LISTENING AND SPEAKING

The component on listening and speaking aims at developing pupils ability to listen and
respond to stimulus with guidance, participate in daily conversations, listen and
demonstrate understanding of text, talk about stories heard; and listen and follow simple
instructions. The learning standards for listening and speaking range from the discrete
sound, word and phrase recognition to an understanding of chunks of heard texts.
Listening and speaking are seen as core skills of early literacy. As such, pupils should be
taught how to listen carefully as well as feel encouraged to speak from the basic level of
sound, word, phrase and move on to structural sentences in various situational contexts.
At every stage, the stress, rhythm and intonation patterns need to be used correctly. In
addition, pupils are also encouraged to recognise, understand and use verbal and nonverbal communication. Oral communication practice by means of repeating, responding,
understanding and applying what pupils have heard sensitises their senses to be ready for
communication.
Relationships are established through the ability to communicate by listening first then
speaking thoughts, ideas and feelings. It is hoped by the end of primary school, pupils
should become confident speakers who can communicate clearly, appropriately and
coherently in any given context.

Pupils need to listen carefully and respond to what

others say and think about the needs of their listeners. Social conventions in listening and
speaking such as turn taking, politeness and courtesy need to be observed. These are
crucial especially in group discussions where viewpoints and opinions are exchanged.
The use of various text types is recommended; ranging from teacher-simulated texts to
media broadcasts and authentic dialogues.

Listening
1.1.2 Able to listen to and enjoy stories
Activities to listen effectively in a variety of situations for a variety of purposes

Listen attentively and courteously

Participate constructively in conversation, small group, and whole group

discussion, showing an understanding of when to speak and when to listen (*)

Listen to a range of texts (e.g., directions, demonstration, presentation, radio

program, television program, video program) for a variety of purposes including
to gather information , to follow directions, to participate in a discussion, to form
an opinion, to understand information, and to enjoy and appreciate

Value listening as a means of learning and enjoyment (*)

Students will extend their abilities by practising the behaviours of effective, active
listeners

Recognize that listening is an active, constructive process

Select and use the appropriate strategies and the language cueing systems and
conventions to construct meaning before, during, and after listening, including:

Before

Prepare to listen (*)

Consider what they know and need to know about topic (*)

Formulate questions before listening

Set purpose(s) for each type of listening situation

During

Show interest in what is said (*)

Anticipate and predict the speaker's message and meaning (*)

Associate what is being said with personal experience and make

connections (i.e., relate text to self, text to other text, and text to world)

Follow the sequence of ideas expressed by identifying the speaker's key

idea

Make jot notes to assist recall of the main idea(s) expressed by the speaker

Create visual images

Make inferences based on text and prior knowledge

Draw conclusions based on evidence in presentation (*)

Identify ideas expressed as true or false, real or imaginary (*)

Recognize speaker's use of language (formal, informal, slang) (*)

Determine the difference between fact and opinion in speaker's viewpoint

Use pragmatic (e.g., speaker's purpose), textual (e.g., speaker's sequence ),

syntactic (e.g., the word order and emphasis on particular words),
semantic (e.g., specific word meanings and choices), graphophonic (e.g.,
common prefixes), and other cues (e.g., the speaker's nonverbal cues) to
construct and confirm meaning

After

Recall and summarize main points and supporting detail

Relate what was heard to personal experience or needs (*)

Analyze and evaluate what was heard (*)

Draw conclusions about speaker's stance and values following a listening

activity

Consider and respect ideas from speaker's point of view

Seek additional information from other sources as needed (*)

Worksheet for Listening

activity.

Subject

English

Class

2 Cemerlang

Time

10:15-11:15

Focus:

Reading

Theme:

World of Self, Family and Friends

Topic:

Hobbies

Content
standard:

Pupil will be able to demonstrate understanding of a variety of linear and

non-linear texts in the form of print and non-print materials using a range of
strategies to construct meaning.

