1. 2
Unit: Interest opinion
Topic: Famous People
1.
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2.
53010513043
3.
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2. 2
Unit: Interest opinion
Topic : Famous People
.........
............................ . . .................
1.
1.
( while speaking//Act 1//
famous person )
2.
( while speaking// Act
2// Talk about the famous people )
3.l
1r
post speaking//Act 3//Do you know them? )
4.l
(post listening//Act 4//who are you?

3. 2.
.1.1.1.1 . 2
.1.1.1.4 . 2
supporting detail
.1.1.2.4 .2
.1.1.2.5
2
1.1.3.1 . 2
2.2.1.1
2
3.
Vocabulary :
acting , excellent , kidding , famous , imaginary , admire ,
military , leader, popularity, award, personality, profiles

4. Structure :
Past Simple
S
V2
Example :
- I was at the movies.
Subject = I
Past Verb = was
- He was born in India in 1869.
Subject = He
Past Verb = born
4.
1. Power point
2.
The famous people
Famous People
3.
4.
5.
Text
6.
A4
7.
Famous People

5. 5.
Teacher
Classroom
language
Student
Classroom
language

6. Pre-Speaking 30
I have some
1.
question to ask
you before we
2.
VDO
the famous people
about the
-Who is your
favorite famous
VDO
3.
text
1
Famous people
I
see……………
strat to learn
famous people.
-
1.
……………….
2.
3.
The VDO
text 1
shows
about…………
.
people?
- Do you
admire
Power point
him her?
- I have
- It is a
question to ask
famous. etc.
you about VDO
- That is
- What is the
4.
picture.
VDO about?
4.
-I will give you
the text. It is
Vocabulary game
about structure.
I will teach you
all vocabulary.
- There are
- What is the vocabulary of
After that I will
this picture?
check your
- Which one is the acting?
understand by
this audio
asking the
sound.
5.
text 2
Power
point
5.
text 2
two people in
question.
- What is the
vocabulary of
this picture?
6.
- Which one is
the acting?
Next I will teach
- There are
two people in
Structure game
this audio
sound.
- Mahatma

7. you about
6.
Gandhi
structure and
ask you some
question for
check your
-
power point
understand.
- How many
past simple
people are
there in this
audio sound?
Subject Verb
7.
Famous
Next I will turn
She want to
on the audio
University yesterday
s
v
Past time
sound “ famous
people ” twice.
Then I have
some question
7.
to ask you.
Famous People
2
- How many
people this
story?
- What is the
movie that she
saw?
8.
*
strategies
speaking
People
8.

8. 1.
1.
Act. 2 , 3
6
2.
2.
- My famous
Act. 4
While-Speaking 20
person is
Pablo Picasso.
- Make a group
He was a
of six people.
famous artist.
Activity1: 10
He was born in
1.
6
- You have to
Spain. He lived
brainstorming
and worked in
about the
“Famous person”
France. I
famous people
and tell “who is
2.
3.
admire him
4.
because he
the person”.
created many
great painting
- You can write
-
as much as you
can think.
and
sculptures.
5.
- When you
-
3.
finish you have
to present it.
I will check
your answer.
1.
2
4.
2.
Task

9. 5.
- I will give you
task 2
6.
Activity 2: 10
Talk about your
- From in to
groups of
famous people.
famous person
Then choose
1.
one person
2
Task 2
who is you like
3.
the most.
- and talk about
your famous
person.
- Who is the
4.
person?
-
- Why is the
person
famous?
- What else do
you know about
the person?
- Do you
-
admire him or
her?
- Why or why
1
not?
1.

10. - After that you
have to present
fort of the class
with your
- He is Simon
4
2.
partner.
3.
Bolivar. We
call him EL
Libertador. He
was a great
present
leader. He
fought for
freedom in
3.
4.
South
America.
- Make a group
5.
of 4 people.
- You have to
learn about the
famous person
that I choose
Post-Speaking 30
Activity3:
for you already.
This picture
is………………
15
……………
Do you know them?
1.
4
- After that I
have activity for
2.
you that is “ Do
you know them
3.
VDO
The
”
4.
famous people
Do you
-I will open the

