Implementing Speaking and Listening Standards:Information for English Teachers

The National Council of Teachers of Englishand International Reading Association’s Standardsfor the English Language Arts explicitly names “lis-tening, speaking, viewing, and visually represent-ing” in the overall goal statement and includesterms that refer to the oral language arts in nine ofthe twelve standards (103). A study that examinedtwenty-nine state standards documents revealedthat every program included both speaking and lis-tening as part of the state standards (Goulden 200).

With such a strong imperative, it is clearthat, throughout the nation, English teachers willbe making changes in what they teach. Those whohave not been formally trained in speech educationwill need assistance in revising local curriculum andin preparing to implement speaking and listeninginstruction in their classrooms. Initial efforts tobridge knowledge and background gaps will of ne-cessity take place at the local or personal levelthrough inservice training for and self-education byteachers already in the English classroom.

Teachers charged with increasing the scopeof speaking and listening instruction in their class-rooms need help in two areas: (1) general informa-tion about what the content areas of “speaking” and“listening” include and how in a practical way teach-

ers can incorporate appropriate instruction forthese two language arts, and (2) specific informationabout the processes of speaking and listening thatteachers can use when planning instruction, assign-ments, and assessments.

Genera l Understand ing of Speak ing and L is ten ing

What Do Speaking and Listening Mean?

Without a professional definition to guide them,teachers may erroneously assume that any vocaliz-ing is speaking and any silent, passive behavior is lis-tening. The Speech Communication Association’sstandards document clarifies the boundaries ofwhat “speaking” and “listening” include as the termsare used by the speech communication discipline.

Based on the SCA guidelines, “speaking” in-cludes both spontaneous informal speech (e.g., talk-ing in work groups, responding in class discussion,participating in interviews) and prepared formalspeeches. Speaking instruction focuses on expectedbehaviors (responses, delivery) in both formal andinformal settings and the process of composingspeech text (Speech Communication Association).Although they are worthwhile classroom activities,

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ithout a great deal of warning or preparation, many English teachers find them-

selves in the position of being responsible for an expanded English curriculum that

includes not only the traditional language arts of writing and reading but also the

“new” language arts of speaking, listening, and media literacy. This paradigm shift

that overtly includes and elevates the position of oral language arts in the English classroom is

largely the result of the standards movement at both the national and state levels (Brew-

baker 81).

W

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oral reading, acting, and reciting are not technically“speaking,” and teachers should not assume that acurriculum limited to these oral activities fulfillsspeaking standards.

Without a professional definition to

guide them, teachers may

erroneously assume that any

vocalizing is speaking and any

silent, passive behavior is listening.

The SCA’s explanation of “listening” is cen-tered on a person’s engagement in a complex activeprocess. Curriculum revisions might focus onlearning about the elements included in the listen-ing process and also learning strategies for listeningfor a variety of purposes (SCA 1–2).

How Can Teachers Add Speaking andListening to a Full Curriculum?

There is a way to give students instruction, practice,and feedback about their speaking, listening, andviewing without deleting significant portions of thecurriculum that focus on reading, writing, and liter-ature. The key is integrating the three newcomersinto the base of the traditional language arts.

Many language arts programs have alreadyincorporated informal speaking as an integral partof the curriculum through small group work in writ-ing workshops and literature discussion. The vi-gnettes in Standards for the English Language Arts,designed to illustrate standards in practice, providemodel examples of the use of informal speaking andlistening integrated into literature and writing study.Eleven of the twelve middle school and high schoolvignettes presented in the NCTE-IRA publicationinclude either informal speaking in the contexts ofgroup discussion, or interviews, or both. A few ex-amples of individual speaking presentations are alsofound in the vignettes (55–67).

