by T.Odonchimeg.
I want to share my experience with other English
language teachers. There are some
methods to improve listening and speaking English I have used in my lessons.
Teaching songs
First,
teaching a song is the best way to make the students interested in learning
foreign languages, to improve listening and speaking, and to review all
learning materials. In order to achieve
the above aims, work with songs should be divided into the following aspects: listening,
speaking, reading, vocabulary, grammar, and phonetics.
Now I want to
tell about the listening and speaking sections of teaching songs. If we teach
songs to new students, we can start teaching with the speaking section.
Teacher: Music is a part of our
lives. In their free time people listen to music and sing. What about you? Do
you like listening to music and singing? Why?
The answers
will be different because everyone has his own idea.
Possible student
answers:
- It puts me
in a good mood, because it is the perfect way to relax.
- It helps
develop my skills.
- It is
simply pleasant, when the music is good or the meaning of the song is good.
- Dynamic music
makes me energetic.
Teacher:
Which is more important, the music or the lyrics? Why?
Possible student
answers:
-Personally I
think it is the lyrics. The main sense is in the words.
-To learn a
foreign language it is important to increase vocabulary and to improve
listening.
-In my
opinion it is the music. If it is energetic and dynamic, it makes me think of
happy days and parties with friends.
Steps for teaching songs
Step 1. Write the title of the
teaching song on the blackboard or say the title. Students talk about the meaning of the song.
They imagine about it and tell one or more words and sentences about the
contents of the song. All sentences and words they say should be written on the
blackboard.
For example, to teach the song We Are
Sailing-
Teacher: What do you imagine when you
think about the title of the song? Students should offer concepts through the title
of the song.
Students: Love, traveling, water life, ocean, going
abroad, going home, like to sail, ship, boat, sailing through the world and
etc.
Then combine all the sentences and
words in a short story with one sentence for each word.
Step 2. Give the words of the song
and talk about it.
These steps are the best way to
improve speaking.
Now I will discuss the listening
section.
Step 1. If it is the first time to
teach the song, the students should listen to the tape and write the words. But
this activity is not for beginners because it is difficult. But of course
listening can be used. Listening to songs is very useful for improving listening
for students and teachers. For lower level students, we can choose songs with
very easy words. The students can listen to the song line by line.
For example,
the words of the song We Are Sailing are very simple. It is possible to listen and to understand
the meaning.
Step 2. This is the checking section. After the
students listen to the song and write the words, the teacher checks the words
as correct or incorrect, or asks some questions associated with the song, or
the students can check themselves by listening to the tape again.
There is another
method for checking listening. If the
teacher teaches songs to the students regularly, the teacher should omit some
words in the middle of the song. Students complete these missing words and then
listen to the tape. This is a good method to check for understanding of the
meaning of the song by the students.
Teaching
songs is a very effective way to improve listening. This is one of the best
methods I have used in my lessons.
A second
method of improving listening and speaking is seeing films in English. It is one of the most important ways to learn
foreign languages effectively.
I think I
should tell how to see the films. It also includes many parts. But I will tell
only about the listening and speaking sections.
Step 1. The teacher should choose the
film. When the students see the film, they can write some new or useful words and
expressions. This activity is the listening section. If students don’t
understand the words and expressions and don’t listen, they can’t write any
words. So they should pay attention and listen. The teacher can explain
important words and expressions. But listening will improve best without any explaining.
Step 2. After seeing the film, we
talk about it. To do this, the teacher asks some questions or the students ask each
other questions. Using new words and expression, students talk about the film.
The class talks about the main characters.
Using breaking news in the classroom
to improve speaking
It is
important that students reach to the events of that day and that the teacher
uses reports of such events in the classroom.
I choose a
news story based on two factors. First is the factor of motivation. I choose a
news event which I think would be one which the students would find exciting,
relevant, and motivating to talk about. Second, breaking news illustrates certain
language features of English. I consider the news situation with its obvious
and dramatic illustration of the differences in aspect between the tenses. I also consider whether the story will create
a communicative need and to advance my students understanding of the language
system through fulfilling this need. From the point of view of a language instructor
rather than an educator, my guiding principle has been to provide students with
the opportunity to express themselves (the situation), and the means by which
they can do this (the language form).
The teacher
may split the class into groups and ask
each group to tell the news. Their task is to share with the other groups the
news they have found. They talk to each other about it. Every student or group
gives an opinion. It is a very effective step to speaking English more.
Using pictures to improve speaking
English
The task is
that students can describe the pictures, using new expressions, which are given
by the teacher, or they use their own vocabulary. Teacher can give some useful expressions and
choose any kids of pictures. Choosing pictures depends on students’ level.
Teacher checks, who describes perfectly, and uses more useful expressions. So there
is a goal for the students to find good
expressions. Following this they listen to each other and learn some new words
and expressions from each other.
Using dialogues is available to
improve speaking
The goal
should be to make dialogue by using a giving situation, then to act it, or to
memorize the dialogues and to act. It is good to memorize the language expressions
and to use them in speech automatically.
Using games is a useful method to
improve speaking and listening
There are
many kinds of games.
Retelling the reading story
Retelling the
reading story is also a very effective way to improve speaking and listening. Reading
I. Retelling facts and understanding
ideas. In this section, students should remember the meaning of the text.
II. Interpreting. This is the step to
describe the conflict and the method to solve it.
III. Extending. Students express their own ideas about the text.
Retelling is one of the most useful methods I have used to teach texts.
Using pictures to improve speaking English
Using pictures to improve speaking English
The task is that students can describe the pictures, using new expressions, which are given by the teacher, or they use their own vocabulary. Teacher can give some useful expressions and choose any kinds of pictures. Choosing pictures depends on the students' level. Teacher checks for good descriptions. Following this the students listen to each other and learn some new words and expressions from each other.
T. Odonchimeg teaches at Hovd University. She graduated from the university in 1999 and received her master's degree in 2001. She has been working for seven years as a Russian and English teacher.
T. Odonchimeg teaches at Hovd University. She graduated from the university in 1999 and received her master's degree in 2001. She has been working for seven years as a Russian and English teacher.