Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) by Jack C. Richards, 2006

Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) by Jack C. Richards, 2006

1. Phase 1: TRADITIONAL approaches

   • Grammatical competence = language proficiency
     • Learned through
       • Direct instruction + methodology
       • Repetitive practice + drilling
       • Accurate pronunciation + Mastery of grammar
         • Stress from the beginning
           • ERRORS
         • Methodologies based on these assumptions
           • Audiolingualism
             • S = Attention to model + Repeat T= Pronunciation, intonation, fluency
               • Correction of mistakes: pronunciation or grammar
                 • Drill: Dialog is memorized gradually
                   • Use of textbook
           • Situational Approach
             • 3 phase sequence: P-P-P cycle
               • Presentation
                 • Grammar presented
                   • T explains
                   • T check S comprehension
               • Practice
                 • S practice new structure
                   • In controlled contexts/drills/substitution exercises.
               • Production
                 • S practice using the new structure
                   • Different context
                     • Develop fluency with new pattern
             • Focus on a particular form
               • learning + automatization
   • MECHANICAL practice
     • Controlled practice
       • An exercise S can do well without understanding the language used
       • Repetition drills + substitution drills
         • Reproducing a dialogue

2. Phase 2: CLASSIC communicative language teaching

   • Centrality of grammar is questioned
     • Language = + only grammatical competence
     • Adaptation to the situation, roles intentions... Not included
       • Assumed picked up informally
   • Rethink teaching, syllabuses, materials
     • MASTER
       • Not only grammar and vocabulary
       • Learner’s communicative competence
         • Purpose
           • For what
             • Business, travelling...
         • Setting
           • Where
             • Will use at office, airplane...
         • Role
           • Traveller, salesperson ...
         • Communicative events
           • Daily life, casual conversations ...
         • Language functions
           • Making introductions, giving explanations, describing plans...
         • Notions
           • Talk about
             • Finances, history, religion…
         • Discourse
           • Rhetorical skills
             • Storytelling, effective presentation…
         • Variety
           • American, Australian, British…
         • Lexical content
           • Which vocab will be needed
     • Skills-based syllabus:
       • Focus 4 skills
         • Reading
         • Writing
         • Listening
           • Microskills
             • Recognising: topic, key words, attitude, speed
             • Advocates of CLT
               • Stressed an integrated-skill approach
                 • Real life = skills occur together -> In teaching should do too
         • Speaking
     • Functional syllabus
       • According to for what is going to be used
         • mastery of functions
           • Communication across a wide range of situations
             • sequence similar to P-P-P lesson
               • CLT recognise that English for specific purposes useful for particular roles (nurse, pilot…).
                 • Determine kinds of communication need to master for specific occupation rather than general = usefulness
     • Threshold syllabus
       • All elements that allow the learner to overcome jut the formal learner to be able to really use it to communicate
     • Integrated skills system
       • Advocate for nowadays 4 skills integrated as happens in real life
   • MEANINGFUL practice
     • Language control still but students need to make meaningful choices when practicing
       • Practice is meaningful
         • Prepositions to describe locations
           • Street map : Activity identify different locations
             • Where is the book shop? Where is the café?
       • Chart: Wear glass? Blonde hair? I do I don't...

