Volume Matters

Speaking too loud can be annoying and push people away. Speaking too softly, however, can be an even larger obstacle to simple communication and a satisfying conversation.

During classroom discussions in English class, some students to will boldly speak their mind. Other students tend to hold back, offer only the safest comments, and other share their wit. One overlooked, essential quality to speech in class, however, is volume. Students must speak loud enough that their fellow students can hear them - whether seated in the front or back row.
One can, however, sympathize with the timid English students who speak softer than ideal in a large classroom.

Being inaudible, however, in personal conversations remains a far more serious problem - especially for English as a Second Language (ESL) students.

Student conferences, especially with shy students worried about their grade or academic performance, can often be a bit awkward for both the professor and student. ESL (English as a Second Language) students, sometimes insecure about their pronunciation or vocabulary, can feel particularly anxious. ESL and other English teachers have to find ways to reduce student anxiety, provide a safe place for English students to speak, provide feedback on student work, and uphold academic standards. (Adult education, by the way, would be greatly improved if ESL teachers had more opportunities for student conferences.)

In general, I find student conferences very productive and satisfying because you get a chance to really work with a college student on their writings and assignments. I often feel that I learn as much as I teach in these 20-30 minute student conferences.

Sometimes, however, I have awkward conferences. If the student has plagiarized, then this can’t be avoided. Those moments, which I dread, can not be avoided. So it goes.

Yet sometimes, as occurred last semester, an ESL (English as a Second Language) student is so shy, so timid, and so unsure that they speak so softly that I can’t even hear. Sometimes I lean forward and ask them to please speak a bit louder. If a student continues in the same low volume, I might apologize for my poor hearing and again request they speak up. What does one do on the third request?

“Please speak a bit louder so I can hear you.”

Was this too direct? I wanted to say, “If I can’t hear you, you will be misunderstood. I want to understand you. Speak up!!”

Patience, this time, paid off. The student raised her voice to an audible level, and replied, “okay.”

“Good to hear you,” I replied. We proceeded to have a productive end of semester conference.

English and ESL teachers at all levels, from elementary school and high school to adult school and university, need to emphasize the importance of student speech being comprehensible. That includes speaking loud enough that conversation partners, classmates, and instructors can hear.

Bottomline: students must speak up in conversations, conferences, and class discussions. Volume matters.


Ask more. Know more. Share more.
Create Compelling Conversations.
Visit www.CompellingConversations.com

ESL Classes Should Let Students Speak More!

Conversation remains a vital social skill for our English students. Naturally, immigrants and international students want to fully participate in their schools, their jobs, and their communities. Speaking clearly in English allows individuals to express their life experiences, insights, and perceptions in fluent conversations – both inside and outside classrooms. Limited English fluency, in contrast, often causes additional stress. "Speech is civilization itself," wrote Thomas Mann, the great 20th century German novelist."It is silence which isolates."

Therefore, conversation skills deserve far greater attention in English language classrooms for academic, social, and cultural reasons. Conversation skills also require practice, practice, and more practice. So let's give our students more chances to express themselves, share their experiences, and develop their discussion skills in our English language classrooms - especially our high intermediate and advanced students. Teachers need to create encouraging, yet rigorous, classroom atmospheres where students can learn by doing.

Speaking skills, I'd suggest, deserve at least as much attention as grammar in our classrooms. Do students who know grammar, but can't hold a conversation really speak English?
Conversation skills often matter more at work, at school, at parties, and at home. Whether ESL students seek better work opportunities, higher grades, or closer relations with native English speakers, our students also want to become fluent in English. So let's meet both our students needs and wishes, and add more conversation activities and time to our ESL classes.

"English saved my life."
Joseph Conrad (1857-1924), English novelist born in Poland


Ask more. Know more. Share more.
Create Compelling Conversations.
Visit www.CompellingConversations.com