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CHAPTER I1
LANGUAGE ACQUISITION- A THEORETICAL OVERVIEW
l . l'heoretical ground
2. (ieneral nature of the basic language skills
3. Inter-relatedness of the language skills
4. Summary
CHAPTER I1
LANGUAGE ACQUISITION- A THEORETICAL OVERVIEW
Introduction
Language is man's power. It 15 the manifestation of his attempt to verbalize his
idea, thoughts ant1 feelings. A properly of linguistic signs is their arbitrary relationship
with the objects they lepsesent. The language users rnultiplicate their linguistic
resources to produce 11eu expressions and new sentences for new situations.
Language faciiit;\tes cultural transmission. Communication is the bond by which
living crcaturc> are bo~tntl to each o~her. Whatever be the modem machinery of
communicatioii. languagc lorms tile basic unit of i t . Many psychologists including
Watson (1924) at-e corivinced of the importance of language that they maintain
ianguage is the very bass of thought Language is an essential part of many cognitive
processes and I I is difficult to imag~nr any kind of civilization in which there is no
form of languase.
Theoretical ground
The prc~ccss of Stcond Language Acquisition L? is a very complex one. Much
work in this area has been dealt with linguistic concepts in a more or less haphazard
fashion witho~lt a firm theoretical bdsis. Onc reason for this state of affairs comes
from within the field itself. The initial Impetus for studies of second language learning
came from contrastive i~nalysis, a well established field with its own traditions and
interests, ;md the emergence of error analysis, a discipline which .developed in
I-eaction ro the unsubstiintiil~ed clairns made by proponenls of contrastive analysis
regarding the boiirces o i learner difilculty in second language learning. During the
1970s i t hecanii: apparent that the study of second language acquisition was a viable
topic for rnvetlgation, in and of itself, its jurisdiction no longer came from the
coiicei-n of language pz~lagogy a 11ad been the case within the frame work of
contrastive analysis and error analysis. Inste$d its jurisdiction came frdm the insight
that it provideti about the nature of the process of acquisition. Second language
acquisition is concerned with (1) what is acquired of a second language, (2) what is
not acquit-ed ot .I seconcl language, ( 3 ) the mechanisms that bring that knowledge
about, and ultirrrately (4) explanatioir Sor this process in terms of both its success and
failure.
From thousands of studies uns can piece together a convincing description of
[he child's dawning grssp of language, but no one has yet been able to provide a
satisfactory explanation uf how children acquire language. An adequate explanation
must lake into account the niaturatioiral, cognitive and social precursors of language.
12ivers (I'IYO) :lesct-ibed the early trcriJs in second language teaching. The structural
linguis~s cmphtiised ovt:l-t pattei-neJ behaviour of responses to stimuli. With repeated
reinforcement a habit I establishzd as according to reinforcement theorist like
~ho$ake in !92Os ancl 1930s. A~rdio lingual approach became the predominant
tnethodology i n reaching English ro I'urcign students who flocked into the universities.
In the late fiftics i t began to spread I I I L O school classrooms two. Here emphasis is on
presentation of the language in oral lorrn, spoken form first and then aural-oral made,
(first listening, then producing utlelances with graphic representation of what they
have been 1e;irning). Dlilling wah t~loitly used and many a time through contrastive
linguistic rnetliotl.
In rile i:ai-ly 1960s c r i t i c i s n ~ ~ were leveled against this approach Linguistic
ll?eorists ~iccla ic~l tlien~b~:lvcb to be Ir;\nkly mentalistic. Transformational generativc
linguistic theory pointed oui the apparent simultaneity of surface forms of a languagc
i n difl'ereiit utxrances inlay canlo~iilagc important differences in meaning. Hence
indiscrirnii~ate selection of surface features for drill exercises may result in students
making sei-ious errors wlicn begin to extend by analogy.
Dibcussing on language learn~ng, Carrol1.(1953) distinguished b'etween habits
and interiialiscd ~rulcs or rule governing behaviours. Carroll maintained that a 'rule'
\vas a construct. ~ildependei~t of ac~ual behaviour whereas a habit was what the person
had actually irarned, thal is the behavioural manifestation of the internalisation of
rules. An cytenslon of C;isrcill's approach might well be applied to Krashen's 'feel and
I-ule'. To C:arroll an automatic process is one that (nearly) always becomes active in
response to particular Input configuration where the input may be externally or
internally zenei-aliszd and include the general situational context.
To Krkishan ( 1961 j conscious rule learning is not essential for second language
acquisition. Krashan's Monitor modci says "conscious learning is quite different from
iicquisition an(: may be iolally an independent system. Conscious learning does not
iilitiate utterancr. or prod~icc fluency It also does not contribute directly to acquisition.
M'e knou rhai "adults habe two independent systems for developing ability in second
language. iubconscious language acquisition and conscious language learning and
that these syscrnis are inter related in o definite way, subconscious acquisition appears
to be far inors irnportiilrt". However. Krashen does not spell out in any explicit
fashion what t ! i i rclatic~iiship may lbc and continues to speak of the acquisition and
learning ,!;SIC~II 111 the ,;inic term\ ;IS to the a[-tick 1978. In 1982 he stated i n his
26
theory of ncqulsltion and iearning tlial irrespective of age and the first language (LI )
of learnel-S, there 1s similarily in lhc order of acquisition of certain grammatical
structure. 'l'he structures reflect the natural acquisition process which iS common for
both L1 and L:.
In Schlesinger's,( 1977) Model, learning another language means acquiring
new categorisation of sen- antic relatioris in accordance with the realisation rules of the
new language. This can result in the realisation of new cognitive structures (new
ways of perceiving relationsl.
B;~iI\.stock (1983) remarked that language is acquired by understanding
117essages that coirtaln neLv s[ructur-CS slightly higher to the learner's current level of
competence. Urilarnilia~- Inr~guage i s understood with the help of context, extra- I
linguistic inl'or~nation and kr~owletlgc of the world. As per his input hypothesis there
should be suffic~ent variety and quantity of input so that it provides (I+I) for different
learners at different ievcis of conlperence and enables them to review the already
acquired structures constantly.
Structural linguist~cs by Bloomfield,(l933) is remarkable. It is the study of
language based or1 speech samples.
Biological theories
As per t l~r biologist or- innalis~. language development is primarily a matter of
maturation because according to the linguist :'. :L: Chomsky,(1975 - 79), the structure
of languagc is laid down i n the gzrlcs of a child. I-Ie called this innate capacity a
"Language Acqu~sition llcvice" LAD which gives the child the communicative
ability. All hu~nan languages share an underlying deep structure, which he calls a
'universal grainlnar'. 7'liis conslsts of principles, conditions and rules for the
27
semantic, \yntactlc and jil~onological possibilities of human language. One's job is to
figure out h o ~ + lhc partii:c~lar language system of his community actualizes linguislic
~~riiversals. T ~ O L I ~ I I children learn ent~rely different and mostly fragmentary language,
they come up with the sillne. I-ich cc~li~plex language system.
Chomsh! 119681 ~l'urned 101 the language a central place tn general
psychology, sillcc then language related studies by psycholinguists have proliferated.
Chomsky's theory supp,)rts the vicv. of creative language use because many of the
sentences children utter have never been heard by them in that particular form.
Dialogue senterices and i:onversatiori situations were used as spring board for creating
riew utterances. Opportunities shoulcl be provided in class for student - sanctioned
discussions and tor extempore dialogue in situations that stimulated these in which
student might find themselves in the second culture. Shorter exchanges of eight or ten
lines can enablc student> memorise useful building blocks of language that they could
adapt and val-y I ( > expres, nicssage vr'their own devising. This C h m s k y a n theory has
led to the rev~;al of' an older approach to stihulate in the classroo~n an environment
that will appro:iiinate thi: context in which children acqulre their first language.
Cliomsky was antagonistic to the mechanical unthinking practice of structures.
In his LAD, children aciluil-e language by making hypothesis about the form of the
g[-ammar- of thcir first 1;rrtg~lage. Thcy then compare it with the innate knowledge of
possible graninlar based on the pr~ncrples of universal grammar. In this.way the child
internaliscs a kliowledgt: o l the grammar of the native language (This Cha~nsky call's
'cornpctence' 1 ~ r l d this ~ontpetence n i ~ k e s language use, ('or performance') possible.
Languagc ilsc IS thus rule-governed behaviour to create new utterances that conform
ro the rules rhch have intcrnalizcd The term 'rule governed behaviour', 'creative
28
, language ilse' : ini i 'hyp~~thescs tcstlti:: soon were 1.eplact:d by 'building'in habits' and
' S Z L I U ~ L I ~ I ~ I I pri~ctice' as tire c i l t c h ~ ~ r i i of language teach~ng.
Cooper ( 1966) .cl;~iming that fit-st and second language learning are analogous
and that a c c o r i ~ l language is not leacned in any functionally different way than a first
language. nevert the less, lists some oi the cognitive differences i n the occasions. "In
spite of t l~ese differencch", he says, "there seems to be little evidence that the central
language learning theor): differ for- 1116 child and the adult".
Tile notion prevalent among early analyst that errors were the result of
interfcrcticc i l l the learning of a secoirti language from the habits of the first language
(Bright atid i 'Greger ( j970) has elver1 way to a more positive thinking according to
which the 1e;irnt.l-'S posbession of' h i \ native language is fiicilitative and that errors are
not to be regal-ded as sign of inh~bition, but simply as evidence of his strategies of
learning.
Many lir~guists support the vlcw that there are sufficient similarities between
first and second language accjuisition to support a common theory on the processes of
their acqursition. Krasherr ( 1978) Ellrr (1986).
Ilehaviouristic theories
Bcl~avio~rrists argue that l;~ngu:~ge is learnt in the same way as one learns othcr
forms of behaviour, (Skinner 1957) primarily through imitation and reinforcement.
The common assumptions at-c ( I ) children are born with a general learning potential
which is part of their generic inheritance, (2) language (including the learning of a
language) occur5 entirciy through the nature of the environment shaping the
individual hehavlour, (31 bchavioul-s (including the language) is shaped through the
reinforcerrlcnt or particula1- responses 21nitted in the presence of particular stimuli, and
29
(4) in the hapitis of vet-v colnplex bcliaviours such as language, there is a progressive
selection or narrowing ( 1 1 ' responses which are positively reinforced, although more
sinlple and gerreral responses receive positive reinforcement initially. Such
reinforcement i h given litter for responses which are more complex and which more
nearly rnatch the i~ltiniatc behaviour-al goal.
Skinner, ( 1957). b l o w and Scaats regarded the acquisition of language as a
matter of condir~oned habit fhrniar~i~n. Skinner's theory of language acquisition is
more relei:ant iir~ce learning a language is a bevavioural change. Though children
irnitatc adult speech no two children's speech pattern is the same nor their style the
same.
