Introduction
English is one of the most spoken languages in the world. It has spread from the European countries to other countries and thus it transitioned into a global language. The teaching of English varies within the different levels of education. Today, in most European countries, English is taught as a foreign language for better understanding and fluent communication between and among people. English, just as any other language, has four language skills that one must follow in order to have enough knowledge on it. The four language skills include; listening, reading, speaking and writing. This essay explores strategies that help in the development of the four language skills taught in the EFL classroom.
Listening is one of the language skills that learners find the most difficult. The main reason behind this is because learners always feel like they are under pressure to understand every word. In order to improve this skill, the teacher has to try different methods of teaching. One, the teacher has to help the learners to be well prepared by giving them an overview of the topic of discussion. Secondly, the teacher has to encourage the learners to anticipate the topic of discussion to make them more curious hence more attentive.
Thirdly, the teacher has to ensure that the learners are attentive and encourage them to get rid of any destruction material. Lastly, the teacher has to include a question and answer session after every discussion and listen to the answers the learners give without ignoring any. This will help the teacher to gauge the learner’s level of understanding.
Speaking is one of the four skills of a language. The teachers should not expect the learners to communicate better than how the teachers do or how they are taught. However, as the levels of education increase, the learners are expected to be able to manipulate the language and make their communication and expression more fluent. Learners can be encouraged to undertake speaking activities such as songs, poems and chants in the case of the primary pupils. As for high school students, the speaking skills are natured through topic presentations in a subject and competitions such as public speaking and debates. In higher education, speaking is improved through presentations, projects and also competitions.
Reading is assumed by many learners to be tedious and thus the teacher has to make it interesting and easy to understand. This can be done by; the teachers making the content interesting, the teachers have to make sure the learners are well prepared, the teachers should support the learners by helping them to explain difficult words and texts; teacher should encourage silent reading because it enables the learner to concentrate and thus understand better. Development in technology has also played a great role in helping the learner to read. This is through the audio books and the use of navigators on computers. Learners can improve their receptive vocabulary by researching about individual words and knowing how to use them in sentences.
Writing is a language skill that most learners take a long time to master. Sentence construction and the use of the right tense while at the same time being having good content is quite challenging. Writing has been encouraged and tried to be improved through writing competitions and the writing of essays in learning institutions. Technology has played a great part in disadvantaging writing skills. This is through the use of writing texts and even emails using the short forms of words. This has made many people including learners to forget spellings and good sentence construction.
A science project is an example of an activity that integrates all the four language skills. In a science project, the learner is expected to read in order to get all the facts about his project. The learner writes down his plan and his presentation chat just to make sure the work is well organised. During the competition, the learner has to listen to the judge’s instruction and comments and also to the projects presented by other learners. Finally, the learner should be able to speak and communicate fluently so that his project is understood by all the listeners. This is an activity that has included all the four learning skills so as to be successful.
References
Harmer, J. (2007). The practice of English language teaching (4th ed.). Longman publisher.
Ur, P. (2008). A course in language teaching. Cambrige University Press.
