TEACHING SPEAKING

 Hello, Welcome back :)

Let's continue with the second macro skill  "SPEAKING" which is very important because g is the delivery of language through the mouth. To speak, we create sounds using many parts of our body, including the lungs, vocal tract, vocal cords, tongue, teeth, and lips. In order to be teachers we must have a nice voice, we must know how to control it and make good use of it so our students will understand us in a better way. 

As a teacher is a must to differentiate that speaking can be formal or informal and we must know how to use each one. For example, informal speaking is typically used with family and friends, or people you know well. And formal speaking occurs in business or academic situations, or when meeting people for the first time.

And while I was writing this blog I was looking for more information about what is meant by "teaching speaking" and I learned that is to teach English learners to:

• Produce English speech sounds and sound patterns

• Use word and sentence stress, intonation patterns, and the rhythm of the second

language.

• Select appropriate words and sentences according to the proper social setting, audience,

situation, and subject matter.

• Organize their thoughts in a meaningful and logical sequence.

And some ideas that the teachers in the classroom can use to teach speaking will be:

Discussions

Role Play

Simulations

Story Completion

Picture Describing

Another important aspect that we discussed in our class was the "Jazz chants". They were created by the NYU professor Carolyn Graham. And Jazz Chants are Carolyn Graham's snappy, upbeat chants and poems that use jazz rhythms to illustrate the natural stress and intonation patterns of conversational American English.” and are used to:

– help the students speak with the natural rhythm and

intonation patterns of American English

– to practice vocabulary

– to introduce and reinforce grammar patterns

Lic. Orlando asked us to create our own Jazz Chants, he explained that it doesn't need to be so long, so we created a short want "Maru and Katy were late, Clari and Herrera were not" We sing it while clapping our hands, it was fun. I think is a really good way to teach speaking.

So this is for today and I hope you enjoy my entry for this week, and remember is very important to improve our speaking skills to communicate in an easy and effective way. But how do we become more confident in this skill? well, we must practice where we can, when we can. Any practice is good and also it's important to build our confidence.

Until next time, If you have questions let me know in the comments

With love, Kat