RECEPTIVE SKILLS

(listening & reading)

RECEPTIVE SKILLS: ways of extracting meaning from the discourse Sb sees or hears

WHAT WE BRING TO THE TASK:

1. Schema:pre-existent knowledge (mental representations of typical situations, discourse patterns, contexts, genre)

2. purpose : in real life we always have a purpose for rding/lsning

3. expectations: before you're actually listen or read sth.

REASONS FOR RDING & LSNING

1. interest (pleasurable)- for enjoyment, pleasure

2. usefulness (instrumental) - sb needs or wants to know sth

DIFFERENCES:

Written text:

• static

• can be consumed at the speed of the reader

• can be read again

• focuses on grammatical correctness

• develops logically (introduction, main body, conclusion etc)

• can be corrected, re - drafted

Spoken text:

• fleeting

• happens at its speed

• cannot be repeated (only in conversation)

• usage of colloquial vocab, ungramm utterances, noise, non-repetition etc.

• speakers hesitates, changes the topic, reformulates etc.

according to Penny Ur: (notebook)

TOP-DOWN & BOTTOM UP

top-down:

• the Ss' general knowledge has to be used to understand the text

• “knowledge from the outside the text”

• past experiences

• meaning

• intuition

• expectations

• knowledge of the subject

• motivation, attitude

bottom-up:

• information encoded in the words/ text

• “knowledge from outside the text”

• link sounds to worm words

• chain the words together to form clauses and sentences

• every letter discriminated (in print)

• meaning

A BASIC METHODOLOGICAL MODEL FOR TEACHING OF RECEPTIVE SKILLS

1. lead -in: pre-listening, introduction to topic, discussion, pics etc.

2. pre-task work: looking through worksheet, work on vocab, prediction etc.

3. setting the task - the T has to set the task clearly

4. task: cd, video, text - Ss don't have to understand everything

5. feedback on task: Ss to Ss, Ss to T,..

6. conclusion/follow- up task: related to the text; to do sth with the text

DIFF SKILLS WHICH ENABLE SS TO UNDERSTAND THE TOPIC:

1. identifying the topic : it allows understand the content of the text better

2. predictive skills: ability to predict the content of the text

3. looking for key words (important for the task)

4. looking for non - verbal clues fo meaning: e.g. pics, gestures, graphs

5. associating info with sb's existing knowledge

6. getting the general pic: without being to concentrated with the details.

7. extracting specific info: disregarding the others

8. extracting detailed info: e.g. why, how many, how often etc.

9. recognizing function and discourse patterns: e.g. structure, organization, devices for cohesion

10. deducing meaning from context: discovery techniques

11. interpreting text: understanding the subtext

TYPES OF RDING & LSNING TASKS, TECHNIQUES

1. to confirm expectations:

• emphasis on lead-in stage

• Ss are encouraged to predict the content of the text

using of:

• headlines

• sub- headings

• pics

• key-words

• jumbled sentences from the text

2. to extract specific info:

• ss should read the question about the text first

• they should scan the text

• open-ended questions / sentences

• transferring info (true/false, multiple choice questions/ game, open-ended statements)

3. for communicative tasks (e.g. fill-in forms, underst directions):

• jumbled paragraphs

• questions

• 
  pooling info

• jigsaw rding & lsning

• cloze ex

4. for general understanding:

• Ss should skim the text (to get the general pic)

• matching pics with paragraphs/sentences

• general questions

• jumbled sentences/ key points

5. for detailed comprehension (for specific info):

• open - ended questions

• detailed questions

PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS:

1. problems:

• long sentences/words - more diff to underst

• a large nr of unfamiliar words

• negative expectations (unsuccessful experiences)

1. solutions:

• pre-teaching vocab - pre- teaching diff words but not those which are crucial for the text

• extensive or intensive reading and listening

extensive: an entire piece/ for pleasure/ on Ss' own

intensive: concentrated & dedicated to an achievement of study goal; small portion of the text

• authenticity: authentic material can be used by Ss at any level. Low level smaller/ simpler tasks

• manufacturing success: by getting the level of the challenge right in terms of lg, texts and tasks

• agreeing on a purpose: if the Ss know the purpose of the task - they are eager to do it and know how to approach the text.

PRINCIPLES FOR TEACHING RECEPTIVE SKILLS

2. Ss understand more than can produce (receptive > productive skills)

3. Using authentic or non -authentic text:

1. authentic:

• designed for native speakers

• e.g. newspapers, radio programmes

1. simplified authentic texts

2. non-authentic (“presentation text”):

• designed for lg lrns

• concentrates on the lg

• presents new structures, vocab, functions

• has to be undest (very word)

reason for using of presentation text:

• creating good attitude to reading/listening

• improving reading/lsning skills

• acquiring lg - improving general English lavel

roughly - tuned imput vs. finely - tuned imput:

• roughly - tuned imput: understandable despite the fact it's difficult (receptive > productive skills)

• finely - tuned imput: precisely at the Ss' level

4. Texts should reflect real life to awake the desire to read/listen

5. After reading/listening should be conducted text- related task.

6. 2 types of work according to type of work:

1. 1st type: when Ss perform on the text when they tackle for the 1st time:

• extract specific info

• get the general picture

• perform a task

• confirm expectations

2. 2nd type: when reading/ studying material:

• the study of vocab to develop guessing strategies

• identification of discourse markers

• investigation into the speakers/ writer's opinion or attitude

3

Questions:

• general

• open - ended

• detailed

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