Course: Developing and Teaching Language Skills
Student: Kevin Miguel Fernández Nieto
WRITING SKILLS
According to White and Arndt (1991), “It is the capacity of written language to
transcend time and space that makes the teaching and learning of writing such
an important process. Through writing we are able to share ideas, arouse
feelings, persuade and convince other people. We are able to discover and
articulate ideas in ways that only writing makes possible.” [1]. Nevertheless,
those aims may lose their importance when teachers correct students’ pieces
of writing. Ur (1999) in her book A Course in Language Teaching emphasizes
that teachers should “note corrections within body of the text, and devote
comments at the end to matters of content and organization, followed by the
evaluation … and give the evaluation only on the basis of the rewritten, polished
version.” [2].
Taking into account that beginner students tend to drop out
of their studies when they do not feel comfortable being
criticized for their pieces of writing, what could teachers do
to boost students' self-esteem after bad writing experiences?
Instead of focusing only on the
mistakes students might have made,
teachers should highlight all the
positive aspects found on their
students’ writing. Giving positive
feedback not only will make them feel
fulfilled and increase their self-reliance
but also develop better writing skills. In
addition, students could do their best,
in this case write better, when they are given the opportunity to write about what
they know, so allowing them to write about their favorite topics will make writing
tasks more enjoyable and memorable activities.
Susan Brookhart (2017) asserts that “Feedback should be positive. It means
describing how the strengths in a student’s work match the criteria for good
work and how those strengths show what the student is learning. Just noticing
what is wrong without offering suggestions to make it right is not helpful.” [3].
[1] White, Ron, and Valerie Arndt. Process writing. London: Longman, 1991.
[2] Ur, Penny. A Course in Language Teaching: Practice and Theory. Ernst Klett Sprachen, 1999, pp. 170.
[3] Brookhart, Susan M. How to give effective feedback to your students. ASCD, 2017.
SPEAKING SKILLS
In his book Teaching by Principles
(2007), Douglas Brown describes
the role of teachers during speaking
activities saying that “One of the
best ways to develop your role as
initiator and sustainer of the
interaction is to develop a repertoire
of question strategies. With lower
level students, it is the best to ask
easier questions. This helps
students to become accustomed to
responding in English.” [4]. Also, when Penny Ur (2009) describes the
characteristics of a successful speaking activity, she points out that “Learners
express themselves in utterances that are relevant, easily comprehensible to
each other, and of an acceptable level of language accuracy.” [5].
Considering that beginner students are not used to talking in English because
of their lack of experience, how should teachers implement speaking activities
that bear in mind relevant, comprehensible and accurate language according
their level?
When planning speaking activities, teachers should pick those that are related
to the topic discussed during class. Giving the most real situations to discuss to
students, based on what they have already learned, will ensure that the
language they are supposed to use during speaking will become relevant
because situations are common to them. Also, in order to make students speak
accurately, before they start talking, teachers should provide some practical
vocabulary words and practice their pronunciation. It will also help students
communicate more comprehensible ideas.
Brown and Nation (1997) in their article Teaching speaking: Suggestions for the
classroom conclude that "in speaking classes there must be (1) some attention
to the formal aspects of speaking such as pronunciation, vocabulary,
grammar, and the appropriate use of the spoken language; (2) opportunity and
encouragement for learners to produce meaningful spoken messages … and
(3) opportunity for the learners to gain truly fluent use of what is already
known." [6].
[4] Douglas, Brown H. Teaching by Principles. An Interactive Approach to Language. Pedagogy: San Francisco State
University (2007).
[5] Ur, Penny. A Course in Language Teaching: Practice and Theory. Ernst Klett Sprachen, 1999, pp. 120.
[6] Brown, Robert Sanborn, and Paul Nation. "Teaching speaking: Suggestions for the classroom" LANGUAGE TEACHER-
KYOTO-JALT- 21 (1997): 11-15.