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Open in new tab TEACHING LANGUAGE SKILLS
skills
Receptive skills: reading & listening
Productive skills: speaking & writing
LISTENING
Processes of listening:
Processing sound: listeners segment sounds, recognize
words, vocabulary, utterances and clauses. (intonation, pitch,
tone, pace, key words.)
Processing meaning: listeners categorize the speech into
meaningful parts.
Processing knowlegde and context: contextual information
and previous knowledge. Listeners predict, organize and
verify meaning from the context.
Listening is difficult
Because of dialects, accents, stresses, rhythms, intonation,
mispronunciation,
Because of the pace of speech,
Speech is heard only once,
The external factors (background noice)
Listeners might work on another task simultaneously
while listening.
Types of Listening
Discriminative Lis: to distinguish sounds and visual stimuli. It
focuses on sound not meaning.
Comprehensive Lis: to comprehend the message.
Critical Lis: Listeners evaluate the message by expressing their
opinions.
Evaluative / Judgemental Lis: to jugde and evaluate what
speakers are saying.
Appreciative Listening: to focus on the speaker’s utterances,
ideas, and the way he puts his ideas into words.
2 purposes of Listening
Reciprocal / Interactive Listening: Listeners participate
in the interaction and take switch the roles from listeners
to speakers. (face-to-face conversations, telephone calls,
discussions, chats.)
Non-reciprocal / Non-Interactive Listening: Listeners
take part in a monologue or conversation. (the radio, TV,
movies, lectures.) They don’t have the chance to respond
back to the speakers by asking questions.
Listening
Extensive Listening: occurs outside the class for
pleasure and development. No comprehension questions,
vocabulary exercises.
Intensive Listening: involves materials to develop
vocabulary and grammar knowledge. There are detailed
questions and understanding.
Learners listen in order to…
Look for keywords
Benefit from non-verbal language
Predict the aim of the speech from the context
Associate information with the pre-existing knowledge
Guess meanings
Seek for clarification
Listen for the main idea
The speech can be processed in 2 ways
Bottom up processing: the aim is to pay attention to the
sounds, words, grammar. (Starts from the smallest
linguistic unit to the largest one –from phonemes to
complete speech or dialogue-).
Top down processing: the aim is to find the main idea,
predict, expect questions related to the topic, and
summarize.
To have an effective and efficient listening…
Aim should be clearly stated.
Level and authenticity of the listening text should be graded.
It has to have sub-skills.
T should include different listening types.
Sts should be exposed to different listening tasks such as radio,
films, lectures, formal/informal conversations.
Integrative approach should be used (bottom up and to down)
Stages of Listening
Pre-Listening Stage: The goal is to prepare sts to the
speech that they will listen to. T pre-teach some key
words.
Pre-listening activities:
Predicting the content
Discussing
Reviewing vocabulary or grammatical structures
While-Listening Stage: The goal is to comprehend the
listening text. Sts can hear it 3 times at most.
The First listening: understanding the main idea.
(listening for the gist)
The Second listening: listening for detailed
understanding.
The Third listening: checking the answers.
While listening activities
Listening for the gist
Ordering events
True-False
Test
Listen and tick
Matching the pictures with the events
Searching for clues
Post-Listening Stage
Writing activities
Speaking activities
Debates
Interviews
Discussions
Role-plays
Dramatization
Dictation
SPEAKING
The aim is to develop communicative efficiency.
Speaking has 3 areas of the language:
Mechanics (pronunciation, grammar, vocab)
Social and cultural norms & rules (turn-taking,
role-relations)
Functions (transactional exchanges –conveying info and
interactional exchanges –building &sustaining
relationships)
Speaking has 2 main types of conversation
Dialogue
Monologue
Approaches of Speaking
To help sts develop speaking, T should use a balanced
approach which combines
Language input
Structured output (production of the learner’s focusing
on grammar)
Communicative output (focusing on the content and the
message)
Input-Focused Approaches
Content Oriented Input:
Focuses on reading & listening passages
(short weather report, long lecture about an academic
subject)
Form Oriented Input:
Focuses on how target language is used.
T guides sts
T makes sts notice the use of vocabulary, pronunciation and
grammar (Linguistic Competence)
T makes sts notice the use of appropriate words and forms in
specific context( Discourse Competence)
T makes sts notice the use of the pace of the speech, pause
length, turn-taking, and related social aspects of language
use (Sociolinguistic Competence)
T can give instruction related to what expressions to use
for asking comprehension check and compensation for
lack of vocabulary knowlegde (Strategic Competence)
Output-Focused Approaches
Structured Output:
Focuses on the sts’ use of accurate language forms and
linguistic structures.
