Teaching speaking in English 5: textbooks and novice teachers views

Abstract: Speaking is an essential skill for language learning. Moreover, the communicative aspect of learning a secondary language is the major goal for many learners. Since English is a language with a substantial number of speakers and is often used as the preferred method of communicating between people with different mother tongues, the pressure on teaching materials and textbooks for learning English is substantial. Traditionally, textbooks are one of the most used tools for learning language and assisting teachers in providing materials for students in the targeted language. However, previous research showed that there are aspects where textbooks could still be lacking due to commercial interests, lack of effective speech enhancing tasks, and a divergence from current research in secondary language acquisition. Moreover, little research has been done in Swedish contexts regarding the effectiveness of speaking tasks in textbooks. Considering these issues, the current study aimed to investigate speaking tasks within textbooks used for English 5 in Sweden to see if they can be considered effective in teaching speech. The study also aimed to find out novice teachers’ views on the speaking tasks in textbooks and teaching speaking in general. The study was conducted by analysing two English textbooks, namely Blueprint A and Solid Gold 1 used for English 5 in Sweden.  The speaking tasks within both textbooks were categorised based on previous research on effective speech enhancing tasks. The results of this analysis showed that a large portion of the speaking tasks within the textbooks could not be considered effective speech enhancing tasks. Nevertheless, around half of the ineffective tasks could be made into effective speaking tasks with minor teacher intervention. The result of the following interviews also showed that the novice teachers were aware of how to supplement the tasks within the textbooks and that they had a focus on content rather than structure of the tasks. Lastly, the novice teachers’ also viewed repetition of tasks as negative and that more focus on the social factors of teaching speaking should be taught in teacher programs.