The theoretical aspects of using lexical models as a means of intensification of training monologue speech at the upper-intermediate level

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CONTENTS

lexical model monologue speech

INTRODUCTION

1 THE THEORETICAL ASPECTS OF USING LEXICAL MODELS AS A MEANS OF INTENSIFICATION OF TRAINING MONOLOGUE SPEECH AT THE UPPER-INTERMEDIATE LEVEL

1.1 The notion of a monologue speech

1.2 The variety of lexical models and its role in training monologue speech

1.2.2 “The Global Lexica-Semantic Model of a Monologue Speech” used to intensify the process of training of monologue speech at the upper-intermediate level of teaching foreign languages

1.2.2.1 The Introduction part of a monologue speech

1.2.2.2 The main part or the body of a monologue speech

1.2.2.3 The Conclusion part of a monologue speech

Summary of Part 1

2 THE USE OF LEXICAL MODELS IN TRAINING MONOLOGUE SPEECH AT THE ENGLISH LESSONS AT THE UPPER -INTERMEDIATE LEVEL

2.1 Modern techniques of intensification of training monologue speech32

2.2 The experimental work on the use of lexical models as a means of intensification of training monologue speech

Summary of Part 2

CONCLUSION

BIBLIOGRAPHY

APPENDIX A

APPENDIX B

APPENDIX С



INTRODUCTION

A large percentage of the world?s language learners study English in order to develop proficiency in speaking. The ability to speak a foreign language well is a very complex task if we try to understand the nature of what appears to be involved. To begin with, speaking is used for many different purposes, and each purpose involves different skills. When we use casual conversation, for example, our purposes may be to make social contact with people, to establish rapport, or to engage in the harmless chitchat that occupies much of the time we spend with friends. When we engage in discussion with someone, on the other hand, the purpose may be to seek or express opinions, to persuade someone about something, or to clarify information. In some situations, we use speaking to give instructions or to get things done. We may use speaking to describe things, to complain about people?s behavior, to make polite requests, or to entertain people with jokes and anecdotes. Each of these different purposes for speaking implies knowledge of the rules that account for how spoken language reflects the context or situation in which speech occurs, the participants involved and their specific roles and relationships, and the kind of activity the speakers are involved in. In the last 20 or so years, linguists have provided a great deal of information on how speakers use language appropriately in different situations and clarified the complex nature of what is involved in developing speaking fluency in a foreign language.

According to our President?s words “Kazakhstan should be perceived in the world as a highly educated country, population of which uses three languages. They are: Kazakh language, which is the state language, Russian language as a language of international communication and English language - the language of successful integration into the global economy” [ 1, p 6.].

The main purpose of a foreign language as a school subject is seen as mastering the ability to communicate in a foreign language. We are talking about the formation of the communicative competence, i.e., the ability and willingness to perform as a direct communication (speaking, listening comprehension) and mediated communication (read with understanding foreign texts, writing). Formation of communicative competence is the primary and leading purpose of teaching. Today it is especially popular. Experience has shown that the greatest difficulties in foreign language communication a person experiences, is accepting auditory information. However, the role of verbal communication which has now become particularly significant, is not possible without understanding the speech of the interlocutor, as in the process of verbal interaction, each acts as a speaker as well as the role of the listener.

One of the most controversial aspects of foreign language teaching is checking and accounting knowledge and skills, methods of organization and holding them. Control has not yet become the “powerful lever” to improve performance, helping to establish the true state of knowledge and skills in the subject.

The base - a minimally adequate level of training, as well as the goals and objectives of teaching foreign languages. Only correlated with them a meaningful and well-organized control can contribute to achieving these goals and objectives.

One of the most effective means of development and formation of speaking skills in teaching foreign languages according to the rule is considered to be a monologue. Many teachers have long appreciated the opportunities, combined with minimal time and objectivity of the results.

The urgency of this problem is considered in the creative use of sample monologues to improve the educational process in each procedure. In addition, the use of either the monologue-samples is an important issue for all university professors and school teachers.

As its mentioned in the topic name of this diploma work, we have a work to do with the upper-intermediate level students at the high school. So in this diploma, there is not going to be anything like, “Good morning, students! Who is on duty today?” or any kind of that stuff. This is about to how to teach the students who are at the upper-intermediate level of the English language make and prepare a monologue speech on different subjects and of different types. And also I would like to mention from the very beginning that the children at the high schools are at the age of pre-maturity and should have all the good base of the English language. And the school that I have had a practice in, matches all these criteria. To be more exact, I was lucky to have a group of students who have very good English compared to the other group of students at the same grade. So the main two questions of the day for me are; “What lexical model would match the best to give the students a good base of skills for giving a really good monologue speech on any subject?” and “What other essential information do the students need to know to develop their ability in making a monologue speech?”

