ENGLISH LINGUISTICS SKILLS

Receptive and Productive Skills

RECEPTIVE SKILLS

Receptive skills are the ways in which people extract meaning from the discourse they see or hear.

When we read a story or a newspaper, listen to the news, or take part in a conversation we employ our previous knowledge as we approach the process of comprehension and we deploy a range of cognitive skills.

LISTENING

Consiste en identificar y comprender la información expresada a través de textos orales en inglés, tales como expresiones, diálogos y monólogos.

Reading

Supone construir significados a partir de información escrita en idioma inglés, y expresada en textos de diverso tipo, tales como mensajes, cartas, textos informativos, publicidad, y textos de carácter literario breves y simples.

DIFFERENT ABILITIES TO DEVELOP THE RECEPTIVE ENGLISH LINGUISTICS SKILLS

The processes we go through when reading a novel or listening to a poem are likely to be different from those we use when we are looking for someone´s number in a telephone directory, or when we are listening to a spoken “alert” message on a computer. Our use of these different abilities will frequently depend on what we are reading or listening for.

Identifying the topic

Good readers and listeners are able to pick up the topic or a written or spoken text very quickly. With the help of their own schemata they quickly get an idea of what is being talked about.

Predicting and guessing

Both readers and listeners sometimes guess in order to try and understand what is being written or talked about, especially if they have first identified the topic. Sometimes they look forward trying to predict what is coming; sometimes they make assumptions or guess the content from their initial glance or half hearing – as they try and apply their schemata to what is in front of them.

Their subsequent reading and listening helps them to confirm their expectations of what they have predicted or to readjust what they thought was going to happen in the light of experience.

Reading and listening for general understanding

Good readers and listeners are able to take in a stream of discourse and understand the gist of it without worrying too much about the details.

Reading and listening for such general comprehension means not stopping for every word, not analysing everything that the writer or speaker includes in the text.

A term commonly used in reading is skimming (which means running your eyes over a text to get a quick idea of the gist of a text)

Reading and listening for specific information

In contrast to reading and listening for gist, people frequently go to written and spoken text because they want specific details.

We may listen to the news, only concentrating when the particular item that interests us comes up. In reading this ability is frequently referred to as scanning.

Reading and listening for detailed information

Sometimes people read and listen in order to understand everything in detail. This is usually the case with written instructions or directions.

Interpreting text

Readers and listeners are able to see beyond(mas alla) the literal meaning of words in a passage, using a variety of clues(pistas o claves) to understand what the writer or speaker is implying or suggesting.

ACTIVITY

Read the following text and answer the questions.

EVALUATED ACTIVITY

De acuerdo a los Programas de Estudio responda brevemente:

¿De qué manera progresan las habilidades receptivas?

¿Cuáles son las orientaciones específicas para el desarrollo de las habilidades receptivas?

¿Cuáles son las Unidades Temáticas (Didácticas) del Programa que eligió?

¿De qué manera progresan las habilidades receptivas?

Estas dos habilidades progresan en función de dos dimensiones: Características de los textos leídos o escuchados, y la capacidad de construir significado a partir de estos.

En el siguiente cuadro se señala la manera en que estas dimensiones se relacionan con las habilidades a lo largo de la enseñanza escolar.

¿Cuáles son las orientaciones específicas para el desarrollo de las habilidades receptivas?

Para el desarrollo de estas habilidades se sugiere siempre planificar las clases considerando tres tipos de actividades:

actividades de pre-lectura / audición: se anticipa el texto en base a imágenes, vocabulario relevante y se hacen conexiones con sus propias experiencias relacionadas con el tema. Por una parte, esto tiene por finalidad despertar la motivación por leer o escuchar los textos que deberán ser trabajados. Por otra parte, permite contextualizar los textos a escuchar y leer, y por medio de esto contar con los conocimientos necesarios para construir significado a partir de ellos. Por ultimo, estas actividades permiten introducir las palabras clave para comprender estos textos.

actividades de lectura / audición: se trabaja en la comprensión del texto en si. A través de estas se recomienda que los estudiantes confirmen o modifiquen las predicciones que hayan realizado en relación a los textos, y que desarrollen actividades destinadas a identificar el tipo de texto leído o escuchado, así como a identificar información especifica y relevante que aparezca en estos.

actividades de post-lectura / audición: se utilizan los textos como modelos para el trabajo de producción posterior, en cuanto a léxico y estructuras; también se reflexiona sobre lo aprendido en el texto.

Resulta necesario también considerar algunas orientaciones diferenciadas para la comprensión auditiva por un lado, y para la comprensión lectora por otro.