11. know them?
*
famous face on
the power
point.
I will ask you
-
“Who is them?”
What is she he
doing?
power point
-
Where is
1.
2.
him her?
- I want to be
Princess
Diana.
- I want to be
Which group
Mozart.
can answer the
A : Hi , what
question first
your name?
will get the
point.
3.
B : My name is
Princess
Diana.
I will give you
just 1 minute
………………
can’t answer
-
B:
picture. If you
1
name?
for each
-
A : What your
………
you will lose
A:
point.
4.
5.
4.
Work in pair.
- Learn about
your famous
person that you
5.
got from me.
- I will give you
two person.
one famous
6.
………………
………

12. Activity 4: 15
Who are you?
person for one
people
1.
- Think that you
2.
are the person
and make
conversation
2
for introduce
yourself with
your pair.
- Practice
3.
conversation
with your
partner and
present fort of
the class.
-
*
4.
5.

13. 6.
7.

14. Activity1: Famous
-
person
Activity 2: Talk
about your famous
person
Activity 3: Do you
know them
Activity 4: Who are
you
7.
..................................................................................................
..........................................................................................................
..........................................................................................................
.............................
8.
………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………
9.
9.1

15. ………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………….
9.2
………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………….
9.3
………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………….
2

16. -
-
- -

18. References:
Vocabulary
- http://www.thefreedictionary.com/
* Picturehttps://www.google.co.th/imghp?hl=th&tab=wi&authu
ser=0&q=article
Structure
http://www.englishpage.com/verbpage/simplepast.ht
ml
Course book
Susan Stempleski, 2007 .New York : Oxford
university press

19. Speaking strategies
- Strategies for Developing Speaking Skills
http://www.nclrc.org/essentials/speaking/stratspeak.htm
-Teaching Speaking Developing Speaking Activities
http://www.nclrc.org/essentials/speaking/developspeak.htm
- Using Creative Strategies to Promote Students’ Speaking
Skills http://marifa.hct.ac.ae/files/2011/07/Using-CreativeStrategies-to-Promote-Students-Speaking-Skills.pdf
Text 1
Vocabulary
Acting n.
The art or occupation of
performing fictional roles in
plays, films, or television.

20. Excellence n.
The quality of being
outstanding or extremely
good.
Kidding
Deceive (someone) in a
playful way.
Famous n.
Known about by many
people.
Imaginary adj.
existing only in the
imagination

21. Admire v.
Look at (something
impressive or attractive) with
pleasure.
Military adj.
Relating to or characteristic
of soldiers or armed forces.
Leader n.
The person who leads or
commands a group,
organization, or country the
leader of a protest group.
- http://www.thefreedictionary.com/
* Picturehttps://www.google.co.th/imghp?hl=th&tab=wi&authu
ser=0&q=article
Text 3

22. Structure
Use the Simple Past to express the idea that an action started and
finished at a specific time in the past. Sometimes, the speaker may
not actually mention the specific time, but they do have one
specific time in mind.
Examples:
I saw a movie yesterday.
I didn't see a play yesterday.
Last year, I traveled to Japan.
Last year, I didn't travel to Korea.
Did you have dinner last night?
She washed her car.
He didn't wash his car.
Use of Simple Past
action in the past taking place once, never or several times
Example: He visited his parents every weekend.
actions in the past taking place one after the other
Example: He came in, took off his coat and sat down.
action in the past taking place in the middle of another action
Example: When I was having breakfast, the phone suddenly
rang.

23. if sentences type II (If I talked, …)
Example: If I had a lot of money, I would share it with you.
Forms
With most verbs the past tense is formed by adding -ed:
call >> called; like >> liked; want >> wanted; work >> worked
But there are a lot of irregular past tenses in English. Her are
the most common irregular verbs in English, with their past
tenses:
infinitive
irregular past
be
was/were
begin
began
break
broke
bring
brought
buy
bought
build
built
choose
chose
come
came
cost
cost
cut
cut
do
did
draw
drew
drive
drove

24. Text 3
infinitive
eat
irregular past
Conversation
ate
feel
felt
find
found
get
got
give
gave
go
went
have
had
hear
heard
hold
held
keep
kept
know
knew
leave
left
lead
led
let
let
lie
lay
lose
lost
make
made
mean
meant
A : Hello?

