Report on Teaching Grammar and the Four Skills for English Learners

This report delves into the application of a process approach for teaching reading, emphasizing the use of phonics to enhance reading skills. The report details an experimental activity where students arrange a jumbled conversation and perform it in pairs, fostering cooperation and vocabulary development. It outlines the activity's requirements, procedures, and variations, alongside a rationale for selecting the phonics strategy. The challenges of implementing the task are also discussed. The report then assesses the success of the task, highlighting how phonics aids in decoding words and improves pronunciation. It further explores the limitations of the task and suggests improvements, concluding with a discussion on the overall effectiveness of the teaching method and its implications for language acquisition.

Running Head: TEACHING GRAMMAR AND THE FOUR SKILLS
Teaching grammar and the four skills
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1TEACHING GRAMMAR AND THE FOUR SKILLS
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Reading is one of the most vital part of human existence. In modern-day society teaching reading
has gained prominence. The following report discusses a process approach towards teaching
reading. The experimental activity has taken resort to the method utilizing phonics, for the
purpose of proper development of reading skills of pupils.

2TEACHING GRAMMAR AND THE FOUR SKILLS
Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
DISCUSSION..................................................................................................................................4
PART 1........................................................................................................................................4
REQUIREMENTS OF THE ACTIVITY:...............................................................................4
PROCEDURE OF THE ACTIVITY:......................................................................................4
VARIATIONS:........................................................................................................................5
RATIONALE FOR SELECTING THIS STRATEGY:..........................................................5
THE TASK ENHANCES THE STRATEGY:........................................................................6
CHALLENGES OF CONDUCTING THE TASK:................................................................6
PART 2........................................................................................................................................7
SUCCESS OF THE TASK......................................................................................................8
LIMITATIONS OF THE TASK.............................................................................................8
IMPROVEMENT OF THE TASK..........................................................................................9
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................10
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................11

3TEACHING GRAMMAR AND THE FOUR SKILLS
INTRODUCTION
Present world endorses English as the most widely learned language and the task of
reading is regarded as one of the most significant skill in teaching language (Saville & Barto,
2016). In majority of cases, pupils in English classes showcase an inclination towards maturing
proficiency, for the purpose of getting access to data and not for improving their social
communication skills. Consequently teaching the discipline of reading has been successful in
obtaining massive attention (Kucer, 2014). Regrettably, the teachers have not been completely
successful in properly executing the task of enhancing the reading ability of their pupils; even
after years of studying English, only a handful of pupils attain the capability of proficient reading
(Bursuck & Damer, 2014). The fact must be noted, that it is absolutely necessary on the part of
the teachers to guide pupils to overcome their poor reading habits and nurture improved ones
(Machin, McNally & Viarengo, 2016). As a result of this, various experiments are conducted to
discover methods of teaching, which might prove efficient and successfully empower the pupils
with proper reading skills. A significant fact of process approach is that, it focuses on the process
of reading rather than on the end product. A considerable amount of knowledge about reading
skills, have always been the part of a curriculum followed by pupils interested in appearing for
the global language examinations. The process approach to teach reading was embraced
extensively in second language classroom, after the need for attention to individual pupil was
highlighted (Urquhart & Weir, 2014). The following report aims at discovering various facets of
a particular method of teaching the discipline of reading.

4TEACHING GRAMMAR AND THE FOUR SKILLS
DISCUSSION
PART 1
REQUIREMENTS OF THE ACTIVITY:
The following activity aims at testing the reading ability of students at transitional level
and assigning them restricted verbal exercise in a play. In other words, the following activity
proposes to teach reading through phonics (Hill, 2016). The pupils are expected to properly
arrange a jumbled conversation and thereafter perform the very act in pairs (Ziegler, Perry &
Zorzi, 2014). Performing in pairs, is likely to elevate the co-operation level between them. In this
report, a conversation in a travel agent’s office has been considered. The equipments required for
this test are: a paper containing the muddled conversation and every speech of the conversation
must be numbered so that they can be arranged conveniently, and there must also be a second
sheet for taking note of marks of the students, which they secure after their performance. A copy
of paper containing the muddled conversation must be with the students to aid their performance.
PROCEDURE OF THE ACTIVITY:
The test can be incorporated into the course at any stage as holidays and travel are
commonplace topics. A discussion must be initiated regarding arrangement of vacation – the
resources that are accessible in the nation, the techniques that individuals from that particular
course group (or their guardians) utilize, the destination which the pupils would prefer to visit for
a short tenure; the discussion must take into consideration the act of referring to pertinent
vocabulary. Thereafter, the papers containing the muddled conversations must be distributed
amongst the pupils. Clarification must be offered to students mentioning that the paper contains
an interaction between a Travel Agent and a client, nonetheless the content has been jumbled up
and their assignment is to organize the conversation in an appropriate manner. The pupils must
locate connections between the fragments of the conversation (Spiro, Bruce & Brewer, 2017). It
is at the disposal of the teacher to decide whether a pupil must note down all the oration in
proper sequence or the pupil is supposed to note down the numbers, following proper sequence.

