The development of speaking skills is not an easy task for teachers and students in English language classes. In this sense, the role that an adequate motivation plays is fundamental for the achievement of the proposed objectives. In our work we propose to make some reflections in this regard. We will focus primarily on the challenge of getting our students to speak in language classes, naturally without feeling scared or frustrated. An example of a task of how to motivate them at the beginning of each class is exposed in this work.
Introduction
English is considered the international language because it is spoken in many countries around the world. It is used for communication with different purposes, among others: cultural, economic, political, scientific, etc. The English language seen as a foreign language has to do with communication between native speakers or not.
A language has two forms of communication, the written and the spoken, both with their own characteristics in any communication process. Oral communication has always been a difficult task for those who try to communicate verbally due to different aspects to take into account in the development of language skills, such as: The correct use of grammar, coherence, the content of which is wants to communicate, the pronunciation, the intonation when speaking, the appropriate vocabulary to use, etc. Also, most of the time people who communicate in a foreign language are afraid to communicate their ideas in front of other people, for fear of failure. For this reason,Carrying out adequate motivation in English language classes is of vital importance in order to achieve satisfactory results in the development of oral skills.
From our point of view and taking into account our experience as teachers, English language teachers should use some strategies in order to motivate their students to express their ideas and communicate in English in a natural way. The teaching experience that we suggest has been of great help in our classes in the development of this skill, minimizing the fear of communicating in a foreign language.
Development
In Cuba, technical and professional English for specific purposes has been taught in Medical Sciences for more than 25 years, using different approaches and methodologies. Although both forms of communication are useful (written and oral) in our language classes, special attention is paid to oral communication. This is because we first communicate ideas, thoughts or feelings without forgetting of course the other skills of the language.
Second, based on the linguistic principle that language is communication, we teachers emphasize the development of oral ability taking into consideration the role that our health professionals play in international medical collaborations. Hence, we must prepare our students for the fulfillment of this communicative objective, making them speak as much as possible and in the best possible way.
Motivation plays a determining role in this regard. Oral communication together with this motivation to begin the task of communicating is of utmost importance in our English language classes. There are different models of motivation according to the expectation and the value to explain the choices between the action alternatives, the intensity and the persistence of the behavior, as well as the communicative results according to (Heckhasen, 1980: 9) the type of motivation that a teacher will use, it will depend on the type of students and the context of their activity, in addition to the type of exercise that they will develop according to the objectives of the class.
We believe that the motivation process will definitely influence the expected efficiency in the action that is developed.
Orientation as a mediator between motivation and action to be developed was clearly raised more than a century ago by Johnan (1925) who pointed out that humans do not always do what they are capable of doing. In this regard, we agree with his Approach since, based on this motivation, students can feel more comfortable and interested in starting to communicate their ideas in a foreign language, guided by their teachers. Therefore, whenever we think about the subject of motivation and relate it to interests and needs, we ask ourselves the following question: Do people always do what they want to do?
The answer is that you don't always do what you want to do, for different reasons, that is why the role of motivation in our classes. If the teacher makes a good motivation, the student will have a better performance in the learning process and therefore better academic results. For this purpose, we practice changing the way of arranging the seats in a horseshoe shape so that it can facilitate face-to-face communication. In the challenge of the teacher's conception of human interaction, we certainly expect resistance to change (Brubacher Mark: 1990) We completely agree with this approach and about the need to apply some changes in English language classes,regarding the use of some learning strategies and especially the structure and organization of the classroom.
Teachers might think about some new ideas, even different ways to teach and motivate students, breaking routine. For example, teachers can organize classes in outdoor places, to face real life contexts and thus achieve communicate in real situations, about their own interests. In this way they would enjoy and lose their fear of speaking. After this step, the teacher can suggest a topic, or use a photo or poster to comment on it, breaking the silence and starting the long-awaited communication. For this, another aspect to take into account is not to take into account at this moment the errors of a grammatical or pronunciation nature that do not interfere with communication. During this activity you will not be allowed to write anything.
How our students learn to communicate
Speaking, writing, reading and listening and being able to select their own learning strategy (Boomer, Garth, Australia 1990: 185).
In addition, we must say that grammar and pronunciation errors should be treated with caution to avoid student refusal to speak and facilitate communication without limits or barriers. If we avoid constant corrections, our students will feel more comfortable and motivated to speak. Making communication easier.
We suggest for the development of oral skills to propose interesting topics about current or real life. Also as teachers, take advantage of all the spaces to speak in English, not only within the class. We believe that the initial moment of the class is vital with an atmosphere of safety and trust. We insist that themes, prints, photos and other resources must be carefully selected. The teacher must begin by providing the student with an appropriate model of communication.
To conclude, we will say that motivation is vital to develop any activity in our life. The process of motivation can be compared to starting a vehicle engine, the engine must warm up to start running.
Bibliographic references:
- Heckhausen, Henz, 1980. Model of Motivation, page 9. Kuhl, Julius, Action vs. State Orientation, page 67.Brubacher, Mark. Perspectives on Small group Learning. Theory and Practice, 1990. Boomer, Garth, Australia, 1990.
