The Teaching of

Listening &
Speaking
Prof. Roderick Motril Aguirre
Department of Languages and Literature
College of Liberal Arts and Communication
De La Salle University - Dasmarinas

OUTLINE
The communication process
Hearing and listening
Listening sub-skills and levels
Planning the Listening Lesson
Speaking as a skill
WHAT to teach in speaking
HOW to teach speaking

The Communication
Process
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Intrapersonal
Communication

Interpersonal
Communication

Encoding
Message

Intrapersonal
Communication

Decoding

Meaning

TEXT

Decoding
SENDER

Receiver

Encoder
Speaker
Writer

Decoder
Listener
Reader

Visual
Oral
Written

Encoding
RECEIVER Sender
Decoder
Listener
Reader

Encoder
Speaker
Writer

OUTPUT

INPUT
LISTENING

SPEAKING
VIEWING
WRITING

READING
F

RECEPTIVE SKILLS

EXPRESSIVE SKILLS

INTRA-LINGUAL TRANSITIONING
aural codes

Listening

Oracy

1. Phonological
Awareness
2. Alphabet
Knowledge
3. Phonemic
Awareness
4. Vocabulary

M
E
A
N
I
N
G

Writing

Literacy
print codes

Speaking
1. Phonological
Awareness
2. Alphabet
Knowledge
3. Phonemic
Awareness
4. Vocabulary

Reading

aural
print to
aural
print
codes

Area of Shared Knowledge

SPEAKER/
WRITER

LISTENER/
READER

L1

L2a

L2b

L2b

C1

C2a

C2b

C2b

Multilingual and Multicultural Paradigm

VERBAL ELEMENTS
ELEMENTS

DESCRIPTION

Volume

Loudness or softness

Melody, Pitch

Highness or lowness

Pace

Speed

Tone/Intonation

Emotional quality

Enunciation

Clarity of pronunciation

NON-VERBAL ELEMENTS
ELEMENTS

DESCRIPTION

Gesture

Meaningful and hand

and arm
movements
Position of the body

Posture/Body
Eye Contact

Rapport with the

audience

Proximity

Distance with the

audience

Hearing and Listening

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Hearing
physiological
process

vs.

Listenin
g
psychological
process

natural

learned
process
a skill

passive
activity

active activity
Listening is hard!
You must choose to
participate in the
process of listening.

Task
1

Arrange the steps in the listening process

selecting
understanding
attending
responding
remembering

hearing

evaluating

Au
te ral
xt

Selecting

Choosing stimuli

Hearing

Receiving raw
data

Attending
Focusing
attention

r al
u
A
t
tex

Responding
Giving Feedback

Understanding
Focusing
attention

Remembering

Evaluating

Drawing on
memory

Analyzing &
judging

Implications for Teaching

Listening

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Schema
Content
Schema

Experiences &
Context

Formal
Schema

Language &
Genre

organized and interrelated ideas, concepts,

and prior knowledge structures
abstract representations of objects, events,
and relationships in the real world

Schemata (sources of knowledge)

Linguistic
Knowledge
Phonology
Lexical knowledge
Syntax
Discourse features
(registers, cohesive
markers etc)

Contextual
Knowledge

Schematic
Knowledge

Social Context
(Situation)

World Knowledge

Topic (Co-text)
Participants

Background
Knowledge

Listening Sub-skills and

Levels
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Subskills

Levels

Identify main
facts & details

Literal
comprehension

Relate cause &

effect

Reorganization

Identify
sequence of
events
Predicting
outcomes
Inferring
meaning from
contextual clues

Inferential
comprehension
Evaluation
Appreciation

LISTENING / READING LEVELS

Appreciation
Evaluation

Critique, appraise, comment,

appreciate
analyse, appraise, evaluate,
justify, reason, criticise, judge

Inferential
Comprehension

predict, infer, guess

Reorganisation

classify, regroup, rearrange,

assemble, collect, categorise

Literal
Comprehension

label, list, name, relate, recall, repeat,

state

BARRETTS TAXONOMY

Planning the Listening

Lessons
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1. Pre Listening
- help learners
prepare to listen

2. While Listening
- help learners
focus on listening text
-help develop focus
skill

STAGES OF
LISTENING LESSON

3. Post Listening
-help learners integrate what they have
Learnt from text to existing knowledge
-extend knowledge & skill

Techniques for pre listening

instructions.
PRE - LISTENING

ACTIVATING
PREVIOUS
KNOWLEDGE

Contextualizacin.
Pre teach vocabulary (Look at
pictures, etc.)
Prediction (What is coming)
Discussion (Discuss the
topic)
Games
Guiding questions.

