Good afternoon,

Today, we will explore unit 3 lesson 1 *The Macro Skills of Communication* in language
learning, which are essential for any future teacher, especially for those teaching *Mother
Tongue* as a subject. These skills will help us guide our students in communicating effectively.

Next slide
Objectives..

By the end of this lesson, you will have a clear understanding of these skills, their
interconnectedness, and how to apply them in your teaching practice."

Next slide

Introduction..

Read lian

Macro skills are the essential components of communication that learners need to acquire to
communicate effectively.
Traditionally, there are four main macro skills: speaking, reading, writing, and listening.
However, more recent literature includes two additional skills: representing and viewing.
Together, these six skills form the foundation of communication in language learning.

These skills are classified into two categories: the productive skills and receptive skills

- *Productive Skills*: These are skills where learners actively create language or meaning. They
involve output, where learners use language to express themselves.

- *Receptive Skills*: These are skills where learners receive or interpret language. They involve
understanding and processing information.

Next slide

"Let’s begin by discussing the *productive skills*:

1. *Speaking*: This is the skill we use to express ourselves verbally. In the classroom, students
develop fluency, pronunciation, and the ability to organize their thoughts coherently when
speaking.
2. *Writing*: Writing allows students to communicate through written words. This skill involves
developing proper grammar, sentence structure, and vocabulary.
3. *Representing*: Representing involves using visuals, drawings, or non-verbal symbols to
communicate. It is a form of expression that combines creativity with language."

"Next, let's talk about *receptive skills*:

1. *Listening*: Listening is the skill we use to understand spoken language. It’s a critical skill for
students to develop as they need to comprehend instructions, stories, and conversations.
2. *Reading*: Reading allows students to decode written text, understand its meaning, and
interpret various forms of literature or informational text.
3. *Viewing*: Viewing involves interpreting non-verbal cues like images, videos, or other visual
media. It helps students to understand context and meaning beyond the spoken or written
word."

Next slide
"Now, let's delve deeper into each skill and its function in language learning.
1. Speaking
Let’s begin with speaking. Speaking is one of the most important skills for communication
because it allows us to share our thoughts, ideas, and feelings with others. It involves using
words, phrases, and sentences to express meaning. For elementary students, speaking may
include activities such as answering questions, sharing stories, or participating in class
discussions.
An example activity for speaking would be a show-and-tell session. In this activity, students are
asked to bring an item from home and explain why it is special to them. This helps them
practice using clear language, speaking in front of others, and organizing their thoughts.
“Speaking helps students build confidence and fluency. As they practice, they learn how to use
words appropriately and communicate clearly with their peers.”

2. Writing
Next, we have writing. Writing is the ability to communicate thoughts and ideas through written
language. It requires students to use correct spelling, punctuation, and grammar. In elementary
classrooms, students often practice writing through activities like composing stories, writing
letters, or creating reports.
For example, after reading a short story in class, students might be asked to write a summary or
describe the main characters in their own words. This encourages them to organize their ideas
clearly and practice writing in a structured format.
“Writing is important for developing literacy skills and helps students communicate in a
permanent, organized form. It also encourages creativity and critical thinking as they craft
sentences and paragraphs.”

3. Representing
Lastly, we have representing. Representing is the ability to express ideas and knowledge
through visual means. This can include drawing, making diagrams, creating charts, or even using
technology like videos or presentations. Representing allows students to demonstrate their
understanding in creative ways.
For example, after learning about plants, students could create a poster that shows the
different parts of a plant. They might draw the root, stem, leaves, and flower and label each
part. This activity helps them organize their knowledge and communicate their ideas visually.
“Representing encourages creativity and reinforces learning. It gives students an opportunity to
express their understanding through different forms, other than just words.”
4. Listening
The third skill is listening. Listening is a receptive skill, meaning it involves receiving and
understanding spoken language. It is essential for learning because listening helps students
follow instructions, understand new information, and participate in conversations.
In the classroom, listening activities can include listening to a story being read aloud, following
verbal instructions for a task, or responding to questions based on a listening passage. A great
activity might be a listening comprehension exercise, where students listen to a story and then
answer questions about it to demonstrate understanding.
“Listening is the foundation for effective speaking. When students listen carefully, they gain the
information needed to respond appropriately. Good listening skills also improve reading and
writing abilities, as they help students understand language better.”

