Communicative Methods

Communicative Methods

1. Communicative Language Teaching

   • teachers role
     • to facilitate the communication process between all participants in the classroom,
     • to act as an independent participant within the learning-teaching group.
     • researcher and learner
     • organizer of resources
   • students role
     • The role of learner as negotiator, between the self, the learning process, and the object of learning – emerges from and interacts with the role of joint negotiator within the group and within the classroom procedures and activities which the group undertakes
   • characteristics
     • Dialogues, if used, center around communicative functions and are not normally memorized.
     • Language learning is learning to communicate.
     • Any device that helps the learners is accepted – varying according to their age, interest, etc.
     • Translation may be used where students need or benefit from it.
     • Teachers help learners in any way that motivates them to work with the language.
     • Language is created by the individual, often through trial and error.
   • activities
     • showing outof-focus slides which the students attempt to identify.
     • provides incomplete plans and diagrams which students have to complete by asking for information.
     • places a screen between students and gets one to place objects in a certain pattern: this pattern is then communicated to students behind the screen.
     • develop “jigsaw” listening in which students listen to different taped materials and then communicate their content to others in the class.
   • materials
     • diagrams
     • a technological device like a video beam
     • jigsaws
     • pictures
     • Texts written

2. Cooperative Language Learning

   • teachers role
     • The teacher has to create a highly structured and well-organized learning environment in the classroom, setting goals, planning and structuring tasks, establishing the physical arrangement of the classroom, assigning students to groups and roles, and selecting materials and time
     • facilitator of learning. the teacher interacts, teaches, refocuses, questions, clarifies, supports, expands, celebrates, empathizes.
   • students role
     • The primary role of the learner is as a member of a group who must work collaboratively on tasks with other group members.
     • Learners have to learn teamwork skills. Learners are also directors of their own learning
   • characteristics
     • raise the achievement of all students, including those who are gifted or academically handicapped
     • help the teacher build positive relationships among students – give students the experiences they need for healthy social, psychological, and cognitive development
     • replace the competitive organizational structure of most classrooms and schools with a team-based, high-performance organizational structure
   • activities
     • Team practice from common input
     • 2. Jigsaw: differentiated but predetermined input – evaluation and synthesis of facts and opinions
     • 3. Cooperative projects: topics/resources selected by students – discovery learning
   • materials
     • resources such as library reference, interviews, visual media., text, tables, charts