Communicative Language Teaching Summary (by IsacParrula@Gmail.Com)
Communicative Language Teaching Summary (by IsacParrula@Gmail.Com)
Greetings to you dear reader!
The following article is a mixture of a plenty of sources related to CLT. My name is Isac Manuel Parrula, an English Language Student and Teacher. The aim of this article is to get you updated.
Note: This article may contain mistakes in terms of writing, if you notice something, text me an email. Remember: We learn by making mistakes!
Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) is an approach to language teaching that gained traction in the 1980s. CLT emphasizes the importance of all four language skills and aims to achieve "communicative competence" (rather than linguistic competence) through considerable learner interaction and communication of "real" meaning. It is an approach that tends to promote fluency over accuracy, the functional over the structural and authentic materials over fabricated materials. Communication is seen as both the goal and the means. CLT is sometimes called "the Communicative Approach", and this may indeed be a better term since it is more a philosophy than a specific method. But whether called CLT or CA, the pervading idea is real, functional communication.
Communicative competence is to use the language for meaningful communication.
Communicative competence includes the following aspects of language knowledge:
- Knowing how to use language for a range of different purposes and functions
- Knowing how to vary our use of language according to the setting and the participants (e.g., knowing when to use formal and informal speech or when to use language appropriately for written as opposed to spoken communication)
- Knowing how to produce and understand different types of texts (e.g., narratives, reports, interviews, conversations)
- Knowing how to maintain communication despite having limitations in one’s language knowledge (e.g., through using different kinds of communication strategies)
In recent years, language learning has been viewed from a very different perspective. It is seen as resulting from processes such as:
- Interaction between the learner and users of the language
- Collaborative creation of meaning
- Creating meaningful and purposeful interaction through language
- Negotiation of meaning as the learner and his or her interlocutor arrive at understanding
- Learning through attending to the feedback learners get when they use the language
- Paying attention to the language one hears (the input) and trying to incorporate new forms into one’s developing communicative competence~
- Trying out and experimenting with different ways of saying things
Teacher roles in CLT
Several roles are assumed for teachers in Communicative Language Teaching, the importance of particular roles being determined by the view of CLT adopted. Breen and Candlin describe teacher roles in the following terms:
The teacher has two main roles:
The first role is to facilitate the communication process between all participants in the classroom, and between these participants and the various activities and texts.
The second role is to act as an independent participant within the learning-teaching group. The latter role is closely related to the objectives of the first role and arises from it. These roles imply a set of secondary roles for the teacher; first, as an organizer of resources and as a resource himself, second as a guide within the classroom procedures and activities....
A third role for the teacher is that of researcher and learner, with much to contribute in terms of appropriate knowledge and abilities, actual and observed experience of the nature of learning and organizational capacities. (1980: 99)
Several roles are assumed for teachers in Communicative Language Teaching, the importance of particular roles being determined by the view of CLT adopted. Breen and Candlin describe teacher roles in the following terms:
The teacher has two main roles:
The first role is to facilitate the communication process between all participants in the classroom, and between these participants and the various activities and texts.
The second role is to act as an independent participant within the learning-teaching group. The latter role is closely related to the objectives of the first role and arises from it. These roles imply a set of secondary roles for the teacher; first, as an organizer of resources and as a resource himself, second as a guide within the classroom procedures and activities....
A third role for the teacher is that of researcher and learner, with much to contribute in terms of appropriate knowledge and abilities, actual and observed experience of the nature of learning and organizational capacities. (1980: 99)
The Background to CLT
We may conveniently group trends in language teaching in the last 50 years into three phases
Phase 1: Traditional approaches (up to the late 1960s)
Phase 2: Classic communicative language teaching (1970s to 1990s)
Phase 3: Current communicative language teaching (late 1990s to the present)
Let us first consider the transition from traditional approaches to what we can refer to as classic communicative language teaching.
Phase 1: Traditional Approaches (up to the late 1960s)
Traditional approaches to language teaching gave priority to grammatical competence as the basis of language proficiency. They were based on the belief that grammar could be learned through direct instruction and through a methodology that made much use of repetitive practice and drilling.
The approach to the teaching of grammar was a deductive one: students are presented with grammar rules and then given opportunities to practice using them, as opposed to an inductive approach in which students are given examples of sentences containing a grammar rule and asked to work out the rule for themselves.
Once a basic command of the language was established through oral drilling and controlled practice, the four skills were introduced, usually in the sequence of speaking, listening, reading and writing.
Techniques often employed:
- Memorization of dialogs,
- question-and-answer practice,
- Substitution drills, and various forms of guided speaking and writing practice.
