Zoé Broisson

Speaking English confidently, a challenge for learners: what pedagogy and tools can help us teach spoken skills easily?

Audience focus: Teachers of adolescent learners, Teachers of adult learners, Business English teachers, Academic English teachers, Teacher trainers, Freelance teachers

Abstract

Many English learners are afraid to speak in front of their peers because they are self-conscious about their accent. Pronunciation is difficult to learn, but also to teach within a traditional classroom environment, especially when dealing with large groups of students. Because of this, spoken skills are often neglected in comparison to vocabulary and grammar.
The thing is, being able to speak English fluently is one of the most valuable skills an individual can have when they enter the job market. According to the European Commission (2017), job seekers that speak English tend to be hired instead of their non- English-speaking peers, have access to healthier work environments, and are less likely to be fired.
This raises the question: Which digital tools and pedagogy can we leverage to bring pronunciation and speaking skills to the forefront of the English classroom?
Technology represents a huge untapped potential when it comes to spoken skills. Apps and voice AI can complement the expertise of teachers (without replacing them) and help personalise learning to each students’ needs. To achieve the best results, however, those tools must be integrated into the classroom in a pedagogically sound way.
In this talk, I introduce practical solutions (with lesson plans) and discuss the potential of a « flipped classroom » approach to make spoken English more fun and efficient to learn and teach.

Source: https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/6e68f7e0-dd4a-1...

Biography

Zoé is a linguist and the co-founder of Flowchase, an EdTech startup and UCLouvain spin-off project. She holds an MA in Linguistics from the Université catholique de Louvain. Prior to studying in Belgium, she worked for 3 years at the University of Wollongong (Australia) as an English conversation group facilitator for international students: that's where she became passionate about teaching English as a Foreign Language.

This talk is sponsored by Flowchase.

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