Tema 3: “Desarrollo de las destrezas lingüísticas: comprensión y expresión oral;

comprensión y expresión escrita. La competencia comunicativa en inglés”.

Topic 3: Development of linguistic skills: oral comprehension and expression;

written comprehension and expression. Communicative Competence in English.

Index
0. Introduction and relevance of the topic
1. Ultimate aim of Foreign Language area: Communicative Competence
2. The oral and written English language
2.1 Characteristics of oral and written language
2.2 General methodological guidelines for the four linguistic skills
3. The four language skills
3.1 The skill of listening comprehension
3.2 The skill of speaking production
3.3 The skill of reading comprehension
3.4 The skill of writing production
4. Conclusion
5. References
5.1 Bibliographic references
5.2 Legislative references

1
 0. Introduction and relevance of the topic

The limits of my language are the limits of my world.

Ludwig Wittgenstein.

This quote is a great way to introduce this topic, since it expresses masterfully the
importance of learning a foreign language. The main goal of learning a language is to
communicate, which is a complex activity that implies mastering a set of skills, where
both oral and written skills fulfil a vital role.

Authors in the field such as Cassany (2015), claims that although in traditional
foreign language teaching written language had more importance than oral language,
nowadays each medium has its own importance and implications when teaching, since
the ability to communicate is the sum total of the four linguistic skills, not just the
perfection of each individual one.

In this line, it is remarkable to accentuate that the Foreign Language curriculum

strongly support the importance of developing both oral and written skills gradual and in
an integrated way during Primary Education. This idea is reflected in the Order of
January 15th, 2021, Annex II, where the four skills represent the basis of the English
Foreign Language area’s objectives, evaluation criteria and blocks of contents.

Overall, throughout this unit we will provide a comprehensive revision of oral and
written language, analysing both skills separately and giving some practical didactic
considerations to proceed with them.

1. Ultimate aim of Foreign Language Area: Communicative Competence

Our current Educational System has incorporated communicative and functional

principles in its syllabus design. Therefore, the ultimate aim of the Foreign language
Area is not just the mastery of structures and vocabulary, but there is an emphasis on
communication.

In this sense, regarding the Organic Law 3/2020, art. 17, section f) the main aim
of our area is the development of our students’ communicative competence, term which
was first defined by Hymes (1972) as “the knowledge which enables someone to use a
language effectively, and the ability to actually use this knowledge for communication”.

In order to understand the elements which made up the communicative

competence, we follow the orientations gathered in the Common European Framework
of Reference for Languages (Council of Europe, 2020), which mentions three sub-
competences that must be worked in order to develop a foreign language learner’s
communicative competence:

2
 ü Linguistic competence: it includes the ability to deal with the 4 linguistic skills.
ü Sociolinguistic competence: it includes the ability to use the language
appropriately, taking into consideration the setting and the socio-cultural
background.
ü Pragmatic competence: it includes the ability to understand and develop forms
of language with appropriate cohesion and coherence.

In this sense, it seems clear that the domain of oral and written skills is essential,
since they contribute to the development of the Linguistic Competence in a direct way,
which is an indispensable sub-competence to develop the desired Comm. Competence.

1. The oral and written English language

In this section, it will be analysed the main characteristics of oral and written
language and some general methodological guidelines to bear in mind.

1.1 Main characteristics of oral and written language

According McLaren and Madrid (2014), the main features that characterised
oral and written language are the following:

· Oral language
ü Expressive possibilities: a person when speaking can vary the tone, the accent
and the speed of our words to underline the attitude towards what we are saying.
ü Use of gestures and body language: they help in the transmission of the message.
ü Simple constructions: a person when speaking, doesn’t have much time to select
complicated forms, so the sentences are simpler than when writing.
ü Use of pauses, repetitions or hesitations: due to the spontaneity and speed of
oral language.
ü Errors: speech is often characterised by ungrammatical sentences, and by
frequent false starts and repetitions.

· Written language
ü Permanence: the reader/writer can spend freely the time he/she needs to
understand/write the text.
ü Distance: participants in a written interaction are not usually present. Therefore,
clarity is a fundamental factor.
ü Unique features: writing displays several unique features such as punctuation,
spelling, calligraphy, orthography, and so on.
ü Formality: written language is usually more formal than oral language.
ü Complex constructions: the grammatical structure of written language is more
correct than oral language. It is also better organized, since the addresser has time
to express his/her ideas and correct them if necessary.

3
 1.2 General methodological guidelines for the four linguistic skills

Lessons which involve dealing with language skills should be planned step by step
bearing in mind the following specific guidelines for the development of skills gathered
in the Annex II of the Order of January 15th, 2021, which provides:

ü Language skills should be sequenced following the Natural Order of skills

Acquisition by Krashen (1982), which support that the first and second language
must be acquired in the same order: listening, speaking, reading and writing. In
fact, according to the art. 13.3 of the Royal Decree 126/2014, of February 28th,
the oral skills are contemplated as the most important ones, especially during the
former courses of Primary Education.

