Lecture #2

LANGUAGE SKILLS:

There are four basic language skills.

Listening
Speaking
Reading
Writing

These four basic skills are related to each other by two parameters:

The mode of communication, such as oral or written.

The direction of communication, such as receiving and producing the message.

Oral Written
Receptive listening reading
Productive speaking Writing

Listening skill:

Listening skill is the receptive skill in the oral mode. There are two kinds of listening
situation.

Interactive
Non-interactive

Inter active situation include face to face conversations and telephone calls, in which
we alternately listening and speaking and in which we have a chance to ask for
clarification,repetition,slower speech from partner.

Non-inter active listening situations are listening to radio, tv, films or sermons. In
such situation we usually dont have opportunity to ask for repetition and clarification
etc.

Speaking Skill:

Speaking is the productive skill in the oral mode. There are three kinds of listening
situation.

Interactive
Partially interactive
 Non- interactive

Inter active situation include face to face conversations and telephone calls, in which
we alternately listening and speaking and in which we have a chance to ask for
clarification,repetition,slower speech from partner.

Partially interactive situation, when giving a speech to live audience, where the
convention is that audience does not interrupt the speech. But the expressions and body
language play partial role in this situation.

Some speaking situation may totally non-interactive, such as recording a speech for a
radio broadcast.

Reading Skill:

Reading is the receptive skill in the written mode. It develops along with listening and
speaking. It is important for vocabulary building.

Skimming, scanning, and reading in chunks are the techniques to polish this
skill.

Writing Skill:

Writing skill is the productive skill in the written mode. It is hardest of al skills, even for
a native speaker of a language, since it involves not just a graphic representation of
speech, but the development and presentation of thoughts in a structured way. It
involves complete command in spellings, tense, punctuation, vocabulary, appropriate
style etc.