Skill Getting and Skill Using - Essay Example

Running Head: SKILL GETTING AND SKILLS USING Skill Getting and Skill Using Name Institution Date Introduction Listening and speaking skills are of great importance to students. The skills enable students to be comfortable when speaking and when taking part in both social and academic activities in society. Listening and speaking classes provide learners with ample time to focus on the given instructions in listening and speaking tasks. Speaking classes emphasises that the first thing elementary learners must have in the speaking field is and understanding of essential communication skills in the national language, in order to be more fluent and comfortable when in casual conversational set ups. The listening and speaking skills offered in the speaking classes are seen as communicative tasks and therefore the major emphasis of these classes is successful communication by the learners. The other emphasis is on particular sound aspects of the used language, but this is of less importance (Wolvin, 1995). Moreover precision in pronunciation of words is treated as a feature of communication processes although there are differences in individual students’ accents. The major areas that are considered in speaking and listening development are increasing fluency, gaining knowledge on how to take part in whole class and small group discussions, and ability to give small talks on both personal and complex educational topics. Practice in the speaking activities requires application of conversation organization skills, employment of dynamic listening skills and use of compensation plans for mispronunciation of words. Listening tasks focus on the development of auditory conception strategies with a major emphasis on constructing vocabulary, learning to foretell a topic, recognize the pattern of words and phrases, and pay attention to the universal significance of conversations. There are also classroom lectures. Definitions of listening and oral communication Defining the field of skills, attitudes or knowledge to be evaluated is at the centre of every assessment. The majority of people only barely describe verbal communication, focusing on listening and speaking skills independently. Customarily, when people define speaking abilities they do it in a public speaking context. The Ministry of Education has been focusing on communication tasks that reveal a diversity of settings such as small group, one to one, mass media and many to one. The other strategy is focusing on use of communication to attain precise objectives such as to persuade, to inform and to resolve problems. The final tendency is focusing on essential competencies which are needed for day to day life, for instance, seeking information, giving directions or offering vital information during an emergency. This last trend is applied in verbal communication association plans for secondary and elementary students (Donald, 1984). The broad majority views insist that verbal communication is an interactive procedure whereby persons alternately hold the task of listener and orator; communication consists of both nonverbal and verbal components. Listening, like comprehension, reading is generally described as a receptive task composed of both interpretive analytical procedure and physical process. However, this description is usually extended to comprise vital listening skills such as comprehending the significance of a voice pitch, gestures, facial expressions and several nonverbal cues. The extended description of listening also stresses the relationship between speaking and listening. Gaining of speaking skills Speaking, listening and writing are important communication tasks in most curriculum subject fields and therefore speaking has a core place in the syllabus even though differences between levels of literacy in students implies that some students do not gain the oral fundamentals for learning. This makes the students’ speaking skills decrease as they continue through school. Although most teaching ethics promote speaking, listening and writing skills, they do not include wide coverage of excellent language use and practices in the language use. The more time learners spend in studying a principle or facts or putting a skill into practice makes the students learn better; the time spent on teaching and studying in school, as well as students’ work at home, progresses the ability of students to learn. Several studies have shown that extension of learning time through extending classes or assigning homework advance language learning and use. Students from homes of lesser social status, immigrants and language minority learners might need more language tutoring and more practical opportunities. Speaking practice Learners face a variety of situations that necessitate language and speaking skills, and therefore students must have experience in various writing, speaking and reading activities in school that enable them to be successful. Students improve their academic speech when teachers provide them with insights on the way they are supposed to organize their own thoughts for presentation. Students are able to give excellent speeches after they systemize presentations in several different ways including sequential, thematic and chronologic. The students require practice in managing their verbal communication about problems and their solutions, causes of the problems and consequences, differences and similarities. After making decisions on the best ways of management they are able to practice verbal communication with other students or with an entire class (Walberg, 1998). Teachers may also assist students to become accustomed to informal talks and speeches so that they correspond with the anticipated audience, the message being communicated and the occasion in which they will deliver the speech. The teachers may demonstrate how eminent speakers have adjusted to their presentations in ways that suit the different situations. Teachers can facilitate students to present their own thoughts to peer groups, individual peers, and whole classes of learners. The students can be taught to talk on a subject of their own choice or on assigned topics by teachers. Preparation of debates for students and participation assist the students in seeing all sides of several issues. Learners also profit from interviewing their fellow students and from involvement in thespian presentations. Students can enjoy talking about personal experiences. When they are given the opportunity they gain from instructions given in the basics of excellent story narrating. Both teachers and students can present several suggestions for the students talking. When usefully criticizing their peers, students may learn to employ criteria for excellent talking and apply thoughtful social skills. In doing this, students can improve and increase their personal speaking skills. Students are able to learn social and speaking skills through suggesting improvements to each student practicing