One of the frustrations with the basic public-speaking course is that there is an inevitable tendency to teach the old sender-message-context-receiver model of communication. Many of the basic texts use it, and the typical assignments--one speaker in front of an audience--certainly reinforce it. Feminists have envisioned an alternative way of…

A successful advanced college-level French conversation course using French theater as a basis for students to learn oral skills has six phases: an overview of the history of French theater, reading, adaptation of the text, rehearsal-readings, final rehearsals, and performance. (MSE)

In an advanced oral communication course, students make five major presentations. One of the foundations of extemporaneous speaking is the ability to outline relevant points and phrases in a coherent, orderly manner. Advanced students must be able to take any topic and dissect it quickly to determine the most succinct way to present it to an…

Originally developed as part of a project for the Department of Defense Schools (DoDDS) system, this learning package on developing listening and speaking skills is designed for teachers who wish to upgrade or expand their teaching skills on their own. The package includes an overview of the project; a comprehensive search of the ERIC database; a…

These three issues contain educational activities and articles on the following topics: education for the future; learning about learning; readers' responses to requests for suggested article and activity topics; tools and techniques (revisiting the one-question interview, learning students' names, and getting to know one another); multi-level…

The assessment packet includes a series of oral tests to help develop speaking as an integral part of second language instruction at levels II and III. It contains: 8 mini-tests for use at level II; 9 mini-tests for use at level III; a rating scale and score sheet masters for evaluating performance on these tests; and a collection of suggested…

Classroom techniques are offered for teaching students how to present a spontaneous (impromptu) speech in a second language, such as for use at a job interview or cocktail party. It is first suggested that such classroom activity be graded minimally to help lower students' level of apprehension. Then strategies for approaching impromptu speech…

This manual, designed for teachers of Spanish as a second language, contains visual aids to illustrate certain grammatical concepts and related vocabulary. The manual consists of 30 tear-out blackline masters, each containing one to six separate cartoon pictures, to be used for classroom or homework activities in any sequence. Accompanying each…

The ability to communicate content effectively to others is important. Besides using various approaches and techniques to help pupils achieve optimum speaking fluency, language arts teachers must also determine students' present oral communication achievement levels and guide their progress accordingly. Approaches to teaching oral fluency include…

This book offers 60 stimulating, classroom-tested activities to instill a love of literature and help young learners develop as readers, writers, and speakers. By using picture books, novels, or even nonfiction readings as starting points, the reproducible worksheets in the book can be implemented to strengthen students' entire spectrum of…

An oral activity designed to help prepare college students of English as a second language for assignments and rhetorical strategies for essay writing is described. The activity, which comprises several tasks and can require up to two class periods, requires students to compare and contrast a painting and a poem that have a common theme or aspect.…

This paper provides activities and suggestions for foreign language teachers to use to enhance their students' self-esteem. Teachers should: (1) have students speak, write, and read the target language on the first day of class; (2) help students overcome test anxiety by focusing on what they did right, experimenting with different testing…

A class activity for young adult students of English as a second language uses simplified versions of Shakespeare's familiar dramatic plots to promote student participation and use of second language skills. The students are provided with a list of characters, a synopsis of the story, a room with floor space, and a time frame in which to recreate…

Instructional materials designed to be used with the feature films "Old Yeller" and "The Miracle Worker" in classes of English as a second language include, for each film, general notes on film presentation, a teacher's synopsis of the film divided into segments, a student viewing guide and vocabulary preview for each segment,…

Describes how a teacher used planned observations of classroom interactions to lead to role playing, class discussion, and changes in seating arrangements. The strategies resulted in marked improvements in classroom interactions and in academic work. (SKC)