Developing Social Skills in a Chilean Language Teaching Context

I. English Language skills as seen in the Chilean Curriculum

Generally speaking, learners are always expected to perform different actions by using the

language they are acquiring. These operations were traditionally classified in two groups:

receptive (reading and listening) and productive skills (speaking and writing). As far back as we

can recall, English Language Teaching (ELT) experts and academics have highlighted

throughout years the importance of developing these receptive and productive skills when

dealing with language teaching. In this respect, interactive language teaching has empowered

the idea of developing these skills as a whole or in a balanced way:

Sometimes language programs are set up as a series of discrete units on grammar, sound

production, development of reading skills, or written composition, thus tearing apart the

seamless garment of language. Study of sound production is integrally related to syntax,

which can be of no use without semantics and pragmatics. Cultural expectations affect

syntactic and lexical choice, as well as sound and kinesics elements these things are best

learned and practiced together in use.

(Rivers, 1997: p. 4)

Although must of the Chilean English teachers have understood the idea of developing receptive

and communicative skills equally, the Chilean Ministry of Education (MINEDUC) has avoided

the importance of creating this so called balance among each of them. In the same manner, Sandra McKay (2003) has realized that the Chilean curriculum has given priority to the

receptive skills as opposed to productive skills (p. 141). Moreover, the Chilean curriculum makes this explicit by arguing the growing necessity for using the language perceptibly:

El sub-sector idioma extranjero propone desarrollar en el estudiante de Educacin

Media las habilidades necesarias para utilizar el segundo idioma como instrumento de

acceso a la informacin proveniente de diferentes fuentes, especialmente aquella que se

origina en los mbitos acadmico, tecnolgico y productivo, y como un medio de

comunicacin y apertura a otras realidades y culturas. Se busca que los estudiantes

puedan comprender e interpretar discursos escritos y orales y resolver situaciones

simples de comunicacin oral y escrita, acordes con su nivel de desarrollo lingstico,

psicolgico y afectivo; se busca, asimismo, que a travs del acceso a otra lengua,

aprecien la diversidad cultural.

(MINEDUC, 2005: p. 64)

Not by any standards, this idea of developing skills unequally should be understood as a good

reason to delimit the communicative importance of English as a Foreign Language (EFL). On

the contrary, language should be seen as a primary tool for communication, and communication

is a word that does not only involve the perceptive presence of a person, but rather a constant

interaction between perception and production. Is because of this reason why the use of a

language skill can not be specified radically into one category, especially if one of its goals is to

discover other realities and cultures (cito de nuevo?) which can only be done within an interactive process.

II. Language Skills and its social implications.

Deploying the four skills has been a main concern for all teachers that look forward to develop

their students language proficiency. On this showing, applied-linguists and teaching experts have emphasized the social implications of each skill, and how important they are for language

& society. The reciprocal interaction that the listening activity includes (Lynch, 2002), the speakers judgments that can occurs under a normal use of the speaking skill (Bygate, 2002),

the idea of reading as a social process (Wallace, 2003) and the sociopolitical relations of power that the writing skill has developed (Leki, 2002), are just few examples of this on-going

concern of analyzing the skills social implications for different purposes. Figure 1 shows how languages skills have been categorized and figure 2 is an attempt to show the position of skills

as social and individual language actor:

As we have seen, all language communicative purpose should point at different types of social-

individual interactive communication (personal, intrapersonal, etc.) Is in this respect in which I

would like to ask the following question: why do we need to empower these skills, if we do not

have the capacity for communicate socially?

III. The Socialling-filter

The use of the language not only involves the development of certain skills that function

receptively or productively within an interactive communication, there is also an important

amount of other abilities that are used to start and develop this interaction. An example of this is the interpreting skill that Widdowson (1978: p. 58) refers as the ability to realise language as discourse. It is important to understand that this sort of abilities or skills which initiate the communication and maintain the same flow of interaction between elements, are the

competences that triggers the actions of the rest of the four skills, and are the ones which are

condensed in this socialling-filter. Figure 2 is an attempt to reconstruct the idea:

L S

R W

IP

SP

L: Listening.

S: Speaking.

R: Reading.

W: Writing.

