Developing students’ speech etiquette in EFL class

The term “speech” has a broad meaning in linguistics, and refers to the ability to talk, the habit of speaking, and the aptitude to convey thoughts and feelings. The English language is one of the richest in terms of expressing your ideas and feelings via various words. For example, the notion “look” can be conveyed in different ways: see, glance, watch, observe, behold, view, and stare . However, while all these words suggest the notion of seeing, one must be able to select their appropriateness based on the style of the phrase and the context. Understanding the meaning of each word and using it effectively and speaking in the literary language are the requirements for speech etiquette. Everyone needs large vocabulary, skills, the capacity to explain their thoughts and feelings and the ability to pitch to the audience. [2, p. 13]

Speech etiquette is a crucial part of interpersonal communication. It influences the communicative nature of the relationship. The essential contact with the interlocutor in a given tone is formed with the help of speech etiquette in many contexts of communication, and violation of the standards of speech etiquette develops into impoliteness and disdain for the person or partner.

Comprehension of speech etiquette norms is important not just for native speakers of a language, but also for those who are learning that language as a foreign one. Language, being an inherent aspect of culture, reflects its characteristics. Knowing the etiquette conventions established in all aspects of culture, particularly in the language, can assist language learners to feel more at ease while talking in any social context, and give them a chance to better understand the people's history and culture.

Nowadays, for developing students' speech etiquette a wide range of methods are offered. These include familiarization with the main characteristics of English communicative behavior, transformational and substitutional exercises, question-and-answer types of exercises, definition assignments, work with original and adapted texts, analysis of characteristics of speech etiquette formulas in specific situations, role-playing, and didactic games. [4.p. 3]

This paper discusses activities that are included in the collection of exercises for developing students’ speech etiquette. The collection comprises exercises of varying difficulty, ranging from reproduction exercises to communicative activities in which students must employ the studied formulas in educational communication in scenarios as similar to real life as feasible.

As previously stated, there are a variety of pedagogical methods for improving students' speech etiquette in the EFL classroom. Let's have a look at some of them. Students are given tasks of a predominantly reproductive nature at the start, such as matching pictures with appropriate speech etiquette formulas, distributing words from the list to the desired column of the table on a specific basis, and filling in the gaps in the text. An exercise in associating an image with the matching speech etiquette formula is an example of such assignment. Students are given a series of pictures and a list of sentences in a certain communication context, such as welcomes, introductions, and farewells. The aim is to sign the pictures with the appropriate wording. For instance, while researching the topic “Congratulations, wishes, invitations” images illustrating ordinary settings, big holidays and events are suggested. They are accompanied by a list of the following phrases: Have a good journey! Bless you! Happy birthday! Enjoy your meal! See you later; Have a good weekend; Sweet dreams! Good night! Enjoy your stay! Happy New Year! etc. When studying the topic “Introduction, greeting, farewell”, students are invited to complete the task where they need to distribute the given formulas for acquaintance, greeting and farewell according to the corresponding columns of the table, depending on their stylistic coloring: neutral, official and colloquial: Hello! Nice to meet you! Goodbye! Good evening! Good afternoon! Good luck! All the best! Welcome! Great! Good morning! Hello! See you tomorrow! See you soon! etc. [2, p. 13]

It is important for students to distinguish between the ways of addressing people in the English language and in their native language. As we know, in Russia we address people by their first and last names, and in Turkmenistan we do it appealing to their professions. For example, if students want to greet their teacher, they say “Salam, mugallym!” which means in English “Good morning, teacher!” The Turkmen also address their relatives in a different way. For example, they call their uncles not only by their names but add the word “daýy” (“uncle”) as in “Jumageldi daýy” which means “Uncle Jumageldi” in English. In Russia, the situation with addressing relatives is also the same; first, they say “uncle,” and then there comes the proper name, e.g., «Дядя Ваня» (“Uncle Vanya”). In Turkmenistan, however, it is customary to say first the name, which is followed by the word “uncle” as in the above example. So, one can see that each country has unique selling points. It is known that in England people are used to addressing each other with the words “Mister,” “Miss,” and “Madam,” which make their marital status clear. [1, p. 5] In EFL class, while teaching the theme “Addressing people” the exercise of filling in the gaps can be offered to check how well students understand the topical features:

— Hello. May I talk to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), please?

— Good morning. _____ Browson is busy at the moment. He is holding a meeting. Do you mind leaving a message for him, please?

— No, I don't. It is ______ Sparrow calling. We arranged to meet for a discussion of our new contract. So I'm calling to confirm.

— It is very good. Thank you for the information. Looking forward to meeting him.

The translation of frequently used phrases from their native language into English can help boost students’ speech etiquette and enrich their vocabulary.

С новым годом! (Happy New year!)

Подождите минутку! (Wait a minute!)

Рад вас видеть! (Nice to see you!)

Сколько лет, сколько зим! (Long time no see!)

Не могли бы вы передать мне мой телефон? (Could you, please, pass me my phone?)

Не могли бы вы включить радио? (Would you mind turning on the radio?)

Можете ли вы мне помочь с этим тестом?(I wonder if you could help me with this test?)

Consistent performance of all types of exercises presented in the collection contributes to the achievement of the major goal of teaching speech etiquette — the improvement of students’ skills to carry out speech activity in accordance with the communication situation, using appropriate speech etiquette formulas. The main condition for the successful assimilation of the formulas of speech etiquette and their competent use in speech is focusing on etiquette issues in each lesson, which can definitely increase the effectiveness of the process of forming and developing students’ speech etiquette.

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