Teaching Language Skills (Book) - Edited
Teaching Language Skills (Book) - Edited
Teaching Language Skills (Book) - Edited
background knowledge, e.g., “Applying for a job”. Or, asking the students
of technical school to talk about “How a robot works” may be regarded as
being more appropriate with their backgrounds rather than having them
discuss “Procedures of cooking rice”.
The third step to select the materials for teachers to follow is that there
must be right activities of speaking. This refers to the way the materials are
presented in the classroom. The activities of speaking are necessarily made
in such a way that they are able to extend the students’ engagement with the
topic. They must be arranged in the right stages beginning from the stage
what Hadfield and Harmer have in common: Setting up or Engage, Practice
speaking or Activate and Feedback or Study as will be discussed in more detail in
the different part of this book. Teachers are required to first design Setting up
or Engage stage commonly called warming-up or pre-speaking activities. It is
an attempt to keep the students stimulated to study the topic of discussions;
it must be made interesting.
After the students are ready to study the topic, they must be provided
with various activities which allow them to practice what they are learning.
In other words, they must be given a lot of opportunities to practice the
topic of discussions. And the last, the teachers have to be able to identify the
problems the students have when they practice the topic and they may cope
with their problems in the feedback or study stage.
The last aspect of choosing materials is that the material must be
logically sequenced. This warns that teachers have to take deeply into
account the sequence of the topic or the material students have to study. With
reference to one of the features of communicative approaches, the sequencing
of materials can be developed on the basis of any consideration of content,
function, or meaning which maintain interest. In other words, teachers are
free to determine the sequence of materials whether it is based on content,
function, or meaning, provided that the students are engaged to learn the
topic of speaking. For example, studying “introducing yourself” based on
function may come first while talking about “daily activities” comes later.
The right materials should meet the four features for this may keep
teaching learning activities run well. Providing the students with the
materials which are irrelevant to the criteria may lead to great difficulty in
56 Teaching Language Skills
running the class for they may not be fully involved in teaching-learning
activities. They might, as a result, become less motivated to keep studying
or speaking.
otherwise, the teaching learning activities may not run well as planned
before. The more appropriately the technique the teacher uses the better the
materials will be studied. It is, however, not such an easy way for teachers to
choose the right technique in teaching speaking that they often desperately
deal with the class when the techniques they employ in the classroom lesson
do not work well. A certain technique may work well with a certain level or
a group of students but it may not work well with other or different levels.
In such circumstances, teachers, as suggested by Harmer, are required to
be flexible enough to cope with the situation. This indicates that teachers
have to be creative to find the right solution so that the students are most
likely to keep studying. They may try to find other activities or strategies, for
example, asking students to work with a different group or pairs.
Indeed, the concept of the current approach to the teaching-learning
process the so- called contextual teaching learning (CTL) claims that learning
will be meaningful when teachers are able to relate the materials to be studied
to the context of a real life and learners are actively involved to experience or
act out what they are learning or studying. This is in line with the paradigm
of the mastery learning that students or learners have to balance mastery of
the topics or the materials they are studying not only cognitively but also
psychomotorically. This seems to improve the current teaching practice
which primarily focuses on cognitive aspects, disregarding both affective
and psychomotoric factors. In other words, students are primarily exposed
to study the language, instead of using it as a means of communication. As a
result, they know the language but they are not able to speak even in a very
simple way of communication.
A speaking lesson as Hadfield (1999) notices is a kind of bridge for
learners between the classroom and the world outside. Therefore, there are
three features of speaking activities to bridge the classroom and the real
world (1) practice opportunities for (2) purposeful communication in (3)
meaningful situations. The students in speaking activities need to be given
a lot of oral opportunities to practice the language suited to the real life
communication.
There are three stages to develop speaking skills that may meet the
three features above. Hadfield proposes: Setting up, Practice speaking and
Feedback, and Harmer introduces EAS standing for Engage, Activate and
58 Teaching Language Skills
teaching speaking. This is also a good stage in the lesson to focus on persistent
pronunciation problems. In other words, pronunciation practice in speaking
activities is needed, so that the students are able not only to speak English
fluently but also to pronounce it correctly. Therefore, their pronunciation is
easy to understand.
The topic for discussions can be selected on the basis of the students’
problems while in the process of speaking practice. While it is impossible to
address every single problem that teachers will encounter, an attempt can
be made to cover points that many students will find troublesome. These
troubles include stress pattern, intonation in different types of questions and
statements, and some work on individual sounds, focusing on those that give
troubles most often such as the basic sounds (long and short vowels or the
consonants) particularly, those which are not common in Bahasa Indonesia.
While the students are working together in pairs or groups, the teacher
as Hadfield (1999) suggests, has the opportunity to give them individual
attention. There are several roles the teacher might adopt:
1. Explainer-if some learners have not understood what to do or have
problems with the language, you will need to help them. If a large
number of learners have the same problem, it is probably better to stop
the activity, explain to everyone, and then start again;
2. Controller-if the activities get too noisy, the teacher will have to quieten
things down. For example, raising your hands and learners to raise
theirs. The teacher will also make sure that all learners are speaking
English. This means that the teacher will be quick on his feet.
3. Evaluator-these activities give the teacher a valuable opportunity to
listen to the learners and evaluate their progress, both as individuals and
as a whole class. The teacher can get a lot of feedback from listening to
them to help you decide whether they have understood, and the teacher
can move on, or whether they need more teaching. The teacher (you)
can also give them feedback on their problems. It is best not to interrupt
the activity as this can impede fluency and undermine their confidence.
Carry a piece of paper with you, note down errors and problems, and
deals with them in the feedback stage.
Teaching Speaking 61
1. Ordering
Topic: Number
Procedures: Setting up/Engage (pre teaching activities):
a. Ask for five volunteers to come to in front of the class. Give each student
a card with a number from one to five.
b. Write the following example on the board:
A : What’s your number?
B : It’s… … ….
c. Tell the volunteers to find out each other’s numbers using the dialogue
on the board. They should then arrange themselves in order of the
numbers on theirs card.
Speaking Practice:
d. Collect the cards from the volunteers, add them to your other cards, and
mix them up.
e. Give each student in the class a card and ask them all to stand up. Tell
everyone to arrange themselves in a line from the smallest number to the
largest. Show them where the person with the smallest number should
start the line. Remind them that they must use the dialogue and show
their cards to anyone else.
Feedback/Study:
f. Review any sequences of numbers the learners had problems with.
Practice TH in three. Teach the students to make this sound by putting
their tongue between their teeth and breathing out.
Teaching Speaking 63
2. Remembering
Topic of study: Locating objects
Procedures: Setting up/ Engage (pre teaching activities):
a. Close your eyes, then ask the class to tell you where something is, for
example:
Teacher : Where is my bag?
Students : It is under the table?
b. With your eyes still closed, get learners to ask you where one or two
things in the classroom are, for example:
Learner : Where are the flowers?
Teacher : They are on the cupboard.
3. Miming
Setting up/Engage stage:
a. Write on the board:
For example, are you …?
b. Mime a feeling to the class, for example “tired” by yawning or happy by
smiling. Get the learners to ask you how you feel, for example “Are you
tired?” reply: “Yes, I am” or “No I am not” as appropriate.
c. Choose a confident student and give him or her one of the pieces of
paper with a ‘feeling’ word written on it. Tell the students to mime the
adjective and get the rest of the class guess what the feeling is.
Feedback:
h. Review any pronunciation problems the students had and make yes no
questions.
Setting up:
a. Give all the learners sheets of paper.
b. Ask them to close their eyes and imagine a photograph of their whole
family. Give a little time to do this, then ask them to draw their photo on
their sheet of paper.
Feedback:
e. Ask the students to describe their photos to the rest of the class.
Practice for example the [(-)] sounds. Like in This is my …
Setting Up:
a. Divide the students in pairs. Ask one student in each pair to turn round
so he/she is facing the back of the room. The other should stay facing the
front. Put one poster up at each end of the room.
Speaking practice:
b. Tell students facing the front of the room to describe to their partner
(who is facing the other way), the poster they can see. Their partner
should draw it on his or her paper. No peeping. If necessary, put up a
poster of model sentences in speech bubbles as support, for example:
He/she has got a …
He/she has got …
His/her … is/are …
c. Tell the students facing the back of the room to describe their poster in
same way. This time the students facing the front of the room should
draw.
66 Teaching Language Skills
d. Tell the students facing the back to turn around. Take down the poster at
the back of the room and put it up beside the other one. Get the students
to make sentences comparing their drawings, for example, “He has got
big feet; he has got small feet”
Feedback:
e. Draw a comic figure on the board with different pictures to the ones on
the two posters. Ask learners to describe it, if necessary using speech
bubbles. Practice the stress pattern taken from the sentence used by the
students.
6. Discussion
Topic: Talking about part of the body and adjectives.
Setting up:
a. Ask a learner who has some things in common with you to come to the
front of the class. Pre teach ‘both’ by standing beside him or her, gesturing,
and talking about the things you have in common, for example:
We are both tall
We have both got dark hair.
b. Write the following speech bubbles on the board:
We are both …
We have both got …
c. Ask for the two volunteers to come to the front of the class and say
what they have in common. Tell them to use the language in the speech
bubbles.
Speaking practice:
d. Get the learners to work in pairs. Tell them to make notes about the
things they have in common. Give a limit of five minute.
e. Ask pairs to stand up and tell the rest of the class the things they have in
common, using the language in the speech bubbles.
Feedback:
f. Ask a few students to make new sentences using, ‘we are both’ and ‘we
have both got …’ about themselves and other students in the class.
Teaching Speaking 67
7. Role Play
Media: simple plan of your town centre, on a poster or on the board.
Setting Up/engage:
a. Put up the poster, or draw a simple plan of your town center on the
board.
b. Write a list of the most important place in the centre on the board, for
example: Church/mosque, Market, Cinema, Bank, Park, Restaurant,
Bus station, etc,
Speaking practice/activate:
c. Ask the students to imagine they are standing outside, for example, the
post office. Pretend you are lost and ask them how to get to the place on
the list, for example:
Teacher: excuse me. I ‘m a stranger here. Can you help me? How do I get
to the market?
