Listening and Speaking Skills – A Complex Challenge Toward Communicative Competence in a Foreign Language
Abstract:
This paper analyzes two of the most important skills in foreign language learning: listening and speaking, which directly influence the development of communicative competence as the main objective of the teaching and learning process in a foreign language.
Listening and speaking skills, known as macro-skills, alongside reading and writing, are developed through specific didactic activities centered on the two key actors of the learning process: the student on the one hand and the teacher on the other.
Listening constitutes the foundation of language acquisition, as through it students are exposed to linguistic structures, intonation, rhythm, and communicative context. On the other hand, speaking requires not only linguistic knowledge but also the ability to organize thoughts, respond in real time, and interact effectively.
The integration of these two skills creates a dynamic and challenging process that leads to the achievement of comprehensive communicative competence — linguistic, emotional, interpretative, critical, and constructive.
KeyWords:
second language acquisition, comprehensible input, speaking skill, listening skill, competence, communication, teaching/learning
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