The Language Teacher
August 1999
Show-and-Tell as an Oral Communication Exercise in Senior High School
Robert L. Brock and Machiko Mizuta
Kokugakuin University and Tokyo Metropolitan Hibiya High School
That staple of Western elementary schools, Show-and-Tell, "capitalizes on student interest and provides a good opportunity for self-expression" for foreign language students of any age. (Bowen, Madsen, & Hilferty, 1985, pp. 15-16). Equipped with an interesting object at hand to stimulate memory and talk, one which can also absorb and deflect the audience's scrutiny, the Show-and-Tell speaker presumably undergoes less stress than language learners undertaking other forms of public speaking.
The Show-and-Tell Activity in Class
In our Japanese academic high school, we team-taught our English classes; four Japanese teachers of English (JTEs), each taught two classes, assisted by one native English-speaking Assistant English Teacher (AET) in turn. The classes, each comprising 40 first-year high school students, met weekly for 50 minutes in the language laboratory. During most class time, we followed a Monbusho-approved Oral Communication B syllabus listening text and its taped exercises. We used Show-and-Tell as an oral exercise to help our students overcome affective barriers to speaking English. Unlike native speakers, they were unable to speak spontaneously in English, so they prepared speeches in advance.
At the beginning of each lesson, two students would give their Show-and-Tell presentation, so all the students performed the activity once over the course of 20 weeks. Students prepared a talk to last about two minutes, then wrote a draft of it in English, and a few days before their presentation had it checked by the AET for length, grammar, and usage. With no time for preparatory exercises, we were interested to see how well students could deliver their speeches without training or guided rehearsal.
During the 10-minute Show-and-Tell period, the audience was to listen attentively and to ask questions after each speech. The JTE would introduce the speaker and help show the objects or pictures, with the language laboratory video camera displaying the visuals on the students' television monitors. The AET would sit at the back of the room to check the audibility of the speech, and speakers who could not be clearly heard were asked to start again. Speakers could refer to their notes while speaking. Both teachers would ask the student presenter questions at the end of the speech, and the audience was encouraged to do the same.
The Questionnaire
Although the students all wrote and presented speeches which were comprehensible and interesting, we were concerned that the student audience asked few questions after each presentation. The activity lacked the lively interaction between speaker and audience we had hoped for. In hopes of an explanation, we decided, therefore, to investigate our students' views of the activity. In a written questionnaire, we asked them what they thought of the activity, how they prepared their speeches, why they asked few questions, and how the activity could be improved. Their responses suggest some recommendations for improving the Show-and-Tell activity.
We gave our questionnaire to the students in their normal Show-and-Tell time slot after they had all completed the activity. The students completed the Lickert scale portions in English and wrote responses to the open questions in either English or Japanese.
Students' opinion of the activity
Did you enjoy writing your show-and-tell? (n=313)
Yes, I did (25%); Yes, a little (28%); So so (37%); Not much(5%); No (5%).
Did you enjoy speaking to the class? (n=314)
Yes I did (17%); Yes, a little (27%); So so (35%); Not much(15%); No (6%).
Do you think you learned some English in your show-and-tell? (n=307)
Yes I did (26%); Yes, a little(30%); Maybe (35%); Don't think so (7%); No (3%).
Did Show-and-Tell make you more confident about speaking English? (n=304)
Yes, it did (6%); Yes, a little (22%); Maybe (42%); I don't think so (21%); No (9%).
Do you want to do Show-and-Tell again? (n=311)
Yes (22%); Maybe (41%); No (37%).
More students enjoyed writing and speaking than did not, and the majority thought they had learned some English. But they were divided over whether or not their confidence had improved, and more students did not want to do the exercise again than did.
Speech preparation
How did you write your show-and-tell? (n=312)
First I wrote it in Japanese, and then I translated it into English (54%)
I wrote it in English from the start (46%).
Did you have your speech checked by a teacher? (n=310)
Yes (94%); No (6%).
If yes, was that step useful? (n=292)
Very useful (68%); A little useful (18%); So so (10%); Not much (3%); No (1%).
Slightly more than half of the students wrote their speech first in Japanese and then translated it into English. This technique proved to be a barrier to comprehension (See students' comments below): Since the students used Japanese-English dictionaries during this stage, they inadvertently introduced English vocabulary that was unfamiliar to their audience--and to themselves.
Why the Students Asked Few Questions:
Did you ask any questions in show-and-tell? (n=313)
Yes (8%); No (92%).
If not, why not? (n=289)
I couldn't think of any questions (51%); I couldn't make a question in English (20%); I was embarrassed to ask a question (18%); Other (5%); ; No answer or two answers (5%).
