Correcting and Giving Feedback

Functions and Notions Activity

How do you do that in English?

Language Specifications (PDF)

Activities List

Developing Speaking Skills For PET

• communicate in situations that they know well, e.g. in shops, in class.
  
• talk well about things they have lots of experience of, e.g. about themselves, their families.
  
• pronounce the sounds of English so that they can be generally understood (occasionally the listener may have problems understanding them).
  
• ask for help or for repetition if they have problems understanding.

However, PET level speakers are not expected to be able to:

• talk about things they don't have experience of or that involve complicated ideas and language.
  
• talk without having to pause or hesitate while they try to think of the right word.
  
• speak without their first language influencing their pronunciation.
  
• speak without possibly needing some support and help from the examiner.

Topics and Situations
It is clear from the above statements that students at this level are expected to be able to make themselves understood in a range of different situations. The following list is a sample of the kinds of things they should be able to do in English and comes from the Language Specifications for PET (PDF).

• giving personal details
  
• giving simple information about places
  
• expressing agreement and disagreement
  
• giving information about routines and habits
  
• describing people
  
• talking about past events
  
• identifying and describing simple objects
  
• re-stating what has been said
  
• expressing purpose, cause and result, and giving reasons

The above functions appear in different parts of the Speaking test. To find out which parts, do the Functions and Notions Activity.

Communicating Effectively
From the second set of statements it is clear that accuracy is not the only, or even the main criteria for successful speaking at this level. The ability to take turns in a conversation, show interest in the people we are speaking with and structure what we want to say so that we can be understood are equally important. PET candidates are awarded marks for these skills under the assessment scales of Interactive Communication and Discourse Management. The ideas that underpin these two criterion are often applicable to people speaking in their own native language.The How do you do that in English? activity will give your students practice in using skills that they already have in their own language when they speak English.

Pronunciation
As the statements make clear, students at this level are not expected to have perfect pronunciation. However, they do need to be able to make themselves understood and they should be given pronunciation practice. Whenever new vocabulary is taught, the pronunciation should be taught along with the meaning of the word. Students should know how to find out the pronunciation of unknown words by using their learner's dictionaries. Most good EFL and ESOL coursebooks have sections on pronunciation with cassette recordings and these can be very useful as a model.

Speaking English in the Classroom
As with any skill in English, speaking is just one part of a much bigger whole. The approach recommended here is that Speaking should be integrated with the other skills. Try to always use English as the language of instruction in your classroom and encourage your students to speak in English from the moment they walk into the room. Encourage students, when they are working together in class, whether doing grammar exercises or checking their answers to a reading comprehension test, to use English throughout. Of course, speaking English outside the classroom is also important and learners should see the value of speaking to each other in English.

Learning Styles
Some learners feel happy speaking in English from the first moment they start learning it, others prefer to wait until they think they are not going to make too many mistakes. As teachers, we have to respect the learners' feelings. However, we can be responsible for the learning environment and gently persuade our students that making mistakes is part of learning and that effective communication can take place even if the speaker uses the wrong tense or selects the wrong word. One of the ways of providing a supportive environment, where it is safe to make mistakes, is by correcting and giving feedback in a sensitive way.

Mistakes
Students are often embarrassed by their mistakes and see them as unacceptable. This belief can hinder their progress and make them unwilling to speak, so they need to be reassured that making mistakes is ok. Mistakes are part of the learning process and are a useful way to monitor progress both for the teacher and the student. Students will often know when they have made a mistake so they should be encouraged to correct themselves. They should also be encouraged to help each other - correction does not always have to come from the teacher.