Learning
standard:

2.2.1 Able to read and apply word recognition and word attack skills by:
a) matching words with spoken words
2.2.3 Able to read and understand simple sentences in linear and non-linear
texts.

Objective:

By the end of this lesson, pupils will be able to:

a. Read and understand word and sentences taught
b. Matching words to pictures

Time:

60 minutes

Teaching
aids:

Hobbies Picture Set, word cards, sentence strips, worksheet.

Activity

Teaching and Learning

Strategy

Notes

Set Induction : Teacher pastes 5

pictures of hobbies learnt in
previous lesson. Teacher pastes the
word under each picture and
teacher says out the word. Students
repeat after.

Gather interest among

students

Pictures of different hobbies.

Step 1
Teacher will say out the hobbies

Stimulate students
knowledge on the

Word cards, blue tack

and asks pupils to name the

hobbies by pasting the word cards
under each picture.

words taught. (Word

recognition)

Step 2
Teacher asks pupils to read each
word

Whole classroom
reading

Step 3
Teacher removes the word cards
and pastes the sentence strips for
each picture and hobby.

Expanding pupils
reading materials.

Simple sentences are used to

help expanding the ideas.

Step 4
Teacher reads and pupils repeat
after.

Guided reading.

Check on pupils reading

skills: pronunciation and
intonation.

Step 5
Teacher asks if there is any
difficult word on the whiteboard.

Two-way interaction to
avoid confusion.

Step 6
Teacher divides the class into 4
groups and gives out an envelope
which consists of sentence parts
and a paper. A pupil needs to read
the given paper and another pupil
needs to arrange the sentence parts
to match the sentence read by their
friend. When a sentence is done,
another two pupils will do the
activity. The fastest group who can
arrange the sentences correctly will
win. Every group needs to send 1
pupil to read their arranged
sentences for the rest of the class
to check its arrangements.

Test students reading

and listening skills.

Step 7
Teacher gives out worksheet for

To test students
understanding on the

Manila cards, sentence strips

and an A4 papers for given
sentences.

Group work.
Kinaesthetic Activity.

Worksheet A Hobbies
Search Word Puzzle (normal)

the pupils to do Hobbies Search

Word Puzzle.

words learnt.

Step 8
Collect the worksheet and let the
pupils read the sentence strips
again.

Summarising

Assessment:
1. Pupils are able to read with
correct pronunciation and
intonation.
2. Pupils arrange the sentences
correctly read by their friends.
3. Pupils are able to complete the
worksheet.

Observation
Whole-class approach
Worksheet
Through worksheet

Why some students find listening difficult

1.

They are trying to understand every word

Despite the fact that we can cope with missing whole chunks of speech having a
conversation on a noisy street in our own language, many people don't seem to be able to
transfer that skill easily to a second language. One method of tackling this is to show
them how to identify the important words that they need to listen out for. In English this
is shown in an easy-to-spot way by which words in the sentence are stressed (spoken
louder and longer). Another is to give them one very easy task that you know they can do
even if they don't get 90% of what is being said to build up their confidence, such as
identifying the name of a famous person or spotting something that is mentioned many
times.

2.

They get left behind trying to work out what a previous word meant

This is one aspect of the problem above that all people speaking a foreign language have
experienced at one time or another. This often happens when you hear a word you half
remember and find you have completely lost the thread of what was being said by the
time you remember what it means, but can also happen with words you are trying to work
out that sound similar to something in your language, words you are trying to work out
from the context or words you have heard many times before and are trying to guess the
meaning of once and for all. In individual listenings you can cut down on this problem
with vocab pre-teach and by getting students to talk about the same topic first to bring the
relevant vocabulary for that topic area nearer the front of their brain. You could also use a
listening that is in shorter segments or use the pause button to give their brains a chance

to catch up, but teaching them the skill of coping with the multiple demands of listening
and working out what words mean is not so easy. One training method is to use a
listening or two to get them to concentrate just on guessing words from context. Another
is to load up the tasks even more by adding a logic puzzle or listening and writing task, so
that just listening and trying to remember words seems like an easier option. Finally,
spend a lot of time revising vocabulary and doing skills work where they come into
contact with it and use it, and show students how to do the same in their own time, so that
the amount of half remembered vocab is much less.

