How many types of skills are used in language ?

One of the most important goals of education is the development of language.

• Language comprises four skills, i.e., listening, speaking, reading, and writing (LSRW).
• Since listening and reading are used as channels for receiving information, thus these two skills are called receptive skills. 
• On the other hand, since speaking and writing are used as channels for sending information, these two skills are labeled as productive skills.

Key Points

Skills used in Language: 

• Listening Skill: It is a prerequisite to learning all the other skills in the language. It is a process of deriving the meaning out of what is spoken. It involves receiving the sounds of a language, processing sounds into words, deriving the meaning of those words, and comprehension.
• Speaking Skill: It is more complex than the listening skill. It involves being aware of the grammatical and lexical resources of a language, the correct pronunciation, ability to convey lucidly, etc.
• Reading Skill: It is an active skill that determines academic success. Reading includes perception, recognition, association, understanding, organization, and finding meaning.
• Writing Skill: It is a conscious and planned activity. It refers to the writer’s linguistic ability in making use of the mechanics of writing.

Hence, from the above-listed points, it is clear that 4 types of skills are used in language.