“S” IS FOR SPEAKING.

                ENCOURAGING AND ENGAGING STUDENTS’ VOICES

 

The spice article of this issue concerns the oral skill and suggests strategies which help students, especially the tongue tied ones, to engage in intriguing discussions in class. Speaking is neglected because of large classes, lack of time, emphasis on reading or grammar, insufficient language or lack of ideas on the part of students and mother tongue interference. Whatever the reasons, we need to try to fix this uncomfortable situation especially since oral communication is a highly valued asset. 

The suggested tactics and project ideas in this column have been implemented at the school I work for.Of course one’s class reality does not necessarily match another teachers' reality. In fact sometimes teaching environments and learning attitudes could be so different that one brings to mind the proverb “one man’s meat is another man’s poison”. The idea, however, is that we borrow elements from our colleagues, adapt them to our reality hoping that this continuous give and take of material and practices adds to our teaching approach, presentation style and  sprinkles energy and spice to our lessons.