Scientificarticle.Kindofarticle:monographySummarySegregated-skillinstructionTwoformsofintegrated-skillinstructionAdvantagesoftheintegrated-skillapproachIntegratingthelanguageskillsConclusionSUMMARYThisarticlehasbeenmadeasaguideforteachersofEnglishasaforeignlanguagetodevelopthestudents´abilitiesinthelanguage.Itistheapplicationofanintegratingapproachforthedevelopmentofcommunicativeskillsintheclassroom,inwhichthefourskillsintheacquisitionofknowledgeofaforeignlanguagecanbetaughtinacoherentway,andpracticedtogether,withadistinctionoftheimportanceofoneupontheotherOneimageforteachingEnglishasasecondorforeignlanguage(ESL/EFL)isthatofatapestry.Thetapestryiswovenfrommanystrands,suchasthecharacteristicsoftheteacher,thelearner,thesetting,andtherelevantlanguages(i.e.,Englishandthenativelanguagesofthelearnersandtheteacher).Fortheinstructionalloomtoproducealarge,strong,beautiful,colorfultapestry,allofthesestrandsmustbeinterwoveninpositiveways.Forexample,theinstructor'steachingstylemustaddressthelearningstyleofthelearner,thelearnermustbemotivated,andthesettingmustprovideresourcesandvaluesthatstronglysupporttheteachingofthelanguage.However,ifthestrandsarenotwoventogethereffectively,theinstructionalloomislikelytoproducesomethingsmall,weak,ragged,andpale--notrecognizableasatapestryatall.Inadditiontothefourstrandsmentionedabove--teacher,learner,setting,andrelevantlanguages--otherimportantstrandsexistinthetapestry.Inapracticalsense,oneofthemostcrucialofthesestrandsconsistsofthefourprimaryskillsoflistening,reading,speaking,andwriting.Thisstrandalsoincludesassociatedorrelatedskillssuchasknowledgeofvocabulary,spelling,pronunciation,syntax,meaning,andusage.TheskillstrandofthetapestryleadstooptimalESL/EFLcommunicationwhentheskillsareinterwovenduringinstruction.Thisisknownastheintegrated-skillapproach.Ifthisweavingtogetherdoesnotoccur,thestrandconsistsmerelyofdiscrete,segregatedskills--parallelthreadsthatdonottouch,support,orinteractwitheachother.Thisissometimesknownasthesegregated-skillapproach.Anothertitleforthismodeofinstructionisthelanguage-basedapproach,becausethelanguageitselfisthefocusofinstruction(languageforlanguage'ssake).Inthisapproach,theemphasisisnotonlearningforauthenticcommunication.Byexaminingsegregated-skillinstruction,wecanseetheadvantagesofintegratingtheskillsandmovetowardimprovingteachingforEnglishlanguagelearners.SEGREGATED-SKILLINSTRUCTIONInthesegregated-skillapproach,themasteryofdiscretelanguageskillssuchasreadingandspeakingisseenasthekeytosuccessfullearning,andlanguagelearningistypicallyseparatefromcontentlearning(Mohan,1986).Thisiscontrarytotheintegratedwaythatpeopleuselanguageskillsinnormalcommunication,anditclasheswiththedirectioninwhichlanguageteachingexpertshavebeenmovinginrecentyears.SkillsegregationisreflectedintraditionalESL/EFLprogramsthatofferclassesfocusingonsegregatedlanguageskills.Whydotheyoffersuchclasses?Perhapsteachersandadministratorsthinkitislogisticallyeasiertopresentcoursesonwritingdivorcedfromspeaking,oronlisteningisolatedfromreading.Theymaybelievethatitisinstructionallyimpossibletoconcentrateonmorethanoneskillatatime.Evenifitwerepossibletofullydeveloponeortwoskillsintheabsenceofalltheothers,suchanapproachwouldnotensureadequatepreparationforlatersuccessinacademiccommunication,career-relatedlanguageuse,oreverydayinteractioninthelanguage.Anextremeexample...