Bcver ~ui-ncd out ;~rtent~oll the pc(-ceptual and semantic strategies that
facilitate languagc acqu;\ition. B10\vi1,(1973).concen~rated on semantic as well as
grammatical relations. Skinner l ' i - 7 ) and Sidney, Bijou and Baer (1965) see
language simply as vocal behaviour r t~ ; i t is reinforced by the action of another person.
Children, build sentence out of gi-~~irlmatical frames, a process that allows them to
produce scnter~ces that arc different from sentences they hear. They make small
generalis;itions, inferences and analogies before the sentence. (Whitehurst 1982)
Gradually chiIdl.cn accc~niulates a pi~tchwork of thousands of separately acquired
frames, patterns, responses and rules
Social learning theories
Socio-ltnguistich rapidly devclnped irl the 1960s and 1970s. To them language
is more comrn~~nicativc isather than the competence - performance. The basic
principles of natural language learn~ng is the distinction Krashen (1982) has drawn
between acquisition of a lang~tage through the pores of learning and the formal
. 30
cognitive sense Language acquisil~on takes place during episodes of authentic
communic;ition i n the language in i~nsrructured interaction. To Bruner(1966) " Use is
a powerfi~l dererr~ii~iant of rule struciure". To combine <:hamsky's view and socio-
linguis[ic view 'colnmunicative co~npctence' was coined. Hymes, (1971) provides an
excellent discussion of the compelence - performance controversy and socio-
linguistic 1l1ode1.s of commu~~icative competence and language use. Hymes describes
co~nmunicarive competcncc as \\hi11 a speaker needs to know ta .communicate
effectively in culturally significant ~etiings. The most important task of the socio-
l i n~u i s~ ic resc;~rci~ w a the ide~~~ilication of the rules, patterns, purposes and
consequerlces 01' language i1.x and a11 account of their interrelations".
Ccr1;iin 1y11csoof higher rnclical func~ioris such as deliberate attention, logical
illemo~-y. verbal and coilceptual t h o ~ ~ g h ~ and complex ernotions cannot emerge and
take form in the develop~nental proicss without the constructive assistance of social
interaction. Rivei-S, ( 1971).
Accol-ding to Lenneberg, ( 1967) language can be acquired only during a
sensitive period i n human developllicnt i.e. when the children are two years old, and
lasts ul i t i l they reach malurity. At ti~iies the ability to learn a language declines and by
the late ken i r is difficult or even i~npossible. The end of the sensitive period, said
Lennchel-r L , (1971) .coincide\ with the maturation of the brain. The mature brain loses
its plasticity and can no longer make the adjustment that the acquisition of language
requires. Soci;il learning theorists ~ ~ f o u l d add that imitation plays a major role in the
acquisition of speech and that both conprehension and speech are based on
observational Ieal-ning (Bandura, 1'177). The social theorists call children's language
acquisitio~l a\ delayed selective imitt~tion. (Whitehurst and Vasta,1975).
all the possihlc \uurce\ 01' language acquisition and admit t h e fact that the more .-
.i .: socialised the cllild is thc richer his 1;lnguage would be in positive contexts. : . - - ~.
Social Cognitive lnteractiori Theories
Tlic interaction approach to language acquisition agrees with the biological
contentio~r that maturation is vital and that, until children reach a certain cognitive
level, thr) cannot acquire language. I t also agrees with the behaviourist contention
that social intsl-action i the place to look for the emergence of language. But
interaction theorists maintain that innate mechanisms cannot, by themselves, explain
the child's grasp of lansuage. B loo~n . (1970) draws attention to the interactions of
cognitive - perceptual dcvelopmcnt, linguistic experience, and non-linguistic
cxperieiicc in riic langu:~ge developinent. "Induction of underlying structures", she
says. "is i~rtim;rrcly rela1i.d to the dciclopment of cognition", and further "children's
speech i very much lied to c o ~ ~ t c x t and behaviour". The basis for linguistic
conipetcnce also goes t)e)ond contiitioning and observational learning to include
nonlingui.\tic aspects of human interaction: turn-taking, mutual gazing joint attention,
co~ltext, ;isutiij)tiotis ancl cultural coitventions. The forms of language are acquired, so
cllildrerl c,in cicrry out cornniunicarrvi~ lunctions iBatesj979).
V>gorsk) , ( 1978) asserted rti.lr cliildi-en learn through social interaction and
language is ari important F,\c~litatol- o f lcai-ning. T o him ihe cognitive structure is the
organisation of knowletige i n the b ra~n and knowledge is categorised into category
systems, the 1 1 called s~:heinata. Learning occurs when existing schemata is enlarged
or restructured.
32
To llcn~he) ( 1991 I both pcnpcciivcs, social inlet-action and cognitive processes
ila\,e important i r~ipl ica:~o~r~ fol- thc classroorn teacher. The first perspective is
L'ygotsky'\ (197to zone of proximal ilevelopment. The zone of proximal development
is the ilillcrencc bctweerl LIII individual's current level of development and his or her
potential level of development. He vlews language as an important mediator between
learning arid dcvclopmei~t Language develops mainly because of a child's need to
coinmunicate with people in the iciivironment. During the child's development,
language co~~;.el-ted to internal hpcech as it becomes an internal process and
organises the child's thoughts. The becond perspective is Krashen's (1982) concept
and its applicdtlon to language acquisition. To Krashen child should be given
maximum exposure to the language (Krashen and Terrell, 1983). The child is a
cognitive being making sense out ul his world, including the world of language. But
the child i~ as dceply a social beltif and this learning of language both reflects and
uses his \ocinl x l f . Thc cognitivl~is see the child as a cognitive ac'tivist and the
interactioilists \i'e i t as a iocial actlvl\l.
Children discovers a good deal by asking questions. At first they have
difficult);. h u ~ I:~rer- they rcalise the ;~tljustment. Once they understand the rule they
gcneralisc i t . 1.anguagc I the pl.otIuct of the child's active interaction with an
er~virorltnent provided t ~ y other hulrlan beings. As Gleason and Weintraub (1978)
point out cognitive developtnent cni~ rcsult from interaction with the physical world.
but children cannot acq1;tre languagc merely through simple exposure to i t as passive
listeners. Some of the \ iews of the lnteractionist approach is most promising. They
borrow freely troin othei- approacho Bohanioon and Leubecker 1985.
Piliger,~ 1962) fo\:uscs on language as an abstract system of sign relations and
on the prepo\~tional ancl content in~lependent properties of linguistic representation
which make I [ a powerful tool for the development of abstract reasoning. As children
acquire languase, they acquire a sign system which bears important relationships to
both cogliltivc and social aspects of their life. Zone of proximal development is
operationaiiscd i n tern15 of the process of social interaction between children and
adults which allows chiIdl.cn to acqu~re complex series of actions in problem solving
situations befol-e they have the meni~ll capacities to decide an actions on their own.
Piaget rel'ei-s 10 the social functions of a language and some aspects of its content
dependence as docs Vygo[sky in h13. d o n e of proximal development. Piaget and
Vygotsky ililfer on the relation bct\vccn development and learning. Piaget believes
that dcvelopl~lcnt proci:eds learli~l~y, where as Vygotsky believes that learning
Piaget has been insti-umentnl 1 1 1 shaping the relationship between language and
thought. Using the basic function of assimilation the tendency of the organism to
incorporate environmental stimuli into a system of mental structure accomodation (the
process o l adapting to the environrncrli), children constantly strive for equilibrium.
During thc 1980s. change5 occurred in the conception of communication and
language develop~nent. Language was 110 longer presented as an idealized system of
syntactic rules, hut as ;I complex s)s[em of communication. Context is no longer
regarded as a ,itnple elicitol- of Jn innate mechanism. Young children are context
sensitive ;ind the~i- cogn~~ ive pei-forn~ancc is determined by what they think others
want forni theill. Childrcn use and ,Icveiop their comtnunicative skills in order to
34
make senic of iheii- erivii-oiirnent. T l l~s environment is nluch more social and cultural
than phy5ic;il
A geiicral level o f cogi1itls.e competence is necessary for rudimentary
communicative competerlcc. Special~sed conceptual competence may be needed for
the cornprehen>ion of sophisticated tt:chnical information. Effective communication is
possible only when a person exercise skills in at least three domains-linguistic,
cognitive and \vci;il.
Thc p~ychoiingiiistic and socio linguistic perception coupling the
constructi\.ist [)I- cognitive theories of Piaget; (1962), arid Bruner (1966), and the
~xycholinguistic lheories described by Smith and Goodman and the socio - linguistic
theory of Vygotsky,(l97X) focus on rile cognitive aspect of language learning.
Bilingualsim
The western motiel of monolingalism which is concomitant with their ethnic
and cultural homogeneity cannot bc accepted in India due to the language diversity in
India. Indian scholars tiiive shown that bilingualsm is a cultural state of language
behavioilr in\<~ulvcd in ; i social group's interaction, particularly in India which is
basically iri~iItiIingilal ancl plu~-i-c~~Iri~ral .
Bilingualsim as :! concept war introduced in the language census, for the first
time in 9 0 ISiIingualsi~~~ or mul~ilingualsim is the use of one or more then one,
language by a community for inter-group communication apart from the language
used by i r in rlic home cnvironmenr The studies conducted in 4600 coinmunities
66.4% people arc bi1ingu;il. F'OI/J99:?)
35
Ho~rb) . I 1977) il-icic are iOii0-4000 languages with a little more than 150
contries to ~iccoliiri~odat~: them. Mosi bilinguals are probably more fluent and more at
ease in one of i hc~ r lanfi~agcs. The learner, i t has been suggested, may also use ( L I )
to initiatc ilttes.:llces wlrcn they do not have sufficient acquired knowledge of the
target languagi:' X'rashen (1981 ). ..In other words the learners can use L I as a
resource for :idi~t.)c tranilation to u~c rcome their limitations". A number of studies
since 1960's h;i\:c shown the positlvc effect of bilingualism on cognition. Ellis (1986)
Dugdale,( 1996) .~clinowlcdges that pervious experiences bi-or multi-linguistic and so
on affects the speed with which a new language is acquired.
Language Across the curriculum
L ; i ~ ~ g u a c across ihe curr~ciilum (LAC)" is a tern1 used in many parts of the
world to denote an approach to [caching language skills and strategies such as
reading, speaking. writing. listening i;tnd soqetimes representing view etc) within the
context of contc~lt area\. ill contrclht to teaching the language skills and strategies
within a separate time pei-iod i n the curriculum. The under assumption are that
language has a heuristic function that learning language is more process -oriented than
content -orlentcd. L.angui~ge learnin: is expedited when it is contextualised and that
tI11-ougli expres\lyc writing and tiiscus.;ion (or talks), infi~rmation is filtered through
pcrsonal cxpcl-icnccs. '1-AC' has lur~icd into an educational movement in the 1990s.
