LANGUAGE
SKILLS
The subjects taught in our secondary schools are broadly divided into
two major categories namely Language
Subjects and Non-language Subjects.
The former are termed as Skill Subjects
and the latter as Content Subjects.
SECONDARY
SCHOOL SUBJECTS
Skill
Subjects Content
Subjects
1. Regional
Language 1.
Mathematics
2. Hindi
(National Language) 2.
General Science
3. English
(Foreign Language) 3.
Social Studies
The chief aims of teaching English as a foreign language is to enable
the pupils acquire simple, day-to-day useful English. But language learning is
a skill. It can be attained only through constant practice. It cannot be
attained by knowing about the language but by using the language continuously.
Playing cricket or tennis player by knowing all the rules of playing the game
or by mastering volumes player of the game and can develop the skill in playing
the game only through constant practice. The same is true in language learning
too. English, being a foreign language, the learners need more practice in
using the language for they are neither born in the environment of the English
language use nor do they encounter the language quite often in their daily
experiences.
The
basic skills of language learning are:
1. Listening
(L)
2. Speaking
(S)
3. Reading
(R)
4. Writing
(W)
As they are four in number they are termed as the four-fold skills of language learning. In short they are known as
LSRW. Among the four skills of language learning Listening and Reading
are known as Skills of Comprehension and Speaking and Writing as Skills of Expression. While listening
to the language and reading the language one has to understand the spoken
language and written language respectively. One receives the ‘sounds’ when
spoken and ‘words’ when written and understand by recognizing them. That is why
these two skills are also termed as Receptive
Skills or Skills of Recognition.
As the learner doesn’t produce these sounds of words but only receives them by
listening to them or reading them, they are also known as Passive Skills. But while speaking or writing the language one has
to produce the language in the form of meaningful sounds and words. In doing so
one has to be active. Therefore these skills namely Speaking and Writing are
also known as Productive Skills or Active Skills.
There is yet another division of these skills.
Listening to a language requires the use of our ears or the auditory system.
Speaking a language requires the use of speech organs. Therefore these two
skills namely Listening and Speaking are known as Aural-Oral or Audio-Lingual Skills. Reading requires the recognition of the
shapes of the words. Writing requires the movement of the fingers and the
wrist. Therefore, Reading and Writing, on the other hand, are known
as Graphic-Motor Skills.
LISTENING
Listening is the first step in learning a language. In fact, it is the
foundation stone for learning a language in full. Listening, however, should
not be equated with hearing. There is difference between hearing and listening. We
here because we have ears. That is, we hear anything in a casual way,
not purposefully. Listening, on the other hand, is purposeful hearing. While
listening one will be attentive to what is being said. For example, while in
the classroom, the pupils might hear the honking of a horn or the barking of a
dog. But they do not concentrate on these sounds nor do they try to register
them in their minds. But they are expected to listen to the teacher carefully
and try to remember what he teaches.
In our schools, wherever they are, teachers of English lay more emphasis
on reading and writing at the expense of listening
and speaking. This is so because
listening and speaking are not important from the examination point of view.
Those skills are never put to test the time of examinations. Hence they are
totally neglected. But the fact remains that listening is the foundation stone
for learning a language in full. Without properly developing the listening
skill the other skills of language learning cannot be developed. Hence, first,
concentration should be laid on the development of the listening skill on the
part of the pupils. Proficiency in listening leads to the proficiency in
speech; proficiency in speech, in turn, leads to proficiency in reading; proficiency
in reading finally leads to proficiency in writing. The development of all
these skills ultimately leads to proficiency in language usage. Hence, teaching
listening skill is very important.
3.1.1
TYPES OF LISTENING
Listening is broadly divided into the following
three types.
1. Focused
Listening or Intensive Listening
2. Casual
Listening
3. Gist
Listening or Extensive Listening
1.
Focused
or Intensive Listening:
While listening to the radio or the TV news for election results or
cricket score, we listen with a purpose and we listen attentively. That is, we
focus our attention on the particular news item and come out with the facts and
details. It is also concerned with the mechanical aspects of speaking or
reading aloud namely, stress, intonation and pronunciation.
2.
Casual
Listening:
Casual Listening is
opposed to Focused Listening. When we listen to something without a definite
purpose or attention, it is called casual listening. Casual listening is
otherwise known as hearing. For example, we listen to the radio or the music
system while reading the newspaper or eating food. Here we don’t concentrate
what we listen to and don’t even care to remember what we have listened to
afterwards.
3.
Gist Listening or Extensive Listening:
It
is concerned with the understanding of the gist or outline of the extensive
matter listened to. It is not concerned with the mechanics of good speech or
reading aloud namely, stress, intonation and pronunciation. When you listen to
play on the radio you may not remember the entire conversation that takes place
among the characters of the play but will be able to say in brief the main
contents of the play. That is why it is called as gist listening.
3.1.2
SUB-SKILLS OF LISTENING
The sub-skills of
listening are also known as enabling
skills. They may broadly be divide into two types. They are:
1. Listening
for Sound Perception
2. Listening
for Comprehension
1.
Listening
for Sound Perception: Here the listener has to,
a) Identify
the different sounds
b) Group
sounds into meaningful units
c) Interpret
basic intonation patterns, stress, rhythm and pauses for expression which give
clues to meaning in a particular context or situation.
2.
Listening
for Comprehension: While listening for comprehension the
listener has to,
a) Predict
what the speaker is going to talk about.
b) Understand
meanings of words, phrases and sentences contextually.
c) Understand
statements, commands, requests and questions.
d) Follow
directions, instructions, narrations and descriptions given orally.
e) Identify
relevant points rejecting irrelevant information.
f) Recognize
discourse markers such as ‘well’, ‘oh’etc.
in speech.
g) Recognize
the rate at which words are uttered in a sentence.
h) Grasp
the substance or the central idea of what is being spoken.
i)
Listen attentively in order to ask
relevant questions.
j)
Understand inferred information. For
example, the speaker’s attitude, intention, interest etc.
k) Recognize
peculiarities in pronunciation, production of sounds, elliptical usage of words
etc.
l)
Maintain his/her attention for a
reasonable length of time.
