Yesterday I had an interesting discussion with a friend (also English teacher) about reading and listening skills. We don’t talk very often about teaching because it seems that we have quite different opinions. He might be right since I heard the same statements from other teachers as well.

Statements related to reading and listening that I disagree:

• It is important to have students read/listen in a lesson as early as possible. For that, each introductory stage (that is done before reading/listening) must be short, clear and to the point.
• True/False questions should be avoided because they are too simple.
• All vocabulary items should be taught after reading/listening.
• Reading aloud can help developing reading skills.
• When going over the questions with the whole class, the teacher should ask the strongest student for the answer first and then repeat the correct answer so the other students can write it down.

Statement related to reading and listening that he disagrees:

• Students should try to answer any questions before they read or listen.
• I find it a good idea to have students read quickly the text or listen once to the whole before answering any set of questions.
• Arrange questions in the same order as the answers appear in the text.
• Students should always compare answers in pairs after they read/listen.
• Reading and listening activities should be followed by a speaking activity (or writing).