The students: Go down main street ... turn left. The market is on your right,
opposite the café.
d. Repeat the procedure with the next place on the list.
e. Divide the students in to pairs and tell them to take turns in directing
each to the other places on the list.
Feedback/study
f. Ask a few students to tell the rest of the class about showing the
directions.
8. Completing a Questionnaire
Topic: Food and drink
Setting up:
a. Write a questionnaire grid like this on the board. Use kinds of foods and
drinks that the students are familiar with.
Do you like …?
b. Check that the students know the difference between ‘very much,’
‘quite,’ ‘not very much,’ and ‘not at all.’
c. Ask for a volunteer to come to the front of the class. Ask him or her
the question: ‘Do you like bananas?’ he or she should reply ‘I like it
very much’ or ‘not at all’, depending on the students’ answer. Tick the
appropriate answer. Continue with the other items of food or drink
Speaking practice:
d. Rub out the first student’s replies and ask for two more volunteers to
come to the front. Get one of them to ask the other the questions, and to
tick the appropriate choice.
e. Rub out the replies again. Give the students sheets of paper and ask
them to copy the questionnaire.
f. Divide the students into group. Tell them to put their partner’s name at
the top of their copy of the questionnaire. They should ask their partners
the questions and tick the appropriate food or drink.
Feedback:
g. Ask individual students to report back to the whole class on their
partners’ likes and dislikes. The teacher may write down the sentence
frames up on the board to help them, for example: ….likes……very
much
He/she quite likes ….
He/she doesn’t like ... very much.
He/she doesn’t like ….. at all.
The teacher may also practice schwa sound as this vowel sound is very
common in unstressed syllables in English, like in ‘banana’, ‘chocolate’,
etc.
Teaching Speaking 69
9. Fishbowl Technique
The Fishbowl Technique can be used for many things. It can be used
to model good discussions or other classroom instructional methods. It can
also be used to help students think critically about a topic.
Procedures:
Technique 1
1. The teacher identifies a small group of students (4-5 students). The
teacher provides the students with a topic to discuss. This topic can
come from the readings for the class, from class lecture, from students’
experiences, etc.
2. If there is time, the students in this group can research an issue, topic, or
problem.
3. The students in this group sit in the center of the room. These students
are in the “fishbowl”. The remaining students sit in a circle around them.
4. The students in the center discuss their topic.
5. While the students in the center are discussing, the audience (the other
students) pay attention to the conversation. They can write down things
like: what works well in a good discussion, what does not work well for
a good discussion, interesting ideas that come up, questions, etc.
6. At some point, the teacher stops the students in the “fishbowl”. Then, the
teacher begins a discussion with the whole class. The discussion should
be based on what occurred in the “fishbowl” discussion.
Technique 2
1. The teacher identifies a small group of students (4-5 students). The
teacher provides the students with a topic to discuss. This topic can
70 Teaching Language Skills
come from the readings for the class, from class lecture, from students’
experiences, etc.
2. If there is time, the students in this group can research an issue, topic, or
problem.
3. The students in this group sit in the center of the room. These students
are in the “fishbowl”. The remaining students sit in a circle around them.
4. The students in the center discuss their topic.
5. The students in the audience should pay attention to what is happening
in the discussion in the fishbowl. If a student in the audience thinks of
something they want to add to the discussion, they can replace a fishbowl
member. The new member taps the original member on the shoulder
and sits in his place. The old fishbowl member joins the audience.
6. At some point, the teacher stops the students in the “fishbowl”. Then, the
teacher begins a discussion with the whole class. The discussion should
be based on what occurred in the “fishbowl” discussion.
4. After all students have chosen a side, they should turn to their neighbor
and discuss why they agreed or disagreed with the statement.
5. Then, each pair turns to a pair across the line. With the opposite pair,
they should discuss why they agreed or disagreed.
6. The teacher can then open the issue up to a general discussion.
Adaptations
In either of these activities, you can choose whether or not students may
choose “neutral” or “no opinion”. If you allow this option in Value Lines,
students stand on the line, rather than on the Agree or Disagree side of the
room. In any of these activities, you can change the activity. You can ask each
side (Agree or Disagree) to choose a leader after the discussion. This leader
then has to summarize the group’s discussion for the whole class.
and remembering, and reordering fit only for the low level for these sorts of
techniques do not require students to argue. A role play discussion may fit
all levels.
The class where the students are from different levels can be grouped
according to the levels. This is intended for the teacher to make the class easy
to manage. However, Harmer (1998:52) suggests that whatever the level of
the students, there are four things students need to do in a speaking class:
1. expose to language;
2. understand its meaning;
3. understand its form;
4. practice it.
Harmer suggests two strategies of teaching speaking to deal with the
class with different levels of proficiency: i) using different materials and ii)
using different tasks or activities with the same materials/topics.
Once the students have been grouped according to their level of
proficiency for instance, those who belong to the low level are grouped into
the same class, different materials for different level is required. The students
in the low level class talk about the topics with simple speaking activities
either in length or the language (controlled language activities are provided)
and they are completely guided by the teacher in the sense that they are
provided with the model of dialogue; for example, in the form of bubble
speech. They should act out the model of the dialogue provided. They are
mainly manipulated to practice the language aspects that do not require
deep thinking. This means that the low level of students are mainly engaged
in manipulative exercises in which focus of attention is on the manipulation
of linguistic forms . For example, the students are talking about ‘Describing
people.’
A: How does she/he look like?
B: He is/looks rather thin.
Those who are in the middle levels discuss something different from
those of the low level of students in both the length and the language. Since
they also have problems with the language, the teacher may provide them
with certain language forms but they are not completely guided in every
Teaching Speaking 73
stage. They for example, discuss ‘likes and dislikes’ about kinds of foods,
fruits, colors, TV programs etc., expressing preference
I like … better than ... I prefer … to … or I had better VI … than …
Unlike the two levels, low and middle ones, the advanced are independent
learners in that they have a bit problem with language. They may no longer
be given a model dialogue like that of the low levels. The speaking activities
will, therefore, no longer focus on the controlled language practice but rather
activate task activities where the teacher just provides them the topic to
discuss or argue or they are trained to debate or deliver speech.
O
ne of the important conference for teachers of second/foreign
language reading is how to make their reading classes interesting
and relevant for their students. This is certainly not an easy concern
to address since our students have such diverse interests and it seems to
be impossible to choose materials that could satisfy everybody. Selecting a
correct (proper) reading text, of course, depends on the goals of the reading
course. As consequence, teachers of second/foreign language reading should
focus on these goals when choosing materials.
Reading as pointed out by Anthony, Pearson, and Raphael (1993)
is the process of constructing meaning through the dynamic interaction
among the reader’s existing knowledge, the information suggested by the
written language, and the context of the reading situation. This seems to
suggest that the meaning of the text is constructed by the reader by trying
to make connections between the text and what he/she already knows
about the world based on his/her cultural values, native language and
discourse processes. This shows a process of comprehension. The level on
which Dallmann, et al. (1974) can be classified in a takes place, according
to variety of ways. One of the classifications suggests that comprehension
may be on the factual level, interpretative level, and the evaluative level.
Reading on the factual level refers to understanding what is actually written
on the page. Words or vocabulary should be an important factor to consider
78 Teaching Language Skills
in the process of making the reading selection. Those seven factors are as
follows:
a. interest;
b. exploitability;
c. readability.
1) Lexical Knowledge.
2) Background Knowledge.
3) Syntactic Appropriateness.
4) Organization.
5) Discourse Phenomena.
6) Length;
d. topic;
e. political appropriateness;
f. cultural suitability,
g. appearance
1) Layout.
2) Type Size and Font.
Now, let us discuss each factor in more detail in the following section.
4.1.1 Interest
Interest, according to Day (1994), constitutes the most important factor
in the process of selecting a reading article. This is supported by William
(1986) who claims that “in the absence of interesting texts, very little is
possible. Camel (1984) also states that reading teachers should use materials
the students are interested in, including materials self-selected by the
student. Nuttall (1982), who refers to interest as suitability of content, claims
that having texts that interest the learners is more critical than either the
linguistic level of the text or its exploitability.
It seems to be generally accepted that interest is important because
of its relation to motivation. When the students find that the topic of a
passage is not interested to them, their motivation to read is substantially
lessened. Without this motivation, it is exceedingly difficult to meet one of
the generally accepted aims of a reading program: to help get the learners to
read in English on their own, outside the reading classroom. As part of the
80 Teaching Language Skills
4.1.2 Exploitability
It seems to be commonly understood that teachers of EFL reading
can determine the exploitability of a passage (reading material) by doing
exercises and activities in the reading lesson. If, for example, one of the
objectives of the reading lesson is to have students discover the author’s
point of view, the teacher could do that activity to see if the reading passage
allows the students to discover the author’s point of view. An article that is
basically descriptive might not be amenable to that type of activity.
4.1.3 Readability
The factor of readability ranks with interest and exploitability as
one of the most important considerations in selecting a reading passage.
Carrell (1987b) uses the term to refer to the following phenomena: syntactic
appropriateness; logical/rhetorical ordering of ideas, textual phenomena at
the discourse level, lexical appropriateness, and background knowledge of
the reader. Nuttall (1982) reserves this term only for syntactic and lexical
considerations. Readability is used here to include the phenomena mentioned
by Carrell, plus the length of the reading passage.
Teaching Reading 81
1. Lexical Knowledge
Lexical knowledge and background knowledge are the two most
important elements that determine a text’s readability. It is clear that as the
number of unknown lexical items in a reading passage increase, the more
difficult it is for students to read it with comprehension. However lexical
knowledge is among the more controversial factors in selecting a reading
passage. Its controversial nature stems from two issues involved with
lexical knowledge. The first concerns with how to determine the degree of
difficulty of the vocabulary of a reading passage. The second is the number
of unknown words acceptable in a reading passage. One way of assessing
students’ vocabulary is through the use of scanning exercise in which the
students are asked to identify some difficult or unknown words in a passage.
