FOUR SKILLS

WHAT ARE THE FOUR SKILLS?

• Reading (comprehension skill)

• Listening (comprehension skill)
• Speaking (production skill)
• Writing (production skill)
 HOW ARE THE FOUR SKILLS USED IN
THE LANGUAGE CLASSROOM?

• Through daily activities, teachers provide learners with

opportunities to develop each skill: students listen (to the
teacher use the target language, to a song, to one another in a
pair activity), speak (pronunciation practice, greetings,
dialogue creation or recitation, songs, substitution drills, oral
speed reading, role play), read (instructions, written grammar
drills, cards for playing games, flashcards) and write (fill-in-
the-blank sheets, sentences that describe a feeling, sight or
experience, a dialogue script, a journal entry).
 READING S KILLS
WR ITTE N COMPREHE NSION (READING) I N THE S L
CL ASS ROOM

•This key skill is vital in language

development. Sometimes there is a
feeling that reading is not as useful
as speaking, but these skills are
equally important.
• Reading is a key component of learning a second
language and it is without a doubt important as a
language does not consist solely of the spoken word.
• There are many benefits to developing reading skills;
one is the culture that one gains by reading in the
target language. Through reading, students gain access
to literature written in the target language.
• Another benefit is that it contributes significantly to
the development of that target language.
• Third benefit is that it develops different competencies in the
language:
Linguistic competence: Students gain knowledge about specific
elements of language such as vocabulary and grammar
Discourse competence: Students are exposed to the structure of
texts and how they are put together
Sociolinguistic competence: Students learn about different texts
and structures in the target language and just how those are used
in a particular culture
Strategic competence: Students gain insight into different
linguistic learning strategies.
 STRATEGIES TO ASSIST READING
DEVELOPMENT

Previewing: Students review titles, headings, and photo captions to gain an

idea of the subject matter.
Predicting: Students make predictions based on subject matter obtained from
previewing and from the form used.
Skimming and scanning: Students read pieces of the text in order to confirm or
refute predictions made and determine the main idea of the text and its
structure.
Guessing from context: Students use prior knowledge of the subject and
previous activities to guess at the meaning of certain words and sections
Paraphrasing: At the end of sections students stop to rephrase what they’ve just
read in order to check for comprehension.
 LISTENING SKILLS
ORAL COMPREHENSION

• Listening comprehension is a key initial step in

communication. The better a student can understand
what is being said, the better will be their ability to
communicate. In addition, they will be better able to
notice the characteristics of the target language which
will help improve their language development in all
four key skill areas.
 SOME TIPS TO HELP DEVELOP
LISTENING SKILLS

• Promote active listening: Giving the students something to listen for

ensures that they are involved in the task. Exercise sheets are another
tool that promote active listening
• Identify listening strategies: Give the students tools to guide their
listening; such as, looking for specific information, identifying
predictable words or phrases, or discussing what they expect in certain
forms of speech; such as, newscasts or advertisements.
• Use authentic materials; for example, a lecture or a radio
announcement in the target language, to help students become
accustomed to different accents and to a realistic pace of speech
 SOME LISTENING ACTIVITIES

Semi-Guided Tasks (teacher may prompt with questions)

listen to a paragraph as it is read aloud and summarize it in your own

words;
listen to a favorite song and summarize its contents;
listen to a dialogue, cartoon, or skit and edit where necessary;
listen to a joke or riddle which reveals something about the culture
being studied;
listen to a children's story or rhyme, a fable or proverb.
 SOME LISTENING ACTIVITIES

Selective Listening
Selective listening skills can be developed by giving students things
to listen for. The objective would be to increase the students’
awareness of what they hear and understand without metalinguistic
input. A relevant exercise would be to have the students to listen to
any number of the following oral activities, and respond to a series of
prepared questions. The students might need to do some of these
listening activities before class.
 SOME LISTENING ACTIVITIES

• engage in conversation with someone

• listen to ad on TV or radio
• listen to folktales
• listen to directions
• understand radio news
• teach and encourage prediction
• use advertisement materials
 SPEAKING SKILLS
ORAL PRODUCTION

•Speaking is found on the tree as one of the

branches; it is labeled oral production and is
one of the skills students are to learn in their
language development. The ability to converse
is highly valued by students, but teachers often
find it a skill that is hard to develop.
•As speaking is interrelated with the other
skills, its development results in the
development of the others. One of the
primary benefits of increased communicative
competency is the resulting job, education
and travel opportunities; it is always an asset
to be able to communicate with other
people.
•When assisting students in the development
of their oral skills, there are some tips and
techniques that teachers can use to minimize
students’ anxiety and to make the
development as efficient and practical as
possible. This way, students will learn more
and have increased motivation to continue
this skill development.
•Create authentic practice activities that as similar to real-life as
possible
•Don’t focus solely on errors; correct as much as each student can
handle, more advanced students can often handle more
correction, but avoid excessive correction if it will promote anxiety
•Develop routines involving certain scripts (ie greetings,
compliments, asking certain questions) so students become
comfortable and familiar with those scripts
•Use gestures to help get meaning across and encourage students
to do the same; emphasize that what is important is the meaning.
•Make it fun!
 WRITING SKILLS
WRITTEN PRODUCTION

•writing is labeled written production and is one

of the branches; when learning a second
language, it is a skill that students must develop.
When expressing oneself in a language, this is
only done in an oral fashion; written
communication is extremely important in
language learning.
•Writing is an integral and necessary skill
when learning a second language as
communication is not only done orally.
Writing is necessary if a person is looking to
study or work in a particular country. Writing
also results in increased practice using the
language.
Writing occurs in three phases. Teachers should be aware of these
phases, and inform the students of them. Activities can be structured
around these phases to show students just how different the process of
each phase is.

Prewriting: generation of ideas, discussion of purpose/format etc.,

use of organizational skills, emphasis placed not on structure rather
content ideas
Composing: creation of outline, writing, selection of specifics (tense,
style, etc.), restructuring
Revision: revision of style/grammar/structure, check for
consistency/errors/clarity/support of arguments