Katharine Scott is a teacher trainer and educational materials developer with over 20 years’ experience writing English language textbooks. She’s co-author of the Pearson Primary course - English Code and is based in Spain. Katharine outlines a number of practical ways you can help English language learners develop key literacy skills. 

What is literacy?

Teachers at all stages of education often complain about their students’ reading skills. The students are literate. In other words, they can interpret the graphemes, or letters on the page, into words. But they struggle to identify the purpose of a text or to analyze it in a meaningful way. We could say that the students have poor literacy skills.

Literacy is a term used to describe an active, critical form of reading. Some of the skills of a critical reader include:

Checking new information

A crucial literacy skill involves discerning whether a text is factually true or not. A critical reader always checks new information against existing knowledge. As we read, we have an internal dialogue: Where does that information come from? That’s impossible because ….   

Separating fact from opinion

This skill is essential for understanding many different types of texts from newspaper articles to scientific research. 

Understanding the purpose of a text

All pieces of text have a main purpose. This may be entertainment, in the case of a story or persuasion, in the case of advertising. A critical reader will know how to identify the purpose of the text. 

In the classroom, different types of text require different responses from the students. It’s important, as students grow older, that they know how to read and respond appropriately to a piece of written information.

Identifying key information in a text

This is an essential skill for summarizing information or following instructions. It is also important when we transform written information into something else, like a chart.

In many ways, literacy is the key skill that underpins learning at all stages. This may seem like an exaggeration, but consider the importance of the four skills outlined above.

Strategies to promote literacy

Many teachers and parents of early learners instinctively develop literacy skills before the children can even read. 

When we read a story out loud to a child, we often ask questions about the narrative as we turn the pages: What is going to happen next? How do you think …. feels? Why is …?  

These questions set the foundations for literacy. 

Working with a reading text

Too often, the comprehension questions that teachers ask about a text are mechanical. They ask the student to “lift” the information out of the text.

A tale of two dragons

"Once upon a time, there was an island in the sea. One day, people were working in the fields. The sun was shining and there was one cloud in the sky. The cloud was a strange shape and moving towards the island. Soon the cloud was very big. Then a small boy looked up." 

Taken from English Code, Unit 4, p. 62

Typical comprehension questions based on the text would be:

• Where were the people working? 
• How many clouds were in the sky?

These questions do not really reflect on the meaning of the text and do not lead to a critical analysis. While these simple questions are a good checking mechanism, they don’t help develop literacy skills.

If we want to develop critical readers, we need to incorporate a critical analysis of reading texts into class work through a deep reading comprehension. We can organize the comprehension into three types.

1. Text level

Comprehension at “text level” is about exploring the meaning of individual words and phrases in a text. Examples for the text above could be:

• Find words that show the story is a fairy tale.
• Underline a sentence about the weather.

Other text-level activities include:

• Finding words in the text from a definition
• Identifying opinions in the text
• Finding verbs of speech
• Finding and classifying words or phrases

2. Between the lines

Comprehension “between the lines” means speculating and making guesses with the information we already have from the text. This type of literacy activity often involves lots of questions and discussions with the students. You should encourage students to give good reasons for their opinions. An example for the text above could be:

• What do you think the cloud really is?

Other “Between the lines” activities include:

• Discussing how characters in a story feel and why
• Discussing characters’ motivation
• Identifying the most important moments in a story
• Speculating about what is going to happen next
• Identifying possible events from fantasy events

Literacy activities are not only based on fiction. We need to help students be critical readers of all sorts of texts. The text below is factual and informative:

What skills do you need for ice hockey?

"Ice hockey players should be very good skaters. They always have good balance. They change direction very quickly and they shouldn't fall over. Players should also have fast reactions because the puck moves very quickly." 

Taken from English Code, Level 4, p. 96

“Between the lines” activities for this text could be:

• What equipment do you need to play ice hockey?
• What is the purpose of this piece of text?

3. Behind the lines

Comprehension “behind the lines” is about the information we, the readers, already have. Our previous knowledge, our age, our social background and many other aspects change the way we understand and interpret a text. 

An example for the text above could be:

• What countries do you think are famous for ice hockey?

Sometimes a lack of socio-cultural knowledge can lead to misunderstanding. Look at the text below. 

Is the relationship between Ms Turner and Jack Roberts formal or informal?

73 Highlands Road Oxbo, Wisconsin 54552
April 11th

Dear Ms. Tamer,
Some people want to destroy the forest and build an airport. This forest is a habitat for many wolves. If they destroy the forest, the wolves will leave the forest. If the wolves leave the forest, there will be more rabbits. This won't be good for our forest.
Please build the airport in a different place. Please don't destroy the forest.

Kind regards, Jack Robers

Taken from English code, Level 4, unit 5, Writing Lab

If your students are unaware of the convention of using Dear to start a letter in English, they may not answer this question correctly. 

Other “Behind the lines” literacy activities include:

• Identifying the type of text
• Imagining extra information based on the readers’ experiences 
• Using existing knowledge to check a factual account
• Identifying false information

Examples:

• What job do you think Ms Turner has?
• Do you think Jack lives in a village or a city?
• Do wolves live in forests?

Literacy is more than reading

From the activities above, it’s clear that a literacy scheme develops more than reading skills. As students speculate and give their opinions, they talk and listen to each other. 

