Famous speeches are tools that can be used in a variety of contexts in an English as a second language classroom. You are not limited as a teacher to using them in one particular way. They can provide reading, writing, listening and speaking practice for your students. Be creative in how you use speeches in your class in order to engage your students' attention and learning.

Encourage students to read the speech or portions of it in front of the class. This can be a useful exercise to develop reading, pronunciation and public speaking skills. Teach students, however, that it is best not to read a speech when giving it, but to use notes and memory instead.

Use the speech as a way to introduce the culture of the United States to your class. For example, share the last few minutes of Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech with your class to discuss the history of civil rights in the country.

Read the speech to the class, or play a recording of it. Repeat this a couple of times. Check for understanding by asking questions related to the content of the speech. Students can respond either out loud or by completing written exercises.

Reinforce vocabulary from the speech by having students fill in the appropriate word from a list in a printed copy of the speech. You can use just a few sentences of the speech or use the actual text of the speech, leaving blanks where vocabulary words should go. Use matching exercises in which students match the vocabulary word with the definition as further practice.