5. Reading
Now, let’s talk about reading. Reading is the ability to decode written text and make sense of it.
It is closely related to comprehension, as students need to understand the material they are
reading.
In elementary school, reading activities might include reading picture books, short stories, or
even simple articles. After reading, students can discuss the main ideas, characters, and events,
or even draw pictures about the story to show their understanding.
“Reading is vital for developing literacy and vocabulary. The more students read, the more they
are exposed to new words and concepts, which helps improve their overall language skills.”

6. Viewing
The fifth skill is viewing, which involves interpreting visual media like pictures, videos, diagrams,
and advertisements. Students need to be able to understand and analyze the meaning
conveyed through visual elements.
In the classroom, an example of viewing would be analyzing a picture or a short video related to
a lesson. For instance, after watching a video about animals, students could be asked to explain
what they saw or describe the animals’ behavior. This helps them connect visual information to
the concepts they are learning.
“Viewing helps students understand non-verbal communication, which is a key part of today’s
multimedia world. It also teaches them how to analyze and interpret images, a skill that will be
useful as they grow.”

Next slide
"Now let’s analyze some classroom activities to see how these skills work in practice. I’ll read
through the activities and identify the dominant macro skill and the other skills involved. –

*Activity 1*: The teacher reads instructions on how to wash hands, and the learners
demonstrate the process. –
*Dominant Macro Skill*: Listening (students need to understand the instructions). –
*Other Skills Tapped*: Representing (demonstrating the hand-washing process), Speaking
(explaining the steps, if required). –

*Activity 2*: The teacher asks students to bring a family picture to class and talk about it. -
*Dominant Macro Skill*: Speaking (students describe the picture). - *Other Skills Tapped*:
Viewing (students observe the picture closely), Listening (if others are sharing their pictures). –

*Activity 3*: The teacher tells a story and pauses to ask, ‘What do you think will happen next?’ -
*Dominant Macro Skill*: Listening (students listen to the story). - *Other Skills Tapped*:
Speaking (students respond to the story), Thinking (interpreting what might happen next). –

*Activity 4*: The teacher introduces card-making and students create and design thank-you
cards. - *Dominant Macro Skill*: Writing (students write messages on the cards). - *Other Skills
Tapped*: Representing (designing and decorating the cards), Speaking (explaining the card
design to others). –

*Activity 5*: The teacher shows a pop-up book of a folktale, and students talk about their
favorite pictures. - *Dominant Macro Skill*: Viewing (students observe the pictures). - *Other
Skills Tapped*: Speaking (discussing their favorite images), Listening (if the teacher shares
additional information)."

Next slide

Interconnectedness of Macro Skills

Now, here’s something really interesting: these macro skills don’t work in isolation. As you can
see from the activities, these skills are interconnected. For example, in Activity 3, students need
to *listen* to the story, but they also use *speaking* to respond and share their thoughts.

Similarly, in Activity 4, students use *writing* to create thank-you cards but also engage in
*representing* when they design the cards. This interconnectedness is crucial because in real-
life communication, we constantly use multiple skills at once. In language learning, it's
important that students practice all these skills simultaneously to develop proficiency." These
skills are all interconnected, and it’s important for us as future teachers to recognize how they
support and reinforce one another.

Next slide
So this is the sample macro skills matrix for elementary students
In column 1 We have language macro skills, the listening, speaking, reading, writing, and
viewing. Ayeka can you please read the first 3 column, the language macro skill, keywords and
the description as well.
Thank you
Possible Lesson Topics for Elementary Students
1. Listening to a Story: Students listen to a short story and answer questions about the
characters or main events.
2. Listening for Rhyming Words: Listen to a poem or song and identify rhyming words.
3. Following Instructions: Students listen to simple instructions (e.g., "draw a cat," "color the
house red") and do what is asked.

Next read
Possible Lesson Topics for speaking
1. Show and Tell: Students bring an object to class and explain why it is important to them.
2. Talking About a Picture: Students look at a picture and describe what they see, telling a short
story or making guesses about what is happening.
3. Role-Playing: Students act out simple dialogues (e.g., ordering food in a restaurant, greeting
someone).

