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Productive skills include speaking and writing. Accuracy activities are usually part of the study phase and concentrate on producing correct language. Fluency activities are usually part of the activate phase and are focused on the effectiveness and flow of the communication. Both are equally important. There are several speaking activities that vary in the amount of language controlled by the teacher and the focus between accuracy and fluency. Controlled activities are accuracy based and the language is controlled by the teacher. These include drilling and prompting exercises. Guided activities are accuracy based but more creative; output is teacher controlled but not the exact language. These include model dialogues and guided role-play. Creative communication are fluency based activities where the situation is created by the teacher but not the language. These include free role play, discussions, and debates. Some reasons students may be reluctant to speak in class are a lack of confidence, fear of making mistakes, lack of interest in the topic, or cultural reasons. Some ways to encourage interaction are through small group work, controlled/guided practice before fluency exercises, and careful planning. In a creative speaking activity, it?s important to do several things before, during, and after. Before the lesson decide on goals, try to predict any potential issues, estimate the time needed for the activity, and prepare any materials. During the activity arouse the students? interest via visuals, provide clear instructions, give enough time for students to prepare, monitor, and evaluate the students? performance. After the active provide feedback and note any recurring errors to review. Some factors that teachers should consider in regards to the students? writing are handwriting, spelling, layout and punctuation, and creative writing. Different games may be used in the classroom to aid with language teaching. Games are either competitive or cooperative and can be used for both controlled or free practice activities. I learned that teaching the two productive skills are quite different. Even in regards to speaking skills, the focus between accuracy and fluency changes from activity to activity so it's important to keep this in mind at all times during a lesson. It's just as important for the teacher to remember if the activity is controlled, guided, or creative so they know their role in the exercise. When teaching writing, the smaller details are equally important to their oral production skills. Native speakers often overlook things such as handwriting or punctuation but the teacher should do their best in helping the students produce legible and grammatically correct written work.
