The four skills of language learning

• The four basic skills of a language are a set of four

capabilities that allow an individual to comprehend
and produce spoken language for proper and effective
interpersonal communication.
• These skills are Listening, Speaking, Reading, and
Writing.
• In the context of first-language acquisition, the four
skills are most often acquired in the order of listening
first, then speaking, then possibly reading and writing.
For this reason, these capabilities are often called
LSRW skills.
• The skills work in pairs. When you’re reading
or listening, you’re consuming a language.
• However, when you’re writing or speaking,
you’re producing a language.
Listening and reading (input) Speaking and writing (output)
• Listening and reading are • The productive skills are
the receptive skills because speaking and writing
learners do not need to because learners are
produce language; they applying these skills in a
receive and understand it. need to produce language.
These skills are sometimes They are also known as
known as passive skills. active skills.
• Listening is a receptive language skill which
learners usually find the most difficult.
• This often is because they feel under unnecessary
pressure to understand every word.
• The listener has to get oriented to the listening
portion and be all ears. The listener is also
required to be attentive.
• Anticipation is a skill to be nurtured in Listening.
In everyday life, the situation, the speaker, and
visual clues all help us to decode oral messages.
• In due course of listening, be in a lookout for the
signpost words. (Signposting means using phrases and
words to guide the reader through the content of your
essay/dissertation).
There are two main types of signposting: Major Signposts:
introductions, conclusions and outlining main
arguments/ the direction of the argument in paragraphs.
Linking words: however, because, moreover, whereas,
in addition….
• One should be able to concentrate on understanding the
message thoroughly.
• Listening Skills could be enhanced by focusing on
making the students listen to the sounds of that
particular language. This would help them with the
right pronunciation of words.
• To equip students with training in listening, one can
think about comprehending speeches of people of
different backgrounds and regions.
• This intensive listening will ultimately help a student
to understand more on the accents to be used and
the exact pronunciation of words.
 Speaking
• Speaking is a productive skill, or an active skill, as
it requires us to use our vocal tract and our brains
to correctly produce language through sound.
• Language is a tool for communication. We
communicate with others to express our ideas and
to know others’ ideas as well. We must take into
account that the level of language input (listening)
must be higher than the level of language
production (output).
• In primary schools elocution and recitation are
main sources to master the sounds, rhythms, and
intonation of the English language through
simple reproduction.
• The manifestations of the language in games and
pair work activities are encouraging source to
learn to speak the language.
• This assists the learners to begin to manipulate
the language by presenting them with a certain
amount of choice, albeit within a fairly controlled
situation.
• This skill could be improved by understanding
para-linguistic attributes such as voice quality,
volume and tone, voice modulation,
articulation, pronunciation etc.
• This could also be further enhanced with the
help of debates and discussions.
 Tips for teaching speaking
• The focus should be on the meaning not on
the form
• No use of mother tongue
• Use authentic topics and materials in your
lessons
• Do NOT force them to speak
• Use late correction not to put off fluency
• Provide maximum opportunity for students to
speak the target language by providing a rich
environment that contains collaborative work,
authentic materials and tasks, and shared
knowledge.
• Try to involve each student in every speaking
activity; for this aim, they practice in different
ways.
• Reduce teacher speaking time in class while
increasing student speaking time. Step back and
observe students. Indicate positive signs when
commenting on a student's response.
• Ask eliciting questions such as "What do you
mean? How did you reach that conclusion?" in
order to prompt students to speak more.
• Provide written feedback like "Your
presentation was really great. It was a good
job. I really appreciated your efforts in preparing
the materials and efficient use of your voice…"
• Involve speaking activities not only in class but
also out of class;
• Provide beforehand the vocabulary that
students need in speaking activities.
 Reading
• Reading is a receptive or passive skill, as it requires us
to use our eyes and our brains to comprehend the
written equivalent of spoken language.
• It is one of the two artificial language skills, as not all
natural spoken languages have a writing system.
• It helps you improve all parts of the English language –
vocabulary, spelling, grammar, and writing.
• It helps to develop language intuition in the corrected
form. Then the brain imitates them, producing similar
sentences to express the desired meaning.
• Using skimming or scanning technique to read
quickly is highly effective.
• While reading underlining of key words is a must.
• Reading Skills help the students grasp the
content and draw conclusions.
• The students should also make it a point to
familiarize themselves with the jargons and new
words by making reading a habit be it reading
newspapers, articles, books, magazines etc
 Writing
• Writing is a productive or active skill, as it
requires us to use our hands and our brains to
produce the written symbols that represent our
spoken language.
• Writing provides learners with physical evidence
of their achievements and they can measure
their improvement.
• It helps to consolidate their grasp of vocabulary
and structure, and complements the other
language skills.
• It helps to understand the text and write
compositions.
• It can foster the learner’s ability to summarize
and to use the language freely.
• To write flawless language one should master
the writing skills with the help of various
methods.
• Importance should be given to composition
and creative writing.
• One should also focus on coherence and
cohesiveness when it comes to writing a
language.
• With these four skills addressed equally while
learning English, the learners can be assured
of having good communication skills, a great
necessity in today’s competitive world
Basic Phases of the Writing Process

• pre-writing,
• drafting,
• revising (editing and proofreading),
• presenting
• Pre-writing:
During the pre-writing phase, students need
direction –a topic or something to discuss in
writing. The potential of possible topics is
revealed through pre-drafting experiences
such as the following:
• Brainstorming process
• A Five-Step Process for Effective Brainstorming
• Be clear about the topic/problem.. ...
• Collect your tools: the goal is to get the ideas out of
your brain and onto the page
• Focus on ideas. ...
• Narrow down your list of ideas
• Present your findings and results.
• Using reporters’ questions (i.e., who? What?
When? Where? Why? How?)
• Finding similarities and differences by comparing
and contrasting concepts,
pictures, and objects
• Reading and examining written models to gather
information about the topic
• Using visualization and guided imagery
• Listening to CDs, tapes, and records …etc
• Writers must not only think about what they
are going to say, but also about how they are
going to say it. During the pre-drafting stage
students need to establish, at least
tentatively,
their purpose, audience, and form.
• Purposes: To reflect, clarify, and explore ideas
/To explain, inform, instruct, or report / To retell
and narrate /To state an opinion, evaluate, or
convince
Audiences: Specific person (e.g., friend, older
person, younger person, parent)/ Specific group
(e.g., class, club, special interest group)/ General
audience (e.g., school, community, peers,
students).
• Writing Forms: Students need experiences with a
range of forms. Examples: Personal experience
narratives/ Autobiographies/ Fictional narratives
(e.g., short stories and novels)/ Diary entries/
Essays/ Reviews/ Advertisements/
Correspondence (e.g., friendly letters; invitations;
letters of thanks, complaint, application, …)/
Speeches/ Instructions and advice
• Drafting
Writers produce a first draft. Students should focus
their attention on the development of meaning
and the flow of thought in their writing. During
drafting, teachers should encourage students to:
Be themselves; write from their own point of view
or assume a new persona from which to write;
Write as though they were "telling" the reader
about the topic.
• Revising: Editing and Proofreading
Drafts reflect the struggle to get words down on paper and,
as such, they are usually rough
and incomplete. Revising brings a work to completion. It is a
complex process of deciding
what should be changed, deleted, added, or retained.
Revising is the general post-writing
procedure which involves editing (revising for ideas and
form) and proofreading (revising
for sentence structure, spelling, punctuation, and
capitalization).