Teaching

productive skills
Teaching skills
Workshop agenda
• Review of session three
• Receptive and productive skills
• Fluency vs accuracy
• Activities for productive fluency
• Peer feedback (building rapport
with the ‘class audience’)
Outcomes
To understand the essentials
of lessons which focus on
developing learners’
productive skills (writing and
speaking)
Review of the previous session
Discussion Questions

1. What interaction patterns are

there?

2. What are some pros and cons of

each interaction pattern?

3. Share with some tips to

increase STT?
Workshop agenda
• Review of session three
• Receptive and productive skills
• Fluency vs accuracy
• Activities for productive fluency
• Peer feedback (building rapport
with the ‘class audience’)
Outcomes
To understand the essentials
of lessons which focus on
developing learners’
productive skills (writing and
speaking)
What are the skills?

the ways in which

people extract involve producing
meaning from the words, phrases,
discourse they see or sentences and
hear. paragraphs

Listening Writing
& &
Reading speaking
What are the skills?

Receptive Productive
skills skills

the ways in which

people extract involve producing
meaning from the words, phrases,
discourse they see or sentences and
hear. paragraphs

Listening Writing
& &
Reading speaking
Workshop agenda
• Review of session three
• Receptive and productive skills
• Fluency vs accuracy
• Activities for productive fluency
• Peer feedback (building rapport
with the ‘class audience’)
Outcomes
To understand the essentials
of lessons which focus on
developing learners’
productive skills (writing and
speaking)
Teaching productive skills
What are two features of language learning?
_________ is the extent to which a
learner's use of a second language
conforms to the rules of the
language. This is usually measured in
terms of grammatical accuracy.
• What means this? Or I no
understand. are inaccurate
according to standard usage.
• vocabulary use e.g. She sent us a
lot of homework,
• Pronunciation: Where do you
leave? for Where do you live?
_______ is the ability to speak
the language idiomatically and
accurately, without undue
pausing, without an intrusive
accent, and in a manner
appropriate to the context.
Primarily it is the ability to
produce and maintain the
language in real time.
Teaching productive skills
Accuracy
Accuracy is the extent to which a
learner's use of a second language
conforms to the rules of the language.
This is usually measured in terms of
grammatical accuracy.
• What means this? Or I no
understand are inaccurate
according to standard usage.
• vocabulary use e.g. She sent us a lot
of homework,
• Pronunciation: Where do you
leave? for Where do you live?
Fluency
Fluency is the ability to speak
the language idiomatically and
accurately, without undue
pausing, without an intrusive
accent, and in a manner
appropriate to the context.
Primarily it is the ability to
produce and maintain the
language in real time.
A to Z for ELT
Teaching productive skills
Now that you understand those two basic skills used in production activities:

• What criteria do you use choose to

one or the other ( focus on accuracy
or fluency) in your classes?

• Which kind of productive skill is

most important for language
learning? Why?
 Why we should focus on helping students to develop fluency in
writing and speaking:

• Focusing on fluency helps learners become

effective communicators.

• Fluency practice can improve accuracy over time,

as long as there’s focus on form, e.g. via
corrective feedback and/ or negotiation
of meaning.

• Focusing on fluency and seeing what they can do

with the language can be a powerful move to boost
their motivation.
Workshop agenda
• Review of session three
• Receptive and productive skills
• Fluency vs accuracy
• Activities for productive fluency
• Peer feedback (building rapport
with the ‘class audience’)
Outcomes
To understand the essentials
of lessons which focus on
developing learners’
productive skills (writing and
speaking)
 Activity for productive fluency
Writing in a shape
1. Get a piece of paper
2. Draw the outline of a special thing, I like to travel because it opens
place or person my eyes to new experiences,
cultures, and perspectives. There
3. Write free writing about the object is something thrilling about
as much as you can in this shape exploring unfamiliar places and
4. Exchange your writing with your immersing myself in different
partners and write a comment ways of life. Whether it's trying
and/or a question than return your exotic foods, learning a new
paper and language, or simply taking in the
beauty of a foreign lands.
5. Present to the class and answer
their questions.
 Discuss the activity ‘Write in a shape’
Discussion questions
1. Which levels and ages would
the activity be suitable for?
2. Where/ How exactly is
fluency practiced?
3. Why get peers to comment
and present to class?
Possible answers
1. Kids and teens, (adults)
can be adopted to any level
1. Authentic writing and genuine
discourse afterwards
2. Authenticity
Rapport
Negotiation of meaning
 Negotiation of meaning and Rapport
Negotiation of meaning is a process that
speakers go through to reach a clear
understanding of each other which is
more likely to happen during meaning
fluency tasks.
Asking for clarification
rephrasing
Confirming what you
understood etc.
Include a ‘get to know you’
activity
Respect / Make eye contact
with learners
Show an interest in learners'
lives outside
Rapport is ‘the relationship that the
learners have with the teachers and vice
versa…a class where there is a positive,
enjoyable and respectful relationship
between teacher and learners and
between learners themselves’,
Workshop agenda
• Review of session three
• Receptive and productive skills
• Fluency vs accuracy
• Activities for productive fluency
• Peer feedback (building rapport
with the ‘class audience’)
Outcomes
To understand the essentials
of lessons which focus on
developing learners’
productive skills (writing and
speaking)
 Practice
What activities do you know for developing writing or
speaking skill?

• In your groups think about an activity to focus

on learners’ writing or speaking fluency.
• Set up instructions following EDCAMF steps to
hold the activity with other teams
• Discuss in what ways it develops productive
skills.
Workshop agenda
• Review of session three
• Receptive and productive skills
• Fluency vs accuracy
• Activities for productive fluency
• Peer feedback (building rapport
with the ‘class audience’)
Outcomes
To understand the essentials
of lessons which focus on
developing learners’
productive skills (writing and
speaking)
References and further reading

• A-Z of ELT Scott Thornbury Macmillian books for teachers pages 8-

9,89-90
• Learning teaching, Third edition, Screvener pages 55-64
• The practice of language teaching, Jeremy Harmer third edition, Part 6
Receptive and Productive skills pages 199, 246, 269-271