Reading and listening, because learners do not need to produce language to do these, are known as?

• A. Receptive skills
• B. Productive skills
• C. Active skills
• D. Interactive skills

Answer: (A)

Receptive skills involve understanding language input. Reading and listening are classic examples because you comprehend messages, interpret meaning, and extract information without having to produce language yourself. This distinction matters in teaching and assessment: tasks that target receptive skills focus on understanding, not on speaking or writing. In contrast, productive skills are about producing language (speaking and writing), while interactive skills relate to using language in real-time communication with others. This question highlights that reading and listening are about comprehension, hence they’re known as receptive skills.