I first started doing an online Speaking Club for C1/C2 teachers who wanted to practise their fluency. Some were considering taking one of the upper suite Cambridge exams, others were post CPE but wanted to continue learning. A task-based approach seemed the natural format for me as it allowed us to put fluency at the forefront, with meaningful tasks focusing on real-life topics. As we only had 90-minute live sessions, I provided a model of the task for the participants to listen to prior to meeting up. The tasks were jam-packed with interesting lexis which the participants wanted to discuss and incorporate into their tasks. The sessions morphed into as much of a lexical exploration as a place to experiment with new language through engaging tasks. So we get on board our ship every week and go trawling for a new haul of colourful chunks of language.
I’ve always been an avid reader and, like so many teachers, multitask while delving into a new book. I’m constantly mining texts for juicy expressions that might be usable in one of my tasks; I do the same with news programmes or articles. However, the first step is always just coming up with an answer to the tasks myself and this stage is often an internal monologue that plays out inside my head. Thanks to the lockdown, and also to the fact that I’m not overly conversant in the language of my recently adopted country, these internal musings have become louder and louder meaning these tasks are a much-needed outlet for me.
The speaking club was, and is, doing well but the timetable didn’t work for a lot of the busy teachers who wanted to join us, so the Lexical Sprint is a kind of spin-off. Having the freedom to listen to the tasks, do the lexical activities and pop in and out of the group chat as and when you are free meant that a whole new group of teachers and learners could get on board. The anonymity appealed to some while others jumped at the chance to interact with like-minded people via the chat. The added bonus of privately submitting their own response to the task appealed to those with not quite enough confidence to do it in a public forum. Just as the convenience of listening to the tasks appeals to some, video is also a great medium for contextualising the tasks, so I’m in the process of filming all the tasks and mini-clips explaining the lexical items that crop up.