Parker (1985) rcfci-s tv LAC a ir "true alternative perspective on learning and
teaching".
Tlrc lii,t two dt,<:ailes h a w seen an upsurge of communicative language
teaching. With the a d v t ~ t 01' commi.iilicative approach the two skills: listening, and
36
\peaking liavc r-cic~ved a ncw inil>ciii\. Several years ago, in (1928). Rankin's study
observcd tilat i11c anloulll ol timc tlc:.oted to the language arts is inversely related to
t i s o c l I I I I ~ L I I I I f a i r . Ilc found that 70 percent of working day is spent
i n verbal ionlm~~nic:~tic.n anti of t l i ~ \ communication tirne 45% percent is spent in
listening 10 percent in sjxoking, 16 pcl-cent in reading and 9 % in writing
Tornkitis and Hoskisson. (1995) reported that communicative competence
developed through a discussion and understanding of language process, it is nurtured
thorough gcri~linc comrrii~nication activities. These activities include conducting oral
interviews of conirnunity residents. participating in debates on topics of relevance to
students ~. l . i t ing stories and sharini; these stories with genuine audiences keeping
learning logs i t 1 science classes and writing letters to state or national political figures
In conjunction ~ b ~ t l i soci;ll studies thcr~les.
Richartl, ( 1996) iicfines colnnlunication, "as the lransmission of information
and u n d e ~ \ t d n d ~ n g from onc person 01 group to another through the use of common
~jrnbols" People'\ attitude detetlninc how they appro,teh problem situations and
o ~ h e l people Row 11 I \ bellcved that chlldren learn to read and write through
irnmersioii in a 1angu;lge r i c h er~vironment. The new approach is based on
observa~ions o!' how childrcn learn 1 0 talk. This connection between talking reading
and writing suggests that all three arc Inore alike than they are different.
Ovcr the past decade, hundreds of elementary and junior high'school pupils
have participatecl in recipl-ocal teactling. Such children show substantial gains in
reading comprehension compared 11.) controls exposed to alternative instructional
strategies with the samc I-cading m;~terials. Lyscynchuk, Prcssley and Vge,(1990)..
lieciproc;il le ;~ch~n? creates a zone c 1 1 proxin~al developnlent in which children, with
37
the and o i rcacliers and peers. gradually assume more responsibility for the task.
Rcciproc;il te;rcl~iirg a l s ( ~ keeps re;rtIing activities whole rather than breaking than
tio\vn into ~>olaicd hkills renloved I I - ~ I I I the complexities of real text passages Engliert
and Balinciar,~ i 'J9 I ).
Childreii's languige developrlient in the elementary years is the development
ant1 use o l new words. Cl-iiltlren's u~iderstanding of words grows in two stages-fast
and slow. I11 tlic last stagc cliildren q~.rickly notice new words, and assign them in new
categories. In ihc slow \laze children have to work out differences and relations
between \ ~ o r d > . Iri thc elernenti~r-i they learn words through reading, through
conversatiull anti by asking others what n word means. They use a wide variety of
sentences. Duri112 this stagc they 11ccd vivid literature to read as a means of learning
about dii i 'cre~i~ >ynlaclir lorms an,l styles. In addition, by involving in writing
;ictivities childrcri 1ea1-n l ~ o w to LISC ,\yntax in written expression. During the nliddle
\$ears childi-cl)', iihility to understaiid the message of' words increases. They learn
synonym>. a ~ l t ~ ~ n y r n s , holnonynfi and idiomatic expressions. Through all the
processes of 1;lnguage developnient what is acquired is language proficiency that is
the use of the 1;111guage with speed and accuracy.
l ' l ~ c nicr\i personal and personalised area of curriculum is language arts. To
~indesstar~J purson's I a ~ y u a g r I S to understand that person. Language has no
coherent content. I L 1s tllc vchicle used to encode and decode content derived from the
experiences of feeling. th~nking, sensitivity and other facilities. Language art is a
dependent curriculum area which lnust be supplemented by other language areas.
Objective\ of'lariguage learning
Moderri hchools do not even partially fulfil1 the function of the development of
language ahilit~es. The language arts programme provides for both incidental learning
and systematic Icarning. K~iddell I 1974) has produced seven goal statements for the
language arts.
1 . The ;ibiliry to communii:ate cleaslv in oral and written forms in a variety of social
setting.
2. The ab~lity io ~~nders t ;~ni l and use oral and written language in both receptive and
exprebslve I ' IISIII~.
3. Thc ab~l i ty I V use comprehensio~~ and problem solving strategies according to the
purpohcs es1;ihlished I I I reading ;incl listening selections.
I . The ability io decode new wor i l and encode or spell words in a variety of reading
and writing bit~~ations.
5 . The ah~li ty ri ) L I S ~ rescar-ch ancl htudy skills to interpret content in subject matter
areas
6 The a b ~ l ~ t y io expreii. Interpret enjoy creative thoughts.
7. A srnsitivity and apprcciatio~l of language and literature in a variety of life
situationb.
The overall objective of lear~iing a native as well as foreign language is to
listen a t tc~~t ivel ) read con~prehensively, speak clearly, write legibly and spell
correctlq. The \pecific instructional objectives also include developing a sense of
appreciation for simple poems, aciji~iring knowledge about the elements of the
language, reproducing the language and developing interest in the language. The
39
p]-ogramnlc o l language arts must rt:ccognise the functioning of the language in the
development c1 ;I language. in the maintenance of a c~llture and in the continuity of
the develt)prnei~t O S a gcneralion. A very natul-al process of development is utilising
language Sol- purpose and receiving genuine, emphatic warm and responsive
intervention. Tllc symbols and pattt:rns of language are abstractions applied to the
realities of the objects. events and values experienced by ;l culture and by individuals.
\\'itho~lt thesc lipplicatio~rs the n~astcly of the language skills and tools are somewhat
inert and valueles until :~ctivated 111 a social experience. These aims are materialised
by way o i hahlt f o r m a ~ ~ o n . The s y t e m operates largely without one's awareness.
, . I hcse language habits are ileeply set in the nervous system of the individual and in
the mtiscular. 111IcI1ect~liil and emotiolial processes. Much of the language learning is
the lea~-nlllg of complicated skills dnd learning skills are largely a question of
adequate and e:l'cct~ve p!-actice.
L , ; i n g ~ ~ ; ~ y acqui\ltio~l has two variables: l a n g u a ~ e and the learner. As there
are deep level i~ni lar i t lcs across d ~ i e r s e human language so there are deep level
similaritie~ acio\s the diccrse h u ~ i ~ a n who acquire them. Similar physical and
cognitive \truct~ire\ 31.1: piirt of the makeup of all humans, whatever kind of
C I I ~ ~ ~ O I I I I I C I I ~ \\C Ih;~ppeli to be born in10 and raised in. Clearly Language Acquisition is
dceply rooted i l l the phyi~cal and cog~~i t ive structure and possibilities of human share.
I%loonl's 'l 'nxono~ng
Bloom\ taxonollry of educational objectives is one of the most popular
classiCicatlon\ o i educational oulci)rnes. This classification places all expected
educational outcomes along the th~ee-fold division into cognitive, affective and
psychomolor daniains and their sub-domains. This suggests that educational outcomes
40
iri language tear:hing. v]/ . the variou languag skills, can ;dso be classified along with
those major di l~~cl~sions. 'Shc relevant classifications adopted from the three domains
Lire listed 'I\ uriiicr
Cognitive 1)onlain
1 . Knowlcdgc
Tcrmirir)logy: delinitions, rangc of meaning of words, specific facts;
Convenlions: Spcecli and mliting; Classifications and categories: types of
literatul c
2 . Comprehension -
T I . ; I I ~ S ~ ~ I I . I O I ~ : non-l~teral statenrcnts;
Interpretation: thi. iliough of ;i work as a whole;
Extrapoliirion: prediction of implications and corollaries.
3. Applicatio~~
Gcrieral itleas, princ~ples, gclii:ralizations, laws, restructuring, classification.
3. Analpi\
Itlentiti'.a~iori: ur~stared assun,l~fions, facts and hypothesis;
Analysi\ .ind relationships. Interrelationship among ideas;
Organl~~ir~onal princ~ples: four and pattern of literary work as a means of
uncler\fu~iding irlcanltig.
4. Synthesis - -
Producaon of a uliiilue corn~~~unication: skill in writing, organization of ideas
and starenients, p~t t rrns , co~i.~munications, compositions;
Productlcm of a proposed set of operations: specifications, operations.
5. Evaluation
J u J g c ~ i ~ c ~ i t ~ iri 1c1.111 of 1111erni1l evidence: logical accuracy, consistency,
falliicic\. precisio~l, cxactnes?,
J ~ ~ d g e n i c ~ i t s in tci-ms of external: efficiency , economy, alternatives, theories.
I - I I S hound\. ;Ilrangenlcnts, differentiation's; I
M i l I ~ n g ~ i c ~ \ to rec,:lvc: other' hpcech;
Co~itruIIc~I 01- ~e le i ted attenti(~n. listening, responding to, answering, discrimination of
rno~~ii t i ~ i i l ilicanlng In i~iusic, rh:,thms, nuances.
2. Kehponding
Acilu~e\ceiice in responding: diriction, instruction, demonstration;
Sntihlncuon in ri,ipi)tise: reailing for recreation, speeches, plays; presentation.
wrlilngs.
1. Valui~i :~ -
AcccpIaricc of a viiluc abilitl tc \peak ancl write effect~vely:
t'rcl'erci~cc t'or a value view po~l~th, agreements;
i'ilnl~iitloii 4. Or,
Ci~~iceptual~zation c r l ' i ~ value: di\;ussion, theorizing, comparison;
Or+in~rdtioii of a ,;lluc system: clefining formulating;
5 , Characleri~;~tio~i -~
Grnc~~alireil set: rcvisioii, colllplction.
Psychomotor l h rna in
1 . Pcl.ccpt~on- Selccllon, trarisiatlon
Z (;u~;lc;l liespoiise\- Speecli. I~ronunciation, writing
3. Mcili;i~i~sm - LVrii~ng, productioil of S O U I I ~ S .
l l i e cilgrittive dot i ia~n in Hloo~i i ' s schemata includes language behaviour ranging
1rom simple rciall o l ni.itci~als to ht,ghly original and creative ways of combining and
sy~ t thes i s i t i~ n c n 1~1e;is and tna~erials . The affective domain includes objectives expressed as
interests, attitudes. apprec1;itlon and val i~es, while the psychomotor domain relates to aspects
like handwriting dnd speech. The act~vit ies prescribed by Bloom may be expanded by
attaching \ ~ ~ b - s k i l l s of language behavtour to each of the objectives.
