Re..Role of Written Language in Speaking

Posted: 2010/01/29  By: maestraviajes (Views:1324)

Role of Written Language in Speaking

The Facilitative role of Written Language in Speaking:

Using Writing to Improve L2 Speaking by: T. Tagasaki

“Since writing and speaking have many features in common, by deliberately controlling a
number of variables, writing teachers can make writing closer to speaking. The important thing
is that the task itself should not be very difficult when the aim of writing is to improve
speaking. In this sense, free-writing techniques and the communicative approach are thought to
be appropriate for this purpose. If the students already know the basic skills of writing such
as grammar, vocabulary, and punctuation, the task becomes much easier. “ T. Tagasaki

With the above statement of T. Tagasaki, I do not believe in his opinion. Because, non-verbal
(written) studies of grammar, writing, reading, and listening, all of these activities may
increase recall memory for written examinations, but they have little benefit in teaching you
to speak fluent English. "The best way to learn how to speak fluently is by speaking. (using
ESP method which is what I'm applying to all my KOREAN students ). Without simultaneous
involvement of all components of speech, (tongue, vocal cord, auditory system, brain and lungs)
it is impossible to effectively retrain students' proprioceptive sense to accommodate a new
language. Yet,this is exactly what ESL has traditionally done by introducing grammar,
listening, writing, and reading as segregated activities. It is not surprising that it takes
ESL students so long to learn to speak fluent English. This is according to the study of Lynn
Lundquist.

It is already observed that there are lots of students though they were able to get high
score in TOIECand TOEFL and get perfect score in grammar but they cannot speak the language.
Which is also proved in the article written by: David A. Leaper - assistant professor at the
English education department of Hankuk University of ForeignStudies and teaches language
testing on TESOL certificate and post graduate courses. It was said, “An April 2 front page
article, ``Korea Ranked Bottom in English Proficiency Test,'' said that out of 120 countries,
Korea placed 78th, despite the ``colossal amounts of time and money learning English.” “The
article goes on to detail the awful evidence: Korea placed 136th out of 161 countries in
speaking, scores in listening and writing were lower than the world average and the only
section better than the world average was reading.”

I had a great advantage when growing up because my mother exposed me a lot in watching
English movies and series, including English news. So, I was used to listening to correct
English in addition to my favorite children show. And also through the help of reading aloud
newspaper even though I did not understand it very much. That is why before I went to school I
could already express myself in English though; I don’t have a formal studying in grammar (
morphology , syntax, phonetics, phonology, semantics and pragmatics) . And I was able to answer
the grammar quizzes/ exercises and write a narrative because I already knew how to speak. My
auditory system is already trained in listening correct English so I could immediately sense if
it is right or wrong based on hearing it even uttering it inside my head. Certainly, I learned
many important things about English through grammar study. But it was of importance to me only
because I had already achieved basic English fluency. I did not learn to speak English as a
result of English grammar lessons and writing. ( same with L. Lundquist)

Although, I’m not yet perfect…no one, however, is perfect. Native speakers make mistakes
too; some even all the time. That is why I’m not focusing on the negative but rather on
communication. My first goal in teaching is not for them to speak “perfectly”, the goal is
to communicate ideas, information, and feelings in aclear and understandable way. Then,
accuracy will automatically improve later over time of practice and studying.

Maestra Viajes
 (http://englishlanguageesp.blogspot.com/2009/12/role-of-written-language-in-speaking.html)