COMMUNICATIVE LANGUAGE TEACHING (CLT)

Communicative language teaching (CLT) is an approach to the teaching of second and foreign languages that emphasizes interaction as both the means and the ultimate goal of learning a language. It is also referred to as “communicative approach to the teaching of foreign languages” or simply the “communicative approach”. CLT is based on a theory that language is communication.

The objectives in CLT are general and can be applied to any teaching situation. CLT focuses on the needs of students.

Principles:

 The principles of this method are:

1. Language as it is used in real context should be introduced.

2. Students should be able to figure out the speaker’s or writer’s intentions.

3. The target language is the vehicle for classroom communication.

4. One function may have many different linguistic forms.

5. Opportunities should be given to students to express their ideas and opinions.

6. Errors are seen as the natural outcome of the development of communication skills.

7. Fluency is much more important than accuracy.

8. Creating situations to promote communication is one of the teacher’s responsibilities.

9. The social context of the communicative events is essential in giving meaning to the utterances.

10. The teacher acts as an advisor during communicative activity, a facilitator of students’ learning, a manager of classroom activity, or a co-communicator.

11. When communicating, a speaker has a choice about what to say and how to say it.

12. Students should be given opportunities to develop strategies for interpreting language as it is actually seen by native speakers.

13. Students are communicators and are actively engaged in negotiating meaning.

14. Language is used a great deal through communicative activities such as games, role-play, problem solving.

15. Communicative activities have three features: information gap, choice and feedback.

Techniques

The techniques that are derived from the principles of this method are:

1. Before presenting the material, a discussion of the function and situation is made between students and teacher.

2. The teacher asks students to re-order sentences within a dialogue or a passage.

3. Students are involved in language games and role-play.

4. The class works in groups.

5. The teacher gives instructions in the target language.

6. A problem solving task is used as a communicative technique.

7. Questions and answers are of two types: those which are based on the material given and those which are related to the student’s personal experiences and are centered around the material theme.

Advantages

1.  It allows learners to use the target language in meaningful contexts, thus bringing the real world into the classroom.

2. This approach can be adapted to any level ranging from.

3. The CLT approach enables the teacher to step back and take on the role of ‘facilitator’. The teacher is able to observe individual learning through various tasks and is able to determine and respond to student’s needs.

Disadvantages

1. The communicative approach focuses on the use of language in everyday situations, or the functional aspects of language, and less on the formal structures.

2. The approach relies extensively on the functional-notational syllabus which places heavy demands on the learners.

3. The various categories of language functions are overlapping and not systematically graded like the structures of the language.

4. A major premise underlying this approach is its emphasis on learners' needs and interests. This implies that every teacher should modify the syllabus to correspond with the needs of the learners.

Here is an example with this method:

 What activities can we do with this method?

TOTAL PHYSICAL RESPONSE

TPR stands for Total Physical Response and was created by Dr. James J Asher. It is based upon the way that children learn their mother tongue. Parents have 'language-body conversations' with their children, the parent instructs and the child physically responds to this. The parent says, "Look at mummy" or "Give me the ball" and the child does so. These conversations continue for many months before the child actually starts to speak itself. Even though it can't speak during this time, the child is taking in all of the language; the sounds and the patterns. Eventually when it has decoded enough, the child reproduces the language quite spontaneously. TPR attempts to mirror this effect in the language classroom.

In the classroom the teacher plays the role of parent. She starts by saying a word ('jump') or a phrase ('look at the board') and demonstrating an action. The teacher then says the command and the students all do the action. After repeating a few times it is possible to extend this by asking the students to repeat the word as they do the action. When they feel confident with the word or phrase you can then ask the students to direct each other or the whole class.

It is more effective if the students are standing in a circle around the teacher and you can even encourage them to walk around as they do the action.

When should I use it?

TPR can be used to teach and practise many things. 

• Vocabulary connected with actions (smile, chop, headache, wriggle)
• Tenses past/present/future and continuous aspects (Every morning I clean my teeth, I make my bed, I eat breakfast)
• Classroom language (Open your books)
• Imperatives/Instructions (Stand up, close you eyes)
• Story-telling

 It can be adapted for all kinds of teaching situations, you just need to use your imagination.

Advantages

• It is a lot of fun, students enjoy it and it can be a real stirrer in the class. It lifts the pace and the mood.
• It is very memorable. It really helps students to remember phrases or words.
• It is good for kinaesthetic learners who need to be active in the class.
• It can be used in large or small classes. It doesn't really matter how many students you have as long as you are prepared to take the lead, the students will follow.
• It works well with mixed-ability classes. The physical actions get across the meaning effectively so that all the students are able to understand and use the target language.
• It doesn't require a lot of preparation or materials. As long as you are clear what you want to practise (a rehearsal beforehand can help) , it won't take a lot of time to get ready.
• It is very effective with teenagers and young learners.
• It involves both left and right-brained learning.

Disadvantages

• Students who are not used to such things might find it embarrassing.
• It is only really suitable for beginner levels.
• You can't teach everything with it and if used a lot it would become repetitive.

