Seminar №21 Тheme: Teaching speaking (1-11 forms, academic lyceums and professional colleges) Questions to be discussed

Strategies of teaching oral communication
Some aims, criteria, and principles are specific to particular disciplines, while others are more general. Scientists typically speak differently than literary critics, philosophers differently than sociologists. In some fields, presentations typically include visual presentations of data or other material, using PowerPoint, overheads, slides, or posters. In other disciplines, the unaccompanied spoken word is more customary. Language styles range from relatively unadorned scientific discourse to more poetic or expressive first-person speech. Genres vary as well. Discussions about a common research project within a scientific laboratory differ from discussions about the meaning of a poem or an oration. Arguments about politics take different shape than arguments about scientific experiments.
To teach field-specific elements of oral communication, instructors should consider two questions: (1) what kinds or genres of speaking do students in my field need to master? (2) what characterizes effective speech in each of these different genres?
While some criteria and genres are discipline-specific, there are also overarching principles of good oral communication that are worth teaching students. One very useful schema is audience, purpose, and occasion. Good speakers should always consider relevant traits of the audience they are addressing—e.g. their knowledge of the topic, level of understanding, interest, expectations, beliefs, and their perceptions of the speaker. Considering these traits will help a speaker to determine what sorts of background material they need to provide, how technical or complex they can be, what arguments are most likely to be persuasive, and how entertaining they need to be to keep the audience involved.
In addition, good speakers should be clear about their own purposes—is it to explain? to inform? to argue? to provoke? to move? to entertain? to display their abilities? to establish social connections? Often times speakers have more than one purpose, but clarity about purpose generally determines what will be said.Finally, good speakers should recognize the resources, constraints, and conventions tied up with the occasion of which they are a part—be it a poster session, a job interview, a polarized community meeting, or an academic debate. Occasions carry different senses of what is appropriate in terms of language, organization, subject matter, and style of delivery. Considering the occasion helps speakers determine how long to speak, what to focus on, whether to speak formally or informally, what visual aids are called for, and a host of other factors.