英语教学法之Communicative Language Teaching

CommunicativeLanguageTeachingPresentedby:

张汀曲奕斐夏文维童欣

DefinitionofCommunicativeLanguageTeaching

CLTisanapproachtotheteachingofsecondandforeignlanguagesteachingthatemphasizesinteractionasboththemeansandultimategoaloflearningalanguage.Itisalsoreferedtoas"communicativeapproachofteachingforeignlanguages"orsimplythe"communicativeapproach".BackgroundTheoriginsofCommunicativeLanguageTeaching——inthechangesintheBritishlanguageteachingtraditiondatingfromthelage1960s.Americanlinguists:structurallinguistictheoryBritishlinguistits:thefunctionalandcommunicativepotentialoflanguage;focusinlanguageteachingoncommunicativeproficiencyratherthanonmeremasteryofstructuresTheorysource:Britishfunctionallinguists:JohnFirth,M.A.KHallidayAmericansociolinguists:DellHymes,JohnGumperz,andWilliamLabov;Philosopher:JohnAustin,JohnSearle.ChangingeducationalrealitiesinEurope:increasingindependenceofEuropeancountries,theneedforgreatereffortstoteachadultsthemajorlanguagesofEuropeanCommonMarket,theCouncilofEurope.Aunit-creditsystem:D.A.Wilkins:HeproposedafunctionalorcommunicativedefenitionoflanguageNotionalSyllabus(Wilkins'scontribution)——ananalysisofthecommunicativemeaningsthatalanguagelearnerneedstounderstandandexpress;

notionalcategoriestwotypesofmeaningscategoriesofcommunicativefunction

Littlewood:"oneofthemostcharacteristicfeaturesofcommunicativelanguageteachingisthatispayssystematicattentiontofunctionalaswellasstructuralaspectsoflanguageInthemid-1970sthescopeofCommunicativeLanguageTeachinghasexpandedbothAmericanandBritishproponentsanditwasregardedasanapproachaimingto(a)makecommunicativecompetencethegoaloflanguageand(b)developproceduresfortehteachingofthefourlanguageskillsthatacknowledgetheinterdependenceoflanguageandcommunicationthestrongversionvs.theweakversionofCommunicativeLanguageTeaching.(p66)

Theweakversion

stressestheimportanceofprovidinglearnerswithopportunitiestousetheirEnglishforcommunicativepurposesand,characteristically,attemptstointegratesuchactivitiesintoawiderprogramofalanguageteaching.

thestrongversionadvancestheclaimthatlanguageisacquiredthroughcommunication,sothatitisnotmerelyaquestionofactivatinganexistingbutinertknowledgeofthelanguage,butofstimulatingthedevelopmentofthelanguagesystemitself.AcontrastofthemajordistinctivefeaturesoftheAudiolingualMethodandtheCommunicativeapproach(p.67)TwomainciteddimensionofCLT:JohnFirth:focussingattentionondiscourseassubjectandcontextforlanguageanalysis,languageneededtobestudiedinthebroadersococulturalcontextofitsuse,whichincludedparticipants,theirbehaviourandbeliefs,theobjectsoflinguisticdiscussiong,andwordchoice.Learner-centredandexperience-centredviewofsecondlanguageteaching—Americannationalcurriculumcommission(1930s):ExperienceCurriculuminEnglish.ApproachTheoryoflanguage

(a)Hymes'communicativecompetence(b)Halliday'sfunctionalaccountoflanguageuse(p70)(c)HenryWiddowson,CanaleandSwain:fourdimensionsofcommunicativecompetence:GrammaticalcompetenceSociolinguisticcompetenceDiscourcecompetenceStrategiccompetenceTheoryoflearning

communicationprinciple(a)communicationpricipletaskprinciplemeaningfulnessprinciple(p72)(b)StephenKrashen:acquistionvs.learning

(c)JohnsonandLittlewood:askill-leariningmodeloflearning

Design

Piepho(1981)discussesthefollowinglevelsofobjectivesinacommunicativeapproach:1.Anintegrativeandcontentlevel2.Alinguisticandinstrumentallevel3.Anaffectivelevelofinterpersonalrelationshipsandconduct4.Alevelofindividuallearningneeds5.Ageneraleducationallevelofextra-linguisticgoalsObjectives

Theseareproposedasgeneralobjectives,applicabletoanyteachingsituation.ParticularobjectivesforCLTcannotbedefinedbeyondthislevelofspecification,sincesuchanapproachassumesthatlanguageteachingwillreflecttheparticularneedsofthetargetlearners.Theseneedsmaybeinthedomainsofreading,writing,listening,orspeaking,eachofwhichcanbeapproachedfromacommunicativeperspective.DiscussionofthenatureofthesyllabushavebeencentralinCommunicativeLanguageTeaching.semantic-grammaticalcategories

categoriesofcommunicativefunction(Wilkins)ItsexpansionoftheCouncilofEurope

notionalsyllabusThesyllabusTheCouncilofEuropeexpandedanddevelopedthisintoasyllabusthatincludedescriptionsoftheobjectivesofforeignlanguagecoursesforEuropeanadults

ThesituationsinwhichtheymighttypicallyneedtouseaforeignlanguageThetopicstheymightneedtotalkaboutThefunctionstheyneededlanguageforThenotionsmadeuseofincommunicationThevocabularyandgrammar

DiscussionofsyllabustheoryandsyllabusmodelsinCLThasbeenextensive.Wilkins’soriginalnotionalsyllabusmodelwassooncriticizedbyBritishappliedlinguists.Theythinkitwasmerelyreplacingonekindoflistwithanother.Itspecifiedproducts,ratherthancommunicativeprocesses.

