Lead-in (10 min) The teacher will introduce the theme: Providing successful oral fluency practice. Oral fluency is a measure of how well and how easily we can communicate our ideas clearly and accurately in speech. Correct pronunciation of individual sounds and words is very important for fluency, for the students have to be able to hear and distinguish the words we are saying. However, stress, rhythm, and intonation can be even more important, for they help make both single words and combinations of words, like phrases, clauses, and whole sentences, understandable to the students. Grammar is the structure of the language and vocabulary holds the individual building blocks, so both are also essential to fluency. In conversation, we also have to be able to understand what the other person is saying, so good listening skills are also needed in oral fluency. Combining listening and reading with oral skills is a great way to improve our fluency. We should read a newspaper or magazine article and then talk about it with friends. We watch a TV show or a movie or watch or listen to the news, and talk about it. Writing about a topic first is useful way to get ready for talking or for discussion Handout 1. Improve English fluency with chunks! What are chunks and how can they help improve our fluency in English? Knowing the meaning of a word is useful, but knowing how to use it in context is vital. Words aren’t used in isolation and will often form part of an expression or fixed set of words. Being able to call on these ‘chunks’ of vocabulary will help us to improve English fluency skills. Take the word ‘thing’ for example. We know ‘thing’ means a nameless object, such as in the expression: ‘a thing for peeling potatoes’. However, we will also find the word used in ‘ready made’ phrases. Let’s listen to these examples: ‘the thing is’, ‘all sorts of things’ and ‘there’s no such thing’ are three very common chunks well worth remembering. What kind of chunks should we look out for? Chunks appear in all sorts of ways: as collocations and idioms, in set phrases such as ‘I was wondering if’ and ‘all the best’ and what teachers call ‘discourse markers’ like ‘as I was saying’ or ‘as far as I know’. Let’s look at each of these in more detail. Chunks include common collocational phrases, idioms and phrasal verbs. For example, which prepositions are missing from the sentences below? A) Driving the influence of alcohol is a serious offence. (collocational phrase) B) You’re not old and you really should not think that you’re the hill at 60. (idiom) C) The thief made with valuable personal possessions and a great deal of money. (phrasal verb) Common polite expressions Chunks like ‘See you later’ or ‘Take a seat’ are often used in everyday communication and learning them can help you improve English fluency. Which of the following do you regularly use? ‘All the best’ ‘See you soon’ ‘Mind how you go’ ‘Have a nice day’ ‘How do you do?’ ‘You’re welcome’ Discourse markers Discourse markers are used in both written and spoken English to link what has come before to what comes next. We already know of discourse markers used in written English such as ‘on the one hand’, ‘turning now to’ or ‘in conclusion’. Typical single word discourse markers in spoken English include ‘now’, ‘so’ ‘actually’ and ‘well’. As our English fluency skills improve we’ll find ourselves using informal discourse markers such as the following more often: ‘I see what you mean but’ ‘By the way’ ‘Sort of’ ‘Mind you’ ‘You know’ ‘Let’s see’ There are many aspects that need consideration when we talk about spoken English. Attaining fluency, developing vocabulary and learning the correct pronunciation/diction are some major points that need to be amiliariz in this regard. The best way to do this is by practicing a number of Spoken English Exercises that are fun and easy to do. Some of the most common exercises and activities to improve spoken English are summarized below: Reading – newspapers, books, magazines, dictionary, etc. aloud : Make it a habit to read either a newspaper, magazine or a book of your choice daily. The first part is to ‘read’ and the second part is to ‘read aloud’. While the first part will build the stock of words and knowledge of current affairs, the second part will help to learn and improve the pronunciation of different words. Don’t be shy; you do not, necessarily, have to read in front of anyone. You can try this in front of a mirror and check your diction yourself. Playing word games that help stretch mouth and tongue muscles : Tongue twisters help to familiarize the tongue with similar and same sounding words and flexes the mouth muscles. Opening the mouth properly while speaking is very important. This adds accent and clarity to speech and prevents words from getting jumbled up inside the mouth. For example: A twit who tweeted on twitter twice twittered a tweet to a twitterer. OR I thought a thought but the thought I thought wasn’t the thought I thought I thought. Listening : Listen to English news channels daily, watch English movies or shows and listen to English songs to acquire correct diction and understand various accents. You will be able to speak well only when you listen well and get the pronunciations right. Correcting diction by recording your voice : You can record your own voice and listen to your pronunciation. The focus remains mainly on the grammar and the choice of words while speaking. Therefore, to correct your diction and ascertain your weak points in spoken English, you need to listen to your ownself speaking. This will also help in improving the amount of stress and type of tone required to speak different words. Practicing speaking by talking more : Don’t lose an opportunity to speak in English. Make it a point to speak in English, whenever and wherever possible. Call friends up and interact with them in English. Try to use the new words that you learn from your daily readings. You can also talk to your parents and siblings in English, if possible. This will also help in making thinking in English your second nature; enhance your fluency and confidence to speak in English publicly. Playing games on public speaking : Public speaking bolsters confidence. Try to play games with your friends that involve giving short speeches on various topics. Participate in class or group presentations to get rid of the fear involved in speaking English in front of a large audience. You can initially practice speaking in front of a mirror in your room. This will help you to notice your body language, voice tone and facial expressions, and in turn will prepare you to speak fluently in public. Activity 1. Below are some steps in a typical lesson that aims to develop spoken fluency. Put these steps in the most logical order.