The aim is to produce and practice the grammar
structure accurately.
Accuracy is more important than fluency.
Output-Focused Approaches
Communicative Output:
Task-oriented approach.
The main goal is to complete the task.
Sts should use the language communicatively during the
interaction.
Conveying the meaning is important.
Fluency is more important than accuracy.
Role-plays, discussions with information gap.
Output-Focused Approaches
T should combine structured output activities (grammar
act.) with communicative output activities (content &
message)
Structured output activities give opportunities for error
correction and accuracy.
Communicative output activities give opportunities to
practice language freely.
During the interaction, in order to make mutual
understanding clear, speakers use strategic questions:
Comprehension Checks: Did you understand? Did you
get what I meant?
Confirmation checks: Did you mean actually did not
want to help her?
Clarification checks: I didn’t understand exactly. What
did you mean?
Stages of Speaking
Presentation Stage:
Setting the scene using pictures.
Relating sts’ experiences to the situation.
Explaining and teaching key words and structures about
the speaking text
Asking sts to listen and repeat
Asking sts to practice (role-play / dramatize).
Practice Stage:
Content should be practical and usable in real life.
Don’t add too much vocabulary or grammar subjects.
While correcting errors, T shouldn’t interrupt the
communication.
Delayed correction by taking notes.
T should encourage sts to use CCC checks, gestures,
turn-taking.
Production Stage:
T creates opportunities and prompts for sts to speak the
language freely.
Information gap activities with real life situations
T observe and monitor for feedback.
Discussions, conversations, interviews.
Puzzles,
Small talk
Role play
Drama
Dialogues
Picture narrating & describing
Story completion
Pronunciation
The aim is to teach
Stress, rhythm, pauses, intonation
Intelligibility (native speaker’s utterances)
The main aim isn’t to have native-like accent.
Role of Pronunciation
1940-1960s
Pronunciation was important
Audio lingual methods were used
1970-1980s
Pronunciation was ignored
Communicative approach (Fluency was important)
Late 1980-present
Pronunciation is the key component
Balanced approach (accuracy = fluency)
Approaches of Pronunciation
Intuitive – Imitative Approach:
Listen and imitate.
Audiotapes, videos, computer-based programs and website
Analytic-Linguistic Approach:
Phonetic alphabet, vowel chart, interactive speech analysis
software and websites.
Current Integrative Approach:
It is practiced by using meaningful task-based activities.
Stress- rhythm and intonations are practiced in meaningful
discourse.
Techniques
Articulatory chart
Minimal pair / comparison words
Dictation
Suprasegmental exercises (intonation, rhythm, stress,
timing)
READING
Types of Reading
Intensive Reading:
It is applied in the classrooms.
It requires a higher degree of understanding to
enrich vocabulary and to develop skills related
to sentence structures.
Extensive Reading:
It involves new vocab which can be deduced from
context.
Guessing the meaning.
Authentic short stories and plays, newspaper articles
and magazines.
Sts develop good reading habits and build up vocab
knowlegde and structure.
Reading Sub-skils
Scanning:
Quick reading technique.
Its aim is to find specific information in the text (date,
numbers, names, places)
Eg: Looking up a word in a dictionary.
We don’t read the whole page or passage but search
for the keywords, clues.
Skimming:
Aim: to get a general idea of the contents (the
gist of the text)
Eg: While buying books, we glance at the
cover page, comments, contents.
Inferencing:
Authors sometimes don’t express their ideas
clearly, but they imply them.
They hide the message behing the words.
Sts should read between the lines and deduce it.
Approaches
Bottom-up Models:
1960-70s.
Reading=Decoding (focus on the text)
Phonics approach was used.
(alphabet letters + sounds = words
Words + grammar rules = sentences
Sentences + rules = paragraphs)
Top-Down Models:
1970-80s.
Reading = Psycholinguistic guessing game
(focus on the reader)
Whole language approach was used.
Interactive Models:
Late 1980s – present.
Bottom up + Top down processes simultaneously
Focus on the interaction
Interaction btw sts and text
Interaction btw identification and interpretation
Content Schemata: background knowlegde
related to the topic
Formal Schemata: knowlegde of genre of the
text
Linguistic Schemata: knowlegde of how to
form sentences within the rules of syntax, lexis,
grammar and morphology.
Stages of Reading
Pre-Reading:
Vocabulary is often taught before detailed
reading.
Skimming Activities: find the main idea, find
the topic sentence, find an appropriate title,
predict content.
Scanning Activities: Wh-questions, fill the
gaps
While reading:
It is carried out either silently or loudly.
