Express Yourself with Conversation Skills

Abstract

A lot of students in Korea learn English from a young age. As they get older, they are pressured to ‘study’ English to get good grades on their tests. As many Korean students rely on private academies to prepare for exams, they have little opportunity to speak in English. However, since English communication is considered to be important these days, Korean adults try to improve their English speaking skills in order to gain more career opportunities. One of the problems, however, is that they have not had many opportunities to be exposed to authentic listening materials (i.e. sitcom, movie). Most Korean students have taken English as a subject, so they tend to lack in confidence when it comes to speaking in English. This textbook is designed to help students who want to develop their speaking skills, focusing on listening and speaking skills through authentic listening materials and by engaging in a variety of speaking practices. According to Nation (2014), “fluency is that someone is able to choose exactly the right word or phrase at the right time to suit the occasion” (p.38). As spoken discourse is different from written language, it is important for students to notice spoken discourse by listening to authentic materials. Authentic listening will help learners to get meaningful input which will in turn help them to develop communicative competence. Richards (2008) pointed out that there are specific rules and functions in conversations that native speakers use, which include fixed expressions. The target audience is a group of adult learners whose proficiency level in listening and speaking is intermediate-low to mid according to the ACTFL. Majority of them are planning to go abroad in the future. When it comes to listening and speaking, students can express basic ideas and opinions, but they are not familiar with expressions that fit the occasion. The students are motivated to learn practical listening and speaking skills in order to improve their English speaking skills.