3.

They just don't know the most important words

Again, doing vocabulary pre-teaching before each listening as a short term solution and
working on the skill of guessing vocab from context can help, but please make sure that
you practice this with words that can actually be guessed from context (a weakness of
many textbooks) and that you work on that with reading texts for a while to build up to
the much more difficult skill of guessing vocab and listening at the same time. The other
solution is simply to build up their vocabulary and teach them how they can do the same
in their own time with vocabulary lists, graded readers, monolingual dictionary use etc.

4.

They don't recognise the words that they know

If you have a well-graded textbook for your class, this is probably a more common (and
more tragic) problem than not knowing the vocabulary at all. Apart from just being too
busy thinking about other things and missing a word, common reasons why students
might not recognise a word include not distinguishing between different sounds in

English (e.g. /l/ and /r/ in "led" and "red" for many Asians), or conversely trying to listen
for differences that do not exist, e.g. not knowing words like "there", "their" and "they're"
are homophones. Other reasons are problems with word stress, sentence stress, and sound
changes when words are spoken together in natural speech such as weak forms. What all
this boils down to is that sometimes pronunciation work is the most important part of
listening comprehension skills building.

5.

They have problems with different accents

In a modern textbook, students have to not only deal with a variety of British, American
and Australian accents, but might also have Indian or French thrown in. Whilst this is
theoretically useful if or when they get a job in a multinational company, it might not be
the additional challenge they need right now- especially if they studied exclusively
American English at school. Possibilities for making a particular listening with a tricky
accent easier include rerecording it with some other teachers before class, reading all or
part of the tapescript out in your (hopefully more familiar and therefore easier) accent,
and giving them a listening task where the written questions help out like gap fills. If it is
an accent they particularly need to understand, e.g., if they are sorting out the outsourcing
to India, you could actually spend part of a lesson on the characteristics of that accent. In
order to build up their ability to deal with different accents in the longer term, the best
way is just to get them listening to a lot of English, e.g. TV without dubbing or BBC
World Service Radio. You might also want to think about concentrating your
pronunciation work on sounds that they need to understand many different accents rather
than one, and on concentrating on listenings with accents that are relevant for that

particular group of students, e.g. the nationality of their head office.

6.

They lack listening stamina/ they get tired

This is again one that anyone who has lived in a foreign country knows well- you are
doing fine with the conversation or movie until your brain seems to reach saturation point
and from then on nothing goes in until you escape to the toilet for 10 minutes. The first
thing you'll need to bear in mind is to build up the length of the texts you use (or the
lengths between pauses) over the course in exactly the same way as you build up the
difficulty of the texts and tasks. You can make the first time they listen to a longer text a
success and therefore a confidence booster by doing it in a part of the lesson and part of
the day when they are most alert, by not overloading their brains with new language
beforehand, and by giving them a break or easy activity before they start. You can build
up their stamina by also making the speaking tasks longer and longer during the term, and
they can practice the same thing outside class by watching an English movie with
subtitles and taking the subtitles off for longer and longer periods each time.

7.

They have a mental block

This could be not just a case of a student having struggled with badly graded listening
texts in school, exams or self-study materials, but even of a whole national myth that
people from their country find listening to English difficult. Whatever the reason, before
you can build up their skills they need their confidence back. The easiest solution is just

to use much easier texts, perhaps using them mainly as a prompt to discussion or
grammar presentations to stop them feeling patronized. You can disguise other easy
listening comprehension tasks as pronunciation work on linked speech etc. in the same
way.

