Which are the productive and receptive skill? What are
their different?
The
four types of communication skills taught in an English classroom are speaking,
writing, reading, and listening. These four separate language skills are also
commonly known as productive and receptive skills.
Both
require some form of language production, Alternatively, you can also find the
productive skills called active skills and the receptive skills called passive
skills.
Speaking
and listening are an important set of literacy skills that will create the
foundation of the learning in a student Listening requires the fundamental
skill of focusing attention on the speaker to be able to hear and understand
what the speaker is saying.
The
more you read and write, the more you broaden your vocabulary and are able to
articulate concepts accurately and more effectively to others. Increasing your
ability to communicate also helps make you a better worker or student.
What are the types of reading and listening?
Reading
The types of reading are: Extensive
reading (reading for pleasure) and Intensive reading.
Extensive reading is concerned with
reading different books and other study material based on a similar concept or
idea. In contrast, intensive reading involves reading the given material, again
and again, to understand it in full.
In extensive reading, readers are not
supposed to use a dictionary, as understanding each and every word contained in
the material is not vital. As opposed, in intensive reading readers have to use
the dictionary, to understand the meaning of every single word which is
unfamiliar to them.
While extensive reading is important
for improving the reading speed and fluency of the reader, intensive reading
develops critical thinking, analytical skills in the reader, along with
improving reading skills, vocabulary and grammatical knowledge.
Listening
The
types of listening are: Extensive listening and Intensive listening.
Extensive
listening is listening without being constrained by pre-set questions or tasks,
or listening at or below one's comfortably fluent listening ability. Extensive
listening does not require listening for specific information, listening for
the exact words of a phrase or expression, or listening for details.
Intensive
listening focuses primarily on brief listening exercises. While they usually
only take a few minutes, they offer focused, intense practice. This is because
intensive listening focuses mostly on form.
While
intensive listening focuses on short audio clips, extensive listening focuses
on longer audio clips - the longer the better! Intensive listening means that
you will be working hard and analysing what you hear.
The
reading skills are:
·
Skimming
·
Scanning
·
Reading for detailed comprehension
Skimming and scanning are reading
techniques that use rapid eye movement and keywords to move quickly through
text for slightly different purposes. Skimming is reading rapidly in order to
get a general overview of the material. Scanning is reading rapidly in order to
find specific facts.
These
are the different strategies to apply the reading skills:
Ø Discussion
Ø Jigswa reading
Ø Reading puzzles
Ø Story telling from
pictures
Ø Debates
The
listening skills are:
·
Paralinguistic clues.
·
Listening for specific information.
·
Listening for general understanding.
Listening for gist: you listen in
order to understand the main idea of the text. Listening for specific
information: you want to find out specific details, for example key words.
Listening for detailed understanding: you want to understand all the
information the text provides.
These
are the different strategies to apply the listening skills:
Ø Completing stories
Ø Jigsaw listening
Ø Message note taking
Ø Filling the gaps
Ø Listening and summarizing
What is genre and how it is used in communicative skill teaching?
Genre is a term used to classify types of spoken or written discourse. These are normally classified by content,
language, purpose and form. Learners analyze an example of a formal letter of
complaint, looking at structure, set phrases, formality and purpose.
An important benefit of genre-based approach
in L2 communication either spoken or written is that it provides a systematic
framework to follow for L2 students who have only limited exposure to authentic
English writing. In genre-based approach, communication either spoken or
written is considered the students’ reproduction of text based on the genre
offered by the teacher. As a result, genre is expected to offer a process of
production of a text, according to genre, so the guided process may be favored
over the product. It is also believed that it is through imitation and exploration of different kinds of models that the learners can
improve their writing skills.
Accordingly, learners should be exposed to
as many examples of the same genre as possible to develop their ability to
write a particular genre.
What is the difference between fluency and accuracy?
Fluency is the flow and efficiency with which
you express your ideas, particularly when speaking. A few grammar mistakes may
appear here and there in the explanation, but it should be delivered in a way
that is easy to understand and shows how comfortable you are with the language.
In an academic or even professional setting,
this is one of the skills to focus on for an oral presentation or debate.
The way you explain your topic or prove your
point – smooth, clear and concise without too many pauses or hesitations – is
as important as the content of your presentation.
Outside of the classroom, fluency can help you
socialize with native English speakers and avoid misunderstandings.
Accuracy, on the other hand, demonstrates your
ability to use the necessary vocabulary, grammar and punctuation correctly,
such as verb forms (past tense, present tense, and so on), articles (a, an,
the) and prepositions (in, on, from, at).
This skill is particularly important for
written assignments at university, such as essays and lab reports. It is also
an absolute necessity in the work place, where an email or report that is
riddled with grammar or punctuation mistakes may be viewed as
unprofessional.
So, which situation applies to you and what
are you looking to accomplish?
Which is the most important to teach?
Of course, to be a well-rounded speaker of
English, it is important to have a good grasp on both fluency and accuracy, but
this is a learning journey that takes time and dedication.
Fluency is the most important as
long as students are accurate enough to be understood, then building fluent,
confident and competent communicators are more important.
Why?
Fluent speakers can effectively produce
units of speech and link them together in communication in a faster rate.