5TEACHING GRAMMAR AND THE FOUR SKILLS
After completion of arrangement of the speeches, the pupils must read their conversation aloud,
in front of the whole class; this will help in detection and consequent rectification if there exists
any imperfection in the assignment. The scores must be declared thereafter. Pronunciation
exercise must also ensue after that. The pupils must be placed in pairs and continue to practice
the dialogue amongst themselves; they must be encouraged to loudly read out their roles while
looking into the eyes of their partners so that the play seems natural while it is executed (Bayat,
2014). Subsequently the pupils must be requested to enact the whole piece and carry out the
conversation before the class.
VARIATIONS:
A few variations might be incorporated in the task, to bring about better enhancement in
the reading skills of the students The fact of memorizing the corrected piece and performing it in
front of the class might be brought into consideration. The pupils can also be persuaded to
hypothetically construct a similar type of conversation in a tourist agent’s office, referring to
their previous assignment. A certain number of hindrances might be incorporated, such as: the
suggested vacation might appear to be exceptionally expensive or the client might demand
additional services; the chances of the client conveying over the phone or physically returning to
propose certain amendments, might be considered. With the aid of these hindrances the students
are likely to improvise and shape the conversation in accord with their own convenience.
Introduction of a third person accompanying the client and his or her conformity or disparity
regarding the tour plan, is likely to make the situation more complex and consequently more
interesting. A film might also be recorded and uploaded on social networking sites the reactions
are likely to encourage pupils to further refurbish their reading capabilities (Wagner, Vollmar &
Wagner, 2014).
RATIONALE FOR SELECTING THIS STRATEGY:
Phonics helps pupils to read by distinguishing and articulating sounds (Warnick &
Caldarella, 2016). Through an organized approach they are instructed about the method to
perceive the sounds that every individual letter makes, they are made to blend those sounds
together from left to construct a word. Children would then be able to utilize this information to
unravel new words that they see or hear. This is the primary critical advance in figuring out how

6TEACHING GRAMMAR AND THE FOUR SKILLS
to read. Children who have been trained following the method of phonics, tend to read more
precisely than those who have been trained utilizing different strategies.
THE TASK ENHANCES THE STRATEGY:
The conducted activity, begins with the simplest sounds and advances towards the more
difficult words, in this process the pupils will experience an urge to deal with new words
(Shoaga, Akintola & Okpor, 2017). Thereafter they will be able to go ahead to comprehend any
sort of content unhesitatingly, and might even read for pleasure. They are likely to utilize this
information to spell new words they hear.
CHALLENGES OF CONDUCTING THE TASK:
The method of reading successfully begins by perceiving sounds and attaining the natural
capacity to consequently interpret words. Nevertheless, for a few pupils of transitional level, the
procedure may appear difficult (Steacy, 2016). This method demands continuous exercise so that
the word deciphering process might be conducted instantly. Teachers, who are efficient readers,
often fail to understand the extent of attention they must pay to enhance the reading skill of
pupils (Pressley & Allington, 2014).

