Aural & Oral Skills

AURAL & ORAL SKILLS or also called like listening and speaking are two different skills that at the same time are very relationated, because at the moment of using one the you also use the second one. 

The two most basic language skills, listening and speaking, sound exactly alike when we describe them as oral and aural skills. “Aural” language, of course, refers to language as we hear it. “Oral” language is what we say. 

These two words are “homophones” – words spelled differently that sound alike. There is no good reason why they should be homophones, but they are. Perhaps that accident of spelling can serve as a reminder that, while these two skills cannot be separated, they need to be developed in different ways. 

One reasonable conclusion from these observations is that language learners should understand what they are listening to before they begin to speak. Especially at the initial phase of language acquisition, teachers should avoid oral practice to some degree. Instead, they should have their students concentrate on comprehending what they hear. This idea parallels the experience of young children, who spend almost two years in linguistic silence before they begin to speak.

remember: that each linguistic skills deserves special focus in appropiate doses.

for listening skills take into account sts (interests, goals), use authentic material in real situations, be sure that sts have understood what they have listened.

use every activity with a clear objective according the sts level.

it's not just play the audio or speak aloud, is support sts before, during and after the listening activities.