AURAL AND ORAL SKILLS
Much of our language-teaching energy is devoted to instruction in mastering English conversation. However, numerous other forms of spoken language are also important to incorporate into a language course, especially in teaching listening comprehension (Brown, 2001). It is so important to develop Aural and oral skills in our learners because one way or the other their proficiency in the target language is to be judged by how well they conduct themselves in such a language. From a communicative, pragmatic view of the language classroom, listening and speaking skills are closely intertwined. More often than not, ESL curricula that treat oral communication skills will simply be labeled as “Listening/Speaking” courses (Brown, 2001). People will be able to tell whether they understand the language or not by how well their listening and speaking skills are utilized/ commanded.
Depending on the level, a student might claim to perfectly understand when others talk to him/her(listening); however, that is not likely to be believed unless he/she provides a suitable answer in words (speaking/oral production) .Therefore, teachers are not to neglect such skills in the target language. I always tell my students that the more they learn, and practice the better they will produce in whatever language they are instructed. Every skill is important when acquiring a language and; none is to be neglected.
AURAL SKILLS
Such skills are important because in order to properly interact one needs to understand what is said. Otherwise, interaction will be limited. Listening is not a one-way street. It is not merely the process of a unidirectional receiving of audible symbols. But , that is just the beginning of what is a number of different cognitive and affective mechanisms (Brown, 2001). The importance of listening in language learning can hardly be overestimated. Through reception, we internalize linguistic information without which we could not produce language. Listening competence is universally “larger’ than speaking competence (Brown, 2001).
PRINCIPLES FOR DESIGNING LISTENING TECNIQUES
1. In an interactive, four-skill curriculum, make sure that you don’t overlook the importance of techniques that specifically develop listening comprehension competence.
2. Use techniques that are intrinsically motivating.
3. Utilize authentic language and contexts.
4. Carefully consider the form of listeners’ responses.
5. Encourage the development of listening strategies.
6. Include both bottom-up and top –down listening techniques.
ORAL- SKILLS
Much of our language-teaching energy is devoted to instruction in mastering English conversation. When someone asks you “ Do you speak English?, “ they usually mean: Can you carry on a conversation reasonably-competently? The benchmark of successful language acquisition is almost always the demonstration of an ability to accomplish pragmatic goals through interactive discourse with other speakers of the language (Brown,2001). And yet, as Richards (1990:67) noted, “the conversation class is something of an enigma in language teaching. “ The goals and the techniques for teaching conversation are extremely diverse, depending on the student, teacher, and overall context of the class.
TEACHING PRONUNCIATION
Current approaches to pronunciation contrast starkly with the early approaches. Rather than attempting only to build a learner’s articulatory competence from the bottom up, and simply as the mastery of a list of phonemes and allophones, a top-down approach is taken in which the most relevant features of pronunciation- stress, rhythm, and intonation- are given high priority. Instead of teaching only the role of articulation within words, or at best, phrases, we teach its role in a whole of discourse(Brown,2001). Rita Wong (1987:21) reminded us that contemporary views [of language] hold that the sounds of a language are less crucial for understanding than the way they are organized. The rhythm and intonation of English are two major organizing structures that native speakers rely on to process speech…..Because of their major roles in communication, rhythm and intonation merit greater priority in the teaching program that attention to individual sounds.
PRINCIPLES FOR DESIGNING SPEAKING TECNIQUES
1. Use techniques that cover the spectrum of learner needs, from language based focus on accuracy to message-based focus on interaction, meaning, and fluency.
2. Provide intrinsically- motivating skills.
3. Encourage the use of authentic language in meaningful contexts.
4. Provide appropriate feedback and correction.
5. Capitalize on the natural link between speaking and listening.
6. Give students opportunities to initiate oral communication.
7. Encourage the development of speaking strategies.
WHAT MAKES LISTENING/SPEAKING DIFFICULT?
1. Clustering
2. Redundancy
3. Reduced forms
4. Performance variables
5. Colloquial language
6. Rate of delivery
7. Stress, rhythm, and intonation
8. Interaction (Brown,2001)
COMMUNICATIVE-COMPETENCE
Given that communicative competence is the goal of a language classroom, instruction needs to point toward all its components: organizational, pragmatic, strategic, and psychomotor. Communicative goals are best achieved by giving due attention to language use and not just usage, to fluency and not just accuracy, to authentic language and contexts, and to students’ eventual need to apply classroom learning to previously unrehearsed contexts in the real world (Brown,2001).
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