7TEACHING GRAMMAR AND THE FOUR SKILLS
PART 2
Reading is an ability that pupils must acquire, by following instructions in an organized
and methodical manner, to be empowered to internalize the fundamental abilities to decipher the
letters and words that are to be read in near future (Reutzel, 2014). Teaching pupils to read,
utilizing the method of phonics, is comparatively a simple and compelling methodology (Kelly,
2015). Pupils belonging to transitional level are expected to be able to utilize this learning to
pronounce new words that they see or hear (Hidajat, Susanto & Iskandar, 2017). This is the
primary critical approach in figuring out the method of reading. Research demonstrates that it is
significant on the part of children to learn and comprehend the sounds that the respective letters
evoke, before he or she is acquainted with the names of the letters (Nicholson & Tse, 2014).
Students of a renowned institute underwent the process of learning to read, every day through an
organized phonics program, this has brought about extraordinary progress since it had been
applied for the first time, quite a long while back (Kent, 2016). The process approach ensures
acquiring of abilities; it incorporates delight of reading in pupils as well (Massaro, 2014). The
method of teaching using phonics, empowers the pupils with reading and comprehending
capability.
A group of transitional pupils was made to undertake the activity mentioned in ‘Part 1’ of
this report; the task was carried out smoothly and a survey has been conducted thereafter. The
following part aims at portraying various aspects and aftermath of the above-mentioned survey.
The advent of the activity evoked excitement amongst the pupils, specially when they
came to know that the concerned topic is related to vacation. Acting in pairs actually helped in
developing the communication abilities of the learners, they started exchanging thoughts and
ideas, which further helped in enhancing their vocabulary. The activity witnessed high level of
involvement on the part of the students. The involvement level further increased when the
complexities of situation increased. The task of connecting fragmented speeches was successful
in effectively capturing the attention of the concerned pupils. Reading aloud the assignment was
very effective as it had pointed out the areas of strength and weakness of the reading aspects of a
particular pupil and consequently provided him or her with a scope for bringing about
improvements in the domain of reading practice. The task seemed to almost attain complete

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success, as most of the pupils were engrossed with the task of re-arranging the jumbled speeches
and thereafter performing based on that piece.
SUCCESS OF THE TASK
It must be noted that in the phonics method of reading, pupils contemplate the shapes and
sounds of letters in order to recognize them when reading. This expertise enables the learners to
construct new words with the help of shorter sounds; these can be mixed together to shape
words. The activity discussed in ‘Part 1’ of this report makes use of phonetic technique which
empowers the learners with an apparatus to utilize when confronting troublesome and new
words. Before the pupils acquire the expertise of perceiving words immediately, they can utilize
this method of gradually constructing and perceiving words. The phonetic approach proved to be
particularly useful in the above-mentioned activity, when many a pupil faced contents that were
somewhat further developed than their reading level. Longer and relatively complicated words
did not appear as startling to the participants when they could efficiently divide the words into
letters or letter bunches.
Phonetic approach is capable of encouraging a pupil to state a word or many words,
loudly, by breaking it into parts, tuning in for the sounds and afterwards reconstructing the
related letters. While it may not lead pupils to the right spelling of a word, it initiates a beginning
stage. The concerned pupils nurtured high chances of spelling the word precisely - or if nothing
else, the spelling was sufficiently close so that the teacher could comprehend the expected word.
The phonetic method of learning to read and deal with spellings enabled the learners to perform
composing assignments that may somehow feel excessively difficult.
The activity helped the selected pupils to bring about enhancement in their reading
aptitudes and productivity. Learning reading utilizing the method of phonics enabled the pupils
to attain familiarity with perusing. The activity ensured a precise reading of the content. The
variations in the afore-mentioned activity aided the pupils in procuring more vocabulary.
LIMITATIONS OF THE TASK
Despite being an overall success, the activity mentioned in ‘Part 1’ of this report
possessed certain limitations, which surfaced through the pupils who turned out to be
unsuccessful in executing the task in a proper manner and consequently in attaining proper

