Activities for adult students to promote speaking skills

Activities for adult students to promote speaking skills

Of the four basic language components, speaking may be the most important. It is crucial that EFL students are able to communicate effectively and use words correctly. Speaking activities can help them some of speaking activities are as under.

(I)         Role playing

Speaking activities that compel students to be creative and think on their feet are a good way to expand vocabulary and increase confidence. Split students into teams and give each team a different situation. Let students pick a controversial situation and re-enact how they believe it went; for example, post 9/11 scenario and challanges. This sparks debate as well as creative use of the language.

(II)        Timed activities

A ticking clock can help students learn to think on their feet. Send students out of the classroom in pairs, then pick a category such as food, jobs or furniture. Tell the class which category you picked. Call in the first student and give him/her 30 seconds to name as many objects in the category as he can. Then call in the next student. He must do the same thing, but cannot repeat any of what the previous student said. They must speak only in English.

(III) Competitive activities “Hot seat”

Friendly competition in the EFL classroom is frequently engaging and fun for students. Play "Hot Seat" with your students: split the class into two teams, then choose one team member from each team to come to the front of the room and sit with his back to the board. Write a vocabulary word on the board. Teams must describe the word (without saying it) to the team member at the front, whom must try to guess the word they are describing. The first team member to guess the word wins a point for his team.

(IV) Debating

      Debate activities give students the chance to express their opinions and work on their reasoning skills. Split students into teams -- one team for every side of the issue. Choose a polarizing issue in order to generate strong opinions.

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(V)  Chain stories

        In it a teacher start a story from himself / herself and students add their own paragraphs at their turn.

(VI)     Short lectures

Give each student time and in that time student will deliver a short lecture.

(VII)  Presentations

      Give each student with a topic whom they will present in class and it is emphasized that students are to be motivated to shun shyness and to have an active participation.

Tips and warnings for teacher

·         Constant practice is key to learning any language. 
Encourage your students to speak English as much as possible.

·         The English language is very difficult for non-native speakers to learn. Be patient, and keep your class fun to prevent burnout.