The topicality of this diploma work is determined by the need of teaching monologue speech of students, and by insufficient development of this problem in the methodological literature.

The aim of this diploma work is to show the importance of using lexical models as a base for training and developing a monologue speech of students at the upper-intermediate level.

The objectives:

1. to study the theoretical aspects of using lexical models as means of intensification of training monologue speech at the upper-intermediate level of teaching foreign languages;

2. to analyze the practical use of training monologue speech in teaching foreign languages at the upper-intermediate level;

3. to carry out an experimental work on using lexical models at the English lessons in the 9th grade.

The object of this research is the process of teaching English using lexical models.

The subject of this work is lexical models as a means of intensification of training monologue speech at the upper-intermediate level

The scientific novelty of the work is based on the attempt to define lexical models as an effective means of students? monologue speech training intensifier at the upper-intermediate level of learning English.

The hypothesis: if lexical models are used in the process of teaching, the students? skills in organizing and preparing a monologue speech will improve.

The methods are analysis, synthesis, classification, observation.

The theoretical value of the given diploma paper lies in the fact that the results of the research can be useful in preparing different types of exercises, reports, and course and diploma papers in the related fields.

The practical value of the work is that it can be used by teachers of foreign languages at the upper-intermediate level at schools, gymnasiums and lyceums.

This diploma work was tested during a school practice in the 9th grade in the Petropavlovsk lyceum named after M. Zhumabayev

The diploma work consists of introduction, two parts, conclusion, bibliography and appendices.



1. THE THEORETICAL ASPECTS OF USING LEXICAL MODELS AS A MEANS OF INTENSIFICATION OF TRAINING MONOLOGUE SPEECH

1.1 The notion of a monologue speech

The monologue, being one of the main forms of the speech activity, is addressed to an audience. It can be also be addressed to the speaker himself or to another interlocutor. For producing the monologue it is necessary to know not only the vocabulary of the language, its grammar rules, word formation means, but also to be able to express the whole idea of the utterance consistently, according to the plan, coherently and logically correct [1, p.47].

What is monologue speech? Scholars give different meanings of this notion:

Before speaking about the selection of speech material it is necessary to consider the concept “monologue”, i.е., what is meant by “monologue”. The word monologue is derived from Greek мпньлпгпт from мьнпт mуnos, “alone, solitary” and льгпт logos, “speech”) [2, p.14].

By speech one can mean adequate comprehension and correct usage of words in the act of communication. It is a set of reflexes enabling a person to communicate with his associates. Such knowledge is acquired by a child in the mother tongue before he or she goes to school. This “speech” functions without the individual's awareness of technical nomenclature, in other words, he or she has no idea of the system of the language; he or she simply uses the system. The child learns to speak the language, and to use all the word-endings for singular and plural, for tense, and all the other grammar rules without special lessons of how to speak only due to the abundance of adding and speaking. His young mind grasps the facts and makes “simple speech rules” to arrange the words to express various thoughts and feelings. This is true; because sometimes little children make mistakes by arranging their ideas in a wrong order. For example, a child may say My friend is good, because I like him very much instead of I like my friend very much, because he is good, because the child is using simple explanations for his feelings. Thus, saying that people whom he doesn't like are not good [3, p. 7].

The notion monologue speech in general has a very few definitions according to any linguistic or methodological dictionary. Despite the fact, it is used very broadly in all parts of our entire life, such as politics, business, science and even lectures at the universities. Thus, we can see that being able to give a qualitative monologue speech not only affects the students? competitiveness in the future as the citizens of our beloved country, but also makes great influence on their language wealth as a whole. Telling that, I would like to draw your attention, dear reader, to the fact how much it is important to have a rich language to be able to give a qualitative monologue speech. And respectively, using the inductive method we can state that: While learning how to make a good speech, the learner will deepen his vocabulary of the language and will focus on improving his knowledge of the language as a whole. Accordingly, the learner has to read a lot of literature in order to understand how to use the words of that particular language in a correct and accurate way. In our case it is the English language. Thereby, the student will as well develop his reading skills. Thus and so, it is clear that learning how to give a monologue speech not only develops the students as personalities but also enriches their language in all aspects from A to Z. The notion language wealth can also be interpreted by the word vocabulary.

And the notion “vocabulary”, according to the definitions given in the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary has the meanings of “all the words that exist in a particular language or subject” or “all the words known and used by a particular person”[ 3].

True, all vocabularies are grounded in the everyday words of the language, out of which grow the special vocabularies, but each such specialized group possesses a number of words of peculiar value for its own objects. These words may be used in other vocabularies also, but the fact that they are suited to a unique order of expression marks them as of special value to a particular craft or calling.

