ENGL022 – MACROSKILLS
general scenario.
LANGUAGE MACROSKILLS
Listening – a complex process that involves
the understanding of spoken data and
involves receptive, interpretative, or
constructive cognitive processes (Rost,
2005)
Reading – is an interactive and problem-
solving process making meaning from
Viewing – refers to perceiving, examining,
interpreting, and construction meaning from
visual images and is crucial to improving
comprehension of print and nonprint
materials
Speaking – a complex process that involves
simultaneous attention to content,
vocabulary, discourse, information,
structuring, morphosyntax, sound system,
prosody and pragmalinguistic
Writing – act of putting ideas in text whether
print or nonprint
Representing – to serve to express
something
4 Communicative Competencies:
1. Grammatical competence -
concerned with mastery of the
linguistic code (verbal or non-verbal)
which includes vocabulary
knowledge as well knowledge of
morphological, syntactic, semantic,
phonetic, and orthographic rules.
2. Sociolinguistic competence -
possession of knowledge and skills
for appropriate language use in a
social context.
3. Discourse competence - also called
interactional competence which
includes textual and rhetorical
competence. It deals with cohesion
and coherence in different types of
texts both textual and rhetorical.
 Textual competence is a
measure of how well an
individual can read different
texts, and understand them.
 Rhetorical or effective
discourse competence is
often defined by how well an
individual can contribute to a
conversation, how well the
individual can understand
what is being said by a range
of speakers, how well the
individual can interject his or
her own opinions and how
well that person can express
ideas to an audience within a
4. Strategic competence - It is the
speaker's use of techniques
intended to preserve
communication, repair breakdowns
in communication, or prevent
miscommunication.
- “a speaker's ability to adapt his/
her use of verbal and nonverbal
language to compensate for
communication problems caused
by the speaker's lack of
understanding of proper
grammar use and/or insufficient
knowledge of social behavioral
and communication norms"
BICV vs CALPS
o BICS (Basic Interpersonal
Communicative Skills)
- Social language; playground
language
- First 2 years of language
acquisition
o CALPS (Cognitive Academic
Language Proficiency)
- Academic language
- Takes basically 5-7 years
depending on the student
- Content language that helps
them to be successful in their
content classes
Principles of Language Learning
Cognitive Principles
 Anticipation of reward – learners are
motivated to perform by thought of a
reward, tangible or intangible, long
or short-term
 Meaningful learning – providing
realistic context
 Automaticity – subconscious
processing of language for fluency
- Road to fluency
 Strategic investment – success in
learning is dependent on the time
and effort learners spend in
mastering the language
 Intrinsic motivation – needs, wants,
and desires of the learners
Linguistic Principles
 New language effect – creates both
facilitating and interfering effects
 Communicative competence –
fluency, and use are just as
important
 Interlanguage – learners manifest a
systematic progression of acquisition
 of sounds and words and structures
and discourse
Socio-affective Principles
 Language-culture connection –
language learning is a complex
system of cultural customs, values
and ways of thinking, feeling or
acting
 Self-confidence – “I can do it
principle”
 Risk-taking – accepting challenges
 Language ego – identity of a person
develops in reference to the
language he or she speaks
Nature of Learning
Learning is adaptation or adjustment
- We all continuously interact with our
environment
- We often make adjustments and
adapt to our social environment
- Through a process of continuous
learning, the individual prepares
himself for necessary adjustment or
adaptation
Learning is improvement
- Often considered a process of
improvement with practice or training
Learning is organizing experience
- Learning is not a mere addition of
knowledge
- Reorganization of experience
Learning brings behavioral changes
- Learning brings progressive
changes in the behavior of an
individual
Learning is active
- Learning does not take place without
a purpose and self-activity
Learning is goal directed
- When the aim and purpose of
learning are clear, an individual
learns immediately
Learning is universal and continuous
- Every moment the individual
engages himself to learn more and
more
CURRICULUM AND LANGUAGE
INSTRUCTION
Historical Background
Syllabus Design 1960s – one aspect of
curriculum development but is not identical
with it
Syllabus – a specification of content of a
course of instruction and list of what will be
taught and tested
Syllabus design – process of developing a
syllabus (Richards, 2001)
1. Structural (formal) syllabus –
collection of the forms and
structures, usually grammatical of
the language being taught
2. Notional/Functional syllabus –
collection of the functions that are
performed when language is used,
or of the notions that a language is
used to express
3. Situational syllabus – collection of
real and imaginary situations which
language occurs or is used
4. Skill-based syllabus – collection of
specific abilities that may play a part
using language
5. Task-based syllabus – series of
complex and purposeful tasks that
the student wants or needs to
perform with the language they are
learning
6. Content-based syllabus – teach
some content or information using
the language
Views on Language
Structural view – language is a system of
structurally related elements for the coding
meaning
Cognitive view- language puts the learner
smack in the center of everything
Functional view/communicative – language
is a vehicle for the expression of functional
meaning
Psychological view – language learning is
seen through issues like learner motivation
and predisposition, a location’s
conduciveness to learning, teacher-students
dynamics, stress levels, etc.
