Getting Students to Talk (?): Part 01/05

Simply by making noises with our mouths, we can reliably cause precise new combinations of ideas to arise in each other’s minds.

Steven Pinker – The Language Instinct.

Sometimes, it might be difficult to get students talking in class. There might be plenty of explanations for that: They may be too shy or they are not just in the right mood to talk and so on and so forth. (I am not going to make a long list here!)

I’m not writing this post as an attempt to find out an explanation for the question. I’m trying to suggest some alternatives instead. We may use such suggestion or not. It is up to you!

One thing we may take for granted: If your students do not talk in the classroom (language classes), that’s undoubtedly a huge problem! After all, they’re there to talk, aren’t they?

I am going to write some topics about How To Teach Speaking. They will basically be about things I have learnt and/or I belief about the topic.

I will not assume that they are really effective, but I think it is your job decide whether they are worth using of not.

Let’s start with the basic. Some people simply don’t like to talk about themselves and their lives! Why? Who cares? I don’t think they will tell you!

“But I’m teaching them an additional language. They are supposed to talk!”

Ok. Calm down. It doesn’t mean they won’t talk. It might just suggest that they won’t be willing to talk about themselves. Therefore, —simply put—, give them a new name. That’s right! Some students feel more comfortable when they don’t have to use their own names. Some of us just panic when we hear our teacher(s) calling our names!

Consider using this as an warmer:

There are a lot of options and you may use them in different moments.

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