TheCommunicativeApproachCommunicativeLanguageTeaching

CommunicativeLanguageTeachingIntroductionYoumayhavenoticedthatthegoalofmostofthemethodswehavelookedatsofarisforstudentstolearntocommunicateinthetargetlanguage.Inthe1970s,though,educatorsbegantoquestioniftheyweregoingaboutmeetingthegoalintherightway.Someobservedthatstudentscouldproducesentencesaccuratelyinalesson,butcouldnotusethemappropriatelywhengenuinelycommunicatingoutsideoftheclassroom.Othersnotedthatbeingabletocommunicaterequiredmorethanmasteringlinguisticstructures.

Studentsmayknowtherulesoflinguisticusage,butbeunabletousethelanguage.Itbecameclearthatcommunicationrequiredthatstudentsperformcertainfunctionsaswell,suchaspromising,inviting,anddeclininginvitationswithinasocialcontext.Inshort,beingabletocommunicaterequiredmorethanlinguisticcompetence;itrequiredcommunicativecompetence-knowingwhenandhowtosaywhattowhom.Suchobservationscontributedtoashiftinthefieldinthelate1970sandearly1980sfromalinguisticstructure-centeredapproachtoaCommunicativeApproach。

WhatarethegoalsofteacherswhouseCommunicativeLanguageTeaching(CLT)?

Thegoalistoenablestudentstocommunicateinthetargetlanguage.Todothisstudentsneedknowledgeofthelinguisticforms,meanings,andfunctions.Theyneedtoknowthatmanydifferentformscanbeusedtoperformafunctionandalsothatasingleformcanoftenserveavarietyoffunctions.Theymustbeabletochoosefromamongthesethemostappropriateform,giventhesocialcontextandtherolesoftheinterlocutors.Theymustalsobeabletomanagetheprocessofnegotiatingmeaningwiththeirinterlocutors.Communicationisaprocess;knowledgeoftheformsoflanguageisinsufficient.Whatistheroleoftheteacher?Whatistheroleofthestudent?

Theteacherfacilitatescommunicationintheclassroom.Inthisrole,oneofhismajorresponsibilitiesistoestablishsituationslikelytopromotecommunication.Duringtheactivitiesheactsasanadviser,answeringstudents'questionsandmonitoringtheirperformance.Hemightmakenoteoftheirerrorstobeworkedonatalatertimeduring

moreaccuracy-basedactivities.Atothertimeshemightbea'co-communicator'engaginginthecommunicativeactivityalongwithstudents.

Studentsare,aboveall,communicators.Theyareactivelyengagedinnegotiatingmeaning-intryingtomakethemselvesunderstoodandinunderstandingothers-evenwhentheirknowledgeofthetarget

languageisincomplete.

Also,sincetheteacher'sroleislessdominantthaninateacher-centeredmethod,studentsareseenasmoreresponsiblemanagersoftheirownlearning.Whataresomecharacteristicsoftheteaching/learningprocess?

ThemostobviouscharacteristicofCLTisthatalmosteverythingthatisdoneisdonewithacommunicativeintent.Studentsusethelanguageagreatdealthroughcommunicativeactivitiessuchasgames,roleplays,andproblem-solvingtasks.

Activitiesthataretrulycommunicativehavethreefeaturesincommon:informationgap,choice,andfeedback.1.Aninformationgapexistswhenonepersoninanexchangeknowssomethingtheotherpersondoesnot.IfwebothknowtodayisTuesdayandIaskyou,'Whatistoday?'andyouanswer,'Tuesday,'ourexchangeisnotreallycommunicative.

2.

Incommunication,thespeakerhasachoiceofwhatshewillsayandhowshewillsayit.Iftheexerciseistightlycontrolledsothatstudentscanonlysaysomethinginoneway,thespeakerhasnochoiceandtheexchange,therefore,isnotcommunicative.Inachaindrill,forexample,ifastudentmustreplytoherneighbor'squestioninthesamewayasherneighborrepliedtosomeoneelse'squestion,thenshehasnochoiceofformandcontent,andrealcommunicationdoesnotoccur.3.

Truecommunicationispurposeful.Aspeakercanthusevaluatewhetherornothispurposehasbeenachievedbasedupontheinformationshereceivesfromhislistener.Ifthelistenerdoesnothaveopportunitytoprovidethespeakerwithsuchfeedback,thentheexchangeisnotreallycommunicative.Formingquestionsthrougha

transformationdrillmaybeaworthwhileactivity,butitisnotinkeepingwithCLTsinceaspeakerwillreceivenoresponsefromalistener,soisunabletoassesswhetherherquestionhasbeenunderstoodornot.AnothercharacteristicofCLTistheuseofauthenticmaterials.Itisconsidereddesirabletogivestudentsanopportunitytodevelopstrategiesforunderstandinglanguageasitisactuallyused.

Finally,wenotedthatactivitiesinCLTareoftencarriedoutbystudentsinsmallgroups.Smallnumbersofstudentsinteractingarefavoredinordertomaximizethetimeallottedtoeachstudentforcommunicating.Whatisthenatureofstudent-teacherinteraction?Whatisthenatureofstudent-studentinteraction?

Theteachermaypresentsomepartofthelesson,suchaswhenworkingwithlinguisticaccuracy.Atothertimes,heisthefacilitatoroftheactivities,buthedoesnotalwayshimselfinteractwiththestudents.

Sometimesheisaco-communicator,butmoreoftenheestablishessituationsthatpromptcommunicationbetweenandamongthestudents.

Studentsinteractagreatdealwithoneanother.Theydothisinvariousconfigurations:pairs,triads,smallgroups,andwholegroup.Howarethefeelingsofthestudentsdealtwith?

OneofthebasicassumptionsofCLTisthatbylearningtocommunicatestudentswillbemoremotivatedtostudyaforeignlanguagesincetheywillfeeltheyarelearningtodosomethingusefulwiththelanguage.Also,teachersgivestudentsanopportunitytoexpresstheirindividualitybyhavingthemsharetheirideasandopinionsonaregularbasis.Finally,studentsecurityisenhancedbythemanyopportunityforcooperativeinteractionswiththeirfellowstudentsandtheteacher.Whatistheroleofthestudent'nativelanguage?

Judicioususeofthestudents'nativelanguageispermittedinCLT.However,wheneverpossible,thetargetlanguageshouldbeusednotonlyduringcommunicativeactivities,butalsoforexplainingthe

activitiestothestudentsorinassigninghomework.Thestudentslearnfromtheseclassroommanagementexchanges,too,andrealizethatthetargetlanguageisavehicleforcommunication,notjustanobjecttobestudied.Howisevaluationaccomplished?

Ateacherevaluatesnotonlythestudents'accuracy.butalsotheirfluency.Thestudentwhohasthemostcontrolofthestructuresandvocabularyisnotalwaysthebestcommunicator.

Ateachercaninformallyevaluatehisstudents'performanceinhisroleasanadviserorco-communicator.Formoreformalevaluation,ateacherislikelytouseanintegrativetestwhichhasarealcommunicativefunction.Inorderto