TECHNIQUES FOR WHILE LISTENING

INSRUCTION
WHILE- LISTENING

PROCESSING
INFORMATION

-Comparing.
-Obeying instructions.
-Filling in gaps.
-Detecting differences.
-Ticking of items.
-Information transfer.
-Sequencing.
-Matching

TECHNIQUES FOR POST LISTENING

INSRUCTION
POST- LISTENING

USE OF
INFORMATION

-Answering to show
comprehension.
-Summarizing.
-Jigsaw listening.
-Writing follow up.
-Speaking as follow up.

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LISTENING STRATEGIES
(metacognitive)
1.Predicting
2. Inferencing
3. Monitoring
4. Clarifying
5. Responding
6. Evaluating

1. Predicting
. Schema activation- words and content
. Task awareness- think about the task they
will attempt
. Increase learners interest- to confirm guess
2. Inferencing
. Unstated or implied information can be
challenging- information is incomplete
. Listening in between the lines
. Guessing the context from clues

3. Monitoring
Pay attention to what they are listening and
what they are missing
Focuses on process rather than product
4. Clarifying
Asking questions
Back chanelling- e.g. What did you say?
Yes? What was it?

5. Responding
Responding with personal, relevant
information
Responding with um, ya...mm.. ( fillers)
Interactional Shadowing- repeating the
key words or the last words a speaker says
to confirm understanding
6. Evaluation
Reflect on what they did and did not
understand
Listening diary

LISTENING
STRATEGIES
Teach
appropriate
listening strategies
Word by word listening not needed
Prediction and guessing key processes
Message is sampled to confirm expectation
Include both global (main idea, topic) and
selective (form, accuracy) listening
Develop conscious listening strategies
Use listening before other activities

Speaking as a Skill
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What is Speaking

Speaking ability is regarded a measure of knowing a language.

Fluency is the ability to converse with others, much more than the
ability to read, write, or comprehend oral language. They
Language learners regard speaking as the most important skill they
can acquire, and they assess their progress in terms of their
accomplishments in spoken communication.
Language learners need to recognize that speaking involves three
areas of knowledge:

3 areas of knowledge
Mechanics (pronunciation, grammar, and vocabulary):
Using the right words in the right order with the correct
pronunciation
Functions (transaction and interaction): Knowing when
clarity of message is essential (transaction/information
exchange) and when precise understanding is not
required (interaction/relationship building)
Social and cultural rules and norms (turn-taking, rate of
speech, length of pauses between speakers, relative
roles of participants): Understanding how to take into
account who is speaking to whom, in what
circumstances, about what, and for what reason.

Typical features of spoken and

written text production

Spoken language

Written language

Dialogic/interactional

Monologic / non-interactional

Co-constructed spontaneously by
more than one speaker

Constructed over time by

individual writers/readers

Shared knowledge of context

Assumed knowledge of context

Unplanned and negotiated

Planned and redrafted

Implement (produced for real

time)

Permanent (produced for the

longer-term)

Close to action in time and space

Distant from action in time and

space (context-removed)

Uses more informal language

Uses more formal language

(Based on Eggins, 1994, p.55)

Linguistic features of speech

and writing differences
typifying each mode of
communication
Spoken language
Written language
Lower number of content words/
higher number of function words

Higher number of content words/

lower number of function words

Clauses linked by conjunctions

(and, but, so, etc.)

Clauses linked by subordination

(who, which, when, etc.)

High use of personal pronouns (I,

you, we, etc.)