Over time, this will help teachers determine the lexical knowledge of their
learners.
The second issue is how much new vocabulary should be in a reading
passage. This depends at least on the type of reading program, extensive or
intensive, and also on the objectives of the reading lesson itself. Nuttall (1982,
p.26) defines new lexical items as words and idioms or compound phrases
and recommends that in an intensive reading lesson new lexical items should
be less than three percent of the whole. Nuttall further cites Bright and
McGregor’s (1970, p.80) recommendation that a passage should contain no
new words because learners cannot respond completely to unknown items.
However, if one of the objectives of the lesson is to teach learners to guess the
meaning of unknown lexical items from the context, the passage would have
to include some words and phrases. In general it is recommended that the
number of unknown lexical items be kept to a maximum of no more than one
or two words per page. This recommendation is based on the premise that
the purpose of the reading lesson is reading, not vocabulary development.
If the reading passage finally selected does contain new vocabulary
items, the teacher should consider their importance. That is, what value might
be attached to their being learned at the learners’ stage in the acquisition of
the target language? If the unknown lexical items are not important, it might
be possible to substitute items the learners already know.
82 Teaching Language Skills
2. Background Knowledge
Along with lexical knowledge, background (or world) knowledge
is very important in the readability of text. The more the readers know
about a particular topic, the more quickly and accurately they can read
it. Research (e.g., Alderson and Urquhart 1988; Carrell 1987a; Johnson
1981) has demonstrated that background knowledge plays a key role in
comprehension of a reading passage by intermediate and advanced ESL
learners. Given its importance in these two stages, it might also be a critical
factor in the beginning stages.
Since the background knowledge of EFL readers plays a critical role
in their comprehension of the passage, teachers should make sure that the
passage is on a topic that is known or familiar to their students. If the passage
deals with an unfamiliar topic, there are two possibilities; either it can be
rejected or students can be made familiar with the topic. The difficulty with
the latter is that the more time we spend teaching our students about the
topic of the passage, the less time there is to devote to the actual purpose of
the reading class learning reading skills and strategies.
The factor of background knowledge in EFL reading texts may be seen
as an issue of the course design. If one of the goals of the reading course
or program is to broaden the students’ knowledge of the English-speaking
world, then having the students read passages about the societies and
cultures of English-speaking countries would be appropriate. Time spent in
the reading class expanding the students’ knowledge on such topics would
Teaching Reading 83
3. Syntactic Appropriateness
It seems to be generally accepted that syntactic constructions in a passage
affect its readability. If a passage contains grammatical constructions that the
learners do not know, they might have a hard time reading it. Readability
formulas are used frequently in first-language reading, and less often in
foreign- or second-language reading, as a way of determining the level of
syntactic complexity of a reading. Carrell (1987b) provides an insightful
summary of such formulas, and concludes that readability formulas fail for
a variety of reasons, including a failure to take into account “the interactive
nature of the reading process the interaction of the reader with the text” (p.
32).
Moreover, EFL reading teachers often do not have the time, resources,
or appropriate information to utilize readability formulas, even if the
formulas.
One way that EFL reading teachers can become better aware of the
linguistic strengths and weaknesses of their learners is to ask them. This, for
instance, could be done as part of a scanning exercise. Using an unfamiliar
reading passage, the students are instructed to scan it and underline
syntactic constructions that are new or difficult, or which they do not quickly
recognize or understand. The teacher analyzes the results to determine the
types of syntactic constructions likely to cause problems. The more often
this is performed, the better the teacher’s reading knowledge of students’
linguistic capabilities is.
4. Organization
Organization refers to both the rhetorical organization of the text and
the clarity of the organization. Research (e.g., Carrell, 1985) indicates that ESL
readers who can recognize the rhetorical organization of a text have better
comprehension than those who do not. While similar research has not been
84 Teaching Language Skills
5. Discourse Phenomena
Textual phenomena at the level of discourse include the arrangement of
topics and comments in a reading passage, and considerations of cohesiveness
and coherence. EFL reading teachers need to be aware of the manner in which
the author makes use of these in the passage and the degree to which EFL
readers are able to deal with such textual phenomena. EFL reading teachers
need to know whether their learners can handle the presentation of ideas
and arguments in the passage, whether the cohesion markers and transition
devices are within the linguistic competence of the learners, and whether
they can follow the line of reasoning utilized by the writer of the passage.
The passage can be considered for use in a reading lesson to the extent that
these factors are within the competence of the learners.
One way of determining students’ knowledge of discourse phenomena
is through simple identification exercises. For example, if an unfamiliar
text contains samples of various cohesion markers and transition devices,
students can be instructed to identify them. The next step would be for the
students to recognize their functions in the passage. This could be done by a
matching exercise in which the students have to match cohesion markers or
transition devices that are either similar or different in function.
6. Length of Passage
The final factor of readability is concerned with the length of the
potential reading passage. The most common mistake of inexperienced
teachers or teachers who are not able to judge the reading abilities of their
students is to select a passage that is too long. If students are unable to finish
the reading passage, the lesson is not successful. The learners would become
frustrated and often blame themselves, feeling that they are poor readers.
One technique that helps to avoid this difficulty is for the reading
teacher to time herself reading the passage she is considering for a reading
Teaching Reading 85
lesson. Then, if the passage is used in the reading class, the teacher can
compare her time with the times of her learners. By repeating this process
a number of times, the teacher should be able to make a fairly accurate
prediction of how long it will take her learners to read a new passage.
In general, the objectives of the lesson are on length of the passage. For
example, if the focus of the lesson is on skimming, one excellent way to teach
skimming is to give the students a rather lengthy article and a time limit to
get from start to finish. But if the focus is on reading for main ideas, a much
shorter article would be appropriate.
Topic
The topic of a reading article is an important factor to consider. Teacher
may feel that wide variety of topics would be helpful to maintain student
interest and motivation. However, we should consider the merits of what
Krashen (1981) calls “narrow reading.” He claims that narrow reading, by
which he means reading more in depth on a subject, might facilitate second-
language acquisition, as the vocabulary and structure are often recycled.
Dubin (1986, pp.143-145) makes essentially the same claim when she
proposes a reading-in-depth approach to provide background knowledge.
Certainly, having learners read more on a subject would facilitate
comprehension, as they would become familiar with an author’s (or authors)
style, and the vocabulary, concepts, and background information important
to the topic. It is recommended, therefore, that, whenever possible, reading
teachers explore three or four themes or topics during the reading course
as an aid in facilitating reading comprehension and building background
knowledge. Dubin (1986, pp.143-145) offers three techniques for reading in
depth to provide background knowledge: using an anthology built around
a particular theme or themes; dividing longer texts into shorter selections,
introducing the topic from different sources; and using “the running story,”
a series of stories on the same topic. This can be done by using current news
stories. As the story progresses and the students read more and more about
it, they become more familiar with it and with the details in it.
86 Teaching Language Skills
Political Appropriateness
The political suitability of the reading passage must be taken into
consideration. In some countries the political content of articles is a critical
issue, while in others it is not. Expatriate teachers working in politically
sensitive countries should pay close attention to this factor, particularly if
it is not an issue in their home countries. Regardless of the teachers’ status,
whether expatriate or not, reading teachers should attempt to deal with
their own political biases in selecting a reading passage. Teachers should
not censor articles that do not reflect their political beliefs; nor should they
attempt to use reading passages to put across their own political leanings.
Cultural Suitability
Cultural suitability is another factor to be considered in selecting
reading passages. Articles for expatriate teachers which would not raise an
eyebrow in their home countries could be culturally explosive when used in
other countries.
Appearance
The final factor is concerned with the appearance of the reading
passage, which includes layout and print and type size.
1. Layout
The reading teacher should examine the article to see whether the layout
is beneficial or harmful. For example, the teacher can check to see if there
are pictures or other non-textual information that might help students
understand the article. Are the lines or paragraphs numbered? The
teacher can also determine the legibility of the passage. This is important
if it is to be reproduced. A barely legible article can spoil an otherwise
excellent reading lesson. If the goal of the reading class is too help the
learners become readers of the target language outside of the class,
attractive, well-designed passages are more of an incentive than sloppy,
hard-to-read texts.
2. Type Size and Font
The type size and font (the style of type) are factors to consider for
beginning readers. Type somewhat larger than normal is an aid in the
initial stages of reading, as it helps in the decoding process. Larger type
Teaching Reading 87
Textual Aids
A difficult text may be explained by another text either in English or in
the native language of the students. Explainatios can be given in English
by providing a limited vocabulary which is is presumably mastered by the
students. Another form of explanation is given in the native language of the
students. The reading class may also add comprehension exercises to the
reading passage by providing comprehension excercises or questions about
the main text.
Teaching Reading 89
Pictorial Aids
Pictures may also be used to help students comprehend a text. The pictures
should simply illustrate the passage as a whole or some parts of the story
which are believed to be interesting for the students.
Recorded Aids
Similar to textual aids, the recordings may be given either in English or the
native language. The recordings accompanying the text commonly include
questions related to the reading passage. The recordings may be simply
recorded readings. The recordings are exactly the same as the reading text.
This way be combined with another skill sucha as listening skill.
Progressive Readers
In progressive readers students are provided with new vocabulary. The new
words used in the texts are generally explained in footnotes. The new words
may be used in the text a number of times. By reading the text the students
will increase their vocabulary.