The skiz! txised conci.ptualisali3tl of language teaching visualises language as a
t a m t i ~ ~ t e t - t ~ ~ t ~ i i a l i o l ' he linguists identified the performance objectives
based 011 t l i ~ \ ,
Abstract of the subiect -matter taxonomv
Stag,: internal Behaviour External Behaviour ~~~ ~.
I . Mechanical Skills: Percepiroi~: The student perceives Reproduction: The student diffcrenccs between two or more initiates foreign. Language
'The stuilcnl pcrl'i~ii~is via rotc sounds let ters or and speech, writing, gestures, songs mcmoty rat1ii.r t l i ; i r i lhy makes di~tinctions between thcni. and proverbs. ... undcrhtand~i~$
.--p-..-. . ~ -
2. Knowledge: I ? ~ c o ~ I I ~ I ! o I ~ : Thc student shows hi; Recull: Thc student rccognllcb facts he has learned b demonstrates he members the
I'he student dcrnil~i\tratcs answering true false and multiple information taught by knowledge i,S kic~i , l r i i l l : i and i l u r b t i o n s answering fill-in or short data related 10 i < ~ r c ~ g r ~ l angu t~c answer questions. lcarntny
--p. -
3. Transfer: Rrceprioi~ The student under Applicafion: The student speaks stand> recombined oral or written or writes in a guided drill
The studcnl ubcs 111s LnclwleJ& passagcs of quotations not situation o r participates i n i l l ncw s~tuations. encountcrcd previously. cultural simulations.
.~-
4. Con~niunicat i~)~l : Co,~i,~tr~lii.risiotr: The student .YE(~-expressiori: The student undersiai~tls a foreign language uses the foreign language to
'lhe student uics tlic toreign niessagl: 1 a cultural signal express his ~ersonal thoughts 1;inguage inrld eull~~l:ll as natur:ll containjnj! uniamiliar material in orally or in writing. He uses vehicle\ for ii~iliiiiui~~cation an uttla~i~liiar situatioti . gcstures as part of his
cxpression. -~ -
5. Criticihm: A r r n i ~ i i i : The student breaks down Synrllesis: The student carries languagc \ I I a literary passage to its out original research or
The student ;inalyici iir essent~al clcnicnts ol' style, tone, individual study or created a evaluates tlic iore~yn languagt: theme ,lni: so forth plan for such a project. or carries oul i~rgtlncllc reseal.'il.
Ili,oli~~icii,cr: The studcnt evaluatl:~ and juilgc\ thc appropriateness ar~d cffect~vci~css of a 1;inguage sample or lilcr,ir! passagc.
p
Abstract of' the Affective Taxono~ny
Stage --
I<eceptivity:-I'hc , ~ ~ ~ d e n t is A~nr - r~ i~ . s s : The student is Attentiveness: The student open to Icnr~ritig ahou~ a aware i!f the existence of attends to information about Soreign lati~uagc and culturc, langut~ges and cultures other foreign language and culture
than hi! own and of the fact both in and out of class. He that d~llt.rcnces exist between pays attention to the careful them preparation of his
assignments. ~ p---- ~
1. Responsiveness: Tolrrcin~e: The student is Interest and enjoyment: The tolerant of the differences in student is .interested i n
The stuJe11t respoiitls foreign-language expression activities related to foreign- positively to learning about a and 111 foreign patterns of language study, enjoys the foreign language 2nd cultl~i-c. living. Hc does not reject or activities presented to him,
make S ~ I I of foreign ways. and gains satisfaction from participation in them.
-p---. ~~
2. Appreciation: V u l u i , ~ ~ . The student views the involvenlertl: The student study o l forcign language and voluntarily participates from
Thc studer~l of h ~ h oun accc>rcl culture ;I. valuable, worthwhile time to time in activilics att:~chcs valuc to 1;lnguagc and and in~port,~nl. designed to improve his cl~liural C X ~ U ~ I C ~ C C \ language skills or incrcase his
knowledge of the foreign language and culture.
3. In t e r r~a l i z ;~ t io~~ : C u t ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ r ~ i ~ ~ l i : u t i u t ~ : The Coii~tnirtnent: The student student dzvelop~ a personal makes a major investment of
The stude~il l o~ ln i his vwtr \ystetli .]l' values relating to time and energy in thc idcas and vaiucb based un foreig~, 1;rnguage study. pursuit of further learning. ioreign l;lngu;ige learri~rig experience,
~ .-
4. Characterization: Intrgrr~tiott: The student Leadership: The student integrates foreign language takes a major role in
Foreign latigua$e and culturr. valued into personal value promoting language 'learning have become a n integral part systelii and instruction. o i the stildent', life to [lie extent that he 15 ch;rriicteri/.ed lhy i~ctivltics in thib area.
. . -
' ~t luo r ' s 'T;rl~le of 1,anguage Skills
Blvul llas plcpared a table to specify the skills used by native speakers in
a co~i i rnun~cat ive cvelrt. Bloor has divided them into two columns. In the first
coluilin i \ given skills tlrnt are .tcquired naturally, while in the second column is
llsteil t I i c l \ i . \kills which ale 1lorn1aIly taught in thi: cducation system. Bloor's
'rabic 01 language ,kills is repr,;~duced below:
Scheme ol' classification of language behaviour o r skills
In children's Language Acqu~hi~ion a goal is set arid activities are provided to
assure its altalllirlciit. T p i c a l l y the learning is divided into ( l ) chunks such as sub
skills and concepts. ( 2 ) ~ q u e n c e the sub skills or concepts i n a simple to complex set
01. steps ( 3 ) pr-escnt therii to the children and provide practice activities so that they
attain mastcry of the concepts, skill\ or processes (4) test periodically to check for
mastery arid to guide ~ubsequeril Icn~.ning activity. The sub learning should be
sequencetl in some reasonable order. I'he language to be learnt is also to be split into
basic part\. 1,ariguage cnvironmenl, family members, caregivers all influence
language learning. But for I-igorous language learning a curriculum is essential. The
l scientifically \;~liii proccdul-e in language learning involves listening first to be
followed by speaking, reading and f1n:rlly writing. The skills develop in sequence as
inter-relatcti p;irts of the language cur-riculum. On a holistic approach the sub skills are
never PI-aclicctl iri isolat~on.
Morris (1965) glveh a sirnpl~: classification of the general skills of language
behaviour.
.I-l1cy L1r.C
1 1 . Urider-\lar~tlir~g uI1;tt is read
iv . E\p~.cssrrlg idea5 In writin:
This Jivisio11 o l language behavioui- into the four base skills, viz. Listening
skill reatllrig skill, spcaking skill and writing skill has been endorsed by different
language teaching experts like Lado, (1962) Valette, Heaton, (1975) Byrne, (1976)
Stork, (1976) Van Els (1984) et al. and Harmer (1979). Listening and reading are
receptive skills and speaking and writing are expressive or productive skills.
Chomskey's transformational generative grammar paradigm for language education
distinguishes between these two fundamental abilities as (1) Language competence
and (2) Language performance. He explained competence as the ability to speak and
understand a language while 'performance' is the actual application of this ability to
behaviour
A close parallel to Chomskey's paradigm is the division of language abilities
into linguistic and communicative competence by Allwright. The following diagram
makes his point clear. According to Allwright (1979)
CC - Communicative competence
LC - Linguistic competence
Some areas of linguistic competence are irrelevant to communicative competence.
But linguistic competence in general, is treated as a part of communicative
competence. Harriot (1970) views that linguistic behaviour resembles skilled
behaviour in its (a) hierarchical nature (b) dependence on feed back (c) automatisation
and (d) anticipation. He conceived language skills as a hierarchy rising from
phonological to grammatical and semantic skills, each level of skills in its turn
forming a sub hierarchy
Phonological skills: Speech perception, the effect of content and articulation
(;l-;trnn~atic;tl \liill\: \ V t i ( l \ t'orni r l;i,se\, syn t~~x , left to right dependencies, and top
Semantic skillh: SI;II S C I I I ~ I I ~ C s t ru~ .~~ i r c .
( ;15N1<1<:\1, KA'I'I!RE OF TI-IE FOUR Bi\SIC I,AN(;UAGE SKII,I,S
S I I C I . I I I ; . I ; ; c ailr. W ~ I L I I 1-.111p1oy common word symbols, involve the
crliorrlllig ( l i \ l ~ ~ r l i t l y ; ~ r l t l iv;iriing) I I ~ I L I tllc o ~ ~ t g o (speaking and writing) of language.
'l'tlc t ' i ~ l l o i \ ~ ~ ~ ~ Iigiil.c ~ ) ~ I I . I I ~ I ~ S thc c~~coding and decoding process as it is used in
( O I I I I ~ ~ L I I I I C . ~ ~ I I I ~ : ~ l i ~ . ~ ~ i g i . . . 111 t h ~ s rr~~rtlel tile speaker A first conveys a message to
I:,lcnc~ 13. \ \ l 1 1 1 , I I ' I ~ . I d i ~ ~ ~ i j i : i g anti i~irc~-pretirlg the message becomes speaker B who
I 1 I I 1 i 1 1 r A . Ilc ilccodes and interprets the message and becomes
,,- -'X.
Listener B j MC isagc or 3 _-__.________ _._ , , - - - . . A ..
.- : (Reader B ) :
i J I
---. ~~~ .--.
4
: Speaker B I I I I I C I I : ::. ', I or --_____------__- 8
I (Writer B) :
'* ~~ -
, ~ ~~~ j i I ~l<L,:l<lcl , \ l 8
- ...
' I , , ( ; ~ ~ i ~ ~ l ~ l i , ~ n , I ' )> :? i "Lislcning is the ~nciliurn through whicll we
: I I , :lop ill,. schc111v 111ar we are going to use for structuring our
47
linguistic ron-iprrl~cr~sio:~" lr is the l'undamental communicative region. Children in
the e lcme~~ta ry 5t;ige spc~id Inore th;111 half of their school day engaging in listening
activities. The l i r t stanclartlised test #if listening was published in 1953. Listening is
the principal aveuues fol- Ical-ning,. Onc hears a set of sounds and manages to ~ n a k e
sense of them, uiing t h e ~ r extensive kriowledge of sounds, words, language rules, and
the world
Li\rening is a process by w h ~ c h one fits incoming information into what one
already k ~ ~ o w s . i t is the mcdiunl tl~rough which learning takes place. It is one's
primary 1carni11g modality throughout most of one's life. Self-talk is instrumental in
e f fec t i~~e and eificicnt self-cognition of one's behaviour for all aspects of one's life. It
makes thc conrplcx psychological processes that begins with the sensation of sound
and the entire iprvcess o l deriving meaning from the conlmunicative event. An active
listener is one wiio is able grasp i;le rcc]uireinent of the situation and expends the
amount 0 1 energy and attention that tlie cil-cumstances demand.
