Teacher Training Session on Language Skills

1. Methodological GuidelinesMethodological Guidelines
on Building Language Skillson Building Language Skills
Presented by:
Grama Stella
English Teacher
Didactic Degree I
“Prometeu-Prim” Lyceum
Correspondence to:
stellagrama9@gmail.com
Chisinau-2017

2. In which way does the pictureIn which way does the picture
relate to the topic?relate to the topic?
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3. Language LearningLanguage Learning
 does not mean only language acquisition.
 it is rather a set of skills, something we learn
to do.
 Students need competence in all four
language skills.
 They need meaningful and interactive
practice, in order to learn to USE the
language.
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4.  In conversations, we listenlisten and
speakspeak.
 When filling in a form, we readread and
writewrite.
 When taking notes, we listenlisten and
write.write.
 Often the use of one skill leads on
naturally to another.
 We see a film, and we talk about it
later.
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Language Skills

5. Language Skills
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Productive skillsReceptive skills
Listening Reading Speaking Writing
 In real life, language skills never
occur in isolation.

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Rethinking the four skills.mp4

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8. 1. Listening Skills1. Listening Skills
 Interactive
- calls, discussions,
face-to-face
conversation.
 Non-interactive
- watching TV,
news, movies,
listening to songs.
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9. 1a. Listening Activities1a. Listening Activities
 Pre-listening
- introduce the topic;
- find out what Ss already know about it;
- set clear listening instructions, tell them
what they need to listen for;
 While-listening
- marking items in pictures;
- gap filling, completing the sentences;
- reordering pictures;
- listening for general or specific information;
- making a list of words related to the topic;
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10. 1a. Listening Activities1a. Listening Activities
 Post-listening
- finish with an activity to extend the topic;
- make students use new vocabulary items
(group discussion, writing tasks);
- chart completion;
- summarizing;
- role-playing;
- simulations.
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11. 1b. Tips for Teaching Listening Skills1b. Tips for Teaching Listening Skills
beginners should be given more listening
opportunities;
follow the British pronunciation especially;
insist on proper word pronunciation;
repeat or play the text at least twice;
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12. 1b. Tips for Teaching Listening Skills1b. Tips for Teaching Listening Skills
you can play the video with the sound off and
ask students to make predictions;
give students a listening task to do between
classes;
provide input that is relevant, authentic and
appropriate for the class level in topic, speed
and vocabulary.
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13. 2. Speaking Skills2. Speaking Skills
 Interactive
- discussions;
- dialogues;
- role-plays.
 Partially interactive
- lectures;
- describing pictures;
 Non-interactive
- speeches;
- presentations.
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14. 2b. Speaking Activities2b. Speaking Activities
 Presentation Stage
- presenting the meaning and form of the
new language (pictures or flashcards,
songs, brainstorming, snowball);
 Practice
- practicing speaking through group work or
pair work activities (paraphrasing
sentences, vocabulary matching, reciprocal
interviewing, the revolving circle, TPS, etc.);
 Production
- role-plays; commenting on quotes,
- guided discussions, presentations, etc.)
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15. 2c. Ideas for Teaching2c. Ideas for Teaching
Speaking SkillsSpeaking Skills
at earlier stages teach vocabulary for basic
concepts (conversational routines, polite
formulas, classroom language);
the more input learners receive, the more
output they can produce;
the topic chosen for discussion should be
practical and related to real life;
insist on students’ giving full answers;
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16. 2c. Ideas for Teaching2c. Ideas for Teaching
Speaking SkillsSpeaking Skills
address both interactive fluency and accuracy
(pronunciation, grammar range and proper
sentence structure);
mistakes should be welcome (provide
appropriate feedback, but do not interrupt
communication);
encourage students to be critical;
teach students to accept diversity of opinions.
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17. 3a. Reading Skills3a. Reading Skills
 Pre-reading
- making predictions;
- skimming and scanning;
 While-reading
- inferring meaning from
context (the process of
reading itself);
 Post-reading
- arranging jumbled sentences or paragraphs;
- matching pictures to speech bubbles;
- suggesting a title;
- comprehension questions;
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18. 3b. Ideas for Teaching3b. Ideas for Teaching
Reading SkillsReading Skills
teach close reading skills (numbering and
ordering, asking questions, defining new
words);
encourage students to read with a pencil in
hand (underline unknown vocabulary, ideas);
vary text length (acquiring academic
vocabulary and building confidence);
assess both content and skill (comprehension
questions, Wh-questions, character sketches,
elements of text analysis).
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19. 4a. Writing Skills4a. Writing Skills
Informal
- e-mail, messages;
 Formal
- business, complain, cover, motivation
letters;
- applications;
- CV-s;
- research reporting;
- paragraph writing;
- essay writing.
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20. 4b. Tips for Teaching Writing4b. Tips for Teaching Writing
imitating a model (a text to serve as a guide);
selecting a paragraph and transforming certain
language (changing all the verbs and time
references to past tense);
summarizing a text, video or listening clip;
following the structure of a paragraph/essay
(main statement, topic sentences, arguments,
life examples, quotations, references).
 Minimize the threatening appearance of
correction.
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21. 5a. How to Integrate Skills5a. How to Integrate Skills
in a Lesson?in a Lesson?
 Production and reception cannot be separated;
 Sending and receiving messages means
INTERACTING;
 One skill reinforces the other (hear->speak,
read->write);
 Keep a strong relationship between writing
and speaking;
 Use instructional materials to promote
communicative language use (show students
what they can do with language);
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24. One single topic can be fully explored, and
vocabulary can be practised more efficiently.
Integrated lessons are more satisfying for
learners. They can relate to real-life situations.
The classes are flexible, creative, interesting and
motivating.
The integrated skill approach exposes learners to
authentic language and challenges them to
interact naturally in the language.
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Why is it useful to integrate skills?Why is it useful to integrate skills?

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Mosaic 1- Using the four skills.mp4

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