modifying speech to learners

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Modifying Speech to Learners

Features of Classroom Discourse

Week 12


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Pre-Activity

Watch the video of a mother talking to her daughterhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?va!"#k$%&'mo

Pay attention and make a note on:

(.)he vocabulary she used is it simple or comple*

".)he length of the sentences

is it long or short$.)he use of idiomatic phrases

+.,ow does she maintain her daughter attention

!.)he use of e*pression gestures tone of talk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a52Dk36X7mohttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a52Dk36X7mo


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odifying peech to 0earne

A ma1or portion of class time in teaching is taken up by teatalking in front of the class give directions e*plain actclarify the procedures students should use on an activitycheck students2 understanding.

3llis 4(56+: ("78

A large proportion of the teacher2s total communicative ecan be taken up with coa*ing along the communicative pitself especially when the learners are relative beginners

)he teacher has to get the pupils2 attention monitor theirunderstanding by constant checking clarify e*plain dewhen appropriate summari;e.


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odifying peech to 0earne


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=easons for odifying 0anguage fo

0earners(. The link between comprehension and progress in L


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=easons for odifying 0anguage fo

0earners$. The diiculties experienced by learners inunderstanding their teachers

Without some simplication or reduction in speed ofdelivery it is highly unlikely that students would undewhat was being said by the teachers.


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>our Aspects of 0anguage odica

4haudron (556 in Walsh 8(. @ocabulary is simplied and idiomatic phrases are

avoided.

". rammar is simplied through the use of shorter sutterances and increased use of present tense.

$. Pronunciation is modied by the use of slower cleaspeech and by more widespread use of standard fo

+.


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haudronBs four aspect of teacherBs language modicatian 0" conte*t compare very closely with the ones made parents when talking to young children acCuiring their language.

ParentsB features of talk:(. simpler vocabulary

". shorter sentences and fewer idiomatic phrases are us

$. accompanied by e*aggerated facial e*pressions and g


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)eacherBs trategies of odifying )peech

(. )ardi9 4(55+8

". 0ynch 4(55%8$. haudron 4(5668


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)eachersB 0anguage odicationtrategies

4)ardi9 (55+8elf- repetition

0inguistic modelling

Providing information

3*panding an utterance

Dsing e*tensive elicitation where Cuestions are graand ad1usted


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Ways in which )eachersodify )heir


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Strategies to Modify Speech(haudron! "#$$%

Speaking more slowly

When teachers speak to language learners in the classthey often use a slower rate of speech than they wouldother situations.

&sing pauses

)eachers tend to pause more and to use longer pauses teaching language learners particularly lower-level stud

)hese pauses give learners more time to process whateacher has said and hence facilitate their comprehensi


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hanging pronunciation.

)eachers may sometimes use a clearer articulation omore standard style of speech one which contains fereductions and contractions than they would use outs

a teaching situation.

>or e*ample instead of saying Gould1a read that l Huan?G the teacher might more carefully enunciate G you . . . ?G


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Modifying 'ocabulary

)eachers often replace a di9icult word with what they tha more commonly used word.

>or e*ample the teacher might ask GWhat do you think tpicture shows instead of GWhat do you think this picture

depicts? ,owever teachers sometimes unwittingly GcomplicateG

vocabulary instead of simplifying it. >or e*ample teachersay GWhat do you think this picture is about?I supplyingidiomatic 4but not necessarily simpler8 replacement for d


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Modifying grammar

0anguage teachers often simplify the grammaticalstructure of sentences in the classroom.

>or e*ample teachers may use fewer subordinateclauses in a classroom situation than in other conte*

avoid using comple* tenses.


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odifying discourse

)eachers may repeat themselves or answer their own Cuestions in order to make themselvesunderstood.

3*ample:


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)hese kinds of modications in teachers2 speech can lead

special type of discourse which has been referred to as teWhen teachers use teacher talk they are trying to make them

easy to understand as possible and e9ective teacher talk mayessential support to facilitate both language comprehension learner production.

Jrashen 4(56!8 argues that this is how teachers provide le

with Gcomprehensible inputG 4input which is nely tuned to the level of comprehension8

Jrashen sees this as Gthe essential ingredient for second languacCuisitionG


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,owever sometimes teachers may develop a variety of teacher talk whinot sound natural outside of the classroom.

)he following are e*amples of teachers using this variety of teachewhen teaching low-level 30 learners.

)ake a look at these e*amples:


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Although these e*amples may be e*treme thillustrate that in their e9orts to provide studwith comprehensible input teachers may somedevelop a style of speaking that does not reK

natural speech.


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haudronBs trategies for peech odication is summarthe ta*onomy below.


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0earners odifying )heir peechusumeci 4(55%8

)eachers rarely ask for modications to learnersB relying instead on imposing their own interpretatio

)his observation goes some way in e*plaining whyteachers persist in Llling in the gapsB and Lsmoothilearner contributions as a means of maintaining tha lesson or in order to create a Kawless discourse.


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Dnfortunately by so doing learners may be denied opportunities for learning.

usumeci argues that by seeking clarication andreCuesting conrmation by getting learners to reite

their contributions learnersB language developmentfostered.

3*ample 3*tract (.%


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Motes from 3*tract (.%


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Motes from 3*tract (.%

larication reCuests are e*tremely valuable in propportunities for learning since they LcompelB learnreformulate their contribution by rephrasing orparaphrasing.

)here is clear evidence in this e*tract that the teacunwillingness to accept the learnerBs rst contribut("$ ("!8 promotes a longer turn and higher Cualitin ("%


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Post-Activity

=eview the list of strategies for modifyingteacher talk by haudron 4(5668

Which of these strategies do your teacher

most when teaching?Which of these strategies are most helpfu

you as the learners?

modifying speech to learners

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