Using Speaking to Teach: Types of Sense-Making Activities

A few years ago, I compared two teaching approaches. Scarlet was teaching a second language speaking course (debate) “like a content course” (1, p. 5 ). Melody who was teaching TESOL methods, a content-focused course, was in some ways approaching it “like an oral English course” (1, p. 5).

Scarlet started most classes with lecture on the content, “the pieces, theories, and formulas of debate” (1, p. 6). Lecture was followed by some practice activities in which groups of students might analyze or practice aspects of a debate. She estimated that lecture took up 50-60% of class time.

Melody was “using speaking to teach” (2, p. 39), engaging the students in activities through which they figured out content instead of listening to a lecture. Although these sense-making activities were sometimes done individually, learners were mostly “taught” by speaking with other students. In order to learn new content, they negotiated and collaborated with one another and combined their differing background knowledge under the guidance of the activity and teacher feedback.

Drawn from conversations with teachers like Scarlet and Melody and personal experimentation, some different categories of sense-making activities are described and illustrated below. Different types of activities in each category are emphasized with italics.

DISCUSSIONS 

Description: guided interactions between teacher and students in a whole class setting or between small groups of learners with specific prompts that lead or build toward correct conclusions about content, often in combination with other types of sense-making activities

Examples: 

1. Some of the examples below may begin with a lead-in discussion to activate learners’ background knowledge. Then, learners are better able to use what they already know to figure out content through further guided discussion or a different sense-making activity.

2. Many of the examples below require a whole class follow up discussion in which learners share their ideas and the teacher leads them to self-correct or elaborate and come to final conclusions.

3. Guided discussions can also play a role in the heart of sense-making activities. Melody, for instance, could use a list of carefully ordered and worded questions to guide her students to understand some of the basic differences between two approaches to teaching, Transmission and Constructivism, by looking at the parts of each word. 

OBJECTIVE EXERCISES

Description: short response exercises with obvious right or wrong answers; sometimes done individually but also completed in pairs or small groups

Examples: 

1. In Scarlet’s class as a way to introduce students to the overall process of debate, picture small groups matching the names of debate stages to their descriptions and then ordering the stages, using background knowledge and logic.

2. In Melody’s class, students might complete a true/false exercise that lists common beliefs about English Language Teaching. A follow up discussion leads them to appropriate conclusions.

INFORMATION GAP

Description: the combination of different sets of content that each student in a pair/group has access to (from background knowledge or given by the teacher) in order to make a whole

Examples: A well-known example is a jigsaw activity or expert groups. In Melody’s course, students could learn about different types of activities through jigsaw. Each group first gains expertise in their assigned activity type by reading or watching a video. Then, groups re-form with one individual from each of the original groups. Individuals in the new groups take turns sharing the expertise gained in their first groups.

DRAMATIZATIONS

Description: pair, group, or whole class drama activities that are guided with prompts, possibly performed for the whole class, so that particular ways of applying content or performing skills are learned

Examples: 

1. In Scarlet’s course, an obvious option would be a whole class simulation of a debate with scripts directing groups and individuals about what to say and do. This dramatization could potentially precede or follow the objective exercises mentioned above as part of introducing students to the overall process of debate.

2. In Melody’s class when they learn about communication strategies, each pair could role play (according to a prompt) a particular strategy. After preparing under the teacher’s guidance, role plays could be performed for the class while learners take notes in a chart (an audiovisual prompt described below) and learn about each strategy.

GAMES

Description: small group or whole class activities that use a familiar game set up to aid learners in figuring out terms or content

Examples: Some possibilities here include:

1. a matching game (using cards or an online program) to learn debate vocabulary.

2. a Jeopardy style game for learning some different methods/techniques for language teaching.

AUDIO/VISUAL PROMPTS

Description: including graphs, diagrams, infographics, charts, or videos that students interpret, analyze, or complete; often a support for other types of sense-making activities

Examples: 

1. Scarlet could have her students analyze a video clip of a debate through a small group guided discussion.

2. In Melody’s class, students might work in groups to understand an infographic which gives an overview of Social-Emotional Learning. This activity could be done as a running dictation (a type of information gap). Members of the group take turns “running” to the wall where the infographic is posted and then returning to their group to describe what they saw to the one member assigned as the artist.

Further exploration

1. “Like a Content Course,” TESOL Theory and Praxis, 3, 1, 2018, by Melissa K. Smith.
2. “Ways of Using Speaking to Teach,” Teaching Speaking, chapter 5, 2020, by Tasha Bleistein, Melissa K. Smith, and Marilyn Lewis.

Try it out

We’re hoping to hear from you! What would you add to the categories above? What types would you add to each category? In the comments below or in a private message through our Contact Us page, send us some additional categories or types.

Post Author

Melissa K. Smith

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