8.

They are distracted by background noise

Being able to cope with background noise is another skill that does not easily transfer
from L1 and builds up along with students' listening and general language skills. As well
as making sure the tape doesn't have lots of hiss or worse (e.g. by recording tape to tape
at normal speed not double speed, by using the original or by adjusting the bass and
treble) and choosing a recording with no street noise etc, you also need to cut down on
noise inside and outside the classroom. Plan listenings for when you know it will be quiet
outside, e.g. not at lunchtime or when the class next door is also doing a listening. Cut
down on noise inside the classroom by doing the first task with books closed and pens
down. Boost their confidence by letting them do the same listening on headphones and
showing them how much easier it is. Finally, when they start to get used to it, give them
an additional challenge by using a recording with background noise such as a cocktail
party conversation.
9.

They can't cope with not having images

Young people nowadays, they just can't cope without multimedia! Although having
students who are not used to listening to the radio in their own language can't help, most
students find not having body language and other cues to help a particular difficulty in a

foreign language. Setting the scene with some photos of the people speaking can help,
especially tasks where they put the pictures in order as they listen, and using video
instead makes a nice change and is a good way of making skills such as guessing vocab
from context easier and more natural.

10. They have hearing problems

As well as people such as older students who have general difficulty in hearing and need
to be sat close to the cassette, you might also have students who have problems hearing
particular frequencies or who have particular problems with background noise. As well as
playing around with the graphic equaliser and doing the other tips above for background
noise, you could also try setting most listening tasks as homework and/ or letting one or
more students read from the tapescript as they listen.

11. They can't tell the difference between the different voices

This was the problem that took me longest to twig, but voices that are clearly distinct to a
native speaker can be completely confusing for a non-native speaker. I haven't quite
worked out why those problems occur on some occasions and not on others, but the
native speaker could be identifying a lisp, an accent or a difference in range of tone that
escapes a student. You can avoid these problems by using texts with one woman and one

man, or you can practice them with tasks where the students only have to count how
many times the speaker changes.

Some solutions
What can teachers do to help students master the difficulties? Not all the problems
described above can be overcome. Certain features of the message and the speaker, for
instance, are inevitable. But this does not mean that the teacher can do nothing about
them. S/he can at least provide the students with suitable listening materials, background
and linguistic knowledge, enabling skills, pleasant classroom conditions, and useful
exercises to help them discover effective listening strategies. Here are a few helpful ideas:

Materials

Grade listening materials according to the students level, and provide authentic materials
rather than idealized, filtered samples. It is true that natural speech is hard to grade and it
is difficult for students to identify the different voices and cope with frequent overlaps.
Nevertheless, the materials should progress step by step from semiauthenticity that
displays most of the linguistic features of natural speech to total authenticity, because the
final aim is to understand natural speech in real life.

Design task-oriented exercises

Design task-oriented exercises to engage the students interest and help them learn
listening skills subconsciously. As Ur (1984:25) has said, Listening exercises are most

effective if they are constructed round a task. That is to say, the students are required to
do something in response to what they hear that will demonstrate their understanding.
She has suggested some such tasks: expressing agreement or disagreement, taking notes,
marking a picture or diagram according to instructions, and answering questions.
Compared with traditional multiple-choice questions, taskbased exercises have an
obvious advantage: they not only test the students listening comprehension but also
encourage them to use different kinds of listening skills and strategies to reach their
destination in an active way.

Provide different kinds of input

Provide students with different kinds of input, such as lectures, radio news, films, TV
plays, announcements, everyday conversation, interviews, storytelling, English songs,
and so on.

Speaking
1.2.2 Able to participate in daily conversations:
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
(e)
(f)

Express good wishes

Ask for help
Respond to someone asking for help
Offer help
Talk about oneself
Introduce family members and friends.

