Activating the Audience: Teaching Speaking Skills Online

Event Date & Time

Event Description

Speaking skills are considered essential in both university and the workplace, yet it is widely known that students are anxious about, and perform poorly in, oral settings. Oral skills tend to receive little classroom attention—often due to logistical challenges (large class sizes) or pedagogical ones (few resources for teaching them). These challenges are amplified in the remote classroom when many of us struggle to facilitate student engagement and interaction. At the same time, the online context provides unique learning opportunities for students to gain skills and confidence in classroom speaking (in both formal or informal contexts).

This workshop will provide participants with a critical context through which to think about teaching speaking skills including:

• Strategies for creating an online classroom climate in which students learn both how to listen and speak in oral contexts
• Specific considerations and practices for the inclusive teaching of speaking skills
• Facilitator experiences, sample assignments and resources for teaching oral skills online

Facilitators:

• Moberley Luger, Assistant Professor of Teaching, Department of English Language and Literatures & Coordinated Arts Program
• Laila Ferreira, Assistant Professor of Teaching, School of Journalism, Writing, and Media
• Brianne Orr-Álvarez, Assistant Professor of Teaching (Spanish), Department of French, Hispanic, and Italian Studies