The article is dedicated to the improving students’ speaking skills through the technique Think-Pair-Share in ESP classes. And in this issue we investigate that applying a variety of strategies in both academic and social settings by planning, monitoring, and evaluating their learning or by arranging to participate in experiences that will be conductive to language learning who study English. Also in this work we demonstrate the findings which can improve to work on teaching foreign languages through “Think-Pair-Share” technique in the context based learning.
Статья посвящена улучшению навыков общения студентов с помощью технологии “Think-Pair-Share” в ESP классах. И в данной статье мы исследуем, что применяем различные стратегии, как в академических, так и в социальных условиях путем планирования, мониторинга и оценки их обучения или путем участия в опыте, который будет проводиться для учащихся, изучающих английского языка. Также в данной работе мы демонстрируем результаты, которые могут улучшить работу по обучению иностранным языкам с помощью технологии “Think-Pair-Share” на основе контекста.
Speaking is a crucial part of second language learning and teaching. Despite its importance, for many years, teaching speaking has been undervalued and English language teachers have continued to teach speaking just as a repetition of drills or memorization of dialogues. However, today’s world requires that the goal of teaching speaking should improve students’ communicative skills, because, only in that way, students can express themselves and learn how to follow the social and cultural rules appropriate in each communicative circumstance. Some scientists support the idea above and say that speaking ability will be focused on two things, namely: the form and function of the language. [1,67] The form will be focused on how to use the language suitable to the pattern, structure, vocabulary and elements in the language. The function will focus on how to use and the objective of using the language. So the students are expected to master the language verbally with the accuracy of language use in terms of structure, context, time and place. The goal of teaching speaking skills is communicative efficiency. Learners should be able to make themselves understood, using their current proficiency to the fullest. They should try to avoid confusion in the message due to faulty pronunciation, grammar, or vocabulary, and to observe the social and cultural rules that apply in each communication situation.
Successful language learners apply a variety of strategies in both academic and social settings by planning, monitoring, and evaluating their learning or by arranging to participate in experiences that will be conductive to language learning. Learning strategies and approaches provide language learners with tools for success and can be useful for both the English teacher and the subject teacher instructing in English. Students may use strategies that directly influence the way in which new language reception and production experiences are conceptualized and organized. Basically, these techniques enable students to take command over their learning and to apply procedures that will assist them in retaining and using important language skills.
Making students speak is neither an easy nor a fast process. Teachers must be aware of some special techniques that will help to achieve the purpose. These techniques are based on different approaches. For this issue, specially, the Communicative Approach is going to be the object of study since that the main purpose in discussion is on promoting language into the classroom and supporting ideas that will be mentioned in order to share the scientific contribution brought with other teachers helping them to achieve positive results in the oral production with their students. Encouraging students to become more active participants in a lesson can sometimes assist them to see a purpose for improving their communication skills in the target language. Successful communication using the target language should result in students feeling some sense of accomplishment. Many of our students will agree that it is useful to speak English well, and they will be motivated to learn the language. We can support their interest in learning English by providing interesting topics for them to talk about in your classes. If students are interested in a topic and have something to say about it, then they are more likely to speak in class and participate actively in learning. In this case we applied some of interesting strategies and try to design different meaningful activities for an ESP context in order to achieve the object. So, this article introduces with one of important tool named Think-Pair-Share teaching technique by means of ESP context.