Learning Objectives describe specific learning outcomes. Below are listed specific
learning objectives related to the foundational objectives for speaking
Student will extend their abilities to speak fluently in a variety of situations for a
variety of purposes and audiences

Recognize that talk is an important tool for communicating, for clarifying

thinking, and for learning (*)

Use talk to explore ideas and express understanding (*)

Use talk to express and share feelings, ideas, and opinions

Use talk to build relationships showing the basic courtesies of conversation and an
understanding of when to speak and when to listen

Use talk to share ideas and information in one-to-one, small group, and large
group discussions

share ideas/knowledge in a clear manner (*)

encourage the contributions of others (*)

disagree courteously/sensitively (*)

take turns speaking

answer others' questions clearly and politely (*)

give reasons for opinions (*)

Speak to describe (e.g., a person or place) (*)

Speak to narrate (e.g., an incident from own experience)

Speak to explain, report, and inform (e.g., give multi-step directions and
instructions in accurate sequence; give short reports) (*)

Speak to influence and persuade (e.g., speak to support own viewpoint) (*)

Read aloud with enthusiasm and expression and speak to share and to entertain
(e.g., recite short poetry selections, participate in dramatic speaking such as choral
readings, improvisations, role plays, and readers' theatre)

Experiment with speaking in formal situations (e.g., peer and other interviews,
presentation at assembly) (*)

Material

Guided Activities
Certain key words are given to students to speak up by using those words.
Key Vocabulary
Can I see a menu?
Here you are
Enjoy your meal!
Would you like ...
Can I get you anything else?
I'd like the check, please.
That'll be2500rupee.
Have a good day!
Ordering a Meal
1.

Hi. How are you doing this afternoon?

2.

Fine, thank you. Can I see a menu, please?

1.

Certainly, here you are.

2.

Thank you. What's today's special?

1.

Fried rice and Chicken special.

1.

That sounds good. I'll have that.

1.

Would you like something to drink?

2.

Yes, I'd like a coke.

1.

Thank you. (returning with the food) Here you are. Enjoy your meal!

2.

Thank you.

1.

Can I get you anything else?

2.

No thanks. I'd like the check, please.

1.

That'll be 2500rupee.

2.

Here you are. Keep the change!

1.

Thank you! Have a good day!

2.

Bye.

LESSON PLAN
Topic:

Being Healthy
Class/level:
Year 3
Duration of Class:
60 minute
Number of Students:
Thirty
Language Skill:
Speaking skill
Fluency and confidence level.
Method:
Direct Method
Material provided:
Handouts
Audio/ Visual Aids:
Charts, pictures, whiteboard, flash cards
Class Formation:
Divide whole class in Pairs or Groups
Expected Problems to students:
There are a number of problems which the students can face while doing learning this
skill which are as following:

Learners may have difficulty in understanding the instructions given by

teacher.
May all the learners will not be able to answer all the comprehension

questions.
Some learners will be unable to utter a dialogue completely and

accurately.
Many non native speakers will find it difficult to manage speed and agility
of response while talking to strangers.

Students sometimes find difficulties while speaking as they think much

about grammar. They think they must speak grammatically correct all the
time. It disturbs them to speak, so most of them prefer to remain silent

instead of answering in a wrong sentence.

Some learners may feel shy and never give answers in target language.

Aims and objectives:

The goal of teaching speaking skills is to improve communicative efficiency. By learning
these skills the students will be able to:

Avoid confusion in the message due to faulty pronunciation, grammar, or

vocabulary.
Observe the social and cultural rules that apply in each communication

situation.
Clarify their meaning or ask for confirmation of their own understanding.
Practice using all of the language they know in situations that resemble real

settings.
Develop their sociolinguistic competence.
The native language should not be used in class room; teacher and students

use the target language in classroom.

The syllabus based on situations or topic, not usually on linguistic structures.