Low use of personal pronouns

Inexplicit references to the

surrounding context (over there,
it, etc.)

Explicit references within the

context (in the corner, the desk,
etc.)

Relationship aspects emphasized

(interpersonal foregrounded)

Content aspects emphasized

(information foregrounded)

Relies more on verbs to carry

Relies more on nouns to carry
meaning
meaning
(Goh and Burns, 2012, p.86)

Why is Speaking important?

Speaking and language acquisition

Speaking and academic learning
Speaking and affective factors

Speaking & language acquisition

(LA)

Besides input (reading & listening, research studies have shown that
output is also crucial to LA
Interactionist approach the language that children or learners hear in
the environment serves not just to trigger some innate mechanism for
LA.
Rather, it is through daily interaction with expert speakers (i.e. adults)
that children receive valuable input and feedback on their emerging
language.

Speaking & language acquisition

(LA)
When adults use conversational techniques to interact with children,
the latter develop an awareness of language form and its connection
with language function (Halliday, 1975).
Although comprehensible input (Krashen, 1981) is important, it
alone is insufficient.
Swains (1985) output hypothesis claims that the production of oral
language can enable learners to acquire new forms of the language.

What to Teach in
Speaking
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What is Teaching Speaking

To teach learners to:
Produce the 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.

What is Teaching Speaking

Organize their thoughts
in a meaningful and
logical sequence.
Use language as a
means of expressing
values and judgments.
Use the language
quickly and confidently
with few unnatural
pauses, which is called
as fluency. (Nunan,
2003)

What to teach in Speaking

This session covers

Communicative Competency
Knowledge of language and
discourse
Core speaking skills
Communication strategies

Aspects of Communicative Competence (Canale and

Sociocultural
knowledge and
rules
Understanding
social context
Registers

Genre knowledge
Discourse
knowledge
Speech Acts,
functions
Ability of
connecting
sentences

Lexical items
Morphology
Syntax
Semantics
Phonology- stress,
rhythm etc

Verbal/nonverbal
strategies to
compensate for
breakdowns due to
performance variables
or insufficient
competence

Knowledge of language and

discourse

Grammatical knowledge fundamental to development

of any language skills
Phonological knowledge three levels of production:
word, utterance, and discourse. Segmental (micro)
features of pronunciation at word level; Suprasegmental (macro) features of speech beyond the word
(e.g. stress, rhythm & intonation)

Knowledge of language and

discourse
Lexical knowledge two levels:
The first is the number of words & their meanings (vocab size:
80,000 words for native speakers); productive vocab (that is
available for use when speaking or writing) versus receptive vocab
(available for recognition during listening and reading).
At a more advanced level, learners vocab knowledge is enhanced by
their semantic knowledge of relationships among words (including
collocations).
E.g. knowledge of lexical sets such as kinship terms (mother, father,
brother, sister, etc.)

Knowledge of language and

discourse

Discourse knowledge spoken texts are structured in various genres

to serve different communicative purposes and social contexts.
Learners need to know what linguistic resources can be used for
organizing and structuring stretches of speech to form coherent
spoken texts appropriate for the setting and participants.
E.g. to retell a story of a movie, an awareness of how narratives are
structured is useful an orientation, a complication and a resolution.
Complemented by pragmatic knowledge about speech acts and
sociocultural practices. E.g. common for Chinese speakers of EL to
greet one another in English with, Have you eaten?

Four Categories of
Core Speaking Skills
Pronunciation produce the sounds of the target language at the
segmental and suprasegmental levels
Speech function perform a precise communicative function or
speech act
Interaction management (or discourse management) regulate
conversations and discussions during interactions
Discourse organization create extended discourse in various
spoken genres, according to socioculturally appropriate conventions
of language

Prounciation and its sub-skills

Articulate the vowels and consonants and blended sounds of English

clearly.
Assign word stress in prominent words to indicate meaning.
Use different intonation patterns to communicate new and old
information

Speech function and its sub-skills

Request: permission, help, clarification, assistance, etc.
Express: encouragement, agreement, thanks, regret, good wishes,
disagreement, disapproval, complaints, etc.
Explain: reasons, purposes, procedures, processes, cause and effect,
etc.
Give: instructions, directions, commands, orders, opinions, etc.
Offer: advice, condolences, suggestions, alternatives, etc.
Describe: events, people, objects, settings, moods, etc.
Others.

