The Too-Hard Basket: Public Speaking and Language Learning

Dr Greg Keaney, CfBT, SM SMJA, Brunei

Classroom activities that provide students with non-threatening opportunities to improve their public speaking skills help develop learner confidence and language skills. What a wonderful gift to give our students! Following are some practical ideas to help convince reluctant students to participate and reluctant teachers to have a go. In common with many English teachers I had always been wary of public speaking activities in language classrooms. I wondered about the relevance of oratory to my students' language needs and I doubted whether it would be possible to encourage and motivate the students in such a difficult activity. My doubts evaporated when I attended an inspiring workshop on Public Speaking and Language Learning at a JALT Conference in Japan ahem 22 years ago (Hurley, Tokyo JALT Conf. 1985). My image of catatonically nervous students delivering wooden speeches on boring subjects was transformed as I observed the rich potential of public speaking and speech activities in the language classroom. Speaking in front of a group gives students important practice in paralinguistic areas that English texts and English teachers too often ignore, such as voice control, posture, gesture and eye contact. Activities that the students see as fun rather than threatening are intrinsically motivating. Exit feedback has consistently shown that many of my students rate public speaking activities as the most interesting and useful (if somewhat difficult) part of their course. Before working on speeches it is important to give students practice in presentation methods that help maintain the audience's interest. Exercises focus on eye contact, voice control, gesture and posture, which are of course, vital in all areas of conversation, not only speech. Eye Contact Students need to practise both personal and group eye contact. Some good ways to practise eye contact are: Students open their eyes as wide as they can, roll their eyeballs, see how tightly they can close their eyes, then see how close they can come to closing their eyes while still being able to see out of them. In movie close ups actors must not blink get students to see how good they are at movie close ups A staring contest in pairs. Continue pairing winners against winners until you have a grand champion. Have students express emotions to their: partners using only their eyes. Send secret messages to their partner using only their eyes. Each student comes to the front of the room and makes personal eye contact with all of the other members of the class. All the students walk around the room shaking hands with everyone else and looking into their eyes. Voice Control Many of our students are very poor in this area and the following exercises are important not only for public speaking but also for everyday conversation. Students make a list of emotions. Get them to match famous names to the emotions and express them to a partner or a group saying only the name Repeat but this time students use only their own name to express a range of emotions. A similar activity can be done using various school subjects students try to express their feelings about the subject by the way they say the subject name thus a student who loves English and hates Maths tries to show these feelings just by the way they say English and Maths Students work in groups to see how many ways (quickly, slowly, shouting, whispering, varying intonations) they can say the alphabet. Whisper a secret message to everyone in the room. 'Say' the do re mi scale or the words of a song. page 1

Greg Keaney BELTA Conf. 2007

+673-885-681

greg_keaney@yahoo.com.au

Posture How you position yourself makes an enormous impact on others. A few exercises for students to practice: Sit up straight, slouch, try to take up as much space as you can (how do you feel?), try to take up as little space as you can (how do you feel?), put your hands over your face, stretch your arms out wide. Stand up straight, slouch, try to take up as much space as you can (how do you feel?), try to take up as little space as you can (how do you feel?), put your hands over your face, stretch your arms out wide, stretch you hands upwards, stand like a soldier at attention, relax with your arms by your side, Move around the class when the command freeze is spoken freeze in your exact position Statues game students in pairs, one student moves the other students arms, legs, fingers and head to make a statue, swap roles Group statues students one by one come into a group and make a group statue Gesture Gesture is also a fundamental part of communication indeed anthropologists believe that verbal speech has its roots in nonverbal gestures and movements and indeed vocalization is in reality a very complex motor skill. A few exercises for students to practice:

One student sits, hands behind back. Another student, hidden behind, provides the hand gestures for the one in front. For example, eating a bowl of noodles, using a mobile phone, doing a difficult exam, putting on a tie, etc. Using mime only students try to imitate their teachers and have others in their group guess who they are imitating Play charades or other miming games. Machines as with group statues but this time students one by one come into a group and create a multipurpose machine Traffic Lights - Whole class standing students move around until you say one of the following commands at which point they have to follow the command. 1. Statues - freeze individually 2. Dentists (in pairs, one sitting as patient, one standing as dentist) 3. Traffic lights (in threes, flashing hands one standing stretched, one standing with arms at shoulder height, one crouched with arms low) 4. Diamonds (in fours, try to sparkle) 5. Rainbows (in sevens make arches leftovers can be pots of gold) If you encourage students to be more confident in their posture, more flamboyant in their use of gesture~ maintain eye contact and to modulate their voices more effectively not only will they find speech activities to be extremely rewarding, they will also notice a considerable improvement in their general English conversation. Activities Combining Eye, Voice, Gesture and Posture Send non-verbal messages around the circle Send verbal messages around the circle Shout conversations in pairs across the room if you have the opportunity play music loudly so that students have to raise their voices to talk to one another Long Line Whispers page 2