Procedure:
Warm up and brainstorm: in this session the teacher will first give a listening exercise
to the students by making them attentive to hear a dialogue and a pattern of speaking
between two or three persons. By listen all this, students will come to know that how they
have to act and do role plays with their fellow beings. Furthermore teacher will ask about
the experiences of learners while communicating with others in the specific situation.
Meanwhile the teacher will also distribute the flash cards on which instructions and cues
are given.
Presentation:

After listening to the dialogue, the students will emphasize upon the flash cards
on which instructions are given to them related to the role plays. The students will make
complete sentences in their minds. The students will make their fellow beings to listen to
their dialogues. Teacher will give the instructions regarding the vocabulary needed for the
task further on.
Practice:
The students will now imagine themselves as they are actors and active members
of the society according to different roles. With the help of instructions written on the
card the students will utter different dialogues and will play their role. Students will now
start practicing the dialogues with the other fellows. Teacher will instruct the students to
complete their dialogues according to the role which they have to adopt. So this activity
is very helpful for learners to communicate fluently and confidently. In this way their way
of communication and speaking will improve.

Why some students find speaking difficult

There are many experts that suggest about problem. One of them says that
problem will appear if there is inappropriate between exception and reality. Another

defines that a problem will happen if someones necessity does not fulfill. A problem is
something that if it appears many people will get dissatisfaction. It can make trouble and
difficulty for him/herself or other people, and if people procure a problem, they always
want to lose it. Problem is perceived gap between the existing state and a desire state, or a
deviation from a norm, standard or status quo, although most problems turn out to have
several solution. Problem is a question proposed for solution, anything which is required
to be solved or done, or a source of difficulty.

The learners have their own difficulties in learning the language. Particularly in
improving speaking skill is not easy for the students. The Following are the problems of
speaking skill (Munjayanah, 2004: 17):

1. Inhabitation
Unlike reading, writing or listening activities, speaking requires some degree of
real-time exposure to an audience. Learners are often inhibited about trying to say thing
in foreign language in the classroom: worried about mistakes or simply shy of the
attention that their speech attract.

2. Nothing to say

Even they are not inhibited, you often hear learners complain that they cannot
think of anything to say: they have no motive to express themselves beyond the guilty
feeling that they should be speaking.

3. Low or uneven participation

Only one participant can talk at a time if he or she is to be heard; and in large
group this means the each one will have only very little talking time. This problem is
compounded of some learners to dominate, while other speaks very little or not a tall.

4. Mother tongue use

It is easier for the student to use their mother tongue in their class because it looks
naturally. Therefore, most of the students are not disciplined in using the target language
in the learning process.

Solutions of Speaking Activity Problems

Teaching English as a second language means being able to solve problems students may
have in acquiring certain language skills. There are a number of resources and activities
available to get round these common speaking problems:

a. Group work:

Group work increases the amount of time available for oral practice and allows more than
one student to benefit from speaking time. Working in groups also lowers the inhibitions
of shy students who are not comfortable speaking in front of the whole class.

b. Easy language:
Simple language makes it easier for students to speak for longer without hesitation and
gives them a sense of accomplishment. Essential vocabulary can be pre-taught or
reviewed before the activity enabling students to fill-out their speech with more
interesting sentences and rich language.

c. Interesting topic:
Choosing a topic according to the interests of the class ensures student motivation. If the
material and task instructions are presented clearly and enthusiastically students will be
more likely to meet the challenge set for them.

d. Clear guidelines:
Stating clearly what is expected from each student is essential in ensuring that everyone
in the group contributes towards the discussion. Appointing a chairperson to each group
to regulate participation is a way to make sure that dominant students leave discussion
opportunities open to more reserved students. Feedback reveals the results of the
discussion and motivates each student to follow the guidelines.

e. English monitors:

A monitor can be appointed to each group to remind students speaking their mother
tongue to switch back to English. A lack of classroom management and disclipine will
encourage students, who do not feel that there is resistance to their mother tongue, to
easily revert back to it as soon as they have problems expressing themselves.