Lynn P. Fuller

DOI: https://doi.org/10.47133/tegc_ch43  

ABSTRACT

One approach to language teaching has been the teaching of skills in isolation, which has often been done in separate classes—each with its own focus (e.g., grammar, reading, writing, speaking, listening). When the goal of language teaching shifted from discrete language skills to language functions, this perspective shifted from isolated skills to integrated skills (Derbel & Al-Mohammadi, 2015; Tajzad & Ostovar-Namaghi, 2014). When multiple language skills are integrated in a single activity or lesson, students are challenged with learning the information and using it through interaction with other students (Hinkel, 2006). By interacting with new material, students are better prepared to reach language goals. In this chapter, you will learn about classroom lessons based on real-life situations through which students develop practical experiences with using their new language. You will also learn several strategies to teach integrated skills that will lead students towards authentic language use. 

Keywords: integrated skill instruction, language skills, language functions, learner interaction, English teaching strategies

Fuller, L. (2023). Strategies to Teach Integrated Skills. In V. Canese & S. Spezzini (Eds.), Teaching English in Global Contexts, Language, Learners and Learning (pp. 515-523). Editorial Facultad de Filosofía, UNA. https://doi.org/10.47133/tegc_ch43

INTRODUCTION

We use language to communicate and interact with others. To do this in a new language, learners must participate in lessons designed to practice multiple skills in a single lesson. Traditionally, there are four main language skills: speaking, listening, reading, and writing. These four skills can work together in broader categories such as oral skills (speaking and listening) and written skills (reading and writing) or as productive skills (speaking and writing) and receptive skills (listening and reading). To support students’ proficiency in all four of these skills, teachers need to understand how these skills are interrelated. Speaking and listening are obviously connected with each other as are reading and writing. However, students also need the ability to read a text, discuss the text (by speaking and listening), and finally write about what they have read and understood.  This progression of skills is often incorporated within scaffolded learning tasks that provide multiple ways of interacting with new vocabulary and grammatical structures. By examining your instruction from an integrated skills perspective, you can better prepare your students to use English authentically by developing all four of these language skills. 

BACKGROUND

Historically, language would often be taught in isolated lessons focused on a specific language skill. Examples are Coleman’s Reading Approach (1920s), the Grammar Translation Method, and the Audiolingual or Oral Situational Approaches (Celce-Murcia, 2014). Over time, language teachers and theorists began to realize that no single approach was universally effective in achieving fluency and that a targeted skill approach could perhaps hinder growth. Moreover, because the teaching of isolated skills does not model authentic language, it also does not effectively lead to authentic language production. Fortunately, by integrating skills in the classroom, we can provide practice opportunities for language learners to help them develop fluency (Derbel & Al-Mohammadi, 2015; Tajzad & Ostovar-Namaghi, 2014). Through ongoing practice, learners can build their language and become stronger users of that language.

When building their language proficiency, learners usually do not experience equal development in each of their language skills (Hinkel, 2017). Learners might develop one skill more quickly than another because of prior exposure or language transfer issues. For example, students whose other languages do not use a Romanized alphabet may struggle with writing because of their unfamiliarity with the orthography. Similarly, timid students are often reluctant to speak, and students with low literacy in a home language might have issues with reading. By recognizing these learning situations, teachers can provide additional support for student learning. When teachers choose teaching strategies that integrate language skills in authentic language use, students may have more success in developing fluency and can thus make better progress towards meeting their language goals.

During lessons with an integrated skills approach, learners can participate in repeated practice without the pressure of perfecting each skill simultaneously. For example, after reading a text, students discuss it with classmates. This discussion allows each student to negotiate meaning and check their understanding. Without the pressure of correctly answering questions on their own, students dedicate their time to achieving deeper understanding of the meaning based on the language being learned rather than an individual grammar structure (Tajzad & Ostovar-Namaghi, 2014). By reaching an overall understanding of the language, students can recognize additional occurrences of structures in repeated exposures and thus improve their use of the target language.

MAJOR DIMENSIONS

Prepare your class for learning before integrating two or more language skills within the same lesson. Because your students might be exposed to language forms above their proficiency level, scaffold lessons to ensure their success. For example, help your students by pre-teaching vocabulary and grammar (Hinkel, 2017). Even though students might have receptive vocabulary, they need scaffolded support to be able to use that vocabulary in a productive manner during an integrated skills lesson. Additionally, based on lesson content, students might need background knowledge to prepare them for understanding new content (Derbel & Al-Mohammadi, 2015; Echevarría et al., 2017). This is especially important in contexts of English as a foreign language, where the lesson content might be drawn from Anglophone topics and environments that could be unfamiliar to the students.

