Integrating Contexts and Language Skills

A common question in both Kumaravidevelu and Brown's readings were how to go about teaching the four language skills:  Reading, listening, speaking, writing.  Each of these skills is used in every day communication, whether it is producing, or receiving language. Since these skills are so commonplace in natural language, both Brown and Kumar agree that each of these entities should not be separated as it is often attempted in society.  No classroom teaches strictly writing, or strictly reading.  Most classrooms focus on one item in particular, while still mildly incorporating the others.  Kumar and Brown argue that that language teaching must be inclusive to all language skills.  By incorporating all equally, learners are getting a richer experience, having more than one medium to express themselves.  I find this true in my language learning experience.  In my first lessons of German, my professor stressed writing more than listening and speaking.  While this gave me a lot of practice dealing with grammatical features, it did not help me in a larger sense of communication.  I didn't realize how poor my listening comprehension and speaking were until I had a new teacher.  Under the new teacher, I was getting lessons with a sense of balance in regards to language skills.  The activities had more discussion which helped with listening and speaking, while other activities allowed me to maintain my ability to write German.

Just as Kumar and Brown argue the need for all inclusive language skills in the classroom, Kumar argues the need for integrating contexts into the classroom.  Kumar feels that various types of context are needed to fully understand language.  Learners must understand the varying context to become better communicators. Kumar categorizes these contexts into linguistic, extralinguistic, situational, and extrasituational.  While reading, I was the most intrigued by the extrasituational contexts.  I found the cultural aspect very important in developing a fuller understanding of language.  A speaker can have near-perfect linguistic capability, but in order to fit into society, a speaker must have an understanding of the culture around him/her.  Cultural values vary, and it is important to address them.

Teaching Reading and Writing

     Upon reading Brown's Chapters 20 and 21, I was surprised at the number of strategies and approaches that were listed.  Brown took two acts that I viewed as fairly simple and brought about a whole new perspective to each of them.  After reading Brown's various principles and characteristics on reading and writing, I was able to find some that benefitted me in my language learning experience, along with others that I wish my teacher would have used more.
     One concept I liked a lot was the idea of extensive reading.  In my German courses, this was almost always used as a means of homework or preparation.  This is largely due to the length of the text.  I really like this way to go about reading because it promotes a sense of autonomy.  When I was given readings to look over, I had to take it upon myself to find the meaning of the text.  Sure, the text was within the confines of my language ability, but the mere fact of having to look up vocabulary myself, while deciphering the meaning of the passage as a whole, helped me develop better German.  Not only was I learning the German cultural aspects of the reading, but I was also developing a better grasp on grammatical and lexical items.
     Another principle that I really enjoyed was the use of intrinsic motivation when reading and writing. Brown states that it is wise to have readings about  "real life" encounters or something that can interest students.  I would somewhat agree that real life encounters are interesting, but I grew tired of reading about grocery stores, talking to a waiter.  I feel that for language learners, it is beneficial to have entertaining reading and writing assignments.  Rather than write about what types of German immigrants came to America, I would much rather write about a vacation I went on, or the plot of a movie that I saw.   I feel it is very important to gauge the student's interest.  By doing so, a teacher can promote motivation in students, so they get more out of their reading and writing.  When I volunteered at a community center to help kids with their reading, I helped a little Spanish speaking boy.  I found that he read better, while improving his English when he was reading books he enjoyed, rather than books that were assigned to him by others.
    Lastly, I thought that a journal was a great way to go about encouraging better writing.  I never had the privilege of using a journal in a foreign language classroom, but I see it as a great way to not only monitor the progress of students in the class, but also as a way for students to practice writing that actually applies to them.  Journals allow students to write about topics that are of interest to them, rather than topics which may be more familiar.  Teachers can look at these entries to determine how the students writing has improved, while looking at the content the student is mentioning.
     All of these readings brought about all new aspects of reading and writing that I did not take into consideration.  it was nice seeing techniques that I never saw.  Effective or not, perhaps I could attempt use these methods in the future.