Interaction management and its

sub-skills

Initiate, maintain, and end conversations.

Offer turns.
Direct conversations.
Clarify meaning.
Change topics.
Recognize and use verbal and non-verbal cues.

Discourse organiation and

its sub-skills

Establish coherence and cohesion in extended discourse

through lexical and grammatical choices.
Use discourse markers and intonation to signpost
changes in the discourse, such as a change of topic.
Use linguistic conventions to structure spoken texts for
various communicative purposes, e.g. recount and
narratives.

Communication strategies:
Cognitive strategies
- Paraphrasing/Circumlocution e.g. The Samurai use it for fighting
-Approximation e.g. squirrel for chipmunk, like chicken but bigger..
- Formulaic expressions e.g. What I am trying to say is

Metacognitive (thinking about own thinking) strategies

- Planning
- Self monitoring : noticing ones language and message during message
production
- Self-evaluation: noticing ones language and message after message production

Interactional strategies ( oral communication strategies)

- Exemplication
- Confirmation checks
- Comprehension checks- paraphrasing, circumlocution
- Repetition requests
- Exemplication requests
- Assistance appeal : asking listener for help with difficult words

How to Teach Speaking

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How to Teach Speaking

This session covers
Approaches to teaching
speaking
Scaffolding in speaking
Considerations when
planning speaking tasks

Developing Oral Skills requires:

Practise
vocabulary
through
games,
dialogues,

SUPPORTED PRACTICE

Practise
language
through
games/
meaningful
dialogues/drill
s

Good
teacher
NoticingOpportunities to Interact/ communicate
models/
Drawing
examples
students
Practise
attention to
pronunciation/
formulaic
intonation
phrases
Intentionally
teaching of
speaking
strategies- fillers,
repetition,
clarification, etc

Learning to turn
take/express
meaning
through
personalized
dialogues

Pick up
chunks
through
stories,
songs,
listening

Approaches to Teaching Speaking

Scaffolding spoken language

development
Vygotsky (1978) argues that learning occurs in
social situations and that learners cannot be
given immediate and full responsibility for the
achievement of tasks but must share this
responsibility with their teachers. As a
learners competence improves, the teacher
decreases the amount of support provided and
learners are expected to take increasing
responsibility for performance with their
teachers

Scaffolding
The quality of teacher intervention
the steps taken to reduce the degree
of freedom taken in carrying out some
task, and so that the child can
concentrate on the difficult skill she is in
the process of acquiring (Bruner
1978:18)

Scaffolding spoken language

development
Teachers role
Provide explicit support
Provide guided practice
Think about when it is appropriate to
withdraw support as students become
more independent and able to do the
task.

Scaffolding spoken language

development
High teacher scaffolding occurs when spoken
texts or tasks are new to the students. Explicit
instruction is needed in relation to:
Cultural, social and contextual information
associated with spoken texts
Models of spoken language
Aspects of spoken language such as the
structure of spoken texts, discourse strategies,
vocabulary and grammar explanation and
modelling of classroom tasks

Scaffolding spoken language

development
Increased competence on the part of the
students reduces the amount of direct
modelling and guidance. Teacher then
focuses less on instruction and modelling
and adopts different strategies i.e.
Act as a coach or facilitator for classroom
activities
Monitor student performance
Encourage students to communicate and
provide feedback to each other
Provide corrective feedback on task
performance

TEACHERSTUDENTS
RESPONSIBILITY

TEACHERS
RESPONSIBILITY

STUDENTS
RESPONSIBILITY

SCAFFOLDING

GRADUAL RELEASE
OF RESPONSIBLITY
MODELING
STUDENT
PRODUCTION
DIRECT
INSTRUCTION

TEACHER AND
STUDENT
ACTIVITY
F

LAW OF
READINESS

LAW OF
PRACTICE

K
LAW OF
EFFECT

SUPPORT
SYSTEM
Teacher Talk
Parent Talk
Language Scaffold
Language Experience Approach
Dialogic Reading

