Teaching Language Skills Integrating the “Four Skills” By: Iwan Fauzi, M.A. 4/10/2013

Introduction For more than six decades teaching of English has identified the “four skills” to focus on. ESL curricula and textbooks around the world tend to focus on one or two of the four skills, sometimes to the exclusion of the others. By treating the four skills in separate segments of the curriculum, there is a recent trend toward skill integration. By: Iwan Fauzi, M.A. 4/10/2013

How to integrate ? There is a recent trend toward skill integration. Let say, by teaching reading we may take more of a “whole language approach” whereby reading is treated as one of two or more interrelated skills. A course that deals with reading skills will also deal with related listening, speaking, and writing skills. By: Iwan Fauzi, M.A. 4/10/2013

New paradigm of reading class Speaking Listening Reading Writing A pre-reading discussion of the topic to activate schemata to a series of informative statements about the topic of a passage being read A focus on a certain reading strategy, say, scanning. A paraphrase of a section of the reading passage. By: Iwan Fauzi, M.A. 4/10/2013

This paradigm of teaching brings students to the real life integration of language skills. By doing as such reading class, it provides the teacher with a great deal of flexibility in creating interesting, motiva-ting lessons. By: Iwan Fauzi, M.A. 4/10/2013

How to maintain the integrated skills There are five models in common use to maintain an integrated-skills focus in your teaching. Content-based instruction Theme-based instruction Experiental learning The episode hypothesis Task-based teaching By: Iwan Fauzi, M.A. 4/10/2013

1. Content-based instruction CBI is the integration of content learning with language teaching aims (Briton, Snow and Wesche, 1989). Language becomes the medium to convey informational content of interest and relevance to the learner, then learners are pointed toward matters concern. Language takes on its appropriate role as a vehicle for accomplishing a set of content goals. By: Iwan Fauzi, M.A. 4/10/2013

How to do with CBI CBI You teach, let say, Geography, or Math, or Culture by using English as your instruction By: Iwan Fauzi, M.A. 4/10/2013

Example of content-based curricula Immersion programs for elementary school children Sheltered English programs (mostly in elementary & secondary school levels Writing across curriculum within subject-matter areas like biology, history etc. ESP e.g., for engineering, agriculture, or medicine. CBI targets By: Iwan Fauzi, M.A. 4/10/2013

2. Theme-based instruction Theme-based instruction is a form of language teaching by structuring a course around themes or topics. Theme-based instruction can serve the multiple interests of students in a classroom. By: Iwan Fauzi, M.A. 4/10/2013

How to do with TBI TBI When you make a language teaching to the pre-university students (intermediate level), it might deal with topics of curent interest, such as: public health, environmental awareness, world economics, etc. By: Iwan Fauzi, M.A. 4/10/2013

This TBI for intermediate students; In the classroom, students read articles Then, view video programs Discuss issues and propose solutions Carry out writing assignments on a given theme By: Iwan Fauzi, M.A. 4/10/2013

For beginning students Use imperatives (Don’t bring any food to the classroom) Practice verb tenses (The ozone layer is vanishing) Develope new vocabulary Learn cardinal and ordinal number Work with simple conversation; A: Why do you smoke? B: Because I like it A: You shouldn’t smoke B: Well, it makes me less nervous A: But it’s not good for your health B: I don’t care A: Wel, you will die young By: Iwan Fauzi, M.A. 4/10/2013

3. Experiental learning This is an overlapping of CBI and TBI concept of language learning. EL allows students to find “concrete experiences” through which they discover language principles by trial and error, by processing feedback, by building hypothesis, and by revising the assumptions in order to become fluent. Teachers give students opportunities to use language as they handle with the problem solving complexities. By: Iwan Fauzi, M.A. 4/10/2013

How to deal with EL Learner-centered Hands-on projects (nature or environmental projects) Field trips and on-site visits Teacher-controlled Show-and-tell sessions Playing games Utilizing media (TV, movies, internet) By: Iwan Fauzi, M.A. 4/10/2013

The advantage of EL The learner is directly in touch with the realities being studied. It is contrasted with learning in which the learner only reads about, hears about, talks about, or write about these realities but never comes in contact with them as part of the learning process. By: Iwan Fauzi, M.A. 4/10/2013

4. The episode hypothesis The EH is a form of language teaching where learners are motivated to continue reading and to become more involved in the content than in the language, therefore increasing its episodic flavor. What episode hypothesis? By: Iwan Fauzi, M.A. 4/10/2013

Teaching with EH Look at this dialogue Jack: Hi, Tony. What do you usually do on weekends? Tony: Oh, I usually study, but sometimes I go to a movie. Jack: Uh huh. Well, I often go to movies, but I seldom study. Tony: Well, I don’t study as much as Greg. He always studies on the weekends. He never goes out. By: Iwan Fauzi, M.A. 4/10/2013

How the EH relates to the integrated skills teaching Episodes can be presented in either written or spoken form, thus requiring reading or/ and writing skills on the students’ part. Episodes can provide the stimulus for spoken or written questions that students respond to, in turn, by speaking or writing. Students can be encouraged to write their own episodes, or to complete an episode. By: Iwan Fauzi, M.A. 4/10/2013

5. Task-based teaching Students must accomplish beyond the classroom. Target tasks Students must accomplish beyond the classroom. Pedagogi-cal tasks Form of the nucleus of the classroom activity. By: Iwan Fauzi, M.A. 4/10/2013

How to do with TB teaching For example to teach students to give personal information in a job interview; Exercises in comprehension of wh- questions with do- insertion (When do you work at Macy’s?) Drills in the use of frequency adverbs (I usually work until 5 o’clock) Listening to extracts of job interview Analyzing the grammar of the interview Modeling an interview; teacher & one student or students in pairs. By: Iwan Fauzi, M.A. 4/10/2013

Input for tasks Input-1 Input-2 It may come from a variety of authentic sources: Input-1 - Speeches - Conversation - Narratives - Public announce-ments - Cartoon strips Input-2 - Interviews - Oral description - Media extracts - Games & puzzles - Photos By: Iwan Fauzi, M.A. 4/10/2013

Conclusion Teaching English may be done by doing integrated language skills. We may to do so through five models of teaching; Content-based instruction Theme-based instruction Experiental learning The episode hypothesis Task-based teaching By: Iwan Fauzi, M.A. 4/10/2013

Thank you By: Iwan Fauzi, M.A. 4/10/2013