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PRODUCTIVE SKILLS: SPEAKING AND WRITING.
Both are used for communicative purposes. People communicate for these reasons:
* they have something to say.
* they want to listen to something.
* they have some communication purpose.
* they're interested in what is being said.
The teacher has to bring a number of these factors if he/she wishes to introduce a communicative activity.
Speaking - speaking activities in the classroom include:
* controlled activities such as drilling and prompting.
* creative communication such as debates, simulations, communication games, free role play. etc.
Students may be reluctant to speak in the classroom for lack of confidence, peer pressure, fear of making mistakes, lack of interest in the topic and so many other reasons. Teachers are expected to encourage interaction by using techniques such as
* pair work.
* groupwork.
* lots of controlled and guided practice.
* careful planning.
* changing the classroom dynamics. etc.
Before a speaking activity, the teacher should
* decide on his/her aims,
* prepare all the necessary materials,
* work out his/her instructions,
* work out the length of the activity and tailor it accordingly,
* try to predict students' contribution and any accompanying problems.
During the activity, the teacher should engage the students by
* arousing their interests using visuals,
* setting up the activity in such a way that the aims are clear to the students and that they understand,
* give the students enough preparation time before they tackle the problem.
And after the activity, the teacher should evaluate the students' performance and give feedback.
Writing skills - many words in the English language are pronounced the same but written differently, and many others are written the same but pronounced differently. The teacher needs to draw the students' attention to the different ways of pronouncing the same letters (or combinations of letters) and have them do exercises to discover spelling rules. one of such exercises is poetry.
The differences in speaking and writing are:
* spelling - incorrect spelling creates misunderstanding and can be perceived by the reader as a lack of education.
* handwriting - students should be encouraged to improve their handwriting as poor handwriting may influence the reader in a negative way.
* layout and punctuation - the teacher should help the students have different layouts of writing and to use punctuation accurately, as incorrect usage can lead to awkwardness and a difficult looking piece of work.
Creative writing should be encouraged as it engages the students and gives them a sense of pride in their finished work.
Games in the classroom should be regarded as an integral part of the syllabus and should be incorporated into teaching the English language. some of these games include:
* crossword,
* hangman,
* tongue twisters,
* Pictionary,
* twenty questions. etc.
From this unit, I learnt that teaching a student to write and speak correctly is an integral part of teaching the English language. I learnt about speaking and writing activities in the classroom and how they can be utilised to help the students improve in their speaking and writing skills.