 Approaches/Methods
Grammar Translation Method (1800-1900)
- Classes are taught in the students’
mother tongue
Direct Method (1890-1930)
- Lessons begin with a dialogue using
a modern conversational style in the
target language
Structural Method (1930-1960)
- Language can be reduced to a
learnable set of building blocks
Reading Method (1920-1970)
- A very specific approach designed
for a specific type of language
learner
Audio-lingual Method (1950-1970)
- The Army Method
- Learning is based on repetition of
dialogues and phrases
Situational Method (1950-1070)
- Teach the language that occurs in
the situation
- Presentation
- Vocab
- Classification
Communicative Approach (1970-present)
- Interactive activities are the hallmark
of this approach
The Silent Way
- Need to employ plenty of gestures
and facial expressions to
communicate
- Can also use props
Community Language Learning
- Class learns together as one unit
- Not listening to the same lecture, but
interacting in the target language
- Teacher’s role: counselor, guide,
encourager
Suggestopedia
- Developed out of believe that human
brain could process great quantities
of material given the right conditions
of learning like relaxation
- Music was central to this method
Total Physical Response
- gestures, actions and movements
play a vital role in language
acquisition
Communicative Language Teaching
The five features of CLT are:
1. an emphasis on learning to
communicate through interaction in
the target language;
2. the introduction of authentic texts
into the learning situation;
3. the provision of opportunities for
learners to focus, not only on
language but also on the learning
process itself;
4. an enhancement of the learner's
own personal experiences as
important contributing elements to
classroom learning; and
5. an attempt to link classroom
language learning with language
activation outside the classroom
(Nunan, 1991 as cited by Corpuz,
2015).
Communicative approach  CLT
- stimulates meaningful
communication
- emphasis on skills
- student-centered
- communicate in the target language
with an enhanced focus on real-life
situations
key features:
 lessons have communicative aims
lesson aims  practice and develop
 teacher acts as a facilitator in the
learning process
fluency and accuracy practice
give learners the opportunity to
communicate meaning
 student-student interaction
level of support may vary depending on:
- stage of the lesson
- lesson aim
- students’ level of ability
Principles Related to CLT
1. Learner-Centered Instruction. It can be
contrasted with teacher-centered. Learner-
centered teaching makes use of:
a. techniques that focus on learner's
needs, goals, and styles;
b. techniques that give some control to
the students;
c. techniques that allow for students'
creativity and innovation
d. techniques that enhance students'
sense of competence and self-worth
(Brown, 1994 as cited by Corpuz, 2015)
2. Cooperative and Collaborative
Learning. Language teaching and learning
emphasize the collaborative efforts of
students and teachers working together to
pursue goals and objectives. Students work
together in pairs or in groups. Teamwork is
evident in the choice of techniques and in
evaluating progress.
3. Interactive Learning. Communication is
essentially interactive in nature and so
necessarily, language classes must be
highly interactive. Most likely to be found in
interactive language classes are:
a. doing a significant amount of pair
work and group work;
b. receiving authentic language in real-
world contexts;
c. producing language for genuine,
meaningful communication;
d. performing classroom tasks that
prepare them for actual language use out
there;
e. practicing oral communication
through the give and take and spontaneity
of actual conversations; and
f. writing to and for a real audience, not
contrived ones.
4. Whole Language Education. This
emphasizes
a) the wholeness of language as opposed to
views that fragmented language into bits
and pieces of phonemes, graphemes,
morphemes, and words;
b) the interaction and interconnections
between oral language (listening and
speaking) and written language (reading
and writing); and
c) the importance of the written code as
natural and developmental, just like the oral
code.
5. Content-Centered Instruction. Content
learning is integrated into language
teaching. It is the study of language and
subject matter at the same time with the
form and sequence of language
presentation depending on the content
material. This is the contrast of teaching
language skills in isolation from content and
subject matter.
6. Task-based Instruction. Learning is
focused on tasks. The learning process is a
set of communicative tasks the completion
of which leads to the realization of learning
goals such as communicative competence.
Hearing and Listening
Hearing – process, function or power of
perceiving a sound
Listening – to hear something with
thoughtful attention
Active Listening
“If the listener takes part actively in the
process of listening linguistically and uses
his/her non-linguistic knowledge to follow up
the message that the speaker intends in a
conversation if s/he listens, replies, and
asks/answers questions, it is active
listening”
- responding and providing feedback
at the right time
Passive Listening
- A little more than hearing
- One-way communication wherein
the receiver does not respond nor
give feedback to the speaker in any
way.
Barriers to Active Listening
 Noise – most common
distraction when listening
 Attention span
 Receiver biases – preconceived
ideas and opinions
 Listening or receiver
apprehension – the fear that you
might be unable to understand
the message or process the
information correctly or be able
to adapt your thinking to include
the new information coherently
6 Key Active Listening Skills
1. Pay Attention – undivided attention
2. Withhold Judgment – stay open-
minded
3. Reflect – allows you to understand
the speaker’s experienced and the
emotions that come with them
4. Clarity – clarify information; or to ask
for more information or details about
the topic
5. Summarize – summarize or restate
key points
6. Share
Ethical Listening
- Highlights the importance of listening
with honest intentions
- Respect is the key to active listening
 Stages of Listening
1. Receiving – involves hearing and
attending
2. Understanding – determine context
and assign meaning
3. Remembering – retain/recall the
information gathered
4. Evaluating – asses the information
after making a reasonable objective
interpretation of the message
- Compare previous and new
information
5. Responding – giving feedback
(verbal or non-verbal reactions)
Process of Listening
Bottom-up process
- “uses the information he/she has
about sounds, word meaning, and
discourse markers, the after, tries to
assemble his/her understanding of
what he/she reads or hears one step
at a time”
- Context clues, semantical,
syntactical
Top-down process
- “learners use their background
knowledge to comprehend the
meaning by considering previous
knowledge and schemata”
- Schema
4 Types of Listening
1. Informational – listening to learn
2. Evaluative – listens to judge the
content of the message or the
character of the speaker
- Used by judge, attorneys
3. Aesthetic – listening for enjoyment,
relaxation, relieve stress
4. Emphatic – used by guidance
counselors
- Put yourself in someone
else’s shoes