When participating in an integrated skills lesson, students can use language introduced through one skill (e.g., reading) when practicing another skill (e.g., speaking). For example, students might notice a new word or grammar structure during a reading task that they can reproduce when writing. Additionally, they may hear correct pronunciation during a listening task that they can reproduce when speaking. Such modeling can benefit students when teachers incorporate it in lessons with integrated skills (Derbel & Al-Mohammadi, 2015). 

In the curriculum planning stage, consider which teaching approach is usually associated with integrated skills and how this can be applied to the students’ learning context. On the one hand, Oxford (2001) recommended taking either a content-based approach or a task-based approach. A content-based approach uses academic information like mathematics, science, or history while simultaneously teaching language skills. A task-based approach engages students in producing a product, completing a task, or doing a performance. On the other hand, Hinkel (2006) suggested using an information-based model when taking an integrated skills approach. Here, students are engaged in learning and can participate in meaningful communication.

Determining the needs and goals of your students is also very important. Design and provide instruction that is aligned with student needs. Your instructional focus, selected content, and targeted product should align with your students’ language learning goals (Hinkel, 2018). When integrating language skills, identify the types of situations in which students want to use English. For example, two situations of language use for adult learners might be academics and work. After determining the situation, develop lessons that model the authentic language needed in that situation. Such information-based models can benefit your classroom by providing a real-life structure for your students to learn.

PEDAGOGICAL APPLICATIONS

Teaching language from an integrated skills approach requires conscious planning to maintain a balance among all four language skills. While many integrated strategies exist that could benefit your classroom, the greatest effects on integration come from the curriculum that is chosen and the choices that are made in lesson preparation. As you look at the objectives to be covered, think about authentic applications of this information. Because some objectives might have a wide range of authentic applications, choose the applications that promise to be the most relevant to your classroom. Plan activities for classroom practice that expose your students to information in multiple ways, thus allowing them to use different language domains. Through such planning, provide your students with multiple opportunities for using all four language skills. 

As an integral part of planning, decide how to best introduce new content to your students. Initial exposure to a new topic should include relevant information to help students understand the topic. Helping your students build background information provides them with an opportunity to develop knowledge on a subject and increases their language use. Help your students build background knowledge by asking them to connect new ideas with information they already know. Have them watch a video, preview important vocabulary, participate in a group activity, or read a text. These activities will prepare your students for learning new content and for using English to receive and produce language about that content. 

Whenever possible, plan skills-integrated lessons that help students apply their new language skills to real-life situations. Three examples are provided in Table 1.

Table 1

Planning the Use of Real-Life Applications. 

During all three lessons in Table 1, students become introduced to the new content by reading or listening, which are receptive skills. After that, students clarify their understanding by speaking with classmates (i.e., discuss, identify), which is a productive skill but occurs jointly with listening. In the last part of each lesson, students participate in a writing task (i.e., compose, write), which is also a productive skill. In other words, these lessons started with receptive skills and ended with productive skills. 

A slightly different approach to sequencing language skills is the routine of talk-read-talk-write (Motley, 2016), which can be very beneficial for students struggling with one or more language skills. The order of these skills can be modified to meet student needs. For example, if students struggle with speaking, they can first read and then discuss. If students are beginning learners, shorten the reading passages and increase the talk breaks. In this way, students can discuss shorter parts, one at a time, to gain greater comprehension as they go along. As students are exposed to new vocabulary and grammar, they build an understanding of the content. Consider ending the integrated skills sequence with writing such as was shown in Table 1.

Several other strategies are also effective at combining two or more language skills. For example, have students enact real-life scenarios in groups by using their listening and speaking skills. Here, students must listen carefully to be able to answer their classmates’ questions. Another example is a strategy for understanding information on a chart or poster. Have students work in pairs with one student asking a question while the other finds the information, reads it, and then responds orally. Students reverse roles for asking and answering the next question and all subsequent questions. After that, each pair summarizes the material orally and then in writing. 

Advertising materials and public service announcements serve well as the basis for this type of integrated skills approach as is illustrated in Figure 1.

Figure 1 

Summer Road Trip Reminders Scenario

Note. Image of the "Summer Road Trip Infographic" by State Farm is licensed under CC BY 2.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/?ref=openverse  

In this chapter, you have learned about the basics on why and how to teach integrated skills (listening, speaking, reading, writing) in your English classes. You have read several examples about how to incorporate all four skills in a single lesson. You have also learned about the importance of doing conscious planning for successfully designing integrated skills lessons and, also, of situating these integrated skills lessons within real-life situations. 

