Language Teaching in the “Post-Communicative” Era Harvard University Department of Romance Languages and Literatures TF/TA Workshop August 2009

Grammar Translation Method Based on classical language study: translation of literary texts Long lists of vocabulary Lots of grammatical rules Class conducted in L2 Little practice speaking/original writing Little room for creativity Demise: 1960’s

Audio-Lingual Method (ALM) Behaviorism Language learning is habit-formation Mistakes are bad Oral presentation first, then written Memorizing dialogues Substitution drills -- lots of drills Class conducted in L2 -- no L1 allowed Very little creative use of the language Goal: proficiency 7e3M&feature=PlayList&p=770E8A546E86DA4F

French class

Communicative Languge Teaching (CLT) An “approach,” not a “method” Goals: Communication through interaction Authentic texts/materials Expressing personal experiences/opinions Linking classroom activities to the “real world”

The 4 Communicative SKILLS Reading Writing Speaking Listening All should be ACTIVE skills

Communication MODES Interpretive mode Presentational mode Interpersonal mode

Communicative Competence (Canale and Swain, 1980) = the knowledge and use of language Grammatical competence Sociolinguistic competence Strategic competence Discourse competence: the mastery of combining grammatical forms and meanings to achieve a unified spoken or written text in different genres.

Flaws of CLT Lack of proficiency: focus on meaning, with little emphasis on form Sentence-level pedagogical focus Not enough focus on writing, going beyond personal experience Not enough attention to context and linguistic register (discourse factors)

Inductive vs. Deductive grammar instruction Deductive grammar explanation: In Spanish, adjectives end in ‘o’ when masculine and ‘a’ when feminine. Make the following adjectives feminine: bonito, sucio, guapo, etc.

Inductive grammar instruction What rule can you propose to explain the difference between masculine and feminine adjectives in Spanish? David Letterman es guapo y sincero. Madonna es bonita y flaca. Activity: Listen to the following utterances, and decide whether the speaker is referring to David Letterman or Madonna.

“Post-communicative” language teaching Goals: Improve proficiency/accuracy as well as communicative skills Stress language use at discourse level Include all types of texts (written too) Integrate more intellectual content Focus on literacy

How to Accomplish Goals: Focus on Discourse Competence Study language as connected discourse, not at sentence-level Distinguish among types of sociolinguistic settings Link reading to writing; listening to speaking Study grammar within context

A Framework INDUCTIVE LANGUAGE LEARNING From Understanding to Producing Students receive data/input Students work with data (as researchers) Consciousness raising Tasks Finally --> Output/production For all skills and all modes of communication

TF/TA Training: Topics: Teaching Reading Teaching Writing Focusing on Literacy Teaching Grammar Teaching Using Technology