- How teachers can help beginner students speak more
How teachers can help beginner students speak more English
Students may have English lessons at school, but this does not always mean that they can speak English well.
They may know some words and some grammar. They may understand the teacher. But when the teacher asks them to speak, they may be quiet.
This is very common with young English learners.
They may be afraid of making mistakes. They may not know what to say. They may be shy in front of other students.
The teacher can help them.
The most important thing is to make English speaking easy, safe, and fun.
1. First, make students feel safe
Some students know the answer but do not want to speak.
They may think:
“My English is bad.”
“I will make a mistake.”
“The other students may laugh.”
“I don’t know the right word.”
The teacher should help students feel safe.
Do not say:
“No, that is wrong.”
It is better to say:
“Good try.”
“Try again.”
“Almost right.”
“Very good. One small change.”
The teacher can also say:
“It is OK to make mistakes.”
“We are here to learn.”
“You do not need perfect English.”
Students should learn one important idea:
Mistakes are OK. Try to speak.
2. Let students speak more than the teacher
Sometimes the teacher speaks for most of the lesson.
For example:
Teacher: “What did you do yesterday?”
Teacher: “Did you go to school?”
Teacher: “Did you play football?”
The students only say:
“Yes.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
They are not speaking very much.
Instead, give students a question and let them ask each other.
For example:
Student A: “What did you do yesterday?”
Student B: “I went to school.”
Student A: “What did you do after school?”
Student B: “I played football.”
Now both students speak.
The teacher does not need to speak all the time.
The teacher gives the work. The students do the speaking.
3. Start with easy questions
Do not start with difficult questions.
For example:
“What do you think about your future?”
This can be very difficult for a beginner.
The student has to think about the answer and the English at the same time.
Start with easy questions.
Easy questions
“What is your name?”
“Where do you live?”
“How old are you?”
“What do you like?”
“What is your favourite food?”
Then make the questions a little longer.
“What do you do after school?”
“What do you do at the weekend?”
“What do you want to do in the future?”
Students can slowly move from short answers to longer answers.
4. Teach the words before asking students to speak
Do not ask students to speak about a topic if they do not know the words.
For example, before talking about food, write these words on the board:
rice – chicken – fish – vegetables – noodles – soup – fruit – water
Then teach some useful sentences:
“I like rice.”
“I like chicken.”
“My favourite food is fish.”
“I don’t like soup.”
Now students have some words and sentences to use.
A good order is:
Words → example → practice → speaking
This makes speaking much easier.
5. Give students sentence examples
Beginners often need help to make a sentence.
Give them a sentence and let them change one part.
Write:
I like ______ because ______.
Give some examples:
“I like football because it is fun.”
“I like English because it is interesting.”
“I like music because it is nice.”
Students can then make their own sentences.
Another example:
I usually ______ after school.
“I usually play football after school.”
“I usually go home after school.”
“I usually help my mother after school.”
Students do not have to make the whole sentence alone.
They can use the example and change it.
This gives them more confidence.
6. Let students speak to a partner first
A shy student may not want to speak in front of the whole class.
But the student may be happy to speak to one friend.
So use this order:
Think → speak to a friend → speak to a small group → speak to the class
For example, ask:
“What do you do at the weekend?”
First, give students some time to think.
Then Student A asks Student B:
“What do you do at the weekend?”
Student B answers:
“I play football.”
Then they change roles.
After this, ask a few students to tell the class about their partner.
This is easier than asking one shy student to stand in front of everyone and speak.
7. Give students a reason to ask questions
Students speak more when they need an answer from another student.
For example, Student A has this table:
| Name | Favourite food | Favourite sport |
|---|---|---|
| Rina | ? | football |
| Budi | noodles | ? |
| Siti | ? | badminton |
Student A needs to ask another student.
“What is Rina’s favourite food?”
The other student has the answer.
“Her favourite food is rice.”
Then the students change roles.
This is useful because students have a real reason to speak.
They are not only saying sentences from the book.
They are asking for information.
8. Talk about things students know
Students usually speak better when they know the subject.
Good subjects are:
- family
- school
- friends
- food
- sports
- music
- animals
- their town
- their village
- daily life
- weekends
- holidays
- things they like
For example:
“How many people are in your family?”
“What is your favourite food?”
“How do you go to school?”
“What time do you get up?”
“What do you do after school?”
Students already know the answers.
They only need the English.
This is much easier than asking them to speak about a subject they do not know well.
9. Use Indonesian when students need help
The main goal is to use English.
But sometimes students do not understand the teacher’s instructions.
It is OK to use some Indonesian to explain the activity.
For example:
“Sekarang tanya temanmu. Ask your friend: What is your favourite food?”
Then continue in English:
“Now ask your friend.”
Do not spend a long time speaking difficult English when students do not understand.
A short explanation in Indonesian can help.
Then go back to English.
The important thing is that students get more time to speak English.
10. Do not laugh at pronunciation mistakes
Students can feel shy about their pronunciation.
If a student says:
“I like fotball.”
Do not laugh.
Do not make the student feel bad.
Simply say:
“Good. Football.”
The student can repeat:
“Football.”
Teacher:
“Very good.”
The student learns the better pronunciation, but does not feel bad.
Other students should also learn:
We do not laugh when someone makes a mistake.
11. Do not correct every mistake
Students need to speak freely.
If the teacher stops them after every mistake, they may become afraid to speak.
For example, a student says:
“Yesterday I go to school and I see my friend and we play football.”
The teacher does not need to stop the student many times.
The student is trying to tell a story.
Later, the teacher can say:
“Yesterday: I went to school.”
The class can repeat:
“I went to school.”
The teacher should choose the most important mistakes.
Do not correct everything.
First, help students speak.