25. B : Hi. It’ s Ben. I called you last night, but
you weren’t home.
A : I was at the movies.
B : Oh, really? What did you see?
A : Gandhi. It’ s an old movie about
Mahatma Gandhi.
B : Was is good?
A ; Yeah, the story and the acting were
excellent.
B : And what did you learn about Gandhi.
A : Well, he was born in India in 1869. And
his real name wasn’t
Mahatma Gandhi. It was Mohandas
Gandhi.
B : No kidding. Tell me more.

26. Task 1 Act. 1
Direction : --Make a group of six people.
Brainstorming about the famous people and
tell “who is the person”.

27. Example
Task 2 Act. 2
Direction : - talk about your famous person.
-What is their group?
- Who is the person?
- After that you have to present fort of
the class with your partner.
Actors
Actress
Singer

28. Example
Actors
Actress
Singer
Robert De Niro
Julia Roberts
Elton John
Nicolas Cage
Angelina Jolie
Elvis Presley
Al Pacino
Nicole Kidman
Michael Jackson
Brad Pitt
Anne Hathaway
Pink Floyd
Who is the famous person that t you like?
He is ……………We call him EL Libertador. He
was a great leader. He fought for freedom in South
America. And
he………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………
……

29. Task 3 Act. 3
Direction :
- Make a group of 4 people.
- After that I have activity for you that is “ Do you
know them ”
- I will open the famous face on the power point.
- I will ask you “Who is them?” What is she/he
doing?
- Where is him/her? Which group can answer the
question first will get the point.
- I will give you just 1 minute for each picture. If
you can’t answer you will lose point.

30. Task 4 Act. 4
Direction :
- Work in pair.
- Choose your famous person.( one
famous person for one people )
- Think that you are the person and
make conversation for showing
your role play to introduce yourself
with your pair.
- Practice conversation with your
partner and present fort of the class.

31. Example
A : I want to be Princess Diana.
B : I want to be Mozart.
A : Hi , what your name?
B : My name is Princess Diana.
A : What your name?
B : …………………………….
A : …………………………….

32. Teaching Speaking
Strategies for Developing Speaking Skills
Students often think that the ability to speak a language is the
product of language learning, but speaking is also a crucial part of
the language learning process. Effective instructors teach students
speaking strategies -- using minimal responses, recognizing
scripts, and using language to talk about language -- that they can
use to help themselves expand their knowledge of the language
and their confidence in using it. These instructors help students
learn to speak so that the students can use speaking to learn.
1. Using minimal responses
Language learners who lack confidence in their ability to
participate successfully in oral interaction often listen in silence
while others do the talking. One way to encourage such learners to
begin to participate is to help them build up a stock of minimal
responses that they can use in different types of exchanges. Such
responses can be especially useful for beginners.
Minimal responses are predictable, often idiomatic phrases that
conversation participants use to indicate understanding,
agreement, doubt, and other responses to what another speaker is
saying. Having a stock of such responses enables a learner to

33. focus on what the other participant is saying, without having to
simultaneously plan a response.
2. Recognizing scripts
Some communication situations are associated with a predictable
set of spoken exchanges -- a script. Greetings, apologies,
compliments, invitations, and other functions that are influenced by
social and cultural norms often follow patterns or scripts. So do the
transactional exchanges involved in activities such as obtaining
information and making a purchase. In these scripts, the
relationship between a speaker's turn and the one that follows it
can often be anticipated.
Instructors can help students develop speaking ability by making
them aware of the scripts for different situations so that they can
predict what they will hear and what they will need to say in
response. Through interactive activities, instructors can give
students practice in managing and varying the language that
different scripts contain.
3. Using language to talk about language
Language learners are often too embarrassed or shy to say
anything when they do not understand another speaker or when
they realize that a conversation partner has not understood them.
Instructors can help students overcome this reticence by assuring
them that misunderstanding and the need for clarification can

34. occur in any type of interaction, whatever the participants'
language skill levels. Instructors can also give students strategies
and phrases to use for clarification and comprehension check.
By encouraging students to use clarification phrases in class when
misunderstanding occurs, and by responding positively when they
do, instructors can create an authentic practice environment within
the classroom itself. As they develop control of various clarification
strategies, students will gain confidence in their ability to manage
the various communication situations that they may encounter
outside the classroom. Teaching Speaking
Deloping Speaking Activities
Traditional classroom speaking practice often takes the form of
drills in which one person asks a question and another gives an
answer. The question and the answer are structured and
predictable, and often there is only one correct, predetermined
answer. The purpose of asking and answering the question is to
demonstrate the ability to ask and answer the question.
In contrast, the purpose of real communication is to accomplish a
task, such as conveying a telephone message, obtaining
information, or expressing an opinion. In real communication,
participants must manage uncertainty about what the other person
will say. Authentic communication involves an information gap;
each participant has information that the other does not have. In

