LANGUAGE IN INDIA

An Application of Skills Integration in Language Teaching

Selma Deneme, Ph. D. and Selen Ada, M.A. Student

Abstract

Skills are the building blocks of language learning process. They are effective elements of teaching and learning process. Nowadays a striking debate has arisen shortly on the discrimination of teaching language skills cooperatively. Teaching language is a comprehensive and complex process so in order to make this process effective and simple, skills integration is an advisable way of teaching language. It is a well-known fact that four language skills are rarely used alone in everyday life. Integrating language skills helps language learners to develop their ability in using two or more of the four skills within real context and also in their real life. All the language skills are vital in teaching and learning process and combination of the language skills has positive effects on student success. Reviewing the relevant literature in the field, this study aims to suggest a lesson model to teach language by integrating language skills cooperatively. In order to apply the technique, reading, listening, writing and speaking skills are integrated cooperatively in a chosen topic of "Maldive Island".

Keywords: Integrated approaches, integrated skills, skills' integration, a lesson model, language teaching

1. Introduction

In past decades, one or two of the four traditional skills were given prominence in EFL classes where one or two skills were dominant over the others. Oxford (2001) describes this approach as segregated-skill approach saying that such segregation is reflected in traditional EFL/ESL programs that offer classes more focused on segregated language skills. Yet, segregated- skill approach was found to be contradictory to the natural way of acquiring a language and there has been a movement to integrated approaches that encourage the teaching of all four skills within the general framework. In real life, language skills are rarely used in isolation; it is a rare situation where the four skills occur alone. Teaching skills in isolation leads to distinction between classroom and real life language use. "Often one skill will reinforce another; we learn to speak, for example, in part by modelling what we hear, and we learn to write by examining what we can read" (Brown,2001).

In natural language learning, skills integration is inevitable and in the language classroom skills need to be practised in integration. "In the actual language use, one skill is rarely used in isolation…Numerous communicative situations in real life involve integrating two or more skills…" (Cunningsworth,1984: 46). Skills integration is commonly used in everyday life. For instance; a person reads a letter and replies it by writing after reading, and may possibly talk about it after writing it. Two or more language skills are generally integrated in everyday language use. Language skills in the classroom should also be integrated in language teaching process as it is in real life. In order to provide more purposeful and meaningful learning environment, teachers should integrate the language skills -reading, speaking, listening and writing- while teaching and practicing the language.

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