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Students also seem familiar with them and more readily respond to a lesson aimed at teaching the language for something practical like how to "socialise at dinner" than distinguishing between the past simple and present perfect

Comfort sees many of the old skills as channels we use to communicate rather than as skills on their own. So while the channel might be a conversation via an online webcam, he says "skills such as 'active listening', 'exposing your intention', 'influencing' are the underlying skills that support all communication.

Giving feedback or providing the tools for learners to assess their own performance, for example by videoing a student, is part of this process. With groups we can encourage peer feedback and allow classrooms to become forums to discuss what is effective behaviour or successful communication

In the past teachers perceived that they were expected to comment on issues such as the quality of the learner's visual aids or meaningful body language. As a result, some embraced the opportunity to switch from language teacher to paralinguistic guru (with varying results) but the majority shied away from communication skills.