3. Phase 3: CURRENT communicative language teaching

   • Rethink the nature of syllabus
     • Learners learn language through
       • The process of communicating in the language
       • Communication that is meaningful
       • PRINCIPLES OF CLP
         • Real + meaningful communication
         • Experiment + try out what they know
           • Negotiate meaning in interaction
             • Community: sharing
         • Tolerant of learners errors
           • Gradual process: trial-error
             • Teacher facilitator
         • Develop: accuracy + fluency
         • Link 4 skills together, how occurs real world
           • Holistic process
         • Students induce or discover GRAMMAR rules
           • Deductive
             • Presenting the norm and S then practice it
               • Fill in blank spaces
           • Inductive
             • OKEY: Providing different examples where that norm is applied in real sentences and then asking the students to find out what the rules are. To be able to apply them correctly
     • NO activities demanded accurate repetition and memorization of sentences and grammatical patterns,
       • Activities require learners to negotiate meaning + to interact meaningfully
         • CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES IN CLT
           • Balance of fluency activities and accuracy
             • FLUENCY TASKS
               • Natural use of language: Negotiate meaning, use communication strategies, correct misunderstandings, and work to avoid communication breakdowns.
                 • Role play in which they have to adopt specified roles and personalities provided for them on cards ( drivers, witnesses, and the police )
                   • Language improvised by the students
                     • OUTCOMES: NOT predictable - NOT that controlled
                   • Constrained by the specified situation and characters.
                   • Ongoing communication
             • ACCURACY TASKS
               • Focuses on creating correct examples of language use
                 • S practicing dialogs that contain examples of falling intonation in Wh-questions.
                   • 2 S practicing the dialog 3rd = role of monitor
                     • M: correct intonation pattern and corrects
                     • OUTCOMES: Predictable - Controlled
                       • Battle ship Game: Subjects and actions to practice the use of do/does
             • ACTIVITY TYPES CLT
               • Task-completion activities
                 • Puzzles, games, map-reading
                   • Using one’s language resources to complete a task
               • Information-gathering activities
                 • Student-conducted surveys, interviews, searches
                   • Use their linguistic resources to collect information
               • Opinion-sharing activities
                 • S compare values, opinions, or beliefs
                   • Ranking task: order of importance
               • Information-transfer activities
                 • Take information that is presented in one form -> represent it in a different form
                   • Read instructions how to get from A to B -> Draw map
               • Reasoning-gap activities
                 • Deriving new information from given information
                   • Working out a teacher’s timetable on the basis of given class timetables.
               • Role plays
                 • S roles improvise a scene based on clues
           • Instead of a predominance of teacher-fronted teaching
             • Use of small-group + pair work
               • To develop fluency
               • Motivational
   • COMMUNICATIVE practice
     • Using language within a real communicative context
       • Real information is exchanged + language used is not totally predictable
         • Task: Draw a map of their neighbourhood
           • Answer questions about the location of different places
   • Jacobs and Farrell
     • Eight major changes in approaches to language teaching
       • Learner autonomy
         • Choice over their own learning
           • Content + Processes
       • The social nature of learning
         • Learning is not an individual
           • Depends upon interaction with others
       • Curricular integration
         • English is not seen as a stand-alone subject but is linked to other subjects in the curriculum.
           • Project work
       • Focus on meaning
         • Content-based teaching
           • Exploration of meaning through content of language learning activities.
       • Diversity
         • Learners learn in different ways and have different strengths
           • NO 1 single mold
       • Thinking skills
         • Critical and creative thinking
           • Go beyond the language classroom
       • Alternative assessment
         • Multiple forms
           • Observation, interviews, journals, portfolios...
       • Teachers as co-learners
         • Facilitator
   • Methodologies: different routes to facilitate language learning
     • Content-based instruction (CBI)
       • CBI language learning resulting from processes
         • Interaction
         • Collaborative creation of meaning
         • Meaningful + purposeful interaction through language
         • Negotiation of meaning, arrive understanding
         • Learning through feedback
         • Input + Incorporate new forms (listening)
         • Trying out and experimenting
       • Issues implementing CBI
         • Bypass grammatical accuracy since their primary concern is mastery of content
         • Do language teachers have the necessary subject-matter expertise to teach specialized content?
         • S assessed according to content knowledge, language use, or both?
       • How CBI is best implemented
         • Link all the different dimensions (4) of communicative competence, grammatical competence too + content (subject matter)
       • PROJECT-BASED LL