Activities:
Information transfer activities: The information is
replaced into charts.
Reading Comprehension Questions
Understanding References:
“What does he refer in the text?”
The other 2 types of question which can be used in
classrooms:
Display questions: T checks sts’ language use.
“What is plural form of child?”
Referential questions: The answer isn’t known by
the person who asks the question.
“Where did you go on holiday?”
Post Reading
Aim: to review the content, focus on the grammar,
vocabulary.
Reading skill is enforced by the other skills (writing,
speaking, listening)
Discussion
Role play
Summarizing
WRITING
Approaches
PRODUCT APPROACH:
There is a model text and sts copy and imitate
it.
Letter, essay etc
Important points:
Result (outcome) must be readable,
grammatically accurate and must have major
points, supporting details.
PROCESS APPROACH:
Sts generate ideas, think and write.
They discover new ideas and language forms to
express themselves
It has pre-writing, planning, drafting, post-writing
activies.
PRE-WRITING STAGE:
The warm up session
Teaching unknown vocab
Activites:
Brainstorming: sts focus on a topic and say whatever
comes to their minds.
Clustering: The next step of brainstorming. Sts list
and categorize items under sub-headings.
WHILE WRITING STAGE:
Controlled Writing: focuses on establishing patterns,
structure, punctuation and word order.
Guided Composition: Sts discuss a topic with the T,
find ideas and put them into logical order. T gives
sts vocab and grammatical structures. Sts write
compositions and T gives feedback.
Free Writing: Sts select a topic and write about it.
POST WRITING STAGE:
Sts share their products with pairs.
T or sts give feedback.
VOCABULARY
For a useful vocab teaching:
Vocabulary which is used in real-life should be
taught.
New words should be recycled for several times.
Extensive reading and listening should be applied so
that incidental learning takes place.
Harmonize previous knowledge and new information.
Guessing the meaning activities.
Teach sts how to use dictionaries.
Vocabulary Techniques
PRESENTATION
PRACTICE
1.Presentation
Demonstration: visuals, pictures, flashcards,
realia, board drawings, miming, acting.
Explanation: T directly gives and explain the
meanings of new lexis.
1.Presentation
Definition: T gives lexical meaning, contextual
meaning, cultural meaning.
Cognates: (True Cognates) bank, physics, chocolate
(False Cognates) words that look alike but do
not have the same meaning. Complex.
Affixes and word roots: prefixes, suffixes, infixes
are taught and sts guess the meaning.
1.Presentation
Synonyms and antonyms:
Superordinates: class, category. (animals is
the superordinate for dog, cat.
Hyponym: Red, white and blue are colours.
Mind-map: classifying the words that are
related to the same topic.
1.Presentation (Steps)
Setting up a context (learners’ age and interest)
Elicitation (sts guess the new lexis)
Choral or individual repetition (for
pronunciation)
Consolidation / Concept check questions (to
check whether meaning has been properly
understood)
1.Presentation (Steps)
Lead in: T creates a context
Convey meaning: T conveys the meaning of the
words by using presentation techniques
Repetition of the word: for pronunciation
1.Presentation (Steps)
Verification: If sts understand the meaning correctly
or not
Model sentence: T gives an example sentence using
the new word
Use: Sts produce their own sentences using the new
word to consolidate.
2.Practice
Vocab practice should be regular, carefully
planned and shouldn’t involve too many words
at one time.
Recycling of new vocabulary is important since
practice activities help sts recall the new words.
Vocabulary practicing can be used as a
5-minute activity or warmer.
2.Practice
Techniques:
Matching pictures to words
Matching parts of words to other parts (word
formation)
Using prefixes and suffixes to build new words
Classifying items into lists
Fill in gaps in sentences
Memory games
GRAMMAR
There are 2 major methods of grammar teaching:
Deductive teaching: T teaches rules and give
specific information. Sts apply these rules.
(Grammar translation method)
Inductive teaching: Form-meaning-function
(use)
Stages of Grammar Teaching
PPP
Presentation
Practice
Production
Presentation
T decides “deductive or inductive
teaching”.
Practice
Mechanical Practice:
Repetition
Substitution (sts replace words)
Single word prompt: T gives a word as a prompt, sts
give examples
Pictures prompts: T shows a picture and sts make
sentences.
Free substitution: sts make their own sentences about the
model presented by T.
Practice
- Meaningful Practice:
True sentences: T asks sts to say real things about
themselves using the structure.
Situation: T gives a situation. Sts use the structure.
Adding something: T asks a question and sts add
something.
Choosing the best sentence: sts choose the most
suitable one for the context.
Production
Reply to a letter
Report
Discussion