SP: Social Purposes

IP: Individual Purposes

Listening

Reception

Speaking

Language Skills

Reading

Production

Writing

Listening

Speaking

Language Skills Socialling-filter Reading

Writing

Although new insights in applied-linguistic have proposed the inclusion of new skills such as

grammaring (Larsen-Freeman, 2003), my idea of socialling do not seek the same purpose. This socialling which I refer, is basically a language filter that prepares and develops the environment for a better expression of the language in an interactive setting. The socialling-filter includes different pragmatic concepts, but basically any kind of cultural element that persuades to start and sustain the interaction. As already specified, every single element of this

socialling filter is strongly attached to the culture in which the language is use. Although each language is different in this respect, a few of its social skills can be categorized in:

- Use of body Language (proximity, posture, gestures, tone, etc) - Understanding of social rules (greetings, discourses, friendly topics, etc.) - Orientation of the interaction (knowledge, motivation, voice, felicity conditions, etc)

Further research must be done in every single element for each language and culture, suggested

readings are at the end of this paper.

V. The use of the socialling-filter in Chilean teaching context: The need of developing social skills is directly related with the teaching activity which should

seek for developing the four skills equally and developing students abilities to have a standard flow of interaction. With regard of this matter, the Chilean teaching context has different factors

that do not let teachers to implement this idea, among them: the Curriculum, the limited time

and the classroom reality.

a) Curriculum: As it has been seen, the Chilean curriculum delimits the presence of productive skills, arguing the importance of being able to recognize only a few elements

of the language. Idea that can be considered under a critical point of view, as a

limitation for students needs of studying English for their own purposes, and just for the sake of it. (power relation)

b) Limited time of teaching: it is common for Chilean teachers to deal with no more than two pedagogical hours (45 minutes each) in a lesson, which is already problematic for

teaching the subject matter. If we understand the importance of developing social,

receptive and productive skills, we realized immediately we dont have enough time to handle each of then in a common lesson.

c) Classroom reality: an analysis of the classroom and students context is necessary to understand the realities of how the English language is seen, especially in periphery

settings (Canagarajah, AO). Different contexts will determine different purposes for

the ELT activity.

Now that the limitations have been specified, the socialling-filter is going to be applied to the Chilean teaching context underneath it restrictions. Under this perspective, the socialling-filter

will be developed in micro-syllabic levels, where the teacher is the primary activator of the

lessons planning and activities.

The syllabus design involves a complex process of determining different criteria. It would be

contradictory if a set of better ways to do it is presented here, but let understand the follow indications as recommendations:

On syllabusing:

- Construct a syllabus that can be flexible to the students needs. - Set up the social utilities of the objectives of each lesson.

On methods:

- Use any methodology that can offer the develope of both skills, and that contribute to

On material:

- Use material that can be found in your students reality (this include multimodal texts, hypertexts, etc) (CITAR FARIAS)

- Select up-to-date material that can offer insights of different topics, so the students can have new knowledge for future conversations.

On activities:

- Group work will always produce a real interaction setting, rather than isolated work. - Look for activities that can make students participant of starting a conversation. - Look for activities that can develop other skills such as body language such as a role

play.

Conclusion

How the Chilean curriculum has understood the English Language teaching main goal is a

matter for questioning. They should be no restrictions in such profession, but reality set ups

different limitations when it comes about any social activity. The aim of developing social skills

must be seen as another important goal for English language teaching, specially in a EFL

context, where the main goal of its study is to develop the capacity of sharing information from

culture to culture. The socialling-filter is just another excuse for remarking the importance of developing the teaching activity according to a certain context. Is just one of the many non-

tangible tools that should provide a better environment for learning to take place. Is in this idea,

which I would like to emphasize the importance of being critical members of our society.

Although there is a difference between abilities and skills, many would think of social attitudes

such as proximity as an abilities, but many of the language codes underlines the different social

attitudes, so it is important to considered the social skills inherent in each language.

References

- Rivers, W. (1997) Principles of Interactive Language Teaching. Harvard University.

- Marco Curricular Educacin Media: Objetivos Fundamentales y Contenidos Minimos

Obligatorios de la Educacin Media. Actualizado 2005 MINEDUC.

- McKay, S. (2003) Teaching English as an Internacional Language: the Chilean context ELT

Journal, Volume 57/2, April 2003, Oxford University Press.

- Lynch, T. (2002) Listening: Questions of Level.