In this respect the speaker differs not at all from the poet, the novelist, the scientist, the traveler. He must add to his everyday stock, words of value for the presentation of thought [7, p. 62-64]

A study of the discourses of effective orators discloses the fact that they have a fondness for words signifying power, largeness, speed, action, color, light, and all their opposites. They frequently employ words expressive of the various emotions. Descriptive words, adjectives used in fresh relations with nouns, and apt epithets, are freely employed. Indeed, the nature of qualitative monologue speech permits the use of mildly exaggerated words which, by the time they have reached the hearer?s judgment, will leave only a just impression.

Based on the words above, we can as well state that either learning or teaching of making a monologue speech does crucial impact on the learners ability to use the language flexibly, coherently, present his or her ideas in a logical sequence so that the flow of ideas is really easy to follow and the listener gets the idea of what he or she is supposed to get. And the thing is that not only will the spoken language improve, but in a parallel manner the speaker will be able to use gestures in a correct way to deliver to the listener what he or she says [8, p. 88-91].

To make a good speech, one must know certain rules of presenting his or her ideas to the listener [10, p. 78]. And this means, that there have to be some rules of speech so that we could be understood correctly and not misunderstood[11, p. 85-89]. As a whole, there has to be a certain lexical model and rules of behavior while presenting a speech. Thus, what words to use in the beginning of the speech, how to interconnect the ideas that are to be presented. All these factor highly affect the student?s ability to make a good monologue speech. A monologue speech is not just the words spoken to the listener or the audience. It is a communication through usage of whole the body. The speaker and the listener have a kind of a bound between each other while communicating, and these rules stand for that of the speaker?s, how not to lose that bound between your listener or a group of them and make his or her thoughts, ideas and intention reach not the listener?s (listeners?) ears only, but to go beyond his/her or their heart(s).

How does learning how to speak, or how to present a speech help a student develop the language he or she is learning?

Having mentioned that not only does it develop the speaking skills but impacts the whole language with all of its varieties of vocabulary, terminology, improving the correct use of grammar rules, developing the students as individuals, it also develops their ability to use the body language, the language of gestures [12, p. 36-37]

Apart from the linguistic point of view of learning to give a monologue speech, as for me, being able to give a speech is a kind of art. It can be compared to that of a song, a play, a poem. If you ask me why? I would tell you that the role of the speeches is huge in our society, and it had, has and will have a crucial impact on creating the history. For example, the speech of the Martin Luther King made a mankind to make a huge leap over their racial convictions. The speech of the Stalin on the radio, inspired the whole nations to not give up and fight and give their lives for the freedom of their nation and their parents and children. And so we can continue to the very infinitive giving examples of single speech's impact on the course of history [13, p. 228].

So why not give our children and our future generation an ability to make history by using the power of speech? This is a very important subject to give a thought about.

Returning to the linguistic advantages of learning how to give a monologue speech, I would like to mention that vocabulary is the most important aspect of the language to be paid attention to. Because, with words but no grammar, a person can explain something to someone else. But knowing the grammar rules of the language, but having no knowledge of the words in it, a person will become unable to explain his thoughts or feelings to someone else. And, to be able to speak on a particular subject, the speaker has to have a base of word bank on that subject [15, p. 215-217]. For example, in IELTS Speaking Task, different subjects are given to the student to talk about. And if he or she does not know the words concerning that subject and does not have at least basic knowledge about that subject, he or she will not be able to talk about it at all. So to be able to speak about different subjects, a student will have to read a lot of books or journals concerning that subject. Of course there can be found an alternative to that of reading, such as listening to audio books or watching documental films or TV shows concerning that subject, but while reading, the words stay in our memory for longer than that of while hearing. And reading enriches the students? critical thinking abilities which is very important nowadays.

Using a particular lexical model for making a monologue speech is very important. As I have already mentioned the speech to be a kind of art, I am going to back up these words furthermore. Just as musical plays or novels need appropriate beginnings and endings, so do speeches. The introduction or beginning prepares the listeners for what is to come. And then comes the main part (the body) of your speech. Usually there is always a climax during the body part of the speech [17, с. 138]. And then, the conclusion ties up your speech and alerts the listeners that the speech is coming to an end. Ideally, it is a satisfying conclusion. Similarly, most plays on the stage end with a finale, when the whole cast is on stage, elements of the dramatic plot are resolved, principals of the portions of songs are recalled, and the music is brought to a dramatic climax. If there would have been no such conclusion, if the actors simply stopped and left the stage, the audience would feel deeply unsatisfied. This is how, we can see the similarities between the speech and other creations of art, and the importance and role of each part of the monologue speech.