Here are some key concepts about teaching integrated skills:

• The four main language skills are listening, speaking, reading, and writing. These can be divided into oral skills (listening, speaking) and written skills (reading, writing) or into productive skills (speaking, writing) and receptive skills (listening, reading).

• By integrating these four skills within the same lesson, teachers can provide more practice for each of the skills.

• When using integrated skills, it is important to consider the targeted objectives for that lesson, the goals of the students, and the structure of the course.

• The expectations for each of these skills should be adjusted to match the language level of each student or group of students.

Based on your new knowledge about teaching integrated skills, answer these questions:

1. How can integrated skills enhance student language production?

2. What are important things to consider when incorporating integrated skills into a lesson plan?

3. What is the role of building background for students when learning and using a new language, especially through an integrated skills approach?

To practice using your new knowledge about teaching integrated skills, do the following:

1. Spend 10 minutes watching a group of people interacting. This can be in class, at a café, or on the street. What do you notice about how they use the four language skills? 

2. Talk to people who are currently taking an English class. What are some reasons people learn English? What types of language skills do they need to reach their goal?

To expand your knowledge and application of integrated skills, visit these websites:

• Building background knowledge. https://www.colorincolorado.org/article/background-knowledge-and-ells-what-teachers-need-know 

• Creating a language rich classroom. https://tankhuynh.com/29-trtw/   

• Viewing an integrated skills lesson. https://www.cambridge.org/elt/blog/2018/08/09/integrated-skills-activity-based-inventions/ 

Other suggestions on teaching one or more language skills are provided in these chapters: 

Chapter 20 Creating an ELT Classroom Community by B. Crosbie and D. Carter

Chapter 22 Strengthening Communication Through Classroom Discourse by K. Buckley-Ess

Chapter 26 Counterbalancing Content and Language Integrated Learning by A. Roca

Chapter 28 Teaching English to Young Learners Through Authentic Literature by S. Ruffinelli and C. Ortiz

Chapter 36 Task-Based Approach with Adult Learners by I. Giménez and C. Rolón

Chapter 39 Strategies to Teach Listening by E. Núñez

Chapter 40 Strategies to Teach Speaking by S. Spezzini

Chapter 41 Strategies to Teaching Reading by E. Kryukova and M. Harrison

Chapter 42 Strategies to Teach Writing by M. Harrison 

Celce-Murcia, M. (2014). An overview of language teaching methods and approaches. In M. Celce-Murcia, D. Brinton, & M. A. Snow (Eds.), Teaching English as a second or foreign language (pp. 2-14). Heinle Cengage; National Geographic Learning.

Derbel, E., & Al-Mohammadi, S. A. (2015). Integration of language skills and culture in English language teaching rationale and implications for practice. In R. Mahrooqi & C. Denman (Eds.), Issues in English education in the Arab world (pp. 216–231). Cambridge Scholars Publishing.

Echevarría, J., Vogt, M., & Short, D. (2017). Making content comprehensible for English learners: The SIOP model (5th ed.). Pearson.

Hinkel, E. (2006). Current perspectives on teaching the four skills. TESOL Quarterly, 40(1), 109-131. https://doi.org/10.2307/40264513

Hinkel, E. (2017). Teaching speaking in integrated-skills classes. In J. I. Liontas (Ed.), The TESOL encyclopedia of English language teaching (pp. 1–6). John Wiley & Sons. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118784235.eelt0256

Motley, N. (2016). Talk read talk write: A practical routine for learning in all content areas (K-12). Seidlitz Education.

Oxford, R. (2001). Integrated skills in the ESL/EFL classroom. (ED456670). ERIC. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED456670

State Farm. (2013). Summer road trip infographic. In Openverse. https://www.flickr.com/photos/statefarm/14530313866 

Tajzad, M., & Ostovar-Namaghi, S. A. (2014). Exploring EFL learners’ perceptions of integrated skills approach: A grounded theory. English Language Teaching, 7(11). https://doi.org/10.5539/elt.v7n11p92 

Lynn Fuller has taught ESL in the secondary schools in the southeastern United States for over 20 years. Lynn holds national board certification in English as a new language for adolescent young adults. In 2016, she received a Fulbright Distinguished Award in Teaching grant to study English writing instruction with Arabic speakers in the Palestinian Territories. Lynn earned an education specialist degree in teaching English to speakers of other languages from the University of Alabama at Birmingham (USA) and a doctorate in educational leadership from William Carey University (USA). Her research interests include English learner writing, proficiency growth among English learners, schools serving as new immigrant destinations, and professional development for mainstream teachers.

ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0001-8877-4160 

Email for correspondence regarding this chapter: lynnpapefuller@gmail.com

Cover Photo by Centre for Ageing Better on Unsplash