         • Larmer & Mergendoller
           • 8 ESSENTIALS FOR PBL
             • SIGNIFICANT CONTENT
             • A NEED TO KNOW
             • A DRIVING QUESTION
             • STUDENT VOICE AND CHOICE
             • 21st CENTURY COMPETENCIES
             • IN DEPTH INQUIRY
             • CRITIQUE AND REVISION
             • PUBLIC AUDIENCE
           • S would create a poster about a water-borne bacterium that can be harmful to humans, the bacterium’s effects, and disease prevention and treatment.
     • Task-based instruction (TBI)
       • Language learning result from creating the right kinds of interactional processes in the classroom
         • Communicative competence can be developed engaging learners in interactive tasks
           • 2 Type of tasks
             • Pedagogical tasks
               • Use of specific interactional strategies and may also require the use of specific types of language (skills, grammar, vocabulary).
                 • The task not find real world. However the interactional processes it requires provides useful input to language development.
                   • I.g: 2 learners try finding differences between 2 pictures
             • Real-world tasks
               • Reflect real-world uses of language and which might be considered a rehearsal for real-world tasks
                 • I.g: Role play in which students practice a job interview
                   • Preparation for survival in the real world
                     • "Authentic” sources as the basis for classroom learning
                       • The task not the text define the difficulty
                         • Because we want students to learn the language to be able to use it in real life -> we should use real life materials
                         • Criticism: They might be too difficult
                           • Battle ship
                             • Subjects-Actions by asking questions
                       • As the inputs to learn the language
             • Willis (1996)
               • 6 types of tasks as basis for TBL
                 • Listing tasks
                   • Do list of things they would pack holidays
                 • Sorting and ordering
                   • Pairs do list of most important characteristics of ideal holidays
                 • Comparing
                   • Compare ads for two different supermarkets
                 • Problem-solving
                   • Read a letter to + suggest a solution to the writer’s problems.
                 • Sharing personal experience
                   • Discuss reactions to an ethical or moral dilemma.
                 • Creative tasks
                   • Prepare plans for redecorating a house.
           • Reject principles of a P-P-P
             • Do not work, not promote understanding, not develop fluency
       • How TBI best implemented?
         • Willis
           • Pretask Activities
             • Introduction to Topic and Task
           • Task Cycle
             • Task
               • S do it by pairs/groups. T monitors + encourages use of L
             • Planning
               • Prepares 4 next stage Ss do report
                 • Draft + rehearse what want to say/write
             • Report
               • T asks some pairs to report briefly to the class
                 • Compare findings
           • Language Focus
             • Analysis
               • T sets some language-focused tasks
                 • T goes around to help. Ss can ask individual questions
             • Practice
               • T conducts practice activities as needed
                 • Choral repetition, Memory challenge games, Sentence completion...
       • Issues implementing TBI
         • Little evidence works better PPP
         • Task worked to develop fluency at the expense of accuracy
         • Content issues: secondary importance
         • Addresses classroom processes rather than learning outcomes
         • Too vague as a methodology if specific language needs have to be addressed
     • Content and Language interated Learning (CLIL)
   • TASK SEQUENCE (COUNCIL OF EUROPE)
     • Pre-Task
       • Link to previous task sequence, stimulate motivation, check prior knowledge
     • Task Preparation
       • Scaffolding and preparation for successful completion of task (introduction of linguistic and conceptual ‘tools’)
     • Task Realisation
       • Attempt to achieve the objectives of the task, presentation of results.
     • Post Task
       • Evaluation of task objectives, additional work on language and concepts, link to next task sequence…
   • TASK TYPOLOGY (Nussbaum)
     • Depending on
       • Solution
         • Open
         • Closed
       • Direction of the information
         • Unidirectional: 1 S all info
         • Bidirectional: Each S partial info
       • Plannification
         • Preparation
         • Improvisation
       • Instructions
         • With: role-play guideliness/script
         • Without: Roleplay
       • Points of view
         • Converging: S agreement
         • Diverging: Debate

4. Communicative Competence

   • Using language for meaningful communication
     • is composed by four sub-competences
       • Grammatical competence
         • Mastery of the language code itself : features, norms and functions
           • Vocabulary, word formation, sentence formation, pronunciation and spelling
       • Dicourse competence
         • Knowing how to produce and understand different genres or types of texts
           • Narratives, reports, interviews, conversations
       • Sociolinguistic competence
         • Knowing how to vary our use of language according to the setting and the participants
           • Formal and informal speech/ written-oral
       • Strategic competence
         • Knowing how to maintain communication despite having limitations in one’s language knowledge
           • Different communicative strategies to avoid or compensate breakdowns in communication