Fear Speaking In Public? – The Art Of Public Speaking For Those Who Do

by
No comments yet

Communication skills training, presentation skills courses and speaking training for public speakers are waiting for you on the internet.

  • Do you have a fear of public speaking?
  • Can you prepare a speech?
  • Do you want to improve your communication skills?
  • Are presentation skills training and communication training options for me?The fear of speaking in public is one of the most common of human conditions.  In most people public speaking opportunities makes them feel scared, if not, at the very least, nervous.  All too often people pay no attention to speaking skills considering them inconsequential or they believe that they will never be called on to speak in public.  At some time in everyone’s life they will be called upon to make a speech, give a presentation or just say a few words of congratulations, thanks, etc.  There are ways to make confident and wining speeches in front of large and small crowds of people.
    People often get tongue tied and panic when faced with the possibility of being asked to present a topic in public, even if they know this matter inside out.  Nothing will change if you do not act.  The best way to help you overcome that fear of public speakingis to acknowledge the communication problem and then deciding on strategies, including communication training and courses, which you will then put into practice.Good public speaking skills are not only used in situations where you have to address a large group of people, they are also a sign of good communication skills which are essential for any relationship, career and/or just being alive and involved in your local community.  Quality communication and public speaking skills are inter-related, hence, if you improve your speaking in public, you also invariably improve your interpersonal communication with your peers and family.

    So, how can you become a confident public speaker? Continue reading

New Informal Assessments For Speaking Skill

by
No comments yet

New informal assessments for speaking skill. As an English language learner, if you ask any teacher about the best way to learn the language, the majority of them would have a consensus over the importance of speaking activities and tasks. However, when it comes to teaching in an educational context, the speaking skill would seem to be the most ignored and under-estimated compared to the other skills. Teaching a language is not just loading the students’ minds with a number of theories or rules (that are often full of clashes, confusion and exceptions). It is rather teaching them how to interact with people who speak the language and how to put what they have learned into practice. Practicing the language is actually the main keyword as far as learning languages is concerned. According to the old system we had in the Language Centre (LC) in 1997, public speaking was not really given much emphasis due to the fact that it was not included in the overall assessment. Assessing speaking might have been referred to as assessing participation in the class activities (and assigned 2 marks out of the total grade which was 100) but there was no testing events included for it (be they formal or informal test).

It was only after the new (current) system was adopted in 2000 that the assessment of speaking skill has become a must. Ever since, assessing speaking has taken different formats (prepared presentations, informal chatting with the teacher…etc) till it has reached its current shape. The present format of the speaking test in level 6 (the Exit level), has evolved from its first inclusion in the End-of-block in Fall 2000 and the reason for its inclusion was to provide students with a more comprehensive exposure  to and practice with all the major language skills, particularly speaking. In this paper, I will present some new informal assessment tools and rubrics I have specifically designed to assess the speaking skill in my own context (at level 6 which is the Exit level) and these are an informal speaking test and a presentation. A brief description of the situation (learning methods, students’ abilities, available resources…etc) will be given so as to provide a rationale for the newly designed tools. Moreover, some samples of assessment criteria and rubrics will be provided and explained. Finally, recommendations about the use of these kinds of assessment will be highlighted so as to enable other teachers (who are interested in using these tools) to use them properly.

1. Learning Goals

For us to understand the efficiency of the new informal assessments and to come up with evaluative or judgmental thoughts about them, it would really be good to go over both, the objectives of these informal assessments and the general objectives of teaching speaking claimed by the Intensive English Language Program (IELP) in the Language Centre. According to the IELP curriculum document, there is a number of general objectives for the teaching of speaking skills in the Language Centre. At the end of the IELP, students will be able to do the following:

How to speak English fluently ?

by
No comments yet

You always dreamed of speaking fluent English just like other million people around the globe but that remained only a dream ! You know English, but when you speak, your pronunciation sounds strange or you stammer while speaking. Have you ever wondered what’s the root cause of the above problem? The answer might surprise you! The biggest problem is speaking English fluently & confidently without any hesitation. As we all know, English is a globally accepted universal language & the ability to speak it well is absolutely crucial in today’s global economy. English is a language that has aspects of other languages in it as well, making it easier to learn and follow the language. So it is super essential to speak English fluently for communication in any part of the world, because it is communication that is holding the world together. Imagine if your weak in it, then how can you survive in this highly competitive globe. More and more people are trying to learn and improve their English speaking skills. Speaking English fluently can bring you many opportunities, not only in career but also a chance of interacting with other people, who speak English across the world.

Many people say that the English language is one of the hardest to learn. But the truth is it is not at all difficult. Infact learning English can be fun & easy task if you put your mind into it. Also, to speak English fluently, you have to say goodbye to your fear & hesitation, then only will you be able to speak English fluently & confidently just like a native speaker. When learning how to speak English fluently, just remember how you learnt to speak when you were a child. You simply uttered words imperfectly & used to imitate whatever sounds were produced around you. Same is the case with learning to speak fluent English.

You might have seen a person having a good grasp of the English language impressing everyone. To speak English fluently means you should be able to pronounce words properly and with a correct vocabulary. When you talk to someone who is fluent in English, it is no surprise that you’ll be impressed with that person. So if you wish to speak English flawlessly like a native, here are some efficient tips on how to speak English fluently :-

  • Focus on actually conversing rather than just memorizing grammatical rules. To speak good English, you need to focus on conversing in English as much as possible.
  • Look out for people who speak English. Converse with them. Don’t be afraid of making mistakes. Ask your friends or relatives or teachers, who know better English, to correct you, In this way you will learn correct English. Continue reading