Next read
Possible Lesson Topics for reading
1. Reading a Picture Book: Students read (or listen to) a picture book and then answer simple
questions about it (e.g., Who is the main character?).
2. Reading Simple Instructions: Students read simple, short instructions (e.g., "circle the red
ball") and follow them.
3. Rhyming Words: Students read short poems or stories with rhyming words and identify the
rhyme patterns.

Next read
Possible Lesson Topics for writing
1. Writing a Short Story: Students write a simple story (e.g., "The Adventures of My Pet") using
basic sentences.
2. Writing a Letter: Students write a letter to a friend or family member, using basic greetings
and sentences.
3. Labeling a Picture: Students draw a picture (e.g., a house or a garden) and write labels for
the items in the picture (e.g., "tree," "dog," "car").

Next read
Possible Lesson Topics for Viewing
1. Looking at a Picture and Describing It: Students look at a picture and describe what they see
(e.g., colors, objects, people, etc.).
2. Watching a Short Video and Discussing It: After watching a short animated video, students
talk about the main idea or what the characters did.
3. Creating a Simple Poster: Students create a poster on a given theme (e.g., “My Favorite
Animal”) and draw pictures with simple words describing it.

Next slide

Proficiency Criteria for Each Macro Skill*

What Does "Proficiency" Mean for Elementary Students? "Proficiency in each of these skills
means that students have mastered the fundamental abilities required to use language
effectively.

Read sanice
For elementary students, we assess proficiency based on their ability to understand, produce,
and interact with language in both academic and everyday settings.

Speaking proficiency means the student can express their ideas fluently and appropriately for
different situations. In writing, proficiency means that students can organize their thoughts
clearly, use appropriate vocabulary, and structure their sentences effectively. For listening,
proficiency means understanding the main points and details in spoken language. In reading,
proficiency would mean that the student is able to not only identify key ideas and details in a
text but also understand the meaning behind them.. Lastly, in viewing, proficiency involves
understanding visual messages and being able to discuss or critique them."

Next slide

: "Now, let’s discuss how we measure proficiency in each of these skills for elementary students.

 Reading: We can measure proficiency by giving our students comprehension exercises

that test their ability to understand and recall information. For example, after reading a
short story, students might answer questions about the main ideas, characters, and events.
We also look at their ability to infer meaning and interpret figurative language.
 Writing: Proficiency in writing is measured by evaluating students' ability to produce
clear, well-organized sentences and paragraphs. For example, a student might be asked to
write a short story or a descriptive paragraph. We assess their grammar, punctuation,
spelling, and coherence of ideas.
 Listening: To measure listening proficiency, I use activities where students listen to a
story, instructions, or a conversation and answer related questions. For example, I might
play a short audio clip, and then ask students to identify key details or summarize what
they heard.
 Speaking: In speaking, we measure fluency, pronunciation, and clarity. One way to
assess speaking proficiency is through oral presentations, where students might talk about
their favorite book or explain a process. We also observe how well they interact in
classroom discussions.
 Viewing: Finally, proficiency in viewing is assessed by asking students to interpret visual
media, such as a short video or advertisement. We might ask them to discuss the message
of the video, identify the target audience, or describe how certain images or colors are
used to convey meaning."

Next slide

So, why is it important for us as future teachers to understand these macro skills?
 1. Holistic Learning: because by understanding all these six macro skills, we can better
nurture each aspect of our student’s communication ability. This prepares them to
engage in meaningful conversations, write effectively, read critically, and understand the
world around them.
2. Effective Curriculum Design: As teachers, we can design our lessons that integrate
multiple macro skills. For example, a project where students have to read the
instructions (reading), write a poem (writing), and present their projects (speaking) that
covers several skills in one activity.
3. Student Confidence: Mastering these skills helps our students feel more confident in
expressing themselves and understanding others. This is crucial for their success not just
in school, but in everyday life as well.

Next slide

Conclusion

Po? Yes po maxryl

In conclusion, as future educators, understanding the six macro skills of communication will not
only help us design effective lessons but also help our students become proficient
communicators in various contexts. Whether they are speaking, listening, reading, writing,
representing, or viewing, all these skills work together to build a comprehensive language
foundation.

Thank you for your attention, and I hope this discussion help us see the interconnectedness and
importance of these skills in the language learning process.