These are either videotaped, recorded, or written. The purpose of this hour is to familiarize the students with certain speaking skills and prepare them for the following practice session. First, students view one or two videotaped homework speeches made by their peers and then comment on the positive and negative aspects of the speeches. This task aims at helping the learners develop a critical eye by drawing upon their observations. Then, students working in groups of four or five make impromptu speeches on topics introduced by their group leaders.
Speakers receive feedback after finishing their speeches.
It is during this practice that students are encouraged to tryout those target skills discussed in the previous hour. After much observation, I discovered that Chinese students benefited greatly from this course, particularly, in the two sessions of videotape discussion and in-group speech making. I assign a homework topic to two students who will present their speeches during the next class. Several observers write down their observations of certain target skills and give feedback to the speakers. This kind of practice is never an easy job for beginning students because they have to juggle several balls at the same time.