Of the 92% who asked no questions, about half said they couldn't think of any.
Students' suggestions for improving show-and-tell:
A final open question asked for suggestions on how to improve the Show-and-Tell activity. We received 127 suggestions. After translating the suggestions in Japanese into English, we divided them into the following categories by keyword analysis (Nunan, 1992, pp. 145-149):
Suggestions to the speaker: speak more slowly (n=10), more loudly (5), more clearly (2); practice more (4); don't be shy (3); do your best (2); use a microphone (2); use gestures (1); put feelings into words (1); draw pictures (1); show no pictures, only objects (1); demonstrate more (1); use a bigger object (1); smile (1); and have fun (1).
Although the speeches were audible to the AET at the back of the class, the students themselves seemed to need a slower and louder delivery. In preparing students for Show-and-Tell, we should instruct them and explain why to speak more slowly and loudly than they find necessary for normal English conversation.
Suggestions for the audience: ask more questions (8); listen more attentively (1); have more communication with the speaker (1).
Suggestions directly addressing comprehension problems: use easier English (15); give speech in Japanese too (5); explain new vocabulary (3); limit the use of Japanese-to-English dictionaries (2); hand out the scripts to the audience (2).
Only after we had carried out the survey did we realize how much lower was the actual level of our student's ability to hear and understand the speeches than we had expected. A native English speaker standing in the back of the classes would find all the speeches fully audible and comprehensible. Our non-native English speakers with medium level English competence, sitting closer to the speaker, found the speeches hard to understand, and as a result found the activity less interesting than we had expected. Our survey answered our question why the students could not formulate and ask the expected number of questions.
Recommendations
Based on the students' responses and our observations, we make the following recommendations for conducting a Show-and-Tell activity in a language class.
Students should practice writing directly in English so that they use vocabulary already largely known to them and their audience. Give the students quick training exercises in English writing, such as mind maps and brainstorming techniques (e.g. Hedge, 1988). Since new vocabulary will be inevitable, students should incorporate the explanation of new words as part of the activity of giving their Show-and-Tell speech.
Students should practice making questions. Teachers might have students practice formulating simple wh- content questions. As part of their Show-and-Tell speech preparation, students should read their draft speeches to partners, who then ask questions, and the responses to these can be incorporated into the final speech. This would serve both to practice asking questions and to augment the speeches with the student's own discoveries of their shortcomings and opportunites to amplify.
Presenters should be instructed to speak loudly, slowly, and clearly. Model speeches could be used at practice sessions to show the difference between conversation tone and pace, and that required for speeches.
The audience should form pairs or small groups after each Show-and-Tell to brainstorm questions for the speaker.
Conclusion
Show-and-Tell is a form of public speaking, and courses in public speaking usually include instruction in speech writing and presentation (e.g. Harrington & LeBeau, 1996). Due to time constraints, we could not give our students any preparatory exercises, but some practice in writing and asking questions should increase the learners' comprehension, participation, and hopefully enjoyment too.
We remain convinced that Show-and-Tell provides a relatively easy introduction to public speaking or a supplementary communication exercise, whether in one's own or a second language. Few Japanese high school students experience public speaking outside of their English classes. It is included in the Oral Communication C syllabus for senior high schools (Carter, Goold, & Madeley, 1993), but in our experience this oral syllabus option is by far the least popular of the three. Show-and-Tell, however, aside from being an exercise in public speaking, is also a chance to activate the goals of the Oral A and Oral B syllabuses, particularly in the ideal form outlined in the suggestions above. It requires basic composition and writing skills, the ability to adjust language to an audience, and the ability to ask and answer questions. In the form which we chose to use, it also provided a valuable warm-up activity and a chance for every student to have regular and direct contact with the foreign language teacher.
References
Bowen, J., Madsen, H., & Hilferty, A. (1985). TESOL techniques and procedures. Cambridge, MA: Newbury House.
Carter, N., Goold, R., & Madeley, C. (1993). The new Monbusho guidelines, part two. The Language Teacher 17, (11), 3,5,7,39.
Harrington, D., & LeBeau, C. (1996). Speaking of speech. Tokyo: MacMillan Language House.
Hedge, T. (1988). Writing. Oxford: Oxford Univerity Press.
Nunan, D., (1992). Research methods in language learning. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Acknowledgments
We thank N. Inahama of Ogawa High School for help with translation, Sarah Brock of Todai Fuzoku High School for help sorting the responses, and Mike Wallace of Edinburgh University for comments and suggestions.
All materials on this site are copyright © by JALT and their respective authors.
For more information on JALT, visit the JALT National Website