MAGISTER
OPOSICIONES AL PROFESORADO
TEMA 3
DESARROLLO DE LAS DESTREZAS LINGÜÍSTICAS:
COMPRENSIÓN Y EXPRESIÓN ORAL, COMPRENSIÓN Y EXPRESIÓN ESCRITA. LA COMPETENCIA
COMUNICATIVA EN INGLÉS.
0. INTRODUCTION.
1. THE SPOKEN WORD.
1.1. Listening: the
development of pupils' ability to understand and respond to spoken language.
1.1.1.
General principles in teaching /
learning listening comprehension.
1.1.2.
Intensive and extensive
listening.
1.1.3.
Strategies for developing
listening skills.
1.1.4.
Developing listening activities.
1.1.5.
Assessing listening proficiency.
1.2. Speaking: the
development of pupils' ability to communicate in speech.
1.2.1.
Goals and Techniques for
teaching speaking.
1.2.2.
Strategies for developing
speaking skills.
1.2.3.
Developing speaking activities
2. THE WRITTEN WORD.
2.1.
Reading: the development of
pupils' ability to read, understand and respond to written language.
2.1.1.
Reading purpose and reading
comprehension.
2.1.2.
Reading as a process.
2.1.3.
Goals and Techniques for
teaching reading.
2.1.4.
Integrating reading strategies.
2.1.5.
Strategies for Developing
Reading skills: Using Reading Strategies.
2.1.6.
Developing Reading Activities.
2.1.7.
Assessing Reading Proficiency.
Writing: the
development of pupils' ability to communicate in writing.
2.2.1.
Writing activities.
2.2.2. Writing skills.
3. INTEGRATING THE SKILLS.
3.1. Reason for
integrating the skills.
3.2. Integration
advantages.
4. COMMUNICATIVE COMPETENCE.
5. BIBLIOGRAPHY.
0. INTRODUCTION.
In order to use a language effectively we need to have a number of
different abilities. We can identify four major skills and the aims of language teaching courses are
very commonly defined in terms of these four skills[1]:
- listening - speaking
- reading - writing
These major skills may be classified in two main ways: in relation to
the medium and in relation to the activity of the speaker. Speaking and
listening are said to relate to language expressed through the aural medium and
reading and writing are said to relate to language expressed through the visual
medium. If we make use of an activity-based classification speaking and writing
are said to be active or productive skills while listening and reading are said
to be passive, or receptive skills[2].
These conventional notions can be expressed in a diagram as follows:
|
SKILL |
MEDIUM> |
AURAL/SPEECH |
VISUAL/WRITTEN |
|
RECEPTIVE |
listening (and understanding) |
reading (and
understanding) |
|
|
PRODUCTIVE |
speaking |
writing |
|
Very often we use these skills in combination and it is very important
to integrate these skills in our lessons. We will study how to integrate skills
in part 3.
This summary of linguistic skills is very general and we have to
consider how these macroskills can be subdivided into microskills or sub-skills
for purposes of syllabus design. We can study for example different reading
sub-skills such as:
- understanding the relationship between sentences and
clauses
- recognising the effects of style
- recognising the organisation of a text
- making inferences
- extensive reading
- skimming for gist...
All these skills may not be necessary to our pupils and we will have to
consider when and how to introduce them. Next we are going to study how to
enable our young pupils to learn these skills for effective communication: the
type of communication usually associated with communicative competence. A study
of communicative competence in our educational system follows (part 4).
1. THE SPOKEN WORD.
1.1. Listening: the development of pupils'
ability to understand and respond to spoken language.
Listening is the language modality that is used most frequently. It has
been estimated that adults spend almost half their communication time
listening, and students may receive as much as 90% of their in-school
information through listening to instructors and to one another. Often,
however, language learners do not recognize the level of effort that goes into
developing listening ability.
Far from passively receiving and recording aural input, listeners
actively involve themselves in the interpretation of what they hear, bringing
their own background knowledge and linguistic knowledge to bear on the
information contained in the aural text. Not all listening is the same; casual
greetings, for example, require a different sort of listening capability than
do academic lectures. Language learning requires intentional listening that
employs strategies for identifying sounds and making meaning from them.
1.1.1. General principles in
teaching/learning listening comprehension.
Most listening comprehension analysts have come to a
set of common conclusions about what constitutes good practice when
teaching/learning listening comprehension:
a. Listening comprehension lessons must have definite goals, carefully
stated. These goals should fit into the overall curriculum.
b. Listening comprehension lessons should be constructed with careful
step by step planning. This implies that the listening tasks progress from
simple, hearing-based activities, to more complex, understanding-based ones as
our pupils gain in language competence. This step by step planning must give
our pupils directions about what to listen for, where, when and how to listen.
c. Listening comprehension lesson structure should demand active pupil
participation. Immediate feedback on our pupils' performance will help keep
their interest and motivation at high levels.
d. Listening comprehension lessons should stress conscious memory
work. One of the goals of listening comprehension teaching/learning techniques
is to strengthen our pupils' immediate recall in order to increase their memory
spans.
e. Listening comprehension lessons should teach, not test. Checking our pupils' answers should be an effective way of providing feedback and not a stress-making experience.
All these principles must be borne in mind when designing a listening
course. This course, which in our case will be integrated with the remaining
skills work, must begin with an ear-training stage (if we cannot hear we will
not understand). Later on we must help our pupils develop their aural
understanding abilities.
1.1.2.
Intensive and Extensive Listening.