Mirror mimes students in pairs closely track each others

movements as though they are a mirror image of one another. Students mime a series of activities: for example: conduct an orchestra, play a sax, beat the drum or twang a guitar solo, play golf, score a winning goal, fight for their lives, propose marriage and so on. Students in groups think of and act out as many gestures and signs as they can. Greg Keaney BELTA Conf. 2007

+673-885-681

greg_keaney@yahoo.com.au

Ideas for Speeches Making Toasts This activity may be adjusted to suit any language level. Beginner students can give short one sentence toasts; more advanced students can be required to speak for a few minutes. One week before the lesson you should give a model toast to the class. For homework students write out their toasts. Correct these toasts a few days before the speech lesson so that students can have plenty of time to prepare. On the day of the lesson you will need to bring some plastic glasses and some lemonade or mineral water to class. I usually have the students bring some snacks as well to give the lesson a 'party' feel. Sit the students around a central table or, if the class is too large, have students stand as though they were at a diplomatic reception. Begin by proposing a toast to your class - the best English class in the history of your school. Put on a great show, especially the clinking of glasses, so that students will feel relaxed and un-self-conscious when it is their turn to speak in front of the group. Students give their toasts in turn. You may wish to remind each speaker before they start to speak loudly and clearly and to look at the audience while they propose their toast. You might also remind the class of various points of body language and gesture, such as smiling and looking into the eyes of the other person when touching glasses.

Greg Keaney BELTA Conf. 2007

+673-885-681

greg_keaney@yahoo.com.au

page 3

Accepting Awards and Prizes This activity is for intermediate and advanced students. Pre-intermediate students can perform this activity but they need more teacher assistance at the preparation stage. A week before this lesson introduce the names of some awards - Internet's Worst Surfer and Ms Teenage Formula One Driver, for example. Brainstorm other real and imaginary awards and prizes. This can be combined well with lessons on superlatives, conditionals or future ambitions. The speech lesson will work best if there is a touch of comedy to the awards. Some suggestions are: World's Greatest English Student, World's Best Dresser, Champion Shopper, Worst Dancer, Best/Worst Karaoke Singer, Greatest/Laziest Cook, and so on. Have students choose an award or make up one of their own. Model a 'Thank You Speech' for them. Students should write their acceptance speech for homework and it should be corrected in plenty of time for students to learn for the class. On the day trim the room to look like an awards ceremony. Trophies that are humorously appropriate to the award being given add to the fun of the lesson; World's Laziest Cook might receive a packet of instant noodles, for example. Higher level students may be able to act as MCs. Introducing props such as envelopes, or a raised dais, adds to the fun. A listening exercise using a video of the Academy Awards, American Idol, MTV Awards or similar can be a useful follow up to this activity.

Greg Keaney BELTA Conf. 2007

+673-885-681

greg_keaney@yahoo.com.au

page 4

Top 5 Presentations Instructions Group Phase: Work in groups (five is the best number. If there are less than five people in your group one of you will have to speak twice). Prepare your groups Top Five in ONE of the following areas. Each group member will have to speak about one of the Top Five and why that item is so special that it makes it into the Top Five. Everyone in the group must talk about one of the five items. EITHER You have five minutes to prepare your presentation to the rest of the class OR You have to prepare your presentation for homework. Whole Class Phase: Each group presents their Top Five to the rest of the class taking turns to speak about each item on the list. Each presentation should last about five minutes.

Our top five favourite English music hits Our top five advertisements Our top five paintings Our top five teenage status symbols Our top five computer games Our top five jokes and riddles Our top five fashion accessories (e.g. mobile phone)

Our top five books or authors Our top five TV programmes Our top five scientific discoveries Our top five teenage fashions Our top five websites Our top five football players Our top five ....(choose your topic).

Just a Minute

Instructions
Cut up the following topic cards. One set of cards for each group. Students take it in turns to select a card. They have one minute to think of what to say. Then they must speak for one minute without help or interruptions on their topic to the rest of the group.