35. addition, to achieve their purpose, participants may have to clarify
their meaning or ask for confirmation of their own understanding.
To create classroom speaking activities that will develop
communicative competence, instructors need to incorporate a
purpose and an information gap and allow for multiple forms of
expression. However, quantity alone will not necessarily produce
competent speakers. Instructors need to combine structured
output activities, which allow for error correction and increased
accuracy, with communicative output activities that give students
opportunities to practice language use more freely.
Structured Output Activities
Two common kinds of structured output activities are information
gap and jigsaw activities. In both these types of activities, students
complete a task by obtaining missing information, a feature the
activities have in common with real communication. However,
information gap and jigsaw activities also set up practice on
specific items of language. In this respect they are more like drills
than like communication.
Information Gap Activities
Filling the gaps in a schedule or timetable: Partner A holds an
airline timetable with some of the arrival and departure times
missing. Partner B has the same timetable but with different blank

36. spaces. The two partners are not permitted to see each other's
timetables and must fill in the blanks by asking each other
appropriate questions. The features of language that are practiced
would include questions beginning with "when" or "at what time."
Answers would be limited mostly to time expressions like "at 8:15"
or "at ten in the evening."
Completing the picture: The two partners have similar pictures,
each with different missing details, and they cooperate to find all
the missing details. In another variation, no items are missing, but
similar items differ in appearance. For example, in one picture, a
man walking along the street may be wearing an overcoat, while in
the other the man is wearing a jacket. The features of grammar
and vocabulary that are practiced are determined by the content of
the pictures and the items that are missing or different. Differences
in the activities depicted lead to practice of different verbs.
Differences in number, size, and shape lead to adjective practice.
Differing locations would probably be described with prepositional
phrases.
These activities may be set up so that the partners must practice
more than just grammatical and lexical features. For example, the
timetable activity gains a social dimension when one partner
assumes the role of a student trying to make an appointment with
a partner who takes the role of a professor. Each partner has
pages from an appointment book in which certain dates and times
are already filled in and other times are still available for an
appointment. Of course, the open times don't match exactly, so

37. there must be some polite negotiation to arrive at a mutually
convenient time for a meeting or a conference.
Jigsaw Activities
Jigsaw activities are more elaborate information gap activities that
can be done with several partners. In a jigsaw activity, each
partner has one or a few pieces of the "puzzle," and the partners
must cooperate to fit all the pieces into a whole picture. The puzzle
piece may take one of several forms. It may be one panel from a
comic strip or one photo from a set that tells a story. It may be one
sentence from a written narrative. It may be a tape recording of a
conversation, in which case no two partners hear exactly the same
conversation.
In one fairly simple jigsaw activity, students work in groups of four.
Each student in the group receives one panel from a comic strip.
Partners may not show each other their panels. Together the four
panels present this narrative: a man takes a container of ice cream
from the freezer; he serves himself several scoops of ice cream;
he sits in front of the TV eating his ice cream; he returns with the
empty bowl to the kitchen and finds that he left the container of ice
cream, now melting, on the kitchen counter. These pictures have a
clear narrative line and the partners are not likely to disagree about
the appropriate sequencing. You can make the task more
demanding, however, by using pictures that lend themselves to

38. alternative sequences, so that the partners have to negotiate
among themselves to agree on a satisfactory sequence.
More elaborate jigsaws may proceed in two stages. Students first
work in input groups (groups A, B, C, and D) to receive
information. Each group receives a different part of the total
information for the task. Students then reorganize into groups of
four with one student each from A, B, C, and D, and use the
information they received to complete the task. Such an
organization could be used, for example, when the input is given in
the form of a tape recording. Groups A, B, C, and D each hear a
different recording of a short news bulletin. The four recordings all
contain the same general information, but each has one or more
details that the others do not. In the second stage, students
reconstruct the complete story by comparing the four versions.
With information gap and jigsaw activities, instructors need to be
conscious of the language demands they place on their students. If
an activity calls for language your students have not already
practiced, you can brainstorm with them when setting up the
activity to preview the language they will need, eliciting what they
already know and supplementing what they are able to produce
themselves.
Structured output activities can form an effective bridge between
instructor modeling and communicative output because they are
partly authentic and partly artificial. Like authentic communication,