Comprensión auditiva. Es imprescindible que los alumnos sean expuestos al idioma oral procedente principalmente del profesor haciendo uso del leguaje inglés en forma oral apoyado por comunicación gestual y lúdica, mas el uso de grabaciones de distinta procedencia. Es aconsejable recurrir a diálogos, poemas y canciones. Esto será primero solamente escuchado, luego imitado y repetido sin exponer al alumno a su forma escrita sino solo cuando ya tenga internalizado el vocablo y su significado. En lo posible el vocabulario a ser enseñado se usará en expresiones y oraciones completas y no en forma aislada.

Comprensión lectora. Es importante dar a los alumnos la posibilidad de leer en voz alta para que se acostumbren a reconocer sus dificultades y percibir su progreso a medida que van adquiriendo mayor fluidez. El próximo paso es la lectura silenciosa sobre todo para concentrar su atención en la compresión general y especifica del texto lo que será controlado por medio de diversas estrategias.

LEARNING ACTIVITIES TO DEVELOP READING COMPREHENSION

Think for a while, what are the most frequent learning activities we use to develop in our students the reading comprehension skill?

Reading means “reading and understanding”. A foreign language learner who says “I can read the words but I do not know what they mean” is not, therefore reading in this sense. He or she is merely decoding – translating written symbols into corresponding sounds.

Text + comprehension questions activities.

A conventional type of reading activity or test consists of a text followed by comprehension questions

READ THE TEXT AND ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS

Yesterday I saw the palgish flester gollining bregrunt the bruck. He seemed very chanderbil, so I did not jorter him, just deapled to him quistly. Perhaps later he will besand cander, and I will be able to rangel to him.

1.- What was the flester doing, and where? 2.- What sort of a flester was he? 3.- Why did the writer decide not to jorter him? 4.- How did she deaple? 5.- What did she hope would happen later?

You probably have no difficulty in answering the questions, however, this obviously did not show that you have understood the passage. In other words, you do not in fact read the text successfully at all.

That kind of a text + comprehension questions does not provide successful reading

READ THE TEXT AND ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS

Yesterday I saw the new patient hurrying along the corridor. He seemed very upset, so I did not follow him, just called to him gently. Perhaps later he will feel better, and I will be able to talk to him

1.- What is the problem described here? 2.- Is this event taking place indoors or outside? 3.- Did the writer try to get near the patient? 4.- What do you think she said when she called to him? 5.- What might the job of the writer be? 6.- Why do you think she wants to talk to the patient?

The questions here are different because they require some kind of interpretation and application of the reader´s background knowledge. This questions demand real comprehension, and encourage and interactive engaging with the text. This kind of questions often have more than one possible answer.

Guessing questions + text

Another type of reading activities consists of try answering some questions before reading a text.

READ THE QUESTIONS AND GUESS WHAT THE ANSWERS ARE GOING TO BE. LATER, YOU WILL READ THE TEXT AND BE ABLE TO CHECK HOW MANY YOU GOT RIGHT

1.- Where was Jane walking? 2.- What did she hear behind her? 3.- What was her necklace made of? 4.- What did the thief steal? (two things) 5.- What did he do next?

You probably felt more motivated to read because of the challenge of finding out whether you had got your answers right or not. Probably at least some of your answers were in fact right. This kind of activity is a way to motivate learners to read a text.

As Jane was walking down the street, she heard someone walking quietly behind her. She began to feel afraid. Suddenly a large hand touched her neck, her gold necklace broke and disappeared. In another moment, her bag too was gone, and the thief was running away.

PRODUCTIVE SKILLSSPEAKING AND WRITING

In order for communication to be successful we have to structure our discourse in such a way that it will be understood by our listeners or readers.

Speaking

Consiste en la capacidad de usar el idioma inglés para comunicarse de manera inteligible al participar en intercambios orales y conversaciones, así como al realizar monólogos, haciendo uso de una adecuada pronunciación.

la capacidad de exponer ante otras personas; la expresión de ideas y conocimientos de manera organizada; el desarrollo de la argumentación al formular ideas y

opiniones; un uso del lenguaje con niveles crecientes de precisión,

incorporando los conceptos propios del sector; el planteamiento de preguntas para expresar dudas,

inquietudes, y para superar dificultades de comprensión; la disposición para escuchar información de manera oral,

manteniendo la atención durante el tiempo requerido; la interacción con otras personas para intercambiar ideas,

analizar información y elaborar conexiones en relación a un tema en particular, compartir puntos de vista y desarrollar acuerdos.

