Integrative Skills

Although the book introduces the teaching of the four English language skills in four
different chapters, it does not mean that the four skills are an isolated process. In
reality, each skill enhances students’ ability to use the others.

Developing listening skills enhances students’ ability to speak. Reading helps students
develop skills for communicating through writing. Through reading students can be
exposed to some key vocabulary and grammatical rules. Writing can enhance reading
fluency because students always associate written language with the oral language
they have learned.

Thus, the separation of the four English language skills in four chapters is only for
the sake of easiness for the book reader.

Teaching Listening
Listening plays a critical role both in communication and in language acquisition;
however, it is one of the least understood processes in language learning.

To teach and develop listening skills in students, a teacher should:

 Know more about listening as a process and describe it.

 Be aware of and discuss the factors affecting listening.
 Consider some guidelines when teaching listening.
 Apply some examples of activities for practising and developing listening in
students.

The book deals in detail with each of the previous four points.

Teaching Speaking
Despite the importance of the speaking skill which is considered the basic skill of
communication using English, most EFL teachers don’t exert enough effort to
promote it in their students.

This created what is called “Mute English learners” who may be able to read and
write English well, but they cannot communicate in English orally with ease and
comfort.

Reading and writing can be developed individually unlike speaking and listening which
should occur and set in a social setting.

Drawing on these considerations the book will tell you how to teach and develop
students’ speaking skills in EFL classes.
Teaching Reading
Reading is one of the main sources through which students can discover and interact
with the world around them so, developing reading skills is very important to all
students.

Students who fail at reading are unlikely to do well at school. That’s why teachers
and administrators place much emphasis on developing the reading skills of their
learners.

Most teachers usually ask:

 How to get students to read English?

 How to engage students in reading tasks and get them to read in English with
ease and in a fairly short time?
 What techniques should be followed and what guidelines should be taken into
consideration while teaching beginning reading and reading comprehension in
English?
 What useful reading activities should be done with students in the classroom?

All these questions and more are answered inside the book to help ESL/EFL teachers
get their students to read in English easily and effectively.

Teaching Writing
Writing is a skill that takes some time to develop, so students need guidance in the
early stages. Teaching early writing must start with teaching the basics of
handwriting (Teaching writing from the mechanical side).

Then, teaching writing should go ahead to teaching writing to create meaning and
compose ideas. At that time, students need frequent practice in writing for
communicating effective meaning.

The book deals with how to teach writing, from the beginning of teaching
handwriting until teaching students how to write freely using the process writing
approach, showing you step-by-step instructions and model lesson plans to teach
students paragraph, letter and email writing.

Additionally, it gives you some useful prewiring activities telling you how to do them
with your students in the classroom.

Conclusion Again, the content of this book focuses mainly on teaching English to
enable the learners to use it as a means of communication, so when teaching the
four language skills – listening, speaking, reading and writing, teachers should select
the materials, activities, and teaching techniques that suit students’ interests,
needs, and learning levels.

The four language skills should be taught in an integrative way because each
language skill enhances students’ ability to use the others.

Teach Grammar Lessons

Learning to speak English as a second language is challenging for non-native
speakers, especially when the lessons involve grammar. But syntax is a necessary
component of correct English, so it is important to make these lessons as interesting
and meaningful to students as possible. The following approach works well with
language learners from elementary grades up through college levels.
Introduce the Lesson

Every lesson should be clearly introduced to inform the students of what to expect.
The grammar principle should be placed in context between previous lessons and
future ones.
For example, you can explain that the current focus on adjectives provides ways of
modifying basic sentences that use the subject-verb structure. An example could be
as simple as "The dog crossed the street." Adjectives will help to explain the
situation further: "The small dog crossed the busy street."
When students understand the type of speech being used and where it typically
appears in a sentence, they will be prepared to deepen their grasp of the concept.
Use Pop Culture Examples

To supplement grammar handbook usage, look for popular culture examples that
students can readily relate to. Television, radio, or online ads for products that
interest students of various ages, like snack foods, fast food, cars, or movies often
use slang instead of correct grammar to promote their products.
You can show ads like these and ask students to identify the part of speech being
taught in class as they are more likely to take interest in familiar and attention-
grabbing ads than a potentially dry textbook exercise.
Deconstruct the Grammar Samples

Ask students to deconstruct or map the sample ads' verbiage on the whiteboard or
in prepared worksheets. Individually and collectively, guide their efforts to break
down sentences or statements in an outline format that is easy to visualize and
grasp.
A lesson on imperative or interrogative voice, for example, can be used to identify
whether ad viewers are being asked about the product: "Are you craving a fresh,
fruity snack?" They can also indicate whether the ad is using imperative voice to
request or demand, facetiously perhaps, that viewers buy the product: "Buy these
athletic shoes before they sell out!" Associated grammar concepts might include tone
and vocabulary, for example, "athletic shoes" instead of "sports gear" to help
students think about English language options and choices.
Sample ads or sentences can be literally taken apart in paper segments and placed in
piles according to usage, such as verbs, nouns, etc.
Reconstruct the Samples for Varied Meanings

As students begin to understand the building blocks of English, they can experiment
in creating their own new sentences from the stacks of sentence parts they
deconstructed from ads or TEFL grammar activities.
As they reconstruct new sentence types, provide explanations and samples of other
ways to say the same thing. For example, the original sentence of "Are you craving
a fresh, fruity snack?" could be reassembled as "You are craving a fresh, fruity
snack" in the simple sentence framework.
Students can also be given access to additional words to embellish the sentence in
slightly different ways. For example: "Could you be craving a fresh, fruity snack?"
This provides the opportunity to explain the use of modals without sounding so
technical. Discuss with students the difference in tone and meaning between the
reconstructed sentence types.
Reaffirm the Grammar Rule

After working through TEFL grammar lessons and handbook exercises, ask several
students to restate the grammar rule for the day in their own words. Then ask
them to write sample sentences of their own representing the rule usage for that
lesson. You can have them work in pairs or small groups to help each other as some
students may master the concept more quickly than others. Peer learning has been
shown to improve learning rates in students who individually tend to be weaker in
certain academic disciplines.
Practice Grammar Activities

Add the current lesson to past grammar lessons to expand students' learning
foundation. Use activities created for grammar for English language teachers to
combine the parts of speech exercises introduced thus far in the class to encourage
students to practice with the elements already learned. An activity that reinforces
this type of learning is to ask students to teach a grammar mini-lesson of about two
or three minutes to the class demonstrating their knowledge of the principle.
Teaching strengthens and externalizes through practice the material that has been
absorbed by students to ensure it is correctly understood and can be applied
effectively. True-and-false worksheets and homework exercises enable students to
continue practicing newly-learned grammar skills to develop English language
proficiency.