39. they feature information gaps that must be bridged for successful
completion of the task. However, where authentic communication
allows speakers to use all of the language they know, structured
output activities lead students to practice specific features of
language and to practice only in brief sentences, not in extended
discourse. Also, structured output situations are contrived and
more like games than real communication, and the participants'
social roles are irrelevant to the performance of the activity. This
structure controls the number of variables that students must deal
with when they are first exposed to new material. As they become
comfortable, they can move on to true communicative output
activities.
Communicative Output Activities
Communicative output activities allow students to practice using all
of the language they know in situations that resemble real settings.
In these activities, students must work together to develop a plan,
resolve a problem, or complete a task. The most common types of
communicative output activity are role plays and discussions .
In role plays, students are assigned roles and put into situations
that they may eventually encounter outside the classroom.
Because role plays imitate life, the range of language functions
that may be used expands considerably. Also, the role
relationships among the students as they play their parts call for
them to practice and develop their sociolinguistic competence.

40. They have to use language that is appropriate to the situation and
to the characters.
Students usually find role playing enjoyable, but students who lack
self-confidence or have lower proficiency levels may find them
intimidating at first. To succeed with role plays:
Prepare carefully: Introduce the activity by describing the situation
and making sure that all of the students understand it
Set a goal or outcome: Be sure the students understand what the
product of the role play should be, whether a plan, a schedule, a
group opinion, or some other product
Use role cards: Give each student a card that describes the person
or role to be played. For lower-level students, the cards can
include words or expressions that that person might use.
Brainstorm: Before you start the role play, have students
brainstorm as a class to predict what vocabulary, grammar, and
idiomatic expressions they might use.
Keep groups small: Less-confident students will feel more able to
participate if they do not have to compete with many voices.
Give students time to prepare: Let them work individually to outline
their ideas and the language they will need to express them.
Be present as a resource, not a monitor: Stay in communicative
mode to answer students' questions. Do not correct their
pronunciation or grammar unless they specifically ask you about it.

41. Allow students to work at their own levels: Each student has
individual language skills, an individual approach to working in
groups, and a specific role to play in the activity. Do not expect all
students to contribute equally to the discussion, or to use every
grammar point you have taught.
Do topical follow-up: Have students report to the class on the
outcome of their role plays.
Do linguistic follow-up: After the role play is over, give feedback on
grammar or pronunciation problems you have heard. This can wait
until another class period when you plan to review pronunciation or
grammar anyway.
Discussions, like role plays, succeed when the instructor prepares
students first, and then gets out of the way. To succeed with
discussions:
Prepare the students: Give them input (both topical information
and language forms) so that they will have something to say and
the language with which to say it.
Offer choices: Let students suggest the topic for discussion or
choose from several options. Discussion does not always have to
be about serious issues. Students are likely to be more motivated
to participate if the topic is television programs, plans for a
vacation, or news about mutual friends. Weighty topics like how to
combat pollution are not as engaging and place heavy demands
on students' linguistic competence.

42. Set a goal or outcome: This can be a group product, such as a
letter to the editor, or individual reports on the views of others in
the group.
Use small groups instead of whole-class discussion: Large groups
can make participation difficult.
Keep it short: Give students a defined period of time, not more
than 8-10 minutes, for discussion. Allow them to stop sooner if
they run out of things to say.
Allow students to participate in their own way: Not every student
will feel comfortable talking about every topic. Do not expect all of
them to contribute equally to the conversation.
Do topical follow-up: Have students report to the class on the
results of their discussion.
Do linguistic follow-up: After the discussion is over, give feedback
on grammar or pronunciation problems you have heard. This can
wait until another class period when you plan to review
pronunciation or grammar anyway.
Through well-prepared communicative output activities such as
role plays and discussions, you can encourage students to
experiment and innovate with the language, and create a
supportive atmosphere that allows them to make mistakes without
fear of embarrassment. This will contribute to their self-confidence
as speakers and to their motivation to learn more.
Using Creative