An excellent illustration of how to integrateindividual speaking, discussion, and listening is

found in Rodney Keller’s approach to teachingwriting called the “rhetorical cycle.” He leads hisstudents through the stages of the rhetorical cycleas they develop individual written compositions.His stages include: (1) background reading fromliterature or on a specific topic; (2) individual think-ing stimulated by prewriting activities; (3) speakingin small groups about each writer’s tentative plans;(4) listening and reflecting on the listener’s under-standing of their plans; and (5) discussing each stu-dent’s proposal. Keller explains that, at the end ofstep 5, students have not only completed the pre-writing phase, they have created an oral draft oftheir essay (27–32).

A second economical approach to integrat-ing speaking and listening into the studies of read-ing and writing is to build on the commonalitiesbetween the pairs of language arts. Both teachersand their students need to talk about and identifythe similarities and the differences that exist be-tween reading and listening and between writingand speaking.

Just as a teacher might guide students tofocus on the purpose (or genre) of a text studentsread in order to identify specific strategies for un-derstanding, a teacher would also introduce thepurpose for a listening episode to help students uti-lize the most appropriate listening strategies in thatsituation. Another potential commonality is the useof student responses to assess both reading com-prehension and listening comprehension. Instruc-tion that identifies a variety of appropriate listeningresponse strategies (e.g., paraphrasing, question-ing, extending) and then gives students practicewith those strategies may overlap or at least corre-spond with reading instruction. A teacher can alsoadapt aids such as reading guides or graphic or-ganizers to help students make meaning when lis-tening. The Michigan State Board of Education’slanguage arts standards document provides a goodmodel for correlating the teaching of reading, lis-tening, and viewing (4).

Both writing and speaking are fundamentallydiscourse composition processes. At the mostgeneral level, the processes encompass analogousstages: pre-composition (prewriting); oral drafting(written drafting); revision; speaking (writing); post-speaking (postwriting). However, the two processesin detail are not identical because of the different na-ture of the products and the different delivery sys-tems. Teachers and students need to recognize that

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one does not write a text using the language, strate-gies, and conventions of written discourse, then readthe paper out loud and call it a speech. The distinctlanguage, syntax, and conventions of speaking, suchas obvious sharing of the structure of the speech andrepetition, are needed because of the transitory na-ture of the speech.

Building on the unique nature of each of thelanguage arts and how they complement and inter-sect with each other is not only an efficient way toinclude speaking and listening, but also offers addi-tional opportunities for practicing the common ele-ments and processes that reading and writing sharewith listening and speaking.

Spec i f i c Inst ruc t ion in Speak ing and L is ten ing

Speaking

The appropriate place to begin working with stu-dents on developing their speaking abilities is in thecontext of informal speaking. Extensive practice inexploratory talk and brief impromptu messages tothe whole class create the foundation for students’preparation and presentation of longer more for-mal individual speeches.

Informal Speaking

Very little direct instruction is needed for informalspeaking. The teacher’s primary responsibility is tocreate classroom situations that promote active par-ticipation by all students in productive classroomtalk. Most informal classroom talk will be either inthe whole class setting, with students speaking tothe entire class from their seats, or in small groups.There are three steps to encourage informal speak-ing participation by all students: (1) both teacherand students should expect every student to speakorally every day about class content; (2) the teachershould set up classroom structures and practicesthat make universal classroom speaking a reality;and (3) students should be given information andtools to prepare them to speak.

Perhaps the first rule of a fully participatoryclassroom is that the teacher will not depend exclu-sively on volunteers in class discussion. Studentswill learn that sometimes those who wave theirhands will speak, but sometimes those who are sit-ting quietly will be asked to give a response. Thepurpose of calling on nonvolunteers is not to penal-

ize the inattentive or reticent, but to set up the pat-tern of full participation.

To further develop participation expectations,teachers may use a technique called “go-rounds.”This approach is first cousin to old-fashioned recita-tion. The teacher asks everyone to prepare a brief re-sponse to a question or prompt. This must be aresponse that all students are capable of producing.For example, if a piece of literature reveals a moraldilemma, each student might be asked to think of amoral dilemma they have experienced or observed.The teacher then goes around the room, directingstudents one-by-one to identify their moral dilem-mas in no more than two sentences.

