Module teaching and integrating language skills lesson 1

Suggested web sites:
www.teachingenglish.org.uk
www.pearsonlongman.com/ae/
www.developreading.com
MODULE 2 TEACHER’S PRESENCE IN THE CLASSROOM LESSON 34
Final assessment
Advantages of Integrated Skills Teaching
Skills integration helps learners to see how the four skills are interconnected and interrelated to each other. For example, learning of listening leads to the use of speaking or writing. And the effectiveness of a particular skill depends on another skill. So if language teachers make use of the approach in the classroom properly, learners will be initiated to practice and they will have the readiness to do what they are supposed to do. As a result, learners will understand that language skills are rarely used in isolation outside the classroom McDonough and Shaw.
Also, the integration of the four macro skills in the classroom enhances learners’ communicative competence. This is because effective communication involves the integration of different language skills. Integrating skills in association with one another as it happens in real life is an important aspect to develop learners’ overall communicative abilities like (asking for information, responding to information etc.).
The other advantage of integrated skills teaching is that it exposes language learners to authentic language. This means the purpose of reading should be the same in the classroom as they are in real life. This provides the opportunity for the learners to use combined skills in their day to day communication situations. In this case, role play is the best technique that encourages learners to use ‘real’ life language. In order to integrate listening and speaking for example, a teacher may let learners play a role between a waiter and restaurant customer. This gives learners more practice in language use since integrating skills a matter of language use. Integrating the four language skills motivates learners. As Oxford¹ says “the integrated skill approach can be highly motivating to students of all ages and backgrounds.” Learners’ motivation to use language in the classroom can be maximized if a lesson which integrates a number of skills has more variety. In segregated skills teaching, for example, much time is spent treating the skills in isolation. The purpose is of course to practice the different skills in reading or listening. But such practice may not have variety. Learners have differences in their ability learn through hearing, seeing and muscular movement Gower, Phillips and Walters. In relation to this, Kumaravadivelu explains;
Various learners bring various learning styles and strategies to class. Integration of language skills has the potential to offer “different opportunities for different types of learners, for example, the extroverts who like to speak a lot, the introverts who prefer to listen or read, and the analytically or visually oriented learners who like to see how words are written and sentences constructed.”
Moreover, teaching by integrating skills allows language learners to engage in purposeful, meaningful and relevant learning. When these skills are practiced in integration it is more likely to be learned well. Integrated skills teaching practice as a form of communicative language teaching focuses on meaning. In terms of purpose, learners are aware that they read a text because they will be required to react to the text and to do something with it; and this makes the language lesson relevant.