ü The Communicative Approach and the Task-Based Approach are

recommended for the development of language skills, since they involves
communicative activities where pupils have a reason to listen, to speak, to read
and to write.

ü Meaningful techniques should be promoted in order to awakes students’

intrinsic motivation (Harmer, 2007), such as the use of games, videos, songs and
the inclusion of digital tools, among others.

ü Activities should be interactive, regarding Pujolás (2012), they provide a rich

climate of interaction to practice in a lively way what have been learnt.

ü It is important to keep in mind the Universal Design for Learning, which is a

model of teaching whose main aim is to guarantee inclusion and allow access
to the curriculum to all students by providing: Multiple forms of representation,
multiple forms of expression, and multiple forms of motivation.

ü The oral and written material provided should be varied, comprehensible,

graduated in difficulty and with the help of the situation and the context to
facilitate understanding of messages.

ü It is advisable to introduce first adapted materials which are specifically created

for the teaching of English as a foreign language. They are useful for pedagogical
reasons, since they adapt to children’s level of competence and they are attractive
for them. However, as sooner as possible, the teacher should also encourage the
use of authentic texts for the student to learn how to handle real English material.

ü Our students lack language when communicating. In consequence, the may insert
L1 linguistic elements combined with the foreign language. These mistakes
should be considered as a natural stage of their interlanguage, and as a positive
evidence of learning.

4
 2. The skill of listening comprehension

The process of listening involves a complex process during which the student
should understand the meaning of those sounds by discriminating words and phonemes,
recognizing intonation and processing the meaning of the spoken chain. The development
of the listening skill is one of the goals to be attaint through the Foreign Language Area,
this objective 1 says the following: “To listen and understand messages in varied verbal
interactions, using the information transmitted to carry out specific tasks related to their
experience”.

When developing the listening skill, we should select carefully appropriate

activities for each phase of listening. Brewster and Ellis (2002) proposed the following:

ü Pre-listening stage: this is a preparatory and motivating phase, where the teacher
activates previous knowledge about the topic and introduce the appropriate
context.

§ Activities for this stage: predicting content from the tittle, commenting
pictures, pre-teaching key words through flashcards, and so on.

ü While-listening stage: at this stage students are ready to listen to the auditory
material and perform some activities simultaneously. At this moment we might
carry out 2 types of tasks:

§ Extensive listening, which are activities for global understanding. Some

activities could be: put in order, sequence the story, listen and draw,
true/false questions, and so on.

§ Intensive listening, which require a specific search of sounds, words or

facts within a context. Some activities could be: listen and touch, gap-
filling, clap if you hear, bingo, find out words, spot the mistake, and so on.

ü Post-listening stage: at this stage students perform tasks connecting what they
have listened to with their experience, with the aim of consolidating the language.

§ Activities for this stage: discussing what happened with other students,
role-plays, practising vocabulary and structures from the text, writing a
description of a character or a place, writing new verses keeping in mind
the rhythm of the song, and so on.

5
 3. The skill of speaking production

The process of speaking involves a student who should be able to express his/her
ideas with clarity, considerable correction and without hesitating too much. The
development of the listening skill is one of the goals to be attaint through the Foreign
Language Area, this objective 2 says the following: “To express and interact orally in
simple and habitual situations, using verbal and non-verbal procedures and following
the rules of communication”.

Brewster and Ellis (2002) claims that when developing the speaking skill, we
should grade activities with regard to the following stages which goes from imitating
models to autonomous oral production:

ü Imitation stage: after the student has been exposed to comprehensible input, the
students carry out the imitation and repetition of the model. The use of drills,
choral and individual repetition in this stage are very useful, since learners need
to build up confidence while using the new language without too much hesitation.

§ Controlled activities for this stage: flashcards dynamics such as “name

it”, “listen and repeat”, “spin the roulette and say” and so on.

ü Practice stage: this can be considered as the transition phase between the
imitation and production stage, where learners get guidance but at the same time
are given the chance to talk without constant supervision or correction. At this
stage it is advisable to include individual and pair-work activities.

§ Semi-controlled activities for this stage: guided role-plays, simple

dramatizations, yes/no questions, interviews, language games, and so on.

ü Production stage: this is the most authentic stage, because the student has to put
into practise what he/she has learnt without the teacher’s control and in a creative
way. The risk of making mistakes is greater, but this should not worry the teacher
because the student is developing fluency.

§ Communicative activities: information-gap activities, assemblies,

debates, participating in E-Twinning programs, role-plays, development
of Tasks, problem solving activities, communicative games, making
presentations, and so on.

6
 4. The skill of reading comprehension

The process of reading is a complex process which involves the decoding and
comprehension of written graphs. The development of the reading skill is one of the goals
to be attaint through the Foreign Language Area, this objective 4 says the following: “To
read in a comprehensible way diverse texts related to their own experiences and interests,
extracting general and specific information with a predetermined purpose”. It is relevant
to highlight the importance of encourage reading habits. Regarding the Royal Decree
126/2014, art. 9.2, it is our mission to help pupils to discover the pleasure that reading
brings, facilitating interesting, motivating and amusing books.

