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Unit 12 was about teaching productive skills - speaking and writing. The purpose of both speaking and writing is to communicate. Speaking is often used more in the classroom; however, writing is equally important and should not be ignored. If given as homework, writing homework should be given proper attention along with proper feedback. A teacher's goal should be to encourage students by creating a need and desire to communicate. Some activities should be focused on accuracy (ex. controlled and guided activities), while other activities should be based more on student fluency and creativity (ex. creative communication activities). There are various reasons students may be unwilling to communicate such as lack of confidence, fear of making mistakes, intimidation, or lack of interest; nonetheless, teachers can encourage interaction by pairing up students, doing student group work, changing the classroom atmosphere, and making sure there are plenty of controlled and guided speaking activities for all students. Sometimes it is better to give students some time to think about what they would like to say before calling on them. Other times, it is best to directly call on students, so they have less time to think about their response - which might be closer to reality and speaking in the real world. In terms of writing, writing is different than speaking in the aspect that students have to think more about grammar patterns, using more formal vocabulary, spelling, their handwriting, etc... Therefore, as mentioned previously, it is important to give students enough writing practice and feedback throughout the course. Lastly, games can be incorporated in the classroom for all ages of students. There are two types: communicative and linguistic games. Games liven up the classroom and can provide motivation and speaking chances for students. All in all, unit 12 was another great lesson in follow-up to unit 11 (receptive skills). Now, I have had the opportunity to learn about teaching both receptive (listening/reading) and productive (speaking/writing) skills.