talking. Encouraging experiences in speech can contribute to superior skills and more confidence when addressing bigger groups of people. Speaking skills Learners are trained to adjust their talking so as to suit different circumstances. Learners are supposed to recognize how individual speakers differ from each other and how various situations call for diverse forms of speaking. The students are able to learn how different styles of speaking affect the audience; therefore the degree to which they talk, the amount and the exactness of word pronunciation may differ considerably from one particular circumstance to another. It is helpful for learners to have knowledge that speaking must differ in different situations such as talking to a teacher, a judge, a playmate or a parent. The students can also gain from having knowledge about how various dialects differ from one another. The subjects within the syllabus and the examples obtained from the media can give examples of different types of speech. Oral presentations may be obtained from stories, poems, magazines and newspaper articles along with scientific reports. Watching skits, dramatic acting and plays may give the best opportunity for learners to observe how circumstance and character affect speech. Reduction of speaking fears The learners are provided with opportunities to practice speaking before the involvement of larger groups. Adults, adolescents and children are sometimes daunted by the challenge of continuous formal speaking before a bigger group. Teacher can assist in reducing irrational fears through pointing out how common they are among individuals and how people can deal with the fears. The teachers can also assist in reduction of fears among students by maintaining a sociable atmosphere within the classroom and through providing the students with opportunities for them to practice on their own or with their fellow learners and then make their presentations before a larger group. Therefore the students are able to practice talking before their peers, who also face a similar situation. Learners may practice presentation of information, answering of questions and having group discussions. (Kenneth, 1981) Regular classroom discussions and presentations make it possible for the teachers to detect and remedy a particular problem. Learners can gain from studying by setting their own presentations goals and making assessments of their own advancements. Observing skilled speakers can assist students to set personal goals. Practising verbal presentation in these forms can decrease student’s anxieties, and also helps students to discover the theme of the session. When students are well prepared, generally have less fear and anxiety and they are likely to perform well. This preparedness can be enacted through deep mastering of the topic theme, suitable organization and rehearsal of the presentation. Improving Listening Skills This provides opportunities for focused and careful listening. In order for students to learn speaking skills, they must carefully listen to what the teacher is delivering. Listening skills are fundamental in learning because they enable learners to gain information and insights and to attain accomplishment in communication with other students. Life outside and within school affords several listening chances, but many students do not take them because they allow their concentration to wander or because they more interested in what they have to say, rather what the orator is saying. Teachers are supposed to illustrate to the students why excellent listening is helpful and even vital in various circumstances. Poor listening can contribute to problems and needless arguments. The listening skills of students can be improved and assessed through asking of questions on what they have heard. They can be offered practice through taking notes and may be asked questions on the inferences and facts from their notes. They may be trained to observe the distinction between major points and minor or less relevant information and ideas. Students may also gain from performing in observing the rationale of presentations and supplementary information they hear. It is useful to teach the students to set objectives for what they want to achieve from a presentation and monitor how they can accomplish their objectives well. Students are taught how to pay attention to precise forms of information like the chief reason, the details, the theme, and some implications. They can be constantly examined for their capability to recognize necessary information in the context of inappropriate material together with distractions, a skill they will have to applyoftenin adult life Frequent Collaboration Collaboration with classmates strengthens communicative competency. As is the case in adult life, learners may share of their personal knowledge and thoughts to enable them to resolve problems. Working in small groups in a class enables the students to communicate sensible thought with one another. At times it is useful to permit learners in a group to carry on personal research but the group must apply the personal contribution of every member of the group to a presentation or a report. In this way teachers can simultaneously teach the students topic issues, presentation and research skills and how students are supposed to excellently work with others. The students can recognize unanticipated but useful links between several aspects of the theme. Working together in larger groups, in twos or on threes can make it possible for great insightful and frequent communications (ILA, 1995). For instance in a group of about thirty learners, the learner is supposed to talk for one thirtieth of the duration, in a group of two learners, the learner may listen for half of the duration and talk for the remaining time, and both listening and speaking may be based on what the learners are supposed to learn or wish to investigate. This means that it is not compulsory for the teacher to play the delivery task but the teacher may illustrate the expectations and demonstrate right and wrong examples. Through practice the students can improve each other as well as themselves. Assessment of listening and speaking skills Although several students have concentrated on essential speaking and listening skills, various students show better effectiveness in verbal messaging than others. The most effective communicators are more successful while in school and in several areas of life. The abilities that can help in making a difference between effective and minimal communication may be practiced, taught and improved. The technique used in assessment of verbal communication depends on the objective of the evaluation. A technique that is suitable for offering response to learners studying a fresh skill is inappropriate for assessing a learner at the completion of the course. However, every evaluation technique is supposed to follow to the ethics of fairness, validity and reliability. The tool should be consistent and