True, to be able to give a good speech, a student should have a good portion of vocabulary on that topic. But there is one more thing, which is hidden in the shade of that subject connected list of words. These are the words which can be used in any context, in any subject, and no matter how well is a student?s vocabulary base on that particular subject, which he or she is going to speak about, without this basic bank of vocabulary, the student will not be able to connect his or her ideas properly, and as a result the speech will not satisfy the listeners. It will seem to be a group of unconnected ideas which have no main meaning in it. What words are they you may ask. And my answer would be that these are the words and phrases which are used to connect the ideas, to give reasons, to specify some facts, to show sureness about something, addition of some information, to show agreement, similarity, opposition, limitation, contradiction, condition, purpose, support, emphasis, consequence, result, effect, etc. And based on that knowledge I have made up a lexical model for making a monologue speech. In this model we will not consider words only. We shall as well consider the ideas of what should the speech consist of, e.g. jokes, anecdotes, real-life situations, quotes etc. And additionally, what should the speaker do to get and keep the listeners? attention and interest to the very end [35, p.7].

All three parts of the speech, the introduction, the main part, and the conclusion are all equally important for the monologue to be wanted to listen and understood in a correct way. Some people start reading a book, and if the beginning is boring and the reader feels that it is not worth continuing to read it, all the further work done by the writer can be considered to be wasted, because the reader just closes the book from the very beginning. And if the main part of the book is being very impressive, but then it appears to have no climax or a good plot of the story, then the interest is lost too. And even if these two parts are good, but the book has a poor conclusion, the overall good impression is gone. And so it is with the speech too. The next part of my diploma work is going to be all about these lexical models for the main three parts of the monologue speech, the lexical model for intensification of training monologue speech at the upper-intermediate level of teaching English.



1.2 The variety of lexical models and its role in teaching monologue speech

1.2.1 The overall picture of a monologue speech and various lexical models used to intensify training it at the upper-intermediate level of teaching foreign languages

The methodology of teaching foreign languages has two main ways of formation of speaking skills:

1. “deductive”;

2. “inductive”.

The first path involves the development of monologue skills based on the text read. The second way is connected with the development of these skills without relying on the text, starting only from the perspective of subjects and issues discussed, studied vocabulary and grammar, and speech patterns [49, p.39].

In the middle and senior grade levels where the language and substantial knowledge of the subject under discussion or problem is quite high. In this case, the alleged monologues are based not so much on the material of a specific text, but on the basis of many texts, read or listened to in a foreign language before. As a rule, in this case, interdisciplinary communication is, common understanding of the issue, its individual interpretation, etc. are to be used [34, p.50].

And now, I would like to illustrate the structure of a monologue speech and different types of lexical models used in different topics. In this module of the first part I would like to give examples of lexical models on different topics and give a step by step explanation in organizing each part of a monologue speech.

As well, I would like to mention that there are different types of speech according to the information that it bears. As far as I am concerned there are three types of speech:

1. Informative.

2. Persuasive.

3. Personal.

Each of these types of speech bears different kinds of information, and accordingly, the lexical models used for each type of speech are different. But since my objective was to investigate all these matters and try to find out a method of teaching using lexical models that would intensify the training of monologue speech, I have come up with an idea that I should make up a lexical model that would be applicable to all these three types of speeches. But first, I would like to show you the structure of a monologue speech [53, p15].

Here is the illustration of how a monologue speech should look like.

Table 1 - The Structure of a monologue speech

The Introduction(about 10-20 percents of the whole speech)

The indroductary sentence or a few introductory sentences.

The hook.

The preview of the Body part of the speech.

The Body (about 70-75 percents of the whole speech).

Main Point 1.

Main Point 2.

Main Point 3.

Conclusion (about 10-15 percents of the whole speech)

And as you can see that there are three main parts in any monologue speech. The Introduction, the Body part and Conclusion. The table illustrates how much of each of these parts should a good monologue speech contain in percentage and what should each part consist of.

After we have found out how the structure of the speech should look like, I would like to share different lexical models used while talking about different subjects.

Here are the examples of topics to talk on and the lexical models to be used with them in each part of the speech. Suppose, for example, that the student has to talk about his or her biggest dream. Here is a model for speeches about dreams:

Introduction:

Since I was a child...

When I was a child, I used to wonder why...

The thing that I always think of is...

Dreams are natural for a human being, and...

The Body:

It?s important for me, because...

I like it the most, because...

I was inspired by...

For me, ... is the greatest thing.

Among all the activities in these big world, I would like to (v)...

Because (smb) was the one I really appreciate, I wanted to do/I started to...

For having such a dream, I?m very thankful for/to ...(circumstances/smb)

Conclusion:

As I have said earlier...

My advice to you in achieving your dreams is...

And in the end, I would like to tell you...

Having a dream is an important thing...

I would like to make (smb/sth) happier by...

Here?s another example of lexical model for speeches about global problems:

Introduction:

Suppose...