9TEACHING GRAMMAR AND THE FOUR SKILLS
reading skills. Each and every words cannot be spelled phonetically. It must be brought into
consideration that there exists numerous such English words which are not spelled the way they
sound; this fact has proved to be disappointing for a few learners and has brought about
confusion among the pupils who solely relied upon the phonetic approach while reading.
Utilizing the phonetic approach to decipher every single word, is likely to lead pupils in the
wrong direction. For instance, making use of the phonetic approach, "said" would be read as
"sayed". Instead of going letter by letter, learners must figure out to promptly remember certain
selected words. Learners who are dependent exclusively on the phonetic approach would fail to
read such words accurately.
The phonetic approach enabled pupils to read words on a page, however the method did
not nurture any particular inclination towards concentrating on meaning of those words. By the
utilization of just the phonetic approach, a pupil is likely to read a whole sentence without
understanding it. The fact must be considered that the entire phonetic process to deal with
reading is a method of an alternate strategy that lays stress on pronunciation instead of
comprehending abilities. The pupils may encounter a higher chance of deciphering the words
swiftly, provided they comprehend the matter in which the words appear.
IMPROVEMENT OF THE TASK
In light of the conducted activity, the following three methodologies might be
incorporated to enable the pupils to acquire reading skills, in a better manner. One of the most
significant aspect is locating the means by which the attention of the pupils can be drawn
towards the discipline of learning to read; it will be futile to force the uninterested pupils to learn
the process of reading. Therefore the teachers must successfully evoke a positive attitude towards
reading, among pupils. Moreover, pupils must be motivated to discover, how fascinating a book
can be. This might be achieved by reading out stories and rendering accessible many a story
books with fascinating pictures and several factual details regarding the things, learners would
normally be keen on. The pupils must also be encouraged to learn about new things.

10TEACHING GRAMMAR AND THE FOUR SKILLS
CONCLUSION
Thus, from the above discussion it may be concluded that instructing learners to read,
using the strategy for phonics, is nearly straightforward and convincing. Pupils of transitional
level mostly possess the capacity to utilize this method of learning; after going through a process
of phonic training, they are rendered capable of reproducing new words that they see or hear.
Phonic method is considered to be the essential basic approach, in making sense of the
framework for initiating reading. The process approach guarantees obtaining of skills; it also
infuses the joy of reading, in the learners. The strategy of schooling, utilizing phonics, enables
the students to acquire exceptionally strong reading capacities. Phonics guides pupils to master
the art of reading by recognizing and articulating sounds; through a controlled approach the
learners gather knowledge about the technique to perceive the sounds that each individual letter
creates, the learners are made to allign those sounds together from left, to develop a word. Those
pupils who have been trained following the strategy of phonics, tend to read more exactly than
the individuals who have been prepared using distinctive methodologies. The learners are likely
to utilize this data to spell new words they hear. The technique for reading effectively starts by
perceiving sounds and results in deciphering new words. The method of phonics is a vital
component required to empower a teacher to aid a pupil in acquiring proper reading capability.

11TEACHING GRAMMAR AND THE FOUR SKILLS
REFERENCES
Bayat, N. (2014). The Effect of the Process Writing Approach on Writing Success and
Anxiety. Educational Sciences: Theory and Practice, 14(3), 1133-1141.
Bursuck, W. D., & Damer, M. (2014). Teaching reading to students who are at risk or have
disabilities: A multi-tier, RTI approach. Pearson Higher Ed.
Hidajat, L., Susanto, Y., & Iskandar, A. (2017). The Effect of Synthetic Phonics on the
Development of Reading Skills in L1 and L2. The Journal of AsiaTEFL, 14(3), 398-413.
Hill, D. R. (2016). Phonics based reading interventions for students with intellectual disability: A
systematic literature review. Journal of Education and Training Studies, 4(5), 205-214.
Kelly, C. (2015). Reading intervention programs: A comparative chart. Reading Rockets.
Kent, K. (2016). Slither down the snake of success: The link between synthetic phonics and
reading attainment. BG Research Online, 8.
Kucer, S. B. (2014). Dimensions of literacy: A conceptual base for teaching reading and writing
in school settings. Routledge.
Machin, S., McNally, S., & Viarengo, M. (2016). in brief... Children's reading: evaluating a new
teaching method (No. 472). Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
Massaro, D. W. (Ed.). (2014). Understanding language: An information-processing analysis of
speech perception, reading, and psycholinguistics. Academic Press.
Nicholson, T. W., & Tse, L. M. (2014). The effect of phonics-enhanced Big Book reading on the
language and literacy skills of six-year-old pupils of different reading ability attending
lower SES schools.