There is no need to collect all answers forevery prompt. After several students have spoken,the teacher can move on to a second prompt andpick up the go-round using additional promptsuntil everyone in the class has had an opportunityto speak. If a particular student does not have a re-sponse, then that student is skipped for the timebeing but at the end of the sequence is asked againto respond.

Students need guidance in preparing tospeak informally, either in small groups or beforethe whole class. Most people require a little thinkingtime before they orally explain, argue, or support anidea. Before turning students loose to “discuss thisin your groups” or respond to a question requiringhigher level thinking in class discussion, teachersshould give students a few minutes to think aboutthe topic and write some brief notes to explore andorganize their thoughts. A good pattern for im-promptu speakers to use is claim support. Studentsjot down a phrase or sentence that summarizes theiranswer and then map out the support for this cen-tral response claim.

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Perhaps the first rule of a fully

participatory classroom is that the

teacher will not depend exclusively

on volunteers in class discussion.

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The idea of everyone being an active con-tributor in class every day may be a new concept tostudents who have primarily experienced class-rooms dominated by teacher talk or classroomswhere the most assertive volunteers have partici-pated in the classroom exchanges while other stu-dents played a passive role. Initially, the formerlysilent students may be surprised and unpreparedwhen asked to speak; however, when students real-ize that they are going to talk about class content,that they will have the opportunity to prepare tospeak, and that their responses will be valued, thenthey are well on their way to being active partici-pants in informal speaking. By making these recom-mended changes, the total amount of speaking timein the classroom does not have to change. The im-portant change is the shifting pattern from minorityparticipation to universal participation.

Formal Speaking

Once students have become reasonably comfort-able with hearing their own voices and ideas inclassroom discussion or recitation, they should beready to move on to preparing and presentingshort, simple individual speeches such as one-pointspeeches or narratives.

Teachers must lead students through theprocess of speech construction. As mentioned ear-lier, the foundations for the stage of precompositionshould already be in place from their study of thewriting process. However, the drafting stages forspeaking and writing have important differences.In order to produce the appropriate word choicesand sentence structure for the listening audience asopposed to the reading audience, the easiest methodto ensure authentic oral language is by oral draftingand presenting the speech in an extemporaneousmanner.

When using the extemporaneous mode, thespeaker relies on detailed plans, extensive practice,and notes but does not create a written script. Afterspeakers have researched the topic and chosen a the-sis, audience outcome goals, main points, an organi-zational pattern, and support materials, they thenmake a detailed plan in the form of an outline, list,map, or any other note system that is preferred. Thenext step is to talk through the speech in a privatesetting following the written guide, stopping andrestarting as needed, exploring alternative ways ofexpressing the message. By the time the speaker has

worked through the speech, a rough oral draft exists.The next stage, of course, is revision based on areevaluation of original choices. Speakers continueto individually and privately talk through the speech,perhaps several times, revising where needed.

When the speaker believes the speech ispretty well set, it should be timed and speakingnotes prepared. In later run-through, speakersshould become aware of delivery behaviors such as

where they will stand, their posture, and vocal vol-ume. Speakers may also want to get feedback frompeers at this point and incorporate those sugges-tions before the final presentation.

The final text of the speech does not existuntil the speaker presents the speech before anaudience. In order to keep a speech fresh and spon-taneous, the speaker should try to use slightly dif-ferent language in each oral drafting session. Thesevariations in language help build a backlog of dif-ferent ways to express the same idea. Speakers thenhave a reservoir of word choices during the actualpresentation if they have difficulty remembering orfinding “the words.”

Initially, students often find the idea ofspeaking without a written text frightening. In theoral communication field, we have found that teach-ing students the process of oral drafting and givingthem sufficient practice, beginning with short sim-ple speeches, helps them develop the confidence tospeak in this natural, audience-centered manner.

