I Semester - Special English - Unit 3 - Skill Oriented Teaching

Dear future teachers,

A quality time of period we have spent over discussing how teaching of a language differs from teaching a subject. The main difference falls in the instructional objectives of teaching the both.

Teaching a subject is predominantly knowledge oriented whereas through teaching a language, a teacher facilitates the learners to acquire / develop his/her communication skills. Hence, apart from teaching, a considerable amount of training aspect should also be found in the language teaching.

The teaching sessions should be oriented to incorporating varied skills of language.

1.      Reading skills are extremely important. Students that have the confidence and ability to read and comprehend reading material can begin to build a different English perspective. Articles and short stories are a great example of reading exercises, pairing reading with practice and production questions that will spark discussion with classmates.

2.      Discussion skills develop better conversation. Your students begin processing information in English when listening and speaking. They will be required to respond in English to what they hear. For video clips, you can have your students discuss the summary of what they had seen and heard. In a dialogue exercise, students can practice the art of conversation with a partner or in a collaborative group exercise.

3.      Writing skills are often overlooked in ESL, yet these skills are just as important as any other ESL skill around. Writing enables students to leap into description, putting their grammar and new vocabulary into practice. Your students can utilize writing in various ways, conveying their thoughts in English to the class, at home or even in their profession.

4.      Pronunciation skills allow your students to develop the sounds in their speech to be understood when speaking English abroad or during a business presentation. If your students lack the essential concepts within pronunciation, than they run the risk of being misunderstood and it may diminish the confidence they have built in your classroom after months of ESL study.

I I leave this list to you students to be further furnished / elaborated / added with other skills.

Expecting your contribution in the comments...

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