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ISSN: 1130-0531 Didáctica (&oguo Literatura) ~0O0 ¡2: 21-41 An ApproaCh to tite

ISSN: 1130-0531 Didáctica (&oguo Literatura) ~0O0 ¡2: 21-41 An ApproaCh to tite Integration of SkilIs in English Teaching Miguel Ángel ALMARZA SÁNCHEZ Universidad Complutense de Madrid Resumen Con frecuencia, las destrezas de comprensión y expresión en la clase de lengua extranjera se han venido practicando como compartimentos estanco. Estos enfo- ques han producidouna separación entre la realidad del aula y la que nos encontra- mos en la vida real, produciendo una artificialidad nada propia de la práctica comu- nicativa. Este artículo pretende hacer hincapié en las prácticas integradas de las cuatro destrezas, para convertir las clases en un escenario más auténtico desde el punto de vista de la enseñanza y el aprendizaje, y más significativo y motivador para profesores y alumnos. Se trata de ofrecer una base para la práctica contextua- lizada de los contenidos lingílísticos. PALABRAS CIAVE: Integración, destrezas, comprensión, producción. Abstraet Receptive and productive skills have frequently been practised in isolation within teaching syllabuses. Such approaehes have in man>’ ways made an articificial distinetion between in-classroom and out-of-classroom realities, which is not inherent to communicative praetice. This article will focus on how the integration of alí four skills can contribute towards a more real-life environment for both teachers and leamers, as well as more meaningful and motivating. The basic idea is to offer a common ground for linguistie content to be fully contextualised. KEY WORDS: Integrauion, skills, receptive, productive. 21 Miguel Ángel Alrnarzo Soinchez An Approach te tIte lnlegration oitSkilIs in Englisli Teaclñng Résumé Fréquemrnent les habiletés de compréhension et expression ont été considérées dans la classe de langue étrangére eomme des eompartiments étanches. Ces pratiques de classe ont produit une séparation entre la réalité de la classe et celle que nous trouvons dans la vie réelle, produisant, dans le premier cas, une séparation artificielle inexistante dans la communication authentique. Le propos de cetarticle est d’insister sur l’intégration des quatre compétences pour faire de la classe de langue un endroit plus authentique du point de vue dc 1’ enseignement ¡ apprentissage et plus significatif et motivant pour professeurs et éléves et de présenter une démarche pour la pratique contextualisée des éléments du systéme de la langue. MOTS CLÉS: Intégrarion, compétences, compréhension, production. 1. Introduetion When we are teaching a second language we are trying to develop in the learner not just grammatical competence in the Chomskyan sense, but communicative competence. Thc leamer must, it is true, dcvelop the ability to produce and understand grammatical utterances, he must be able to distinguish grammatical from ungrammatical sequences, but he must also know when to select the one which is appropriate to the eontext, both linguistic and situational. Therefore, the language data to which the learner is exposed should be presented «in eontext». If ELT does not only involve the teaching of the English sound system. grammatical structures or vocabulary, but the practice of the contexts in which they occur —that is, understanding and producing language-, teachers will have a fundamental task in providing the students with texts, oral passages and situations for the students to communicate both in the written and the spoken form. These are the so-called four skills of reading, writing, listening and speaking. The work presented here intends to show an integrative approach to the teaehing and practice of the language skills. bearing in mmd that the language class will become more purposeful and mcaningful for the learner at alí levels if we do so. Thc methodological principies behind this approach are equally applicable lo general English. English for specitic purposes, or the Primary English classroom. Ewen Arnold (1993) points out that many tasks in task-based courses are purposeless because nothing is done with the students’ output and it does not lead anywhere. The idea is to make the classroom contexts and situations come closer Didácti<.a (Le”gua y Literatura) 2000, 12: 21-41 22 Migué-lÁngelAhnarza Sánchez An Approoch tú thé- Integrotion of SIdlls in English Teaching to the real-life ones, no matter how artificial or simulated we ma>’ think that the teaching and learning environment is. It is a matter of linking tasks; by way of example, when we deal with an answerphone message (listening), we often have to use this information in the spoken or written form (by ealling someone backor writing a note). Our primar>’ eoncern as teachers is to activate strategies for learning in the students. as well as providing student-centred materials which focus on the process of communication. Let us see in which way the integration of skills contribute to thc task of facilitating second language learning. 