An Overview of the Integral

Language Skills

Presented by
Dr. B. Aarthy Priya
Asst Prof of English
SMVC
 Reading maketh a full
man,
conference a ready man,
And writing an exact
man

FRANCIS BACON
The need to incorporate the fifth skill, i.e.
Cultural Awareness in the context of Second
Language Acquisition

Researchers in the field of ELT have accepted that there is a

key skill that is ignored in the ESL classroom, which paves way

for better understanding of the language and its uses. Now the

key skills are listed as LSRWC.

Learning the cultural aspects of the target language will

 Help the learner to easily hold a conversation with a native

speaker regarding various practices, festivities, events, etc.
 Cultural awareness also helps one in integration with the society
thereby implying a deeper interest not just in the language but
also in the nation and its ways
 It helps avoid etiquette barriers, social taboos and other
uncomfortable situations
The easiest ways to develop cultural awareness

1. Placing the ESL learner in the native land

2. ESL learner’s use of foreign media

3. Isolation from the first language scenarios

4. Starting the process at a young age like 4/5

The five skills are interrelated and a learner can develop
them at different rates /

The only way to develop them all is to develop a

curriculum that uses one of the two methods listed below:
 Skills Integration: An ESL classroom that includes a variety of
different activities focussed on different skills

 Skills Separate: Focus on developing one skill at a time. For eg, a

student wishing up to take a writing course when he/she is fairly
accomplished in the other four areas
Typically the two productive skills-
Speaking and Writing need more focus than
the two receptive skills- Listening and
Reading
 The key here is to realise that practising the productive skills

essentially entails the usage of the receptive skills.

 Without working on the latter, you cannot expect to get good

results from the former

Look at the image below
INPUT OUTPUT

LISTENING SPEAKING

READING WRITING
How to improve: Reading Skills
1. Obvious place to start is by reading books like paper
books, comic books, e- books, e- news, blogs
2. Using a good Dictionary and a Pocket notebook
3. Using tools like Evernote
4. Reading dual language books
5. Combining L/R practice through Audiobooks
How to improve: Listening Skills
1. Short bursts of focussed listening- incorporating
comprehension
2. Giving the audio your full attention
3. Writing down words you don’t recognise
4. Listening to the same audio multiple times at a steady pace
5. Using tools like podcasts, news, audibles, lectures,
tutorials etc
Speaking- the Skill of Doom!
Speaking to oneself aloud

Speaking in front of the

mirror

Speaking without voice-

Thinking in SL

Speaking to an audience
Improving speech involves:
 Working on your clarity,

 Pronunciation (RP/ preferred accent)

 Speed of delivery

 Accuracy of choice of words

 Adhering to the grammatical rules

Types of spoken tasks

A one-one conversation like

talking to a friend- having a
casual talk about personal
interests, latest news, etc.
A one- many conversation
like an interview
atmosphere or a classroom
setup involving a short self-
introduction, Q&A or
sometimes even rhetorical
questions
An audience less conversation
in a radio/ podcast recording
environment: typically is a talk
on a favorite subject made by
the speaker
The only proven effective way to
improve Speaking skills is
 To SPEAK the target language from Day 1

 Learn from mistakes and keep trying

 Try to find a suitable partner to work with

Improving writing involves:
 Working on your sentence structures, vocabulary

 Effectiveness of written word through brevity and non-

ambiguity

 Creative use of language

 Understanding of the literary devices

 Adhering to the grammatical rules

 Establishing a unique style

Different types of Writing
FORMAL COMMUNICATION

• Writing letters, official emails, memos

in the workplace

• Filling up application forms in business

environments

• Writing to the authorities

INFORMAL COMMUNICATION

• Correspondences with family and

friends

• Through mail/ Instant Messaging/ Chat

• Posting personal content on social

media sites
ACADEMIC WRITING

• Taking notes, writing essays and

paragraphs

• Writing assignments, reports, tests

• Scholarly writing like research

publications or thesis writing
CREATIVE WRITING

• Producing new works in various genres

in print or in electronic sources

• Writing reviews of movies, music,

products and writing blurbs

• Journalistic writing and other forms of

writing for the media
 Assessment of the current level
The individual language learners have to follow:
1. Personal Assessment : Through online or offline tests like the
British Council test of ESL
2. Setting realistic goals: Finding out ways to improve English and
work on it
3. Spending time everyday to work on the core skills
4. Evaluating the progress periodically and adopting new learning
strategies