One question I sometimes get asked as an English teacher is, “How do I overcome my fear of speaking English?”
This seems to be a common problem, particularly in Taiwan.
The first question that comes to my mind when I hear this question is, “What are you afraid of?”
I can speak a little Mandarin and I will sometimes try speaking to people I meet when I am outside, for example when I am at the store and I want to buy something.
My vocabulary isn’t sufficient to be able to hold a long conversation in Mandarin so when the person I am talking to answers my questions, I can only understand about 30% of what they are saying – which is sometimes enough to get the information I need.
However, that’s where the conversation ends. If they continue talking, they end up just getting a blank stare and most of the time realize that I can’t fully understand what they are saying.
I feel disappointed and a little embarrassed that I am unable to hold a real conversation, particularly when it is someone that I would like to continue talking to, but do I feel scared?
Not really.
So what is it that makes people afraid?
According to the researchers who developed the LITE ESL curriculum, the two main reasons why students have difficulty in learning a new language are:
- Too little practice, and;
- Too much criticism
And I think it is this second point that is the source of the learner’s fear.
Students in Taiwan are usually very competitive, and this has a positive effect in performance demand from students, but it also has a detrimental effect in the minds of some students when they perform badly.
There are many students of English whom I have met who have a terrible opinion of their ability to converse in English but whose grasp of English grammar was actually quite good.
But on the other hand, there are those who have pride in their ability to communicate in English but whose grammar was relatively poor. Yet, they could still get their message across!
So self-perception of one’s ability in a language is not necessarily accurate.
Many times students have been told by their teachers or their fellow students that their pronunciation was wrong or that their grammar was faulty, when more times than not, the teacher themselves was mistaken.
There are often multiple ways to express the same concept:
“I am planning to go to Yilan for the weekend.”
“This weekend I am planning to go to Yilan.”
“I’m thinking of going to Yilan for the weekend.”
Q: Which one is correct?
A: All of them are correct!
And there are probably a dozen more ways to communicate the same concept.
What limits people who are learning to speak English for the first time is that they are restricted by grammar RULES and conventions. They have a limited understanding of the language, and so believe that there is only one correct way to say something.
But English is a massive language with an enormous vocabulary. There are many words with the same or similar meaning and many ways to express the same or similar idea.
What is important is whether the other person can understand you or not.
The point is: don’t be too hard on yourself when you make a mistake and don’t let other people put you down either.
What ultimately demonstrates to a student their ability to communicate in English is when they can sit face to face with a native English speaker and have a conversation. Even when the grammar being used is not 100% correct, the person sitting opposite can usually understand you.
That fact demonstrates competence to the individual, diminishing fear and increasing confidence.
The challenge here is overcoming the fear and self-criticism the person has imposed upon themselves because of the criticism from others.
In simple terms, that confidence comes about through practice.
Academically, the Taiwanese education system ranks as one of the best in the world and the country is renowned for its high-tech industry.
But where the breakdown occurs in language acquisition is in practical application of the language. Students study a lot of theory but have too little time for actual practice. And that breeds self-doubt.
The purpose of language is COMMUNICATION and that is what is missing in many places where languages are taught.
Here at the LITE school our primary focus is on practice in speaking the language. We help students overcome their fear by speaking up to 80% of the class time with other students of similar language ability.
The teachers work with the students to help them correct their mistakes, but also to validate them when they are doing it right. And students are taught right from the very beginning not to criticize, but to assist one another to speak clearly and fluently.
It’s remarkable watching the students improve in their ability to speak English right from the very first lesson. Many students speak more English in their first seven days than they have in their last seven years.
And so can you!
Written by Ian
(中文譯文)
克服英語口說的恐懼
作為英語教師，有時會被問到一個問題：「如何克服英語口說的恐懼？」
這似乎是一個普遍存在的問題，尤其在臺灣。
當我聽到這個問題時，我腦海中首先浮現的問題是：「你害怕什麼？」
我會說一點點中文，有時候在外面遇到人時會嘗試與他們交談，例如當我在商店購物時。
我的字彙量不足以進行長時間的中文對話，所以當人回答我問題時，我只能理解他們說的大約30%的內容——有時足以得到我所需的資訊。
然而，對話就到此為止。如果他們繼續說下去，他們最終會看到我一臉茫然，大多數時候意識到我無法完全理解他們在說什麼。
我感到失望，也有點尷尬，因為我無法進行真正的對話，尤其是當我希望繼續與某個人交談時，但我感到害怕嗎？
並不會。
那麼是什麼讓人害怕呢？
根據開發LITE ESL課程的研究人員的說法，學生在學習一門新語言時遇到困難的兩個主要原因是：
- 練習太少
- 批評過多
我認為第二個原因是學習者恐懼的根源。
臺灣的學生通常非常競爭，這對學生的表現有好的影響，但當他們表現不佳時，這也會對某些學生的心態產生不利的影響。
我曾遇到許多學英語的學生，他們低估自己的英語口說能力，但實際上他們對英語語法的掌握相當不錯。
另一方面，也有那些對自己的英語溝通能力感到自豪，但語法相對較差。然而，他們仍然能夠傳達自己的意思！
因此，對一門語言的自我認知並不一定準確。
很多時候，學生被老師或同學告知他們的發音錯誤或語法有誤，而往往老師自己也是錯的。
通常有多種表達相同概念的方式：
「我計畫去宜蘭度過週末。」
「這個週末我計畫去宜蘭。」
「我正在考慮週末去宜蘭。」
問：「哪一個是正確的？」
答：「所有的都是正確的！」
而且可能還有十幾種表達相同概念的方式。
限制初學者英語口說的是語法規則和規定。他們對語言的理解有限，因此認為只有一種正確的表達方式。
但英語是一門龐大的語言，擁有龐大的字彙量。有許多字彙具有相同或相似的意思，有許多表達相同或相似概念的方式。
重要的是對方能否理解你。
關鍵是：當你犯錯誤時不要對自己太苛刻，也不要讓別人貶低你。
最終證明一個學生在英語中的交流能力的是：能夠與以英語為母語的人面對面交談。即使使用的語法不是100%正確，坐在對面的人通常也能理解你。
這個事實證明了個人的能力，減少了恐懼並增加了自信。
挑戰在於克服因他人的批評而帶來的恐懼和自我批評。
簡單來說，自信來自於實踐。
從學術角度看，臺灣的教育系統在全球範圍內名列前茅，該國也以其高科技產業而聞名。
但在語言習得方面，問題出在對語言的實際運用上。學生學習了很多理論，但實際練習的時間太少。這會造成自我懷疑。
語言的目的是交流，這是許多語言教學機構缺乏的地方。
在LITE學校，我們的主要關注點是練習口說。我們幫助學生克服恐懼，讓他們在80%的課堂時間中，與語言能力相近的其他學生對話交流。
教師與學生合作，幫助他們糾正錯誤，同時在他們做對的時候給予肯定。從一開始，學生就被教導不要批評，而是幫助彼此清晰流利地說話。
看到學生在第一堂課，就在口語能力上取得進步是令人驚訝的。很多學生在前七天說的英語比過去七年還多。
而你也可以做到！
由 Ian 老師撰寫