Teaching the fours skills.

Regarding to the theme of the acquisition of a second language, and specifically talking
about the teaching and learning process, is a fact that there are a lot of factors involved
in the process. As we know, when we learn a language, there are four skills that we
need to communicate properly in that language. Let us remember that we usually learn
our mother tongue, first to listen, then we learn to speak, then to read, and at the end,
we learn to write. These are the four language skills.

Since this, we are going to focus on teaching specifically these four language skills. We
are going to do a brief review about the theory supporting this topic and we are going to
talk about the experience planning class activities integrating the four skills.

First, we are going to talk a little bit about the reading skill. It is known that there a wide
range of types of texts, for example: novels, poems, stories, plays, letters, postcards,
newspaper, articles, reports, reviews, essays, summaries, handbooks, advertisements,
comic strips, statistics, diagram, phone directories, glossaries, etc. Then, the source of
reading is huge.

However, the way to introduce teaching can vary from one person to another and
depending on many factors. For example, for Richards and Rogers (1986) the
Traditional Approach recommend reading through the gradual introduction of words and
grammar structures in simple reading texts. However, nowadays many reading texts are
still used as a vehicle for the introduction of new vocabulary and structures.

On the other hand, talking about the authenticity and genuineness, for Widdowson
(1978), genuineness is a characteristic of the text itself and is an absolute quality, while
authenticity is the relationship between the passage and the reader and the appropriate
response, this means, how the reader responds to the text. Moreover, when texts are
outside the linguistic capacity of the learner, we can either use glossaries or simplify
texts. This is what the teachers usually do when facing a harder text for their students,
we sometimes adapt the text or provide them with all the tools for them to understand.

Now, talking about some activities after reading, for Widdowson (1981) there are four
types of questions after reading: wh-questions, polar questions (information that is not
on the text), truth assessment (true or false), and multiple choice. Most of them, focus
on comprehending skills, for him, the truth assessment is the most satisfactory.
However, we know that there are many other ways to assess reading.

Let’s remember that reading is an active process of guessing, hypothesizing,

anticipating, confirming and predicting. For Grellet (1981), the process of reading, has
seven parts: 1. Study of the layout, tittle, length, pictures,etc. 2. Make hypothesis about
the content. 3. Anticipation of where to look for confirmation of the hypothesis. 4.
Skimming. 5. Confirmation of revision of one’s guesses. 6. Further prediction. 7. Second
reading for more details. This theory can be useful when we are planning a reading
activity because we can drive it step by step following the process.

Regarding activities or micro skills found in current reading in ELT we can find: extracting
main ideas, reading for specific information, understanding text organization, predicting,
checking comprehension, inferring, dealing with unfamiliar words, linking ideas,
understanding complex sentences, evaluating a text, writing summaries, just to mention
some.

In second place, we are going to focus on the listening skill. This one can be known as
a “comprehension” skill. As we know, there can be for main reasons for listening: to
engage in social rituals, to exchange information, to share feelings, and to enjoy
yourself. For McDonough and Shaw: there is a great range and variety of input,
sometimes we are listeners and some others part of a whole, we listen for different
purposes, so the attention and strategies will be different, there may be interference or
background noise that may affect our ability to process, we may consider how many
roles are there and in some situations we may find a visual element, which gives
important clues. Of course, we need to consider all these factors when we are planning
our lessons.

Regarding to the differences and similarities between reading and listening, reading is
passive and listening active, but both are involved in guessing, anticipating, checking,
interpreting, interacting, and organizing. Another difference is the medium: the listening
cannot be recaptured once it has passed, and in reading, it is possible to refer back and
check comprehension. This is very important when we are just training our students in
the listening skill. It is essential to teach our students how to manage these micro-skills
already mentioned. For example, note-taking, previous reading of the questions,
organizing what they heard, etc.

Rost (1990) urges a consideration of abstractness of content, cultural aspects of the

content, number of information points, media support provided, length of extract and
level of linguistic ability. This are related to the learner's listening competence, and this
are input factors, which teachers may contemplate in the preparation of the lesson.
Learners differ in abilities and in individual preferences. A good technique to approach
to our learners’ style in listening skills is to know their favorite type of music or movies.

Talking about some pre-listening activities, we have: looking at the pictures and talking
about them, looking at a list of items, making lists of possibilities, ideas, suggestions,
reading a text, reading through questions, labelling, completing part of a chart, etc.
While-listening activities are marking/checking items in pictures, matching pictures with
what is heard, storyline picture sets, putting pictures in order, completing pictures,
picture drawing, labelling, etc. Post-listening activities would be form/chart completion,
extending lists, sequencing/ grading, matching with a reading text, extending notes into
written responses, summarizing, using information for problem solving and decision-
making activities, jigsaw listening, dictation, roleplay, etc.

