Modelo Article 3 C2

Exercise: You are a student at an international college and have been asked to write an article on the different ways students can improve their language competence outside the classroom. Suggest ways students can use to come into contact with English native speakers. Assess the importance of making friends with native speakers to improve language skills. 

Write 280-320 words

Improving Your English

English has become the lingua franca of the world, and in order to keep up with the times we need to be able to develop our communicative competence in that language. It is a well-known fact that the best way to do so is by frequent practice, but how can we do that outside the classroom? 

First of all, owing to the international status of our college, there are plenty of English native speakers around the campus. However, making a first contact with them might seem difficult. For that reason, the international relationships division has developed several programmes to get local and foreign students together. The aim of this is to provide with a controlled space for students to get to know each other while practicing their second language. Nevertheless, there are many other ways of making contact with English native speakers, such as attending one of the many meetings carried out by the Erasmus Student Network organization, or by simply approaching an Erasmus student after a lesson. 

Secondly, regarding the issue dealing with the effectiveness of befriending a native speaker of English to improve ones competence there are different opinions about it. On the one hand, some experts affirm that a language learner needs of more than simple conversations with a native speaker. This view gains support from the traditional approach of language teaching that defends the necessity of constant error correction. On the other hand, many studies show the importance of these language exchanges as they boost the learner's confidence and motivation. It is clear that the conversation will not be aimed at improving grammar, but the user's fluency. 

All in all, while learning a new language it is important to receive constant input in context. That is why getting in contact with native speakers through language exchange programmes or other sources will enable language learners to develop their language skills. 

316 words