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Home > AP Courses and Exams > Course Home Pages > Improving Speaking Skills in the Language Classroom

Improving Speaking Skills in the Language Classroom

by Janie Barner
Rochester Adams High School
Rochester Hills, Michigan

Encouraging Fluency Through Daily Practice
I am always amazed when I hear people claim to be fluent in a language after a short exposure either in a class or in a country in which the target language is spoken. Anyone who has made a serious attempt to learn to speak a language knows that it takes diligence and practice to become an able speaker, one who can converse easily with native speakers. For too long, our profession has been about talking about the language and not in the language. A world language teacher who does not require the target language to be spoken in class is like an athletic coach who never actually lets the players play the game but just constantly reviews the rules. If you are serious about improving your students' oral skills for the speaking section of the AP Exam, and you are aiming at fluency, the sports analogy just might make it clear how to go about reaching that goal. It takes constant practice, with guided drills and activities using the language, to improve speaking skills. Think back to your days of after-school practice, whatever the sport was. The coach had a serious plan for each day, with activities designed for the athletes to improve different skills. The coach would guide and show the athletes how to improve their performance. This should be the role of the language teacher -- always engaged, always providing activities that will challenge the students to improve.

Preparing students to be ready for the speaking part of the AP Exam is not a task that you can accomplish in a semester or a year. It is a process that begins as soon as students begin learning the language. No good coach would ever presume to talk about the big game for years but delay actually playing the sport until just before that game. It's the same for a language -- your students must use the language to learn it. Your job as coach is to guide them from the beginning, modeling the language and creating activities that will let them learn at a rate at which they can be successful. This does not mean that students recite random words or sentences throughout the lesson; it means that you have planned the class and that students are "playing" the game, i.e., using the language at all times in your classes. This is how you prepare them for success on the speaking part of the AP Exam for your language. 

Most teachers probably agree with the idea that students need to use the language; however, the hard part begins when you actually want to implement this. How do you guide the students in using the language? How do you build a program in which the students will not only use the language but also learn to be proficient enough to do well on the speaking section of the AP Exam? 

My own experience with these questions started about 15 years ago. As a second-year teacher, I inherited the AP German program at a suburban high school in Michigan. At that time there was a combined class of four German 5 students and about twenty German 4 students. Fifteen years later we have 75 students in our AP German program, and last year we had a passing rate of over 90 percent for the 50 students in German 5 who took the AP Exam (with class sizes of 35 and more). During the last 15 years, I feel that I have become just a little smarter each year about how to help students reach the goal of success on the AP Exam. Maybe my tips can help jump-start your program, or reenergize you to take a look at your own lesson planning! 

An "English-Free" Classroom
Because I was the only German teacher at the school, I was able to develop the program the way I wished. I believe that, starting at level 3, students should be required to speak only the target language in the classroom, including student-to-student interactions. I would venture a guess that many AP teachers use the target language with the students but do not require the room to be an English-free zone. I believe the language learner must be immersed in the usage of the language, and creating an atmosphere where English is not allowed will encourage and motivate the students to become better speakers. Teachers must use the great motivator -- yes, grades -- to make this happen. I write my students' names on magnets, which I place on the wall in a seating arrangement, and I change their seats every three to four weeks. This means that they work with different partners all the time and learn to feel comfortable talking with a variety of people. At the end of each partner period, the students grade themselves in three categories, which include partner work and warm-up activities, participation in the lesson, and usage of the language. Students evaluate their own performance and turn in their grades. I then reevaluate their grades based on my own notes and observations of them throughout the period, making any necessary comments on the sheets and returning them to the students. Over the course of a quarter, the students will do this several times, making these grades very important for their overall grade. Students will get the message that speaking and participation are important in your language classroom, and you will have reinforced this message with the points to prove it. 

The categories I have worked with and tried to refine over the years are designed to encourage students to get involved in a nonthreatening setting. The first category, "Partner Work and Warm-Up Activities," is evaluated based on their work with their partner during the daily warm-up questions and the lessons. I have found that the students grade themselves quite fairly in this section and have a real sense of whether or not they are doing well in this category. This method fosters a sense of mentoring in the classroom; the stronger partner will often tutor the other student throughout the lesson. It is also a way of giving the students a chance to interact with each other in different ways. Students with solid skills may help their weaker partners, or two strong students can use the time to really run with their skills. 

