Erasmus+ presentation integrating skills

1. Integrating Skills:
Teaching listening and speaking
Aleksandar Kolev
Project № 2014-1-BG01-KA-101-000750

2. Theoretical overview:
Stephen Krashen’s hypotheses (1 and 2)
• The input hypothesis
Learners improve their language ability when exposed to
slightly more advanced language than their current level.
• The acquisition–learning hypothesis
Language acquisition is a sub-conscious process (natural
and intuitive), similar to learning one’s mother tongue.
Language learning is a conscious process, involving
formal instruction, during which one does not really
learn the language but sets of rules.
Language acquisition is what accounts for progress, not
language learning.

3. Theoretical overview:
Stephen Krashen’s hypotheses (3, 4 and 5)
• The monitor hypothesis
Learned language serves only as a monitor, checking the spontaneous
language production by the acquired language system. Learned language
does not produce real, spontaneous language.
• The natural order hypothesis
All learners acquire language in roughly the same order that is
independent of instruction. Thus, it does not make sense to teach
students to speak before they are able to listen well enough.
• The affective filter hypothesis
Negative emotions such as self-doubt, anxiety, fear and embarrassment
function as a filter that blocks the student’s progress

4. Some implications of the Krashen hypotheses
for teaching listening and speaking
Speaking does not result in language acquisition but is the
result of it. What results in language acquisition is the
processing by the learner of enough comprehensible input. In
other words, students cannot learn to speak well before they
have been sufficiently exposed to listening. This is a natural
order that could not be altered by teaching. Adults learning a
foreign language, though, may be able to make faster progress
by using the learned language as a monitor. Using the
monitor, however, requires time and is therefore much more
suitable and important in writing. If we use the monitor in
speaking, it will interfere with communication. In addition, all
effort should be made to get rid of emotions such as anxiety,
fear and embarrassment in the process of language teaching.

5. Practical advice:
Listening
• Don’t force the students to speak before they have had enough exposure to
listening. There is a natural “silent” period in the early stages of learning and
acquisition.
• Listening should be encouraged from early on, starting with input which is
slightly more advanced than the students’ level of language ability and
gradually progressing towards more advanced levels in line with the students’
progress. Naturally, this applies also to the type of language used by the
teacher in his or her communication with the students.
• It is extremely important to encourage the students to listen to the target
language on their own, outside of the classroom. Again, they should start with
language of appropriate difficulty (slightly more advanced than theirs) and
gradually progress towards more advanced language. They should listen to
something of real interest to them, focusing on the meaning (understanding).
Thus, they will be using the language, not learning it, and this is the process
that results in language acquisition. Naturally, such a process of meaningfully
using the language outside of class helps also get rid of the stress associated
with formal instruction and helps build student confidence.

6. Further advice:
Speaking
• Every effort should be made to greatly reduce the levels of stress
and anxiety associated with language learning. This is especially
important when the students (after enough exposure to listening)
start speaking.
• The focus should be on the meaning, not the form—on developing
fluency, not accuracy. Students should be encouraged to
communicate freely and spontaneously while performing a
meaningful task. Thus, group work and the Task-based learning
method (TBL) are particularly well-suited for teaching speaking.
• Error correction should be kept to a minimum and done in a way
that does not interfere with communication. It is natural to make
mistakes while using the language, especially in the early stages.
The goal should be to build up the students’ confidence and they
should be appropriately encouraged. However, it is important to
correct errors appropriately when there is danger of the so-called
fossilization of mistakes.

7. A cautionary note
While it is certainly useful to have some theoretical understanding of
language teaching and to design one’s teaching methods and activities
accordingly, it is more important to keep an open mind and use what really
works, not what is supposed to work.
For example, some language learners want to know the grammatical rules
when using the language, as this makes them more confident, while others
prefer not to be bothered with grammar. Some are not worried about
mistakes and are eager to speak, while others are terrified by the prospect of
making mistakes and could not bring themselves to start speaking.
Furthermore, what is appropriate for some stages of language learning could
be not appropriate for others—for instance, some advanced learners may
prefer to be corrected by the teacher and to focus on accuracy, not fluency.
Therefore, the teacher should constantly adjust his or her methods and
activities to the needs of the students.