Integrating skills in the language classroom

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Integrating skills in the language classroom

• Peter Lucantoni

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Peter Lucantoni

• Started teaching in 1979 in UK, MA TESOL
  University of Edinburgh, lived and worked in
  Europe and Middle East, now based in Cyprus
• Author, Educational Consultant Teacher Trainer
  for Cambridge University Press
• Cambridge TKT, CELTYL, CELTA DELTA trainer and
  Cambridge CELTYL assessor
• Examiner for Cambridge ESOL speaking examinations

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Workshop overview

• What does integrated mean?
• What are skills, language skills and sub-skills?
• What does integrating skills mean?
• How can we integrate language skills in the
  classroom?
• Conclusions

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What does integrated mean?

• When we integrate things, they combine, or work
  together to make something more effective
• An integrated system or organisation combines
  different groups or ideas in a way that works
  well

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What does integrated mean?

• The teeth on a zip fastener need to combine in
  order for it to become effective
• Equally true is that language skills need to
  combine, to be integrated, in order for
  communication to become effective

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What are skills?

• Try not to think about ELT! Discuss and try to
  agree on a definition.

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What are skills?

• The ability to do something well needs to
  continue to be consolidated and practised or we
  can easily lose our skill
• If Rooney stopped practising, would he continue
  to be a skilled footballer?
• And what about the pianist and carpenter?

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What are skills?

• People who have a skill demonstrate the ability
  to do something well a skilled footballer
  scores goals, a skilled pianist plays well, a
  skilled carpenter makes beautiful furniture

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What are skills?

• We are not necessarily born with the skill to do
  something
• Usually, skills are developed during life
  Rooney, the pianist and the carpenter all needed
  plenty of lessons and practice before they became
  skilled

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Language skills and sub-skills

• To be completely effective in a language we need
  to be competent in the skills of reading,
  writing, listening and speaking, as well as in
  thinking about language
• Look at Units 2 and 11. Find examples of all the
  language skills discussed here

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Language skills and sub-skills

• However, being skilled in a language necessitates
  also having good language sub-skills
• What are sub-skills? Why are sub-skills
  important, and when do we use them?

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Language skills and sub-skills

• People who use a language employ a number of
  sub-skills, or strategies
• Sub-skills are chosen depending on the task to be
  completed

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Language sub-skills
skimming
note- taking
analysing
for details
presenting
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Skimming WHY?
Language sub-skills
note-taking WHY?
analysing WHY?
for details WHY?
presenting WHY?
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Language sub-skills

• A language learners proficiency in the various
  sub-skills will be different furthermore, every
  learners needs in each sub-skill will be
  different from the next learners needs

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Language sub-skills

• One of our roles as teachers of E2L is to help
  learners to develop those skills and sub-skills
  which they
• are weak in
• need for a particular purpose
• Also, we need to help them identify which
  sub-skills are most appropriate for a particular
  task

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Language sub-skills

• Look again at Units 2 and 11. How many examples
  of sub-skills practice can you find? Make a list.
  Look at these examples
• Unit 2 Page 19 Exercise 3 listening for gist
  
• Unit 11 Page 89 Exercise 3 proof- reading
  writing
• Compare your lists. Same or different?

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Language sub-skills

• So, learners need to be able to identify which
  sub-skills are required for a task, then to
  implement them
• Outside the classroom, this happens
  automatically people are able to select those
  sub-skills that are most important to their task
  (Harmer, 1991)

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Language sub-skills

• But language learners need to be trained to
  identify apply sub-skills, they need practice
  consolidation, in the same way that Rooney does

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Integrating skills

• The learner must develop skills and strategies
  for using language to communicate meanings as
  effectively as possible (Littlewood, 2001)

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Integrating skills
What does integrating skills mean?

• Language skills are integrated they cooperate
  with each other (Lucantoni, 2002)
• Language users employ a combination of skills at
  the same time (Harmer, 1991)

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Integrating skills
goal integrated communicative
language competence

• Confidence and independence need to be built and
  developed in using language in real .
  situations
• While language and grammar are important,
  communicative . should be our .
• And of course an . approach to language
  teaching learning will find room for focusing
  on specific areas of . where necessary

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Integrating skills

• Confidence and independence need to be built and
  developed in using language in real
  communicative situations
• While language and grammar are important,
  communicative competence should be our goal

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Integrating skills

• And of course an integrated approach to language
  teaching learning will find room for focusing
  on specific areas of language where necessary
  (eg, lexis, grammar)

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Integrating skills

• Choose an authentic text and think of one of your
  classes for which you think the content and level
  would be appropriate
• Design an integrated skills lesson using the text
  and your ideas from this workshop

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Workshop review

• What does integrated mean?
• What are skills, language skills and sub-skills?
• What does integrating skills mean?
• How can we integrate language skills in the
  classroom?
• Conclusions

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• Lucantoni, P, Teaching Assessing Skills in E2L,
  Cambridge University Press 2002
• Harmer, J, The Practice of English Language
  Teaching, Longman 1991
• Littlewood, W, Communicative Language Teaching,
  Cambridge University Press 2001
• Oxford, R, Integrated Skills in the EFL/ESL
  Classroom, http//findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_p
  ric/is_/ai_3410705918 180408
• Oxford, R, Language learning strategies. What
  every teacher should know, Heinle Heinle 1990
• Nunan , D, Designing tasks for the communicative
  classroom, Cambridge University Press1989
• Tanner Green, Tasks for Teacher Education,,
  Longman 1998

Bibliography
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Any questions?
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• peter_at_cup-training.org