UNIT 2.

SKILLS TEACHING: 

Introduction and Objectives

A skills-centered approach was adopted by most language teachers. At first, the four macro skills: reading, writing, listening, and speaking were thought of as categories of language
activities. Later, they were seen as competence categories and sometimes as performance categories. An interrelation between competence and performance would best define a
language skill.
Analysis of how the four-macro skills function in different settings, such as a family house, an office, or a school canteen, showed that they can further be divided into micro skills.
There is a number of micro skills relating to the four macro skills and the basic micro skills are widely used to design skills-based activities. However, so far there is not a universal
consensus on the sets of micro skills associated to each macro skill. The figure below provides an example of some reading micro skills, which, by all means, are not all the micro skills
we can list
Theoretical and Practical Considerations

Figure 1. Reading micro skills. Figure 2. Spoken language vs. written language.
Models that integrate the four skills vary greatly and
we should choose the one that best suits our teaching
context or style. For instance, skills can be integrated
in terms of language medium: written and spoken.
There are substantial differences between spoken and
written language, however students can learn to
transfer from one medium to the other. The activities
below show how skills can be integrated in terms of
language medium 

Topic-based/theme-based instruction presents another interesting

opportunity to integrate the four macro skills. Themes should be drawn
from topics of interest to the students or from topics related to the L2 culture.
Theme-based instruction is a great way to develop students’ intercultural
awareness and transmit universal values. Let’s take the topic “How to
Win Friends and Influence People”. Activities can include a great variety
of authentic material, from advertisements and political speeches to You
Tubers and influencers, depending on the level of the target group.
Many English textbooks still group activities in reading, writing,
listening, and speaking, although the Common Reference levels of
attainment and their descriptors are organized around four types of
activities: reception, production, interaction, and mediation (see Unit
1). The authors of the CEFR argue that “these categories reflect more
the way people use the language than do the four skills” (Council of
Europe, 2018, p. 31). However, they insist that it would be wrong to say
that the CEFR “promotes a model of five skills” (Council of Europe,
2018, p. 31).
Reception and production divided into spoken and written give the traditional four skills. Interaction involves both reception and production but is more than the sum of those parts and
mediation involves both reception and production plus, frequently, interaction. (Council of Europe, 2018, p. 32)
Figure 5. Integrating the four skills into the CEFR activities.
Table 1 shows that reception and production activities (sometimes called receptive and productive activities)
integrate each two of the skills. The integration of the four macro skills in interaction activities is determined by
the medium of language (written or spoken). Mediation seems to be the activity that can integrate in a complex
way the four skills, as students might need to transfer from one medium to the other in the process of mediating a
text, a concept, or communication. 
Dictation is an interesting exercise in this sense. It integrates listening and writing.

Face-to-face, Online, and Blended Learning

The grammar-translation method, for instance, started with reading and writing, while the direct method considered
speech as the basis of the teaching/learning process. The grammar-translation method started in Germany and by the
end of the nineteenth century many schools had adopted it. Students used to read the classics and analyze language
structures, which is to say that most of them lacked communicative skills. There is a wide agreement among scholar that
the direct method appeared as a reaction to the grammar-translation method. It avoids long explanations of
grammar and vocabulary and classroom activities are more dynamic. Another important feature of the direct method is that translation into the student’s mother tongue is not used as a
learning device. In the direct method, the target language becomes the medium of instruction, which means that pronunciation gains prominence. Another advantage of the direct method in
comparison to the grammar-translation method is that it enables the learner to become aware of the patterns of use of L2 by providing a variety of contexts for direct experience. Thus, in
direct method, skills are acquired through practice-oriented activities.
The audio-lingual method differs from the two previously mentioned method in that it focuses on students’ aural-oral skills. It was developed during the Second World War and later revised
in the 1950s as an attempt to improve the direct method. One of the positive features of the audio-lingual method is that it develops students’ communicative skills. This method also brought
the use of language laboratories, radio, television, etc. and in general terms, paved the way for the use of visuals in present-day language classroom.
Cognitive code learning was developed in the 1970s as a result of research into cognitive psychology and transformational grammar. A conscious study of language rules is in the heart of
this method. Students are encouraged to reflect on the target language and language learning. It is interesting to note that in this case mistakes become an important part of the learning
process, as they provide instances on which students can reflect and understand better a new rule or concept. Another characteristic of this method is that teachers are expected to link new
rules and concepts to students’ prior knowledge.
Some of the classroom practices those methods applied might still be helpful today in certain contexts or with certain groups of students. Said that, other methods to be considered
are: Community Language Learning, The Silent Way, Suggestopedia, The Natural Approach, and The Total Physical Response, among others.
Communicative language teaching
Communicative approach draws on a wide range of methods and strategies to develop students’ communicative competence. The Common Framework refers to an “action-oriented
approach”, instead. The focus is on purposeful communication, rather than on language form.
The shift towards learner-centered strategies is reflected in the role of the teacher, hence some researchers identify types of communicative approach “through the characterization of the
discourse between teacher and student or between students in terms of two dimensions: dialogic (multivocal) or authoritative (univocal) discourse and interactive or non-interactive
discourse” Students are given tools that allow them to take greater responsibility of the learning process and teachers’ role focuses on facilitating and monitoring the process. For a successful
implementation of a learner-centered approach, teachers should put a special emphasis on providing students with adequate scaffolding.
Blended learning is often defined as partially tangible and partially virtual, in other words, the fusion between face-to-face and online learning. It is not always easy to distinguish between
face-to-face learning that includes online activities and blended learning and some researchers have tried to draw the boundary in relation to the percentage of online activities involved in the

course. The main challenge of blended learning is to connect face-to-face and online experiences into a coherent course, in which, to make use of the advantages of the two frameworks and
compensate for the drawbacks. Effective blended learning requires an active interaction between the teacher and the students and among the participants in the course. Face-to-face activities
can be used to enhance online interaction and vice versa. 
Diversity in the EFL classroom come in many forms and teachers should reflect on teaching/learning process, be flexible and adopt a few strategies to face diversity.
Factors such as the cognitive style of the learners, their aptitude and attitude (towards learning new languages in general, towards the target language, the community that speaks that target
language,) motivation and personality, all affect the learning process. Age-related factors can be roughly divided into: neurological, cognitive, psychological, social, and educational.