Better Sspeaknig (A Guide to Improving Your Spoken English), Język angielski

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english
SPEAKING
A GUIDE TO IMPROVING
YOUR SPOKEN ENGLISH
LEARNING
BETTER
Welcome
Welcome
to
Better Speaking.
This booklet is designed to help you overcome some of the
most common problems which people face when they are learning to speak English.
Using extracts from the BBC World Service radio series,
Better Speaking
,we look at how you
can become a more fluent speaker of English, and at some of the skills you need for effective
communication.The topics we look at include…
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
Becoming a confident speaker
Fluency or accuracy?
Finding the right words
Learning language in chunks
Showing where you are going
Keeping the listener interested
Being a supportive listener
Sounding natural
How to use this booklet
Each page looks at a different area related spoken English. On each page you’ll find…
•a short introduction to the topic which explains why this aspect of speaking is important.
• an extract from one of the
Better Speaking
radio programmes related to the topic.
•a reading and a language task to accompany the extract.
•key tips to help you improve your speaking.
•a task to help you practise what has been explained.
On the final page of the booklet, you will find a glossary
of the terms which have been used to talk about
Better
Speaking
.Words which are in bold and italics (
like this
)
in the text can be found in the glossary.
1
Becoming a confident speaker
Confidence
is a very important element in learning to speak a language. Many learners worry that they are going to
make a mistake, or that the people listening will not understand them. How can you learn to relax when you want to
speak English? First, look at a piece of ‘real’ English – taken from an interview with tennis star Goran Ivanisevic just
after he had won the Wimbledon tennis championship.
This was my dream, all my life and… er… you know… to serve for the match, suddenly I have a match point out of
nowhere, you know… I came here, nobody even talked about me and now I’m holding this trophy. And it’s, it’s just…
this support today is like… er… I mean… I was… er… three times in the final but this, this is just unbelievable, this
is too good… .
Question a)
How does Goran feel about his win? Which words tell you this?
Question b)
Look for the following words, sounds or phrases: … er… / … you know… / … this is… / …
it’s… Why do you think he repeats these words?
When a spoken interview is written down, we can see that many of the sentences are not grammatically correct and
that the speaker repeats words to give himself time to think about what he is saying. He also uses
‘fillers’
like ‘er…’ –
which are not words but ‘noises’ – to give himself more time.
Although the grammar in this extract is not always correct, we can understand Goran Ivanisevic’s message easily. If a
message is given confidently, the listener won’t worry about any mistakes.
But how can you sound more confident?
Practise often
The more often you speak, the easier it becomes.Try to think of people you can talk to in English, or
places in your town where English is spoken a lot.You need to put yourself in a position where you need to speak.
How about joining a club, or going to a conversation class?
Relax and think about the message
It’s easy to become nervous if you only focus on grammar rules when you
are speaking. But, as you see from Goran Ivanisevic’s interview, what you want to say is usually more important than
how you say it! The key to relaxing when you are speaking is to talk about something which you find really
interesting. Speaking is easier when you have something to say, and you are enjoying the conversation.
Rehearse what you want to say
If you are very nervous, try to practise saying what you want to say to yourself
a few times. Planning and rehearsal can make your speaking more confident. Remember, however, that you need to
think about the person who is listening to you – what are they likely to say in response?
TASK
Confidence-building
Imagine you are joining a new club or class. How would you introduce yourself? What would you tell other
people in the group about yourself? What would you like to know about them? Practise introducing yourself
and asking questions about others.
If you have a friend who is learning English, or you are a member of an English Learning Circle, you could play
this as a game. Everyone should choose a new identity – a new name, job, hobbies etc. Now introduce
yourselves and find out about each other.Who has the most inter
esting ‘new identity’?
1
2
Fluency or accuracy?
Speaking English
fluently
is a goal for many learners of English.
Fluency
means being able to communicate your ideas
without having to stop and think too much about what you are saying. However, many learners also have the goal of
spoken
accuracy
. Speaking
accurately
means that you speak without errors of grammar and vocabulary.Which is
more important – and more difficult – for you? It might depend on how you have learnt English in the past. Here is
Jinping from China, talking in
Better Speaking
.
I have learned English for almost 15 years. I have no problem with reading and listening but speaking has always been
a problem for me because, when I was at school, we always focused on grammar, vocabulary and exams. Now I really
want to improve my spoken English to a new level, to achieve that freedom in speaking in the near future. I would try
anything to help me achieve this.
Question a)
What does Jinping think is the cause of the problem? Do you agree?
Question b)
Do you have the same problem?
