Teaching the

MACRO-SKILLS
Listening, Speaking and Viewing

Aljon C. Operario, LPT

 WHERE ARE WE HEADING?
Intended learning outcomes and specific objectives

Familiarize and apply a wide array of approaches in teaching

5-macro skills as well as grammar and vocabulary

Understand the nature, principles, approaches and

strategies in teaching the 5 Macro-Skills

Plan a student activity integrating the language skills

 WHAT ARE THE
5 MACRO-SKILLS?
Listening
Speaking These are called as
Reading MACRO SKILLS because
Writing they are the primary, key
Viewing and main skill set that has
to be developed in all
learning contexts.
THE 5 MACRO-SKILLS IN THE LANGUAGE ARTS
CURRICULUM

Successful learning involves viewing,

listening, speaking, reading and writing
activities. (Principle 5, ELAC)
THE 5 MACRO-SKILLS IN THE LANGUAGE ARTS
CURRICULUM

Domains of Learning Macro-Skills Covered

Listening Comprehension Listening and writing
Oral Language Speaking, reading and writing
Phonological Awareness Speaking, reading and writing
Grammar Writing, speaking and reading
Vocabulary Development Writing, reading and speaking
RECEPTIVE VERSUS PRODUCTIVE SKILLS
 LISTENING
Listening is the most important skill in communication.
It is a mental operation involving processing sound waves, interpreting
their meaning, and storing them in memory.

It is a communication technique that requires the listeners to understand,

interpret, and evaluate what they hear.

It paves the way for other skills to tower over the others because of its
significance in terms of speech, discussion and freedom of expression.
They serve as an approach to make everybody comprehend which is being
said.
 DIFFERENT TYPES OF LISTENING
Listening for gist
You listen in order to understand the main idea of the text.

Listening for specific information

You want to find out specific details, for example key words.

Listening for detailed understanding

You want to understand all the information the text provides.
 SPEAKING
Speaking is the delivery of language through the mouth. To speak, we
create sounds using many parts of our body, including the lungs, vocal tract,
vocal chords, tongue, teeth and lips.
 This vocalized form of language usually requires at least one listener.
When two or more people speak or talk to each other, the conversation is
called a "dialogue".
 Speech can flow naturally from one person to another in the form of
dialogue. It can also be planned and rehearsed, as in the delivery of a
speech or presentation.
 TWO TYPES OF SPEAKING

Informal speaking -typically used with family and

friends, or people you know well.

Formal speaking- occurs in business or academic

situations, or when meeting people for the first time.
What is meant by "teaching speaking" is to teach learners to:

 Produce the English speech sounds and sound patterns

 Use word and sentence stress, intonation patterns and the rhythm of the
second language.
Select appropriate words and sentences according to the proper social
setting, audience, situation and subject matter.
Organize their thoughts in a meaningful and logical sequence.
 Use language as a means of expressing values and judgments. Use the
language quickly and confidently with few unnatural pauses, which is
called as fluency.
 VIEWING
an active process of attending and comprehending
visual media, such as television, advertising
images, films, diagrams, symbols, photographs,
videos, drama, drawings, sculpture and paintings.
What do active viewers do? 
According to the Canadian Common Curriculum Framework, active and effective viewers would ask themselves a
series of questions such as:

 What is the text representing?

 How is the text constructed?
 What assumptions, interests, beliefs, biases and values are portrayed by the text?
 What is the purpose of the text?
 To whom is the text directed? Who does the text exclude?
 What is my reaction to the text? What causes this reaction?
 What personal connections and associations can I make with this text?
 STAGES
1.Pre-viewing
IN VIEWING
Students prepare to view by activating their schema (the prior knowledge they bring to the study of a topic or
theme), anticipating a message, predicting, speculating, asking questions, and setting a purpose for viewing. 

2.During viewing
Students view the visual text to understand the message by seeking and checking understanding, by making
connections, making and confirming predictions and inferences, interpreting and summarizing, pausing and
reviewing, and analyzing and evaluating. Students should monitor their understanding by connecting to their
schema, questioning and reflecting. 

3.After viewing / responding

Students should be given opportunities to respond personally, critically and creatively to visual texts.
Students respond by reflecting, analyzing, evaluating and creating. 
APROACHES, STRATEGIES
AND TECHNIQUES IN
TEACHING THE 5-MACRO
SKILLS
DIFFERENCES BETWEEN
APROACHES,
STRATEGIES AND
TECHNIQUES
 LISTENING
Listening strategies are techniques or activities that contribute directly to the comprehension and recall of
listening input. Listening strategies can be classified by how the listener processes the input.

Top-down strategies
-are listener based; the listener taps into background knowledge of the topic, the situation or context, the
type of text, and the language. This background knowledge activates a set of expectations that help the
listener to interpret what is heard and anticipate what will come next. Top-down strategies include
listening for the main idea predicting drawing inferences summarizing

Bottom-up strategies
-are text based; the listener relies on the language in the message, that is, the combination of sounds,
words, and grammar that creates meaning. Bottom-up strategies include
listening for specific details recognizing cognates recognizing word-order patterns
 LISTENING
Some activities you can introduce in class for active listening with integration with
other skills

DUAL DICTATION
Ask students to get into pairs to write a dialogue. When student A is speaking, student B should write down
what they are saying and vice versa. When they have finished the conversation, they should check what
each other has written and put the two sides of the conversation together. You could then ask students to
perform their dialogues again to the rest of the class, or to swap with other pairs.