Plateau Readers
Differenr from progressive readers, the plateau readers do not bring new
vocabulary. The plateau readers are meant to consolidate the vocabulary
which the students have already learned. It is written throughout at a fixed
vocabulary level.
to comprehend what they read. Those two believe that there are specific skills
(abilities) that constitute the effective comprehension will probably want to
pay attention to these skills in their instructional procedures. Others who
do not share this view are likely not to place much, if any, emphasis on the
acquisition of these various abilities. Following Dallmann, et al. (1974), it is
important that help be given to the learners in acquiring such skills as nothing
details that support the main idea of a selection, judging the authenticity of a
report, and making generalizations on the basis of what is discussed below.
As suggested by Dallmann, et al. (1974), the specific skills may be classified
according to (1) the purpose of the reader and (2) the length and the nature
of the selection read.
The following skills are classified according to the purpose of the
reader.
1. reading to find the main idea;
2. reading to select significant details;
3. reading to follow direction;
4. reading to answer questions;
5. reading to make summaries and organize materials;
6. reading to arrive at generalizations and conclusions;
7. reading to predict outcomes;
8. reading to evaluate critically;
9. reading to develop skill in acquiring word meaning.
Facts or opinions
To gain proficiency in distinguishing between facts and opinions, the
students might do the following:
1) Analyze newspaper reports to determine whether they present facts or
opinions.
2) Study news reports and editorials to determine the essential differences
in the two types of writing.
3) Locate statements of opinion found in a given selection.
4) Indicate which of series of statements express facts only and then rewrite
those that are not purely factual so that they do not express an opinion.
5) Rewrite statements of fact that mixed with statements of opinion in such
a way that instead of showing sympathy toward a person or event they
will show antipathy (and vice-versa).
6) Delete from paragraphs or longer selections statements that are not
entirely factual.
Real or Fanciful
In order to become more adept at judging whether or not written
material is of a fanciful nature, students might perform activities such as the
following:
1) Find examples in stories of means the author intended that the story is
fanciful
2) Draw up a list of expressions often used in stories to show that the stories
are fanciful, for example: “One upon a time.”
3) Decide whether a story is real or fanciful and indicate the reason for the
decision.
4) Read a story that is fictional but based in part on fact and then determine
which statements are more likely to be fictional.
Additional Points
The following are additional suggested activities for increasing the
power to evaluate critically what is read:
1) Indicating which of a series of statements are relevant and which are
irrelevant to a given purpose;
Teaching Reading 99
2) Choosing from a list of chapter titles those chapters that are most likely
to be valuable in connection with a given purpose;
3) Giving book reviews in which emphasis is placed on the evaluation of
the book rather than on the story itself;
4) Determining how to decide om the likely truth when two contradictory
statements are found;
5) Bringing to class an editorial from a newspaper and a news item and
then listing the differences in writing style, giving reasons why each
type is written as it is.
2. Comprehending Sentences
Just like a phrase, a sentence can also be said to be more than the sum total
of words comprising it. The students who read on their proper level, the
comprehension of many sentences is often automatic. However, other
students may be not. Quite often, a reader can understand every word of
a long sentence without getting the meaning of the sentence itself. Since
sentence comprehension is more than word recognition, and because
an understanding of sentences is essential to the comprehension of
longer selections, the students should be trained to be skillful in reading
sentences as a whole units. Some students may find the following
activities of value in improving their comprehension of sentences. The
activities are:
a) Arranging in correct order the parts of scrambled sentences;
b) Listing the sentences in a selection that help prove a given point;
c) Indicating which sentence in a series mean almost the same as
specified sentences;
d) Finding in a book a sentence that suggests an appropriate title for
story of picture;
e) Making sentences that slow variety in structure, such as (a) “quickly
the boys ran home”; (b) “the boys ran home quickly”;
f) Studying the thought of sentences in which the subject and predicate
are in inverted order, and constructing some of that type;
g) Finding the sentences that answer given questions;
h) Making up sentences that describe the same idea in different ways;
i) Studying sentences in which many adjectives, adverb, phrases, or
clause modify the subject and the predicate;
j) In connection with a long sentence that present comprehension
difficulties, making a sentence for every idea contained in it.
3. Comprehending Paragraphs
Skills such as finding the main idea, selecting important details, and
arriving at generalizations, all apply to paragraph comprehension.
Frequently, it is through reading a paragraph the outcome can be
predicted. The paragraph may be one to be evaluated critically or to be
summarized. Some problems of comprehension involve skills that are
peculiar to the paragraph rather than to phrases or longer selections.
102 Teaching Language Skills
For instance, finding the topic sentence, and looking at the relation
between the topic sentence and the other sentences. Many suggestions
for improving comprehension of paragraphs have been given under
various skills listed earlier, for instance, under “Reading to Find the
Main Idea” and “Reading to Make Summaries and Organize Materials.”
The following are supposed to be additional activities that could be used
to help students develop skill in comprehending paragraphs. These
include:
a) Finding the paragraph that answers a question or contains a specific
thought.
b) Finding the topic sentence of paragraphs that contain topic sentences.
c) Studying the topic sentence of a paragraph to help get the main idea
of the paragraph.
d) Using the topic sentence of a paragraph as an aid when organizing,
as well as when skimming.
e) Writing paragraphs on specified topics.
f) Arranging paragraphs that are not in the correct sequence into the
correct ones.
Procedure
1. Divide your class into groups of about 5-6 students.
2. Write a focus question on the board. The focus question should ask the
groups to come to a conclusion together. Good questions might ask
students to:
think about something they have read for class
think about experiences they have had
debate an important topic
make a group decision about how to act
3. Pass out copies of the Discussion Web worksheet. OR, draw the graphic
organizer on the board for students to copy on their own pieces of paper.
4. Each group should discuss the focus question. The groups must come
up with evidence to support a “yes” position and a “no” position. The
groups should write down their responses on the Discussion Web
graphic organizer. They do NOT need to write in full sentences. Instead,
they should use key words or key phrases.
5. The groups should work together to make a decision. They should state
their conclusion and the reasons for their conclusion.
6. Each group should choose a leader. This leader will tell the whole class
about the group’s decision.
Adaptations
Instead of reporting orally, the groups can create their own poster with
their decision. The rest of the class can walk around and look at the poster.
-oo0oo-
5
TEACHING WRITING
A
s with the other skills, writing cannot be separated from vocabulary
and grammar. In teaching writing, automatically we have to deal
with words and expressions: vocabulary, and the rules that govern
the syntax of its patterns: grammar. This section will discuss how we have to
select vocabulary and grammar in teaching writing.
Before teaching writing, we have to identify which vocabulary and
grammar to introduce or which vocabulary and grammar that our students
need. We also have to identify how they want to express their ideas in a
written form. It is obvious that we cannot present all of vocabulary and
grammar in teaching writing at the same time and not all of them may be
urgent to be introduced in writing to students of a certain level. We have to
select and prepare a list of words and grammar so that our students will be
able to use them in expressing their ideas in a written form.
There are items which we must necessarily exclude and items which
we must necessarily include in our plan. Between these lie the problems of
selection of the items. Mackey (1975, p. 164) states that the selectivity of any
item is inversely proportional to its restrictability, that is, to the capacity
of the language to do without it. A writing class for absolute beginners
will probably not contain the same type of materials as a writing class for
advanced students. Selecting materials is the first way that language teachers
should do.
106 Teaching Language Skills
and the degree of difficulty may be used to determine and evaluate the
specific items of grammar selected in teaching writing.
The grammar of a language is made up of (a) structures, (b) inflections,
and (c) structure words (Mackey, 1975, p. 191). The selection of grammar
for a writing class also includes the three aspects. The three aspects will be
addressed in the following section.
1. Structures
Structures may include sentence structures, phrases, and collocations.
Selection of the structures for writing class is determined by the levels of the
students. In determining which sentence structure will be taught in writing
class can be separated from the choice of vocabulary. The sentence structure
should support all the words that have been selected. As mentioned earlier,
the main criteria of the selection of grammar and vocabulary are frequency
of occurrence and the level of difficulty. In selecting the sentence structure
beginners need more simple sentence patterns. The pattern with simple to be
as a predicate may be easier for beginners to learn. For example, a sentence
“The book is here” seems to be easier to learn and more frequent to use
than “Here the book is”. The first sentence pattern is also more frequently in
communication. The pattern with impersonal object, which uses the pronoun
“it”, may be more difficult to learn than impersonal subject. The sentence “I
find it hard to remember names” is more difficult to learn. It may be easier
for beginners to learn “It is hard for me to remember names”.
Certain phrases in a clause may easily be replaced by a group of words
and some others may not easily be replaced. The phrase “the book” in the
sentence “The book is here” may be replaced by the following group of other
words:
The book is here.
It
The man
John
Or, the phrase “here” may be replaced by the following words:
The book is here
in the class
on the box
108 Teaching Language Skills
The examples above show that such a phrase would be introduced first since
the pattern is easier to learn and more frequent to use in English. Beginners
may find it difficult to learn a phrase like “The book that I am looking for is
here”.
2. Inflections
If the forms of a word are changed, their meanings will change. For
example, go-went, has taken- was taken, woman- women, book- books,
soon- sooner. The changes may indicate number, tense, mood, comparison,
etc. The selection of inflections may be based on frequency of occurrence in
communication and simplicity of the forms. Some inflections are excluded
from the selection because of their low frequency of occurrence or complexity
of their forms. Some inflections may be used frequently in communication
but they may be difficult for beginners to learn. The changes from man to men
or woman to women may be better to learn after they are introduced the plural
form with “s”. The irregular verbs for simple past tense may be introduced
after they learn simple past tense with regular verbs.
Frequency studies of a foreign language learning show that two
tenses: present and perfect tense cover 90 per cent of all indicative tenses
used (Mackey, 1975, p. 194). The use of present tense covers about 68 per
cent, perfect tense only about 22 per cent and the rest cover only 10 per cent.
Present tense may be better to be introduced first. Even though some tenses
may dominate teaching materials, it is necessary to check the variations the
inflections. When we select textbooks for beginners, for example, we have
to check carefully which inflections should be taught. Are the inflections
are limited to certain forms only? Are the inflections introduced commonly
used and easily learned? Or, do they cover some tenses by considering their
simplicity of their forms?
