teachers across all education sectors. This question of how do I get my students to readily speak in English and feel confident about it is something that most teachers would like the secret formula to. There are things, as educators, we can do to create a more conducive environment where students get so immersed in an English speaking activity that the learning part becomes almost incidental.
Having taught students of all ages across three different continents, here are some simple yet effective approaches I’ve used to encourage students to feel safe in the environment they’re communicating English in.
Tip #1: Make it personal
Course books nowadays are good at starting a unit off with a type of activity or series of questions in order for students to personalise the topic to their situation. But what about the teacher bringing in their personal stories as a way of opening up students’ curiosity? I remember with a group of learners we were focusing on writing music reviews. As I had worked extensively in the music industry before, I gave a mini presentation of my life as a DJ and artist manager. The lesson soon took a life of its own where the questions kept on coming (in English) like ‘what was like it performing at music festivals?’ or ‘how did it feel knowing that thousands were listening to you present on radio?’ (I used to do a Sunday morning show on UK digital station BBC 1xtra). Instead of purposefully setting up questions for students to ask, my personal story I shared was authentic and appealing enough for students to voluntarily ask questions and want to know more.
Tip #2: Put the student in the driving seat
Let your students take the lead in what is spoken about during a lesson. This, of course, takes into account the level and maturity of a group but it’s good to make students become responsible learners whatever their language proficiency may be. For example, once a week the class would nominate two or three different students to bring in something interesting they had seen online and prepare a short explanation of it along with some questions to ask their fellow peers which in turn creates a great lesson warmer fully designed by the students themselves. For more assessment-focused tasks, create student-friendly rubrics and have them give each other feedback after a speaking activity.
Tip #3: Bringing in that added twist
I’m continually seeking ways to expand speaking activities in the class so that they don’t fall into an overly predictable format. Here are some quick ideas:
· For class debates, why not create a rap battle setting? Set the topic, groups prepare their sentences, play a mid-tempo hip hop beat and have teams challenge each other lyrically.
· Use learning apps in class. For example, with the Cambridge English Quiz Your English app split the class into four groups and have them play against each other by connecting one device to the screen so the whole class can see and predict (using future tenses) who will win the next round.
· Working with social media savvy students. Technology’s deepening connectivity to peoples’ lives means teachers have extra tools to play with. You could select a strong visual, have students create memes to then post on the class’ social media group page. In the next lesson, the class looks over each one, discusses and votes for their favourite.
ELT author and international teacher trainer Kathryn O’Dell said it simply during the recent Let’s Talk Speaking panel event, “If students feel like talking, they’re going to speak.” The more we can provide a fully immersive environment for our students to operate in, communicating in English will seem less intimidating and become more of a need to connect with their peers through common interests and goals which will ultimately serve them beyond the four walls of the classroom.
What about you? What activities have you done in order to get students talking more in English? Let us know in the comments below!
These insights have been used in the development of our American English course Evolve. Please visit the Evolve web hub for more information and resources.