Role of Written Language in Speaking

Role of Written Language in Speaking

The Facilitative role of Written Language in Speaking:

Using Writing to Improve L2 Speaking by: T. Tagasaki

“Since writing and speaking have many features in common, by deliberately controlling a number of variables, writing teachers can make writing closer to speaking. The important thing is that the task itself should not be very difficult when the aim of writing is to improve speaking. In this sense, free-writing techniques and the communicative approach are thought to be appropriate for this purpose. If the students already know the basic skills of writing such as grammar, vocabulary, and punctuation, the task becomes much easier. “ T. Tagasaki

With the above statement of T. Tagasaki, I do not believe in his opinion. Because, non-verbal (written) studies of grammar, writing, reading, and listening, all of these activities may increase recall memory for written examinations, but they have little benefit in teaching you to speak fluent English. "The best way to learn how to speak fluently is by speaking. (using ESP method which is what I'm applying to all my KOREAN students ). Without simultaneous involvement of all components of speech, (tongue, vocal cord, auditory system, brain and lungs) it is impossible to effectively retrain students' proprioceptive sense to accommodate a new language. Yet,this is exactly what ESL has traditionally done by introducing grammar, listening, writing, and reading as segregated activities. It is not surprising that it takes ESL students so long to learn to speak fluent English. This is according to the study of Lynn Lundquist. It is already observed that there are lots of students though they were able to get high score in TOIECand TOEFL and get perfect score in grammar but they cannot speak the language. Which is also proved in the article

written by: David A. Leaper - assistant professor at the English education department of Hankuk University of ForeignStudies and teaches language testing on TESOL certificate and post graduate courses. It was said, “An April 2 front page article, ``Korea Ranked Bottom in English Proficiency Test,'' said that out of 120 countries, Korea placed 78th, despite the ``colossal amounts of time and money learning English.” “The article goes on to detail the awful evidence: Korea placed 136th out of 161 countries in speaking, scores in listening and writing were lower than the world average and the only section better than the world average was reading.”

I had a great advantage when growing up because my mother exposed me a lot in watching English movies and series, including English news. So, I was used to listening to correct English in addition to my favorite children show. And also through the help of reading aloud newspaper even though I did not understand it very much. That is why before I went to school I could already express myself in English though; I don’t have a formal studying in grammar ( morphology , syntax, phonetics, phonology, semantics and pragmatics) . And I was able to answer the grammar quizzes/ exercises and write a narrative because I already knew how to speak. My auditory system is already trained in listening correct English so I could immediately sense if it is right or wrong based on hearing it even uttering it inside my head. Certainly, I learned many important things about English through grammar study. But it was of importance to me only because I had already achieved basic English fluency. I did not learn to speak English as a result of English grammar lessons and writing. ( same with L. Lundquist)

Although, I’m not yet perfect…no one, however, is perfect. Native speakers make mistakes too; some even all the time. That is why I’m not focusing on the negative but rather on communication. My first goal in teaching is not for them to speak “perfectly”, the goal is to communicate ideas, information, and feelings in aclear and understandable way. Then, accuracy will automatically improve later over time of practice and studying.

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