Four English Language

Skills
(Macro Skills)
 FOUR LANGUAGE SKILLS OF
ENGLISH

 Listening
 Reading
 Writing
 Speaking
 TYPE OF LANGUAGE SKILLS

Receptive or Input Productive or Output

Listening Writing
Reading Speaking
 LISTENING

 Listening is the most important communication

skill
 We probably spend more time using our listening
skills than any other kind of skill
 Like other skills, listening takes practice
 Real Listening is an active process
 Listening requires attention 
 EFFECTIVE LISTENING

 the process of analyzing sounds, organizing them

into recognizable patterns, interpreting the
patterns and understanding the message by
inferring the meaning
 Many of the problems we experience with
people in our daily lives are primarily attributable
to ineffective listening or lack of listening
 LISTENING IS NOT HEARING

  Hearing is the first stage of listening.

 Hearing occurs when our ears pick up sound
waves which are then transported to our brain.
This stage is our sense of hearing.
 Listening is a communication process and, to be
successful, is an active process.
 In other words, we must be an active participant
in this communication process. 
   OBJECTIVES OF LISTENING

 To learn
 To increase one’s understanding
 To advise or counsel
 To relieve one’s boredom (listening to music)
 IMPORTANCE OF LISTENING

  Communication is not complete without effective listening

 A good listener learns more than an indifferent listener
 A good listener can restructure vague speaking in a way that
produces clearer meaning
 A good listener learns to detect prejudices, assumptions and
attitudes 
 IMPORTANCE OF LISTENING

• Improves speaking and pronunciation

• Develops inter-personal skills
• Receptive skill that needs active participation
 TYPES OF LISTENING

• DISCRIMINATIVE LISTENING – It involves identifying

the difference between various sounds. It also
enables one to differentiate between familiar and
unfamiliar language.
• COMPREHENSION LISTENING – It involves attaching
meaning to what is being listened to. It may also
include comprehending the non verbal messages
being conveyed by the speaker.
 TYPES OF LISTENING
• EVALUATIVE LISTENING – It involves evaluating and
analyzing the message being received. It involves
judging the acceptability of what is said depending
on how logical one finds it to be.
• ATTENTIVE LISTENING – It involves paying attention
to the words that are being spoken.
• PRETENCE LISTENING – It involves more hearing
than listening. It means pretending through facial
expressions that one is listening when actually one is
not. 
 TYPES OF LISTENING
• EVALUATIVE LISTENING – It involves evaluating and
analyzing the message being received. It involves
judging the acceptability of what is said depending
on how logical one finds it to be.
• ATTENTIVE LISTENING – It involves paying attention
to the words that are being spoken.
• PRETENCE LISTENING – It involves more hearing
than listening. It means pretending through facial
expressions that one is listening when actually one is
not. 
 TYPES OF LISTENING
• SELECTIVE LISTENING – It involves
selecting the desired part of the
message and ignoring the undesired
part of the message.
• INTUITIVE LISTENING – It means
listening through the intuitive mind by
silencing the other forms of internal
dialogues going on simultaneously.
 LISTENING
Issues
• Uncertain comprehension
• Speed of speech
• Familiarity with local speech (accents and vocabulary)
• Missing words /concepts/instructions
• Lack of confidence to ask for repetition
• Hearing difficulties
 LISTENING
Solutions
• Active listening requires participation not
passive reception
• Engage with the sounds & words
• Ensure you are aware of the subject before lectures.
• Read key vocabulary & do background reading
• Mental repetition
• Ask for clarification
• Listen to radio, TV other media
 READING

When do we read?
• Lectures, presentations, tutorials
• Coursework, research, internet
• Blackboard, course documents
• Work & home (social sight reading)
 READING

• a particular interpretation of something (Merriam

Webster)
• skill which enables us to get a message
• recognizing the written words (written symbols)
getting (understanding) the meaning
• used to teach pronunciation
• grasping information from texts.
 READING

Importance
• Informs writing and writing style
• Develops knowledge of language structure
• Develops vocabulary (specific vocabulary for subject)
• Register and purpose
 TYPES OF READING SKILL

■ Skimming
■ Scanning
■ Intensive Reading
■ Extensive Reading
 SKIMMING
• Skimming is a quick reading :
to know the general meaning of a passage
to know how the passage is organized
to get an idea of the intention of the writer.
• Skimming is a more complex task than scanning because it requires the
reader to organize and remember some of the information given by the
author, not just to locate it.
• Skimming is a tool in which the author's sequence can be observed, unlike
scanning in which some predetermined information is sought after.
 SCANNING
• Scanning is a quick reading, focusing on locating specific information.
• Scanning involves quick eye movements, not necessarily linear in
fashion, in which the eyes wander until the reader finds the piece of
information needed.
• Scanning is used when a specific piece of information is required, such
as a name, date, symbol, formula, or phrase, is required. The reader
knows what the item looks like and so, knows when he has located
what he was searching for. It is assumed then, that very little
information is processed into long-term memory or even for
immediate understanding because the objective is simply matching.
 INTENSIVE READING
• READING FOR PURPOSE…… course books etc.
• It is a "detailed in-class" analysis, led by the teacher, of vocabulary and grammar
points, in a short passage.“ (Long, Michael & Richards, J.,1987)
• Intensive Reading, sometimes called "Narrow Reading", may involve students
reading selections by the same author or several texts about the same topic.
• The success of "Narrow Reading" on improving reading comprehension is based on
the premise that the more familiar the reader is with the text, either due to the
subject matter or having read other works by the same author, the more
comprehension is promoted.
 EXTENSIVE READING
• READING FOR PLEASURE… story books, novels, magazines etc.
• Extensive reading is carried out "to achieve a general understanding of a
text.“ (Brown, 1994)
• It occurs when students read large amounts of high interest material,
usually out of class, concentrating on meaning. (Long, Michael & Richards,
J.,1987)
• The aims of extensive reading are to build reader confidence and
enjoyment.
• Extensive reading is always done for the comprehension of main ideas, not
for specific details. (Maija MacLeod)
 READING
Issues
• Speed
• Decoding new words
• Vocabulary
• Comprehension
• Relevance
• Volume (in study)
 READING
Solutions
• Reading is an active skill
• Improve your speed
• Read smart
• Read for gist/skim
• Read for specific information
• Do not stop to look up every word-decode from the
text
• Use tools to help develop vocabulary (textual and on-
line)
THANK YOU VERY MUCH
FOR LISTENING!