teaching speaking in adult esl

•Spoken vs. Written Language•Skills Involved

•Features of interactive spoken English•Instructional suggestions

Joanne Pettis 2007

Context dependent

Dialogic Unrehearsed &

spontaneous Relies more on

verbs’ Grammatically

intricate

Context independent Monologic Edited & Redrafted Relies more on nouns

and noun groups Lexically dense

Very informal, spontaneous & jointly constructed ◦ (social chit-chat)

Very formal, predictable & planned ◦ (debates, panel discussions, some meetings)

Listening comprehension skills Conversation management skills Linguistic knowledge Genre & Discourse knowledge Intelligible Pronunciation Background knowledge of content Sociocultural & pragmatic knowledge Compensatory strategies

Discourse markers Adverbs Back-channels Deixis Ellipsis Fixed expressions

Delexical verbs General words,

Vague language & hedges

Modality Heads & fronting Tags

Particularly important in terms of the “fluid management of interactive talk”◦ Signal intention◦ Hold the conversation turn◦ Mark boundaries in topic

OK then; anyway

Oh, by the way

Well

But

You know, I mean

Personalize & soften interactive style

Often used to initiate a turn

Indicates a topic change Mark the

beginning/closing of a segment of talk

May be used to return to a topic

As much a generational marker as a discourse marker, used to:◦ Signal a comment on a previous topic◦ Signal an example◦ Signal amplification on a topic

Word or phrases that directly relate an utterance to a time, place or person…. ◦ This/that, these/those, here/there, now/then◦ Pronouns, such as I, you he, she they ◦ Phrases, such as you people, we teachers, over

there, out west, down (back) East, up North, down South

General words - indefinite reference Thing, stuffHedges - To avoid being to direct; To

express an opinion about someone or something

Kind of, basically, Vague language - To avoid sounding too

authoritative or assertive; In informal contexts to soften conveyed information

Something, around, or so; adding “y” or “ish” suffix to words greeny-blue, six-ish

Awareness-raising

Appropriation

Autonomy

Involve 3 processes◦ Paying attention, noticing, understanding

Focus on the type (genre) of spoken language & the context variables

Identify and address gaps in their knowledge ◦ what to say in a certain situation, how to

respond, etc.

Spoken and written language are different Interactive spoken language has distinct

features Instruction that emphasizes awareness-

raising is essential in addition to appropriation and autonomy activities.