Learning English as a foreign language demands learning the four skills of the language which are reading, writing, listening and speaking. The four skills of language are divided into two groups: the productive skills (writing and speaking), and receptive skills (reading and listening). In this paper much attention will be paid mainly to one category of language skills and those are productive skills. In my experience as a teacher of English in Egypt, I have met many students who have some challenges with writing and speaking English. This essay will spot the most common challenges that my students faced and how they overcame these challenges.
Starting with speaking skill, fluency is the main target of teaching speaking. According to Hughes
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When the students translate Arabic into English they sometimes use words causing misunderstanding and confusion. For example, a sentence like “Flu infection spreads by peace with hand” is grammatically correct but meaningless. The student means “Flue infection is caused by greetings and handshakes". The words greetings and peace are of the same meaning in Arabic so the student wrote one instead of the other.
To overcome such a challenge, EFL learners have to read more texts in the target language to enhance their vocabulary and how to put vocabulary into context. Also it is important for teachers to make the students aware of the differences in the structure of their native language and the target language. The only way to improve students’ speaking and writing skills is to put them into use. Students’ writing, like their speaking, can only benefit from exposure to a wide-range of situations which require specific skills and language. A teacher will want to ensure that she/he is giving students practice in all areas of writing and
The first practice I am going to discuss is creating a classroom community of writers. Writing is often ignored, and when it is brought up in the classroom the students view it as a daunting task. Therefore, it is up to the teacher to change this environment into a positive experience. In the article, Writing in the ESL Classroom:
Writing is an essential tool and has been noted as a precursor for great speaking by teachers at all grade levels. However, with writing being an important aspect throughout one’s academic career and beyond, it is one of the most tedious tasks to teach. It sounds like a cliché, but in order to get better at something, one has to keep completing the task and each time, accomplish something different while maintaining prior knowledge. There are various ways that enhance a student’s writing abilities and the focus of these research strategies will prove that encouraging students to write enhances writing.
The English Curriculum (2014) values the position speaking, listening, reading and writing have as independent lessons. However, all four sectors combined are recognised as a positive developmental factor in the intellectual growth of students. It is expressed within the English curriculum how significant spoken language is; in relation to child development and also in terms of student’s progression throughout the wider curriculum. Researchers such as Owen and Burnett (2014) state that spoken language reinforces other key expertise such as reading and writing. Therefore, teachers must encourage continual development of student’s capabilities and confidence in relation to verbal language. This section of the assignment shall focus significantly
In today’s workforce, jobs are heavily based upon the skills that one has and how well one can perform them in their field of study. A major component skill that lacks in many young people today is writing. Writing plays is an important role in life, one needs it to communicate with other people. If young people are not taught this in their years of schooling and do not learn to master it, consequently they will come out on the bottom with poor writing skills. Which in
A learner’s ability to communicate effectively through writing to his/her target audiences is a major prerequisite for academic success. It is also a major pillar of success in one’s career across all areas of practice. Even though, writing clearly is critical to one’s academic and career success, I have not always loved writing. In fact, for a long time I despised writing. At one point, I had a feeling that my writings skills were bound to remain stagnated throughout my life. However, time has proven that I was wrong. My attitude and outlook towards virtually all genres of writing has changed positively. The various helpful methods I have been exposed to by my English teachers through different grades have helped me
Bettering your skills of writing is extremely important because writing can help you with several different aspects throughout your life. Being a good writer can help you solve problems, learn, and triumph in school and future jobs. So how do you improve your writing? Firstly start with your mental state. You have to be willing to learn and give yourself the proper amount of time and knowledge in order to do well. Secondly, use the resources around you such as your syllabus, tutors offered through your school, and online
Effective writing is becoming a real concern among teachers and college professors. As a matter of fact, the quality of writing appears to be worse than it used to be. In past years, studies have proven that there is a constant decline in people's writing ability. This article, Student Writing: Strategies to Reverse Ongoing Decline, gives you some insight as to the decline and ways to improve your writing skills.
Writing skill is a very important part of communication. Writing is the process to express emotions and ideas, allowing us to put them on paper. Throughout this class I have learned more than I ever thought I would. I have learned different writing techniques, such as, using vivid detail, MLA format, and how to use sources from books or websites. I was able to accomplish these skills from class exercises and writing the four assigned essays. I believe my writing skills have changed throughout this semester because I can recognize what has impacted my writing skills, along with my strengths and weaknesses.
From personal experience, I used to be an average writer in high school but during my senior when I took college English, the quality of my writing increased because of more strict guidelines and expectations which in return gave me the ability to improve and learn from mistakes. As matter of fact, if my teacher didn’t point the mistakes out and made me redo it, I wouldn’t have improved and had better quality writing experience or somewhat college-level writing. As can be seen, some individuals might not have quality writing skills as they were not exposed to the level of writing they need to obtain before coming to college which makes them lower than average. In essence,, this could because of many factors such as institutional or family
I believe it is important for any student who wants to succeed in class to take a step back and self-evaluate themselves in their work. To be the best, a learner should be able to determine how he or she is progressing and in what steps that person can take to improve his or her writing skills. Every writer encounters setbacks in their work, when this happens the student should know which resources are available for their assistance. I have used these methods and have discovered that I have matured quite a bit in my writing, in just a matter of a few weeks.
For the purpose of this assignment I chose Feruza, an Eritrean high school graduate. She was born and raised in Eritrea and came to live in Jeddah only five years ago. She studied English in an elementary school in Eritrea and continued studying it in an Eritrean International High School. She is not happy at all with what she has learnt during those years. She explained that during her elementary school years her teachers heavily focused on writing while neglecting speaking. When she continued her learning process here in Jeddah, her high school teachers focused only on speaking but not at the level she was expecting.
In order to provide students with the best education and future possible, writing in schools needs to be focused on more in depth. Everyone needs to have a basic understanding of grammar, spelling, sentence structure, and other writing aspects. This is so they can communicate correctly when they get a job in the future and be confident in their writing and communication skills. If someone is not comfortable speaking and/or writing to communicate with others, they are not going to be willing to go out of their comfort zone when they have to communicate with others. With this being said, teachers and schools need to take larger steps to ensure that their students are receiving the proper writing skills needed to be successful in the near future.
English is a hard language to learn, for there are numerous elements of effective usage and writing. Many people, including me, struggle in writing because of a lack of knowledge. Since middle school, English was not a strong suit of mine. I struggled with the simplest of tasks often taking a considerably longer time to complete a task than the other students. Unmotivated teachers and a lack of interest resulted in remedial writing skills. To put it simply, I had little confidence in my writing and I dreaded taking the class because of the writing involved. In spite of my fears, I took the course and I was able to perfect and challenge my mediocre writing skills.
One of the most international languages is English. It is from the requirements from studying abroad and the textbooks are almost in English. If a person wants to get PHD degree English is important and helpful for them. The writer of the article wants to shed the lights on how to improve English skills. 1) students should differentiate between textbooks languages and real English language and focus on grammar and how to write without any mistake. The writer compared between the use of English and Arabic language. 2) How to get fluent English language speaker and explains the tips for it. We don't have to memorize each single word but only the phrases and statements. Also read and write stories, articles and conversation. Moreover download and listen to BBC, CNN, WEE and Euro news agencies to be familiar
In teaching and learning English, there are two aspects that should be concerned. The first one is the language skills such as speaking, listening, reading, and writing. The second one is the language components such as vocabulary, and grammar. These two aspects are taught in order to make the students achieve the ability in communicating both in spoken and written forms.