CHAPTER 6

Challenges of Teaching Speaking Communicatively

Today, teachers face a variety of challenges and environmental constraints

depending on where they teach. Some have well-equipped classrooms with
rich English resources outside of the classroom. Others are limited by a lack
of resources or by rules and regulations.

REFLECTIVE QUESTIONS
What is the biggest challenge you face in teaching speaking?
Who or what can help you to overcome this challenge?

One of the biggest challenges teachers around the world face comes
when they try to apply CLT in a traditional setting. When teachers from
traditional classrooms attend workshops on using communicative activities,
they often raise objections. Here are some responses to these concerns,
based on the experiences of teachers in many different countries.

Some Common Challenges

Noise Levels

When classes are large and teachers in adjoining rooms expect silence, the
level of noise can be a valid concern. What can a teacher do?

Discuss the problem with a supervisor. Colleagues need to understand

that noise comes from language classrooms, and especially speaking
classrooms, some of the time.
Invite students to whisper for some activities.
 Warn the teacher next door that a few minutes into the lesson there will
be talking, but only for a few moments.

Interestingly, when the loud noise comes from entire classes chorusing
the same thing, it is often considered normal. Thus, our explanations may
need to address both the decibels and the uncontrolled nature of the talking.

Movement Restrictions or Fixed Furniture

Some teachers are unable to move the desks in their classrooms or cannot
create groups of students or monitor group work because of the
configuration of the furniture.

Try rotating the seating plan so a different group of students sits at the
front each week.
Have a student take on the role of recorder to keep a record of what
occurred in the group. You could collect these papers.
Make the best use of the classroom space possible. For example, in
large classrooms where not all desks are used, have students sit near the
aisles rather than filling the first few rows.
Not all communicative activities involve moving around the room.
Agile students can easily twist around in their seats to do pair and
group work.
Have students move to an open space at the front or the side of the
classroom and form two “talk lines” or “talk circles.” One row can move
so that they are talking to a new student every few minutes.
Some schools will allow teachers to send students into the corridors or
even outside for a few moments.

Students Speaking L1 at Inappropriate Times

Some students make use of their L1 during communicative activities.

Explain to students that it is fine to use their L1 to sort out the “rules”
of the activity, especially in beginner classes, or to negotiate meaning
 when other efforts have failed.
Use positive reinforcement. While walking round the room, note
groups who are using English and reward them in some way at the end
of class.
Negotiate how L1 will be used in the classroom on the first day of class,
creating a list of guidelines. This allows students to feel their L1 is being
respected and that they have some control in the classroom.
Consider embracing L1 as a linguistic resource. Translanguaging moves
beyond viewing the use of all possible languages as code-switching to
viewing a learner’s many languages as part of his or her “linguistic
repertoire” (Otheguy, Garcia, & Reid, 2015).

Limited Time
Some teachers fear not finishing the chapter if they stop and allow students
to speak. In some schools, teachers must keep pace with other classes.
Remember that using the new language is not an optional extra, it is the goal
of a language class.

Link activities to the textbook so that the chapter is being finished as

the lesson proceeds.
Use speaking to teach (see chapter 5). Group and pair work are often
efficient ways to cover needed content and allow for authentic
interaction.
Consider “flipping” the classroom (see chapter 5) and assigning some
of the content as preclass work or as homework.

Unengaged Students
Some students are reserved or do not want to lose face, so they do not feel
comfortable speaking in groups. Others may wish to talk, but strong
classmates take most of the discussion time. Some students may simply feel
they have nothing to share. Other students may think that speaking English
is not worthwhile or that practice activities are just games and not real
learning.
 Use Think-Pair-Share or Think-Write-Pair-Share activities. In both
cases, allowing students time to think, possibly also to write, and then
practice in pairs may build their confidence before they are asked to
speak in larger groups.
Give each member of the group a role, or try dividing questions and
assigning them to group members. Some possible roles include
facilitator, recorder, checker, reporter, timekeeper, devil’s advocate (who
challenges ideas), and language monitor.
Consider a participation system in groups, where each learner is given
a set number of tokens or other items like popsicle sticks he or she
places in the middle of the desk after speaking.
Create tasks that require each participant to contribute, such as the
information gap and interview activities described in chapter 4.
Use a set up like numbered heads together, where each student in each
group has a number (13 or–4, for example, depending on group size),
and then during whole-class follow-up, call on group members to share
by number: “All the 2s, please stand up. Who would like to tell us what
your group decided?”
Design activities that relate to students’ lives, are pleasurable, and are
within their ability level.
Explore the reason for each activity and what achieving its outcomes
would look like.
Work toward a greater, change-the-world-style purpose (Pink, 2009).

REFLECTIVE QUESTIONS
What are some steps you could take to make learning more pleasurable
for your students?
What speaking activities might inspire them to devise and potentially act
on solutions to local or world problems?

Lack of Confidence in English

Sometimes teachers lack confidence in their own oral English skills.

Teachers who teach in a traditional way spend hours of effort preparing

to explain the majority of the information in the text. If they put the
same preparation into communicative lessons, they may find their
confidence level growing.
Some teachers worry about being prepared for the unexpected. In
communicative activities and lessons, teachers do not have complete
control over what happens. They can and should put some limits on the
direction of the class, though. They can also make use of replies such
as, “That’s a good question, but let’s talk about it next week when we
have more time.” Another approach is to look for the answer together
by saying something like, “I want you to learn to use your resources to
answer language questions. Let’s look up the information together, so
that you’ll be able to do it in the future.”
Teachers can see the challenge of preparing to speak in communicative
lessons as good motivation to be lifelong language learners.

Other Personal or Philosophical Barriers

When teachers were asked to consider reasons for their reluctance to use
CLT activities in their classrooms, some expressed confusion about where to
begin planning. Others felt overwhelmed by managing activities in large
classes, especially with students lacking motivation or confidence. Some
were concerned about not meeting the expectations of students or a
supervisor who had told them to talk more in class. Still others were
struggling to see the value of practice in their exam-based system.
Later, one of the teachers described the “revolution” her teaching
underwent. When she invited a guest to teach her 50 students
communicatively using her textbook, she finally started to grasp how to use
activities. Two others experienced a sort of epiphany when a workshop
inspired them to experiment with communicative activities, and they saw
desired results. In one case, students finally understood a grammar structure
the teacher had been trying—unsuccessfully—to get across. In the other, the
teacher reached the positive and engaging atmosphere he had been seeking.
 REFLECTIVE QUESTIONS
What personal or philosophical barriers might make you reluctant to try
using communicative activities?
What might lead to a revolution or epiphany for you?

Conclusion
Finally, remember that teachers have been using communicative language
activities in classrooms for more than four decades, even in classrooms with
large numbers, fixed furniture, and colleagues who raise objections. There
are ways around the problems. As teachers move forward and embrace
communication in the English language classroom, they can provide
meaningful practice for their students and help them to feel more confident
and successful in their speaking.