Writing

Capacidad de utilizar la escritura en inglés en situaciones comunicativas. Se aspira a que los estudiantes puedan hacer uso de esta capacidad en situaciones comunicativas simples, personalmente relevantes y con propósitos bien definidos.

la escritura de textos de diversa extensión y complejidad (por ejemplo, reportes, ensayos, descripciones, respuestas breves);

la organización y presentación de información a través de esquemas o tablas;

la presentación de las ideas de una manera coherente y clara;

el uso apropiado del vocabulario en los textos escritos;

el uso correcto de la gramática y de la ortografía.

Rules for speaking

Sociocultural rules: to know how to speak to each other in terms of how formal to be, what kind of language speakers can use, how loud to speak, how close to stand to each other.

Turn-Taking: The way in which participants in conversations get their chance to speak.

Rules for Writing

These go from the “Netiquette” of computer users (short for "network etiquette" or "Internet etiquette“. It is a set of social conventions that facilitate interaction over networks); to the accepted and successful patterns of a letter

Orientaciones Específicas para el desarrollo de las habilidades productivas.

Expresión oral. La expresión oral esta ligada al adiestramiento auditivo de manera que la reacción natural de los alumnos sea repetir y de manera gradual emitir y comprender el significado de vocabulario sin necesidad de traducción. Es un proceso imprescindible apuntando a que el lenguaje sea primero percibido luego usado con naturalidad con el propósito de que los alumnos adquieran confianza al usar el idioma extranjero. Gran parte de los primeros niveles estará dedicado a entrenar estas dos destrezas, creando el habito de usar expresiones correctas de comunicación diaria. En los niveles superiores se debe apoyar a los alumnos a que expresen o defiendan opiniones.

Expresión escrita. Inicialmente, se recomienda que los estudiantes escriban en base a los modelos presentados por el profesor. Una vez que se adquiere confianza en este proceso pueden ir creando sus propias oraciones con variedad de vocabulario, considerando las formalidades necesarias de acuerdo a quien esta destinado y el propósito del mensaje. Es solo después de lograr esta habilidad que los alumnos podrán crear trozos propios haciendo uso de conectores, manteniendo la estructura adecuada y corrigiendo sus errores.

Dealing with difficulty

When speakers or writers of a foreign language do not know a word or just cannot remember it, they may employ some or all of the following strategies to solve the difficulty they are encountering.

Improvising: Speakers or writers sometimes try any word or phrase that they can come up with in the hope that it is about right. Such improvisations sometimes work, but they can also obscure meaning.

Discarding: When speakers or writers simply cannot find words for what they want to say or write, they may discard the thought that they cannot put into speech.

Foreignising: Speakers or writers choose a word in a language they know and foreignise it in the hope that it will be equivalent to the meaning they wish to express in the foreign language.

Paraphrasing: Speakers or writers talking about something “for cleaning the teeth” if they do not know the word “toothbrush”

Activities to develop Speaking

Discussion Activities: Describing Pictures Picture Differences Things in Common Shopping List Solving a Problem

Things in commom

Students sit in pairs, preferably choosing as their partner someone they do not know very well. They talk to one another to find out as many things as they can that they have in common. These must be things that can only be discovered through talking. At the end they share their findings with the full class.

Interactions: Interactional talk: How to greet,

take leave, begin and end conversations, apologize, thank, and so on.

Short turns: Only one or two utterances.

Long turns: String of utterances. (telling stories, telling jokes, describing a person or place, giving a shor talk or lecture, arguing a case)

Role Play

Role Play

To play the role of someone other than themselves, and using language appropriate to this new content or situation.

Dialogues, plays, simulations, role play.

Dialogues: This is a traditional language-learning technique that has gone somewhat out of fashion in recent years. The learners are taught a brief dialogue which they learn by heart.

Then they perform it. Also they can suggest a continuation with

two or more additional utterances which carry the action further.

For beginners or the less confident, the dialogue is a good way to get learners to practise saying the second language without hesitation, and learning by heart increases the learner´s vocabulary of ready made combinations of words.

Plays: These are an expansion of the dialogue technique, where a class learns and performs a play. This can be based on something they have read, or composed by them or the teacher, or an actual play from the literature of the english language.

Rehearsals and other preparations are rather time consuming, but the results can contribute a great deal both to learning and to learner confidence.

Simulations: An imaginary situation in which students simulate being another person.

“You are the managing committee of a special school for blind children. You want to organize a summer camp for the children but your school budget is insufficient. Decide how you might raise the money”

Role Play: Participants are given a situation and they allotted individual roles. For example:

Role Card A: You are a customer in a cake shop. You want a birthday cake for a friend. He is very fond of chocolate.

Role Card B: You are a shop assistant in a cake shop. You have many kinds of cake, but not chocolate cake.

Role plays are the best way to give our learners the opportunity to practise improvising a range of real life spoken language in the classroom.

Activities to develop writing