In 2,500 words, discuss and analyse the key principles important for Essay

In 2,500 words, discuss and analyse the key principles important for developing speaking, listening, writing or reading skills ( - Essay Example A number of methods and techniques that demonstrate the implementation of these theoretical perspectives in the classroom are also articulated, including methods for specific class environments. Introduction Contemporary research into foreign language reading instruction notes that teaching models are greatly varied. Teaching models in first language reading have served foundationally as models in teaching second-language reading. Stahl and Hayes (1997) have discussed the ways that academic models influence and help shape approaches that teacher’s adopt in the classroom. The types of models also change with practitioners’ age and experience. A main concern is that the difference between first language reading teaching and second language reading teaching is that the students have already developed first language reading skills that are influencing the second-language reading process. The different orthographies of the first-language also affect second-language reading a bility and researchers argue that this must be taken into consideration when developing lesson plans. Second language reading theory dates back to the inception of psychology as a formal discipline with cognitive theorists such as William Wundt. This research focused mainly on investigating perceptual issues. Beginning in the 1880s researchers fore-grounded the foundations of what came to represent the predominant focus of studies for the next century. In 1908 Huey published Psychology and Pedagogy of Reading which shifted focus in a more behaviorist slant until the 1960s. With Syntactic Structures and further attacks on behaviorist processes, academic attention shifted back to perceptual issues, with researchers investigating reading speed and eye focus. Notably, it was around this time that reading comprehension became a major issue for teachers. Today there are a number of key principles that are crucial to teaching reading in the foreign language classroom. Still, it is necessar y for the teaching professional to balance these elements according to classroom circumstances and student needs. This essay discusses and analyses the key principles important for developing reading skills and ways these principles can be applied in the foreign language classroom. Communicative Competence Key Principles Research on communicative competence reading theory differs greatly in its exact definition, with each offering slight variations of perspective. In Fundamental Considerations of Language Testing, Bachman offers an extremely dichotomous definition of communicative competence. He begins by stating that effective communication begins with a Language Competence phase and then filters down to a Strategic, Psychophysiological, and ultimately contextual scenario. In large part, Bachman is making the case that separate components of language exist that can’t be measured in objective, starkly grammatical terms. That while Organizational Competence, or â€Å"those ab ilities involved in producing†¦grammatically correct sentences† is a major component of language, communicative competence functions to illuminate the necessity of teaching, â€Å"†¦language users and the context of communication† – that is, pragmatic concerns (Bachman 87). In Communicative Competence, an example of the written elements of language is examined through