The most important criteria by which tojudge effective delivery is whether or not the speakerhas made direct connection with the audience. De-livery that just looks or sounds polished will have lit-tle real impact if the speaker and audience are not

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Delivery that just looks

or sounds polished will have little

real impact if the speaker and

audience are not engaged in

shared communication.

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engaged in shared communication. The real secretto effective delivery is attitudinal rather than behav-ioral. Successful speakers who appear natural andcomfortable focus on the message and getting thatmessage to the audience, not on how they look andfeel. When a speaker is drawn into the excitement ofthe message, then effective delivery behaviors usu-ally just happen.

Although experts do not recommend teach-ing a lengthy list of “do’s” and “don’t’s” of delivery

behaviors, some students may need specific feed-back so they can reduce voice and body problemsthat interfere with audience connections. Typicalfeedback topics include reminders to speak loudlyand clearly enough that the audience can hear themessage without undue effort and to make genuineeye contact with audience members. Real eye con-tact requires that the speaker scan the audienceand briefly lock eyes with individuals. This shouldnot be a mechanical head swiveling, or a fixing ofthe speaker’s eyes on the space above audiencemember’s heads, or brief flickers of the eyes up anddown. Instead, the speaker should look directlyinto the eyes of audience members for a very brieftime. Some beginning students find it very difficultto make direct eye contact because they feel shy or self-conscious. Nevertheless, they should try todo so, since it is through sharing glances with audi-ence members that they encounter supportive au-dience responses that can help increase their levelof comfort.

Feedback is also necessary when studentsbehave in ways that are so obviously distracting thattheir actions create barriers between the speakerand audience. An occasional “um” or small nervousmovement probably will not even be noticed by theaudience. It’s not necessary to point out theseminor natural flaws to speakers, since they areoften reduced or eliminated as speakers becomemore comfortable in front of a group. On the otherhand, speakers whose behaviors truly get in the wayof the message (talking far too loudly; engaging inconstant, undirected motion; or using frequent dis-fluencies or filler words) should be made aware ofthese problems in a private conference. Speakersmay be able to achieve some level of control oversuch distractions once they realize what they aredoing; however, if teachers assess speech delivery,they should remember that changing lifelong com-munication patterns is difficult and may not be pos-sible except for very brief periods.

Speaking in Small Groups

Speaking in small groups is a special informal situa-tion. Students are usually under less teacher super-vision and have more independent responsibilities.Probably one of the easiest ways to include produc-tive speech by every student every day is to take ad-vantage of the cooperative learning that is alreadypart of many language arts classrooms. In this less-controlled situation, though, it is easy for students to

A student practices her speaking skills.

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avoid being active participants or to revert to non-productive or negative communication practices.

An excellent source for teachers who wantto improve the communication aspects of smallgroup work is the book Focus on CollaborativeLearning published by NCTE. In the first two es-says Dana Herreman and Richard Whitworth pre-sent concrete information on what students in theEnglish classroom need to learn about small groupcommunication (5–20). The following suggestionsare in harmony with Herreman’s and Whitworth’srecommendations and also reflect current thinkingand practices in the speech communication field.

First, enhancing the prospect of student ac-tive participation depends on the teacher’s plans andinstructions for small group work. The smaller thenumber of students working together, the greaterthe likelihood that all will participate. For activesharing by all, groups of three to five members workbest. A second teaching strategy for stimulating totalmember participation is to give different responsi-bilities to different students within the group. Forexample, make each student responsible for a partic-ular piece or category of information; or assign dif-ferent communication tasks (e.g., paraphrasing theassignment to the group, summarizing the group de-cision or plan, reporting back to the whole group) todifferent individuals within the group.

It is important to provide direct instructionabout communication in small groups on the follow-ing subjects: (1) making and using agendas; (2) elim-inating negative communication behaviors such asbeing rude, using personal attacks, monopolizingthe conversation, dominating the decisions andprocess, and being stubborn beyond reason; and(3) promoting behaviors that move the discussionalong, such as asking pertinent questions, summa-rizing, providing useful information, and helpingothers enter the conversation. Self-assessment, peerassessment, and teacher observation can all be usedto track and reinforce progress in these group com-munication practices.

