teaching productive skills

TEACHING SPEAKING AND WRITING TO ADULTS AND

YOUNG ADULTS

Theo Navarro December 2013 2

Why is it so hard to teach these things???•When you’re teaching speaking and writing the biggest

challenge is getting your students excited or motivated about the activities.• A lot of the students we see here in Kazakhstan feel like they

don’t really need to master these skills, or the language as a whole.• Activities that focus on these skills can require a lot of

preparation and creativity from the teacher.•Many teachers don’t know how to assess these Abilities.

How can I get my students to be more involved in the activities?• Be creative when planning your lessons. Use your knowledge about

the students to adapt activities to what they like.• Look outside the book. Textbooks are great because they give us

direction and a lot of resources, but it’s okay to find different activities that you think your students will like more.• Make sure the activities are realistic. Don’t teach them things that

they cannot use in real life! They don’t need to memorize conversations, they don’t need to learn how to write letters and they don’t need to do translation activities!

Do a “Needs Analysis”

• At the beginning of each semester give your students a questionnaire. Find out WHY they need English. When you know what they need to do with the language, you can help them practice those things. • The more you know about your students, the easier it is to plan your

lessons.• Sometimes students need to be reminded that they actually NEED the

language.• Ask questions like:• “Do you need English to go on holiday?”• “Do you need to apply to a University in English?”• “Do you want to watch films or TV shows in English?”

WHAT TYPES OF ACTIVITIES CAN I DO TO HELP THEM PRACTICE WRITING?

“Spidergrams”

Horror Story

Night

Monster• From a cave• From a lake• From space

Storm• Rain• Thunder• Lightning• Wind

Witch• Old woman• Dark clothes• Black cat

Ghost• Unfinished

business• Green smoke• Angry

Predicting the end of a text

“Idea confetti” and sentence building.

Story-building questions

Realistic Writing

• Teach students to do things that they NEED to do• E.g.

• Cover Letters• Formal and informal E-mails• Text Messages• Social Media• CV Writing

• Don’t teach students ANYTHING that is useless!

AND WHAT ABOUT SPEAKING?

Use your students’ emotions

Use movements!

Use topics they WANT to talk about

Use (interesting) Role-Plays to help guide them

Use your students’ personal experiences

Thank You for your attention !Do you have any questions?