Communicative Language Teaching

Presented to the

Vietnam Association of Community CollegeAmelia K. Hope, Ph.D.

WHY?

Why are we teaching English?

What do we want our students of English to be able to do?

Do we want them to be able to…

name the verb tenses?

explain grammar rules?

fill in the blanks?

translate from English to Vietnamese?

use English to communicate?

YES! we want them to be able to…

use English to communicate !

Using English to Communicate

What does that really mean?

In groups of 2 or 3, look at dialogue on the handout.

How would you describe the interaction and the language? Brainstorm different adjectives and expressions that describe the dialogue.

How would you describe this interaction?

Teacher: I get up at 7:00.

Student: Yesterday I got up at 7:00.

Teacher: I eat breakfast at 8:00.

Student: Yesterday I ate eggs at 8:00.

Teacher: I go to school at 9:00.

Student: Yesterday I went to school at 9:00.

Teacher: I leave school at 3:00.

Student: Yesterday I left school at 3:00.

How would you describe this interaction?

Mary: What did you do this past weekend?Bob: Oh, I had a great weekend, but really

busy. Did I tell you that my sister is in town for a few days? Well, first I took her to the art museum, because she used to study art. She loved it, of course. After lunch, we went on a long bicycle ride along the river—she had never seen the waterfall up by the Chaudière Bridge….

How would you characterize the differences?

T: I get up at 7:00.S: Yesterday I got up at 7:00.

T: I eat breakfast at 8:00.S: Yesterday I ate eggs at 8:00.

T: I go to school at 9:00.S: Yesterday I went to school at

9:00.

T: I leave school at 3:00.S: Yesterday I left school at

3:00.

Mary: What did you do this past weekend?

Bob: Oh, I had a great weekend, but really busy. Did I tell you that my sister is in town for a few days? Well, first I took her to the art museum, because she used to study art. She loved it, of course. After lunch, we went on a long bicycle ride along the river—she had never seen the waterfall up by the Chaudière Bridge….

How would you characterize the differences?T: I get up at 7:00.S: Yesterday I got up at 7:00.T: I eat breakfast at 8:00.S: Yesterday I ate eggs at 8:00.

Focus on form

Purpose: to practice structure

Predictable pattern Speaking for the whole class

to hear

Limited number of structures

Short utterances

Contrived situation

Mary: What did you do this past weekend?

Bob: Oh, I had a great weekend, but really busy. Did I tell you that my sister is in town for a few days? Well, first I took her to the art museum, because she used to study art….

Focus on meaning

Purpose: to communicate a message

Unpredictable

One-on-one interaction

A range of structures

Extended responses Realistic situation

How can we incorporate some of these features of real communication

into our teaching?

How can we incorporate some of these features of real communication

into our teaching?

Let’s look at what Communicative Language Teaching

can contribute to our teaching practices

What is

Communicative Language Teaching?

An umbrella term for the set of teaching principles and practices that aims to improve the students’ abilities to communicate meaning

If this is what “communicating meaning” looks like….

Mary: What did you do this past weekend?Bob: Oh, I had a great weekend, but really busy. Did I tell you that my

sister is in town for a few days? Well, first I took her to the art museum, because she used to study art….

Focus on meaning Purpose: to communicate a message Unpredictable One-on-one interaction A range of structures Extended responses Realistic situation

..then maybe communicative language teaching will involve…

Giving students a reason to communicate

Interacting in pairs or small groups Making opportunities for extended

responses Creating realistic situations with

realistic materials

•student-centered

•pair work

•authentic materials

•focus on content

•focus on function

•student choice

•integrated skills

•teaching English in English

•communicating for a purpose

•tolerance for errors

•information gap

•variety of language

•role play

•teacher as facilitator

•student autonomy

Communicative Language Teachingis often defined by what it is NOT

– NOT ONLY focused on grammar– NOT ONLY focused on accuracy– NOT ONLY focused on textbooks– NOT ONLY focused on drills– NOT ONLY focused on the teacher

Some definitions of CLT CLT..is based on the view that learning a language

means learning how to communicate effectively in the world outside the classroom (Lindsay, 2006)

..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 (Wikipedia)

Some definitions of CLT CLT sets as its goal the teaching of communicative

competence… [which] includes knowing how to– …use language for a range of different purposes and

functions

– …vary our use of language according to the setting and the participants

– …produce and understand different types of texts (e.g. narrative, reports, interviews, conversations)

– …maintain communication despite having limitations in one’s language knowledge (e.g. through using different kinds of communication strategies)

(Richards, 2005, pp. 2-3)

Six characteristics of CLT:– Classroom goals are focused on grammatical, discourse,

functional, sociolinguistic and strategic competencies.

