COMMUNICATIVE LANGUAGE TEACHING

What CLT means? Brown (2007) gives his definition of CLT as “an approach to language teaching methodology that emphasizes authenticity, interaction, student- centered learning, task based activities, and communication for the real world, meaningful purposes.”

What is the Communicative Competence? It refers to speaker's knowledge both of the grammatical rules of a language and of the rules for appropriate use in social contexts. It is the ability to converse with a native speaker of the target language in a real-life situation, with emphasis on communication of ideas rather than on correctness of language form.

What are the communicative strategies? Communicative Strategies (CSs) are a useful way to overcome communication difficulties. CSs supply students with the tools necessary to fill 2nd language gaps while they are communicating with partners, either native speakers or non- native speakers and allow them to continue speaking. Cohen (1990) says that “a major trait of successful speakers is that they use strategies to keep the conversation going.”

The Basic Principles of the Communicative Language Teaching: Principle 1: Teach communicative competence: grammatical competence plus the ability to use grammar appropriately. Whereas grammatical competence implies the ability to use the linguistic items correctly, communicative competence in addition involves the appropriate use of grammar. Definition: Appropriateness is the ability to use language that is suitable for the particular situation.

Principle 2: Practice functions and forms in context-rich environments.  Meaning is expressed through functions and manifests itself in forms.   What is “function” and “form”? Function is the purpose for which a language utterance is used in speech or writing. Form is the means by which a language utterance is used in speech or writing.  

“Any individual sentence can be used to perform any function in the language and consequently any function may take a variety of forms.” 

Principle 3: Make sure there are genuine needs, genuine partners and information gaps in the classroom. According to CLT, communication is elicited by needs, partners and information gaps.  What is information gap? An information gap occurs in a situation where information is known by only some of the interlocutors.

Principle 4: Give priority to fluency over accuracy.  What is “accuracy” and “fluency”? Accuracy is the ability to use the language correctly. Fluency is the ability to use the language spontaneously and effectively. As opposed to traditional methods, CLT regards fluency as the basic aim of language teaching, and thus fluency practice should precede accuracy practice. During fluency practice errors should be left uncorrected, as a rule.

Principle 5: Adopt a learner-centered attitude.   Principle 5: Adopt a learner-centered attitude. What is “a learner-centered attitude”? A learner-centered attitude means that the teacher regards her students as partners. The teacher’s role changes in the three stages of the language teaching operation. In the presentation stage, she acts as an informant; In the practice stage, as a conductor; In the production stage, she is rather a guide and a co-communicator.

In CLL, we concentrate on the following: Teacher – Student interaction Activities Materials

A) Teacher-Student Interaction: Since communicative competence is our aim, it is essential that students be given every opportunity to practice communication. In the communicative classroom teacher talking time (TTT) must be kept to a minimum. This is not to say that the teacher shouldn’t speak at all, but TTT should be controlled and appropriate. The classroom should be learner-centred. The teacher’s role is to facilitate student communication which is done through careful selection of materials and activities relevant to the aims of the lesson in which they are used.

Communication can be divided into two categories: input and output Communication can be divided into two categories: input and output. The four communicative skills can be put into these categories:

A model for a communicative lesson Stage 1 Teacher (T) gives a short presentation of a grammar or vocabulary point. T then gives students (Ss) opportunity to practice the point in a controlled exercise. (Interaction: T›Ss) Stage 2 Ss carry out the controlled exercise while T monitors and intervenes where appropriate. (Interaction: S‹›S)

Stage 3 The Ss are asked to take part in an activity designed to get them to produce the vocabulary and grammar they have been taught. T monitors and notes errors and interesting points. T intervenes only when asked or when absolutely necessary. (Interaction: S‹›S) Stage 4 Feedback session, in which T feeds back in a non-threatening way the errors s/he noted during the activity. Ss also have the opportunity to clear up puzzling points. (Interaction: T‹›Ss)

:B) Activities Classroom activities should, as far as is possible, be carried out in the target language (English). Yet, there may sometimes be occasions where allowing the students to briefly discuss a point in their native tongue can promote greater understanding and assimilation of new information. This is controversial issue and should not usually be permitted.

