Integration of Language Skills

Presented by: Pn Suraya bt Harun, PISMP L3, TSL3103 Linking Theory to Practice, Sem 1 2015.

Integration of language skills •Discuss the principles of integration of

language skills•Discuss the purpose and rationale of

integration of language content in the teaching of language skills

•Discuss the strengths and limitation of each method

•Earlier the teaching of four skills had been done in separate segments.

•However, a recent trend is toward skill integration.

•That is, rather than designing a curriculum to teach the many aspects of one skill, say, reading, curriculum designers are now taking a whole language approach whereby reading is treated as one of two or more interrelated skills.

Whole Whole Language Language ApproachApproach

Inventors •Noam Chomsky and Goodman

DefinitionThe simultaneous, integrated teaching of listening, speaking, reading, and writing within a meaningful context

PRINCIPLES:

•Teach English as spoken by native speakers

•No phonics!

•“The whole is greater than the sum of its parts”

•Emphasis on experience and

exposure to meaningful content

•Lessons should be learner centered

•The teacher leads and guides

•No dyslexic students everyone remembers

WLA is a label that has been used to describe:•Cooperative learning•Participatory learning•Student-centred learning•Focus on community of learners•Focus on the social nature of language•Use of authentic, natural language•Meaning-centered language•Holistic assessment techniques in testing•Integration of the four skills

A lesson in a so-called reading class•A pre-reading discussion of the topic to

activate schemata•Listening to a teacher’s monologue or a

series of informative statements a bout the topic of a passage to be read;

•A focus on a certain reading strategy, say, scanning

•Writing a response to or paraphrase of a reading passage.

Why Integrated Skills?

•Why do you think the teaching of the skills were not integrated in the first place?

Why Integrated Skills?

•Why do you think the teaching of the skills were not integrated in the first place?

•1. Focus was on forms of language•2. Administration purposes; easier to

program separate courses in reading and speaking & so on, to order books and to place students in courses.

•3. Not all classes are integrated e.g. ESP

Why Integrated Skills?•As Hinkel (2006. p 113) noted, “In an age of

globalization, pragmatic objectives of language learning place an increased value on integrated and dynamic multiskill instructional models with a focus on meaningful communication and the development of learners’ communicative competence.” ( Brown, 2007, p 286)

MODELS OF SKILLS INTEGRATION

•Content-Based Instruction•Task-Based Language Teaching

•Theme-Based Instruction•Experiential Learning•The Episode Hypothesis

1. What is content-based instruction?

•In content-based instruction, students practice all the language skills in

a highly integrated, communicative fashion while learning content such as science, mathematics, and social studies.

•.

What is content-based instruction? (cont.)• They learn about this subject using the language they

are trying to learn, rather than their native language, as a tool for developing knowledge and so they develop their linguistic ability in the target language.

• This is thought to be a more natural way of developing language ability and one that corresponds more to the way we originally learn our first language.

2. What is Task-Based Language Teaching?•In Task Based Language Teaching

(TBLT), students participate in communicative tasks in English.

• Tasks are defined as activities that can stand alone as fundamental units and that require comprehending, producing, manipulating, or interacting in authentic language while attention is principally paid to meaning rather than form (Nunan, 1989)

•In task-based instruction, basic pair work and group work are often used to increase student interaction and collaboration.

•For instance, students work together to write and edit a class newspaper, develop a television commercial, enact scenes from a play, or take part in other joint tasks.

Main features of TBLT:

•meaning is primary•there is some communication problem to

solve•there is some sort of relationship to

comparable real world activities•task completion has some priority•the assessment is done in terms of

outcomes

3. What is Theme-Based Instruction? •The theme-based model integrates the

language skills into the study of a theme (e.g., urban violence, cross-cultural differences in marriage practices, natural

 wonders of the world, or a broad topic such as change).

•The theme must be very interesting to

students and must allow a wide variety of language skills to be practiced, always in the service of communicating about the theme

4. Experiential Learning (David Kolb)

Experiential Learning•EL is a philosophy and methodology in which educators purposefully engage with students in direct experience and focused reflection in order to increase knowledge, develop skills, and clarify values.

Experiential Learning * also refer to as learning through action,

learning by doing, learning through experience, and learning through discovery and exploration, all which are clearly defined by these well-known maxims:

•Throughout the experiential learning process, the student is actively engaged in posing questions, investigating, experimenting, being curious, solving problems, assuming responsibility, being creative and constructing meaning.

5. The Episode Hypothesis• John Oiler came up with the episode

hypothesis based on Francois Gouin’s, the Series Method (the presentation of language in an easily followed storyline )

• The girl goes and seeks a piece of wood.She takes a hatchet.She draws near to the block.She places the wood on this block.She raises the hatchet.She brings down the hatchet.The blade strikes against the wood.etc.

•According to Oiler (1983b,p. 12), "text (i.e., discourse in any form) will be

easier to reproduce, understand, and recall, to

the extent that it is structured episodically." •The presentation of language is enhanced if

students receive interconnected sentences in an interest-provoking episode rather than in a disconnected series of sentences.

•Let’s compare the following dialogues:

Dialogue 1:Jack: Hi, Tony. What do you usually do on weekends?Tony: Oh, I usually study, but sometimes I go to a movie.Jack: Uh-huh. Well, I often go to movies, but I seldom study.Tony: Well, I don't study as much as Greg. He always studies on the weekends. He never goes out.

The episode hypothesis goes well beyond simple "meaningful" learning.

Read Dialogue 2:Darlene: I think I'll call Tina's mother. It's almost five and Chrissy isn't home yet.Meg : I thought Tina had chicken pox.Darlene: Oh, that's right. I forgot. Chrissy didn't go to Tina's today. Where is she?Meg : She's probably -with Gary. He has Little League practice until five.Darlene: I hear the front door. Maybe that's Gary and Chrissy.Gary : Hi.Darlene: Where's Chrissy? Isn't she with you?Gary : With me? Why with me? I saw her at two after school, but then I went to Little League practice. I think she left with her friend.Darlene: Which one?Gary : The one next door ... the one she walks to school with every day.Darlene: Oh, you mean Timmy. She's probably with him.Gary : Yeah, she probably is.Darlene: I'm going next door to check.

•You can see that this conversation, while easily understood, clearly presented, and perhaps quite relevant to students learning English, lacks a sense of drama—of "what's going to happen next?"

•Most of our communicative textbooks have many "Jack and Tony" types of presentation.

•They may illustrate certain grammatical or discourse features, but they don't grip the learner with suspense.

Tips for teachers:In order to integrate the language skills in

ESL/EFL instruction, teachers should consider taking these steps:

•* Learn more about the various ways to integrate language skills in the classroom (e.g., content-based, task-based, or a combination).

•* Reflect on the current approach and evaluate the extent to which the skills are integrated.

Tips for teachers:•* Choose instructional materials, textbooks, and technologies that promote the integration of listening, reading, speaking, and writing, as well as the associated skills of syntax, vocabulary, and so on.

•* Integrate the other language skills through appropriate tasks.

ConclusionConclusion:

•With careful reflection and planning, any teacher can integrate the language skills and strengthen the tapestry of language teaching and learning. When the tapestry is woven well, learners can use English effectively for communication.

Tutorial task (in groups of 4)

•Choose one of the models.•Briefly describe the model?•Discuss the strengths & weaknesses of the model.

•Design a lesson using the model to integrate the language skills.

•Thank you...for today.