Teaching Speaking

In an ESL speaking class, what is “drilling”?

• A timed exercise where students complete as much work as possible.

• An exercise where students listen to an example of correct pronunciation and echo it back.

• A technique used to improve hand writing.

What is intonation?

• The changing of pitch in a word, used to show intention or further meaning.

• A sentence structure used to create rhetorical questions.

• A tone used to express anger or dissatisfaction.

Observe the tone signal on these two sentences, and mark which indicates surprise from the speaker:

• Is it raining again? / rising/

• Is it raining again? /falling/

Observe the tone signal on these two sentences, and mark which indicates a statement or guidance from the speaker:

• You want to order a larger meal /falling /

• You want to order a larger meal /rising /

What is “word stress”?

• When speakers emphasize a word to show its importance in the context.

• The natural emphasis placed on particular parts of multi-syllable words.

Why is it important for students to learn about word stresses?

• Their speech will sound more natural and will be easier to understand.

• It will help students to show the most important part of a sentence.

Mark which of these words has the stress located in the correct place:

• Apple

• Apple

Mark which of these words has the stress located in the correct place:

• Attack

• Attack

What is “sentence stress”?

• Emphasis placed on certain parts within a sentence to further convey or clarify meaning.

• An aggressive tone or attitude which should be avoided when talking to students.

• A speaking exercise conducted under strict time conditions.

Mark which of these exercises would be suitable for practicing sentence stress:

• Give pairs of students cards with sentences on, and underline specific words which should be stressed. Have students take turns at reading their sentences, while the other guesses which word was stress - and what it could mean.

• Give pairs of students cards with pictures of target vocabulary on. Have students take turns describe the object on their card, whilst the other students guesses what it is.