If you ask a learner of English what they consider to be the most difficult thing to do in a foreign language, the answer will probably be: ‘to speak’. Speaking in a foreign language requires focusing on many skills and competences at the same time: selecting appropriate lexical items and grammatical constructions, following the correct intonation patterns and rules of pronunciation as well as keeping in mind sociocultural references and background. In the modern classroom, teachers try to allocate a significant amount of time for speaking practice and activities so each and every learner has an opportunity to contribute to the discussion in class. However, this time may seem to be not enough due to a large number of the learners, strict curricula and sillabi, tough schedules or mixed abilities of the learners in one class. That is why a speaking club becomes a solution here as it is fully devoted to speaking, may be quite flexible in topics and activities and provides all the participants with a chance to speak out as the time constraints are much looser than during a traditional lesson.
Conversation club participants and their motivation
If we talk about participants of a usual speaking club, we will mostly see people who are quite motivated and inspired as speaking clubs are often attended by someone who likes English and needs more practice. On the other hand, a high motivation to participate may bring about high expectations from a speaking club and its outcomes and takeaways. In order to live up to participants’ expectations, it makes sense to announce the level of language proficiency they will probably need to feel comfortable and contribute to a discussion freely and meaningfully before the meeting. Also, to implement a personalized approach while conducting a speaking club, a teacher or some other person who holds it needs to select the topic of the discussion quite carefully. Learners may feel a bit bored seeing such topics as ‘Travelling’, ‘Shopping’, ‘Leisure Time’, etc. The content of the discussion based on these topics can be really interesting and useful but as far as the title is the first thing a participant can read, it is vital to attract their attention with a non-trivial and intriguing phrase, for instance, ‘Inglorious Basterds – Villains in the Modern Cinema’.
Questions for discussion
Once the topic has been chosen and approved, it is high time the questions for the discussion were carefully made up. This step should not be neglected as a good discussion opens up with a good question. To ask good questions means to understand the audience, their needs, goals, background and language experience. Questions should provoke reasoning and contemplating, encourage exchange of ideas and opinions, and motivate to find the answers outside the classroom when the speaking club is over. If we ask participants ‘Do you like travelling?”, we will highly likely fail to spark their interest. If we slightly reformulate the statement as ‘Mass tourism – is it worth going to the sea in summer if everyone does?’, participants might come up with more answers and ideas as it sounds relevant to people who go and do not go to the sea equally so they all have something to share during the discussion.
Visual support
To allow participants to feel more comfortable and relaxed during the meeting, a teacher needs to think of the appropriate visual support. A nice and suitable picture can help to set the context of the upcoming discussion, generate learners’ interest, and create a positive and friendly atmosphere. Famous historical photos, posters and billboards may drop a hint about main aspects of the discussion and activate learners’ schemata.
Do we need rules?
Despite the fact that a speaking club is not a traditional lesson, some brief instructions and rules can be really helpful in order to prevent situations of misunderstanding or misbehaving. It seems to be obvious but sometimes simple rules still need to be said aloud and clearly. A kind reminder not to interrupt a person speaking, to raise a hand or give some other sign to start speaking, to respect others’ points of view and not to make any personal remarks will contribute to a fruitful and pleasant discussion and supportive learning environment.
Outcome
Finally, participants appreciate an opportunity to take something real from the discussion. What can it be? A couple of nice fixed expressions used by the teacher or other participants or the title of the film or book mentioned in the discussion and highly recommended to watching or reading – something bright, precise and practical what lingers and can be used afterwards.
Speaking clubs are definitely worth being held so give it a try and enjoy the opportunity to let learners talk meaningfully and with pleasure.