School
Just a minute

Children
Just a minute

Hobbies
Just a minute

Travel
Just a minute

Brunei
Just a minute

Home
Just a minute

Computers
Just a minute

English
Just a minute

Future
Just a minute

Food
Just a minute

Movies
Just a minute

Travel
Just a minute

Music
Just a minute

Dreams
Just a minute

Free Topic

Friends
Just a minute

Sport
Just a minute

Books
Just a minute

TV
Just a minute

Holidays
Just a minute

Double Plus Figures Double plus figures is a wonderful adaptation of a drama game that really gets students involved and builds their confidence for other public speaking, drama and performance activities. The core activity consists of students working together in pairs to be one character. Student A sits on a chair with their arms behind them, Student B kneels behind the chair and becomes the characters arms and hands. This can take away the fear of performance as neither student has to do everything the one who faces the crowd is merely the face while the one who is out of view can perform extravagant gestures. The activity can be used to liven up dialogues, to mime actions (perhaps to reinforce grammar points) and to perform dramatic scenes and roleplays. If you wish to make the activity even more enjoyable then bring in a few props the sample text in the appendix for example can be livened up with a few police hats A Comical Eulogy This activity is suitable for intermediate and advanced students exercise caution that there have been no recent bereavements. A week in advance give students a model of a eulogy. I usually present with a lesson that uses a famous person such as Elvis for source material. Inform your class that each student has to prepare a eulogy for you the teacher. You can have died in any way they wish - and it may

surprise you how unfortunate your demise will be. Once again, correct the speech so that students will have enough time to practise it before the class. If you are up for it, on the day of the speeches play sombre music to create the right atmosphere you might even want to cry at the lovely words being said about you. As each student delivers eulogy be prepared to break down and weep as your virtues and character are extolled. Obituaries of famous people can be used as reading comprehension precursors or follow-ups to this activity. Conclusion These are just a few of the many speech activities that can be used with English language classes. You will find that students respond remarkably well to these activities and that speech and public speaking can be a surprisingly relevant, interesting and confidence-building way to develop our students' English abilities. Students dont always have to be made to feel like another brick in the wall. The development of learner confidence in tandem with their growing language skills is a wonderful gift to give our students! It may start out in the too hard basket but as teachers it is our reward to see students who respond to our challenges and gain self-belief and selfassurance as a result.

Appendix
Some complicated proverb texts for Long Line Whispers 1: Where there are observable fumes having their origin in ignited carbonaceous materials, there is conflagration. 2: Members of an avian species of identical plumage tend to assemble. 3: Surveillance should precede bounding. 4: It is fruitless to become lachrymose over lacteal fluid that has precipitately departed from its container. 5: The temperature of the aqueous content of a constantly observed saucepan does not ever reach 100 degrees C at sea level. 6: All articles that sparkle with resplendence are not truly auriferous. 7: Fussiness on the part of mendicants must be forbidden. 8: An array of individuals with expertise in culinary arts may ruin the flavour of the potable concoction produced by steeping comestibles. 9: Individuals who make their abode in vitreous residences would be advised to refrain from catapulting petrous projectiles. 10: A revolving lithic conglomerate accumulates no congeries of a small green bryophytic plant. The Real Proverbs 1. Where theres smoke theres fire. 2. Birds of a feather flock together 3. Look before you leap 4. Its no use crying over spilt milk 5. A watched pot never boils. 6. All that glitters is not gold. 7. Beggars cant be choosers 8. Too many cooks spoil the broth. 9. People in glass houses shouldnt throw stones. 10. A rolling stone gathers no moss.

Sample Text for Double Plus Figures (3 pairs required)

An older lady gets pulled over for speeding... Older Woman: Is there a problem, Officer? Officer: Ma'am, you were speeding. Older Woman: Oh, I see. Officer: Can I see your license please? Older Woman: I'd give it to you but I don't have one. Officer: Don't have one? Older Woman: Lost it, 4 years ago for negligent driving. Officer: I see...Can I see your vehicle registration papers please. Older Woman: I can't do that. Officer: Why not? Older Woman: I stole this car. Officer: Stole it? Older Woman: Yes, and I killed and hacked up the owner. Officer: You what? Older Woman: His body parts are in plastic bags in the boot if you want to see. The Officer looks at the woman and slowly backs away to his car and calls for back up. Within minutes 5 police cars circle the car. A senior officer slowly approaches the car, clasping his half drawn gun. Senior Officer: Ma'am, could you step out of your vehicle please! Older woman: Is there a problem sir? Senior Officer: One of my officers told me that you have stolen this car and murdered the owner. Older Woman: Murdered the owner? Senior Officer: Yes, could you please open the boot of your car, please. The woman opens the boot, revealing nothing but an empty boot. Senior Officer: Is this your car, ma'am? Older Woman: Yes, here are the registration papers. The officer is quite stunned. Senior Officer: One of my officers claims that you do not have a driving license. The woman digs into her handbag and pulls out a purse and hands it to the officer. The officer examines the license. He looks quite puzzled. Senior Officer: Thank you ma'am, one of my officers told me you didn't have a license, that you stole this car, and that you murdered and hacked up the owner. Older Woman: I bet the liar told you I was speeding, too!