When developing the reading skill, we should select carefully appropriate

activities for each phase of reading. Brewster and Ellis (2002) proposed the following:

ü Pre-reading stage: this is a preparatory and motivating phase, where the teacher
activates previous knowledge about the topic and introduce the appropriate
context.

§ Activities for this stage: predicting content from the tittle, commenting
pictures, pre-teaching key words through flashcards, and so on.

ü While-reading stage: at this stage students are ready to read the reading material
and perform some activities simultaneously while develop reading strategies. At
this moment we might carry out 2 types of tasks:

§ Extensive listening (skimming), which are activities for global

understanding. Some activities could be: getting the general impression of the
text, sequence some pictures, matching titles with short texts, and so on.

§ Intensive listening (scanning), which require a specific search of sounds,

words or facts within a context. Some activities could be: the detective, find
out the mistake, matching a word with its definition, and so on.

ü Post-reading stage: at this stage students perform tasks connecting what they
have read to with their experience, with the aim of consolidating the language.

§ Activities for this stage: discussing what happened with other students,
role-plays, practising vocabulary and structures from the text, writing a
description of a character or a place, making a summary, and so on.

7
 5. The skill of writing production

The process of writing involves a student who should be able to express his/her
ideas in a language by using a system of visual marks on a surface. The development of
the listening skill is one of the goals to be attaint through the Foreign Language Area, this
objective 3 says the following: “To write texts, with the support of models, which have
different aims and which have been previously practised in class”.

Brewster and Ellis (2002) claims that when developing the writing skill, we
should grade activities in a guided manner, going from imitating models to autonomous
oral production:

ü Controlled practice stage: this stage provides opportunities to practise

handwriting, learn and consolidate their understanding of new vocabulary and
develop awareness of and confidence in English spelling.

§ Activities for this stage: re-order sentences to build logic paragraph;

filling gaps in a text; matching halves of a sentence; spelling games such
as crosswords, Bingo, Hangman, and so on.

ü Directed production stage: this can be considered as the transition phase

between the imitation and production stage, where learners get guidance but at the
same time are given the chance to write without constant supervision.

§ Activities for this stage: writing a text while following a model; complete
sentences freely; sentence-linking activities, where students are asked to
link sentence, familiarising them with linking words; guided role-plays;
simple dramatizations; language games; and so on.

ü Free production stage: this is the most authentic stage, however, written
production in primary education should still be guided. It is important to give
some basic guidelines such as: main ideas to be included, paragraphs to be used,
key words or expressions, visual support, etc.

§ Activities at this stage should raise the necessity of communication,

some examples are: information-gap activities, participating in E-
Twinning programs in order to write to a pen friend, role-plays,
development of Tasks, problem solving activities, communicative games,
making presentations, and so on.

8
 6. Conclusion

Teaching that impact is not head to head, but heart to heart.

Howards Henricks.
Having analysed this topic, it is undeniable that oral and written skills are required
to develop a high degree of communicative competence. However, the learning of oral
and written skills is a complex task for many primary education students since they are
not exposed to a real context. In this line, teachers must provide students with functional,
purposeful and meaningful practice to develop written skills in depth from an integrated
and communicative point of view.

Concluding and going back to Henricks’ quote, we cannot forget that this
education should be done heart by heart, in a low anxiety atmosphere where students feel
free to participate and express themselves, feel motivated, improve their skills and
achieve their maximum development to became a competent citizen, being it one of the
main general principles pf the Primary Education Stage according to the art. 16 of the
Organic Law 3/2020, of December 29th.

7. References

6.1 Bibliographic references

- Brewster, J. and Ellis, G. (2002). “The Primary English teachers’ guide”. Penguin
English guide.
- Cassany, D., Luna, M. and Sanz, G. (2015). “Enseñar lengua”. Barcelona. Graó.
- Council of Europe (2020). Common European Framework of Reference for
languages: Learning, teaching and assessment”. Companion volume.
- Harmer, J. (2007). The practice of the English language teaching. Longman.
- Hymes, D. (1972). “On Communicative Competence” Ethnolinguistic essays.
- McLaren, N., & Madrid, D. (Eds.). (2014). TEFL in Primary Education.
Universidad de Granada.
- Pujolás, P. (2012). “Aulas inclusivas y aprendizaje cooperativo”. Educación del
S.XXI

6.2 Legislative references

- Organic Law 3/2020, of December 29th, which modifies the Organic Law on
Education 2/2006, of May 3rd , of Education.
- Royal Decree 125/2014, of February 28th, which establishes the basic curriculum
for Primary Education nationwide in Spain.
- Order of January 15th, 2021, which develops the curriculum for the Primary
Education Stage, regulates attention to diversity, establishes the ordination of the
evaluation process and determines the transit process between the different
educative stages in the Autonomous Region of Andalusia.