How to Teach Speaking Lessons Online: A Complete Guide for ESL Teachers

In this comprehensive guide, I’ll share practical insights on why students often don’t speak even when they know the words, describe the three main types of quiet learners, and provide a proven five-step approach to build speaking confidence. I’ll also introduce four engaging activities you can use right away, explain how to track student progress efficiently, and offer free resources to enhance your teaching.

Why Don’t ESL Students Speak?

It’s a common frustration for ESL teachers: after teaching vocabulary and basic lessons, students still respond with short or one-word answers to open-ended questions like, “What did you do this weekend?” Sometimes, students don’t speak because:

• They lack the vocabulary or sentence structures needed to express their thoughts.
• They are scared of making mistakes.
• They feel judged by peers in small group settings.
• They experience anxiety or fear of participation.
• They need more time to process and formulate answers.
• The tasks are too difficult or too open-ended for their current language level.

In group classes, these challenges are compounded by varying language levels among students, making it essential to tailor your approach.

The Three Types of Quiet Students

Speaking Progression According to CEFR Levels

Knowing your students’ CEFR levels (Common European Framework of Reference for Languages) helps you plan speaking lessons that match their abilities:

Level	Speaking Skills	Suggested Activities
Pre A1 – A1	One-word answers, repeating patterns, naming objects.	Picture labeling, yes/no questions, simple dialogues (e.g., “Did you go swimming?”).
A2	Short answers with reasons, simple opinions, describing people and places.	Guided discussions, picture descriptions, preference sharing, role play (ordering food, etc.).
B1	Explaining, comparing, telling short stories, talking about past and future.	Collaborative storytelling, comparison tasks, speculating about pictures, exam prep discussions.

Five Steps to Build Speaking Confidence

Helping students become confident speakers requires a structured approach. Here are my five easy steps:

1. Model the language, pronunciation, and conversational flow you want your students to use. This gives them a clear example to follow.
2. Support with scaffolding such as vocabulary word banks, visuals, sentence starters, or sentence frames. This is especially helpful for newbies and thinkers.
3. Rehearse by giving students opportunities to practice. Use breakout rooms for small groups or assign speaking homework where students record their answers to review.
4. Release students gradually to try speaking on their own by removing scaffolding over time.
5. Track Progress regularly assess and have students self-assess their speaking skills to monitor growth and report to parents.

What Does a Real Lesson Look Like?

Effective speaking lessons are built around engaging, age-appropriate themes connected to students’ interests and real-world situations. For example, a warm-up slide might include progressive questions about visiting a beach or river, animals in water, pollution, and why clean water matters.

Visual prompts are essential. A rich picture showing people reading in a tree fort with twinkling lights at night can spark discussions about people, setting, feelings, and more.

Interactive elements like draggable toys in a toy store conversation help scaffold sentence building and vocabulary recall, making lessons dynamic and user-friendly with minimal preparation.

Practical Strategies for Different Types of Quiet Students

For Thinkers

• Use think-pair-share activities in small groups.
• Utilize interactive whiteboards for brainstorming and mind mapping before speaking.
• Assign prework to prepare opinions or ideas for the next class.
• Have students prepare timed presentations (starting with 30 seconds, building up to 2-3 minutes).

For Newbies

• Promote nonverbal communication like thumbs up/down or emojis to encourage participation.
• Use comprehension checks with fingers or numbers to gauge understanding.

For Nervous Students

• Create a classroom culture where mistakes are accepted and correction is gentle and private.
• Give advanced notice before calling on students to speak.
• Encourage students to record themselves to self-assess and become aware of mistakes.

