Just for a second, put yourself in one of your students shoes and imagine that you have been asked to speak in English, maybe for a job interview, or even a professional presentation, and at that very second, your mind goes blank and you don’t remember any of the words that you have studied. You stand there, confused, what’s happening, I can’t remember anything, and then, as you are being watched through eyes full of expectation, nothing comes out of your mouth except a whispery gasp of air and a few confused whimpers. For our students, when under stress, this can be more common than we realized, and one of the primary reasons is that most language programs neglect the skill of fluency, and the confidence that goes hand in hand with it when teaching students how to speak. Speaking, in most programs, is limited to our students answering a token 5 or 6 questions in pairs or small groups, an activity often done just once per unit in the book and taking a grand total of maybe 5 min
David White is an Australian English teacher who has been living in Peru since 2001. In partnership with his wife Claudia, they are the owners of ¨English For You Language Institute´, an institute that specializes in the teaching of all levels of English from Basic (A1) to Advanced (C2) including international exam preparation. They are also the owners of ELT Educational Services and David is also the Headmaster of the American School, a respected bilingual ib school in Northern Peru.