2. Why should we integrate skills? lf we ask, «What is the ultimate aim of language teachingt> most teachers would probabí>’ agree that one answer is that students should be able to understand aud produce the language that they need —in other words, we want them to develop their autonomy in language use, that is, a kind of freedom in their choice of language and manner. By integrating skills we are providing a certain input that becomes a basis for further output, which in turn will be new input, and so on. In this way the students’ contribut¡ons turn out to be pafl of the process in which language is generated. Rather than focusing on ways of controlling the language and ideas that students produce, we should always be looking for ways to free things up. Similarly, we should move the students from the role as consumen in the classroom towards ihe role as producers. By doing this, we are also likely to move away from «language specific» work and instead involve the students in broader educational processes. Some teachers will actually say that they are only responsible for teaching the language, and not for the general educational development of the students. l-lowever. as noted by Andrew Littlcjohn (1998: lO): Whcther wc are aware of it or not, students will always lcarn more u their language classes thao jusí language. Thcy will also lcarn their role u Ihe classroom aud tío a greater or lesser extentí pick up values aud attitudes from Ihe texts they use. Thcv wil also learn a lot ahout theniselves as learners .and about what language learning involves. In ni>’ view. when we integrate skills we are thinking beyond language alone and refiecí on how our teaching does. or does not, enrich the lives of the students; and. most importantly, we are using the target language and culture to do so. 23 I)~dá lico (Le,;g,<o y Lité-rotoro) 2000. 12: 21—41 MiguelÁngelAlroarza Sánchez Att Approach tú tIte Integration of SkiIIs ht English Teachiu’g Littlewood aLo mentions a nutnber of principies that ~find useful as a starting point to plan a series of lessons or coursebook units if we are to analyse the teaching of skills from a holistie point of view: • Making teaching eoherent means to ensure that tasks link together around a common topie which lasts a whole lesson or extends over a series of lessons. In this way the content will sta>’ with the leamer longer —and with it, the language. Otherwise, a random choice of topic to exemplify a language form makes it more difficult to learn the language. as there is nothing coherent to make it memorable. • Another way to enrich our teaching of skills and make language learning more cifective is to use eontent wortb learning about. We should expose the students to bits of language (through Reading or Listening) that are significant for the students to produce their own language (in Writing or Speaking) • Using the students’ intelligence: If we want to make language leaming more challenging and motivating, we should use what Chih-Hua Kuo (1993) calís process-oriented materials. The type of activities involved in the use of thcse materials are unprcdictable in nature and the learner must interpret and make inferences and decisions, since they are cognitivel>’ demanding. They facilitate interaction and the development of both linguistie knowledge and communication skills. The integration of skills comes more naturalí>’ if we accept that the students’ planning, reviewing and evaluating of their work is more motivating than a mere pattern practice, matching or repetition. • Fostering autonomy: Oní>’ when the students are able to understand or express the language that they need or want, can we think that there is a sense of aehievement, which is essential in the Iearning process. A group of EOI teachers in Barcelona have recently published some work (1998) on the analysis and exploitation of authentic audiovisual materials. Thcir eonclusions point to the neccssity to make the students aware that if there is a task to carry out, Iheir outcome should be relevant for them to apply in other in- classroom situations, as well as outside the classroom. Obviously the objective for English language leamers must be better communication; better communication with their peers, with sources of information and other leaming resources, sueh as literature, songs or Internet materials. It is here, in a dynamic learning environment where the integration of skills, either within a lesson or within a block of uploads/Management/ the-four-communicative-skills-in-language-teaching.pdf