When learners are listening or reading, there may not appear to be much happening, but it would be a mistake to regard these receptive skills as purely passive. If the text is engaging and the learners are motivated, the cognitive and affective processing that is taking place ‘blow the surface’ involves highly active engagement. But all too often what goes on in the classroom looks more like testing than skills development. In this webinar we will look at what differentiates spoken and written language, and at the sub-skills our learners need to become more active listeners and readers. We will consider strategies for bridging the gap between listening and reading in the classroom and in the world outside. And we will explore approaches to building motivation, different ways of processing texts and using texts as a springboard and productive skills work