UNIT 8 SPEAKING

Since we know there are four skills in English language, Listening, Reading, Speaking, and Writing, we also know that Listening and Reading are receptive skills and, Writing and Speaking are productive skills. All these skills are very important at the moment to teach and learn English. Speaking is a productive skills due to it makes the learners to produce the language instead of receiving it. This skill also makes the learners to use the speech to communicate meanings to other people. Differently from other skills like Writing or Reading, in Speaking we don't use to plan what we are about to say (Cohen 1996), neither to use the language in an accurate way, but we just do in the way we feel we are ready to do it, because it also involves body language, intonation and facial gestures.  For example, when a teenager wants to greet to his friends, that teenager may use an informal and inaccurate way: How you doing? or to do it in an accurate way : Hello, how are you?; or also when a sales person says May I help you?, expecting an answer for a need (Burns 1997)

As English teacher, I keep in mind the productivity of this skill. Which means that all what I have taught to my students they will show and produce that content using the speaking skill, and now I also realized that the purpose of Speaking is to communicate meaning, also that meaning involves grammar, vocabulary, accuracy and fluency. However even if the person, or my student, who is communicating, doesn't use the correct grammar structure, the meaning has to be understood by the other person, and as teacher, now I keep in mind the importance of the Speaking purpose.

References: 

Brown, H. (1994) Teaching by principles; An interactive approach to pedagogy.

Cohen, A. (1996) Developing the ability to perform speech acts.

Burns, A. (1997) Focus on Speaking.

http://area.dge.mec.pt/gramatica/whatspeakingis.htm

https://www.skillsyouneed.com/ips/effective-speaking.html