{"id":1236,"date":"2011-03-15T14:50:26","date_gmt":"2011-03-15T13:50:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/eltchat.com\/?p=1236"},"modified":"2011-03-15T14:50:26","modified_gmt":"2011-03-15T13:50:26","slug":"how-to-motivate-teens-to-extend-their-speaking-activities-so-as-to-go-beyond-i-agree-i-disagree-eltchat-summary-09032011","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eltchat.org\/index.php\/2011\/03\/15\/how-to-motivate-teens-to-extend-their-speaking-activities-so-as-to-go-beyond-i-agree-i-disagree-eltchat-summary-09032011\/","title":{"rendered":"How do we motivate teens to extend their speaking activities, so as to go beyond \u201cI agree\u201d \u201cI disagree\u201d? #ELTchat Summary 09\/03\/2011"},"content":{"rendered":"

The noontime #ELTchat on 09\/03\/2011 focused on how to motivate teens to extend their speaking activities, so as to go beyond \u201cI agree\u201d \u201cI disagree\u201d. A numbers of issues was raised such as motivation, being relaxed, students\u2019 silence etc.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

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This summary was contributed by Anastasia Kararoudi – @tasoulazac<\/a> on Twitter and although she is new to Twitter I think she did a great job! Thank you Anastasia!!!!!!<\/strong><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

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#ELTchat Summary<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

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Do you think that students can speak in front of the class and the teacher just because you tell them: \u201cYou\u2019re in class and I\u2019m telling you to speak in L2 now\u201d?<\/p>\n

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#ELTchatters started sharing their experience and mentioned that speaking activities should be motivating and teachers should make students want to speak and participate in class not because someone told them to or they just \u201chave to\u201d but because they find the topic familiar or relevant to their lives and they have personal opinions to share.<\/p>\n

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As a result speaking activities should be related to their \u201creal lives\u201d, or to something they can connect to and find something to say, whether it is accurate or not. They also need to feel secure in order to speak out which means that we, as teachers, must create a warm and welcoming environment to foster participation.
\nAnd why don\u2019t they feel secure? Because one \u2018fear\u2019 for teens is sounding \u2018babyish\u2019 as they don\u2019t have enough vocabulary to express themselves. #ELTchatters agreed that the hardest thing about working with teens is that teachers forget what it feels like to be a teen so try not to ask them do speaking tasks that they wouldn\u2019t naturally do in L1 or you wouldn\u2019t enjoy doing.<\/p>\n

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Some really great activities shared:<\/h2>\n

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– \u00a0Give students role-plays ( they could even create their own cards).
\n– \u00a0Organize speaking competitions, debates, news show.
\n– \u00a0Play the \u201cdevil\u2019s advocate\u201d.
\n– \u00a0Make projects using cameras.
\n– \u00a0Choose a topic and appoint students to be the \u2018teacher\u2019 or the \u2018expert\u2019.
\n– \u00a0Organize a \u2018joke day\u2019(students tell jokes in L2 and then they vote for the best).
\n– \u00a0Ask them to interview other teachers or friends and then they have to be the reporters and the rest of the class the audience.
\n– \u00a0Students could make up their own cartoons.
\n– \u00a0Play the \u201cgossip\u201d game (two-minute conversation, they change partners and talk about what they just talked about with the first partner\u201d.
\n– \u00a0\u201cRadio DJ\u201d (students introduce a song\/singer they love as if they were a DJ, they explain how it makes them feel and the others comment).
\n– \u00a0\u201cTreasures\u201d (students bring in something important to them and they have to tell the story behind it) an activity which is like the old \u201cShow and Tell\u201d at school.
\n– \u00a0Cut up cards with controversial statements for students to agree or disagree and justify it.
\n– \u00a0Ban phrases \u201cagree\u201d- \u201cdisagree\u201d and get students to find synonyms\/other ways to say same.
\n– \u00a0Have an L1 policeman in each group, i.e. one student who makes sure everyone participates in English; this could be one of the quiet students.<\/p>\n

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How to keep teens motivated during speaking activities:<\/h2>\n

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– Get students to choose topics of interest to them so as to feel motivated.
\n– Every speaking activity needs a build up otherwise students are not prepared contextually or cognitively.
\n– Reward students who keep talking in L2 with stickers, stars, prizes etc.
\n– Cut up lots of speaking prompts and force them to use as many as possible in their discussion as a competition.
\n– Prepare students well by giving them thinking\/preparation time, be patient and monitor to ensure they\u2019re on task.
\n– Allow rehearsal time.
\n– Teens usually find discussion points rather boring so give them an angle eg. Discuss as if you were a lawyer\/priest\/\u2026
\n– Students love it when they get into the \u201cI am showing the teacher something new\u201d mode, so try to exploit that.<\/p>\n

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Some useful links:<\/h2>\n

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