The most important aspects related to the acquisition of a FL

1. Oral communicationIt includes listening and

speaking.

Listening It is important because…

- Listening provides a comprehensible input- It is essential for language processing- It’s needed in real life- It allows students to distinguish sounds, stress and intonation patterns.

How can we introduce it in the classroom?

-Using songs and rhymes-Through storytelling-Using listening clips

Speaking Speaking is a complex cognitive process where

listening also plays an important role. The student’s early production of language, whether

this has been naturally acquired or formally instructed, needs accuracy.

Though oral language should be integrate with listening, some further practice is necessary to improve production.

Our aim as teachers is to design procedures to involve students in this oral practice.

Oral communication activities-Oral and meaningful

drills-Oral games for

directives and

questions

-Recordings (making

advertisements,

interviews…)-Discussions-Narrative and speeches-Simulations and role plays

2. Reading Reading in the classroo may serve as a reinforcement of

the oral input. This helps the recognition of the symbol-sound relationships within a given semantic context.

Reading should be encouraged in and out the class. For that, it’s necessary a selection of appropiates texts and activities according to the students’ interests.

-Tasks before reading (present some vocabulary related to the text)

- Tasks during reading (distinguish

the main idea from the support details)- Tasks after reading (summarising

the content or answer comprehension

questions)

3. WritingNot only reinforces the grammatical

structures but also help learners to learn. It can be the natural outlet and consolidation

for other skills It is a useful communication channel

Stages:-Controlled Writing-Guided Writing- Free Writing

Writing activities

Controlled activities:At the word level we deal with vocabulary, spelling and pronunciation. Some activities are:

-Forming words with jumbled letters-Game “Hangman”-Crosswords.

Controlled activities:At sentence and texts level:

-Transformation: singular to plural, present to past…-Punctuating a text-Putting words in the correct position in a sentence.-Jumbled words to form coherent sentences.

Writing activitiesGuided activities:It consists of giving students some guidelines in order to orientate them to writing. Paragraph 1:What is the name of you school?How long have you been here?Paragraph 2:What is the building like?It is new or old?

Free activities:

-Note taking-Writing summaries-Writing essays-Letter writing-Writing reports

Resources to teach a FL.SongsGamesRealiaFlashcardsTechnical resources

Songs Songs are designed to be learned

and repeated by the whole class together. They are also intended to be sung by young children who are at the same time performing the actions described by the words of the song.

Activities with songs:

-Answering questions about the text of a song.-Working with opposites-Reordering the words of a song-Finding words that rhyme

GamesThe use of games help to create context in which the participants find themselves in the position of making meaningful and purposeful use of languageSome Games are:

-Bingo-Word chain-Guess the word-Picture dictation and drawing-Happy families

RealiaReal and simple objects can be used

for teaching new vocabylaro or doing many different activities.

-Follow instructions-Find someone who…-Classify objects

FlashcardsCan be stuck on the classroom walls to

create an atmosphere around the topic we are working around.

-Show the flashcards-Substitution dialogues-Classify the pictures-Picture dictionary

We can also use technical resources that allow teachers to create motivating activities or to find many different resources and activities through the internet.