accurate, should display the abilities to be measured and it should function in a similar way with a broad variety of students. Assessment of speaking skills There are two important methods used in evaluating speaking skills. In the observational approach, the behaviour of students is observed and evaluated discreetly. In the structural strategy the learner is asked to carry out one or several precise oral communication activities and the performance is then assessed. The activity may be administered in a one to one set up with the assessment supervisor and a single student or in a class or group setting. In either setting, the learners must feel they are have sensible material to communicate to the actual listeners. Activities must emphasize themes that every learner is capable of talking about easily; or if there is no inclusion of this kind of focus, learners must be offered the chance to gather information on the theme. Both structural and observational approaches employ a diversity of ranking systems. A holistic ranking captures a universal intuition of the performance of the learners. A main score feature evaluates the ability of the student to gain a particular communicative objective for instance, to convince the audience to accept a definite point of view (Clinton, 1992). Analytical scales score the performance of the student on several communication aspects like organization, delivery, language and content. Ranking systems might illustrate varying levels of competence down a scale or it might designate the existence or nonexistence of a trait. The main function of every ranking system is as an objectivity rater, and the question is whether the rater is employing scoring criteria consistently and accurately to every student at any time. The dependability of the rater must be recognized when training and must be checked when administering or scoring the evaluation. If the rankings are made instantly, double raters are used for a few tasks. If rankings are recorded retrospectively then there will be need for double scoring. Assessment listening skills Listening tests are naturally similar to comprehension reading tests although they differ because the learners are supposed to listen to a passage instead of reading it. The learners then give answers to multiple choice questions dealing with several degrees of inferential and literal comprehension. Important features in every listening examination include the listening stimulus, the question, and the test atmosphere. The listening stimulus must represent distinctive verbal language and should not simply comprise of verbal comprehension of passages intended to be presented in a written form (Richard, 1981). The material should shape general language that the students expect to hear in the class, in conversations or in several media. Since performance in listening is greatly influenced by memory and motivation, the reading items must be appealing and comparatively short. To make sure there is equality, the topics must be ones that will enable common experience by all students irrespective of geographic, sex, social economic and racial background. In considering the question, several choice materials must focus on the most crucial aspects of passage and must evaluate abilities from a precise domain. Answers which are indicated as correct must be got from the passage and should rely on the prior experience or knowledge of the students. Questions and answer choices are supposed to meet the approved psychometric principles for multiple choice questions. A test that acts as an alternative to multiple choice questions is a recital exam that needs the learners to choose a picture or carry out an activity based on verbal instruction. For instance learners can hear an explanation of various geometric information and select diagrams that act as counterpart to the explanation, or they may be presented with a map and given oral instructions to mark out a direction. The examination atmosphere for listening evaluation must be free from external disruptions. If presentation of stimulus is through a tape, the quality of sound must be excellent. If the stimuli are offered by examination supervision, there should be clear presentation with suitable capacity and speed of talking. Selection and designing of assessment instruments Identification of suitable evaluation materials depends on the objective evaluation and accessibility of obtainable instruments. If the objective is to evaluate a particular set of abilities, for example detecting weaknesses and strengths, or evaluating the major objectives topic and the others which match with these skills (Donald 1984). If suitable examinations are unavailable it is sensible to devise an evaluation instrument to reveal particular needs. If the objective is to assess communication generally, such as in assessing a fresh program or evaluation of distinct goals, the exam must evaluate advancement over a period of time and, where possible, illustrate progress on the basis of exterior norms such as state or national norms. In this instance it is helpful to search for a relevant test that has gone through proper development, and validation even in cases where it does not accurately match with the local program. Conclusion The skills of students to listen crucially and to express themselves effectively and clearly contributes to the success of students in school and later life. Gaining speaking and listening skills is important because it enables students to listen to comprehension reading which they then represent through oral communication. Use of speaking skills is more important than gaining of these skills because through speaking students are able to express their own ideas and thoughts. When students gain speaking skills which they are not able to use to make expressions through verbal communication, these skills will be of no use to both elementary and advanced speaking learning students. References Wolvin, A. (1995). Communicating: a social and career focus, 6th edition. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin. Clinton, B. (1992). Informative communication instruction: an application of theory and research to the elementary school classroom. Communication education vol. 41, 54–67. Walberg, H. (1998) .Can comprehension be taught: a quantitative synthesis. Educational researcher17 (9): 5–8. International Listening Association. (1995). An ILA definition of Listening. ILA listening post, Vol 53, 4. Kenneth, L. (1981). Teaching, Speaking and Listening Skills in the Elementary and Secondary School. Boston: Massachusetts Department of Education. Donald, E. (1984). Considerations for Developing Measures of Speaking and Listening. New York: College Entrance Examination Board. Richard, J. (1981) .Perspectives on the Assessment of Speaking and Listening Skills Northwest Regional Portland: Educational Laboratory. Hunsaker, A. (1990). Understanding and developing the skills of oral communication: speaking and listening. New York: Harper Collin. Read More