brown 17 kumar 9 & 10

          I thought one of the most important things I read was about interweaving listening, reading, writing, and speaking together along with language skills so that there is no separation of what language skills are. Those four aspects of learning another language are so important and when you bring them all together, the language and culture of the language all come together, which is exactly what you want your second language learners to pick up. When I was learning Spanish, I thought the speaking became easier the more vocabulary I picked up which was when I read and watched TV or movies in Spanish. Another thing Kumar brought up was how using various resources help this situation as well. When I was learning a second language I found using other resources besides a textbook were very helpful. I would occasionally watch TV in Spanish, read an article, listen to Spanish music, or listen to a radio clip. Listening and reading other resources besides a textbook made the language more interesting to me and helped me understand the language more. Reading and listening to other sources also helped me pick up new and different vocabulary than what I was hearing in the classroom. The only problem I had with these resources is that they did not help me with my speaking. My teacher was not good at enforcing us to speak in my second language in the classroom, so I was not getting enough practice inside or outside of the classroom.

            Another thing I could relate to was how integrating language skills can assist learners to engage in the activities going on in the classroom which involves them in meaningful engagement with language skills (Kumaravadivelu, 2003). Sometimes the best way to involve students in the classroom is through activities that are engaging and fun for them, so they do not always think of it as learning. If you have students work together in groups to do an activity or interact with each other in some way, they are more likely to become interested in the topic which also helps them learn. I was always much more interested in class when my teacher had a fun activity planned or put us in groups so we could work together on something. Making educational games is also very helpful especially with younger kids because it makes learning more interesting for them and they become involved and engaged. I was always more likely to talk in class when I was working with a group and coming up with strategies or answers or we were playing a game where I felt confident about what we were learning. As talked about many times before, it helps a learner when they are more confident and feel comfortable in the classroom environment in order for them to participate in class. I believe that these are some important skills and tasks that should be done in the classroom in order for the four strands (reading, writing, listening, and speaking) to become integrated with language skills.