Understanding the Four Skills: Language Teaching

Sara Davila
World Learning/SIT Graduate Institute Licensed Trainer
Educational Consultant
Daegu, South Korea
Chicago, Il
www.saradavila.com

Understanding the Four Skills: Language Teaching

When teaching EFL language learners teachers need to be aware of the four skills used to interact with language. These are the skills students need in order to communicate in a functional way in English. These four skills are speaking, listening, reading, and writing. While grammar is an important part of language acquisition it is not a skill of language and should not be confused with a skill. Grammar is the science of language. Grammar is the very definition of language. In order to learn to communicate in a language it is more useful for students to work to utilize talents in the fours kills before trying to attempt to understand the grammar of language.

Speaking

Speaking is the first skill of communication. The act of speech itself is what allows learners to begin to phrase thoughts to share with others. In order to understanding speaking teachers should consider the various aspects of speaking that a learner utilizes to create a coherent picture of comprehension.

The physical act of speaking requires a great deal more than the mere use of words to communicate. Learners use a number of factors to choose words for speech, to choose types of speech, and to communicate in context or situations. For teachers this can affect the type of lesson to use in order to best facilitate speaking with students.

Listening

Listening is a skill as important as speaking for learners who wish to functionally communicate in English. Indeed speaking without listening provides little direction for a conversation. In order to function in a conversation a person must be able to comprehend what is being said by the conversation partner. Listening allows a learner to determine what the best possible avenues of response can be. As with speaking, listening involves the use of multiple points of feedback to help a learner create meaning.

Listening requires more than just a knowledge of vocabulary. Students engage in listening by looking at situations in context, interpreting the body language of speakers, watching facial experiences, assessing word choice, and considering how and when silences is used in a response. When planning listening lessons and activities teachers should be mindful of these other requirements. While the us of a CD is perhaps the most common way to practice listening it rarely provides the best practice tool for students who want to develop listening skills.

Reading

Reading is a skill that allows students to interact with language in a visual way. Students acquire knowledge by engaging with materials that are printed, static, and unchanging while the student is interacting. This can be very beneficial to student who require a longer amount of processing time in order to understand and own language. Reading, like speaking and listening, requires more than comprehension of vocabulary for learner success.

When reading, student apply a number of visual skills to help interpret meaning of reading. Reading as a language skill also begins to engage more with the function of language itself or grammar. It is important to remember, however, that high grammatical comprehension is not important for high reading comprehension. In fact, most students do not consciously consider grammar at all when reading.

Writing

Of the four skills writing is one of the most useful and the most complicated. In order to write effectively students must come to an understanding of how shapes created in a specialized order relate to words, how words used together create meaning, and how the form and function of writing can be used to communicate a personal though to the audience. In order to master the skill of writing students will interact with writing in a range of ways.

Writing asks that students be able to clearly express personal thoughts, personal ideas, or personal understanding clearly and concisely for a shared audience. For students to be able to successfully achieve this a understanding of the basic form and science of writing is key to being able to clearly produce thoughts. As with reading, writing as a skill interacts more strongly with the root of language, grammar; having a grasp of basic grammatical principles helps to greatly clarify a students experience with writing.

Skills Sets: Productive vs Receptive

Speaking and Writing are both productive skills. These two aspects of language requires that students produce a tangible product. In a speaking lesson this may be the communication that students create. It could be how students respond to a question or the type of questions students as in response to materials. Something is produces.

Writing is also a productive skill in that students demonstrate ability to write by creating something. Students may write from a prompt, write to complete an activity on a worksheet, write an essay, write a poem, or write role play or dialogue. In order for teachers to assess writing students must actually produce some type of writing.

Listening and Reading are both receptive skills. These skills require students to take in language and can be more difficult for teachers to assess. In order to assess the receptive skills teachers much structure activities that allow the students to demonstrate interaction and engagement with the language. This can include asking questions, fill in blank sheets, acting out responses, or providing shared thoughts and ideas provoked based on presented listening and reading materials.