3. Structure Words
Structure words are included in vocabulary selection but they may
be considered as a part of grammar. They may include prepositions,
conjunctions, pronouns, auxiliaries, negative particles, interrogative adverbs,
and adverbs of degree. Examining the structure words, we may also look for
them in the general vocabulary.
Teaching Writing 109
Even though writing in the target language may involve the ability to
shape the letters of the alphabet and the knowledge of the right combinations
of letters, the real writing is the skill in expressing ideas through the written
word of the target language, which is called composition. From the beginning
of the course beginners should be given opportunities to practice expressing
their ideas in the written language. The examples below show how grammar
units are sequenced in writing course for beginners (Interactions I: A Writing
Process Book by Segal and Pavlik, 1985).
Chapter 1: Personal description
Grammatical and stylistic focus: simple present tense; combining
sentences with conjunctions; using also
1. Graphics
For non-alphabetic people like Japanese or Arabs, writing the letters of
alphabet (graphics) may be essential but for people whose native language
uses the same kind of script, there may be no need for them to learn the
alphabet of English. Teaching English alphabet to non-alphabetic is similar
to teaching English to illiterates. Since English and Indonesian language have
the same alphabet, handwriting of the alphabet is not necessarily included as
a part of the writing course. For Indonesians, the writing course may begin
with tracing drills, copying drills, and transcription drills.
2. Tracing Drills
This writing skill is done by supplying lined workbooks, filled with
separate and linked letters and words. Students are provided with dotted
lines over which they can write. It may also be done by providing them
with blank lines to fill in, continuing the same outline that they have just
traced. The teacher may read the word that students can look at and then
the students write the word that the teacher has just read. This writing may
Teaching Writing 113
3. Drills
Similar to tracing drills, copying drills may include lines of model
letters, words, and sentences. Our students are to copy and imitate the
models provided. It is suggested that there should be a number of blank
lines included in their workbook after each model so that they have enough
practice in writing the models.
4. Transcription Drills
Actually, this writing is similar to copying drills. The difference is that
the transcription drills have longer texts. This writing may also be combined
with grammar practice. When combined with grammar, substitution drill
and matching tables may be considered.
5. Spelling
Since the English sounds and letters have little regularity, students
should learn which letters to use for a sound or word. The spelling drills
may include written exercises in completion, transliteration, and dictation.
114 Teaching Language Skills
6. Completion
The purpose of this exercise is to train students in observing the shape
of words that they have learned in listening or speaking. In completion
exercise one or two letters are omitted and students should fill in the blanks
to form a correctly spelled word.
Example
The teacher spells the word school
Sch_ _l
The teacher spells the word chicken
_ _icken
The teacher spells the word horse
Hor_ _
7. Transliteration
This writing skill is introduced when the spoken language is learned
first. When our students learn the language from what they listen, they may
be provided with phonetic transcription and the phonetic transcription
represents what they hear. The exercise of this writing is done by providing
texts in the phonetic transcription to be rewritten in the conventional
orthography. This exercise may also develop their pronunciation by reading
phonetic symbols when they use a dictionary.
8. Dictation
Dictation may be a good exercise for our students to develop their
writing skill from what they hear. Different from transliteration exercise,
in dictation exercise our students write what they hear in the conventional
orthography. In this exercise our students learn to associate the spoken and
the written words; we may read the spoken texts at dictation speed or the
texts may be recorded on tape.
9. Composition
Written work should start with the vocabulary and structure that our
students have either learned orally or simply learned to read. Composition
Teaching Writing 115
may range from the easiest exercise to more difficult one; they may be grouped
under sentence modification, sentence composition, and paragraph writing. The
three types of techniques will be discussed in the following section.
a. Sentence Modification
Sentence modification may have five types: multiple choice, conversion,
word jumbles, matching, and alteration. The five types will be discussed in
the following section.
b. Multiple Choice
This exercise may be used to give practice in grammatical elements or
vocabulary use. It includes supplying missing word and giving a correct
answer.
Example of supplying the missing word exercise:
Put the preposition in their right places: in, on, at.
We proclaimed our independence … 1945.
We get up … 5 o’clock in the morning.
Many people go to beach … Sunday.
Or
Put the preposition in their right places: in, on, at.
The capital of the country is located … Jakarta.
People sell many kinds of fruit … Sudirman Street.
My parents live.… Kartini Street no 25 Bandar Lampung.
Example of giving a correct answer exercise
Choose the right answer
Dogs have … (tails, snails, nails).
Clocks have … (legs, hands, eyes).
10. Conversion
Students are given practice in a new from in place of a known one:
from positive to interrogative or from simple present tense to simple past
tense, depending on the instruction from the teacher.
Text : The book is new.
Students : Is the book new?
Text : We are in the class.
Students : Are we in the class?
116 Teaching Language Skills
12. Alteration
The text gives a series of sentences with certain words underlined. Our
students re-write the sentences using the opposites of the words underlined.
The exercise may also require our students to change all the nouns or the
tenses, or make similar changes in the text. For example:
Text : I borrowed a book from the library.
Students : I will return it tomorrow.
13. Matching
Our students are provided with two lists of words or word-groups.
By matching them, our students compose sentences which make sense. For
example:
He is in the garden
My money is a student
The hens are in a bag
d. Exposition
In exposition students are required to tell how they do an action with
which they are likely to be familiar. For example, how they start or ride
a motorcycle.
e. Free Composition
Free composition is regarded as the culminating point of writing exercise.
Composition may be required on topics with which our students are
familiar. In this exercise students may be given a detailed outline of
the composition so that they will not spend much time for imagination
when they will start to write.
f. Paragraph Translation
Paragraph writing is given to advanced students since in this exercise
they are not only expected to have a good knowledge of the structure
and the vocabulary of the target language but of its culture and certain
expressions in the target language as well.
Even though we define the techniques of writing in isolated contexts,
we often combine them in actual teaching settings. No single technique may
be appropriate for all teaching settings. We may combine them in more or
less integrated ways. One technique that is suitable for a certain level may
be considered for the other levels. For some reasons, techniques that are
suggested for elementary students may also be needed for intermediate
students. The table above may be useful to be considered.
write the word that the teacher has just read. We probably will not give them
paragraph writing by paraphrasing selected passages or to summarize in
their own words or writing in full sentences the activities which they perform
during the day, from the time they get up to the time they go to bed.
The following examples of writing shown below show a range of level
and complexity (Harmer, 1998, pp. 80-83). The first example is a combination
of several types of writing discussed earlier. The first procedure is meant
for elementary students but in an Indonesian context it may be appropriate
for intermediate students. The second procedure is meant for intermediate
students and the third procedure may be appropriate for advanced students.
The procedures have been taken from Harmer (1998).
Love
Mary
The teacher asks the students to identify four different patterns in it:
the present continuous (We’re staying at a hotel…), the present simple
(We get up late every day), verbless sentences, and postcard style (After
lunch, siesta!) and present continuous tense for future (Tomorrow, we’re
going …).
The students should also discuss the fact that in postcards greetings
(Dear Judy) are not necessary and signings-off are informal (Love Mary).
After the students examine the structure and the language used in the
postcards, the teacher asks them to imagine that they are too on holiday.
The students must decide where they are on holiday and whom they
will send their postcards.
The teacher tells the students to send their postcards to an English-
speaking friend.
The students should say where they are, what they do every day, what
they are doing tomorrow/ next week, etc., they should also sign off
informally.
When the students have completed the task, the teacher can collect the
postcards and correct them later. Or, the students can read them out, or
they can show their cards to other people and the other people read the
cards.
This postcard activity is an example for elementary level students and the
teacher may teach writing by using other models; certain kinds of letters,
announcements and invitations may be used to get our students to practice
writing.
The students alter the statement to suit their own preferences. Some
examples that the students might write:
Some people think that nowadays students are lazy but do not think this is true.
The students may write the statement and continue it. As an example the
students may write:
Nowadays students are lazy because parents are very busy.
The students then compare what they have written in pairs or groups.
The students may discuss their sentences and come up with the sentences
that they have corrected together.
The students read the sentences out to the class.
The teacher may correct their sentences if the errors are really important
for the whole class.
This activity then leads into a reading or listening activity and the students
may form the start of a discussion activity. Alternatively, the teacher writes
the statements on the blackboard and the students alter the statements in
their writing books individually.
The teacher elicits the facts that, for example, headlines frequently use
the present simple tense and invariably leave out articles and auxiliaries.
Students are then asked to choose one of the topics the teacher provides,
examples: natural disaster, a scandal involving an artist, a sports
triumph, political conflict.
The teacher gets them to write their own newspaper headlines.
The students then write articles to go with the headlines.
While students are writing articles, the teacher goes around the class
offering help when they need it.
The teacher may have students read their stories out of the rest of the
class.
The teacher may stick the articles up on the class noticeboard.
Even though in this procedure writing is the main concern, to integrate
with another skill reading is introduced here. Reading comes before and after
writing. Students start reading newspapers and then they learn to write,
and the result of their writing process leads into reading activity. For more
advanced students, the following writing suggestions may be considered
(Harmer, 1998).
1. Students write letters to a newspaper in response to a controversial
article.
2. Students expand a variety of headlines into newspaper articles.
3. Students write their own menus.
4. Students design posters for a party.
5. Students write a radio news bulletin.
6. Students write a letter of application for a job.
7. Students send e-mail messages to other English speakers.
8. Students write invitations of various kinds.
Teaching one language skill can be separated from the other skills.
The skills of speaking, listening, reading and writing reinforce one another.
Consequently, language teacher has to consider these four skills in dealing
with the teachniques in teaching writing.
Teaching Writing 123
1. Fast Write
“Fast Write” helps students get “warmed up” or prepared for a class
discussion. They also can be used to see if students are doing their homework
before coming to class. Fast Writes help students remember what they read
before class, or they help students think about experiences they have had.
Doing a Fast Write helps students get ready to talk about their thinking. Fast
Writes help your classes have better discussions.