Category 1: Partner Work and Warm-Up Activities 


5 Excellent, on task all of the time, go beyond, work well with partner on all activities

4 On task most of the time, but don't do anything extra

3 Generally on task, some lapses

2 Do the activities with your partner, but quickly finish and don't use the rest of the time

1 Off task often, not very motivated, need prompting

For the teacher to fill out:

_____ (-) If your partner is absent, you do not join in with another group. 

_____ (-) You wrote down a different grade than your partner did. 

_____ (+) You really went beyond expectations and set the standards for the other partners (best partners!). 

The second category is labeled "Participation in the Lesson." A language classroom tends to be a lively place, especially if the language coach has designed activities that allow the students to speak and practice with their partners. I design grammar and vocabulary activities that give students the chance to first practice with their partners, then volunteer answers as a group, and finally answer individually. This creates a nonthreatening atmosphere, and students have the opportunity to say and practice their answers several times. Their participation in the lesson is then evaluated according to the following rubric. 

Category 2: Participation in the Lesson


5 Very good

4 Good -- Volunteering, raising your hand

3 Average -- Need more effort, active participation in the daily lesson

2 Poor -- Little effort shown, active role when asked to recite vocabulary and parts of lesson

0-1 Don't join in

For the teacher to fill out:

_____ (-) Your classroom performance interrupts and/or distracts from the lesson. 

_____ (+) Your classroom performance adds to the lesson. 

The final category is the students' use of the language, which is crucial to developing the their speaking skills. For German 3 students, I start this category with 5 points and then gradually increase this as students begin to feel more comfortable. For German 4 and 5, which are both designated AP at our school, this category is worth 20 points.

Category 3: Language Usage for Level 3 


5 You try to use German whenever possible; you don't need any reminders.

4 You're using some German, needing a few reminders.

3 You're using some German, needing more reminders.

2 You're still using mainly English.

0-1 You're using almost only English, rarely German, and you use German only when prompted.

Category 3: Language Usage for Levels 4 and 5


20 You speak German at all times during the hour; you never need a reminder even if you know the teacher can't hear you (no yellow or red cards).

19 You use almost all German, but you had a tiny slip now and then (1 yellow, 0 red).

18 You use mainly German, but you had a few slips (2 yellow, 0 red).

16-17 You use mainly German, but you had more slips (3 to 4 yellow, 1 red).

15 You use German, but you speak English sometimes with your friends, or in the hallway, on the way to the lab, or when the teacher can't hear you (3 to 4 yellow, 2 red).

10-14 You use German, but you mix in English frequently, or you do not speak much (multiple yellow, multiple red).

0-10 You are an English-speaking catastrophe, or you rarely speak (multiple yellow, multiple red).

For the teacher to fill out:

_____ (-) Your language usage brings down the attitude and atmosphere of the classroom.

_____ (-) You could not fill out this paper properly.

_____ (+) You encourage and help others to do well in this category.

_____ (+) You make an active, concentrated effort to use upper-level grammar when speaking.

Of course, enforcing this rule is a continual battle, but one worth fighting. Depending on the group, the teacher must be constantly vigilant to ensure that students are complying with the language requirement. When they slip, they need a tangible reminder, and I do this with the aid of yellow and red cards, a technique used in soccer. The first offense during an hour merits a yellow card, the second a red, and so on. I keep a list of the names handy and make a check for any cards I have given. I refer to this list at the end when I'm checking their language grades. It really is not that much extra work, and once the students buy into your program, you will hear far less English being spoken in the classroom.

This is certainly not the only method teachers can use to get students speaking the target language regularly, but it is the one that works best for me. As language teachers, we are faced with unique challenges. One of the most difficult ones is the task of getting a classroom of students to actually use the language. Our number one priority must be to ensure that our students can understand and communicate in the language. We owe it to our students to make this a standard in the language classroom, rather than an oddity.

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