– Activities should engage learners in the authentic, functional use of language for meaningful purposes.

– Both fluency and accuracy are important

– Classroom work should prepare students to use the language in unrehearsed contexts outside the classroom

– Students should learn about their own learning process, and thus develop appropriate strategies for independent learning.

– The role of the teacher is that of facilitator and guide.

(paraphrased from Brown, 2001, p 43)

Exercise: looking at your views of language teaching

Look at the following statements. Place an “x” to show where your beliefs and practices are located along the line.

Which end of the continuum represents the goals of communicative language teaching?

Is there any one of these areas in which you would like to change how you teach?

1. People learn language best when theystudy the rules practice using it

2. Classes should focus onmeaning grammar

 

3. When a student makes an error, the teacher shouldcorrect it immediately just ignore it

4. Students should be given the chance to express their own ideas and opinion

as early as possible once they have a solid foundation of the basics

 

 

5. Listening, reading, writing, and speaking are best taughtas integrated skills separately

6. Textbooks should be viewed asThe only resource a springboardneeded to teachfor other activities

 

7. Language learners should communicate byThinking directly translating from theirIn the target language mother tongue

8. Speaking activities should focus on accuracy fluency

 

 

Communicative Language Teaching: the answer to all our teaching challenges?

No! Of course not!

What aspects of CLT would be difficult to implement in your teaching context?

Why? Discuss with your colleagues.

Criticisms of Communicative Language Teaching

There are often too many students in class to organize pair and group work

Students in our culture are afraid to speak out

It’s too much work to develop communicative lessons. There’s no time to prepare.

More Criticisms of Communicative Language Teaching

The teacher can lose control of the class

“Learning to communicate” does not prepare students for the tests they must take

If the teacher’s level of English is low, she or he can’t evaluate the students’ communicative language ability

Enriching your teaching with Communicative Activities

No matter what your teaching approach, it can be enriched with supplementary communicative activities.

How??? When???

Enriching your teaching with Communicative Activities

Consider the common PPP approach:

Presentation: teacher introduces and explains a new structure, text, or topic

Practice: Students practice the language in controlled exercises

Production: Students use the language in activities focused on communication

In the classes I’ve observed, Vietnamese community college teachers do a good job with – Presentation– Practice

Let’s add COMMUNICATIVE learning to the Production phase!

Production Phase: Students use the language in activities focused on communication

Because Vietnamese students typically have trouble with speaking and pronunciation, your teaching priority in the Production Phase should be

Oral Communication

(even in Writing, Grammar, Semantics, Reading, or Culture classes!)

Example: Presentation: teacher introduces and explains

the present perfect

Practice: Students practice the structure by filling in blanks in the textbook

Production: Students write their own survey of “Have you ever…(been to Hong Kong?)” questions and walk around the room asking their classmates the questions. (Then they compare their answers with others or prepare an oral or written report on their findings)

Example Survey: Have you ever… Have you ever been to Ho Chi Minh City? Have you ever eaten a hamburger? Have you ever been bitten by a snake? Have you ever climbed a mountain?

Example oral or written report:

Two students have been to Hong Kong.

All the students have eaten a hamburger.

No one has ever been bitten by a snake.

More examples: Four ways to supplement a reading lesson Reading textbook: “Select Readings” by

Linda Lee and Erik Gundersen– Passage in chapter 2:

• Student Learning Teams

Scrambled sentences

Take a paragraph or two from the text. The paragraph should feature clear discourse markers or cohesive devices.

Type the sentences, then scramble them.

Word stress

Ask students in groups to find all the two-syllable words and three-syllable words. Ask them to sort these words by where the word stress falls.

Communicative Crosswords1. Take a crossword puzzle and make two versions:

Version 1: Fill in all the horizontal words

Version 2: Fill in all the vertical words

2. Organize the students in pairs

3. One student in each pair gets the horizontal version; the other student gets the vertical version.

4. They must give verbal clues (in English!! Of course) to each other to try to complete the puzzle.

Dictagloss or Dictocomp

Teacher reads a passage at normal speed while students only listen

Teacher re-reads somewhat slowly Students take notes In groups of 2-4 students, students then try to re-

construct the text, but not necessarily reproduce it exactly.

Student work is evaluated according to how much of the meaning was captured

Evaluate classroom activities: how communicative are they? In groups, look at the exercise on the

handout. Using the communicative checklist,

consider how communicative it is. What could you do to make that activity

more communicative, or what kind of communicative follow-up activity could you do?