Procedures:
1. Ask students to take out a piece of paper and a pencil (or a pen) to write
with.
2. The teacher writes a prompt on the board. The prompt should:
- ask students to think about what they have read OR think about an
experience they have had
- ask students to think critically or think deeply about that reading/
experience
- require students to respond in writing
3. The teacher should give students about 5-7 minutes to respond to the
prompt. The students should spend this time writing their responses to
the prompt.
4. The focus of a Fast Write should be on the students’ thinking and
their ideas. Students and teachers should not worry about spelling,
punctuation, or other writing errors, because their ideas are the most
important thing.
5. Give students a warning when they have only 1 or 2 minutes left to
write.
6. When the time is up, ask students to put their pens down. Allow students
to keep their Fast Writes to use during the discussion.
7. The teacher should start a discussion with the students about the Fast
Write topic. The discussion can be a whole-class discussion, or it can be
124 Teaching Language Skills
done in small groups. Students can look back at what they wrote during
the discussion.
8. After the discussion is over, collect the Fast Writes from students.
The teacher may continue the process by identifying the errors that their
students make and then consider the errors when the teacher will teach the
class in the following meetings.
2. Brain Write
In a Brain Write, students “brainstorm” or think about something.
They quickly write their ideas down. Then, they pass their ideas to another
student. The second student looks at what the first person wrote, and then
he or she adds to what was written.
Procedures:
1. Ask students to take out a piece of paper and a pencil (or a pen) to write
with.
2. The teacher writes a prompt on the board. The prompt can:
—ask students to think about what they have read
—ask students to think about an experience they have had
—ask students to create a list
—ask students to think about questions they have
The prompt should require students to write quickly
3. The teacher should give students about 5 minutes to respond to the
prompt. The students should spend this time writing their responses to
the prompt.
4. Like a Fast Write, the focus of a Brain Write should be on the students’
thinking and their ideas. Students should not worry about spelling,
punctuation, or other writing errors, because their ideas are the most
important thing.
5. Give students a warning when they have only 1 or 2 minutes left to
write.
6. When the time is up, ask students to put their pens down.
7. Each student should give their paper to a different student. Students
then look over the new papers. They look at the ideas on the paper, think
Teaching Writing 125
about those ideas, and add their own ideas to what the first student
wrote.
8. If there is enough time, the students can switch papers with a new
person. They repeat the process in step #7.
9. After the students have switched papers and shared ideas, the teacher
can begin a discussion about the topic. The discussion can be a whole-
class discussion, or it can be in smaller groups.
Adaptations:
You can have students switch papers as many times as you want. If students
are already working in groups, they can share their papers with other group
members. Or, one group can brainstorm together and then share their paper
with another group.
1. Contextual Media
Writing may be practiced in the contexts of pictures, of actions, or of
words. In pictorial contexts pictures and situations can be used to provide
students with ideas in writing. Wall-pictures, films can provide students with
good ideas when they are not ready to have free composition. These media
may be appropriate for writing description. Actions may also be used to
teach writing exposition. Writing may also be practiced through the medium
of verbal context in the form of stories, songs, anecdotes and various types of
verbal drills. Paraphrasing may be practiced through this way.
2. Formal Media
Any of the contextual media may be used with the form of spoken
language. In teaching the target language the spoken language may take
precedence over the written language. Therefore, writing activity may start
from listening; students try to understand the ideas of listening texts and
126 Teaching Language Skills
then they alter to suit the ideas for their writing. The spoken form of language
may be presented in recorded exercises on tape or on discs. This media may
be appropriate to teach dictation to beginners.
Since writing can be classified under three types: graphics, spelling,
and composition, techniques of writing can be developed from the three
writing types accordingly. In writing graphics the suggested techniques
are tracing drills, copying drills and transcription drills. These techniques
may be appropriate for beginners when they are still learning the target
language: English. Teaching spelling may be done after the students have
no problem with the letters of English; then, three techniques: completion,
transliteration, and dictation may be used. These techniques are meant to
train students to use letters to produce words since English sounds and
letters have little regularity. To develop the writing skill of the students who
have acquired some vocabulary and grammatical competence, composition
may be introduced. Composition may range from the easiest exercise to more
difficult one; they may be grouped under sentence modification, sentence
composition, and paragraph writing. Some of the techniques classified
under these three types of writing may be used to make our students to
their grammar and vocabulary in sentences and some may be used to
express ideas in a written form. The techniques that may be used to teach
writing to advanced students, with which the students have more freedom
to express their ideas, are classified under writing paragraph, namely
narration, description, free composition and translation. All of the techniques
introduced here are discussed in isolated contexts. In real teaching we may
have procedures of teaching writing by combining some techniques in order
for us to have a more integrated way of teaching English. Some examples
have been shown how different techniques are combined to teach writing to
students of different levels.
Since writing may be integrated with the other skills, media is often
needed in teaching writing. They may be grouped under contextual and
formal media. The contextual media may vary from contexts of pictures,
actions, and words. Contextual media may be used to provide students
with ideas in writing when they are not ready to have free composition.
Teaching Writing 127
Any of the contextual media may be used together the spoken language. In
teaching the target language the spoken language may take precedence over
the written language. The spoken form of language may be presented in
recorded exercises on tape or on discs.
-oo0oo-
6
TEACHING INTEGRATED
SKILLS
H
ow should English be learned? Different people may have
different perceptions towards the way English should be learned.
Some people may argue that the language should be learned by
mastering its grammatical rules first while some others believe that mastering
grammar will not help students to acquire communicative competence of
the language. Some believe that English should be acquired by learning the
four language skills in an integrative way. Still, some others may support the
idea that English should be learned through a segregated-skill instruction,
the mastery of discrete language skills.
People who agree that grammar should be taught first because they
may think that language learners are encouraged to learn to communicate
in the target language and at the same time they also acquire a sound and
accurate basis in the grammar of the target language. In order to emphasize
the accuracy and then continue on the fluency of using English, English
learners still need the mastery of the English grammar in order for them to
feel secure in using English for communication. The fluency building can
be emphasized after the students have been provided with enough practice
of mastering the English grammar for the purpose of accuracy; the process
can be continued with activities that emphasize the use of English in a
communicative way.
Millions people are believed to have successfully learnt foreign
languages to a high degree of proficiency and, in numerous cases, without
130 Teaching Language Skills
contact with native speakers of the target language. This success might
have been the role of teaching grammar. The grammar teaching can give
learners a basic foundation upon which language learners can then build
their communicative skills through the communicative activities.
He way of teaching the target language discussed above seems to
stress the importance of providing learners with opportunities to use their
English for communicative purposes and attempt such activities arranged in
a grammar-based syllabus. The grammar-based syllabus does not necessarily
mean that the language learning is grammar oriented but the syllabus
only tells us how the learning materials are arranged. The grammar-based
syllabus above seems to be combined with another type of syllabus, such as
skill-based syllabus or others. In other words, English grammar should be
learned in the integration with the skills of the language.
Teaching English in an integrative way discussed above involves the
integration of components of language with language skills. Integrative
teaching may also refer to how to relate language skills: listening, speaking,
reading and writing in learning process. The skills of speaking, listening,
reading and writing should reinforce one another. Consequently, language
teacher has to consider these four skills in dealing with the language
materials. He/she may not leave one skill behind the others. Language
teacher is supposed to deal with all of the four skills when working on each
linguistic objective.
However, Canale and Swain (1980) do not consider this way of
teaching mentioned above to be integrative in that the concepts do not
address how individual utterances are linked at the level of discourse. In
their view, integration refers to a combination of knowledge of grammar,
knowledge of how utterances are used in social contexts, knowledge of how
utterances and communicative functions can be combined to the principles
of discourse. They suggest that some combination of emphasis on grammar
accuracy and emphasis on meaningful communication from the very start of
second or foreign language study. It implies that grammatical competence
should be taught in the context of meaningful communication. This language
instruction is known as task-based instruction, in which its teaching syllabus
has been arranged in such a way that stresses doing tasks which require
communicative language use (Oxford, 2001).
Teaching Integrated Skills 131
d. We fit the vocabulary, forms and the structures together into a set of
learning tasks.
Below are language materials that have been developed based on grammar
syllabus (taken from SIDE BY SIDE: English through Guided Conversation by
Molinsky and Bliss, 1983). Book 2A
Simple Present Tense
Present Continuous Tense
Pronouns
Subject and Object
Possessive Adjectives
c. We group the topics, forms and structures and fit them with
communication situations.
The teaching units below are language materials that have been
developed based on situational syllabus.
Unit 1: At Post Office
Unit 2: At School
Unit 3: At the Airport
Unit 4: At Restaurant
Unit 5: Shopping
Unit 6: At Party
The benefit of a situational syllabus is that students learn how to use
the target language in an authentic communication. The advantage of this
syllabus is that when unexpectable situations happen in communication
language learners are not accustomed to communicate in the language
spontaneously. This syllabus is good for language learners who are preparing
to go to a country where the language is being learned. This situational
teaching has the goal of teaching specific language content that occurs in
situation.
4. A skill-based syllabus
The content of the language teaching is a collection of specific skills in
using the target language. Examples of skills in using the target language
may include reading for the main idea, writing good paragraphs, and
listening for the main idea.
Steps:
a. We make a list of language skills that students need to acquire.
b. We make a list of topics, grammatical forms and vocabulary and
sequences them.
c. We group the topics, forms and structures and fit them with the language
skills.
The language materials below have been developed based on skill-
based syllabus (taken from Writing Academic English by Oshima and Hogue,
1983).
136 Teaching Language Skills
WRITING A PARAGRAPH
What is a paragraph?
Paragraph Structure
The three parts of a paragraph
Two additional elements
Assignment format
How to write a title
The Topic Sentence
Position of topic sentences
The two parts of a topic sentence
Writing topic sentences: two reminders
The concluding Sentence
Review: What is a Paragraph?