Phase 2: Classic Communicative Language Teaching (1970s to 1990s)
While grammatical competence was needed to produce grammatically correct sentences, attention shifted to the knowledge and skills needed to use grammar and other aspects of language appropriately for different communicative purposes such as making requests, giving advice, making suggestions, describing wishes and needs, and so on. What was needed in order to use language communicatively was communicative competence.
Communicative language teaching today
Refers to a set of generally agreed upon principles that can be applied in different ways, depending on the teaching context, the age of the learners, their level, their learning goals, and so on.
Core Assumptions of Current Communicative Language Teaching
- Second language learning is facilitated when learners are engaged in interaction and meaningful communication.
- Effective classroom learning tasks and exercises provide opportunities for students to negotiate meaning, expand their language resources, notice how language is used, and take part in meaningful interpersonal exchange.
- Meaningful communication results from students processing content that is relevant, purposeful, interesting, and engaging.
- Communication is a holistic process that often calls upon the use of several language skills or modalities.
- Language learning is facilitated both by activities that involve inductive or discovery learning of underlying rules of language use and organization, as well as by those involving language analysis and reflection.
- Language learning is a gradual process that involves creative use of language, and trial and error. Although errors are a normal product of learning, the ultimate goal of learning is to be able to use the new language both accurately and fluently.
- Learners develop their own routes to language learning, progress at different rates, and have different needs and motivations for language learning.
- Successful language learning involves the use of effective learning and communication strategies.
- The role of the teacher in the language classroom is that of a facilitator, who creates a classroom climate conducive to language learning and provides opportunities for students to use and practice the language and to reflect on language use and language learning.
- The classroom is a community where learners learn through collaboration and sharing.
(Mechanical, Meaningful, and Communicative Practice)
Another useful distinction that some advocates of CLT proposed was the distinction between three different kinds of practice – mechanical, meaningful, and communicative.
Mechanical practice
Refers to a controlled practice activity which students can successfully carry out without necessarily understanding the language they are using. Examples of this kind of activity would be repetition drills and substitution drills designed to practice use of particular grammatical or other items.
Meaningful practice
Refers to an activity where language control is still provided but where students are required to make meaningful choices when carrying out practice.
For example, in order to practice the use of prepositions to describe locations of places, students might be given a street map with various buildings identified in different locations. They are also given a list of prepositions such as across from, on the corner of, near, on, next to. They then have to answer questions such as “Where is the book shop? Where is the café?” etc. The practice is now meaningful because they have to respond according to the location of places on the map.
For example, in order to practice the use of prepositions to describe locations of places, students might be given a street map with various buildings identified in different locations. They are also given a list of prepositions such as across from, on the corner of, near, on, next to. They then have to answer questions such as “Where is the book shop? Where is the café?” etc. The practice is now meaningful because they have to respond according to the location of places on the map.
Communicative practice
Refers to activities where practice in using language within a real communicative context is the focus, where real information is exchanged, and where the language used is not totally predictable. For example, students might have to draw a map of their neighborhood and answer questions about the location of different places, such as the nearest bus stop, the nearest café, etc.
Classroom activities
CLT teachers choose classroom activities based on what they believe is going to be most effective for students developing communicative abilities in the Target Language (TL). Oral activities are popular among CLT teachers, as opposed to grammar drills or reading and writing activities, because they include active conversation and creative, unpredicted responses from students. Activities vary based on the level of language class they are being used in. They promote collaboration, fluency, and comfort in the TL. The six activities listed and explained below are commonly used in CLT classrooms.
Role-play
Role-play is an oral activity usually done in pairs, whose main goal is to develop students' communicative abilities in a certain setting. Example: 1. The instructor sets the scene: where is the conversation taking place? (E.g., in a café, in a park, etc.) 2. The instructor defines the goal of the students' conversation. (E.g., the speaker is asking for directions, the speaker is ordering coffee, the speaker is talking about a movie they recently saw, etc.) 3. The students converse in pairs for a designated amount of time. This activity gives students the chance to improve their communication skills in the TL in a low-pressure situation. Most students are more comfortable speaking in pairs rather than in front of the entire class.
CLT teachers choose classroom activities based on what they believe is going to be most effective for students developing communicative abilities in the Target Language (TL). Oral activities are popular among CLT teachers, as opposed to grammar drills or reading and writing activities, because they include active conversation and creative, unpredicted responses from students. Activities vary based on the level of language class they are being used in. They promote collaboration, fluency, and comfort in the TL. The six activities listed and explained below are commonly used in CLT classrooms.
