Oral Language Development Strategies

It is essential that teachers use effective ESL oral language strategies to help ESL students develop proficient speaking skills that will aid them in developing social skills, self-confidence, and help them establish a strong literacy foundation. In this blog, I will share three of my favorite oral language development strategies that have been very productive in my ESL classroom. I will share the steps of implementing these strategies, the target population, and the rationale and benefits of implementing these oral language strategies in an ESL classroom.

Strategy: Show and Tell

Target Population (The Stages of Second Language Acquisition): Early Production

Age: Young Language Learners

Setting: Small Group, Whole Group

Steps to Implement:

1. Teacher will ask students to bring in a favorite object to the classroom for Show and Tell.

2. Students will describe the object to their classmates and share why this object is meaningful in their lives.

3. Variations of Show and Tell can be done for older students. The teacher can place the object in a paper bag making it invisible for classmates. The owner of the object has the task of describing the object so that classmates can guess what is inside the bag.

4. Older students can take turns describing objects that are in their imagination or pictures.

Rationale and Benefits:

• By having students describe an object that is important to them, students are being engaged in a meaningful learning experience.

• Students use descriptive language.

• By guessing the object their classmate is describing, students are practicing critical thinking skills.

• Show and Tell benefits students by allowing them to use and further develop their speaking and listening skills.

• Students are also exposed to new vocabulary, proper pronunciation of these words, and have the opportunity to familiarize themselves with unfamiliar objects.

• Students will gain confidence in public speaking.

Strategy: Choral Reading

Target Population (The Stages of Second Language Acquisition): Early Production, Speech Emergence, Intermediate Fluency

Age: Younger and Middle Grade Learners

Setting: Small Group, Whole Group

Steps to Implement:

1. Teacher selects material that is age appropriate and in students’ zone of proximal development.

2. Teacher reads the material (book/story, poem, song) to students several times and shows them the words in the reading material.

3. Students practice by repeatedly reading the story before they perform it.

4. Students can brainstorm ways to act out or pantomime the actions in the story.

5. Students read the story aloud together and act out the actions.

Rationale and Benefits:

• By acting out the actions in the story coupled with choral reading, English language learners are reinforcing the meaning of the words and phrases in the story.

• Choral reading allows students to learn the intonation of English stories while improving their diction and fluency.

• It allows students to practice oral language in a low-anxiety environment.

• By reading together in unison students who are nervous or self-conscious about pronunciation can improve their self-esteem and confidence in their reading ability.

• Choral reading is very beneficial to English language learners because it helps them to expand vocabulary and practice oral language production.

Strategy: Dramatizing Poetry

Target Population (The Stages of Second Language Acquisition): Early Production, Speech Emergence, Intermediate Fluency

Age: All Learners (Grade K-12)

Setting: Pairs, Small Group, Whole Group

Steps to Implement:

1. Teacher is advised to select poems that are age appropriate but still express “strong emotions, attitudes, feelings, or opinions”.

2. Teacher reads poem aloud and models pronunciation, rhythm, and oral expression intonation, and stress.

3. Teacher copies the poem on chart paper and uses pictures to help students convey meaning.

4. Teacher discusses poem and makes sure that students understand the vocabulary in the poem.

5. Students read poem chorally.

6. Students prepare a “dramatic rendition” of the poem and presented to the class.

Rationale and Benefits:

• Students are exposed to correct English pronunciation, rhythm, intonation, stress, and oral expression.

• Students become familiar with new vocabulary and the meanings of these words are reinforced through “dramatic rendition”.

• The teacher facilitates vocabulary comprehension through the utilization of pictures.

• Students practice oral language development by chorally reading the poem and performing it for the class.

• Dramatizing Poetry does not only allow English language learners an opportunity to improve and further develop their oral language production, but to “connect” with the target language in a meaningful way.

Reference:

Peregoy, S.F., & Boyle, O.F. (2013). Reading, Writing, and Learning in ESL: A Resource Book for Teaching K-12 English Learners. (6th ed.) Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.