A literacy scheme can also develop writing skills. The text analysis gives students a model to follow in their writing. In addition, a literacy scheme works on higher-order thinking skills such as analysis, deduction and summary.

Developing literacy skills so that students become active, critical readers should be a key part of educational programs at all ages. Literacy activities based on a reading text can be especially useful for the foreign language class. 

With literacy activities, we can encourage students:

• To use the text as a springboard for communicating ideas and opinions
• To analyze the text as a model for writing activities
• To see how language is used in context
• To explore the meanings of words

More crucially, we are developing critical readers for the future.

In today’s interconnected world, effective communication in English is more crucial than ever. As educators and language learners seek to measure and improve English proficiency, a resource like the Global Scale of English (GSE) offers a valuable framework for assessment. This blog post will explore how the GSE can be used to assess listening skills, providing insights into how it also helps tailor instruction and support language development.

For listening skills, the GSE focuses on how well learners can understand spoken English in different contexts. It assesses comprehension at varying levels of complexity:

Understanding simple information: At lower levels, learners are expected to understand basic information, such as simple instructions or everyday topics. The GSE provides learning objectives for how well learners can grasp essential details.

Understanding main ideas: As proficiency grows, learners should be able to identify main ideas and key points in more complex spoken texts, such as conversations and broadcasts. The GSE outlines how well learners can extract important information from various sources.

Understanding detailed information: At advanced levels, learners are expected to comprehend detailed and nuanced information, including implicit meaning and speaker intent. The GSE describes the level of detail and depth of understanding required at these stages.

The GSE also shows how students engage in different operations of listening, from global comprehension, recognizing information and identifying specific information to extracting information. By taking this into account, teachers can monitor students’ progress and assess their listening skills. An example will show this in action.

Let’s consider a level, say GSE 30-35 (equivalent to low A2 on the CEFR) and focus on how students process information. When checking a listening activity, rather than simply focusing on whether the answers are correct or incorrect, we can analyze our learners using the GSE and see what progress they are making and what we need to do as teachers to help them move on. Heres how:

ハードスキルとソフトスキルは、キャリアの形成や成功に重要な役割を果たします。ハードスキルは特定の職務に対応し専門性が高く測定可能な能力であるのに対し、ソフトスキルはより対人的かつ普遍的で個人の性格特性に関連した能力です。仕事を遂行するために必要な技術的知識や特定の能力を指し可視化しやすいハードスキルに対し、ソフトスキルの多くは可視化しづらい傾向にあります。ソフトスキルには、効果的なコミュニケーション、コラボレーション、職場環境の変化への適応能力など、対人的な属性や個人の性格特性が含まれます。

本記事では、新しい言語を学ぶことがハードスキルとソフトスキルの向上にいかに貢献するか、今日の多面的な職場環境において活躍するプロフェッショナルへの道につながるかを探ります。

ハードスキルとソフトスキルのバランスを理解する

ハードスキルは特定の職務にふさわしいことをアピールするのに欠かせません。しかし、効果的なコミュニケーション、コラボレーション、批判的思考、EQ（Emotional Intelligence Quotient：情緒的知性指数）などのソフトスキルこそ、キャリアアップに不可欠なものです。最近の研究では、両スキルを向上させる中において英語力の重要性が増していることが強調されています。

ソフトスキルの例

ソフトスキルには職場の効率や協調に大きな影響を与える幅広いスキルが含まれ、以下のようなものが挙げられます。

コミュニケーション： 情報を明確かつ効果的に伝える能力は最も重要です。口頭と書面で伝える力と、積極的に傾聴する力の双方が含まれます。

チームワーク： 共通の目標を達成するために、多様な背景や考え方を持つ他者とうまく協力する能力。

問題解決能力： 状況を分析し、問題を特定し、効果的な解決策を考案する能力。

適応力： 新しい状況、仕事の進め方、テクノロジーに適応する準備ができており、変化に柔軟に対応する能力。

批判的思考： 情報に基づいた意思決定を行うために、物事を客観的に分析・判断するための思考プロセス。

EQ（情緒的知性指数）： 自身の感情を理解、コントロールし建設的に活用しつつ、他者の感情を理解して影響を及ぼす能力。

ハードスキルの例

ハードスキルとは、特定の職務や業界に必要な技術に対応しており、数値化、可視化できます。ハードスキルは通常、教育・研修プログラム、実務経験を通じて習得することができ、以下のようなものがあげられます。

コンピューター・プログラミング： Python、Java、C++、HTML/CSSなどのコーディングやプログラミング言語に精通していることは、ソフトウェア開発やウェブデザインの職務に不可欠です。

グラフィックデザイン： Adobe Photoshop、Illustrator、InDesignなどのデザインソフトを使いこなし、さまざまなメディア向けのビジュアルコンテンツを作成できる能力。

外国語運用能力： 第二外国語に堪能であれば、翻訳サービスやカスタマーサポートなど、国際的なビジネスにおいて強みになります。 

プロジェクトマネジメント： プロジェクトを効果的に計画、実行、監督するためのプロジェクト管理方法論（アジャイル、スクラムなど）やツール（Microsoft Project、Jiraなど）の知識。

テクニカルライティング： エンジニアリング、IT、製薬などの業界で不可欠な、明確で正確な文書や説明資料を作成する能力。