Listenii~g is a ~coniplex operation integrating the distinct components of
percept1011 arid lingui,~tic kno\\lcdge Psychologists have tried to explain the
phenomelion I'ru111 several view poirits each of which can given some clues to our
student p r ~ h l e ~ i i s i i i 1istc11i11g to a IOreig~i language. Listening is an active process of
constructing a ilirssage irc)in a stream of sound with what one knows of the
phonolog~cal, semantic and syntactic: potentialities of the language. T h e process of
messase construction is receptioii. Perception and reception are required for
interpreting mcshage listenctl by speihers.
It is essential t c ~ understand what others say. Speech perception is vital to
listening which refers to rhc proccss whcre by the listener's auditory system translates
48
wund vihr:itions into a rtrilig of sounds, which the listener perceives to be speech.
Weak po\\tr ol concentra:ior~, egocelitricism or short auditory memory make people
poor lihtcners 111 cven niothcr tongu~~. I t has been estimated that of the time adults
\pend in ion~niurlieatioi~ activitieb 45 percent is devotcd to listening, 30 percent to
speaking. 16 pc~ceiit to reading and 9 percent to writing and these data are from a pre-
~elevision. p!-e-talking pictul-e, pre-dictaphone etc. Listening plays the most vital role
in the teaching lea!-ning process, Many factoi-s influence the skill of listening, in
~lnderstaniling 1.egisters. dialectal vai- ati ion and complexities of structures which one
cannot pi-oducc i n one'\ own spceclh. Long before children can read they hear and
receive i~rt'urniation aboi~t :l~e \vo~-l~I around them through listening. Students who
listen well arc (11 an enorlnous ;iiiiantage virtually in every school task-following
direction\. iindcrh~anding content, dixerning the intention of teachers and peers. Little
;Ittention I \ _gi\cli IU helping htudents acquire good listening.
l'rocess of' 1,isterling
Adcquate developrrlen~ ot
listening skills 1s important for a11
individual for advanced lcarr,ing and
thinking. l,is[en~ng is oaslc to the
language art\. The process of
listening incl~~i les thl-cc stages.
auding, listening and hearing. The
lowest level ol' listen~ng-auding-
rcfcrs to sounil u.Ives bi,ing seceivcd
and modi i~ed by the ear. Sol-neone 1 1 ;
h e p c i t ticaririg physicall)
perceives the prchencc ol hound, bill
would nor be ;~blc to make out whai
the sounds are. Hearing i h purely L
physical phenonienon and i t canno1
be laugh1 Listening is 111 the middlt
of the hie~archy i n whlcl~
individuals become awal-e of thy
sound sequence.. The) are able to
identify and rrcognisc thc soul~c!
sequence> as known L V O S ~ Y . If the
words arc in t l ~ e ~ s listening capacity.
0 C .- 2 G) Speech sounds I
Auditory acuity Masking
Auditory fatigue Binaural considerations
Attention and concentration
Auditory -+ discrimination
m C .- C m + Y) 3
Experience and background
Delivery I
recogni ed word -------.--------.- W :
Rate of input Unrelated associations
Experience and background
Meaning % Figure 2. The total act of receiving auditoy
cnmmunicatinn
that is they have heard the \vords brlore, they know what the words mean. Auding is
50
at the higlicst lc\el of the hierarch) and involves not only giving meaning to the
sounds, b~ i t a s s ~ l l ~ ~ l a t i n g iliid integrating the oral message. An individual at the auding
level woulii be able to sather the rn;lin idea of a spoken passage, discerns, analyses
makes inferences and performs all the other high level comprehension skills that are
usually associared with reading. Creative problem solving, as well as critical listening
are also skills involved in this level Although we look at each level as a separate
entity, the act of listening functions a \ a whole.
I>evels of listening
Pa\\ive li>tening is at the nroht rudimentary level. At this 1evel.the listener is
only h e a r ~ l ~ g tlie hound\, hut nrcly or ]nay not be recording the information. The
listener i \ not v ~ r y nluclr interesteti in the material or the source of information.
Mostly adults Lire [~assivc. listeners to Iheir environment.
Active listening or factual listening
Listening is the active oral i i i take of language. The listener must be able to
assimilate the flow of sound symbols into meaningful concepts. The active listener
attends to what 1s required snly ;iiliI can make objective predictions about what the
listener \ + i l l s r y I~le is able to detcrrnine the stance of the listener. He can make
inference.$ about the mchsase. Active listening requires various thinking strategies.
Active li>tcneis ai-c active consurnels of information. They interact with the speaker,
they intcrprcr. a r~i~lyse , synthesise aird evaluate information as well as go beyond the
iiiforniation to w i n e up with alternative solu~ions, techniques and s o forth. Content is
:I cue to lihtcii. Auding, listening hearing and all other mental processes are very
active here The listenel- processes. words and sentences and remembers the facts and
5 1
accepts t h i ~ facts Systernutii. learnln? takes place only through this type of listening.
Aotive l i s ~ e n c ~ i .i~-i . ideal Ii\teners.
Interpretative listening
Thih i \ purely activc listetling to discern relationships among persons and l
events and material. Miera~.chical rclationships. cause and effect relationships, and
temporal ;~nd hpatial relationship5 are analysed and ideas are hypothesized. The
children at t h i h srage after listening to a passage can answer questions dealing with:
a. Linding the nuin idea
c. sending hctwc.cn the liries
d. reasoning cause and effect
f . ,ernantic variation of ii~eaning
Evaluati\.e listening
Tile lisrericr here holtis in~prc\sions of what are hearing against the template of
what tic know\ I'liey apply the crrlcria of plausibility and truth and are vigilant of
bias and faculty logic. Tiic Ir;tener 1s very alert.
Appreciate listening
I t I > the Irhtentng for- deriuisrg pleasure and enjoymerlt from poems, stories,
nl~isic or any otllcr art iurnl that f i t \ some mood feeling or interest. The amount of
pleasure (lerived depend, upon one's 'resthetic sense.
Critical listeninx
111 rhls age chi1J1-cl! are i:ipo\ccl to a plethora of news, advertisements anti
informatior~ fro111 the tnlihs iliedia. Olily way the teachers can help to lessen the impact
of propaganda or half-iruth on them is to emphasize critical listening skills in the
classroom. Cl-~tical listening is the p]-ocess of examining spoken material in the light .
of related, objective evidence, comparing the ideas with some standard or consensus,
and them cor~cl~iciing 01- acting upon the judgement made. Critical listening incurs
special dilficulties that alxe from face to face relationships. The child at this level
after listening ro a passage can answcr questions dealing with:
C . fantasy or rcaiity
d ~hlcctlvlt) oi \ u h ~ e ~ t i \ ~ t y
Creative li\tening
Creative listening leads to divergent thinking which in turn results in
originality and ncwness. Cl-eative l~hteners tentatively consider all possible solutions
before dccisior~ tilaking. Crc:~tive listening calls for higher mental capacities
Rletacognitire listening
It is the highest or-der o l i~stening and this is the most difficult level of
listening. This involves all highel- order of thought process. The material also would
be too tough ro he compt-ehendcd. Not all human beings are capable 'of performing
this skill liigor-<>us rnei~(aI training IS an indispensable pre-requisite to execute this
extra ol-di~iary I ' U I I C ~ ~ O I ~ ~ ! I ~ .
Sub-skill5 of' listening
LViIkinsotl refer. ro rile tasot~o~ny of listening skills drawn up by Nicolas and
Brow11 2nd attc.rnpts to tlritin~uishir~,;: bctwecn 'receptive' and reflective skills
Keceptivc >kills I-eiers to
ability to keep rclated details in mind
abilirq io obsel-\,c a sitisle details
;abil~t! to ren~emhcr a series of details
- ability to follow oral direction
Ketlectivc sktlls reiers to
- ab~lity io use co~i~cxtual clues
- ability 1 0 i-ecogl~isc o~-g;~~iisatio~ial element
- ;~h~licy ro selcct 11-lain icicn, as opposite to subordinate ideas and details
- ;ibiliry to recognise tllc relationship between main ideas and subordinate
idcab,
Speaking
Spcecli is the f i r i t productive language system to occur. Speech is apparently
rooted in and generated fi-on1 the meanings and experiences decoded by the receptive
language iorms of listetling. In Iealning to speak a child reproduces (encodes) the
phoneme. morphemes. grammar. phrases, structure and (the deep and the surface
structure! of ihc liste~iilig environrnent. The child also formulates the semantic
relationship with (lie re:ll \~vr ld , tlic iuternal and conceptual linguistic relation of an
abstract \\orld, the syntactic pattern5 g.)f grammar and the philosophical rules by which
54
meaning I \ cornrnunicatcd ttirough \pcech." Speech is the utterance of articulate
sounds or \ ;oicc rendered significant lhy usage, for the expression and communication
of thought,. Speech requiles the lcai-ner to reti-ieve almost instantaneously the precise
sounds, grammatical fu~lctic~ns, wor~l order arrangements and content vocabulary.
Oral comin~inication is one of the most basic methods of maintainingcontacts with
other people. 'She child whose speech is different can have severe adjustment
pl-oblerns i r ~ school.
Speech i h verbal language conin~unicated by the sender to the receiver. It
involves u complex proces of identriying ideas, or feelings, formulating those into an
appropriate and irammariccll sequence of words, sentences and finally co-ordinating
the speech prudiicing nicch~nisins of human autonomy to produce speech sounds,
ii~tonatiori. piicl~. \ ~~ .cs> aiiil junct~iicb. LLLI I~ I I ; I~C enables the speaker to encode the
ideas, emotion5 ;ind teeli~igs followi~~g special rules. A good speaker is able to judgc
the level of spcuhrrig that is appropriale for a communicative situation.
Children need many opportuii~ties to express themselves to try out ideas and to
(.et feed hack When children intci;~cts with adults they test their own knowledge 2
;tbout their language. Children's language grows when it receives reinforcement from
adults and children's self-concept. are enhanced when they feel that what they have to
say is vaiuable. Listeniiig tu childrer~ and respecting what they have to say encourage
thern to engage in more conversations. The more conversations that children engage
in the better listeners tliey becorr~e because to engage in a meaningful conversation,
they must listen to the speaker. The teachers should have confidence first of all, to
communicate orally with the children easily and efficiently. To promote effective oral
communic;ition ronducive, physical. emotional, social and intellectual environments
55
sliould bc provided. 4.11 en1iironnic11t in which listening occurs without distractions
will also be more corlduc~ve to oral expression.
AII attractive spcech pattern should account for effective voice, pitch,
\.ibration, luudnes quallty, 2nd tirne lactor. Departure from the normal in any of these
lactors car1 pl-oducc a spcecli pattern. which is unpleasant.
Thi. teachcr neeils to encourage children's language development with
activities that stimulate specch. Spccch stimulation activities involve the speech arts.
