TOPIC 3: DEVELO TOPIC DEVELOPM PMENT ENT OF THE FOUR FOUR BASIC BASIC LINGUI LINGUISTI STIC C SKILLS SKILLS:: LISTE LISTENIN NING, G, SPEAKING, READING AND WRITING. COMMUNICATIVE COMPETENCE IN ENGLISH
This essay deals with the acquisition of the four language skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing in English, that is, the development of the necessary skills to be acquire the communicative competence in this language. This topic is clearly related to our curriculum, set in Decree 8!"#$%. &t says that 'at the end of (rimary Education,students must have acquired the communication skills defined by the )$ level of the *ommo *ommon n Europe European an +ramew +ramework ork of efere eference nce for -angua -anguages ges in oral oral compre comprehen hensio sion n listen listening ing// , oral oral e0pression speaking/ , reading comprehension reading/ and written e0pression writing/1 . These four skills are developed in a natural order, both in our mother language and when we are learning a foreign language: listening, speaking, reading and writing. 3.1. LISTENING
-istening is the oral receptive skill. &t is a 'receptive1 skill, not a 'passive1 skill, because it involves mental activity: as we listen, we transform the sounds we hear into meaning. This is called 'decoding1 the message. -istening involves a number of subskills, such as: a/ b/ c/ d/ e/ f/
(honemic (honemic awareness: awareness: identify identifying ing the differen differentt sounds sounds of the language language.. )wareness )wareness of the stress, rhythm and intonation patterns of the language. 2now 2nowle ledg dgee of vocab vocabul ulary ary.. )wareness wareness of of the grammar grammar pattern patternss of the langu language. age. (redicting (redicting and guessing guessing recalli recalling ng previo previous us knowled knowledge/. ge/. &nferri &nferring ng opini opinion! on!att attitu itude de of the the speak speaker er..
3tuden 3tudents ts can improv improvee their their listen listening ing skills skills throug through h a combin combinati ation on of e0tensi e0tensive ve and intensi intensive ve listen listening ing materials and procedures. Exten!"e #!ten!n$ is listening for general understanding. Inten!"e #!ten!n$ means listening for detailed information. 4hen planning a listening session, we have to take into account that young learners need to be motivated to listen. listen. This This is way we must must plan plan some some %&e'#!ten!n$ ()t!"!t!e, for e0ample, predicting the topic of the listening. &n addition, children will be more involved if you give them a purpose for listening. (lan some *+!#e'#!ten!n$ ()t!"!t!e listen and do activities/ activities/, such as listen and order some pictures, listen and tick, listen listen and circle5 circle5 ) listenin listening g lesson lesson will be more more comple complete te with with some some %t'#!ten!n$ ()t!"!t!e , like summari6ing the main ideas, creating a minibook of the te0t they have listened, etc. 3.-. SPEAKING
3peaking is the oral productive skill. 3uccessful oral production involves many thing, such as: •
2nowledge of grammar and vocabulary.
•
)bility to produce the foreign f oreign sounds correctly.
•
)wareness )wareness and ability to produce the stress, rhythm and intonation patterns of the language.
•
3ome listening skills.
The speaking skill has two aspects to develop: #/en)0 (n ())/&()0. ())/&()0. +luency can be defined as the ability to e0press oneself intelligibly, reasonably, accurately and without too much hesitation. )ccuracy means producing correct sentences, using correct grammar and vocabulary. vocabulary. )lthough our goal must be to develop both, we have to bear in mind that overcorrection may lead to students7 lack of confidence. istakes must be seen as an inseparable part of the language learning process. $
9ral activities may follow the (resentation(ractice(roduction approach. 4hen planning a speaking lesson, we must bear in mind that speaking activities should fulfill certain requirements: • • • •
)ctivities must provide opportunities for language practice. They must be interesting and motivating for children. )s regard to the sub;ect matter, it must be within the students< e0perience= it must be close to their lives. The teacher must create a welcoming and stressfree atmosphere where pupils feel confident to speak.