So, which is more important – fluency or accuracy? If, like Jinping, you have a very strong focus on accuracy –
on getting the grammar and vocabulary correct – you may find that you worry about making mistakes.This can make
you shy about speaking in English and, as a result, your spoken fluency might not improve.This means that, although
you know English well, you might not be able to have a conversation.
On the other hand, you may be someone who really likes to talk, and you are willing to try out language even though
you make mistakes.This can help make you sound very fluent. However, if you make too many mistakes which you do
not stop to correct, you can find that it is difficult to make others understand your ideas.
Speaking a language well requires both fluency and accuracy. So how can you
make sure that you develop both?
Identify your learning style
What kind of learner are you? Think about situations in which you have used English
and how you felt about making mistakes. Is being correct when you speak the most important thing for you? Or do
you always take risks, trying out new language even though it might not be correct? The first step towards improving
your spoken English is recognising what is easy for you – and then working on what is difficult.
Focus on one area at a time
When you speak English, do you notice any mistakes which you make quite often?
Maybe you make mistakes with tenses, or with question forms? Or do you sound slow – as if you are always
searching for words and correct grammar? Next time you speak with your friends, try to work on the problem you
have noticed. If it’s fluency, try to focus on making sure your friend understands what you’ve said, not on avoiding
mistakes. If you have a problem with tenses, try to correct yourself only when you make a tense error – don’t think
about other mistakes. By choosing an area to work on, you can help yourself overcome problems.
Vary your practice
If you are a member of an English club or Learning Circle, make sure you vary the types of
activities you do so that you get practice both in fluency and in accuracy. Discussions are good fluency activities,
as long as you don’t stop each time a mistake is made!
TASK
Being aware of fluency and accuracy
Ta ke a cassette recorder and record a conversation with a friend – don’t worry, no-one else is going to hear
it! Two or three minutes of recording is all you need.When you’ve finished, listen to yourselves again. Can you
identify – and correct – any errors? How fluent did you sound? Make this a regular feature of your practice.
The more you record yourselves, the more confident and natural sounding you will become.
2
3
Finding the right words
We all know how important vocabulary is when we are learning a language. finding the exact word for the idea you
want to express is important for becoming a fluent, confident speaker. It is not unusual for learners of English to feel
that they don’t know enough words. Here, in an extract from
Better Speaking
,Ngoc from Vietnam tells us how
she feels.
One of my problems is my spoken English. Sometimes I try to say something but I don’t know the word so I feel…
um… a bit confused and I stop because I don’t know how to say it or to say what I want to say. So I feel less
confident in speaking and I stop myself from speaking sometimes.
Question a)
What does Ngoc do if she cannot find the word she needs? Do you do the same thing?
Question b)
What advice would you give to Ngoc to help her overcome this problem?
As Ngoc says, not having a wide vocabulary can have a serious effect on your confidence as a speaker. But how can
you become more confident even if you don’t know a lot of words.The first thing to do is to think of what you do
in your own language.When speaking in our own language, we often forget the word we need, or have problems
finding the precise word for an idea we want to express.This doesn’t make us less confident – we simply find other
ways to express what we want to say.
So how can you do this in English?
Explain what you mean
Don’t worry if you can’t find the exact word you are searching for. Instead, try
to explain what you mean.This is known as
paraphrasing
and is an important skill.You can give a short definition –
for example, if you forget the word ‘envelope’, you might say ‘the thing you put a letter in before you post it’. Or you
can give a description. So, instead of ‘elephant’ you could say ‘a big, grey animal with large ears.They live in Africa.’
You can even use your hands to demonstrate the meaning.
Start your sentence again
If you simply stop when you reach a word you don’t know, the person who is listening
to you will just stop listening. Remember that what you are saying is important to you and to them.To give yourself
more time to think of a word or definition, go back to the beginning of your sentence and start again. It’s not unusual
to hear native speakers of English say ‘What was I saying?’ before repeating what they’ve said. Remember – try to
give yourself time to think.
Ask for help
If you get stuck and really can’t think of the word you need, why not ask the person listening for help?
You could say ‘I can’t think of the word I need’.Together, you and your listener might be able to find the words for
the idea you want to express.Working together with the person who is listening will make life easier for you –
and give you both a chance to practise speaking and listening.
TASK
Explaining what you mean
Look at the words and phrases below.Try to think of a definition or explanation for each word or phrase.
Then try them out on some friends – can they identify the word or phrase from your explanation?
a radio series
speaking fluently
vocabulary
bread
I feel confused
dictionary
3
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