"Of all the time spent in communicative activities, adults devote 45% of their energies to listening, 30% to speaking, 16% to reading and 9% to writing." (Wilga Rivers, A Practical Guide to the Teaching of French.)

When learning their first language, children spend a great deal of time listening before they begin to speak. They then spend many hours listening and speaking before they learn to read and write. Reading and writing are abstract skills and require a knowledge of the spoken language. Although much time will be spent at the secondary level developing listening and speaking skills, it is important that the reading and writing components also be integrated into the lessons at the appropriate times.

Developing good comprehension skills requires time and effort. If students begin Core French at an early age, they will have some skill with global comprehension. Listening comprehension exercises continue to be integral to the Core French program as the students advance. While listening for the main message may be all that is required in some activities, students begin to have more practice listening for specific information. To assist the students in developing comprehension skills, the students should be exposed to as much French as possible. This means that the language of communication in the classroom should be in French whenever possible.

Texts used in listening comprehension exercises should also be chosen carefully. Students should be familiar with the nature of the texts. If students possess some prior knowledge regarding the context of the exercise, they will be much more likely to be successful in their understanding. For example, students will likely be able to imagine the conversation that will take place in a dentist's office between a dentist and patient. Unless some background information is given, a conversation between two friends would be more difficult to predict.

Students should also be given a purpose prior to engaging in the listening activity. The purpose may range from listening for specific information, to trying to determine the general tone of the selection. In either case, trying to comprehend every word of the oral text becomes less important than listening in order to complete a specific task.

Listening activities may be presented in three steps or phases:

"Speaking fluency is not `taught' directly, rather, speaking ability `emerges' after the acquirer has built up competence through comprehension input". (Krashen, S. and Terell, T. (1983). The ability to speak another language is dependent on the ability to understand the language when spoken. Students who are exposed to the second language will begin to model the words and structures that they hear. In addition to improving listening comprehension, this is another reason why students should be exposed as often as possible to the spoken French language. Students also need the opportunity to practise the vocabulary and the structures in order to internalize the language. The experiential goal and the steps suggested to achieve the goal in the teaching units provide the students with a reason to use the language.

As students work in pairs and focus on communicative activities, their language use increases. Students are usually more inclined to speak in pairs or in small groups rather than in front of the entire class, especially in the initial stages of the unit. By the time the project is presented to the small group or the class, the students will have had some practice with the language and will feel more at ease in their presentations.

It is important to note that students will always be able to understand more than they can express. Their passive vocabulary (words that they recognize when they hear or see them) will always be greater than their active vocabulary (words they can use when speaking or writing).

As with listening activities, speaking activities should be chosen on the basis of the students' experiences and needs. New vocabulary and structures should be presented in a meaningful context and then practised by the students in exercises and activities that move from being very controlled (such as repetition) to being free (such as conversation). In learning to speak, more than in any other aspect of language learning, it is important to remember that students learn through doing. If the students speak only in controlled situations, they will never learn to express themselves freely in real life or uncontrolled situations.

It is also important to present and practise the spoken language in context. What is said depends on where it is said, to whom it is said and why it is said, as well as on many other factors. The best way to learn what is appropriate in various situations is always to associate the language with the context in which it should be used. If the students can clearly see what they can do with the language and how it is relevant to their lives, they will be more motivated to learn.

In teaching reading, one should keep in mind the reasons for reading. People read for knowledge in newspapers, books and magazines, for directions on how to perform tasks, and for information as to the time and location of events. Reading signs, timetables, programs, announcements, menus, and advertisements also provide information. People also read for enjoyment, excitement or escape in novels, short stories or poems.

In the Core French program, reading in an important component. Reading reinforces what the student has learned orally and expands vocabulary and comprehension of the language. It also gives a "feel" for the language, improves the student's written production of the language and also deepens the knowledge of other cultures. Oral reading improves pronunciation, enunciation and intonation. Reading can also be used to stimulate conversation and discussion, and provides variety in language activities. Reading is also an important reinforcement for visual and concrete learners.

Reading is a skill and requires regular, systematic practice. It is also a form of communication and of communicating ideas. It is important that students concentrate on the message and the idea rather than on individual words. With practice, students will become more capable of understanding the global message.

As with the other skill areas, the writing component should be an integrated part of the program and should reflect the interests and needs of the students. Rather than teach writing exercises and grammar drills in isolation, the teacher should assign written work that reinforces what the students have already heard, spoken and read. The steps suggested in the teaching units include written work to support the spoken word. The writing that the students do should be taught in a meaningful context rather than in isolation.

The amount of meaningful written work will increase at the secondary level. As with listening, speaking and reading, students may need to be instructed in the different phases of appropriate writing. In the planning stage, the students may need to share information, do research, make note of key words and phrases and develop an outline. The students will then be responsible to edit their material before they produce the final copy. The type of written activity will determine the amount of editing necessary.