Listening

Teachers should expect and facilitate good listeningpractices in all classroom settings. People attend toothers’ speaking when they have a motivation to lis-ten. Some educators recommend that instructionsor explanations be given only once. If students knowthey will hear something several times, they may just

tune out altogether. Students may also ignore whatclassmates say if the exchange appears to be betweenonly one student and the teacher. They just remain“on hold” until the student is finished speaking andwait for the teacher to tell them the “real answer.” Tobreak these passive patterns, teachers should remindstudents to direct their comments to the whole class.Rather than depending exclusively on teacher evalu-ation or reiteration of what a student has said, theteacher can hand the conversational baton off to an-other student by asking what the listener thinks ofthe first student’s response or if the listener wants toadd something to what has been said.

Content instruction in listening may bestructured around purposes such as listening to ac-quire information, listening to analyze or evaluate,listening to extend empathy, or listening for enter-tainment. Concentrating on a specific purpose pro-vides the framework for teaching students how totake notes, how to extract and identify organiza-tional patterns from oral messages, and how to iden-tify and test the arguments and reasoning found inoral and visual messages.

The richest classroom setting for students topractice and demonstrate proficient listening is inthe small group context where they have maximumopportunities to respond. Teachers can introduceand model such listening response techniques asparaphrasing, summarizing, question-asking, eval-uating, and turn-taking so that students will have anunderstanding of a variety of listening responses.Awareness of and responsibility for a menu of re-sponses promotes active listening and gives stu-dents new tools for processing incoming dataduring a group discussion. Self, peer, and teacherassessment of response strategies used during smallgroup discussion provide a means to guide studentsin the improvement of listening practices.

Conc lus ion

Teachers need not be overwhelmed by theprospect of implementing speaking and listeninginto the language arts curriculum. This article is notmeant to be a prescription for implementation thatmust be rigorously followed step by step. Rather, itcan serve as a guide to adding the new languagearts to the traditional foundation. Implementationdoesn’t have to occur all at once. Teachers just needto start, learn what works in their classrooms, learnwhat others are doing, learn more about the field of

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oral communication, and then continue to inte-grate additional “new language arts” instructionand assignments.

Note

The Speech Communication Association has recentlychanged its name to the National Communication Association.More information can be found on their web site: www.natcom.org/.

Works Cited

Brewbaker, James M. “On Tuesday Morning: The Case forStandards for the English Language Arts.” EnglishJournal 86.1 (1997): 76–82.

Goulden, Nancy Rost. “The Roles of National and StateStandards in Implementing Speaking, Listening,and Media Literacy.” Communication Education47 (1998): 194–208.

Herreman, Dana. “None of Us Is as Smart as All of Us.”Focus on Collaborative Learning: Classroom Prac-tices in Teaching English, 1988. Jeff Golub, chair,and the NCTE Committee on Classroom Practices.Urbana, IL: NCTE, 1988. 5–11.

Keller, Rodney D. “The Rhetorical Cycle.” The Leaflet(1985): 27–32.

Michigan State Board of Education. English LanguageArts: Model Content Standards for Curriculum andBenchmarks. Lansing, MI: Michigan Departmentof Education, 1996.

National Council of Teachers of English and InternationalReading Association. Standards for the EnglishLanguage Arts. Urbana, IL and Newark, DE, 1996.

Speech Communication Association. Speaking, Listening,and Media Literacy Standards for K through 12Education. Annandale, VA: SCA, 1996.

Whitworth, Richard. “Collaborative Learning and OtherDisasters.” Focus on Collaborative Learning:Classroom Practices in Teaching English, 1988.Jeff Golub, chair, and the NCTE Committee onClassroom Practices. Urbana, IL: NCTE, 1988.13–20.

NANCY ROST GOULDEN teaches public speaking atKansas State University in Manhattan, Kansas. She is a for-mer secondary school teacher.

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