The following activities are from New Ways in Teaching Speaking, Second Edition, edited by Julie Vorholt.

Creating Mini–TED Talks to Increase Speaking Fluency
Contributed by Zuzana Tomaš

Levels: Intermediate to advanced
Aims: Improve oral summarizing skills; practice speaking fluency; learn new vocabulary
Class Time: 45 minutes–1 hour
Preparation Time: 0–90 minutes
Resources: Access to TED Talks

This activity revolves around TED Talks (www.ted.com). These online talks range from relatively informal, high-interest stories to highly academic, lecture-like presentations and are easily accessible online. Because of the large variety of topics and high-interest content, TED Talks have been shown to motivate second language learners (DaVia Rubenstein, 2012). Though TED Talks lend themselves to a large range of activities, this activity has been designed to help students with increasing fluency in oral summaries—a valuable skill in various social (e.g., personal introductions, small talk) and academic (e.g., article or lecture summaries) tasks.

PROCEDURE

1. Guide students to select a TED Talk that they find engaging and accessible.

2. Ask them to watch the selected TED Talk three times. The first time, they should watch it for main ideas and general understanding. The second time, they should take notes to guide their subsequent summarizing. The third time, they should pause and take notes on useful language that they plan to use in their summarized versions of the talks. (Note: Direct copying is acceptable in this task; students can learn and use the exact vocabulary and/or phrases used in the original talks. You may require that students give credit to the original source and acknowledge that they have copied language chunks in their mini-talks.)

3. At home, students practice preparing mini–TED Talks of 2–4 minutes in length; they are based on the original talks. In class, they present to each other in small groups of three or four. To provide further fluency practice, students can then be encouraged to present their talks to the whole class, thus totaling three to four total repetitions, which is a prerequisite for fluency practice.

4. The activity may end there or be extended by focusing on more general speaking skills. Encourage students to relate different ideas from TED Talks to their own lives in group or class discussions.

CAVEATS AND OPTIONS

1. To save on preparation time, students can select the TED Talks.

2. To support students who may be anxious about continuous speech in front of peers, model the task, have students first present to you, or shorten the expected mini-talks.

3. Students can be challenged to teach a limited number of useful expressions from their TED Talks to their peers, following their presentations.

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and the references (PDF)

Google Earth Field Trip
Contributed by Emma Tudor

Levels: All
Aims: Practice using adjectives and comparatives 
Class Time: 15–20 minutes
Preparation Time: 5 minutes
Resources: Internet and projector with screen; Laptop, tablet, or phone with internet (1 per pair of students) 

Bringing the outside world into the classroom with the use of Google Earth maps adds relevance to the class. Students can explore their home city as well as their classmates’ or take a virtual tour around national parks, the International Space Station, volcanoes, oceans, and more. Students describe and compare different locations as they explore the area, practicing their speaking fluency skills and grammatical accuracy of adjectives and comparisons.

PROCEDURE

1. Choose a location on Google Earth that will engage and interest your students (e.g., the city you are in or a World Heritage Site). Display the image on the board/screen and explore the area on Google Earth. An option is to ask students which direction they want to go in by calling out directions to lead you to where they want to explore. As you explore the area, elicit some adjectives from students to describe the location and note these on the board.

2. Choose a second location on Google Earth that contrasts to the first location and explore the area. Elicit more adjectives from students to describe the new location and note these on the board.

3. Ask students to make comparisons of the two places, using comparatives. Note these sentences on the board or invite students to do so.

4. Put students into pairs or groups of three. Give them a device (laptop/tablet/phone, etc.) linked to the internet to share. Ask each pair or group to choose two or three locations in the world they would like to explore.

5. Tell the students to go to Google Earth and explore their first chosen location, describing the area using adjectives, and then go their second location, describing the area using adjectives as well as comparatives to the first location. While students are speaking, monitor and make notes of any errors they are making; do not address them at this time.

6. Once students have described and compared their locations, address any accuracy errors you heard while monitoring. Write the incorrect utterances on the board and invite students to come to the board to correct them.

7. Repeat the activity by mixing up the pairs/groups and choosing different locations. As students speak, their accuracy using adjectives and comparatives should improve as they address their previous errors.

CAVEATS AND OPTIONS

1. To ensure a wide range of adjectives are used and comparisons are possible, encourage students to choose locations that are very different.

2. If students find it challenging to choose which locations to explore, offer suggestions, such as students’ home cities or options from the Google Earth gallery (e.g., a World Heritage Site, an ocean, or the International Space Station).

3. The locations chosen need to be viewable from the Google Earth street view to allow for a realistic and in-depth exploration, as some Google Earth images are only photographed from above. If a student chooses a location without street view, encourage them to pick a different location.

4. An alternative option to Google Earth is to use live webcams or virtual field trips that are offered online.

5. To expand the activity, students could plan a scavenger hunt around the location using directions to navigate through the area.

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These activities may be reproduced for educational purposes only.
©2019 TESOL International Association.