Language Skills: Reading, Listening, Speaking, And Writing

6 Language skills Being competent in a language requires having the four basic language skills : reading ; listening, speaking, and writing. Experts classify foreign language skills into two main categories : productive skills (speaking and writing) and receptive skill (reading and listening). Because learners receive inputs when reading and listening, these two skills belong to receptive language skills. While students produce outputs when they write or speak, thus writing and speaking are productive language skills. Individuals acquire listening and speaking naturally thus, oracy is acquired in unformal situations. In contrust, literacy requires formal settings because individuals must learn reading and writing in schools, institutions,

Mc Arthur, et al. (2008, p.01) points out « writing provides an importance mean to personal self-expression » (p.01). As a communication tool, writing keeps ties between individuals, it allows persons express ideas, thoughts and views specially those who can not express themselves orally, thus enables them to convey meaning. Furthermore, writing helps learners to think in an observable way, it makes them discover their manner of reflection instead of keeping it in their minds. In genera writing has several purposes, in EFL classes writing aims to improve learning as it is claimed by Hedge(2000,p.300) : « these purposes are to enhance learning and to consolidate structures and vocabulary ». For example in classrooms, well writing facilitates exams’ tasks for both teachers and students. In exams, learners try to convince their teachers through translating their knowledge in their own words and styles. Moreover, writing may help learners to get future jobs especially the ones that need writing skill such as : teachers, translators, administrators, and

If you have ever driven in an other country, you know that some of the rules of the road may be different (…), the conventions for writing may change from language to an other »