READING SKILLS

1. Flexibility or reading; skimming, scanning, search reading, receptive

reading, responsive reading, intensive reading and extensive reading.
2. Vocabulary attack skills; semantic relationships (synonyms, antonyms,
conceptual differences, networks, hypernym, hyponyms, polysemy and
collocations), identifying cognates, inferring meaning through
contextual clues, analyzing syntax and morphology, ignoring difficult
non-relevant words, looking up words efficiently in the dictionary or in
other sources.
3. Text-attack skills; identifying meaning and function of connectors,
deictic words and conjunctions, looking for more information titles,
subtitles, headlines, layout, colors, typography. Analyzing the
organization of the information in paragraphs , chunks.
4. Utilizing information that is not, strictly speaking, part of the text; images,
footnotes, graphs, statistics, maps, plans, charts, diagrams, page
numbers, authors, translators notes, dates, days.
Adapted from: Christine Nuttall, Teaching Reading skills in a foreign Language.
Heinemann.

LISTENING SKILLS

Listening and recognizing speech perception through general factual,

local factual, socio-cultural knowledge and knowledge of a context.
Interpreting speakers knowledge beginning with the lowest-level unit
the phonemic segments of words - and gradually working up to larger
units such as the utterance.
Recognizing intonation and stress patterns of speech.
Distinguishing the emotional qualities of voice.
Distinguishing the intonation of statements and questions.
Handling with conversational skills development.
Recognizing ambiguous or uninformative messages.
Specifying what additional or alternative information the speaker should
supply in order to clarify the message.
Identifying the listening purpose (interactional talk or transactional talk).
Developing the ability to vary the listening behavior appropriately.

Developing the ability to understand language in context.

Applying background knowledge in order to understand language.
Identifying the topic of conversation.
Identifying general and specific information.
Processing key words in the speakers utterances.
Recognizing signals in order to make predictions about likely
developments of a topic and being able to give response.
Competing background noise or unfamiliarity with the speakers
accent.
Developing the ability to remember and reproduce the message.
Selecting relevant or comprehensible information
Applying systematic and schematic knowledge.
Adapted from: Anderson, Anne and Tony Lynch. Listening.OUP.1989
Penny Ur. Teaching Listening Comprehension. CUP. 1992

WRITING SKILLS
Composing
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Gathering information to start writing

Making mind maps
Using a diagram to express ideas
Selecting and focusing information
Brainstorming
Organizing points
Imagining dialogues
Combining information
Writing and answering questionnaires and surveys
Stating opening or topic sentences
Creative writing
Writing poetry
Reporting real events
Interviewing people and taking notes
Observing and note-taking

Communicating
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Asking and giving advice in a written form

Writing cards, letters of invitation
Describing pictures and images
Writing a newscast
Writing a play
Writing to real people

Crafting
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Organizing a non-chronological description

Using cohesive devices
Using connectors of addition
Analyzing the reference system of a text
Organizing general and supporting statements
Transferring information to a diagram
Unscrambling a text and rewriting it
Writing a newspaper article
Sequencing ideas in a story
Combining narrative and direct speech
Time sequencing in a narrative
Selecting and categorizing content
Writing simple instructions
Explaining purposes in instructional information
Explaining reasons in cause and effect arguments
Using logical connectors for describing effects
Organizing points for a contrast and comparison essay
Reformulating a paragraph
Organizing topics and points in an argument
Writing a book review
Using connectors of concession

Improving
o Correcting your own work
o Pair-work editing
o Reformulating

o Negotiating a formulated script

o Raising awareness about writing
o Clarifying meaning to the reader
Adapted from: Byrne, Donn. Teaching Writing Skills. Longman. 1991
Hedge, Tricia. Writing. CUP

SPEAKING SKILLS

Using the co-operative principle

Making meaning
Producing adjacent replies
Turn taking
Using openings and closings adequately
Stating and developing topics
Identifying and using male and female differences in conversation
Simplifying informal speech
Producing the right stress and intonation according to the context and
speakers intention
Identifying and using the right gestures and body language
Building dialogues
Using gambits appropriately
Using appropriate structures and vocabulary according to register
Sharing information
Confirming information
Sensitivity to gesture and facial expression
Sensitive to the sound system, to stress and intonation
Being aware of cross-cultural differences
Clarifying communicative value
Participating in a discussion adequately
Self monitoring
Stressing words appropriately
Pronouncing words appropriately

Adapted from: Nolasco, Rob & Lois Arthur. Conversation. OUP. 1993
Revell, Jane. Teaching Techniques for Communicative English. Modern English
Publications. 1991.