In third place we are going to talk about the speaking skill. Speaking skills have been
controversial since the fact that whether it should be included or not in the curricula. For
McDonough and Shaw (1995) there are some reasons for speaking: expressing ideas
and opinions, expressing a wish or desire to do something, negotiating and/or solving a
particular problem, stablishing, and maintaining social relationships and friendships.
This indicates us that we have a great range of excuses to practice speaking skills.

According to Byrne (1986), oral communication is a two-way process between speaker

and listener where both the speaker and listener have a positive function to perform. We
know that it is difficult to separate them because of the fact that they are mutually
dependent and rarely carried out in isolation. That is why we can integrate speaking with
other skills.

Nunan (1989) concluded that a successful communicator develops “conversational

listening skills”. Therefore, speaking is considered an interactive process although we
should recognize that there will be times when the speaker role will be passive. One
important rule of conversations is that of “turn-taking”. Sometimes we may have
experienced one-side conversations in which just one speaker talks and the other is
denied the opportunity to talk. Of course, this situation should be avoided in order to
have fair participations in our students.

The rules of turn-taking are not very clear but in some books are incorporated some
communicative activities such as agreeing, disagreeing, interrupting, etc. On the other
hand, the teacher’s use of English in the classroom is a fundamental source of learning.
The most English input, the most English output in our students.

Regarding to the interaction between the students, Sometimes the teacher may want to
divide the class into groups. For Long and Porter, group work “increases” language
practice opportunities, it improves quality of students talk, it helps them to individualize
instruction, promotes a positive affective climate and it motivates students to learn.
Another advantage of group work is linked to learner autonomy. In group activities
students are given a measure of responsibility to take charge of their own learning.
Therefore, we should keep in mind this if we want to make our students better self-
learners.

Let us remember that topic-based activities are the subject or themes which in ELT
related to the knowledge and experiences of the learner and these themes have been
defined in terms of cross curricular contents. And task-based activities are essentially
goal oriented, requiring the group to achieve an object which is usually expressed as an
observable result such as brief notes rearrangement of jumbled items, a drawing, a
spoke summary. For Julian Edge (1995) some of the activities are: Dialogues,
simulations, role plays, problem solving, questions and answer, debates, discussions,
storytelling, and communication games.

In fourth place, we are going to talk about the writing skill. Madrid and McLaren (1995)
noted the following reasons for teaching and developing writing skills: A reasonable level
of proficiency in any language implies a level of competence both in oral and written
communication. Written practice reinforces oral proficiency and in real life students will
need some proficiency in writing. Hedge (1998) divided our purpose for writing in six
categories: Personal, Social, Public, Study, Creative, and Institutional. This led us to the
fact that writing requires of to focus on a variety of topic using appropriate language to
address difference audiences.

Besides, almost all ELT books which deal whit the skill of writing at present are careful
to allude to the context metalanguage associated whit its teaching: Product and
Process. The first, emphasizes the final outcome of a written task, and the second one,
focuses on “the route” one takes to that goal or going about in the right way this is the
process of planning, organizing, composing, drafting, reviewing, revising, editing, etc. In
short there is the how of writing rather the what that is emphasized.

Regarding to the audience, the process of writing involves communication, this is that,
we normally write whit our reader in mind, this provide us whit a context without which it
is difficult to know exactly what or how to write. Therefore, we should teach this to our
students, always focusing on who is going to be the reader of our written text.

And talking about feedback in writing, we as teachers may pay attention to how much
and what we should correct. Moreover, process writing encourages students to take a
responsibility for their own writing. This process encourages self-evaluation as well as
teachers and peer assessment. Some activities for Penny Ur (1996) are: to write a report
of a book, to write a review of a book, to write an Instruction sheet, to write a narrative
based, to describe what you see/someone, to write an answer to a letter, etc.

To conclude, I can say that there are many ways of combining skills in our lessons:
reading and writing, listening and speaking, reading and speaking, and so on. In this
course I could think about how to plan a lesson integrating the four skills. Considering
all the theory and the activities proposed along these four chapters, I though that the
first thing I had to do was to think about my students. Assuming that I have High School
students, it was easier to adapt an activity that may fit in the aim I was looking for. First,
I though that one of the skills should be the strongest, using the other skills accompany
this main skill. That is why I chose speaking, therefore a debate, using together with
listening, and using as supporting skills a reading and a writing. To sum up, all the four
skills have their own implications, but there are many ways to teach them either separate
or integrated. Everything will depend on our student’s characteristics besides the
principal aim of the lesson or topic we are teaching/learning.
REFERENCES:
Universidad IEXPRO. (s.f.). Developing language skills in the classroom. Tuxtla
Gutiérrez, Chiapas, México.