The humanity faces a lot of problems, and one of the most important of them is...

There is a problem that concerns every living creature on Earth...

As we all know, today our planet faces the problem of...

It is not a secret that the problem of ... has now reached global level.

To start with, I would like to ask you, is it important for you that we have a life without...

The Body:

First, I would like to mention that... And there are many ways to solve this problem.

Second, (the problem) affects (this) and (that) which should definitely be done something about.

Third,...

And lastly,...

Why I say it is important to (verbs used to solve the problem), is that (the thing or people that the problem affects)can no longer (a verb that describes an action that the problem makes it difficult to do/be)...

Conclusion:

And now, finishing the speech, I would like to spend my last words reminding you of the importance of this issue.

(Pointing at the listeners one by one) You want to enjoy your life, you also want to enjoy your life, we all want to enjoy our lives all in all. So why not help...(the ones affected by the problem) enjoy their lives too?

Let's all consider this problem that could have affected us too and help those poor (people in one social group, e.g. Africans, Chinese children) to overcome the difficulties they face.

But this lexical models are optional ones and can be applied to most of the speeches on these topics, but not to all. I would make some other lexical models on other subjects, unless I were really eager to show the model that is applicable to all types of speeches and I truly think that this is an important achievement in teaching of giving a monologue speech.

1.2.2 “The Global Lexica-Semantic Model of a Monologue Speech” used to intensify the process of training of monologue speech at the upper-intermediate level of teaching foreign languages

So in this module of my work, I would like to present you “The Global Lexica-Semantic Model of a Monologue Speech” - a lexical and a semantic model that would be applicable to all types of speeches and would be really effective in teaching as well as developing the students? critical thinking. This model shall also develop the students? imagination. And I did consider each part of the monologue speech separately and made a step by step description of each part?s structure. Thus, we get an extremely flexible lexical and semantic model that would be applicable to all types of speeches and easy to understand for the high-school students who studies English language at the upper-intermediate level.

And I proudly present you “The Global Lexica-Semantic Model of a Monologue Speech” made-up by me, with the purpose of intensifying the training of monologue speech and where a lot of attention is paid to the listeners' perception of it. If you ask me why lexica-semantic model and not just the lexical model, I would tell you that not only words we use are important to make a good speech, but as well the meaning of each part of speech matters.

1.2.2.1 The Introduction part of a monologue speech

The Introduction part of the speech and its role in speech making. The introduction part of the speech, also known as the head of the speech, first of all, must attract the attention of the listeners. “Unless a speaker can attract his listeners' attention at once, his or her effort will be a failure.” These are the words of a great American lawyer Clarence Darrow. So, from these words we can see how important is the first impression during the monologue speech. And I would like to mention that it is useful for the speaker as well. The speaker feels more free when the listeners' faces shine with interest.

In most monologue speech situations, the introduction has three main objectives. We will look at each of these objectives in turn.

1. Getting the attention and interest of listeners.

If your topic is not much of the interest, then the listeners may say to themselves, “So what? Who cares what are you talking about?” The speaker may quickly lose the listeners? interest if she or he doesn't use the introduction to get their attention and quicken their interest. And the part or even the sentence that draws the attention of the whole audience is called “ the hook”. And as in any work, would it be a song, a novel, a piano or a violin composition, or even a writing task; there has to be a hook in any of these. So does the speeches require a hook. It?s one of the most essential parts of the introduction part of the speech.

a) Relate the Topic to the Audience.

People pay more attention to things that affect them directly. If the speaker relates the topic to the listeners, they are much more likely to be interested in.

Suppose, for example, one of the students begins his speech like this:

Today I am going to talk about jogging ? both fascinating and healthy hobby. I would like to introduce you to the basics of jogging and why it is so important for us to lead a healthy life.

This is certainly a clear introduction, but it?s not the one to get you hooked on the speech. Now what if that student was to begin his speech this way ? as one student actually did.

It was a Sunday morning. I decided to get early and have some fresh air and went out. Then I met a really beautiful girl doing some jogging. And I was so excited when I saw her, and I was brave enough to go and ask her whether she were or not against if I joined her. She did not refuse and it?s a year since we are together and keep jogging every Sunday morning. That has become a tradition for us and a sign to show ourselves that we are stronger than we seem, because it?s really difficult to get up early on Sundays, as you may all know. But we fight ourselves every time and keep getting up, keep running when out of breath, and this is how we learn not to give up but become winners every time.

This time the student has used just the right bait. And he grabbed the attention of the whole class. And the audience saw not only jogging being a healthy sports but other useful sides as well. That meant that that student had a really good critical thinking and he showed the emerald from lots of sides which makes the speech more interesting. The students and me listened to him so attentively. He got us hooked.

