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Integration of skills in real life and teaching process. Advantages of integrating skills

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Lecture 13 -14

VISUALS

Visuals in presenting and practicing language. Visuals in skill development

All visuals can be divided into two big groups non-technical and technical

(tapes/recordings, CDs, video clips, fragments of TV programmes, computer programmes etc). Non-technical embrace pictures, photos, flash cards, maps, diagrams, real objects, toys, posters and the board.

Pictures may be of three kinds: object pictures, situation pictures, and topical pictures/collages. They are used when introducing new vocabulary, when practicing new language (and not only vocabulary, e.g. pictures as cues in grammar substitution activity), when producing spoken or written utterances in performing communicative tasks (e.g. find the differences between two pictures or between the picture and the recorded text; describe the picture, make up a dialogue in the situation presented in the picture, use a topical collage as a visual support for producing a monologue etc). A picture may be thought-provoking and serve as a springboard for some discussion or problem solving activity etc.

Flash cards include: 1) word cards (with nothing but a word, with a word and its definition, and/or a picture of the denoted object, a contextual sentence, native language equivalent (seldom, only if necessary) etc; 2) number cards (for introducing numerals); 3) letter cards (used for teaching the alphabet); 4) sentence cards (used for teaching reading skills: word stress, intonation pattern etc).

The board and/or posters have a lot of uses: for writing down rules and examples, time lines etc. during the presentation of the new material, for putting pictures and cards or for writing down words and sentences during grammar or vocabulary practice, for putting pictures with realia, writing down some personal names or new words during the pre-listening or pre-reading stage, writing down lists of ideas or drawing word-maps in brainstorming or recapitulation activities etc. The board/posters can be used for running dictations, all sorts of team games etc. There are some principal rules of using the board: make sure that it is clean after the lesson, never write on the dirty board with some information from the previous lesson (unless you go on with the same activity, of course); make sure that all earners can see well what you put on the blackboard; use the space rationally, you may get learners accustomed to putting down new words in one corner, rules in some other, some letter combinations for teaching reading or spelling still in another etc. You may take some time before the lesson for getting ready with some writing on the board and close it (if possible) until the necessary moment at the lesson. It’s advisable that the teacher should not talk with his back to the learners for several minutes. Make sure that everything you put on the board is correct!

Technical visuals are used at all stages of the lesson as a source of information (including linguosociocultural information, e.g. gestures, body language, behavior patterns etc), a model text for producing learners’ utterances, a motivating tool, a means of developing cognitive mechanisms and abilities and a means of influencing learners affectively, involving their emotions and developing moral qualities and esthetic tastes.

INTEGRATED SKILLS

Integration of skills in real life and teaching process. Advantages of integrating skills

Tasks for skill integration

Integration of skills in real life and teaching process. Advantages of integrating skills

Integrating skills in the language programme is not a new idea, and most teachers today are aware of the benefits of using the four skills as a means of presenting, practicing and extending one and the same set of language forms and functions. Obviously there are limitations in adopting a totally integrated approach because there are important differences between the written and spoken forms of the language, and indiscriminate use of skill integration may lead, for example, to learners writing in a manner more appropriate to spoken communication. Yet it is rear for anyone I real life to use one skill in isolation for any length of time (with the exception of reading or listening for pleasure).

If you are talking to someone about a new project, for instance, you will be both observing their reactions and listening for their responses; as you will listen for them, you’ll be composing what to say next or, if necessary, you will be taking notes and later read them while preparing your project proposal. Skills should not be practiced only singly, in a vacuum. Integrated skills are necessary to achieve task goals.

In integrated skill instruction:

· learners are exposed to authentic language and are involved in meaningful activities;

· the language becomes not just an object of academic interest but a real means of interaction among people;

· the learning of authentic content through language is highly motivating to learners of all ages and backgrounds;

· teachers are given the opportunity to track learners’ progress in many skills at the same time.

Integrating reading and writing in teaching has such advantages as:

· The reading text provides an example (a model) of the type of the text learners themselves should produce.

· Individual language forms and functions are presented in context in a continuous piece of discourse. Though they may be later practiced separately, their meaning is fully revealed in the context.

· The reading text can provide the basis for reading comprehension activities that focus on the way the text is structured and organized. An understanding of such organization is a prerequisite for constructing a piece of coherent writing.

· The use of information transfer activities (filling in tables, making diagrams, mind maps etc) allows the learner to take one step further from the original text and then reconstitute the information from the visual form into a verbal form again but using their own words.

Integrating skills allows a teacher to introduce change of activity (not necessarily the subject) at frequent intervals. By changing the pace in this way, the learners’ enjoyment, attention and motivation are being continually renewed. The change is refreshing to them and to the teacher.

A quieter activity, such as reading or writing, gives the learners time to reflect, to reinforce what they have learnt orally, or the opportunity to recognize and re-use a point already taught. It gives a sense of completeness to an activity, which is satisfying, particularly to adult learners.

When learners get used to balance of skills within one lesson, they are often more relaxed. For each learner, knowing their strengths and weaknesses, realizes that they will be able to participate in some way during the lesson. They will have time to reflect upon the points which cause difficulty and also seek the teacher’s advice. The latter will have also been freed to help by allotting part of the lesson to learner controlled activities.

If you are aware of your learners’ language needs, you can select or adapt tasks that help them to practice relevant skills. For developing English for academic purposes, tasks involving reading, note-taking and summarizing are helpful. Or to improve listening and reading you can have a task of hearing a news item and comparing it with the written news summary. Or you can have text-based tasks with written outcomes and discussions in various points in the task cycle.

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