In the last PDM, Tom, Lucy and Nat worked with small groups thinking about speaking skills with different ages. Here are the questions we discussed:
- What topics work well with this age group? Think about relevance and whether learners have the language to communicate their ideas comfortably.
- What tasks work well with this age group? Think about controlled practice, semi-controlled tasks and freer speaking activities.
- What tools can we give them to improve their interactive (or live listening) skills?
- How can we deal with different learners (more dominant, shyer, etc)?
These are the photos from Nat’s group which were discussing YLs and the notes from Lucy’s group related to teens.
Ideas for Improving Speaking with Teens
Topics:
Music /School/Friends/Personal things/Gossip/TV Shows/Free Time activities/Sport/Computer Games/Internet /Networking sites/Fashion
Types of Activity/Tasks that work well with Teens:
Chris Roland’s Curriculum Questions which Carmen said she’d been using. Different questions on different topics using Stem sentences which students then finish off.
Zombie Apocalypse
Survival Games – one person out of a hot air balloon/ Desert Island uses for everyday objects using Infinitive of Purpose.
Onion Ring/Speed dating/Circle
Mingles
Debates
Pair work
Team work/Competitive Games
Role Plays
Board Games – Dice
Taboo – describe without saying certain taboo words.
Hot spot (1 student with back facing board) – Class describe words on the board for student to guess.
‘Say the line in the style of …’ – students say a given sentence using a tone /style of voice having been given an adverb
Running dictation /Dictation races
‘Talk for a minute’ on a given topic – To encourage spontaneous speech. ‘Whose line is it anyway’ – no repetition/hesitation or deviation allowed.
Describe a picture – everyone say one thing about a picture, no repetition allowed. (PET part 3 style)
Any activity that they can ‘sabotage or lie about’ e.g finishing off Stem sentences.
Tools to improve their interactive skills (live listening)
Role plays
‘Include a line/word/phrase’ – for points .e.g say ‘oh really’ as many times as they can naturally in a dialogue.
Question tags – did he? /were you? Etc
Different types of Learner:
Role plays – shyer pupils can hide behind a role. Dominant can fully express themselves.
Visual prompts – pictures/stem sentences
Give a line/word/phrase – students have to fit it into to a dialogue without others guessing what it is.
Pair work. Combinations of pairs . e.g. Shy+Shy/Dominant+ Dominant. Or Shy + Dominant
Onion ring/Speed dating/ Mingles – where pairs change and whole class isn’t listening to just one person.
Timed interaction – allowed 20 seconds to talk. If students go under or over time they lose points.
