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Speaking skills are defined as skills which allow us to communicate effectively. These skills give us the ability to convey information verbally and in a way that the listener can understand.
The ability to speak confidently and fluently is one which children will develop during their time at school, and it's something that will help them throughout their life.
Children can hone their speaking skills in English as well as their speaking skills in other languages, starting in pre-k and continuing up through to high school.
Learning how to develop these skills in English is also important for students learning English for the first time. No matter what language you’re targeting, speaking is one of the most important parts of language learning. It’s how we tend to communicate in everyday life.
Speaking is an interactive process where information is shared, and if necessary, acted upon by the listener. So, it’s important to develop both speaking and listening skills for effective communication.
Keep reading to find out more about the different elements of speaking, their importance in the classroom, and tips on improving speaking skills with ELLs (English language learners).
Speaking skills can be split up into four areas to target. These are:
You can find out what each of these mean below.
To develop our speaking skills, we first need to know the right words. Vocabulary development begins as an infant, when children first learn to describe the world around them and communicate their needs.
This progresses from single words to sentences when children are 2 or 3 years old, at which point they will normally have a vocabulary of 150-300 words.
Vocabulary development is where students understand the meanings and pronunciations of words necessary for communication.
When they understand what a word means, they can check what the phrase or sentence means. This is important for helping them to keep up their side of a conversation. If they understand what the other person is saying, and they know what vocabulary to say back, they are halfway there to communicating effectively.
Did you know that to be considered fluent in a language, you need to have a vocabulary of around 10,000 words?
You might think that grammar is something we only need for written language. While the rules of grammar for spoken English are more flexible, it can’t be ignored.
Grammar provides important structure for spoken language, such as an understanding of tenses and the correct way to structure sentences. This helps us to convey information in a way that the listener will recognize and understand.
Remember: the other person understanding what you mean is one of the most important parts of speaking skills.
Understanding how to correctly pronounce words is another vital element of speaking skills. We learn how to pronounce words by listening to those around us, such as our parents, friends and teachers. Pronunciation varies from country to country, and even city to city!
A lot of this comes from phonemic awareness. That’s a complicated term that means understanding the small units that make up spoken language.
No two languages are alike, and English can differ quite a lot from other languages. Some phonemes might not be in ESL students' native languages. If children's minds are trained to categorize phonemes in their first language, it can become confusing.
Developing this ability in English can involve playing language games or using songs and poems to reiterate rhythm and repetition.
Phonics is where students start to see the relationship between the sounds of spoken language and graphemes. Graphemes are the letters and spellings representing sounds in written language. Flashcards are a good way to practice these!
Fluency in spoken language is something that naturally develops as children go through school. It comes from using and practicing speaking skills every day.
Reading widely (and out loud) is a good way to improve fluency, as it introduces children to new vocabulary and reinforces their knowledge of spoken language.
Fluency is the ability to hear words and understand them straight away. If children see a word written down, they can read it aloud and pronounce it properly. Guide your students through reading passages out loud. You could also get your students to read aloud in front of the class. This builds their confidence and also helps them to annunciate better.
The more fluent your students are in a language, the easier they will find having in-depth conversations, as they’ll have all the knowledge necessary to express themselves.
Speaking allows us to communicate with others and express our thoughts and feelings. Speaking skills can be separated into formal and informal speaking skills, and we use both types in a variety of contexts throughout life.
Informal speaking skills are important for conversations with friends and family. They help us to form emotional connections with other people.
On the other hand, formal speech is necessary for workplaces, in presentations, or for conversations with people you don’t know. Using formal language at an appropriate time allows us to make a good impression on people and communicate politely.
As an ELL, speaking skills are considered key to learning a language. In fact, many language learners measure their performance by how well they can speak it. Effective language learning often takes place through interaction, so it's a skill that can be honed to really build an understanding of the language and culture of English-speaking countries.
And yet, it can be so easy to find speaking daunting or challenging. It isn't as straightforward as we might want it to be. Teachers need to encourage students to speak as much as possible. They can make it as fun and engaging as the structure of their lessons will allow.
This could be through dramatic play, group work or even projects. Fortunately, we’ve linked some resources at the end for you to take a look at.
Practice makes perfect when it comes to developing speaking skills in English. Listening to spoken English, learning different rules of grammar, and reading appropriate texts can all help in different ways, but at the end of the day, your class needs to actually speak.
As an English language learner, understanding the nature of the language can be a real struggle. Students with different native languages can be at a disadvantage because of the differences between their native language and English. These challenges aren’t unsurmountable, however, and soon they’ll find their rhythm.
What’s more, once they master their speaking skills, they’ll have a better understanding of how languages work, broadening their understanding of the world.
Looking for resources to use with your students? Check out our range of ELL speaking skills resources, which are suitable for pre-k up to fifth grade. These are split into several sub-skills, including: conversation, debate, dramatic play, greetings, and more!
For teachers, we also have a handy template for planning an ELL lesson, linked in the picture below.
Whether you’re a teacher or a parent (or both), we have a wealth of resources designed to support your children’s learning and improve their speaking skills. These include printable worksheets, activities, games, classroom decorations, and even PowerPoint presentations.
Often, you’ll see eye-catching illustrations on many of our language resources, helping children to identify unfamiliar words and understand them at a glance.
So, what are you waiting for? Click any of our helpful links or pictures below to get started – and remember, these are just the tip of the iceberg!
Let’s get started with these colorful conversation cards. They contain practice questions to spark children’s inspiration on what to ask next. Not only are they quick and easy to print off, saving you valuable time in preparing a lesson for your class, but they’re also useful for a variety of purposes – not just speaking skills!
As an example of how you might want to use these versatile cards, why not challenge children to write journal entries based on it? This will help them get in writing practice, too. If they feel comfortable, they can circle back around to speaking skills by reading out what they’ve written to the class.
We mentioned previously that a good way to engage children in practicing their speaking skills is with games and activities. Well, this Conversation Practice Board Game is perfectly designed to introduce a structured back-and-forth conversation. This is excellent not just for English language learners, but also for first-grade students learning about social skills.
You can easily print it off and use it immediately with your students. All you’ll need are a few counters or tokens to mark children’s places as they go. Laminate both the board and the cards for durability to use it again and again with different classes.
Perfect for bilingual (or even trilingual) learning environments, our Basic Phrase Posters are bright, bold, and designed to reinforce core speaking skills. These are great for teaching children about the grammar of simple sentences in both English and Spanish. Each poster has the phrase or sentence in English, with the Spanish translation below it. Well-placed illustrations help children understand what they mean, even if they’re having difficulty working it out.
Examples of the phrases include:
These questions also have the structure for an answer on separate posters to guide children through a full conversation. They’re helpful for “getting to know you” lessons at the start of the new school year.
Lastly, be sure to take a look at this wonderful video below for more tips on core ELA skills for children. It’s great for audiovisual learners and those looking to improve their listening and speaking abilities.
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