ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews the theory and practice of recent approaches to the teaching of speaking. It outlines key theoretical areas that need to be considered. These are the nature of speaking and the skills, knowledge and affective factors involved, the processing of speech, the features of spoken language, differences between spoken and written language, and what discourse analysis reveals about its textual and grammatical features. The chapter discusses that teachers need to have awareness of a range of such theoretical areas in order to understand and address the speaking needs of their students explicitly. It surveys some key areas of research that could enhance pedagogical knowledge. Linguistic knowledge encompasses structure, meaning, and use through four types of knowledge: phonological, grammatical, lexical, and discourse. Four broad categories of core speaking skills for proceduralization can be outlined: pronunciation, speech function, interaction management, and discourse organisation skills. The chapter concludes by considering further directions in research on the teaching of speaking.
