An EFL Speaking Guide for Travelers

Abstract

I. IntroductionTarget learners: Adults in their 20s to 50s currently attending a private language institute Proficiency: Intermediate low to Intermediate mid according to ACTFLLearning context: The target students have been taking ‘Basic Conversation’ at a private language institute for 2 to 3 months. Most of the students have completed the ‘Basic English Grammar’ course before taking Basic Conversation. While attending 2 to 3 classes each week, many students are hoping to take a course centered around ‘Travel English’, since they have experienced difficulties while traveling in Englishspeaking countries. Thus, most students are highly motivated to learn, and produce the target language.Purpose: The first purpose of this portfolio is to improve speaking skills, specifically, for travel to Englishspeaking countries. This Portfolio provides ample opportunity for students to be exposed to authentic English input and to become aware useful expressions and lexical items, and then meaningfully, and repeatedly, practice them. The intention is to have students using language they already know, in combination with some new language items, to encourage students to enhance their accuracy in speaking, and with much repetition, to increase their fluency. Since students will find themselves abroad needing to speak clearly, while navigating varying cultural issues, this book seeks to increase learners’ communicative competence by simulating scenarios in which people traveling find themselves, and requires them, to communicate, meaningfully, in pairs and groups, in order to complete the many carefully structured speaking activities/tasks. Integrated into speaking activities/tasks are authentic reading and listening texts that provide interesting content, and give students a preview of what they might encounter in their travels.Authentic reading input in this chapter includes menus and restaurant reviews from a website that travelers frequently use. Authentic video clips describing what to say and how to react in certain situations that students could encounter while traveling, accompany listening and speaking activities in this textbook, that would prepare them to communicate better in various situations.