43. Strategies to Promote
Students’ Speaking Skills
This paper describes an investigation that was
conducted over the course of my final
year teaching practice placement in a Girls’ Primary
School in Fujairah. The research
was carried out in a classroom of twenty Grade Five
Arabic-speaking girls where
English is taught as a foreign language. I decided to
investigate the teaching of
speaking, and this topic was chosen because I noticed
over the four years of teaching
practice placements in my degree program that reading
and writing skills are mostly
emphasized in EFL classrooms in Emirati state schools,
but speaking and listening are
largely ignored.
In addition, English language teachers in state schools
in the United Arab Emirates
(UAE) tend to give priority to finishing the course book,
and they do not concentrate on
speaking activities that much. Furthermore, students do
not have the opportunity to
communicate in English because Arabic-speaking
parents, family and friends surround
them, so I decided to engage these ten and eleven year
old students in communicative

44. activities that would improve their speaking, specifically
by using songs and puppets.
Research questions
My preliminary investigation in the first
semesterrevealed that teachers regard teaching
speaking as a waste of time, and therefore it is a
neglected skill, as they feel pressured
to finish the course book. In addition, teachers do not
use interesting activities to
practise speaking; therefore students perform badly in
this skill. I decided to implement
some creative strategies to develop students’ speaking
skills, based on the use of
songs and puppets, and to find out the effect of these
activities on students’ spoken
language, on their motivation, and on their participation
in class.
My research questions were as follows:
o To what extent do songs and puppets improve
speaking?
o What is the effect of using songs and puppets on
students’ motivation to speak?
o What effects do songs and puppets have on students'
participation?
Literature Review
The skill of speaking skill is as crucial as any other
language skill. The four skills

45. (reading, writing, speaking and listening) naturally
appear together in every English
class, even in the EFL context. As Peregoy and Boyle
(2001) state, “Listening,
speaking, reading and writing also occur naturally
together in learning events in school
at all grade levels, even though traditionally they were
taught separately” (p. 107). In
addition, Shumin (1997) states that learning to speak a
foreign language requires more
than knowing its grammar and vocabulary. Learners
should acquire the skill through
interaction with each other. However, it is difficult for
EFL learners to speak appropriate
English in the classroom because of the limited
language use in their real lives.
Using Creative Strategies to Promote Students’
Speaking Skills112
Affective factors are the most important issues that may
promote students’ speaking.
Affective factors include self esteem, emotion, attitude,
anxiety, and motivation. Shumin
believes that “L2 or foreign language learning is a
complex task that is susceptible to
human anxiety, which is associated with feelings of
uneasiness, frustration, self doubt,

46. and apprehension” (1997, para. 2). These are the
factors that affect students’ speaking
in most EFL contexts and there are other issues as
well. For example, the language
level may be too difficult, or too much is given at once
and the amount of the language
the teacher gives the students in each session may be
too much, according to Shumin
(1997).
Motivating Students to Speak
To motivate students in EFL contexts, teachers should
include many activities and
strategies that attract students’ attention and make
them interested in the lesson. As
Peck (1978), cited in Celce-Murcia (2001), states
“Activities need to be child centered
and communication should be authentic. This means
that children are listening or
speaking about something that interests them, for their
own reasons, and not merely
because a teacher has asked them to” (1978, p.139).
Also, Peck (1978), cited in CelceMurcia (2001, p.139),
outlines some points that the teacher should consider in
the
activities: a focus on meaning and value, not
correctness; a focus on collaboration and

47. social development; the provision of a rich context, and
teaching the four skills through
a variety of activities. A superior teacher encourages
her/his students to speak English
as much as possible inside and outside the classroom.
EFL teachers must encourage students to use
language for social interaction in the
classroom. Brown (1994) advocates that students get
enough opportunities to practise
the language. This helps them to acquire the language
in more natural contexts.
Through interaction, students can build their own
conversations and create meaning
that they understand, and that supports and helps them.
Krashen & Terrel (as cited in
Lightbown&Spada, 1999)find that communication
provides students with opportunities
for them to focus on using the language rather than
talking and learning the structure of
the language. Therefore, the topics or themes around
which students learn language
should capture their attention and encourage them to
interact more with each other.
Teachers’ emphasis should be on making meaning, not
on error correction.
Strategies that Encourage Participation