Then help them speak better.
12. Praise students when they try
Do not praise only students with very good English.
Praise students who try to speak.
The teacher can say:
“Good try!”
“Well done!”
“Good answer!”
“Very good!”
“Nice!”
“Good question!”
“Good speaking!”
“You are getting better.”
“Thank you for trying.”
This is important.
Students need to feel:
“My teacher wants me to speak.”
If students feel good when they speak, they will want to speak again.
13. Give quiet students small successes
Some students speak very easily.
Other students need more time.
Do not always choose the students with the best English.
Give quiet students easy questions.
For example:
“What is your favourite colour?”
The student says:
“Blue.”
Teacher:
“Good!”
Then ask:
“Do you like football?”
Student:
“Yes, I do.”
Teacher:
“Very good!”
Later, ask:
“Who is your favourite football player?”
The student slowly becomes more comfortable.
Small successes can give students more confidence.
14. Make mistakes a normal part of the lesson
The teacher can tell students:
“Today we can make mistakes.”
Write on the board:
MISTAKES ARE OK
Then say:
“If you make a mistake, try again.”
You can make some simple class rules:
Our English rules
- Try to speak English.
- Do not laugh at mistakes.
- Help your friends.
- Ask when you do not understand.
- Everybody speaks.
These rules can help students feel safe.
15. Use games that make students speak
Games can make speaking more fun.
But the game should give students a reason to speak English.
For example:
Find someone who…
Write:
- likes football
- has a cat
- likes spicy food
- has a brother
- rides a bicycle to school
- likes English
Students walk around the classroom.
They ask:
“Do you like football?”
The other student says:
“Yes, I do.”
Then they ask another question:
“Do you have a cat?”
“No, I don’t.”
Students speak to many classmates.
The game is fun, but they are also practising English.
16. Use short speaking activities
Do not make one speaking activity too long.
For beginners, five minutes of speaking can be very useful.
For example:
5 minutes – Greetings
Students ask:
“How are you?”
5 minutes – Questions
Students ask:
“Where do you live?”
10 minutes – Pair work
Students ask:
“What do you like?”
10 minutes – Speaking game
Students ask classmates questions.
5 minutes – Class speaking
Some students tell the class about their friend.
Students get many chances to speak.
17. Use the same English many times
Beginners need to hear and use the same English many times.
For example, teach:
“What do you like?”
“I like ______.”
On one day, ask:
“What food do you like?”
Another day:
“What sport do you like?”
Another day:
“What music do you like?”
Another day:
“What animals do you like?”
The question is almost the same.
Only the subject changes.
This helps students remember the English.
After some time, they can use the sentence more easily.
18. Let students ask questions too
Speaking should not always be:
Teacher → Student
It should also be:
Student → Student
For example:
Student A:
“What is your favourite food?”
Student B:
“My favourite food is fried rice.”
Then Student B asks:
“What is your favourite food?”
Student A answers.
Later, make it a little more difficult.
Student A:
“Why do you like it?”
Student B:
“Because it is delicious.”
Now the students are having a short conversation.
19. Give students time to think
When you ask a beginner a question, do not expect an answer immediately.
The student may need time.
Wait for a few seconds.
You can say:
“Take your time.”
“Think first.”
“It is OK. Try.”
If the student still cannot answer, give two choices.
For example:
“Do you like football or badminton?”
The student can answer:
“I like badminton.”
This is easier.
Later, ask the same student:
“Why do you like badminton?”
The student may now be able to give a longer answer.
20. Help students make longer answers
Do not expect a beginner to give a long answer immediately.
Start with one word.
Teacher:
“What food do you like?”
Student:
“Noodles.”
Then ask:
“Why?”
Student:
“It is delicious.”
Then ask:
“When do you eat noodles?”
Student:
“I eat noodles for breakfast.”
The student has moved from:
one word → one sentence → several sentences
This is a good way to help beginners speak more.
21. The teacher’s behaviour is very important
Students watch the teacher.
If the teacher looks unhappy when students make mistakes, students may become afraid.
If the teacher smiles and says:
“Good try!”
students learn that speaking is safe.
The teacher should be:
- patient
- friendly
- positive
- clear
The teacher should not make students feel that English is a test all the time.
The classroom should be a place where students can:
try English, make mistakes, learn, and try again.
22. A simple speaking lesson
A 45–60 minute lesson can look like this.
1. Warm-up – 5 minutes
Teacher:
“Good morning! How are you?”
Students ask and answer each other.
2. New words – 10 minutes
Teach 6–8 useful words.
3. Sentence example – 5 minutes
Write:
I like ______ because ______.
Give some examples.
4. Pair work – 10 minutes
Students ask and answer questions.
5. Speaking game – 10 minutes
Students speak to different classmates.
6. Class speaking – 5 minutes
Some students tell the class something about their partner.
7. Finish the lesson – 5 minutes
The teacher says:
“Today you spoke English very well.”
“You made some mistakes, but you tried.”
“Good work today.”
“Next lesson, we will speak more.”
Students should leave the classroom with a good feeling.
They should think:
“I can speak some English.”
That feeling is very important.
The most important idea for the teacher
Do not wait until students have very good English before asking them to speak.
They learn to speak by speaking.
Give them many small chances:
easy question → short answer → praise → another question → pair work → more practice → longer answer
A student may first answer:
“Yes.”
Later, the same student may say:
“Yes, I do. I like football because it is fun.”
That is good progress.
The teacher does not need to make every lesson difficult.
The teacher needs to make students want to try.
Remember:
Make it easy.
Let them try.
Do not laugh at mistakes.
Help them when they need it.
Praise their effort.
Let them speak again.
Give every student a chance.
When students feel safe and successful, they will slowly speak more English.
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