Speaking in an ESL context
Why is speaking so challenging in an ESL context? Explore how speaking is taught, which activities help, and why learners often lack confidence.
In this lesson
Speaking in an ESL context means using English as a second language to build and share meaning with other people in real time. Because speaking is interactive and usually happens face to face, many learners find it the hardest skill to develop. Limited practice outside the classroom and low confidence often make it even more difficult.
What is speaking?
Speaking is “the process of building and sharing meaning through the use of verbal and non-verbal symbols, in a variety of contexts” (Chaney, 1998, p. 13). Unlike listening, reading or writing, it is an interactive process, because it requires the involvement of another person.
Bygate (1987, p. 18) makes a similar point: speaking is not only about producing utterances. It is the complete process of constructing meaning, producing utterances, and receiving and processing information with confidence.
How has the teaching of speaking changed?
In the early 1970s, “speaking” in the classroom was generally understood as repeating after the teacher, memorising a dialogue or responding to drills. This reflected the sentence-based view of language proficiency in the audio-lingual method and other methods based on drills and repetition.
According to Richards and Rodgers (2014, p. 63), the emergence of communicative language teaching in the 1980s changed views of both the syllabus and teaching methodology, and these changes still shape the teaching of speaking today. Grammar-based syllabuses were replaced by communicative syllabuses built around notions, functions, skills, tasks and other non-grammatical units. As a result, the aim of teaching speaking shifted. Teachers began to focus on improving students’ ability to express themselves and on making them aware of the social and cultural rules that suit different communicative situations.
Which activities help learners to practise speaking?
Communicative teaching materials include group work, information-gap activities, role plays and improvisation. These activities give learners chances to practise, to share and obtain information, and to carry out real-world transactions. Richards (2016, p. 43) adds activities such as ranking, values clarification, brainstorming and simulations.
Tip
An information-gap activity works because each speaker has information the other person needs. You can try one at home: describe a picture to a friend, who must draw it without seeing the original.
Why is speaking difficult for ESL learners?
Luoma (2004, p. 1) points out that a person’s speaking ability is usually judged during a face-to-face interaction, in real time, between an interlocutor and a candidate. This makes speaking a demanding skill, and it gives speaking a distinct role in the language teaching curriculum.
Teachers find it challenging too. Nazara (2011) notes that many teachers see speaking as the most difficult skill to practise, because it is an interactive process that requires the ability to cooperate in managing turn-taking. Why speaking matters so much, despite these difficulties, is discussed in our essay on speaking as a skill around the globe.
Why do ESL learners often lack confidence when speaking?
Apart from the challenges of developing the skill itself, students’ confidence in speaking has become an area of concern in the ESL context. In many ESL settings, students have few chances to speak English, and their exposure to an English-speaking environment is limited. First, many ESL learners do not use English in their day-to-day lives. Second, their opportunities to use the language in real communication are limited. As a result, Nazara (2011) observes that learners have few opportunities to put into practice what they have learned in the classroom. When they speak English in class, ESL learners therefore often show a lower level of confidence.
Krashen (1985), in his Affective Filter Hypothesis, states that low motivation, low self-esteem and debilitating anxiety “raise” the affective filter. This forms a mental block that prevents comprehensible input from being used for acquisition. Richards (2016, p. 64) similarly lists culture, anxiety, fear of how classmates will react and transfer from the first language (L1) as factors that strongly affect learners’ willingness to take part in oral communication. The influence of the first language is explored further in our essay on mother tongue vs second language.
For these reasons, the lack of confidence in speaking the target language has become a crucial issue in the ESL context. Clear goals can help: the Council of Europe’s CEFR level descriptions show what learners can do at each level, which makes progress in speaking easier to see. You can check your own level with our English level test.
Summary
- Speaking is an interactive process of building and sharing meaning with other people.
- Teaching moved from drills and repetition in the 1970s to communicative language teaching in the 1980s.
- Group work, information gaps and role plays give learners real reasons to speak.
- ESL learners often have limited exposure to English outside the classroom.
- Anxiety, low motivation and low self-esteem can block acquisition and reduce confidence.
Frequently asked questions
What does ESL mean?
ESL stands for English as a Second Language. It describes learning and using English by people whose first language is a different language.
What is the affective filter?
The affective filter is an idea from Stephen Krashen. It suggests that negative feelings, such as anxiety or low self-esteem, act like a mental block that stops learners from acquiring the language they hear.
How can ESL learners become more confident speakers?
Regular, low-pressure practice helps most. Speaking in pairs or small groups, using English outside the classroom and preparing key phrases before you speak can all reduce anxiety.
What is communicative language teaching?
Communicative language teaching is an approach that focuses on using language for real communication. Instead of only practising grammar, learners take part in tasks such as role plays and discussions.
References
- Bygate, M. (1987). Speaking. Oxford University Press.
- Chaney, A. L. (1998). Teaching oral communication in grades K-8.
- Krashen, S. (1997). The comprehension hypothesis: Recent evidence. English Teachers’ Journal (Israel), 17-29.
- Luoma, S. (2004). Assessing speaking. Ernst Klett Sprachen.
- Nazara, S. (2011). Students’ perception on EFL speaking skill development. JET (Journal of English Teaching), 1(1), 28-43.
- Richards, J. C., & Rodgers, T. S. (2014). Approaches and methods in language teaching. Cambridge University Press.