Role-play
Role-play is an oral activity usually done in pairs, whose main goal is to develop students' communicative abilities in a certain setting. Example: 1. The instructor sets the scene: where is the conversation taking place? (E.g., in a café, in a park, etc.) 2. The instructor defines the goal of the students' conversation. (E.g., the speaker is asking for directions, the speaker is ordering coffee, the speaker is talking about a movie they recently saw, etc.) 3. The students converse in pairs for a designated amount of time. This activity gives students the chance to improve their communication skills in the TL in a low-pressure situation. Most students are more comfortable speaking in pairs rather than in front of the entire class.
Instructors need to be aware of the differences between a conversation and an utterance. Students may use the same utterances repeatedly when doing this activity and not actually have a creative conversation. If instructors do not regulate what kinds of conversations students are having, then the students might not be truly improving their communication skills.
Interviews
An interview is an oral activity done in pairs, whose main goal is to develop students' interpersonal skills in the TL.
Example: 1. The instructor gives each student the same set of questions to ask a partner.
2. Students take turns asking and answering the questions in pairs. This activity, since it is highly-structured, allows for the instructor to more closely monitor students' responses. It can zone in on one specific aspect of grammar or vocabulary, while still being a primarily communicative activity and giving the students communicative benefits.
This is an activity that should be used primarily in the lower levels of language classes, because it will be most beneficial to lower-level speakers. Higher-level speakers should be having unpredictable conversations in the TL, where neither the questions nor the answers are scripted or expected. If this activity were used with higher-level speakers it wouldn't have many benefits.
Group work
Group work is a collaborative activity whose purpose is to foster communication in the TL, in a larger group setting. Example: 1. Students are assigned a group of no more than six people. 2. Students are assigned a specific role within the group. (E.g., member A, member B, etc.) 3. The instructor gives each group the same task to complete. 4. Each member of the group takes a designated amount of time to work on the part of the task to which they are assigned.
Interviews
An interview is an oral activity done in pairs, whose main goal is to develop students' interpersonal skills in the TL.
Example: 1. The instructor gives each student the same set of questions to ask a partner.
2. Students take turns asking and answering the questions in pairs. This activity, since it is highly-structured, allows for the instructor to more closely monitor students' responses. It can zone in on one specific aspect of grammar or vocabulary, while still being a primarily communicative activity and giving the students communicative benefits.
This is an activity that should be used primarily in the lower levels of language classes, because it will be most beneficial to lower-level speakers. Higher-level speakers should be having unpredictable conversations in the TL, where neither the questions nor the answers are scripted or expected. If this activity were used with higher-level speakers it wouldn't have many benefits.
Group work
Group work is a collaborative activity whose purpose is to foster communication in the TL, in a larger group setting. Example: 1. Students are assigned a group of no more than six people. 2. Students are assigned a specific role within the group. (E.g., member A, member B, etc.) 3. The instructor gives each group the same task to complete. 4. Each member of the group takes a designated amount of time to work on the part of the task to which they are assigned.
5. The members of the group discuss the information they have found, with each other and put it all together to complete the task. Students can feel overwhelmed in language classes, but this activity can take away from that feeling. Students are asked to focus on one piece of information only, which increases their comprehension of that information.
Better comprehension leads to better communication with the rest of the group, which improves students' communicative abilities in the TL. Instructors should be sure to monitor that each student is contributing equally to the group effort. It takes a good instructor to design the activity well, so that students will contribute equally, and benefit equally from the activity.
Information gap
Information gap is a collaborative activity, whose purpose is for students to effectively obtain information that was previously unknown to them, in the TL.
Example: 1. The class is paired up. One partner in each pair is Partner A, and the other is Partner B. 2. All the students that are Partner A are given a sheet of paper with a time-table on it. The time-table is filled in half-way, but some of the boxes are empty. 3. All the students that are Partner B are given a sheet of paper with a time-table on it. The boxes that are empty on Partner A's time-table are filled in on Partner B's.
There are also empty boxes on Partner B's time-table, but they are filled in on Partner A's. 4. The partners must work together to ask about and supply each other with the information they are both missing, to complete each other's time-tables. Completing information gap activities improves students' abilities to communicate about unknown information in the TL. These abilities are directly applicable to many real-world conversations, where the goal is to find out some new piece of information, or simply to exchange information.
Instructors should not overlook the fact that their students need to be prepared to communicate effectively for this activity. They need to know certain vocabulary words, certain structures of grammar, etc. If the students have not been well prepared for the task at hand, then they will not communicate effectively.
Opinion sharing Opinion
sharing is a content-based activity, whose purpose is to engage students' conversational skills, while talking about something they care about. Example: 1. The instructor introduces a topic and asks students to contemplate their opinions about it. (E.g., dating, school dress codes, global warming) 2. The students talk in pairs or small groups, debating their opinions on the topic. Opinion sharing is a great way to get more introverted students to open up and share their opinions. If a student has a strong opinion about a certain topic, then they will speak up and share. Respect is key with this activity. If a student does not feel like their opinion is respected by the instructor or their peers, then they will not feel comfortable sharing, and they will not receive the communicative benefits of this activity.
