Teaching the Core Skills of Listening and Speaking

Teaching the Core Skills of Listening and Speaking

How do you teach listening and speaking?

There are two ways to approach this question. The first is ina global,impersonal sense. The focus is procedure. Think of it assimilar to questions such as“How do you copy a paragraph in a MSWord document?” and”How do you find a common denominator?”Many of us could quickly rattle off the process for finding a com-mon denominator, but how many of us are prepared to describe theprocess for building strong oral communication? How do you teachlistening and speaking?

There are two ways to approach this question. The first is ina global,impersonal sense. The focus is procedure. Think of it assimilar to questions such as“How do you copy a paragraph in a MSWord document?” and”How do you find a common denominator?”Many of us could quickly rattle off the process for finding a com-mon denominator, but how many of us are prepared to describe theprocess for building strong oral communication? How do you teachlistening and speaking?

My sense is that when many teachers consider the question,their first thought is, “Well, you really don’t have to. Speaking? Mykids are always talkingl And teaching listening? we are always doingthat——always reminding them to sit still and be quiet.”But is thistrue? Are all of our students well spoken? Have they all mastered lis-tening to each other, entertaining diverse points of view, evaluatingevidence and supporting arguments, collaborating with others, andanalyzing the media they are exposed to daily? Do they all commu-nicate effectively in conversations, discussions, and presentations?Obviously not. Listening and speaking are skills, and like all skills,they can be improved significantly with deliberate instruction andpurposeful practice.