The speech art\ iiuy ~ ~ C I L I C C inf'oi-~rliil conversation purposeful discussion message
annouiicem~~nt reports givi~ig talk.\, quiz, telephoning, singer play, creative drama,
puppetr-y, \ t o ~ y tclling. choral speaking, role playing, pantomime, nonverbal
behaviour etc.
Purposcs 01 ' ori11 language prc:jgranlrue are:
I. To provide an a!iriosphere that wll encoruage the child to speek freely about
experiences in &lily living.
2. To provide opportunities for co-operative group undertakings, personality
deicloprncnt and satisfaction in school work.
3 . To encourage originality and variety of expression
J. Ti, tievclop the ticsirc for a rich vocabulary to meet individual, vocational and
5 T o iicvclop the l iab~t of acc~ilate observation to make the child conscious of
thc rlcl~ncbj of cxprriencc criid to encourage h ~ m to express his ~ d e a s and
errrutions
Components ol' speech
U'ehs~r rs ' \ New I'ucntieth Ilictionary describes communication as the act of
iinpal-ting. co111cir11ig 0 1 dcliveri~ig f ron~ one to another as the communication of
hnawledgc oplnlons, 01 I'aclb." To i3xccute this function the speaker should be well
equipped with ;I good command over the language. Adequate knowledge of
phonology. synii1.x and semantjc 111clnory are very essential. The smallest unit in a
sound system I S phonenic, which is distinct qnd discrete. Syntax is the word order or
icntence pattcsn\ and Engliih language has unique sentence structure. Semantics is
the branch of linguistics. which describes the techniques of word formation.
Tllc main componenl:.; of spccch are pronunciation, stress or accentuation and
intonatioii. At hcliool, studer~ts p~-acilce pronunciation through laud reading and oral
drills. Correct pi-onuncinrion is the most attractive part of speech and it should be
irliistcd 1'1i11n \ , C I ~ young. S1.1-ess o i .went is the force with which one utters a word.
l c i ng ail unphorietic language, English vocabulary has distinct accent for each word
as well ;I\ fol- ltic der~valions of ~ .ach word. Intonation is the tone of sentence
utterance. 'l'heic ,Ire risiiig, ialling aod level intonations to convey different emotions
and meaningb. Intonatio~i 111ay niiir word stress. Punctuation is an exquisite part of
ipcech 10 rentier tliCfkreiit shatles of meaning and feeling, the absence of which may
confuse tile lisicncr. ?'h? noil-native. become conscious of the hazards of the foreign
languaze and can be dclibesately sl,)w for one or two seconds in an unanticipated
situation. Conge~iial atr~iospliere i \ al\o conducive to healthy speech.
01-;11 language is crucial 10 the development through enriched experiences.
L.nnguaz~, play\ an inlportailt parr i i i iissisti~lg children understand the world around
them. work arid play cffc.ctively with others and gain satisfaction through self
57
cxpressiorr~. Spztiking I > an indicatior~ of personal adjustment and improvement in
speaking rnay ciepcnd more upon finclrng and removing causes of frustrational conflict
than upon extl-a drill. 11 the school day is full of significant activities, language is
needed to cart-? ihern out; and oral language serves a legitimate function recognised
by the school and childleli and they are motivated to improve their expression. Oral
skills are not taught as an end i n ~tself. Procedures for relating, listening, speaking,
reading and writing are aural-oral language chart, experience reading chart, language
eames pattern pr-nctice drills etc. TCI Stork speech is the most difficult of language
skills.
Sub-skills of speech
B;ilcer anii Seabury ( 1!965) lrsted the following components of speech.
(a ) t>abrc content or iilcas
(b i org:u~rsalion 01' idcas
(C! ilevelopn~ent of S L I ~ ~ O I - I I I I : details
(dr ~~djustrllf to hpeciel situaii~~ns
( e ~ lhod~l) actions fo r purpose\ of comtnunication
[ f i voice Ilsage
(g1 cnirricrarron, al-trcirlatioir and pr-onunciation
( h , language
( i ) c~daptat~on to t l~c speech hiluation
( J ) Itjte1111.1g
5 8
Stoldt . ( 107.3) says i!lat ora! skills in language can be placed under three
categoric, viz. I I ) Di~crii~~inatioii (2) Aural listening comprehension (3) Oral
productiolr In hci- modcl of test ol oral production ~ a l e t t e includes the following
~pecific abllitics.
Reading
Ttie majoi objective of learliii~g a language is comprehension. " The process of
understariding liuiguage often called language comprehension involves using
permanently stored knowledge to interpret new input". Lachman and Butterfield
1979. Language comprehellsion 1s another of those hidden cognitive processes that
resist systematic measu~emeut and iilvestigation. In recent years, however, the pattern
has changed. Research on language comprehension is now extremely popular and
~researchri- havc iieviscd clever nlethods to make these covert pfocesses more
;iccessiblc ancl rricasurable. (lornpreliension involves the two receptive skills namely
listening ; I I I ~ l-e;tclii~g. C~)rnl~rcher~sivri is a construct, which cannot be observed.
5 9
1ie;iJing ~.onipt-clicnkion is ;I complcx intellectual process involving a number
of abilitici. 'I'lic two niaijot abil~tieh involve word meaning and verbal reasoning.
Thordikc put I'i)rih his .itater-iient that treading is a very elaborate procedure, involving
:I \\ 'cigt~i~ig 0 1 ~ ~ ; i i I l o l I I I ; L I I ! e lel l icr~~s i n a sentence, their organisation in the proper
~reiatiol~ 10 oiic .inothc~ i i l r ~ l the co-operation of many forces to determine final
response. "Rc:~ding 1s tile process by which an individual comprehend situation and
informatiix~. I tca~i i r~g rcqull-es a \vi~le variety of cognitive skills. As Fisher notes,
I 1981: P. -18') 1 1 involvus :iequencii~g of eye movements, decoding, encoding, and
ittilisilig t t i igu~st~c awareness. It de~nands knowledge of orthographic regularity and
irregularit! It tritegrate letters; words, sentences, and passages with past experiences.
Surely reading is one of our most complex daily activities. It is the most important
component of education. Though i t I > consid~red as a linguistic skill, it is practiced in
all othel- subject periods of school hours and outside. The first major book on
psychological p]-ocesse in reading was published i n 1908. When the same book was
republished in 1968 b) I-luey, no new information on many aspects of reading had
been gatlierecl during tile intervening half a century. But within the .last ten years
dozen5 o l booh\ 011 reacting have bee11 written.
Process of' reading con~prehension
Rc;~dins compl-cllension is an interaction between the processing of the
physical \timiili ( b o t t o ~ l ~ - i i ~ ~ process~r~g) and the content provided by expectation and
pi-evious kno\uledgc (top down processing). Reading comprehension means extracting
r~icaning iiotli the material or reducing the ambiguity to the maximum. The processes
included iri i t ale organltatii~n, ge~>eralization and appreciation. Organization is the art
of seeing the r-clationsliip of facts 10 the whole; grouping and arranging them to a
60
meaningfill \ Y I I I I I ~ , and 2valuating the parts. Generalization is the process by which
the reader \ e i c c ~ \ relev,irrt 111ilani11gi and accepts the correct meanings. Appreciation
consists 0 1 k i n a ilhout the ;~uthor and the particular function of the given
inatcrial. !\ ~ ) ; L . \ J ~ C CLII I l)c read ~ v i t l i harying degree of comprehension, The scale of
comprehensiori ranges from pract~cally no meaning to a complete understanding. The
degree ot c o ~ i i p t c t ~ r n s i o tiepends on the complexity of the material purpose of
reading pc1ic1>li1al p c e < l ~ ~ o r d recogliiiion or language familiarity, physical conditior~
of the reader 2nd his ~.c:i~Iing skill. Appropriate speed is also a criterion for successful
I-eading.
Levels of' reading
Bused (111 the purpese of I-cading there are different categories of reading
compseheli \ i~~r~ l'hcse .Ire level.\ in (he hiel.iirchy of thinking. Smith (1969) divides
the comprehr~!.\ii~r~ s k i l \ inlo four c;~tegories; each one is cumulative in building on
the otlict>. They are ( 1 ) liberal comprehension (2) interpretation
(3) critical ~reail~ng ( 3 ) cieauve reading. Liberal level calls for lower level of thinking
skills only to recall a fund of knowledge. Interpretative demands higher level of
thinking ahiI~tic\ like seasoning, dtawing conclusions, analysis, synthesis, ability to
infer etc. C : ~ I I I C ; L I level I \ II':XL in the hierarchy, which is related to critical listening.
Both l-eqLlII-e\ critical tliinklng. C:I-eativc reading uses divergent thinking skills to go
beyond and come up wiili alternalivc solution. Another classification is (a) factual
level (h ) interpl-ctative level (c) evaluative lc\'el or critical level or application level.
Yet. nnoli~cl rmi, is ( 1 ) faclual levcl (2) generalization level and (3) critical level.
Reading dia ,s~ios~s ~ d c n t ~ t i e d i o ~ levels of comprehension-independent level.
instructio~~al li'vcl. t ' l-~~s:~.ati~nill I e ~ c l iind capacity level. -
61
Factors influencing reading
TI~L' all;lll:is of reading comprehension infers that there are several objective
and subjectlvc It~ctors. \i.hicti influcilce person's reading ability. "Reading cannot be
~lliclerstooii or c.\l~la~ned cxccpt as ;I Ical-ning process, i t is inter-related with all aspects
of language development autl it is altecled by the many factors operating in the total
learning pi.ocess.. . . . . . . . Since reading is an integrated process it cannot be divided .
into discrete factors anti studied objectively". Kennedy (1974). The first level of
requirelnent tor cltective reading 1 i both the perceptual abilities. necessary to
I-ccognise I arid rerlien~ber wol-cls and the conceptual capacities essential for
iiriderstnndi~i~ anit interprcti~ig fx r s ;ind ideas. This is constituted by the five broad
component, 11ar11cly ( l i foi~ndarion (2) background (3) word recongnition (4)
c o ~ n p r e h e n \ ~ o ~ ~ .~rrtl ( 5 1 ~~r i l i s a t~o l~ Five other sets of factors, mental and
el~vironmc~ir;~l. \ \ I I I C I I act irltel-deperidcntly to produce the composite power of reading
iibility circ I i r P C I I C S ~ I ~ I ~ I I I I U I - I I ~ (2) level of general intelligence (3) ability of visual
;111d auditu~.) rccog~litio~i ;i~id discri~~iill;~tion of word pattern (4) environmental factors
in reading abi!ity ( 5 ) crnc,tional attitude interest, individual application and
confidence. IJebcor and l>allmann r 1967) describes some of the conditions related to
maximum p~ogrcbh i n learliing to re;lcl They inclulde physical health, mental health,
\ ~ g h t and l ~ c ~ ~ r i n g . ~l~tclligcnct?, bachgl-ound or experience, knowledge of language,
desire to rc;ttl. [rill-pox oI rciiding. lntcrest in reading and reading skill. All these
tlicrors fall i~ndrr three main lleads viz: physiological, psychological and
cn\,ironrnc~lt;~l.