And here is another example of my another excellent student about dreams who started her speech really creatively and fascinated me as well.

You are being chased by a creature of an unbelievable horror. You keep running, yet he gets closer and closer. You run as fast as you can and you are already out of breath. Your legs are aching, you feel a lot of pain on your feet, and you can keep running no more. And his paws get your back and the monster's dreadful laughter freezes your bones. You are completely helpless ? eye to eye with death.

Then you wake up, gasping for air, you heart beating like a drum, your face damp with sweat. It takes a few minutes for your heart and breath to slow down. You dispel your fears with the words, “It was just a dream, just a dream.” Soon you slowly drift back to sleep.

By using vivid language to describe all her classmates had experienced, that student made sure of an attentive audience.

b) State the Importance of the Topic.

Presumably, you think your speech is important. You should tell the audience, why they should think so as well. While I was reading one of the New York Times Journals, I struck into such an article. Here is how Judith Kaye, Chief Judge of the State of New York, used this method to involve her audience in a speech to the American Bar Association Center on Children and Law:

We know that a child is born into poverty in the United States every 36 seconds, and we see 12.8 million children living below the poverty line. We see an estimated 8.5 million children, nearly 12 percent of all U.S. children, without health insurance programs. A child dies from neglect or abuse every six hours, a child is killed by gunfire almost every three hours, and the number of neglected or abused children would fill up the city of Detroit.

These are striking statistics. By citing them in her introduction, Judith Kaye emphasized the importance of her topic and grabbed the attention of her audience.

Clearly this technique is easy while discussing social and political issues such as child abuse, terrorism, endangered species, and difficult conditions in a radioactive regions, but it?s appropriate for other topics as well. Here is how one student from UK handled it in his speech about starting a home aquarium:

It is really hard to hold a fish. Fish won't roll over or jump over your leg. You won?t get these creatures curving up on your lap, chasing a ball of string, or rescuing a sinking child.

Yet despite these shortcomings, 300 million tropical fish have found their way into 16 million UK homes. Each year $50 million of tropical fish are sold in the United Kingdom, and they have earned a spot next to APDT(Association of Pet Dog Trainers) and the cuddly kitten in the hearts of millions of people. Today I would like to get you to know how to start a home aquarium and enjoy owning a tropical fish.

Whenever you discuss a topic, importance of which may not be clear to the audience, you should think about demonstrating its significance in the Introduction part of your speech.

c) Startle the Audience.

A sure way to arouse interest quickly is to startle the listeners with an arresting or intriguing statement. Everyone in the audience paid close attention after this speaker's introduction.

Think of the four important people to you. Who comes to mind? You brother? Your sister? Your wife or husband? Your best friend? Now guess which one of them will need a permanent psychologist during his lifetime. According to the Department of Kazakhstan Health Association every fourth citizen of our country needs a psychologist to lead a normal lifestyle.

Notice the gradual buildup to the speaker's arresting statement, “Now guess which one of them will need a permanent psychologist during his lifetime.” This statement startles the audience and drives home at a personal level the problem of psychological problems of the closest people to them. The effect would have been much less if the speaker said, “Psychological issues are a very serious problem in our life.”

This technique is highly effective and easy to use. But the speaker must make sure that the startling introduction relates directly to the topic of the speech. If a strong opening is chosen simply for its shock value and then the speaker goes on talk about something else, the audience will be confused and possibly may even get annoyed.

d) Arouse the curiosity of the audience.

People are curious about your speech. One way to draw them into your speech is with a series of statements that progressively whet their curiosity about the subject of the speech. For example, look at this splendid opening from a student speech entitled “The Gift of Life”:

Each of you, my friends, has a gift. What kind of gift it is? It?s not a birthday gift or a Christmas gift. It?s a gift that could save a life - maybe more than one. If you decide to give it, you lose nothing.

Some people bury their gift. Others burn it. All but one of you who completed my questionnaire would gladly receive the gift, but only 25percent of you have decided to give it. This gift is the donation of your vital organs when you die.

Not only does this speaker relate the topic directly to the classmates, he gets them further involved by building suspense about the “gift” that each of us has. Notice how much less effective the introduction would have been if he just said, “ Today I'm going to talk about the donation of organs.”

e) Question the Audience.

Asking a rhetorical question is another way to get your listeners thinking about your speech. Sometimes a single question will do:

How would you respond if a loved one was the victim of terrorism?

In other circumstances, you may want to pose a series of a questions, each of which gets the audience deeper and deeper into your monologue speech. Here is how one student used it:

Have you ever spent sleepless nights preparing for your examination? Can you remember rushing to finish your report given as a homework because you waited too long to start writing it? Do you often feel overwhelmed by all the things you have to get done at school? At home?