5. A task-based syllabus
The content of the language teaching includes a series of purposeful
tasks that language learners need to perform; tasks are defined as activities
that are needed when using the target language. Examples of a task-based
syllabus may include applying for a job, ordering food via the telephone and
getting housing information over the telephone. This syllabus is similar to a
situational syllabus but it focuses on more general linguistic competence that
is less culturally loaded.
Steps:
a. We make a list of abilities or tasks that students need to acquire.
b. We make a list of topics, grammatical forms and vocabulary and
sequences them.
c. We group the topics, forms and structures and fit them with the tasks.
Teaching Integrated Skills 137
6. A content-based syllabus
A content-based syllabus in language teaching is actually not a
language syllabus. The primary purpose of instruction is to teach subject
matter of the content course or information using the target language.
The subject is primary and language learning occurs automatically while
language learners are studying the subject. An example of a content-based
syllabus is a science class that is taught in the target language.
Steps:
a. We make a list of topics from the content (subject).
b. We make a list of topics, grammatical forms and vocabulary and
sequences them.
c. We group the forms and structures and fit them with the topics.
138 Teaching Language Skills
consideration all factors that might affect the practicality and teachability of
a particular syllabus. By experiencing each type of syllabus, we may finally
choose one or two types of syllabus that are appropriate in our teaching
settings, or combine the types of syllabus according to local conditions and
needs.
Even though we define the types of syllabus in isolated contexts, we
often combine them in actual teaching settings. No single syllabus may be
appropriate for all teaching settings. We may combine them in more or
less integrated ways, with one type as the basis with which the others are
related. The guidelines to syllabus choice and design below may be worth
considering (Reilly, 1988).
a. We determine what outcomes are desired for the students in the
instructional program or define what the students should be able to do
as a result of instruction.
b. We rank the syllabus types presented above as to their likelihood of
leading to the outcomes desired.
c. We evaluate available resources in materials and in training for teachers.
d. We rank the types of syllabus relative to available resources and
consider what syllabus types would be the easiest to implement given
the available resources.
e. We compare the lists of the syllabus types, make as few adjustments and
produce a new ranking based on the resources constraints.
f. We repeat the process, taking into account the constraints contributed
by the teacher, student and other factors.
g. We determine a final ranking, taking into account all the information
from the earlier steps.
h. We designate one or two types as dominant and one as one as secondary.
i. We translate the decisions into actual teaching units.
Recently, many course designers agree with the combination of
syllabus types without explicitly stating that they have combined syllabus
types. Frodesen and Eyring (2000) seem to support the combination. In their
book, The Grammar Dimensions, Platinum Edition, they introduce a technique
for teachers to teach English and for students to use English grammar in
communication accurately, meaningfully, and appropriately. This implies
that we do not necessarily rely on a single type of syllabus. The grammar
140 Teaching Language Skills
The three instructions, which have been taken arbitrarily from one
unit, have different learning targets. The first instruction expects students to
practice speaking and listening. The second instruction emphasizes writing
skill and the third provides students with opportunities to practice reading.
The activities that students are expected to do are integrative in the sense
that they practice communicative competence of the four skills of the target
language.
The skills of speaking, listening, reading and writing should reinforce
one another. Consequently, a language teacher has to consider these four
skills in dealing with students’ learning activities. He/she may not leave one
skill behind the others. He/she may start from one skill and continue with
the other skills. What skill should go first depends on the purpose of your
teaching and the levels of the students. Different writers may propose ideas
of which skills should go first. In Silent Way method of Cattegno, reading
should be worked on from the beginning but follows from what language
learners already know (Larsen-Freeman, 1986, p. 59). After language learners
can produce sounds in the target language and connect the sounds with the
truth, they begin to read symbols in the target language. This process can
begin after the first class and language teacher does not have to delay it.
Teaching English in an integrative way seems to refer different concepts.
To some people it refers to the integration of components of language with
language skills while to some others it refers to the integration of the four
language skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing in teaching the
target language. Even though they may have different perceptions towards
the way the language is learned, they have some things in common and the
final goal of the language learning should be communicative competence.
To reach the goal, teaching materials may be arranged in different
considerations and based on the considerations the materials will be arranged
in different types of language syllabus. In language teaching contexts, there
are six types of language syllabus, namely grammar syllabus, situational
syllabus, notional syllabus, task-based syllabus, skill-based syllabus and
content-based syllabus. Each syllabus has strengths and weaknesses and it
tells us how the target language should be presented. Even though we have
different types of syllabus in isolated contexts, we often combine them in
142 Teaching Language Skills
1. Dialoque
The following example will show how a functional or notional syllabus
will be presented in teaching the four language skills in an integrated way
(taken from Watcyn-Jones, 1980). In the suggested procedure or techniques
below, teachers would be advised to use two lessons in one unit. The
first lesson will go through opening dialogue, functional practice and written
expression; while the second lesson will go through dialogue practice and role
play.
Teaching Integrated Skills 143
Opening Dialogue
The dialogues are written in the book and they are meant to introduce
the language functions that are going to be introduced. The dialogues are
presented in as natural a way as possible. The dialogue section should not
take up very much lesson time.
The steps:
1. The teacher sets up the situation and read straight through the dialogue
(or plays the tape). It is preferable to use the tape so that the students
may differentiate more easily between the two speakers in the dialogue.
The students listen with books closed.
2. While the students remain with books closed, the teacher asks one or
two general questions to make sure that the students have understood
the main points of the dialogue.
3. The teacher now reads the dialogue a second time (or plays the tape) in
shorter sections. The students follow with books open. At this stage the
teacher can point out the language functions covered and the language
used to perform them.
4. Students can, if desired, practice reading the dialogue in pairs or groups.
Example of the opening dialogue (Watcyn-Jones, 1980, p. 27)
Simon Watson is at a party. She sees a girl standing alone in the corner of the
room. He has never seen her before. He decides to go over and talk to her.
SIMON : Hello, may I join you?
JOANNA : Yes, of course.
SIMON : Quite a good party, isn’t it?
JOANNA : yes, very good.
(A slight pause)
SIMON : Do you smoke?
JOANNA : No, I don’t, actually.
SIMON : Lucky you! I wish I did’ have to. (He takes out a cigarette
and lights it.) By the way, I’m Simon…Simon Watson.
JOANNA : Oh, hello. My name’s Jo.
SIMON : Joe? That’s a boy’s name, isn’t it?
JOANNA : No, it’s short for Joanna, actually.
SIMON : Oh, sorry.
144 Teaching Language Skills
Functional Practice
Functional practice is the most important section of each unit. It is
here that the function is presented and the appropriate language needed
to perform it introduced, clearly set out in substitution tables. The tables
are followed by detailed and systematic practice (drill) in the form of oral
exercises. This part should be thoroughly and intensively presented.
The steps:
1. The teacher reads the description of the function to be taught and explains
it to the students. The teacher then reads through the language items set
out in the tables. Students repeat the items and then, if applicable, make
up their own phrases using the tables. If necessary, the teacher can ask
the students to close their books and try to recall as many of the phrases
as possible.
2. The teacher now moves on to the practice drill. At first this should be
done by both teacher and students to establish the pattern. Once this has
been done, the students practice in pairs, the teacher moving around the
room listening and checking.
Teaching Integrated Skills 145
3. If written work is essential, and if the teacher so wishes, the class can be
asked to write out selected questions, answers and conversations arising
from the oral practices.
Below is the example of functional practice with the sub-unit How to
ask and answer direct questions where a longer answer than Yes or No is
expected (Watcyn-Jones, 1980, p. 30)
When you ask someone a direct question and want a more detailed answer than yes
or no, begin your question with a question word (e.g. Why? What? etc)
Here are some questions you can ask and some ways you can answer:
What’s your name? (My name’s) Petter Browne.
the time? It’s 10 o’clock.
that building over there? That’s the Post Office Tower.
What nationality are you? I’m Swedish
do you usually do at week- (I usually) stay at home and watch
ends? TV.
have you been doing today? (I’ve been working hard as usual.
How’s your mother? She’s fine, thanks.
he going to get home? (He says he’s going) by taxi.
it going? Very well, thanks.
How do you know he lives in a flat? (Because) he told me
many people live in your About 50 million
country? Oh, (I got home) by bus
did you get home last night?
When do you usually start work? (I usually start work) at 9 o’clock.
did you first visit England? (I first visit England) in 1964.
can you see me? (I can see you) tomorrow afternoon,
if you like
How does it take to get to Brighton? (It takes) about an hour.
long can you stay? Not very long. I’m afraid.
have you been working for the (I’ve been working there) since
BBC 1970.
Where do you live? (I live) in Chelsea
did you go last night? (I went) to the pictures.
have you put my tie? (It’s) in the top drawer.
Which car is his? (It’s) the blue Mini over there
country do you come from? (I come from) France.
job did you finally take? (I finally took) the one in Scotland.
146 Teaching Language Skills
Why do you want this job? Because I’ve always been interested
in advertising.
are you late? I’m sorry, but I missed the bus.
did you say that to her? Because I felt like it-that all!
Written Practice
The aim of this section is to consolidate the preceding oral practice.
It provides a useful check for the teacher that the student has mastered the
various language items practiced orally. This section can also be set for
homework. Alternatively, it can be done orally in class and written out later
at home. If extra written work is necessary, the students can be asked to
write out selected units as suggested in Functional Practice (no.3) above.
Example of written practice (Watcyn-Jones, 1980, p. 35)
Write out the following questions and answer them:
1. Ask someone what he/she usually has or breakfast.
A: ………………………………………………..?
B: ………………………………………………..
2. Ask someone where he/she was born.
A: ………………………………………………..?
B: ………………………………………………..
3. Ask someone how he’s she’s getting home today.
A: ………………………………………………..?
B: ………………………………………………..
4. Ask someone when he/she first went abroad.
A: ………………………………………………..?
B: ………………………………………………..
5. Ask someone how long it takes to fly to America.
A: ………………………………………………..?
