Using Dialogues, Role Plays, Songs, and Poetry in Teaching Speaking NOELIA MALLA GARCÍA Framing the Issue The use of dialogues, role plays, songs, and poetry in teaching speaking has become common in English-language teaching. These language-learning activities are very popular among language teachers, as they are not only familiar but also accessible. Most language-learning textbooks include dialogues, and role-play activities are obvious extensions of dialogue activities. In addition, most teachers know songs and poems and have easy access to examples on Internet on sites such as YouTube. Over the years, dialogues, role-play activities, songs, and poetry have become even more prevalent as communicative language teaching (CLT) has gained popularity. In response to the methodological change that CLT has provoked, teachers and materials developers have used these activity types to focus on different ways of providing students with meaningful input, useful mate- rials, and interesting content so that they can interact with one another, as well as with the teacher, and engage in “real” communication and enjoyable uses of the target language in classroom contexts. Making the Case Dialogues are popular activities in ELT textbooks for a number of linguistic, as well as cultural, reasons. Dialogues can be used to demonstrate grammar in con- text and to elicit conversations while at the same time offering specific language practice. They can also provide learners with information about the culture of the target language and cultural differences, as well as humor based on cultural differ- ences. Dialogues offer learners guided, rather than free, language practice. Most teachers think of dialogues in terms of their primary use, which is to pro- vide speaking practice; however, dialogues are also very useful in helping learners develop listening skills. Therefore, dialogues are highly effective in practicing The TESOL Encyclopedia of English Language Teaching, First Edition. Edited by John I. Liontas (Project Editor: Margo DelliCarpini). © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Published 2018 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. DOI: 10.1002/9781118784235.eelt0259