Oral language — the processes involved in speaking, listening, and understanding spoken language — serves as the basis for the development of literacy, which in turn paves the way for academic achievement. Teachers often overlook the need for multilingual learners to practice speaking and to enhance their oral language abilities.
Students acquire basic social language skills through classroom interactions, however their comprehension of English often surpasses their ability to speak as effectively as they would like. Consequently, it’s important for teachers to specifically focus on providing lots of opportunities to develop speaking skills, especially practice using academic language.
However, many multilingual learners are reluctant to speak in class since they may not have the words to express their thoughts completely. They’re aware that they aren’t completely fluent in the language their teacher and peers speak and understand. The following are 5 ways teachers can encourage students to improve speaking skills.
- Create the right environment. Few people are willing to speak up or participate in group discussions when they feel anxious or if the setting is intimidating. Establishing a classroom environment where multilingual learners feel respected, welcome, and comfortable when speaking is the first step in building oral language skills. The affective dimension of language learning matters. Multilingual learners take a risk when they use their new language so it’s important for teachers to be accepting of all attempts to express themselves, and correct errors gently and only as a means for avoiding confusion. Another way of creating a stress-free environment is to accept translanguaging as an effective communication strategy. Translanguaging is the process by which multilingual students use two or more languages strategically to accomplish a task. For example, at times multilingual learners are able to express some ideas better in one language or the other and may mix the two languages in a discussion or when completing an assignment with a partner. Allowing students the freedom to use all their language resources encourages oral participation and signals to students that their home language is respected and accepted.
- Select interesting topics. If we want students to talk, we need to give them something interesting and relevant to talk about. Teachers can use students’ backgrounds and lived experiences to make connections to nearly any topic. A lot of language can surface in discussions that tap into what students know. For example, when reading about a character in a book or an historical figure, ask: How would you react in that situation? Or What would your family say if you did that? Why? Pictures also can be used effectively to elicit language. For example, show an interesting picture, preferably related to a topic being studied, and ask, What do you think is going on in this picture? What do you see that makes you think that? What else do you see? This process is a less-demanding version of citing text evidence, an important academic skill, and elicits language by having students explain their idea and defend it using the picture.
- Form groups intentionally. Opportunities to practice and develop speaking skills need to be planned, intentional and purposeful. Research confirms what most educators know: teachers do more than 80% of the talking in class. Speaking with a partner or small group encourages participation and provides each student with more practice speaking English, expressing themselves, and experimenting with the language.
Sometimes during a lesson teachers realize they have been doing a lot of talking and so suddenly ask the students to turn-and-talk. This haphazard approach is not effective. Whether students turn-and-talk with a partner or participate in a more extended discussion with a small group, interactions should have an academic purpose such as making predictions, summarizing information, discussing an experience they’ve had related to the topic, and so forth. The group interaction should be structured, have an intentional purpose, and be given a reasonable time allotment.
4. Use technology. There are a number of voice and video recording programs available that give students a chance to practice speaking English privately to build oral proficiency. A recording allows students to listen to themselves and identify areas for improvement. Teachers should maintain a digital portfolio so that students can periodically listen to past recordings and hear how they’re speaking improved over time. Teachers have reported that some students barely recognize their own voice on recordings from the beginning of the year to the end, which is gratifying evidence of progress and a real confidence builder.
5. Make it fun. Have students pretend to be a news anchor delivering information, a podcaster who engages in discussion with a guest, a game show host who asks questions of peers, a historical figure who tells about her life and accomplishments, and so forth. The purpose is educational, but the language practice activity is low-stress — and fun!
Jana Echevarria, Ph.D. is Professor Emerita at CSULB where she was selected as Outstanding Professor. She is co-creator of the SIOP Model of instruction for multilingual learners and co-author of Making Content Comprehensible for Multilingual Learners: The SIOP Model among other publications.