Do you want to be TEFL or TESOL-certified and teach in Liuhulan Zhen? Are you interested in teaching English in Luliang Shi? Check out ITTT’s online and in-class courses, Become certified to Teach English as a Foreign Language and start teaching English ONLINE or abroad! ITTT offers a wide variety of Online TEFL Courses and a great number of opportunities for English Teachers and for Teachers of English as a Second Language.
Teaching Productive Skills Productive skills as the term suggests are associated with producing language. Speaking is normally the main focus among EFL students and teachers while writing tends to be under developed. Both skills however are important. An understanding of the tendencies of students when learning the skills, knowledge of methods used to teach and flexibility are essential to teaching them effectively. When teaching writing skills, a teacher can expect students to have different degrees of familiarity with the English language. Some students may therefore need to begin by learning the alphabet as their native language may have different alphabetic characters from those in the English alphabet. As illegible letters will inhibit communication, shaping letters well is important. Practice is key to achieving good handwriting. Handwriting may be simultaneously practiced writing exercise for various class exercises. Most practice however is best done at home through homework. This is because the classroom environment provides the most appropriate conditions for speech practice, especially if the learners live in a non English speaking country. These conditions are best utilised by committing them to speech activities. Study phase activities to encourage writing include creative writing and writing narratives of dialogues with picture prompts. Spelling is an important area to concentrate on as incorrect spellings reflect poorly on an individual. Learning spellings is difficult for non native and native English learners alike. This difficulty is partly due the fact that English is not a phonetic language. This means that one phonemic sound can be spelt differently in various word combinations. Reading, as it gives learners repeated exposure to words is an effective way for students to familiarise themselves with idiosyncrasies of English spelling. The practice of spellings through writing and trial and error is also way of learning. A teacher may identify opportunities to allow students to do so. As a rule the language produced by language learners is significantly less than their known language. This is due to a lack of confidence and experience with the language. Taking this into consideration, the onus is on the teacher to devise ways and employ methods that encourage speech. Elicitation of language by asking questions, using visual prompts such as physical objects and pictures are helpful. For the inherently shy individuals pair work activities and group work effectively encourage speech. These activities decrease the pressure felt of failure in the presence of a large audience and allow students to build confidence in their abilities in a safe environment. When teaching speech skills, more focus is concentrated on fluency of speech rather than accuracy. Errors in grammar and pronunciation should be expected but not completely ignored. To strike a balance between encouraging fluency of speech and accuracy, a concoction of controlled, guided and creative activities can be used. A speech drill is an effective controlled activity used. In a speech drill a teacher provides model pronunciation for students to mimic in a choral repetition thrice. Three selected individuals then each repeat the word once. This method uses repetition to reinforce pronunciation it is effective for learners of all ages and at any level of learning. Guided activities are speech activities that allow the teacher to control speech output but at the same time allow the student room for creativity. Activities that focus on fluency have little to no control of speech output. These include discussions and free role play. An assessment of a learner's progress with both skills is important for. Feedback on areas in need of improvement should be given to students in a manner that does not cause discouragement. Correction should be given for glaring and repetitive errors. This is especially important to observe for speaking skills as it is highly likely that a learner's confidence will be fragile in this area. Recording a speech activity and playing it back for students to point out and discuss areas for improvement is an effective method for feedback. Glaring errors made by individuals should be discussed in private.
