A discussion of English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) instruction begins with a review of the English language teaching situation in Singapore today and goes on to examine issues in the production of ESL instructional materials. The focus is on oral language instruction. The first section, concerning Singapore, outlines the structure of syllabuses for elementary and secondary education and considers the strengths and weaknesses of the materials used currently. The second section examines three areas in which oral language instruction in Singapore needs improvement, i.e., instruction should: (1) place additional emphasis on developing intelligibility within an international community; (2) provide practice in interaction in which there is an element of communicative stress; and (3) integrate speech with writing, reading, and listening skills. The third section presents guidelines for development of instructional materials on spoken English. They address five primary issues and related concepts: (1) who is the speaker for whom the materials are intended? (accent type, age, level of education); (2) what is the subject matter? (type of interaction, genre, and amount of required background knowledge); (3) to whom is the speaker/learner speaking? (accent, peer group/superior, proficiency level); (4) where is the speaker? (geographic location, acoustics, room size); and (5) what is the purpose of the communication? (giving instructions, giving information, conveying attitude or feeling). (MSE)