There are many different types of activities There are many different types of activities. They provide speaking, listening, writing and reading practice as well as aiding production.

C) CLL Materials: Materials fall into three broad categories: Text-based, Task-based Realia. They can be used as the basis for classroom activities. Once again not only must the activity be appropriate to the level of the students but the materials used must be appropriate too.

For example: Text-based materials practice exercises, reading passages, gap fills, recordings, etc. can be found in almost any course book as well as in books containing supplementary materials. They form an essential part of most lessons.

Task-based materials: These include: game boards, roleplay cards, materials for drilling, pairwork tasks, etc. They might be used to support 'real life' tasks such as role playing booking into a hotel, or a job interview.

Realia: Many proponents of CLT have advocated the use of "authentic," "from-life" materials in the classroom. These might include language-based realia, such as: signs, magazines, advertisements, and newspapers, or graphic and visual sources around which communicative activities can he built, such as: maps, pictures, symbols, graphs, and charts. Different kinds of objects can be used to support communicative exercises, such as a plastic models.

Teaching the Communicative Language Skills

Communicative abilities can be classified as receptive and productive skills. The former includes listening and reading, while the latter comprises speaking and writing. Although they will be treated separately, they are interdependent. Thus one may listen and speak or write, or read and write, and so on. This interrelationship is illustrated in the following diagram:

Productive Skills Productive Skills Communication

One or more of these communicative skills are sometimes more emphasized than, others. This depends on: the objectives of the language course, the method of teaching and on the needs of the learners.

Teaching Listening Comprehension

What is “aural comprehension”? Aural comprehension is the skill of listening, understanding and responding in an appropriate way. Listening should receive primary attention in the early stage of ESL instruction.

What should teachers do to reinforce listening comprehension? Effective language instructors should: show students how they can adjust their listening behavior to deal with a variety of situations, types of input, and listening purposes. They should help students develop a set of listening strategies and match appropriate strategies to each listening situation

Listening Strategies: What are the listening strategies? Listening strategies are techniques or activities that contribute directly to the comprehension and recall of listening input. Listening strategies can be classified by how the listener processes the input:

1 )Top-down strategies: They are listener based; the listener taps into background knowledge of the topic, the situation or context, the type of text, and the language. This background knowledge activates a set of expectations that help the listener to interpret what is heard and anticipate what will come next. Top-down strategies include: listening for the main idea predicting drawing inferences summarizing

2) Bottom-up strategies: They are text based; the listener relies on the language in the message, that is, the combination of sounds, words, and grammar that creates meaning. Bottom-up strategies include: listening for specific details recognizing cognates recognizing word-order patterns

3) metacognitive strategies: They are strategies to plan, monitor, and evaluate listening. Strategic listeners use these strategies to: plan by deciding which listening strategies will serve best in a particular situation. monitor their comprehension and the effectiveness of the selected strategies.

Model activities for teaching istening: The following model activities are sequenced to meet different levels of learning or language proficiency: Listening for stress, rhythm and intonation. Games and competitions Identification of key words. Dictation. Listening for drawing. Listening to short interviews.

7) Telling a story and asking learners some questions about it 7) Telling a story and asking learners some questions about it. 8) Reading a poem, a passage or a short play and asking learners to state specific points. 9) Simulating telephone conversations. 10) Attending lectures or seminars and reporting to the class the main points or ideas. 11) Problem-solving about topics of general interest. 12) Listening to news bulletins on the radio or watching television programs and recounting headlines.

Teaching Speaking

Stages of Speaking Practice There are 3 stages to be distinguished in teaching oral communication: 1) mechanical oral practice: The first step in teaching speaking is to train learners in: sound discrimination, oral vocabulary, verb forms and grammatical patterns. These elements are necessary to acquire a basic knowledge of linguistic competence.

This stage introduces the learners to social formulas: (2) meaningful oral work: This stage introduces the learners to social formulas: greetings, introductions, complaints, asking for information, etc. It also gives them expressions with which to express their ideas creatively.