If so, you may be the victim of a poor time management. Fortunately, there are proven strategies you can follow to use your time more effectively and to keep control of your life.

Like beginning with a startling statement, opening with a question works most effectively when the question is meaningful to the audience and firmly related to the content of the speech. It also works best when you pause for just a moment after each question. This adds dramatic impact and gives the question time to sink in. The audience, of course, will answer mentally - not out loud.

f) Begin with a quatation.

Another way to arouse the interest of the audience is to start with an attention-getting quotation. You might choose your quotation from Shakespeare or Confucius, from the Quran or Bible, from a poem, or a film. The key fact is that the audience has to appreciate the author of the quotation. Here is how one student used this method to encourage his peers to study hard:

“The roots of education are bitter, but the fruit is sweet.” These words of the great philosopher, scientist and the first teacher of the world Aristotle could easily apply to each of us. We all know that it is hard to sit and study for long hours. But, the fruits it gives has a genuine sweetness. Look at the student named Almas who went to the republic Olympiad on Biology last year and took the bronze medal. Now he is the pride of our school and state. Tomorrow he will be the pride of our country, and the next day he will be the pride of the world. That is how must real man act.

By opening with Aristotle?s words, the student not only got his peers? attention, but also got them to know the central theme of her speech. Notice, too, that the quotation used above as an example is a short one. Opening the speech with a lengthy quotation will set your audience yawning.

g) Tell a Story.

We all enjoy stories - especially if they are provocative, amusing, dramatic or suspenseful. To work well as introductions, they shall be also clearly relative to the main point of the speech. Used in this way, stories are perhaps the most effective way to begin a monologue speech. On one of the lessons, a student told a story to open her speech about the problem of Kazakhstan?s teenager girls nowadays:

There was a soul who was waiting for the day she would be born. She was wandering what the life outside was like. She was imagining it as a bright light, with many beautiful things in it that would make her very happy. And of course, what she wanted to see the most, was her mother. She hoped to see her angelic face, to touch her skin, to see her beautiful eyes, smile, because she was already hearing her sweet voice. But at some moment, she heard her mother cry and wanted to cry too. But she didn?t have eyes or even tears to do so. But even so, she was saying, “Mommy please don?t cry, when I will be born, we will be very happy together.” And suddenly, she felt a burning and agonizing pain. She was wandering what was it, and why was this happening to her. She didn?t know that her mother was doing an abortion.

Like many good introductions, this one does a double job - it gets listeners emotionally involved in the speech, and previews the main topic of the speech. The speaker can also use stories based on his or her own experience. Here is how one pre-med student used such a story. She began by recounting the first time she observed doctors performing surgery in the operating room:

There I stood, wearing a surgical mask, in the middle of a large, brightly lit room. In the centre of the room were five figures huddled over a table. I found it difficult to see since everything was draped in blue sheets, yet I didn?t dare take a step toward the table.

The one of the figures called to me, “Asiya, get over here and take a closer look.” My knees buckled as I walked through the sterile environment. But eventually I was there, standing over an unconscious body in the operating room.

The seven ways to introduce a monologue speech discussed above were “the most effective and easy to work with” ways to begin the monologue speech for the students. These methods to introduce the monologue speech are easy to understand and use for the high school students. And of course it depends on their critical thinking what method to choose depending on their speech topic, audience(mostly their peers), and the occasion so that it would be the most suitable.

2. Revealing the topic of the monologue speech.

In the process of gaining attention, the speaker should be sure to state the topic of the speech. If he or she does not, then the listeners will get confused. And once they are confused, the chances of getting them absorbed in the speech is extremely low.

This is a basic point - so basic that it may hardly seem worth mentioning. Yet it may be surprising how many students need to be reminded of it. Some students may give such a speech in which the topic is not clear by the end of the introduction. As an example what to avoid, here is such an introduction:

Imagine taking a leisurely walk on one of the highest mountains of our country - Altay . The sun is high in the sky, reflecting brightly off the snow around you. The nature is so wonderful and peaceful. You grab a camera, snap a shot, and check the result. The picture is perfect. But will it be perfect in the future? That is the question I want to explore today.

What is the topic of this speech? Photographing? No. Birding? No. Tourism in the tropics? No. The student was talking about efforts to restore the natural beauty of the Altay mountains. But the topic was not clear to the audience. And imagine if instead of the above introduction, there would be a one like this:

Siberian ibex, argali, Siberian musk deer, the wild boar, Mongolian gazelle, snow leopards - these and other creatures have lost over 50 percent of their habitat in Altai Mountains over the past few decades. Now, however, there is an $8 billion program to preserve their home in the Saylyugem national park. The largest restoration effort in the history of the world, it will rejuvenate one of Kazakhstan?s most diverse ecosystems and protect it for future generations.

