ELT News Think Tank

This Month's Think Tank Panel

Marc Helgesen

Peter Viney

Chuck Sandy

Panelists: Marc | Peter | Chuck
Date: January 2002

Topic: "What are some ways to increase language output inside and outside the classroom?"

(The flip side to December's article on input, our authors and teachers discuss output. -ed.)

Marc Helgesen

I wonder if I am being contrary these days? Last month, when we were talking about input, I wrote about having the student talk to themselves (use their innervoice) as a way of increasing intake. This month, my suggestion on the way to increasing output is: Silence.

No, I'm not being obstinate. What I am trying to do is focus attention on what is going on in the students' minds. I'm not talking about empty silence. Rather, I am suggesting that students do mental rehearsal (language planning).

Sometimes, when we are pushing for instant production, we are inadvertently locking students in to a simpler, lower level of language than necessary. It is as if we are saying,

"Pairwork.
You are A.
You are B.
Here is the task.
TALK!"

And what happens? They do talk, but with very simple language (both in form and in content) because they haven't had time to come up with anything else.

It is probably no surprise that taking a few minutes to plan what they want to say leads to greater fluency and complexity. What is interesting is that it also seems to lead to greater accuracy even though we are not necessarily telling students to think about form.

By giving the learners a minute or two of silence before a speaking activity, we can greatly increase the amount - as well as the quality - of what they say during the task. And if what they say is more interesting, it is likely to keep them and their partners involved in the conversation.

How do we have students do mental rehearsal? There are a number of ways. For all of these, I am assuming that the learners are going to do an interactional activity - probably pairwork or groupwork - that moves beyond information gap to opinion or experience gaps. So we are talking about real communication.

Often mental rehearsal is as easy as just giving them a little time after they know the task and topic but before they start speaking to their partners. In my own classes, I often introduce the task and then say, "You're going to talk about that. Before you do, take a minute or two to think about what you would like to say." I often have background music playing at times like this—it makes everyone (including me) more comfortable with the silence. (Along with background music, you might even want to toss in an aroma therapy burner.)

Sometimes, especially if they are going to talk about a personal experience, I ask them to close their eyes and visualize what really happened. I will often, in a slow, relaxed voice, ask questions to help them focus:

Get a picture of yourself. Where were you?
Look around. What did you see? Were there other people? Who were they? What did they look like?

Listen. Were people talking? What did they say? What other sounds did you hear? What did you feel? That can mean physical things - the temperature, the wind. It can also be emotions. Were you happy? Sad? Excited? Something else?

After they have thought about the situation, I ask them to "Replay the movie in their minds" They think about what they were seeing and mentally narrate it. Once we've done it, they are able to talk about it much more easily than if I had just said, "OK, talk about a time you…"

A lot of teachers find visualization activities interesting and effective, but I know some who roll their eyes and think, "That's too touchy-feely for me." The activities can be much tamer. I can be a simple as "We are going to do some pairwork. Take a minute to look at the questions. How would you answer them?"

When there are open-ended activities with many questions, I would rather have my students talk about a few questions more deeply, even if that means they don't get to all the items. One way to set that up is to have them read over the questions and decide which are interesting. I use this system: 1= interesting; 2= so-so, 3 = not interesting. Students write a number next to each question. In the process of rating the items, they are processing the information and making decisions. And during the task, they start with the questions they are interested in—a good way to make the activity fly.

A minute or two of silence really can be a way to increase the learners' output in terms of fluency, complexity and accuracy. Seems like a good use of their time and yours.

Panelists: Marc | Peter | Chuck

Marc Helgesen, Miyagi Gakuin Women's College

Co-author of English Firsthand and Active Listening

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