Think-Pair-Share is a learning strategy developed by Lyman; it is associated with encourage student classroom participation and interaction between students and facilitators. In this strategy, the question/problem will be posed by the facilitator and trainers are allowed to think about it individually, and then discuss in pairs to solve the problem and finally share their ideas to the class [2, 34]. This strategy could also be used for spur-of-the-moment discussions, in other word refreshing their brains after a long day’s theory lesson. It is different to traditional learning styles where facilitators pose a question or problem and randomly pick a participator to answer the question. Indeed it provides an opportunity for all trainers to share and analyze the question from different points of view and also shares to at least one other person. The think, pair, share strategy is a cooperative learning technique that encourages individual participation and is appropriate to all grade levels and class sizes. Applying this technique in the teaching process students are really interested in developing fluency in the language classroom using their points of view and critical thinking because they will be making a decision on their problem, then they will be more involved in developing that fluency. Using established tools and techniques will help you improve your approach to solving the problems that your team and your organization face. You'll be more successful at solving problems and, because of this, more successful at what you do. Also, organizing ESP learners to do these activities is the most important and difficult role that to be performed by the teacher, the good organization leads to the success of those activities. When organizing an activity the teacher has to well inform learners about the issue of the activity, the procedure they should take while doing this activity, to put the learners in pairs or groups, giving them clear instructions about their task, and preparing feedback. Meanwhile, it is well-advised for the teacher to examine the amount of learners' understanding of the instructions before starting doing the activity.
The Think-Pair-Share strategy is designed to differentiate instruction by providing students time and structure for thinking on a given topic, enabling them to formulate individual ideas and share these ideas with a peer. This learning strategy promotes ESP classroom participation by encouraging a high degree of pupil response, rather than using a basic recitation method in which a teacher poses a question and one student offers a response. Additionally, this strategy provides an opportunity for all students to share their thinking with at least one other student which, in turn, increases their sense of involvement in classroom learning. Think-Pair-Share can also be used as in information assessment tool; as students discuss their ideas, the teacher can circulate and listen to the conversations taking place and respond accordingly. In this strategy, a problem is posed, students have time to think about it individually, and then they work in pairs to solve the problem and share their ideas with the class. This strategy can be used for a wide variety of daily classroom activities such as concept reviews, discussion questions, partner reading, brainstorming, quiz reviews, topic development, etc. Think-Pair-Share helps students develop conceptual understanding of a topic, develop the ability to filter information and draw conclusions, and develop the ability to consider other points of view.
Students need many opportunities to talk in a linguistically rich environment. Researchers have found that students' learning is enhanced when they have many opportunities to elaborate on ideas through talk. [3, 15] The think, pair, share strategy increases the kinds of personal communications that are necessary for students to internally process, organize, and retain ideas. In sharing their ideas, students take ownership of their learning and negotiate meanings rather than rely solely on the teacher's authority. And other benefits of using the think, pair, and share strategy include the positive changes in students' self-esteem that occur when they listen to one another and respect others' ideas. Students have the opportunity to learn higher-level thinking skills from their peers, gain the extra time or prompting they may need, and gain confidence when reporting ideas to the whole class. In addition, the «pair» step of the strategy ensures that no student is left out of the discussion. Even a student who is uncomfortable discussing his or her ideas with the whole class still has an audience in this step. Finally, while the strategy may appear to be time-consuming, it makes classroom discussions more productive, as students have already had an opportunity to think about their ideas before plunging into whole-class conversations. Incorporating Think-Pair-Share technique into the classroom adds variety, a change of pace and opportunities for a lot of language production and also a lot of fun! It can be an integral part of the class and not a 'one-off' event. If the teacher believes that the activity will work and the necessary support is provided, it can be very successful. If the teacher isn't convinced about the validity of using the activity does not work as you are expected. Therefore, if you think positive and have a go, you may be pleasantly surprised.
In conclusion it should be said that the communicative teaching method views language as a medium of communication. They are motivating and create a meaningful context for language usage. The application of such activities increases cooperation and competition in ESP classroom and stimulates students’ interest to the learning process. In this teaching method importance is placed on helping the pupil get the message delivered. This is what really matters: if the pupil can understand and be understood. In addition we want to say that using such interactive method involves all the learners into active work and can be effectively used in improving their speech, other language skills and creates favorable conditions for cooperative work.
References:
1. Brown H Douglas. Principals of language learning and teaching. Pearson education.2007
2. Lyman, F. «The responsive classroom discussion». In Anderson, A. S. (Ed.), Mainstreaming Digest. College Park, MD: University of Maryland College of Education.1981
3. Simon, C. A. [n.d.]. «Using the Think-Pair-Share Technique». Retrieved from the Read Write Think website: http://www.readwritethink.org/professional-development/strategy-guides/using-2010.
