Learn How To Teach 4 Language Skills To Your Learners
Speaking your mother tongue is not a hard nut for you to crack. You’re born and brought in that language and therefore, expressing yourself the best in that language will be your cup of tea, for sure. But then again, there are thousands of languages in this world, and more than one is spoken by billions worldwide.
According to a study conducted in 2021, the top 10 most spoken languages in the world:
- English
- Spanish
- French
- Mandarin Chinese
- Arabic
- Hindi
- Portuguese
- Japanese
- Russian
- German
If you’re on a world tour then it becomes an issue to interact with speakers of other languages. There are an uncountable number of people who want to get a job abroad and the first thing one must learn is the language of the country they’re traveling to. It is impossible to learn A-to-Z of a new language but having a basic knowledge of the language is important.
A term called language ability quite often comes into the picture when we talk about learning a new language. So what is language ability? It means understanding the base of language when taught from different levels and the capability to use it in various scenarios appropriately. It is somewhat similar to language proficiency where one can use a language spontaneously for an interactive purpose and that is impromptu.
Learn how special innovations have changed English language teaching:
There are several significant techniques of language teaching and TEFL certified teachers know how to improve the reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills of learners. These are considered to be 4 language skills and teaching the four skills of the English language (or any other) is very interesting.
A bachelor of education in TESOL is an online degree course that enables learners to understand various techniques of teaching English to speakers of other languages. It is an internationally accredited certification course that gives opportunities to TESOL qualified teachers to teach English abroad and also in many other prestigious institutions. Having advanced TESOL approaches and the latest techniques of English language teaching opens a window of opportunities for a teaching career.
Since English will be a foreign language, please note that TEFL teachers will have to put some extra effort to make their students learn the language. These online degree programs in TESOL can ensure English teachers teach students online. The literary techniques of teaching languages of any kind have four major pillars:
- Listening skills
- Speaking skills
- Reading skills
- Writing skills
It acts like receiving instructions from the sender, channeling them through the mind, and learning how to read the information. The recipient will then note it down further to keep it documented.
There are certain problems that a learner can come across during the listening period. It can be the pace of the speech, the vocabulary being used, the structures of the sentences, the length of the topic, and the intonation of the speech. Some students are very steady and they can easily pick up what they’re listening to. Others might need a bit more time to capture what they’re listening to. Thus, a language teacher should consider the average capability of the whole mass and then prepare a speech for them.
Before letting students listen to a piece, teachers should prepare students by letting them know the topic. It can be on fashion, food, sports, history, etc. If students have a prior idea of what they will be listening to their potential to understand the excerpt becomes less difficult. The pace of speaking should not be too professional or fast because the learners are budding English (or any other language) speakers. Once the teacher is done speaking, she/he can ask students how they have understood or if they have any doubts.
Speaking skills is the next step we shall be talking about. An interactive classroom session can be arranged where students can be divided into groups like a project-based assignment. Each group can prepare a set of statements about themselves as their hobbies, favorite foods, etc. Students from other groups can ask questions and therefore, the communication flow will become smooth and they will have good language proficiency.
While teaching how to read, generally two steps are being followed. One is known as the KWL technique and the other one is the DRTA technique.
The KWL technique:
- The language teacher uses a picture or the title to ask the students to say whatever they know about that particular subject and lists the pieces of information that she/he is collecting from students. (What I know)
- Students in turn ask questions to know more about the topic they are reading. The teacher listens to any question that students are asking (What I want to know)
- She/he then gives answers to the questions the students asked. The teacher lists these pieces of information (What I learned)
The DRTA technique:
- The teacher provides the title of an article to students and asks them what they think a story or text with a title like this might be about. Students then read part of the story or the excerpt.
- The teacher asks the students about their thoughts and their vibes, i.e., If they guessed the context correctly from the title.
- The teacher asks students what it is in the story or text that makes them think this.
- The teacher asks the students what they think will happen afterward.
A repetitive set of group discussions can help learners to learn writing easily. Students will get to accumulate various points and strong learners can help weaker learners when it comes to a group discussion. The vocabulary and sentence structuring will become better if learners attend multiple group discussions.
Oral brainstorming is another fantastic way that helps students to think deeply about anything that is being asked. Over here, the teacher should never force learners to follow her viewpoints and she/he will accept every answer coming from students.
Writing can be taught in 3 major steps. The 1st step can be drafting or jotting down points that students are thinking about. Followed by drafting, students should revisit those points and start framing statements. Editing comes at the last when students will check the answers they’ve written. They will get scopes to rectify any errors like grammatical mistakes, punctuation mistakes, spelling mistakes, etc.
Once they’re done with writing, teachers will publish everyone’s writing in front of the class followed by a healthy discussion on those writings. Teachers must provide genuine feedback to learners keeping in mind that they’ll not lose their motivation or confidence after receiving those feedbacks.
Thus, it requires huge patience for TEFL-certified teachers to teach a whole new language to speakers of different languages. The need or necessity of learning a language that is mostly used is of utmost importance. Learning prime languages that most of the world population speaks will never bother anyone while traveling worldwide.
So wanderlusts, it’s high time to get certified in TESOL, pack your bags, and fly abroad. To grab the opportunity to travel and earn a globally renowned TESOL certification, call: 1800-212-6400 now!