A Comprehensive Guide to Teaching Listening and Speaking Skills in EFL

Posted on Jun 27, 2024 in Language

1. Introduction

The importance of a common language for global communication has increased significantly due to globalization. Learning English as a foreign language (EFL) equips students with the ability to communicate effectively worldwide. Linguists like Chomsky and Hymes refer to this ability as Communicative Competence. This competence is developed through the four fundamental language skills: Listening, Speaking, Reading, and Writing. This natural order of language acquisition, as outlined in LOE 2/2006, LOMLOE 3/2020, RD 157/2022, and D 61/2022, emphasizes the importance of acquiring basic communication skills in at least one foreign language.

This document focuses on the Listening and Speaking skills, exploring their types, principles, and practical teaching strategies. It concludes with a summary of key ideas and a bibliography of relevant sources.

2. Basic Language Skills

Language skills can be categorized based on the medium of communication (oral or written) and the nature of the activity (productive or receptive). This section focuses on oral language skills: Listening and Speaking.

2.a. General Distinctive Features of Oral Language

Oral language, unlike written language, is dynamic and interactive. It involves face-to-face communication, utilizing prosodic features like stress, rhythm, and intonation, along with non-verbal cues like body language to facilitate understanding.

2.b. Particular Difficulties of Oral Languages

Learning oral skills in a foreign language presents unique challenges. For instance, the inconsistency between phonemes and graphemes in English poses difficulties for learners accustomed to the consistent phoneme-grapheme correspondence in languages like Spanish. Additionally, differences in rhythm, stress patterns, and vowel sounds between languages can hinder oral language acquisition.

3. Listening

Listening, a crucial aspect of language acquisition, involves actively engaging with and comprehending spoken language. Early exposure to oral language significantly enhances listening skills.

3.a. General Principles

Effective listening instruction should:

  • Provide exposure to authentic English aural input.
  • Differentiate between hearing and active listening.
  • Introduce listening tasks within a meaningful context.
  • Set clear goals to motivate students.
  • Grade activities appropriately.
  • Encourage active student participation.
  • Create a supportive environment where errors are seen as learning opportunities.

3.b. Sub-skills

Developing listening competence involves mastering various sub-skills, including:

  • Prediction: Anticipating what will be said.
  • Skimming: Grasping the general idea.
  • Scanning: Extracting specific information.
  • Deducing meaning from context: Understanding unfamiliar words or phrases based on the surrounding information.
  • Inferring opinion: Identifying the speaker’s attitude or viewpoint.
  • Recognizing discourse patterns and markers: Understanding how language is used to organize ideas and signal relationships between them.

3.c. Stages and Activities

Listening activities should be sequenced in three stages:

  • Pre-listening: Activities like predicting vocabulary, labeling pictures, and brainstorming prepare students for the listening task.
  • While-listening: Activities like note-taking, completing charts, and answering comprehension questions encourage active listening and information processing.
  • Post-listening: Activities like summarizing, discussing the content, and expressing opinions extend comprehension and promote critical thinking.

3.d. Listening Steps

According to Rivers, the listening process involves:

  1. Identification: Recognizing individual sounds and words.
  2. Interpretation and Selection without Retention: Understanding the meaning of phrases and sentences without necessarily remembering them.
  3. Identification and Selection with Retention: Understanding and remembering key information.
  4. Long-term Retention: Storing information in long-term memory for future retrieval.

3.e. Materials

A variety of materials can enhance listening lessons, including:

  • Songs
  • Poems
  • Rhymes
  • DVDs and videos
  • Adapted films
  • Digital boards
  • Internet resources
  • Radio podcasts
  • Teacher’s speech
  • Student presentations

For instance, a gamified activity could involve students listening to an audio message and using a digital board to complete a shopping list. This activity could be integrated with intercultural learning by focusing on dishes from English-speaking countries.

4. Speaking

Speaking, a complex skill, requires a strong foundation in listening comprehension. It involves producing spoken language accurately, fluently, and appropriately.

4.a. General Principles

Effective speaking instruction should:

  • Focus on both fluency and accuracy.
  • Provide a supportive and encouraging environment.
  • Use authentic language in meaningful contexts.
  • Integrate prosodic features and body language.
  • Encourage active student participation.
  • Provide opportunities for practice and feedback.

4.b. Approaches

Two main approaches to teaching speaking are:

  • Bottom-up: Starting with smaller units of language (sounds, words) and gradually building up to larger structures (phrases, sentences).
  • Top-down: Presenting whole structures and sentences first, then breaking them down into smaller units.

4.c. Sub-skills

Developing speaking competence involves mastering various sub-skills, including:

  • Pronunciation: Producing individual sounds and words accurately.
  • Vocabulary: Using a wide range of words appropriately.
  • Grammar: Using correct grammatical structures.
  • Fluency: Speaking smoothly and effortlessly.
  • Comprehension: Understanding spoken language.
  • Interaction: Participating in conversations effectively.

4.d. Stages and Activities

Speaking activities can be sequenced in three stages:

  • Presentation: Introducing new vocabulary and structures through repetition, chants, tongue twisters, and songs.
  • Practice: Providing controlled practice activities like drills, dialogues, and role-plays.
  • Production: Offering opportunities for free and spontaneous language use through activities like debates, discussions, and presentations.

4.e. Materials

A variety of materials can enhance speaking lessons, including:

  • Pictures
  • Real objects
  • Role-play cards
  • Discussion prompts
  • Games
  • Digital tools

Integrating communicative formulas for greetings, asking for permission, and other classroom routines can further enhance speaking skills.

5. Conclusion

Developing effective listening and speaking skills in EFL requires a structured approach that aligns with educational guidelines. The LOE, LOMLOE, RD 157/2022, and Decree 61/2022 provide a framework for developing communicative competence through the acquisition of key and specific competencies. By the end of Primary School, students should be equipped with the necessary skills to become active and engaged global citizens.

6. Bibliography

  • Crystal, O. L. D. (2018). The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language (3rd Revised ed.). Cambridge University Press.
  • Hymes, D. (1972). On Communicative Competence (in Sociolinguistics). Penguin.
  • Jakobson, R., & Halle, M. (2017). Fundamentals of Language. Andesite Press.