Over the decades, language teachers and other concerned with language teaching have witnessed large number of methods and approaches to language teaching the multilingual situation of Pakistan as well as amplified globalization has heightened the influence of English. Presently, Pakistan’s elementary school use multilingual teaching. Other than learning provincial languages like Sindhi, Pushto, etc, and national languages like Urdu,students are also taught the English language.
English is the most widely used language in the world. According to a rough estimate, there are more than 350 million native speakers of English and more than 400 million speakers of English as a foreign/second language.The importance of communication, is used in government offices for official correspondence, is used on Radio Pakistan to relate news and current affairs, in sports commentaries through media, information technology software and internet, and in entertainment, travel and education. English is used as a second language for many different purposes in countries like Pakistan, Bangladesh and India. Functional English is being taught at schools for national and international use.
Pakistani students used to learn English skillfully to comprehend ideas and explore further areas of education and information to become compatible members of the global world community.In Pakistani schools and colleges, students learn two of the four basic skills of English language: reading and writing skills only. The teaching of listening and speaking skills is, either partially or completely ignored. Oral language is an elemental means for communicating with others and the foundation of learning. Students listen and speak in order to understand concept. When they become aware of forms, styles, imagery, language structures, and forms used by other speakers and writers. Students should be encouraged to value and enjoy language. (The students who pursue the study of English as their major subject and excel in English language and English Literature often lack the fluency to speak correctly. That is why even teachers and professionals of English language teaching (ELT) in Pakistan have poor pronunciation and accent of English.
Also despite the pedagogical focus on teaching reading and writing skills, it is noticed that students often fail to attain a satisfactory command over these skills. Students use writing skill to record information and ideas, to express themselves, and to communicate with others for various purposes. English is taught by making students practice writing such types as essays, reports, short stories,children’s stories, articles, reviews, precise, explanations, instructions, notes, procedures, resumes, and advertisements.
To study English effectively, from the primary level onward s resources like trained teachers and appropriate material required. In some urban prestigious schools of Pakistan these resources are available, but students belonging to less privileged schools and colleges are not aware of the aims and objectives of studying English except that they have to appear in an examination. Usually in most of the less privileged schools, the focus is on teaching grammar and grammatical rules. The objective is just to make the student pass the examination and no emphasis is laid on proficiency in education. In our practical life, we do not need grammar but enhanced speaking skills for the main purpose of communication. Most of the waking hours of human beings are spent in talking and communicating.
However, in Pakistani Public schools no importance is to given improving the spoken English of the pupils, and it is not included in any syllabus that is being implemented at different levels of education. To improve the spoken expression of our students, a desperate, long awaited and fruitful in change our syllabi is needed. Students belonging to private schools and a few from public schools are taught well about the way to speak and communicate fluently, but the majority of students, in different schools and colleges are still waiting to avail the chance. In most of the government schools and colleges speaking skills are not worked upon and emphasis is just on completing the course. Mostly the excuse which we get while trying to focus on speaking skills is that the course would not then be covered and students will suffer in the examination. Thus the students become, passive.
The best solution to this problem of course can be to exploit the already present material and syllabi in such a way that it fulfills the task in question that is, it paves a way towards the improvement of speaking skills of the pupils. However if the course text cannot be exploited for this purpose, then different listening and reading materials can be utilized to improving speaking skills. However while selecting the material, two things should be kept in mind. First, that the material being used is authentic and second that it is building some kind of motivation and interest among the pupils. Following are some activities regarding language skills to be used in a language classroom at two different levels.