The best way to develop our pupils7 speaking skills is by using the English language to communicate in the classroom. &t is essential to give them positive reinforcement when they make the effort to speak English. 3.3. READING eading is the written receptive skill. There are five reading skills that are essential for young readers: a/ (honemic awareness: identifying phonemes in spoken words b/ (honics: connecting letters with sounds c/ 2nowledge of vocabulary d/ 3kimming: understanding the general idea of a te0t e/ 3canning: searching for specific information in a te0t egarding reading activities, they are commonly divided into > types: prereading, whilereading and post reading activities. (rereading activities have as a main aim to arouse our pupils7 interest in what they are going to read. They may include: guessing the topic, predicting the order of events5 4hilereading activities may be completing a chart, filling gaps, ordering pictures5 (ostreading activities can be thought as a follow up work, for instance role play, making a mini book, etc.
eading begins at word and sentence level, but progressively we must present our students with longer te0ts based on language they are familiar with orally. 3tudents can read a variety of te0ts: stories, poems, the lyrics of songs, graded books, etc. 3.2. WRITING 4riting is the written productive skill. 4riting involves a set of subskills such as: $. ?)(@&* 32&--3, which include aspects such as punctuation or spelling. ". 3TA-&3T&* 32&--3, which refer to our pupils7 ability to e0press precise meaning in a variety of styles and registers. >. 9?)B&C)T&9B)- 32&--3, which involve the sequencing of ideas. %. ?))T&*)- 32&--3, which refer to our pupils7 ability to use successfully a variety of sentence patterns and construction. . @ET9&*)- 32&--3, which include pupils7 ability to use cohesion devices in order to link part of a te0t into logically related sequences. The type of writing activities depends on pupils7 age. +irst, students write words and short sentences. Then, they will be able to write short paragraphs with the support of a model te0t. 3tudents7 compositions will ebcome longer and richer gradually. &t is important to know that children who read more write better, with fewer spelling mistakes. That is why we must foster reading in English. 3.. COMMUNICATIVE COMPETENCE IN ENGLISH This concept was coined by @ymes, who reacted to *homsky7s ideas, according to which everyone is born with an innate language acquisition device. This consists of a niversal ?rammar which is 'activated1 when being e0posed to language input. This allows us to learn any language as our first language. *homsky called this 'linguistic competence1. @ymes thought that native speakers not only master their language but also know how to use it in different situations. @is communicative competence has got % aspects: )ppropriacy: sing the suitable language for each situation. 3ystematic potential: (otential to create new language. +easibility: (hysical possibility to send and receive messages.
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9ccurrence: 2nowledge of how often something is said in their language. -ater, in $8#s *anale and 3wain proposed a model of *ommunicative *ompetence that is the one currently followed by *-T and the *E+-. )ccording to them, communicative competence has got % subcompetences: $. ?rammatical competence, similar to *homsky7s linguistic competence. ". Discourse competence, related to coherence and cohesion. >. 3trategic competence: ability to navigate around communication difficulties. %. 3ociocultural competence: knowledge of the social and cultural aspects of language.
CONCLUSION To conclude this essay, & would like to stress the fact that using English as the language of communication in the English class is the best way to develop our students7 communicative competence, which is the first basic competence set in our curriculum. sing English as the language for communication in the class helps students to be confident in their understanding and progressive production of the spoken language. 9ur curriculum gives priority to oral comprehension and e0pression activities. 4riting is introduced gradually since the first year of (rimary Education towards a certain degree of reading and writing autonomy at the end of the (rimary Education stage. )ccording to D.8!"#$% 'at the end of (rimary Education,students must have acquired the communication skills defined by the )$ level of the *ommon European +ramework of eference for -anguages in oral comprehension listening/ , oral e0pression speaking/ , reading comprehension reading/ and written e0pression writing / . BIBLIOGRAPH4 FE43TE, G. )BD E--&3, ?. The Primary English Teacher’s Guide. (enguin English, "## D. 8!"#$% of "% th Guly for the *ommunity of adrid @)E, G. The Practice of ELT. -ongman, "##H. 2)3@EB, 3. Principles and Practice in Second Language Acquisition &nternet Edition/.niversity of 3outhern *alifornia, Guly "##
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