B: ………………………………………………..
Dialogue Practice
The dialogue practice is meant for consolidation and this section
provides an opportunity for oral as well as written consolidation. The dialogue
Teaching Integrated Skills 147
Example dialogue:
Practice reading the following dialogue in pairs. Read the dialogue
again, replacing the phrases in bold with phrases of similar meanings. Then
write out the new dialogue.
A : So you come from Edinburg, do you, Joanna?
B : Yes, that’s right.
A : Well, it’s certainly a beautiful city.
B : Oh, you’ve been there, have you?
A : No, I haven’t, actually. I saw it on TV when the festival was there.
Is there a festival every year?
B : Yes, there is.
A : By the way, where are staying in London?
B : The Selfridge Hotel. Do you know it, Simon?
A : Oh, yes. As a matter of fact I’ve got a flat just round the corner
from it.
B : Have you really? Well, isn’t that strange?
A : Yes, it is, isn’t it?
148 Teaching Language Skills
B : Oh, would you excuse me for a moment? I just want to have a word
with someone.
A : Certainly. But you’ll dance with me later on, won’t you?
B : Yes, of course.
2. Role-Play
This is the culmination of all the work done in the unit and the real test
of whether or not the student has mastered the language items practiced, so
as to be able to perform effectively in a set situation.
The steps of the role-play, as stated in Watcyn-Jones (1980, pp. 14-15):
a. Setting of the situation
The teacher outlines the situation so that the students understand what
the role-play is all about. In most cases this can be done by reading
through the introduction to each role-play.
b. Role preparation
Time spent on role preparation will vary according to whether the
students have detailed roles or not. The teacher either allocates roles or
allows the students to choose roles for themselves. For the detailed roles,
roles cards can be made beforehand and given out and read. Students
now get ready for the role-playing, during which time the teacher goes
round and helps when necessary. If the room has to be arranged, it can
be done at this stage.
c. The role-play
A role-play may involve the whole class but more often smaller
groups within the class. If this is the case, the role-play should be done
simultaneously in-groups, with the teacher arranging the room in such
a way that each group has its own working area. Students start at the
same time and the teacher (as a passive observer) goes round each group
simply observing and noting any serious mistakes made. Should the
teacher be forced to take part in a role-play then he or she should assume
a minor role if possible. Since it is highly unlikely that all groups will
finish at the same time, a definite finishing time can be agreed on, when
the teacher stops the class whether they have completed their role-play
or not.
Teaching Integrated Skills 149
Follow-up
A role-play can be followed up in two ways, corrections and converstion and
further work.
a. Corrections
During the role-play the teacher should have been making notes of
mistakes, and it is now that the most serious or common ones can be
pointed out. Should the mistakes indicate that the students have still
not mastered the language needed to perform the particular function(s),
then it is obvious that further practice may be necessary and the role-
play repeated at a later date.
b. Conversation and further work
Most role-plays lend themselves to discussion- the subject matter
depending on the role-play. If creative writing practice is required,
students can be asked to write up their role-play in the form of a dialogue,
newspaper report, etc. If there are role cards, students can be asked
to write a dialogue based on the information in them. Finally, where
possible, a role-play should be repeated at a later date since role-play,
like other language activities, needs constant practice and repetition.
Students can always be given different roles, and brighter groups might
even suggest their own role-plays in addition to the ones contained here.
The procedure or techniques of teaching integrated skills suggested
above, which has been developed based a functional or notional syllabus,
involves not only the four language skills but also language components:
grammatical forms and vocabulary. The procedure begins with oral practice
of using the target language and then continues to the practice of written
forms of the language.
As mentioned earlier, Oxford (2001) suggests a way of teaching
integrated skills that is called content-based instruction or immersion
program. Students are expected to practice all of the language skills in
highly integrated, communicative activities by learning content subjects.
The following section will address the possible programs that immerse the
teaching of English into the teaching of (a) subjects
It is expected that students will have enough opportunities to use
English while they learn certain subjects in schools. We do not teach English
150 Teaching Language Skills
in schools but we use the language in order for our students to learn the
language. The following programs introduced here may be considered. In
this section we use common terms but they are used differently from their
original concepts.
3. Full Immersion
Different from the original concept, full immersion in this module
refers to individual subjects. Here, the full immersion is not considered a
form of bilingual education. English is not used in all subjects of the school.
The language is only “fully” used in certain subjects chosen. In implementing
full immersion, the texts of the chosen subjects are written in English,
learning teaching interaction for the subjects is done in English and their
learning output of the subjects is also evaluated in English. In order for the
full immersion works optimally in the school, we need teachers and students
with good English skills.
4. Semi Immersion
It is called “semi immersion” or quasi immersion if you like, since
English is not used all of the time in learning teaching interaction. English is
used to present the content of the teaching materials and the students may
use their first language to respond to the class. In Evaluation the students
may use either English or Indonesian. Since the purpose of this program
is to encourage the students to acquire English, those who decide to use
English in the evaluation process may be given a credit. Even though this
program does not expect the students to have good English, the teachers
should master the language communicatively.
5. Content-Based Syllabus
The original idea of content-based syllabus is actually not different
from the “full” immersion program. The primary purpose of instruction
in the immersion program is to teach some subjects or information using
the target language. The subject is primary and language learning occurs
automatically while language learners are studying the subject. The idea
of the content-based syllabus is in line with the idea of the immersion
program. For some reasons, the term “content-based syllabus” in this section
Teaching Integrated Skills 151
1. Gallery Walk
Gallery Walk and A Gallery Walk can help students think about
complex questions. It can also help them develop and evaluate solutions to
problems. Or, a Gallery Walk can be used for students to present the results
of a project.
Procedure:
1. Before the activity begins, the teacher prepares posters to put around the
room. The posters have “big” questions – questions that are complex or
difficult – on them. The questions should NOT have an “easy” answer.
They should NOT be questions that can be answered with facts. Instead,
the questions should require students to think deeply, to think critically,
to support an opinion, to defend a position, etc.
2. The students come into the room. The students form small groups
around the poster. Each group is given a different color pen or marker.
3. Groups will have about 5 minutes to discuss and respond to the question
on the poster. The group as a whole responds to the statement on the
poster. They write down their response.
4. The teacher tells the groups when time is up. The groups keep their pen/
marker and move to the next poster. They repeat Step #3.
5. After all of the groups have visited all of the posters, have the students
return to their original poster. They should compare the responses of the
other groups to that question. Has this group changed their opinion?
Why or why not?
6. If time allows, students can walk around and look at all responses on all
posters.
Adaptations:
Instead of doing this as a group activity, students can respond to
posters individually. Or, iinstead of responding to prompts, groups can
prepare an informational poster (for example, with the results of a research
project) ahead of time. Then, the posters are put on the walls. At least one
group member stays with the poster at all times. Other students walk around
and look at the posters. They can ask questions of the group members who
made the poster.
Teaching Integrated Skills 153
2. Jigsaw discussions
Jigsaw discussions are like jigsaw puzzles. Every person in the
discussion is like a different piece of the puzzle – each piece is needed in
order to make the puzzle complete. The Jigsaw Technique can be used for
group discussion. Or, the Jigsaw Technique can be used for a group research
project. Either way, teams of students are assigned to work on a different
problem or issue. After the teams finish their assignments, new groups
form. The new groups have at least one member from the original groups.
Members in the new groups then teach each other what they learned in their
original groups.
Procedure:
1. The teacher divides the class into small groups (4-6 students).
2. The teacher gives each group a discussion topic. Each group’s topic
is different. (if you have many groups – more than 5 – you can repeat
the same topic with more than one group. For example, if you have
10 groups, you can use 5 topics. Each topic would be discussed by 2
groups). The topic can be based on reading assignments the students did
before class. They can be based on lecture topics that have been covered
in class, or they can be based on other topics the teacher or students
think are important.
3. The teacher tells students how long they should work together (example:
10 minutes). The groups discuss their topic.
4. After the groups complete their discussions, the group will split up. The
teacher will form NEW groups. The new groups will have members
from the original groups.
5. In the new group, each group member will take turns and teach the
rest of the group. They will talk about what they discussed in their first
group.
6. After each group member reports on what the original group talked
about, the new group will have a discussion together.
Adaptations:
Instead of using the Jigsaw Technique for discussions only, you can
use this technique for research projects. For example, if students are learning
about Indonesia, the teacher can assign one region of Indonesia to each
154 Teaching Language Skills
group. After the groups research their regions, they meet with new group
members to learn about the other regions of Indonesia.
7. After the unit is completed (or at some points during the unit), the
teacher asks the students to discuss what they learned during the unit or
lesson. The teacher writes these ideas in the last column, “Learned.”
8. If possible, the teacher should put the chart paper on the wall for students
to see for several days or weeks.
Adaptations:
You can create a worksheet for students to complete individually,
instead of doing this as a group discussion.
4. Think-Pair-Share
During a Think-Pair-Share activity, students: (1) think about a question/
problem, (2) discuss the problem/question with a classmate, and (3) share
their thinking with the whole class. Think-Pair-Share helps create good class
discussions that are short. They also help all students to be involved in the
discussion.
Procedure:
1. The teacher should ask a question for the whole class. This question (or
problem) should ask students to think deeply or critically about a topic
or issue. It should not be a question that is answered with “yes”, “no”,
or some other quick answer.
2. The teacher will allow students to think about this question for 30-60
seconds. Students can write down their ideas, if they want.
3. After students have thought about the question and written down their
ideas, they turn to their neighbor to form a pair. The pairs of students
discuss their thinking/ideas about the question or problem. The pairs
can also write down their thinking on paper.
4. Pairs should discuss for 1-2 minutes. The teacher should make sure that
both students have a chance to talk during this part.
5. Then, the teacher asks the pairs to share what they talked about. The
pairs report to the whole class.
6. Finally, the teacher facilitates a whole-class discussion. This discussion
should be based on what the students talked about during their pair
discussions.