What is the Importance of Teaching Productive Skills?

Productivity could be described as what someone or something creates or in other words produces. In the world of education, and reference to students, most tangible progress can be seen and heard through two specific means of production, the productive skills of speaking and writing. However, it is important to ask, how important are these productive skills? From the perspective of the teacher, they must understand that in the instances that individuals wish to converse with one another there is a cause, they have a purpose, a need to say something, a need to listen to something, or they are interested in what is being said. (ITTT, 2011) When a teacher can understand this, they can conjure and create a meaningful reason for a student to want to communicate.

This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Devaughnte H. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT.

The Importance of Speaking Production Skills

Within the realm of speaking are two aspects, both of which are crucial, fluency and accuracy. Accuracy is introduced first, as the teacher can aid the students in creating proper language, and then fluency in which the students can combine what was learned and use it properly through the means of creating conversation themselves. As presented in the International TEFL and TESOL training, “Accuracy and fluency carry equal importance”, and as such, it should be noted how necessary they are. (ITTT, 2011) Both of these go hand in hand which each other, with the utilization of controlled activities such as drilling and prompting for accuracy, and debates and free discussion for fluency, students will have a greater potential to fully grasp and understand what it means to speak and produce English on their own volition. Speaking is an important skill, and as words, phrases, and grammar are introduced, the pool of understanding can and will be expanded within students which will open more and more doors, each of which could branch out in the form of inquisitive questioning and a deeper understanding of the English Language. (ITTT, 2011)

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The Importance of Writing Production Skills

Writing is indeed different from speaking in a multitude of ways. While there are physical differences such as the means of speaking utilize the speech organs, and means or writing require tools such as technology or pen and paper, it should be noted that there are “many of the same factors as those for a speaking lesson” that should be recognized and applied by teachers to their students. (ITTT, 2011) One of the crucial aspects of writing is spelling, it is important to differentiate words that may sound the same while speaking, but are spelled differently. As such a teacher must be able to assist students in the correct usage of the words. In addition to this, a teacher needs to be able to encourage their students to write, therefore activities and aspects such as creative writing can be utilized to ensure that students can still be productive while also being engaged enough to keep focused and interested. (ITTT, 2011)

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With the understanding of the importance of the two production skills, the reason why people wish to communicate, as well as the means to instill inspiration and desire in students, a teacher can effectively instruct a class. With the utilization of lesson plans which include the engage, study, and activate components, both writing and speaking skills can be honed and trained appropriately. The speaking productive skills aspects of accuracy and fluency are important for students to be able to correctly create the language and be able to be creative with the language in making their communicative subjects with it. Also, the writing productive skills are important to ensure that students understand the variances in the spelling of vocabulary which in turn can assist in speaking and proper handwriting for those who will be reading their produced content in the future. A teacher needs to teach these skills so that English Language students will have the tools to both better themselves and consistently improve themselves through creative writing and speech activities.

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