THEME OR ROLE-PLAY
 A conversation between friends about holidays SPRING BOARDS
 songs
 An argument between siblings
 children literature stories
 An interview with a famous person
 short selections
 A scene from a film Class memory quiz
 Skits, speeches and recordings
 LISTENING
ACTIVE LISTENING STEPS
LISTENING
Who’s Telling the Truth? 
SPEAKING
Have each student write three facts about themselves that INTERACTIVE SPEAKING ACTIVITIES
nobody in the class knows on a piece of paper. Make sure
Descriptive drawing activity
each student includes their name on the top of the
Pair up the students and give each student a picture, placing it
page. Collect the sheets of paper and bring three students
face down so partners cannot see each other’s cards. They must
to the front of the room. Read aloud one of the facts that
describe the picture for their partner to draw.
is true for one of these three students. All three claim that
the fact is theirs, and the class then proceeds to question Comic strip descriptions
them in an attempt to determine who is telling the truth Give each student a portion of a comic strip. Without showing
and who is lying. Each student is allowed to ask one their pictures to one another, the students should attempt to
question to one of the three students. After a round of describe their image, and put the comic strip into the correct
questioning, the students guess who is telling the truth. order. After about 10 minutes, the students can guess the order,
show one another their portion, and see if they were correct.
I Have Never...
All students in the class should start this activity holding five Secret word
fingers in the air (you can use less fingers to do this more Students are given a random topic and a random word that is
quickly). The student who goes first tells the class one thing that unrelated to the topic. The students must hide the word in a
they have never done. The students who have done that activity speech about the topic—they’re trying to make sure the other
should put a finger down, and tell the class a story about this students can’t guess the secret word. The other students listen
activity. A student is out of the game when all of their fingers are
carefully to the speech and attempt to guess the secret word.
down.
SPEAKING
SPEAKING
 VIEWING
THE VISUAL THINKING STRATEGIES (VTS)
The Visual Thinking Strategies  finds meaning in imagery and develops visual literacy skills
through learning in the arts, fostering thinking and communication skills through listening
carefully and expressing oneself. The approach works in the following way:

Students silently examine carefully selected art images The teacher …

The teacher asks these three open-ended questions  Listens carefully to each comment
 What’s going on in this picture?  Paraphrases student responses demonstrating
 What do you see that makes you say that? language use
 What more can we find?  Points to features described in the artwork
Students then … throughout the discussion
 Look carefully at the image  Facilitates student discussions
 Talk about what they observe  Encourages scaffolding of observations and
 Back up their ideas with evidence interpretations
 Listen and consider the views of others  Validates individual views
 Discuss many possible interpretations  Links related ideas and points of
 Construct meaning together agreement/disagreement
 Reinforces a range of ideas
 VIEWING
FILM AND VIDEO: THE 3CS AND 3SS
The 3Cs (Colour, Camera, Character) and the 3Ss Camera
 What shots have been used? Can you name
(Story, Setting, Sound) framework can be used to help
students discuss and analyse all the elements of a film text. them?
 Through whose eyes do we see the story?
 When do we see different characters’ point
Story, Setting, Sound, Colour, Character and Camera are
simple headings with discussion questions teachers can use of view?
 When does the camera move and when does
as an easy way for exploring any film. Here are some of the
discussion questions: it stay still?

Character
Colour
 What do the main characters look like?
 What colours do you see?
 How do they speak and what do they say?
 What do the colours make you feel?
 How do they behave?
 Why do you think certain colours are used?
 Which character interests you the most?
 What mood do you think the colours create?
Why?
Story
 What happens in the beginning, middle and at the end of the PAINTINGS AND
story? PHOTOGRAPHS: SEE, THINK,
 What are the most important things (events) that happen in
WONDER
the story?
 How do we know where the story takes place? The See, Think, Wonder routine helps students
 How long does the story take place in ‘real’ time? make careful observations and develop their own
Setting ideas and interpretations based on what they see
 Where does the action take place? when viewing a painting or photograph by asking
 When and how does the setting change? these three questions.
 How could you tell where the story was taking place?  What do you see?
 How could you tell when the story was taking place?  What do you think about what you see?
Sound  What does it make you wonder?
 How many different sounds do you hear? What are they?
 How does the music make you feel?
 Are there any moments of silence?
 Can you hear any sound effects?
 REFERENCES
https://www.fluentu.com/blog/english/english-writing-exercises/
https://www.edutopia.org/discussion/12-fun-speaking-games-language-learners
Developing the Macro-Skills in A Competency-based Curriculum
https://www.slideshare.net/josephestroga/viewing-skill
http://www.onestopenglish.com/community/teacher-talk/advancing-learning/adv
ancing-learning-the-fifth-skill-viewing/5575