Four Engaging Speaking Activities You Can Use Tomorrow

1. Picture Prompts: Use interesting, royalty-free images for students to describe, starting with simple questions like “What do you see?” and “What is happening?” Sites such as Pexels offer a variety of images you can use.
2. Find the Differences: Show two similar pictures with
3. differences and have students describe and compare them using complex sentences and conjunctions.
4. Three-Two-One: Students tell a story or share ideas for three minutes, then retell it in two minutes focusing on key points, and finally summarize in one minute. This builds fluency and conciseness.
5. Conversation Spinner Game: Use a wheel of random questions for quick, fun speaking prompts as warm-ups or extensions.

Tracking Speaking Progress Made Simple

I use a quick rubric based on two criteria: sentence length (whether the sentence is complete) and vocabulary usage. There are five levels, and I rate students with a two-number score like “3-2.”

For example, a “3-2” student uses simple and expanded sentences with some detail, including words like “because,” but still relies on general language.

This system helps me set goals (e.g., moving a student from 3-2 to 3-3 by encouraging more specific language) and makes it easy to track and report progress regularly.

Explore Ready-Made Speaking Lessons from Florentis Learning

Florentis Learning offers three levels of speaking lessons (beginner, elementary, and intermediate) with about 50 lessons available. Here’s a quick overview:

Level	Topics	Features
Beginner	About me, greetings, favorite toys, weather, community, school conversations	Interactive dialogues, draggable elements, name & gender personalization, rewards
Intermediate	Jobs (paleontologist, pharmacist), environment, animals, health, opinions	Role plays, opinion questions, reading excerpts, discussion prompts

Lessons are designed with minimal prep in mind and can be adapted for children or adults. For example, the “Robot Pets” lesson introduces new vocabulary and includes role play, opinion questions, and homework prompts encouraging students to record themselves.

Get Your Free Sample Pack

To help you get started, Florentis Learning offers a free sample pack that includes:

• Three leveled speaking lessons: “My Favorite Toy” (beginner), “Ordering Pizza” (elementary), and “Protecting Rivers and Oceans” (intermediate)
• Twelve core curriculum lessons
• A writing lesson and a phonics lesson

This pack is perfect for trying out ready-made lessons that you can scaffold to fit different ages and levels.

Additionally, there are free placement tools and an automated learning plan generator that simplify trial assessments and lesson planning.

Summary: How to Teach Speaking Lessons Online Effectively

• Identify why students might not be speaking and recognize the three types of quiet learners: newbies, thinkers, and nervous students.
• Use CEFR levels to tailor speaking activities that build from basic naming and yes/no answers to storytelling and opinion sharing.
• Follow a five-step process: model, support, rehearse, release, and track progress.
• Incorporate engaging, real-world themes and visual prompts to spark conversation.
• Use practical strategies like think-pair-share, nonverbal communication, and supportive classroom culture to encourage speaking.
• Try four easy-to-implement activities: picture prompts, find the differences, three-two-one storytelling, and conversation spinner games.
• Track progress with a simple rubric and set clear goals for students.
• Explore and use ready-made lessons from Florentis Learning to save prep time and enhance your curriculum.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Q: How can I encourage quiet students to speak more in online ESL classes?

A: Identify their type (newbie, thinker, nervous) and tailor your approach. Use scaffolding, give extra processing time, create a supportive environment, and use structured activities that build confidence step-by-step.

Q: What are some easy speaking activities I can start using immediately?

A: Try picture prompts, find the differences, three-two-one storytelling, and conversation spinner games. These activities engage students and encourage them to practice speaking in a fun, low-pressure way.

Q: How do I track speaking progress effectively?

A: Use a simple rubric that rates sentence length and vocabulary usage on a scale of five levels. Regular assessments and student self-assessments help monitor growth and set clear learning goals.

Q: Can these speaking lessons be adapted for adult learners?

A: Absolutely. Many of the intermediate lessons cover real-world topics suitable for both children and adults. You can scaffold lessons to fit the age and proficiency level of your learners.

Q: Where can I find free resources and lesson plans for teaching speaking online?

A: Visit florentislearning.ca to download free sample packs that include speaking, writing, and phonics lessons, plus access placement tools and games.