Scavenger hunt
A scavenger hunt is a mingling activity that promotes open interaction between students. Example: 1. The instructor gives students a sheet with instructions on it. (e.g. Find someone who has a birthday in the same month as yours.) 2. Students go around the classroom asking and answering questions about each other. 3. The students wish to find all of the answers they need to complete the scavenger hunt. In doing this activity, students have the opportunity to speak with a number of classmates, while still being in a low-pressure situation, and talking to only one person at a time. After learning more about each other, and getting to share about themselves, students will feel more comfortable talking and sharing during other communicative activities.
Better comprehension leads to better communication with the rest of the group, which improves students' communicative abilities in the TL. Instructors should be sure to monitor that each student is contributing equally to the group effort. It takes a good instructor to design the activity well, so that students will contribute equally, and benefit equally from the activity.
Information gap
Information gap is a collaborative activity, whose purpose is for students to effectively obtain information that was previously unknown to them, in the TL.
Example: 1. The class is paired up. One partner in each pair is Partner A, and the other is Partner B. 2. All the students that are Partner A are given a sheet of paper with a time-table on it. The time-table is filled in half-way, but some of the boxes are empty. 3. All the students that are Partner B are given a sheet of paper with a time-table on it. The boxes that are empty on Partner A's time-table are filled in on Partner B's.
There are also empty boxes on Partner B's time-table, but they are filled in on Partner A's. 4. The partners must work together to ask about and supply each other with the information they are both missing, to complete each other's time-tables. Completing information gap activities improves students' abilities to communicate about unknown information in the TL. These abilities are directly applicable to many real-world conversations, where the goal is to find out some new piece of information, or simply to exchange information.
Instructors should not overlook the fact that their students need to be prepared to communicate effectively for this activity. They need to know certain vocabulary words, certain structures of grammar, etc. If the students have not been well prepared for the task at hand, then they will not communicate effectively.
Opinion sharing Opinion
sharing is a content-based activity, whose purpose is to engage students' conversational skills, while talking about something they care about. Example: 1. The instructor introduces a topic and asks students to contemplate their opinions about it. (E.g., dating, school dress codes, global warming) 2. The students talk in pairs or small groups, debating their opinions on the topic. Opinion sharing is a great way to get more introverted students to open up and share their opinions. If a student has a strong opinion about a certain topic, then they will speak up and share. Respect is key with this activity. If a student does not feel like their opinion is respected by the instructor or their peers, then they will not feel comfortable sharing, and they will not receive the communicative benefits of this activity.
Scavenger hunt
A scavenger hunt is a mingling activity that promotes open interaction between students. Example: 1. The instructor gives students a sheet with instructions on it. (e.g. Find someone who has a birthday in the same month as yours.) 2. Students go around the classroom asking and answering questions about each other. 3. The students wish to find all of the answers they need to complete the scavenger hunt. In doing this activity, students have the opportunity to speak with a number of classmates, while still being in a low-pressure situation, and talking to only one person at a time. After learning more about each other, and getting to share about themselves, students will feel more comfortable talking and sharing during other communicative activities.
Since this activity is not as structured as some of the others, it is important for instructors to add structure. If certain vocabulary should be used in students' conversations, or a certain grammar is necessary to complete the activity, then instructors should incorporate that into the scavenger hunt.
Thanks!
Thanks!
References
Nunan, David (1991-01-01). "Communicative Tasks and the Language Curriculum". TESOL Quarterly. 25 (2): 279–295. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.466.1153. doi:10.2307/3587464. JSTOR 3587464.
Richards, Jack C. Communicative language teaching today. SEAMEO Regional Language Centre, 2005.
Richards, Jack; Rodgers, Theodore (2014). Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching (3nd Edition). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 23–24, 84–85. ISBN 978-1-107-67596-4.\
Mitchell, Rosamond (1988). Communicative Language Teaching in Practice. Great Britain: Centre for Information on Language Teaching and Research. pp. 23–24, 64–68. ISBN 978-0948003875.
Richards, Jack C. Communicative language teaching today. SEAMEO Regional Language Centre, 2005.
Richards, Jack; Rodgers, Theodore (2014). Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching (3nd Edition). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 23–24, 84–85. ISBN 978-1-107-67596-4.\
Mitchell, Rosamond (1988). Communicative Language Teaching in Practice. Great Britain: Centre for Information on Language Teaching and Research. pp. 23–24, 64–68. ISBN 978-0948003875.