Here are two examples of a class with this method:

Public activities for this method

THE SILENT WAY

The objective of The Silent Way Method of language teaching is for students to work as independent language learners. The teacher speaks very little when using this method. The role of the teacher is to draw the learners' attention to the way that they are going about the act of learning. The teacher facilitates the students' discoveries and helps the students to gain insight into the functioning of the language. In order to use this method some specific materials are required.

    * A Sound/Color Wall Chart: made up of different color rectangles in which each color represents a phoneme or sound of the English language.

    * Word Wall Charts: words are written using the same color code as the sound/color wall chart suggests. These charts display the structural vocabulary of the language.

    * Spelling Charts: These charts are referred to as the Fidel. They show the possible spellings for each phoneme and they also use the same color code as the sound/color wall chart.

    * Rods: these are cards containing sounds which correspond to the sound/color wall chart. These rods allow students to create words using phonemes.

A pointer should be used by the teacher to help guide the class as they vocalize the sounds. A pointer can also help to teach which syllable has the stress on it by tapping that syllable harder than the others. This aids in the development of proper pronunciation of words in the target language.

Stevick highlights the five basic principles that underlie this method:

1. Teaching should be subordinated to learning.

2. Learning is not just imitation or exercise.

3. By learning, the mind is furnished by his own work, trial and error, experimentation, deliberate, suspension of trials and review conclusions.

4. While working, the mind turns to all what has been acquired, mainly their experience in learning the native language.

5. Whether to make the work of the teacher to the learner, the teacher should stop interfering and let go of their work.

Advantages

• Student-student and student-teacher have more interaction
• The self-esteem of the students will be increased and this will enhance learning.

Disadvantages

• It is valid in small groups of students.
• Language is separated from its social context.

Here is an example of a class with this method:

Look for the material used in this method

SUGGESTOPEDIA

“Learning is a matter of attitude, not aptitude.”

Georgi Lozanov

 

Suggestopedia is a teaching method which is based on a modern understanding of how the human brain works and how we learn most effectively. It was developed by the Bulgarian doctor and psychotherapist Georgi Lozanov. The term 'Suggestopedia', derived from suggestion and pedagogy, is often used loosely to refer to similar accelerated learning approaches.

Suggestopedia was originally applied mainly in foreign language teaching, and it is often claimed that it can teach languages approximately three times as quickly as conventional methods. It is now applied in several other fields, and its central ideas inspired the development of my own Brainware workshops.

Characteristics

Some of the key elements of Suggestopedia include a rich sensory learning environment (pictures, colour, music, etc.), a positive expectation of success and the use of a varied range of methods: dramatised texts, music, active participation in songs and games, etc.

Suggestopedia adopts a carefully structured approach, using four main stages as follows:

    * Presentation

      A preparatory stage in which students are helped to relax and move into a positive frame of mind, with the feeling that the learning is going to be easy and fun.

    * First Concert - "Active Concert"

      This involves the active presentation of the material to be learnt. For example, in a foreign language course there might be the dramatic reading of a piece of text, accompanied by classical music.

    * Second Concert - "Passive Review"

      The students are now invited to relax and listen to some Baroque music, with the text being read very quietly in the background. The music is specially selected to bring the students into the optimum mental state for the effortless acquisition of the material.

    * Practice

      The use of a range of games, puzzles, etc. to review and consolidate the learning.

Advantages

·        Build up good relationship between teacher and students, and among participants.

·        Without native language translation.

·        Peripheral learning let learners learn unconsciously.

Disadvantages

• Traditional books cannot be used in a Suggestopedic class since they fail to present the content and grammar following the function of the human brain.
• Lack of a sound theory of language learning as it's just an assumption.
• It does not take into account different purposes of learning or learning styles.

Here are two examples of a class with Suggestopedia

Why UNESCO is in favor of this method? Comment on it.

COMMUNITY LANGUAGE LEARNING ( CLL )

Community language learning (CLL) was primarily designed for monolingual conversation classes where the teacher-counsellor would be able to speak the learners' L1. The intention was that it would integrate translation so that the students would disassociate language learning with risk taking. It's a method that is based on English for communication and is extremely learner-focused. Although each course is unique and student-dictated, there are certain criteria that should be applied to all CLL classrooms, namely a focus on fluency in the early stages, an undercurrent of accuracy throughout the course and learner empowerment as the main focus.

• How it works in the classroom

How it works in the classroom in a typical CLL lesson? There are five stages:

Stage 1- Reflection

I start with students sitting in a circle around a tape recorder to create a community atmosphere.

• The students think in silence about what they'd like to talk about, while I remain outside the circle.

• To avoid a lack of ideas students can brainstorm their ideas on the board before recording.

     Stage 2 - Recorded conversation

Once they have chosen a subject the students tell me in their L1 what they'd like to say and I discreetly come up behind them and translate the language chunks into English.

• With higher levels if the students feel comfortable enough they can say some of it directly in English and I give the full English sentence. When they feel ready to speak the students take the microphone and record their sentence.

• It's best if you can use a microphone as the sound quality is better and it's easier to pick up and put down.

