When I first saw the title of chapter 10 I was curious as to what the chapter would be talking about. When the chapter started talking about the four language skills (speaking, listening, reading, and writing) being taught separately I thought THAT’S CRAZY! Who thinks this is a good idea? In every education and TESOL class I have been in, we have talked about how activities should include all of them or some of them but never really only one of them!
Then I read about the strict sequencing of the skills, first listening, then speaking, then reading, then writing. That sounded silly to me as well. Then I remembered learning Japanese. I was in elementary school and had a private tutor so I would be able to be friends with the Japanese students at my school. I wanted to read Japanese so bad but my tutor said I had to first learn to listen to her and pick out parts, and then I could start speaking. Only after I had mastered speaking would we move to reading and writing. I was allowed to write my name in Japanese but that was it. For me, not being able to read or work with the skills together, is probably what made me lose my interest and eventually stop taking lessons.
Looking back at that experience I can understand how important it is to use authentic materials to aide the use of all language skills. I feel like this is a very important concept and it is important for teachers to remember students can learn without the textbook. The textbook should be used more as a resource or a guide.
I thought it was really interesting how you initially thought that teaching the four language skills separately was a crazy idea, then realized that that's how you learned Japanese. I think sometimes we get so caught up in language learning (and just learning in general) that we don't even really realize how it's happening. Also, I agree that the textbook should be a resource/guide rather than the force controlling exactly what/how students learn. Good point.
ReplyDeleteI think it's so interesting that they separated the skills for teaching you Japanese. I do not think there is a heirarchy that needs to be followed when it comes to language. As we have learned, the important thing is communication. If a student can get their point across or understand the main point of a story by reading it or listening to it, then it should not matter in what order we master these skills.
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