Walk up to a police officer and say thank you. Why not?     018

As parents have suspected for quite some time English at high school is not what it used to be and this is particularly the case in Years 11 and 12. One important change is the increased variety of texts and assessment procedures. If you are suffering from insomnia then go to the Board of Studies website at www.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au and click onto the English Stage 6 syllabus, which covers Years 11 and 12.

Apparently ‘reading and writing’ isn’t sufficient any more. Now students must engage in ‘listening, speaking and viewing’ as well, and these are ‘language modes’ which need to be ‘integrated’ when responding to or composing ‘print, sound, visual or multimedia texts’. And, as you might expect, students need to ‘build… and extend… their skills in all language modes’. Do you want more? I thought not.

Now where is all this going?  Well the skill of speaking is one of the means by which teachers assess students’ educational progress, and I am referring mainly to Years 11 and 12 where assessments can become more of a worry.  Surprisingly often students have to get up in front of the class, or sometimes just in front of teachers, and give some sort of speech in which they respond to one or more texts from a particular part of the course.

Now many students simply write out their speech, in full, and then read it word by word. For them it can be a terrifying experience, boring for the audience, and painful for the teachers. Unfortunately for these students approximately one quarter of the marks are given for audience engagement, and I am afraid that simply reading the speech, in a quiet frightened little voice, as fast as they can, doesn’t score marks. It detracts from perhaps what otherwise might have been a very good piece of work, a piece of work where indeed effort has been expended.

The solution is not something which can be arrived at and applied in the space of a few weeks. Children have to learn to relax and be more confident when speaking in public, and this is a process which needs to extend for a very long time. Of course some children have the type of personality where they love to be front and centre stage, but most children do not. So here are the some steps to help your child perform better when speaking during assessment tasks.

The speech has to researched and written well—this goes without saying. But it has to be practised far more than your child supposes. Extensive practice produces confidence in delivery. So the speech is certainly not finished when it is written; it is finished when it has been practised many times in an audience situation, to mum and dad, brothers and sisters, relatives etc. Make it happen for your child.

The delivery has to be worked on. The two main problems with children giving speeches are that they go too quickly—well they want to get it over with—and they will not look at the audience’s faces. Both are mainly produced by a lack of confidence or even downright fear.

What to do? Children need to put up their hand in class and answer questions. It’s so easy to develop the habit of just sitting there, and never speaking. Obviously this doesn’t help at all.

Another method of improving speech making is for your child to start speaking to people, even people they don’t know. Well, which people?  Perhaps the checkout person in the supermarket. Your child could ask, “Is it easy to get a job here?  Do you have to apply on the website?” Start a conversation. Look for opportunities. If you have visitors to the house your child must sit at the table and participate in the conversation, and grown-ups must give the child a chance to do this.

And when your child has developed enough confidence he or she can walk up to a police officer, look him or her in the eye, and say: “I want to say thank you for your service to the community. Thank you for helping to keep me safe.” Why not? And why not start today?

And parents, you know what I’m going to say next. You have to set the example in speaking to other people, and involving your child. Show them. Give them the opportunity to develop the confidence they need to do the best they can with speaking tasks at school. And you know what, all of this doesn’t take any time at all, so build it into everyday life.

All content copyright—Mark Thackray—Australian Educational Services