This opening would have provided a way to get the audience?s attention, but it also would have related directly to the speech topic. If the speaker beats around the bush in the introduction, the speaker may lose his or her listeners. Even if they already know the topic of the speech , it should be restated clearly and concisely at some point in the introduction.

3. Previewing the body of the speech.

Most people are poor listeners, even in everyday life. They tend to listen and think about something else at the same time. And that is why they need all the help they can get in sorting out a speaker?s ideas. One way to help them is to tell in the introduction what they should listen for during the rest of the speech. Here is an excellent example, from a speech by CBN Director Abykayev Nurtai Abykaevich at the Department of Justice Project Safe Childhood Conference in Astana:

Today I would like to talk about what we in the CBN are doing to attack child exploitation on the Internet. I want to touch on what we must do to meet your needs in terms of evidence collection and prosecution. Lastly, I want to talk about the role of both parents and the private sector in addressing this scourge.

After this introduction, there was no doubt about Nurtai Abykaevich?s topic or the main points he would cover in his speech.

In some types of speeches, the speaker may not want to reveal his/her central idea until later in the speech. But even in such situations the audience must not be left guessing about the main points they should listen for as the speech unfolds. Nearly always, the speaker should include a preview statement in the introduction part of the monologue speech.

In some circumstances, the speaker may have to explain an important term in detail. Here is how one Biology Olympiad student handled the problem in a speech about the DNA:

We all know that giraffes only give birth to little giraffes, dogs to dogs, cats to cats, and even the smallest organisms like bees give birth to bees only. But why is it so? The answer is in a molecule, which is called deoxyribonucleic acid, mainly known as DNA. It contains the genetic instructions that make each species unique. The instructions in the structure of DNA is passed from adult organisms to its offspring during reproduction. That is why the children look alike their genetic parents.

And after previewing the body we have to move further into the speech. And the next part of the speech is “The Body” of the speech which is the most important part.

1.2.2.2 The main part or the body of a monologue speech

The most important thing in preparing the Main Part of the Speech is organizing it in order. “Why?” you may ask. The answer is that a well organized speech will always serve better than that of the unorganized and impromptu one. That is for the students who have no good knowledge about how to give a monologue speech and are at the stage of learning about it. Listeners demand coherence. Unlike readers, they cannot flip back to the previous page if they have trouble grasping the speaker's ideas. In this respect, speech is similar to a movie. Just as a director must be sure viewers can follow the plot of a movie from beginning to end, so must a speaker be sure that speakers can follow progression of a speech from beginning to end. This requires speeches to be organized strategically. They should be put together in particular ways to achieve particular results with particular audiences. [54, p21].

Speech organization is important for other reasons as well. It is closely connected to critical thinking. And the principal of the Petropavl Kazakh-Turkish high school Aubakirov Erzhan noted that critical thinking is now has more tendency to be developed in nowadays? Kazakhstan educational system than giving just a plain knowledge of a subject. He thinks that nowadays less attention should be paid to olympiads and the focus ought to be on expanding the critical thinking abilities of the students.

While a student works to organize his/her speech, he/she gains practice in the general skill of establishing clear relationships among his/her ideas. Using a clear, specific method of speech organization will improve the student?s ability to deliver a message fluently. The first step in developing a strong sense of speech organization is to gain command of the three basic parts of the speech - introduction, body, and conclusion - and the strategic role of each. In this part of my diploma paper we deal with the body of the speech [9, p.83].

The body is the longest and the most important part of any speech. Also (NB) the body should be prepared first. Because it is easier to create an effective introduction after you know what exactly you will say in the body. The process of organizing the body of a speech begins when you determine the main points [23, p.19].

Main Points. The main points are the central features of any monologue speech. They should be selected carefully, phrased precisely, and strategically arranged. Here are the main points of a student?s speech about the medical uses of hypnosis:

Specific Purpose: To inform my audience about the major uses of hypnosis.

Central Idea: The major uses of hypnosis today are to control pain in surgery, to help people stop smoking, and to help students improve their academic performance.

Main Points:

a) Hypnosis is used in surgery as an adjunct to chemical anesthesia.

b) Hypnosis is used to help people stop smoking.

c) Hypnosis is used to help students improve their academic performance.

These three main points form the skeleton of the body of the monologue speech. If there are three major uses of hypnosis for medical purposes, then logically there can be three main points in the speech.

How to choose the main points? Sometimes they will be evident from the specific purpose statement. Suppose your specific purpose is “To inform my listeners about the development, technology and benefits of hydrogen fuel cells.” Obviously, your speech will have three main points. The first will deal with the development of hydrogen fuel cells, the second with the technology behind hydrogen fuel cells, the third with the benefits of hydrogen fuel cells. Written in outline form, the main points might be:

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