The teaching of peaking skill 

Speaking Skill

a.) Historical Background

As Bygate (2001, edited in Carter and Nunan, 2001, 14) states, speaking has occupied a peculiar position throughout the history of language teaching and has begun to emerge as a branch of teaching, learning and testing for only two decades. Bygate concludes that there are three reasons for this. First, the traditional grammar translation methods still have a huge influence in language teaching. Second, tape-recording has been sufficiently cheap and practical to enable the widespread the study of talk and use of tape recorders in classrooms only since the mid-1970s. Third, most language teaching approaches exploited oral communication as only part of their methodology and most of the focus in teaching oral skills was limited to pronunciation. Until recently, speaking has become a special area in language teaching.

b) Characteristics of Speaking

Bygate quotes from Levelt (1989, edited in Carter and Nunan, 2001, 16) that speech production involves four major processes: conceptualisation, formulation, articulation, and self-monitoring. These processes happen very fast and the former three are more or less automatic in L1 speakers. According to Bygate (2001, edited in Carter and Nunan, 2001, 16), speaking skills are also affected by the context. Speaking is reciprocal, people can respond to each other immediately. He also indicated that people can participate in the same oral interaction except the varieties of equal speaking rights. Moreover, speaking is physically situated face-to-face interaction and speakers have to decide on their message without taking time to check it over.

How To Improve English Speaking Skills

1).Find An English-Speaking Conversation Partner

First of all, it’s important to find native speakers to practice with. Students who are living around many English speakers may be able to find informal opportunities to chat with neighbors and local business people.

2).Make Sure To Listen As Well As Speak

When practicing with a native speaker, try to balance your listening and speaking. It’s a good idea to prepare questions in advance so that the conversation will flow back and forth.

3).Record Your Conversation Practice

Recording is a great way to get the maximum benefit from a conversation with a native speaker. When you listen again, you can evaluate your own pronunciation and notice areas where you need to improve.

4).Surround Yourself With The English Language

Another way to improve your English speaking skills is to immerse yourself in English as much as possible. Watch movies or TV in English, with subtitles if you need them, and watch the same programs over and over.

5).Practice With Music and Movies

Listen to music in English and sing along. Music is one of the best tools for learning intonation pronunciation. Listening to and singing songs might also help you remember vocabulary and phrases (if the song is easy to understand), and it will help you learn to pronounce English rhythm in a more natural way. By unconsciously imitating the singer, you’ll learn to pronounce phrases the way native speakers do.

6).Read Aloud

Reading out loud is a great way to practice speaking when there are no conversation partners available. Reading aloud gives you a chance to focus on pronunciation and pacing without worrying about coming up with words.

7).Talk To Yourself

Practicing alone is also a low-pressure way to practice, since no one will hear your mistakes.