Abstract: At the heart of modern teaching methods of speaking are such categories of oral language communication as: situation, role, position, community, type and scope of communication, which are considered in modern science as models of speech communication.
The most important of these teaching methods is the communicative (speech) situation. Communicative situation, as a method of teaching speaking, consists of four factors:
1) the circumstances of reality (situation) in which communication is carried out (including the presence of unauthorized persons);
2) relations between communicants (subjectively — the identity of the interlocutor);
3) the speech impulses;
4) the implementation of the act of communication, creating a new position, incentives for speech.
Each of these factors, the method of teaching speaking, has a certain influence on the speech of the interlocutors (the choice of the topic and the direction of its development, the choice of linguistic means, the emotional coloring of the speech, its unfolding, etc.)
The modern system of teaching a foreign language proceeds from the fact, That for the method of teaching foreign languages, the communicative situations as such, which occur every second in the language collective and are practically not accountable, but only repetitive, most typical communicative situation. By the term a typical communicative situation is understood as some imaginary construction or model of a real contact in which the speech behavior of interlocutors is realized in their typical socially communicative roles.
Examples of a typical communicative situation can be: a conversation between the buyer and the seller, the viewer with the theater cashier, a conversation between the mother and his son about his schoolwork, the teacher with the student, the conversation of former classmates, the conversation of collectors, the meeting of close people, etc.
Another important component of the method of teaching speaking is the form of communication. Speech contacts of people occur in conditions that differ in the number of individuals participating in communication, the nature of the relationship between them, the presence of a change in the roles of the speaker and the listener within one communication act. By the first principle, we can distinguish three types of communication: individual, group and public, which determine the specifics of the methodology of teaching speaking.
In the individual communication involving two people. It is characterized by immediacy and confidential. Here, communication partners are equal in their share of participation in the general speech «product». Each of them can support the proposed topic or replace it with another one. If any of the partners of individual communication terminates the conversation, the communicative act ends. In case of group communication, several people participate in a single communication act (a conversation in the company of friends, a training session, a meeting). Communicative position of a member of a group of group communication significantly differs from the individual. He can, for example, «participate» in a lengthy conversation or meeting without uttering a word. In such a communication, inserting a word, and even more so with its utterance, to interest listeners is sometimes difficult and requires additional qualities from the speaker. It is clear that the role of the passive participant in group communication (listening) is simpler than in individual communication, although «managing» the reception of information in these conditions is much more difficult.
Public communication occurs with a relatively large number of individuals. For this reason, the communicative roles of participants in public communication are usually predetermined: a small number of them act as speakers, the rest in the fixed roles of listeners (compare meetings, rallies, debates, etc.).
By the nature of the relationship between communicants, the methods of teaching speaking differentiate between formal and informal communication.
Official communication occurs between persons whose relationships are determined by the performance of certain social functions by them (the teacher is a student, the passenger is a cashier, the boss is a subordinate). This can include meetings, interviews, briefings, negotiations. The official nature is inherent in public communication in any form. Informal communication is characterized by ease, relaxed, often facetious, both in the behavior of individuals, and in the tone of their speech, freedom in choosing linguistic means. In informal communication, the content of the statements of individuals, as a rule, is not thought out in advance, they have an unprepared character. Unlike official communication, in the conditions of which the official and business style of oral speech is used, in informal communication, the spoken language is widely used in its various variants, including professional jargon.
The modern teaching methodology of speaking distinguishes two kinds of informal communication — business conversation and free conversation.
Business conversation can be considered as a necessary link in non-speech activity, as a means of solving problems arising from non-verbal actions (for example, discussion between family members of the way of holding summer vacations, choosing a profession for a school-leaving son, verbal accompaniment of working in the garden, etc.).
Free conversation is an independent communication activity or an activity whose purpose is to establish contact, mutual understanding, influence on knowledge, skills, the system of social values (beliefs), the emotional state of another person. In this sphere of oral communication, as a socio-cultural, free conversation is the main, the most common type of communication. The topics of free conversation differ in the exceptional breadth of the range and, in principle, do not depend on any extra-verbal activity or place of action: the participants in the conversation can start communicating with the discussion of a new play, and end with an exchange of opinions on the repair of the bicycle.
Free conversation is characterized by a large variety of speech stimuli that encourage communication of its participants. It may be a desire to share news, get some information, or simply fill in the time that has arisen as a result of waiting. Free conversation is widely used to establish contact between members of the temporary group, for example, during the reception of guests.
References:
- Passov E. I. A foreign language lesson in high school. — Moscow: Education, 1988.
- Rogova GV, Rabinovich FM, Sakharova TE Methodology of teaching foreign languages in secondary schools. — Moscow: Education, 1991.
- Safonova V. V. Programs in English language schools with in-depth study of foreign languages. — Moscow: Education, 2000.
