The speaking skill in the second-language classroom is mostly ignored, difficult to assess, and the dialogues commonly employed in English as a foreign or second language (EFL/ESL) textbooks for exercising it are stubbornly grounded in the written form. Although it is common knowledge in the TESOL community that the affective factors of anxiety and self-esteem influence second-language acquisition and that our models for teaching speaking show that the role of authentic speech is fundamental for teaching the speaking skill, no work until now has shown instructors how to prepare students for creating authentic speech before entering into dialogues in action.
