Developing Oral Competency through the use of Impromptu Style Speaking Activities

Building learners’ oral competency is a key element of any language classroom. This is without a doubt a great challenge for language teachers as it is difficult to formally plan and assess within lessons. In addition, it is an even greater challenge to evaluate a learner’s oral competency and progress. Impromptu style speaking activities can help provide learners of all ages and aptitudes the guided practice necessary to embellish their speaking skills in an unobtrusive and fun way.

Key concerns addressed during the workshop: Why is it important to teach ‘speaking’?

•  Why is it important to encourage learners to speak?
•  What are some of the challenges faced by teachers and learners alike?
•  How can speaking be formally introduced into a curriculum?
•  How can speaking activities be adapted to suit the varying needs and abilities of language learners?
•  How can oral production be assessed?
•  How can oral production assessment tools be adapted to suit the task and learners’ needs?

This workshop will primarily focus on providing teachers with numerous impromptu style speaking activities that can be used in any classroom and can be adapted to suit learner level and interest. Teachers attending the seminar will be provided with the opportunity to: reflect on authentic learners’ speech by listening to real students speaking; evaluate and assess different pupils’ oral proficiency; gain an in depth understanding of the significance of promoting this skill by planning it within the language course curriculum.

 *Language of instruction: English.