Developing Oral Proficiency: Learning Activities and GEPT Preparation. Timothy Hogan

Transcription

1 Developing Oral Proficiency: Learning Activities and GEPT Preparation Timothy Hogan

2 Overview Consider the skills the students must employ when completing the three tasks of the GEPT Elementary Speaking Test. Share ideas about learning activities that will develop students oral English proficiency.

3 Four principles for developing proficiency Teach the student not to the test. Employ a variety of learning activities. Build your students language skills. Bring English alive for your students.

4 Part I Listen and Repeat Specifications Listen to five sentences. Hear each sentence twice. Repeat the sentence that you heard.

5 Part I Listen and repeat Required skills Paying attention / Listening carefully Understanding the meaning Repeating the sentence silently Listening again Confirming that it is the same sentence Saying it aloud

6 Part I Listen and repeat Learning activities 1. Building listening skills 2. Developing recall ability 3. Improving pronunciation accuracy

7 Building listening skills Listening cloze passages On Saturday, Susan went to the with her family. Listening to find the error On Saturday, Susan went to the ocean with her family. Listening to answer questions Where did Susan go with her family on Saturday?

8 Developing recall ability Delayed repetition Read a sentence to your students. Ask them to repeat it silently to themselves. Wait several seconds, and then ask them to repeat it. Lengthen the amount of time you ask them to wait before repeating

9 Developing recall ability A changing story Read students a short story. Wait a few seconds and then read it again. Change some of the words as you read it the second time. Ask students to tell you how the story changed.

10 Improving pronunciation accuracy Contrastive Pairs Run short drill activities to help students distinguish between similar sounds. roll / row cat / Kate pop / pup Provide micro-teaching to students with specific problems.

11 Improving pronunciation accuracy Stress maps When teaching students new words, demonstrate which syllable receives the most stress. Saturday Bookstore Midnight Hospital

12 Improving pronunciation accuracy Clapping rhythm Teach students to hear the rhythm in words and sentences by clapping it for them. magician basketball dictionary My teacher asked me to read the sentence aloud. I hope to speak English fluently.

13 Part II Read Aloud Specifications Read five short sentences and one longer passage silently. Prepare for one minute. Read all the texts aloud in one minute.

14 Part II Read aloud Required skills Recognizing the words Producing correct sounds Using appropriate rhythm, stress, intonation

15 Student dictation Part II Read aloud Learning Activities In pairs, one student reads sentences and short texts to the other. The short texts could be stories that students have written (and corrected by the teacher). The second student writes down what the first student has said. Scripted conversations (I) In pairs, students read conversations.

16 Student models Part II Read aloud Learning Activities Ask individual students to read instructions and example sentences during classroom activities. Take the opportunity to offer feedback on their pronunciation.

17 Part III Listen and respond Specifications Listen to seven questions. Hear each question two times. Answer each question within 15 seconds.

18 Part III Listen and respond Required skills Responding appropriately Using grammar and vocabulary accurately Providing adequate development

19 Responding appropriately Student interviews Develop questions dealing with daily-life topics. Put the students in pairs and have them practice asking and answering the questions. Monitor the students and give feedback. Assign roles to the students, journalist and celebrity, police and criminal, and have them interview each other.

20 Using language accurately Scripted conversations (II) Put students in pairs to read conversations Ask them to focus on saying exactly what is on the page. Encourage them to read a sentence to themselves silently before reading it aloud. Remind them to listen to their partner and help him or her to read the sentence correctly.

21 Providing adequate development Lengthening short answers Have students listen to a conversation in which the person answering the questions gives an answer that is too short. Discuss why longer answers are better. Suggest ways to extend answers. Increasing familiarity with daily-life topics Have students read short articles on dailylife topics and discuss them in groups.

22 Conclusion Teach the student not to the test. Employ a variety of learning activities. Build your students language skills. Bring English alive for your students.

23 Developing Oral Proficiency: Learning Activities and GEPT Preparation Thank you