This document discusses teaching listening and speaking skills to ESL students. It notes that listening skills take a lot of practice to develop and should be taught through gradual exercises that increase in length and difficulty over time. Students may feel frustrated at first since listening is difficult, but regular short exercises can help them improve. Speaking is also an important skill that requires contextualized practice opportunities for students to personalize language, build confidence, and learn appropriate social and organizational elements.

1. Teaching Listening and
Speaking Skills in the ESL
classes
By Arundathie Abeysinghe
Lecturer in English
International Aviation Academy
SriLankan Airlines

2. Listening skills
• Teaching listening skills is a difficult task for
any ESL teacher
• Successful listening skills are acquired over
time
• Listening skills need lot of practice
• At times, it's frustrating for students
• There are no rules as in grammar teaching

3. What are the inhibitors?
• Often it is the mental block
• While listening, a student suddenly decides
that he or she does not understand what is
being said on the listening exercise
• Sometimes they get distracted by external
noises

4. How can students overcome their
inhibitors?
• Key to help students improve their listening
skills is to convince them that not
understanding is OK
• Majority of students do not understand during
the first few days
• Students need to listen to English as often as
possible
• Listen for short periods of time instead of long
listening exercises

5. Basics of exercises
• Take an example from life – you want to be
healthy and get in shape
• If you try to walk five kilometers on the first
you may not be able to do so
• But if you walk one kilometer on the first day
you will be successful
• On the second day walk two kilometers
• Gradually increase the distance you walk

6. Listening basics
• Listening is also a similar exercise
• Listen 5-10 minutes on the first day
• Gradually increase the time of listening
• Listening exercises should be given several times a
week
• Listen to a short conversation in a radio station or a
short educational tape
• Do not listen to a long lecture or conversation for a
long period of time
• If listening exercises are given several times a week
students will get used to them

7. Listening tips
• Listen to something you enjoy – a nice song,
an interesting talk
• Listen for key words - help you understand
general ideas, e.g. a trip to California – “ a trip
to California with my family last month”
• Listen for context – the situation explained
during the conversation

8. Speaking skills
• Speaking is the primary mode of
communication
• All humans learn to speak as part of their
natural biological development
• An important component of the language
teaching
• Speaking exercises are integral in the adoption
of another language

9. Components of a Speaking Exercise
• Contextualized practice - clear the link between
linguistic form and communicative function
• Opportunity to personalize language - students can
express their own ideas, feelings, preferences and
opinions
• An awareness of the social use of language -
appropriate social behavior and the language that
accompanies it
• Opportunity to build confidence - build ease and
confidence in students to produce language quickly
and automatically

10. Main features of speaking
• Importance of accuracy
• Predictable organization and sequencing
• Using correct pronunciation and grammar
• Creating an effect on the audience
• Using appropriate vocabulary
• Using an appropriate opening and closing

11. •Thank you!