Professional Development

Teaching techniques

Listening and Speaking

Ice breaker
• Why are we here?
 You can never master a
language class , unless you
master its inhabitants’ hearts
and minds. This only happens
when they feel they are in , not
just guests.
LISTENING
 Listening
• Teaching listening skills is essential for
fostering comprehension, communication,
and engagement in the classroom.
• Effective listening instruction helps
students process spoken language, follow
directions, and participate in discussions.
 Directed Listening-Thinking Activity
(DLTA)
• Similar to the Directed Reading-Thinking Activity,
the teacher guides students through a listening
activity (e.g., a story read aloud, podcast, or
lecture) by pausing to ask predictive and
reflective questions.
• Classroom Application: Read a short story aloud,
pausing at key points to ask, “What do you think
will happen next?” or “Why did the character say
that?” Discuss answers after listening.
 Listening Centers

• Stations where students listen to audio

recordings (e.g., audiobooks, podcasts, or
teacher-recorded instructions) and complete
tasks like answering questions.
• Classroom Application: Set up a station with
headphones and a tablet loaded with a short
podcast. Students listen and complete a
worksheet with questions about main ideas
or details.
Story Retelling with Listening

• After listening to a story or audio

narrative, students retell the content in
their own words, focusing on sequence
and key details.
• Classroom Application: Play a short
audiobook chapter. Students retell the
story to a partner or create a sequence
chart of events, then share with the class.
 Listening Journals
• Students write brief responses after listening to
audio, reflecting on content, emotions, or
connections to their own experiences.
• Classroom Application: After a podcast or guest
speaker, students write a short entry answering,
“What surprised you?” or “What did you learn?”
Share entries in small groups.
 Simon Says
• A game where students follow spoken
directions only when prefaced with “Simon
Says,” requiring careful listening to avoid
mistakes.
• Classroom Application: Use “Simon Says”
to give multi-step directions (e.g., “Simon
Says touch your nose, then clap twice”).
Increase complexity for older students.
Art Detective" Listening Game

- Describe a piece of art without showing it.

- Students must draw it based on your
description, then compare their version
with the original.
- This builds listening skills, prepositions of
place, and descriptive language.
Lyric Gap-Fill (Cloze) Activities

– Play a song with certain words removed from

the lyrics.
– Students listen carefully and fill in the missing
words.
– Great for listening skills, vocabulary, and
pronunciation.
 Spot the Mistake
– Give students a copy of the lyrics with
several words intentionally changed.
– They listen to the song and circle the
incorrect words.
 Sequencing Lyrics

– Print out the lyrics and cut them into

strips, either by verse or by line.
– Students listen to the song and try to put
the lyrics in the correct order.
SPEAKING
 Teaching Speaking
• Teaching speaking skills is crucial for
developing students’ ability to express
ideas clearly, engage in discussions, and
communicate effectively.
• Techniques to enhance speaking in the
classroom are practical, engaging, and
adaptable across grade levels, focusing on
fluency, confidence, and articulation.
 Fishbowl Discussions
• A small group of students sits in an inner
circle to discuss a topic while the rest of the
class observes from an outer circle.
Observers may take notes or join the
discussion later.
• Assign a discussion question (e.g., “What is
the main theme of the story?”). The inner
circle discusses for 5–10 minutes while
others note strong points or questions. Rotate
groups to involve all students.
Socratic Seminars
• Students engage in a structured, open-
ended discussion based on a text or topic,
with the teacher facilitating minimally to
encourage student-led dialogue.
• Classroom Application: Provide a text or
question (e.g., “Should zoos exist?”).
Students prepare by annotating the text,
then discuss, building on each other’s
ideas with evidence.
 Talk Show Role-Play
• Students act as hosts, guests, or audience
members in a mock talk show, discussing
a topic or text in a conversational format.
• Classroom Application: Assign roles
(e.g., host, author, critic) for a discussion
about a book. The host asks prepared
questions, guests respond, and the
audience asks follow-ups.
 Presentation Stations
• Set up stations where students practice
different aspects of speaking (e.g., eye
contact, gestures, pacing) with specific
tasks or feedback forms.
• Classroom Application: Create stations
(e.g., one for practicing gestures with a
mirror, another for recording a short
speech). Students rotate and receive peer
or teacher feedback.
 Voice and Diction
• Students practice pronunciation, volume,
and expression through activities like
tongue twisters, reading aloud with varied
tones, or mimicking emotions.
• Classroom Application: Start class with a
tongue twister (e.g., “She sells seashells”).
Students practice in pairs, then read a
short passage with exaggerated
expression (e.g., excited, serious).
 Gallery Walk Discussions
– Print several artworks and hang them around
the classroom.
– Students walk in pairs, view each “exhibit,”
and discuss guided questions in English (e.g.,
“What’s happening here?” “What emotions do
you see?”).
 What If..." Scenarios"
– Present students with a situation and have
them improvise. For example, "What if you
won the lottery?" or "What if you found a lost
dog?"
– This encourages spontaneous language use
and creative thinking
 The “What If?” Story Chain
• Start with a prompt: “What if the moon
disappeared one night?”
• One student begins the story with one
sentence.
• The next student adds a sentence, and so
on, until the story has gone around the
class.
• This encourages imagination, teamwork,
and spontaneous language use.
 Character Interview
• Students choose a character from a story
or film.
• In pairs, one plays the interviewer, the
other plays the character.
• The interviewer prepares 5–7 questions;
the “character” answers in role.
• Skill Focus: Speaking, listening,
questioning techniques
Role-Play Problem Solving

• Give students a problem scenario (e.g.,

planning a surprise party with limited
budget, resolving a dispute between
neighbors).
• They role-play to find a solution, using
English to negotiate and persuade.
• Why It Works: Simulates real-life
communication and encourages critical
thinking
 Two Truths and a Lie
• Students say three statements about
themselves; classmates guess which is
false.
Q&A