Storytelling
Socio-Dramatic Play
Melodies and Rhythm
Experience
Retelling
Systematic Explicit Vocabulary
Instruction

H.D. Brown (2009)

Principles for Teaching Speaking Skills
An Interactive Approach to
Language Pedagogy

PRINCIPLE 1
Focus on both FLUENCY & ACCURACY pending
on your objective.
Make sure your tasks have a linguistic languagebased) objective, and seize the opportunity to help
students to perceive and use the building blocks of
language.
PRINCIPLE 2
Provide INTRINSICALLY MOTIVATING
techniques
Appeal to students ultimate goals and
interests, to their need for knowledge, for
status, for achieving competence and
autonomy help them to see how the
activity will benefit them.

PRINCIPLE 3
Encourage the use of AUTHENTIC LANGUAGE in
meaningful contexts
It takes energy and creativity to devise authentic contexts
and meaningful interaction, but with the help of a
storehouse of teacher resource materials, it can be done.

PRINCIPLE 4
Provide APPROPRIATE FEEDBACK and
correction
It is important that you take advantage of your
knowledge of English to inject the kinds of
corrective feedback that are appropriate for
the moment.

PRINCIPLE 5
Capitalize on the NATURAL LINK between speaking
and listening
The two skills can reinforce each other. Skills in producing
language are often initiated through comprehension.

PRINCIPLE 6
Give students OPPORTUNITIES TO INITIATE
oral communication
Part of oral communication competence is the
ability to initiate conversations, to nominate
topics, to ask questions, to control
conversations, and to change the subject.

PRINCIPLE 7
Encourage the DEVELOPMENT OF SPEAKING
STRATEGIES
Speaking Strategies asking for clarication (what?)
asking someone to repeat something (pardon me?)
using llers (uh, I mean) to get time to process using
conversation maintenance cues (uh-huh, right, yeah,
OK, Hmm) getting someones attention (hey, say, so)
paraphrasing for structures one cant produce
appealing for assistance from the interlocutor using
formulaic expressions using mime and non-verbal
expressions.

What if they make

mistakes?
Was communication made?
Is it a mistake that they should not be making at
this level?
Is it a mistake that will impede communication
with a non-sympathetic native speaker?
Address a select few errors that several
students make or that are constant problems
Praise the ability to communicate!

The Magic 7 Guiding Principles

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Low-anxiety environment
Comprehensible Input
Communication Focus
Contextualized language
Error Acceptance
Respect for language
stages
7. Teacher is facilitator and
co-learner

References
Baruah, T.C. (1991). The English Teacher's Handbook. Delhi: Sterling Publishing House.
Brown, H.D. (2007). Teaching by Principles: An Interactive Approach to Language
Pedagogy, Third Edition. Longman.
Celce-Murcia. M. (2001). Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language (3rd ed).
USA: Heinle&Heinle.
Chaney, A.L., and T.L. Burk. (1998). Teaching Oral Communication in Grades K-8.
Boston: Allyn&Bacon.
Goh, C. (2007). Teaching speaking in the language classroom. RELC Portfolio Series 15.
SEAMEO RELC.
Goh, C., & Burns, A. (2012). Teaching Speaking: A Holist Approach. Cambridge
University Press.
Harmer, J. (1984). The Practice of English Language Teaching. London: Longman.
Nation, I.S.P., & Newton, J. (2009). Teaching ESL/EFL Listening and Speaking. Routledge.
Nunan, D. (2003). Practical English Language Teaching. NY:McGraw-Hill.
Richards, J.C. (2009). Teaching listening and speaking: From theory to practice. RELC
Portfolio Series 16. SEAMEO RELC.
Staab, C. (1992). Oral Language for Today's Classroom. Markham, ON: Pippin Publishing.
Thornbury, S. (2007). How to Teach Speaking. Pearson Longman.