Effective Strategies for Teaching Reading, Speaking, Writing, and Listening Skills

How to Teach the Four Skills: Reading, Speaking, Writing, and Listening

a) How to Teach ReadingActually there are three stages in teaching reading:

• Pre-reading: In this stage, the teacher starts by contextualizing the topic of the reading process by using proverbs, quotes, pictures, videos, or short discussions, etc. Then, move to explain vocabulary items that students may encounter in the text. After that, he asks for their predictions about the topic of the text they are going to read.
• While-reading: Teacher gives the text to students and asks them to read it silently and check their predictions (this process called skimming). Then the teacher asks them to read again to answer the comprehension questions (this process called scanning).
• Post-reading: In this stage, the teacher may open a debate or a role play, discussion, ask them to summarize the text, or give their opinion about the topic. Here the teacher can integrate many skills like writing, speaking, and listening.

b) How to Teach SpeakingThere are three stages in teaching speaking:

• Setting up: In this stage, the teacher provides students with all the input information that they will need in the second stage, for example, the topic and some information about it in addition to what they should do, etc.
• Speaking practice: Here the teacher divides students into groups and assigns them a speaking activity. The role of the teacher here is to give his feedback on their performances.
• Feedback: Students perform their work in front of the teacher and their classmates. The teacher provides students with some checklists to correct their friends’ errors and mistakes while they are performing. The role of the teacher here is to give his feedback on their performances.

c) How to Teach WritingThere are five stages in teaching writing:

• Brainstorming: The teacher asks his students about their prior knowledge about the topic using mind maps, spider maps, charts, asking Wh-questions, etc.
• Planning: The teacher and students identify the plan or outline.
• Drafting: The teacher gives the students a chance to write their first draft, writing all that comes to their mind.
• Revising: The teacher gives students a checklist to revise the content, meaning of their production, the ideas if they are organized or not.
• Publishing: Students read their productions and they may put it in their portfolios.

d) How to Teach ListeningThere are three stages in teaching listening:

• Pre-listening: The teacher starts by contextualizing the topic using proverbs or short discussions, etc., and asks them for their predictions about the topic of listening.
• While-listening: Students get their first listening in order to check their predictions. Then get a second listening in order to answer the comprehension questions and a third listening for discussing and giving their opinions and so on.
• Post-listening: In this stage, the teacher can ask his students to give their opinions about the topic of listening or summarize the main idea of the topic or any activity that is appropriate to the listening task.