62
Mechanism of' re;~din):
KcLiditlg cncornilosss wide variety of cognitiive skills, Eyes make a series of ,
little jump, a\ 111cy nlo\c ;II:~OSS (hc page. These very rapid movements of eyes from
one spot to the licxt i n urdc~. to bri~ig thc centre of the retina. where the vision is thc
sharpest, into p~l \ i t~on over the words one wants to read, is referred to as succadic
rnovernerll i n lhc perceptual procesh of reading. Perceptual span or fixation is the
I-cgion e c t ~ ~ I L I I I I I : : thr piIL!*ie bct\vccn succadic movements. The length of print
covered bc~wct .~> two l ' i \ a t io~~ is c ; ~ l l ~ d eye span. A good reader has longer eye span
and can tiihe 111 longcr trctches of !he reading matter at once. A poor reader has
shortes ebl: I . His :yes regrcss on the individual letter. Inefficient reading is ,
marked L I \ L I ~ I I I ) hy frccll.~ent regrcsslon. A typical good reader may pause for 115
cecond each tin~c \rhilc :I pour- reader (night pause for % second. When.one reads, the
letters in a \entcllcc foll(f\i. tll-ie after anothel- like beads in a string and the sounds i n
[he syllabic\ arc t~;il~srrlit~ccl ;.I about tile same time. This is the parellel transmission.
Visual N O I L ~ ~ c c o ~ n i t i o r ~ , oi the ncxr \wp, is the acco~nplishrnent of the recognition
iv01.d~ by looking at the 1a~tc1-n of \voids. Sternberg and Powel) (1983) point out that
when one rcadh (me o i t i : ~ ~ ~ypically attempts to use the context in which the word
occurs to figure ~ . I L I ~ the ~ilc.;ining of an unfarnili:~r word. They propose that context can
~xovide several kinds of iiilor~natioll cues about meaning.
I n o~.der to extrilcr rncuning f ~ . u ~ n a content the reader may adopt intensive
)reading, scanning. receptive rcading, skimming and so on depending upon the purpose
of reading.
S u b skills of reading comprellension
(a) Rccog~~isc thc con~i~.iunii.ativc iunctions of a text
i b ~ Alr,~iri rhc gist ic~t~tcc.tnes)
ic) Idc~irif '~ \pcci f~c dct;~ils
(d) Di\tingui\h inaili ideas from supporting details
(e) Recugil~se the speak t l . ' ~ (wr~ier ' s ) attitude towards the topic and towards the
listc~iei :JI treader
if) Infc~ idear and inlorlnation not explicitely stated
(g) Aiiucip;clc or predict !he contcl~t of the text or the development of the observer
(h) Kecogn~bc familiar words
(i) Infct- itit. ionrcxt of the discour\i:
(j) Use the context to understand tlie meaning of unfamiliar words.
Go:)il cii~~il)~chcii.ict-h are ahlc to do infcrcntial reasoning, they can state the
iiiain or c c ~ ~ i r a l ~ J c u v i inI'o~-~~lalioil. lllcy C;III assimilate, cognise, compose m;lke
rclationsliis. I I ~ . :,nilicsize ancl evaluate information. Good comprehenders
engage in ii~eariii>gful lcai-ning by ;~ssimilating new materials to concepts already
existing ill lilrll c o g n ~ t ~ \ ' c sIru~:tul-e.
0l)jectives of reading
(a) exie!rtiing iirid enri~.hing, the cxpcrience of the child
(b) bru:~cl~niiri._ iiiterczt:. ancl tastes : I : icading
(C) fos re r i~~g [lie persoi~al social ad j~~s tment of the child
(d ) pro~i t l ing ~ u s t h w h i l c 1-ecl.cational inierests and skills
(e) encoul~igirlg critical alialysis of ideas
If1 d e \ c l o i ~ ~ r ~ g iesoi~rcel~~lness ill locating information
(g) prolnotr~~g s e l f d ~ r c c ~ i o n and
(h) ach~cv i~ l f si~tisfrlctory progless in such basic skills as word recognition.
voc;ibular-) dcvelopt~lent, conlprehension and speed.
I n <>~.dc.r to rea l i e these objectives i t all levels attention must be given to
reading in e \ c r j phase of the programme ]rather than merely at specific periods.
Reading i \ c l o e l y I-clatcd to vocat~onr~l efficiency. The ever reaching goal of teaching
reading is to a l l o ~ ~ one to l~s ten to thc windows and people of the world.
\flriting
Hail 15 cnlrslr the special components of writing as:
i . ('unii!rlL
2 . Iiornl
3 . ~ ~ ~ r ~ l l l l l l l ~ ~ r
4. S ~ y l c and
5 . klech;~~iics
tlcaton nt~c~nplcil the grouplng of varied skills writing good prose into four main
Ill.eaS.
I . C;rainrnatic;li skills
. . 11 . S : y l ~ s t ~ c skills
. . . 1 1 1 . blcihanical i k ~ l l s
iv. Juclger~icnt k i l l : ;
v . 7 '11~ f . o I l ~ \ v ~ ~ i g sub-sk~ll have been identified by Valette and Disick.
a. K?psc~~~luction
d Self-expression and
e. Synliicsis
Wrl l in~ began wltil pictogram. and proceeded to ideogram, which is symbolic,
It led to logogram. Then the symbol for the sound of the spoken word used to refer to
that entity. I t 1s called rehus writing. Symbolic writing is where a writing system
employs a \ysteni of syrnhols, which represents the pronunciation of syllables. Then
came into existence a set of s,ymbols, each representing a single type of sound, which
are called alphahcr.
Writing nieans t!le ability ~rlcans the ability to shape letters of alphabet,
knowledge of the right combination of letters, and the skills of expression through the
written word. It IS a typical psychomotor ability. Child's drawing helps vary much in
shaping lcttcrs. I'he c h ~ ~ d adopts several techniques before he finally shapes the
letters. Before cI11ldi.en use a selection of letters with any ability one can notice first a
slow revelation of cer~ain graphic principles - principles such as directionality
flexibility to unit generativiry and recurrence. The smallest unit in writing is a
rraphemc. The learning of letters proceeds not letter by letter, but by feature by L.
feature. Mot~vatio~i to write will, obviously grow naturally out of the child's pleasure
in drawing and painting. 11 is ;also depcndcnt upon the child's availability of materials
riccessary and thl-ough social expericnces of other people doing so; then there arises a
positive desil-e to write by imitating others process of writing.
At the si~riplest level writing in the foreign language involves spelling and
word order. Exercise to develop writing skill might logically includes copying; short
dictation\. transit-~rrnaticlr~s and rearranging of scrambled sentences, Writing is a daily
activity 111 1 1 1 classes and all periods. In most classes, a common time is observed for
writing, bur writing can also be a free time activity.
Donald Muray has written a description of the writing process that
professional wrilers appear to use. 'l'his description seems just as viable for school
writing. In iMurr;iy's model ,writing is a process of continuous thinking, experiencing
and reviciving I'he ac:~vit!., writing proper, develops in three stages rehearsing
drafting a n d revisii~g. Rehearsing I S the stage in which writers discover what they
have to say. Teachers car1 encourage rehearsing by means of brainstorming session, in
which children think ancl wsite dowrl as many details as they can about a person, a
place or- an event that is {meaningful to them. In drafting the writer experiences clearly
what he ha\ to U). I t enable> the wrircr to put hislher thoughts outside of himself and
to considcl- ~hern as if thcy belonged 10 someone else. He or she can appraise the work
with same Jctachmcnt. iicvicwing can lead to further rehearsal and further drafting
sometimes li' ncccssary. [he writer prunes words or adds more patch up phrases or
sentences all in the ef'ort to speak the meaning in the piece more clearly and
smoothly. Profe\sional hritess write with dexterity and the process include some more
higher steps na~rirly prewriting composing, writing editing, publishing and evaluating.
Thc purpose of wrliing 1s to communicate one's ideas, information, or
feelings. Writing is a complex tliitiking process analogous to problem solving. It
relates neiv informatiori to the ex~st ing mental set. Writing has generally two
processes iran\cribing and composing Transcribing includes the skills of penmanship
l spclling a ~ i d punctuation Cornpositioii is the selecting and ordering of words to form
thought uriirs llandwriting i, anothcr of the most important skills of writing. As
67
English I \ all ~iriphor~ctic language, its spelling i,s crucially anomalous and
~nconsistcr~l. llence. 11 cdusfi all the ~Jifficulties in writing to its users of all age-level.
Spelling I S a \c~~sor i - rnoto~- responses to the sensori slimuli, that is the written or
printed MOI-d i r i 1.eadi1ig. Good visual memory increases spelling efficiency.
Tradition;il approaches ri, spelling ivel-e founh to be a squander of time. Motivational
approaches can exhilarate positive attitude in children to spelling through play way
methods, like spelling games spelling charts, rhymes etc with cues for spelling. No
one can master the 500000 English words. A word frequency list of 5000 words needs
lo be taught specifically for spelling. It would act as a blanket to ensure fluency in
writing. Curl-eci punciuation capitalization good paragraphing and format also mark
efficient wr~ting. Holding of ihe writ~ng material properly, movement of figures and
wrist muscles slnoothly. good power oi vision are all requisites for good writing.
Each word I $ a conccpt. Children's receptive as well as expressive vocabulary
should expar~d at the coriceptual level to facilitate fluency and flexibility in writing.
Children have i;irger speaking vocabulary while adults use extensively writing
\~ocabul;~r-q. Expc)sure to thr: 1angu;lge through experiences and situations and
intensive pr-i~gr;tr~lrne alone can aid sti~derlts to enrich their vocabulary. Grammatical
col.rectness i s XI asset to writing, inculca~ion of this ability should proceed
automatically from the i l 1 i i ~ 1 c 1 . 1 ~ ~ teaching of grammar and usage where by students
meet with a~lcqliatc nuiilbcr of exarnpies. Good style can be achieved only through
regular iisc of thc Iangudge and extensive reading which provides accessibility to
profound ancl ciati. writing\. A hilal-~o~i, writer is a source of cheer to others.
Sub skills of \vl.iling
The lollowing sub-skills have been identified by Valette and Disiek
a. Repl.oductioii
h. Recall
c. Applicat~on
d. Self-expre\sio~i and
Levels of writing
Manly there are two types of writing expository writing and creative writing.