:(3) free oral production The teacher also has to prepare the material adequately as free discussions are likely to fail if s/he hasn't planned them carefully in advance. In fact the success of free conversation depends on four elements: careful preparation by the teacher & the learners; the silence of the teacher during the activity; the availability of interesting topics that stimulate learners to participate; and confidence in their ability to communicate.

Speaking Interaction Activities: (1) Dialogues (2) Interviews (3) Role-playing (4) Problem-solving (5) Debates

Teaching Reading

Teaching Reading: What is reading? Reading is the ability to decode meaning from graphic symbols. Reading involves a whole series of points: the recognition of the alphabetic system, the correlation of the graphic symbols with formal linguistic elements, intellectual comprehension and mechanical eye movement.

Types of Reading: Reading falls into two major categories: Intensive: It is mainly concerned with texts and involves focusing upon new words, structures, expressions, functions, pronunciation and cultural insights. It is carefully guided so that thorough understanding of the content may be achieved. Extensive: Extensive reading, on the other hand, is usually done at home for pleasure, or to acquire general information. The material is usually takes the form of short stories, novels, plays, poems, texts, magazines and journals. Common aspects of it include survey reading, superficial reading and skimming.

Reading Stages Stage One: Word Level At the word level, the concern is with the association of form and sound symbol, spelling and sound - regular or irregular. Stage Two: Sentence Level At this. level, the teacher gives learners practice in patterns of high frequency. Stage Three: Paragraph Level At this stage learners are introduced to simple narrative or conversational material.

Stage Four: Reading Longer Selections As learners progress in learning the language, they should read longer selections in addition to guided reading passages. Stage Five: Individualized Reading This is the advanced stage of reading. Students are given the freedom to select from a list of available material what they wish to read.

Successful reading is a process of active inquiry Successful reading is a process of active inquiry. Good readers approach a text with questions and develop new questions as they read, for example: "What is this story about?" "What does the main character want?" "Will she get it?" "If so, how?“ Even after reading, engaged readers still ask questions: "What is the meaning of what I have read?" "Why did the author end the paragraph (or chapter, or book) in this way?“ "What was the author's purpose in writing this?"

Teaching Writing

Teaching Writing: What is writing? Writing is: an active means of communicating ideas. Functionally, it is equated with speech since both are productive skills and concerned with conveying information.

Stages of Writing: For pedagogical purposes the writing program will be divided into three main stages: 1) Controlled writing: The first stage of the writing skill includes handwriting, copying (or transcription), dictation and spelling. 2) Guided writing: The principle of these aspects of composition writing is to provide graded guidance in vocabulary and structures so that learners will not make many mistakes.

3) Free writing: This stage involves free composition 3) Free writing: This stage involves free composition. learners having practiced controlled and guided composition, are now able to manipulate language with some originality of thought and freedom from common errors.

Teaching Critical Thinking

Teaching Critical Thinking: What is Critical Thinking? Critical thinking is the intellectually disciplined process of actively and skillfully conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and/or evaluating information gathered from, or generated by, observation, experience, reflection, reasoning, or communication, as a guide to belief and action.

Why Teach Critical Thinking? The information explosion is likely to continue in the future. Students need a guide to weed through the information and not just passively accept it. Students need to "develop and effectively apply critical thinking skills to their academic studies, to the complex problems that they will face, and to the critical choices they will be forced to make as a result of the information explosion and other rapid technological changes.”

Teaching Strategies to Help Promote Critical Thinking : CATS (Classroom Assessment Techniques Cooperative Learning Strategies Case Study /Discussion Method: here, the teacher presents a case (or story) to the class without a conclusion & ask the students to construct a conclusion for the case. Using Questions. Using Writing Assignments. Using Dialogues.

RECOMMENDED READINGS: http://www.eslteachersboard.com/cgi- bin/articles/index.pl?page=5;read=2767 http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/articles/making -writing-communicative http://www2.uni- wuppertal.de/FB4/anglistik/multhaup/Lehrveranst altungen/introduction_to_elt/history_of_approach es_5.htm http://library.nakanishi.ac.jp/kiyou/gendaikokusai(7 )/08.pdf http://www.pearsonhighered.com/samplechapter/ 0131579061.pdf http://bpayne.myweb.uga.edu/Shawn.htm