THE SUBTLE ART OF INTENTIONAL IMPROVISATION: TEACHING ORAL ENGLISH PRACTICE AT UNIVERSITY PARIS NANTERRE

Abstract

This paper explores the trials, tribulations, and triumphs I faced, as a first-time lecturer in the English language and literature, when using a range of teaching methods to develop English oral proficiency with first-year students at University Paris Nanterre (France). It focuses on the challenges faced when applying methodologies proposed by the faculty and the interdisciplinary approaches that successfully encouraged students to leave their comfort zones and confront their linguistic trepidations. I argue that acquiring the skill of ‘spontaneous speech’ at the B1 and B2 levels should not be assumed as something adopted solely through vocabulary exercises promoting ‘native-like’ pronunciation. Rather, it is through technical, cognitive and interpersonal training that students gain self-confidence, refine their written and oral comprehension skills and open themselves up to the transformative power of body-language. To justify this argument, I compare students’ performances in two English oral classes. After discussing French students’ overall reluctance to speak English, analyzing the course syllabi and identifying the advantages and disadvantages of task-based speaking activities, I argue against ‘language immersion’ as I found it counterproductive in a French classroom setting. Finally, I show how students’ hostility towards the oral exam is transformed into a newfound appreciation for multilingualism and multiculturalism.