Expository writings is the narrative style used in reporting, summarizing, comparing,
clarifying, classifying, ancl other factorial exercises. The purpose of the
communicat~o~i IS to trani~nit meaning without aesthetic, literary illusion. The basis of
these kind. ot \\ritings are conc:.?~? experiences of the pupil (writer). Secondary
school \tuiiint> are expected to d s \ ~ , l o p this ability in English at the end of their
. , school cotirre. But the ;..?;;a;.t:? rrczcnt situation is disheartening m d genuine
attempt should be made to remedy i t . Creative writing is the use of figurative
language and l~terary techniques to transmit an aesthetic message. Both expository
and creati1.e writings are comrnun~cations, but the later usually follow affective
experiencilig, where as expository writings are based on cognitive experiences.
Children should experie~lce the literary forms and techniques through their listening
and speakins. Creativity is an inherent art more fostered than taught and mastered.
L.e:u-ning to write 15 a ~nodilication of behaviour rather than a mere acquisition
of kno\vleiise kind skill. Evcn with motivation to express oneself in written form,
coherent readable material need not necessarily flow from the pen. Nor is such writing
mcrely a rllatter OS conlposir~g carefully constructed grammatical sentences. Lucid
69
writing I \ only possihlc *hen wrltcn have clarified thcir own thinking on the subject
and kno\v ho\v lhcy w ~ s h to do i t . Arapoff (1967) calls the process basic to writing
'purpocful sclcct~on arid organisation of experience'. One of the objectives of the
Englihll c o u r x 1s ability to write well and expressively in English, arranging them into
central anil subordinate ideas and developing lines of thought which carry their
readers to the heart of the Inatter. Co~nposition topics can be discussed in groups and
draft clahot.at~ori of the a m e in sm;~ll groups followed by a discussion in the large
gl-oup g i \ e an opporturiity to students to rectify inaccurate spelling and grammar.
Immediate correction shuultl ensue, otherwise wrong habits once formed would be
difficult to e r a x
Wholesone physic, balanced emotion and linguistic excellence are essential
for exubet-ant \vriting. Mucldled thinking, emotional disposition and inadequate
language ~ s o f ~ c i e n c y i ~ o u i d hamper rne exigence to write. Children's literature should
be prolitic. Variety of ~ d c a s for sr~niulating. writing ranging from lists of kinds of
writing and t o p ~ c i for wr~ting to spec~fic activities that can be conducted in classroom
at any level should be exalted. Any one of such activity is valuable if it triggers the
individual's ilriaginatioti or touches a prc-existing emotion or attitude in student.
Communication by writing is a natural human need. T o quench this spontaneous urge
self-confidence to write is to be kindled up.
Sul)s-skills of Listening
R c c c p t i ~ c s k ~ l l s ahilit) to keep related details in mind ;~l)ilir? to observc ii single detail5 ability to rcmemher a series of dcrails ability to select main ideas as opposite ahility to follow oral d~rection [U subordinate ideas and details
l I - ability to recognise the relationship between main ideas and subordinate I
I.__- d L ideas.
Sub-skills of speaking Sub skills of writing
a. Reproduction h. Recall c . Application d . Self-expressian and
,
Sub skills of reading
- basic content or ideas - or,oanis;itio~r c~f idea5 - dcveloprnent of supporting dctails - adjusting to spec~al situation^
bodily actions for purpuses of cum~iiunicatior - voice usape
enun;iar:nn. :irticuiat~on and jlronunciaticn 13nguagc adaptat1i:n t:i :tis h;>i.i.<h irtu~tl:,:t l i t sn in?
Recognisc the communicative functions of ;I text Attain the gist (outcomes) Idet~tiiy specific dctnils
- Dist~nguisi~ main idc.1~ from supporting details Recognisc the speaker's (writer's) attitude towards [he topic and tuwards the listener or reader Infer idea:; and inS(~rmation not explicitely stated Anticlpate or predict the content of the text
or the development of the observer Rcc~~gnise familiar uurds lnl'e) thc context ol'tlie discourse
Use ttlc context to understand the meaning of i ~ i ~ f a t i ~ ~ l i a ~ ~ weird\
Fi,q~trr S. S1 Ilrrtr~itic- Rrprr.sr~zrtrfion of tile Basic Lang~rage skills in English
Inter relatedncss of skills
N k develops 111 isolation. Practice for one skill, for instance listening
would obviously improve the skill of speaking and writing. Similarly a person who
writers well should certainly be a good listener, speaker and reader.
output -h
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Figurr 4. L S I I I I ~ , ,spruking, rcodirzg, rtrzd writing developed in sequence as I11terr?1~1(,~1 ~ L I I - / S o j t l ~ e 1u1zi:uage 01.13 curricrclum
~ i s t F b and reading
Thel-e arc basic p:irallels betiveen listtming and reading comprehension. Both
are receptive hk~lls and both are dependent upon experiences to determine their
quantity and qt~ality. 1,isteiling skills are developed before reading skills. Young
children prefer to listen rather than to read independently. Listening comprehension
improves when tile listener is relaxed, when he is psychologically alert, the context of
the discourse is familial- and the speaker is familiar.
Children gain more comprehension and retention from listening because of the
important ~ddet i cues they leceive from the speaker such as stress given to words or
phases facial expressions :~nd so on. The case where students can understand a
passage when i~ is read to them, but cannot understand it. when they read i t themselves
indicates ha t the words are in the students listening capacity, but they have not gained
the skills neceshary fo r ciecoding words from their written from. A person who does
not do well i r i llstcning comprehension skills will usually not do well in reading 1
c:omprehension sk~l ls . These two skills contain some similar aspects.
Listening and speaking
Listening and speaking, are the most commonly used con~municative processes. , .
These two skilli are taken for granted in schools. Usually what happens is that
jtudentq do nor possess proper langudge background to equip them either listen to
spoken English or speak i t . Kothing is practically done to improve these skills. From
descriptive studies of language acquisition i t has been found that children learn
language fi-om the speech around them. They learn the rules that govern the usage of
words so that they can comprehend and produce properly constructed speech. Since
\ k i l l in list<nirlg is so closcly rela~etl to speech development and subsequently
I-eflective oi;il t l~~\clopnic~i ts . knowlcclgc of the various aspects of listening becomes
cssential loi tl-ii. propel ~i~iiierstanti~ng of the development of speech. Auditory
discrimination and auditory lnernory span are very essential for language acquisition
and for leat-!ling to read and speak. Auditory discrimination is the ability to distinguish
hetwee11 s o ~ ~ n d \ . Auditv~y memo(-y span is defined as "the number of discrete
i:lernents grilspcd i n a givei-I mornc~ll of attention and organised into a unity for
purpose o i imnirdiate reproduction or immediate use". A deficiency in this hinders
effective listenin:.
Listening and writing
Acti\c. I~srening is mostly needed to execute the complex productive skill,
writing. All chiltirerl are xivet1 formal instruction in communication through writing at
hchool, but genci-ally child re^: do not develop this useful skill adequately to perform i t
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correctly. Sccoritl~il-y scliool students merely engage in copying which do not require
higher lis~cnirig skills. LVher~ it conles for expository writing and oreative writing
student hesitate just because no proportionate weightage is given at school to other .
language arts-listening, speaking and reading. Once due concentration is lavished on
these, writlng on their own would never become a burden for them. ,
Reading and speaking.
Rctitling proceeds clccoding to speech. Reading aloud is exercise in
pronunciat~on. ~ ~ l i i c h leads to good speech. Wide reading habit is exposure to the
language. C:on\etl~~entl> thc pc!-soli obtain!; a rich funct~onal vocabulary and
familiarises hinisclf with the vivid types of bodyline of language. This will be
advantageoils to h ~ n i to use the language orally without mistakes. Speaking is the least
developed skill among non-native speakers of English and the major reason is lack or
general seacling A good reader will be a fluent speaker. Lack of real comprehension
\vill be eviclcrit l ~ o m ni~sapplicatiorl of stress, juncture and intonational rules and
improper usc o l words R~ghtfully trai~ied, reading is a silent activity.
Reading and writing
T h e e I \ \ C skills arc mutuallq supporting to each other. Reading improves
writing and vicc versa. Anyone who is a good reader tends to be a good writer
Researches show that their relationship is complex. Writing instruction enhances
rending pcrtorrndnces. They are vet-) powerful tools of learning. They engage the
children i n gear variety of reasoning operation. Frequent reading is associated with
superior w~-~ring. Additional reading lrnproves expository writing. Quality of reading
affects the quality of wrirlng. Chi ldrc i~ '~ writing reflects the material they are familiar
with. The! learn stylistic Curictions irom rkading. Good models give them useful
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lhrmat. \I'~.iilrig rc~nfoices word recognition and discourse structure and increases
familrarii) wirli ~bords. Reading helps to widen one's intellect and furnishes one for
creative ti1ii111p. Writin: C ; L I I S for attention. Writing as well as reading can be seen as
a proble~ir \olvi~ig 131-ocess rim requires specific skills and reasoning. An integrated
language PI-ogrlirllrne enhures the developmen( of the language habits.
The inter-dependence of language skills has been investigated elaborately.
I-iarwood, (1950) found Ilia1 listening skills had a parallel relationship to reading skill
and in its oral aspects and was closely related to speech. Armstrong (1951) conducted
a study o l rile auditory and visual vocabulary of children and arrived at a conclusion
[hat the sirc ol a child's vocabulal-) had value as a predictor of reading ability.
Landerville 41oe (1956) and Seyinorz (19e5) have endorsed the close association
between listening and reading skills. As per Vineyard Bailey (1960) listening and
]reading are com~nunicative skills and hence i t is reasonable to expect that they could
be based, in parr at least, on common skills, and therefore, would be closely related.
White, (l978 I has pointed out that when we write we also read, since ;he process of
c:reating a piece of discourse depends crn reading over what has already been written
in order to iormulatr the next step, preparatory to writing it down. Stressing on the
inter relatedncss of the four language skills, he says that the four skills are used as a
means of prcenting and extending one and the same set of language forms and
iunc~ions. Scllcrb, 'l';uig and Yusif (1080) found significant relationship between
treading and irriting skills. Ileaton obscrvcd that it is difficult to separate the skill from
one another. Baruah put up two ~riodeis of clas,sifying the four skills, i) productive
and receptilc skill\ i i ] aural-oral and graphic motor skills. To him the skills
overlap. ?'he 1riodc1 1s give11 below
i PIou11:11ve
l Receptive
(Aclive) !Passve)
l Aural- Graphic. oral motor
I
i I -7 Speaking Wrltng Llsterlmg Read~ng Listening Speaklng Read~ng Wrlting
Figure 5. Bilnririi '.S ~t~odels of clussi/i~.ution of tlrefour language skills
Summary
l 'he In\ebtlgator traced the theoretical ground of language acquisition in
qreneral in tile first part of this chaptcl-. The general nature of the basic language skills i>
1s accounted 171 thc 5eco11d part and then the inter-relatedness of skills one examined.
'The revlelb cap,ic~t,ited rhr investlgdror to have a clear notion about the individual
ikllls W ~ I L ~ wdi of great use in the co~istruction of the language ability test battery.
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