48. The strategies the teacher should focus on should be
interesting and should capture
students’ attention. In the young learners’ classroom,
these activities are usually
centred on songs, poems, chants, drama, stories,
games and Total Physical Response
(TPR) activities.All these activities can affect young
learners and enhance theirlearning
the language. Deesri (2002) believes that many
teachers consider games as merely fun
activities that are a waste of time, but he states that
games in the EFL context are much
more than that. He believes that games include many
factors such as rules,
competition, relaxation, and learning which are all
useful in promoting speaking. Games
are useful because they offer situations that lower
students’ stress and give students
chances to engage in real communication. It is asserted
that students are encouraged
Mona Khameis113
when they have friendly competition with each other, so
each student will participate in
the classroom. Consequently, teachers can use these
games to present and review
new knowledge, vocabulary, and grammar. Games are
good teaching tools that can be

49. used to develop students’ language learning and
practise communication.
Teachers should take into consideration that songs can
develop language skills, and
bring enjoyment and fun into the classroom. As
Schoepp (2001, Para. 8) suggests "The
enjoyment aspect of learning language through songs is
directly related to affective
factors." The affective filter is one of the five hypotheses
that Krashen presents.
Krashen (as cited in Schoepp, 2001, Para. 6) explains
that for optimal learning to occur
the affective filter must be weak. A weak filter means
that a positive attitude towards
learning is present. Schoepp (2001, Para. 6) adds that
songs are one of the methods
that achieve a weak affective filter and promote
language learning, and can be used to
present a topic; practice language; stimulate discussion
of attitude and feelings; provide
a comfortable atmosphere and bring variety and fun to
learning.
In addition, using puppets helps students to interact
with each other. As Gronna, Serna,
Kennedy and Prater (1999, Para.1) believe, puppets
can be used to teach the language

50. functions and the social skills of greeting, responding to
conversation, and initiating
conversation. Using puppets in the classroom is one of
the ways to encourage students
to learn English. Ozdeniz (2000, Para. 9) has stated
that "Puppets can encourage your
students to experiment more with the language and
"have a go" when they may have
otherwise remained silent." In EFL classrooms students
are not comfortable and feel
hesitant to speakEnglish because they are not sure of
the words.So as Ozdeniz (2000,
Para. 9) states, "when a child speaks through the
puppet, it is not the child who is
perceived as making errors but the puppet, and children
find this liberating."
The strategies the teacher uses can be fun and
enjoyable, and at the same time
achieve academic goals. Teachers should choose
activities that enhance students
learning, and avoid ones that are a waste of teachers’
and students’ time. Good &
Brophy (2000, p. 30) state that "learning should be fun
and motivation problems appear
because the teacher somehow has converted an
inherently enjoyable activity into

51. drudgery."It can therefore be concluded that interesting
and fun strategies can be used
to promote speaking in the EFL classroom. According
to Brown (1994), if strategies are
intrinsically motivating and appeal to students’ goals
and interests then it can have a
positive impact on their speaking.
The Teaching Strategy
I decided to implement the use of songs and puppets as
everyday activities to
encourage students to speak about the set themes in
their course book of “Days and
Dates” and “It’s Fun”. The students sang the songs that
I created, which were related
to the units, as warming up activities. For each unit I
created one or two songs, songs
which were based on the language structures and
vocabulary of the unit. In addition, I
had puppets made for each group that represented
different characters e.g. grandma,
grandpa, father, mother and daughter. Students used
the puppets to talk, using
dialogues that they were given to practise and then
present to their colleagues. After
that, the students had to create their own dialogues and
practise them, and then present

52. Using Creative Strategies to Promote Students’
Speaking Skills114
them to their classmates. The songs were used
everyday during my teaching practice
placement, and the puppets were used twice a week.
Research Approach
Mills has defined Action Research as "any systematic
inquiry conducted by a teacher
…in the teaching/ learning environment to gather
information about how their particular
schools operate, how they teach, and how well their
students learn" (Mills, 2003, p.5).
This makes it an ideal research approach for teachers
as it gives them an opportunity
to solve problems in the classroom. It inspired me and
provided me with a framework
to investigate the use of creative strategies to
encourage students’ speaking, especially
the use of songs and puppets. Action research is made
up of a four step process:
identifying an area of focus, collecting data, analysing
and interpreting the data, and
developing an action plan, which is again evaluated,
and the process continues until a