11/ Teaching of Language Activities

Teaching of Language Activities
Methodology is understood to mean methods in a general sense,
and in some cases it is even equated to specific teaching techniques . It
does, in fact, mean and involve much more than that. Technique, in
general, means any of a wide variety of exercises, activities, or devices
used in the language classroom for realizing lesson objectives.
1. Teaching Listening:
Listening is the most common communicative activity in daily life. It
is believed that we listen twice as much as we speak, four times more
than we read, and five times more than we write. Hence, listening skills
are vital for teachers of English language.
Listening is also important for obtaining comprehensible input that is
necessary for language development. Listening and speaking are often
taught together, but beginners should be given more listening than
speaking practice. The following principles should be taken into account
when teaching listening:
a. Listening should receive primary attention in the early stage of
instruction.
b. Teachers should maximize the use of authentic language.
c. Teachers should always ask pupils to listen with a purpose and
allow them to show their comprehension in a task.
Good listening task can be divided into three stages:
- Before listening:
Teachers should prepare learners by introducing the topic and finding
out what they already know about it. A good way to do this is to have
brainstorming session and some discussion questions related to the topic
and then teachers should provide any necessary background information
and new vocabulary they will need for the listening activity.