If we want our pupils to be efficient listeners in English we must give
them enough practice in both intensive and extensive listening:
In extensive listening the
language level is within the students' capacity and they listen for pleasure and
interest. The passages can be long or short. One of the advantages of extensive
listening passages is that they need not be under the direct control of the
teacher, but function as back-up material for the pupil to listen to in his own
time at his own speed. At the most sophisticated level, this can be done in the
language laboratory, which should have a library facility providing tapes for
extensive listening. The language laboratory is particularly useful in
providing listening rather than speaking practice. It is an experience it is
important to give students to keep their motivation high. Extensive listening
can be used for two different purposes.
1.
A first use is the
representation of already known material in a new environment. Extensive
listening of this type helps our pupils considerably as they see language in
action in a genuine environment rather than in the classroom context in which
it was probably presented the first time.
2.
Extensive listening can also
serve the further function of letting our pupils hear vocabulary items and
structures which are as yet unfamiliar to them, interspersed in the flow of
language which is within his capacity to handle (roughly-tuned input).
Comprehension is not normally seriously impeded since the familiarity of the
great body of the language is enough to provide a sufficiently explanatory
setting for the unknown material. Story-telling
is especially appealing to younger age groups, to our pupils, and they often
include a considerable proportion of unknown lexis and some untaught
structures.
BIBLIOGRAPHY.
-
Alburquerque, R. En el Aula de
Inglés. Longman. London, 1990.
-
Brewster, J.; Ellis G. &
Girard, D.: The Primary English Teacher's
Guide. Penguin. London, 1992.
-
Byrne, D.: Teaching Oral English. Longman. London, 1989.
-
Crystal, D. The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language. CUP. Cambridge, 1987.
-
Hadley, A. O.: Teaching Language in Context. Heinle and
Heinle. United Kingdom, 2001
-
Harmer, J.: The Practice of English Language Teaching. Longman. London, 1983.
-
Matthews, A.; Spratt, M. &
Dangerfield, L.: At the Chalkface.
Nelson. Edinburgh, 1991.
-
Modern Foreign Languages in the National Curriculum. Her Majesty's Stationery Office. London, 1991.
-
Nunan, D. Language Teaching Methodology. Prentice Hall. Hertfordshire. 1991.
-
Platt, J., and Platt, H. Dictionary of Language Teaching and Applied
Linguistics. Longman. London, 1992.
-
Savignon, S.: Communicative Competence: Theory and
Classroom Practice. New York: McGraw Hill., 1997.
-
Stovall, G.: Modules for the professional preparation of
teaching assistants in foreign languages, Washington, DC: Center for Applied
Linguistics, 1998.
-
Underwood, M.: Teaching Listening. Longman. London,
1989.
-
Widdowson, H.G.: Teaching Language as Communication. OUP. Oxford. 1978.
ESQUEMA TEMA 3
0. INTRODUCTION.
* Four linguistic
skills.
* Classification:
medium and activity.
* Macro- and
microskills: when and how to introduce them.
1. THE SPOKEN WORD.
1.1. Listening:
the development of pupils' ability to understand and respond to spoken
language.
* Receptive skill.
* Language learning requires intentional listening.
1.1.1.
General principles in teaching /
learning listening comprehension.
*
Definite goals, step by step planning, active pupil participation, stress conscious
memory work, teach not test.
1.1.2.
Intensive and extensive
listening.
* Intensive listening:
known material in a new environment.
* Extensive listening:
management of specific information.
1.1.3.
Strategies for developing
listening skills.
* Top down and Bottom
up strategies.
1.1.4.
Developing listening activities.
* Pre-listening,
while-listening and post-listening stages.
1.1.5.
Assessing listening proficiency.
* Authentic assessment
activities.
1.2
Speaking:
the development of pupils' ability to communicate in speech.
* Areas of knowledge: mechanics,
functions, social and cultural rules and norms.
CONTINÚA………………………….
CUESTIONES BÁSICAS
TEMA
3
1.
HOW DO YOU PREPARE A LISTENING
TEXT FOR THE CLASSROOM?
2.
EXAMPLES OF WRITING SUBSKILLS.
3.
MENTION SOME WHILE LISTENING
ACTIVITIES.
4.
COMMUNICATIVE ORAL ACTIVITIES.
5.
ADVANTAGES OF INTEGRATING
SKILLS.
RESPUESTAS
1. HOW DO YOU PREPARE A LISTENING TEXT FOR THE
CLASSROOM?
In order to prepare a listening text to use it in our classroom we can
follow the following steps (Underwood: 1989):
1. Choose the listening text.
2. Check that activities are suitable.
3. Adjust the level of difficulty of the activities if you need
to.
4. Consider whether the listening work you are planning will
fill the time available.
5. Think about visual aids.
6. Decide whether any special equipment will be needed.
7. Make up your mind what procedure you will adopt for the
listening session:
- recorded text? - number of stops?
- replays? - notes?
- type of grouping?
8. Practise reading the text if you are to read it aloud.
2. EXAMPLES OF WRITING SUBSKILLS (10).
All the following are examples of writing skills, subskills or
microskills:
- writing academic papers - note-taking
- writing travel
brochures - summarising
- making a series of linked sentences about a
picture/map/diagram...
- completing a document - list
making
- writing an account following a chronological order
- creating a passage - survey writing
3. MENTION SOME WHILE-LISTENING ACTIVITIES.
All the following are examples of while-listening activities:
identifying the
number and gender of the participants
- pointing
and asking - marking/checking items in pictures
- matching
pictures with what is heard - storyline picture sets
- putting
pictures in order - picture drawing
- carrying out actions - making models/arranging items in
patterns
- following
a route - completing grids
- form/chart
completion - labelling
- using
lists - true/false