• Here they're working on pace and fluency. They immediately stop recording and then wait until another student wants to respond. This continues until a whole conversation has been recorded.

Stage 3 – Discussion

 Next the students discuss how they think the conversation went. They can discuss how they felt about talking to a microphone and whether they felt more comfortable speaking aloud than they might do normally.

• This part is not recorded.

Stage 4 – Transcription

Next they listen to the tape and transcribe their conversation. I only intervene when they ask for help.

• The first few times you try this with a class they might try and rely on you a lot but aim to distance yourself from the whole process in terms of leading and push them to do it themselves.

Stage 5 - Language analisis

I sometimes get students to analyse the language the same lesson or sometimes in the next lesson. This involves looking at the form of tenses and vocabulary used and why certain ones were chosen, but it will depend on the language produced by the students.

• In this way they are totally involved in the analysis process. The language is completely personalised and with higher levels they can themselves decide what parts of their conversation they would like to analyse, whether it be tenses, lexis or discourse.

• With lower levels you can guide the analysis by choosing the most common problems you noted in the recording stages or by using the final transcription.

 Advantages

• Learners appreciate the autonomy CLL offers them and thrive on analysing their own conversations.

• CLL works especially well with lower levels who are struggling to produce spoken English.

• The class often becomes a real community, not just when using CLL but all of the time. Students become much more aware of their peers, their strengths and weaknesses and want to work as a team.

Disadvantages

• In the beginning some learners find it difficult to speak on tape while others might find that the conversation lacks spontaneity.

• We as teachers can find it strange to give our students so much freedom and tend to intervene too much.

• In your efforts to let your students become independent learners you can neglect their need for guidance.

Below is a study carried out by some teachers with this method. Read it and make a comment.

http://www.ihes.com/bcn/tt/articles/cll.html

Here is an example of a class with this method

THE AUDIOLINGUAL METHOD/STRUCTURAL METHOD

The objective of the audiolingual method is accurate pronunciation and grammar, the ability to respond quickly and accurately in speech situations and knowledge of sufficient vocabulary to use with grammar patterns. Particular emphasis was laid on mastering the building blocks of language and learning the rules for combining them. It was believed that learning structure, or grammar was the starting point for the student. Here are some characteristics of the method:

• language learning is habit-formation,
• mistakes are bad and should be avoided, as they are considered bad habits,
• language skills are learned more effectively if they are presented orally first, then in written form,
• analogy is a better foundation for language learning than analysis,
• the meanings of words can be learned only in a linguistic and cultural context.

The main activities include reading aloud dialogues, repetitions of model sentences, and drilling. Key structures from the dialogue serve as the basis for pattern drills of different kinds. Lessons in the classroom focus on the correct imitation of the teacher by the students. Not only are the students expected to produce the correct output, but attention is also paid to correct pronunciation. Although correct grammar is expected in usage, no explicit grammatical instruction is given. It is taught inductively.  Furthermore, the target language is the only language to be used in the classroom.

Advantages

• It aims at devoloping listening and speaking skills which is a step away from the Grammar translation method
• The use of visual aids  has proven its effectiveness in vocabulary teaching.

Disadvantages

• The method is based on false assumptions about language. The study of language doesn’t amount to studying the “parole”, the observable data. Mastering a language relies on acquiring the rules underlying language performance. That is,  the linguistic, sociolinguistic, and discource competences.
• The behaviorist approach to learning is now descridited. Many scholars have proven its weakness. Noam Chomsky ( “Chomsky, Noam (1959). “A Review of B. F. Skinner’s Verbal Behavior”) has written a strong criticism of the principles of the theory.

Here is an example of a class with the Audiolingual Method

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THE DIRECT METHOD

The direct method of teaching was developed as a response to the Grammar-Translation method. It sought to immerse the learner in the same way as when a first language is learnt. All teaching is done in the target language, grammar is taught inductively, there is a focus on speaking and listening, and only useful ‘everyday' language is taught. The weakness in the Direct Method is its assumption that a second language can be learnt in exactly the same way as a first, when in fact the conditions under which a second language is learnt are very different.

Characteristics

• Classroom instructions are conducted exclusively in the target language.
• Only everyday vocabulary and sentences are taught during the initial phase; grammar, reading and writing are introduced in intermediate phase.
• Oral communication skills are built up in a carefully graded progression organized around question-and-answer exchanges between teachers and students in small, intensive classes.
• Grammar is taught inductively.
• New teaching points are introduced orally.
• Concrete vocabulary is taught through demonstration, objects, and pictures; abstract vocabulary is taught by association of ideas.
• Both speech and listening comprehensions are taught.
• Correct pronunciation and grammar are emphasized.
• Student should be speaking at least 80% of the time during the lesson.
• Students are taught from inception to ask questions as well as answer them.

Disadvantages

• Does not pay attention to writing, reading and comprehension
• It was hard for public schools to integrate it.

Advantages

• It is a natural method which teaches language the same way the mother tongue is acquired.
• Its emphasis on speech made it more attractive for those who have needs of real communication in the target language
• It was one of the first methods to introduce the teaching of vocabulary through Realia.

Here is an example of a class with the Direct Method

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