Onlyaverypartialandimprecisedescriptionofcertainsemanticandpragmaticruleswhichareusedforreferencewhenpeopleinteract.Theytellusnothingabouttheprocedurespeopleemployintheapplicationoftheseruleswhentheyareactuallyengagedincommunicativeactivity.Ifwearetoadoptacommunicativeapproachtoteachingwhichtakesasitsprimarypurposethedevelopmentoftheabilitytodothingswithlanguage,thenitisdiscoursewhichmustbeatthecenterofourattention.(Winddowson1979:254)ThereareatpresentseveralproposalsandmodelsforwhatasyllabusmightlooklikeinCLT.Yalden(1983)describesthemajorcurrentcommunicativesyllabustypes.Type1structuresplusfunctions2functionalspiralaroundastructuralcore3structural,functional,instrumental4functional5notional6interactional7task-based8learnergeneratedReferenceWilkins(1976)Brumfit(1980)Allen(1980)JuppandHodlin(1975)Wilkins(1976)Widdowson(1979)Prabhu(1983)Candlin(1976),HennerStanchinaandRiley(1978)TaskSpecification&TaskOrganizationSomedesignersofcommunicativesyllabuseshavealsolookedtotaskspecificationandtaskorganizationastheappropriatecriteriaforsyllabusdesign.

Theonlyformofsyllabuswhichiscompatiblewithandcansupportcommunicationalteachingseemstobeapurelyproceduralone-whichlistsinmoreorlessdetail,thetypesoftaskstobeattemptedintheclassroomandsuggestsanorderofcomplexityfortasksofthesamekind.(Prabhu1983:4)

Example:theMalaysiancommunicationalsyllabus(EnglishLanguageSyllabusinMalaysianSchools1975)Malaysiancommunicativesyllabus

ItisasyllabusfortheteachingofEnglishattheuppersecondarylevelinMalaysia.ThiswasoneofthefirstattemptstoorganizeCommunicativeLanguageTeachingaroundaspecificationofcommunicationtasks.Example:relayingamessagetoothers(a~f)Classroomactivitiesareoftendesignedtofocusoncompletingtasksthataremediatedthroughlanguageorinvolvenegotiationofinformationandinformationsharing.Theseattemptstakemanyforms.(P.76)Littlewooddistinguishesbetween“functionalcommunicationactivities”and“socialinteractionactivities”asmajoractivitytypesinCLT.TypesoflearningandteachingactivitiesFunctionalcommunicationactivities&Socialinteractionactivities

Functionalcommunicationactivitiesincludesuchtasksaslearnerscomparingsetsofpicturesandnotingsimilaritiesanddifferences;workingalikelysequenceofeventsinasetofpictures;discoveringmissingfeaturesinamaporpicture;onelearnercommunicatingbehindascreentoanotherandgivinginstructionsonhowtodrawapictureorshape,orhowtocompleteamap;followingdirectionsandsolvingproblemsfromsharedclues.

Socialinteractionactivitiesincludeconversationanddiscussionsessions,dialoguesandroleplays,simulations,skits,improvisations,anddebates.LearnerrolesLearnersworksinsmallgroupsandpairstocompletethetaskscooperatively.Studentsshouldcontributeasmuchashegains,andtherebylearninaninterdependentway.

(byBreenandCandlin)Correctionoferrorsmaybeabsentorinfrequent.TeacherrolesTwomainroles:

tofacilitate

thecommunicationprocessbetweenallparticipantsintheclassroom,andbetweentheseparticipantsandthevariousactivitiesandtexts.

toactasanindependentparticipantwithinthelearning-teachinggroup.athirdroleisarisenfromit-researcherandlearnerOtherrolesassumedforteachersinCLT:needsanalyst:determiningandrespondingtolearnerlanguageneeds.Thiscanbedoneeitherinformallyorformally.Onthebasisofneedsassessments,teachersareexpectedtoplangroupandindividualinstructionthatrespondtothelearners’needs.counselor:Theteacherisexpectedtoactasaneffectivecommunicatorseekingtomaximizethemeshingofspeakerintentionandhearerinterpretation,byuseofparaphrase,confirmation&feedback.groupprocessmanager:toorganizetheclassroomasasettingforcommunicationandcommunicativeactivities.

TheroleofinstructionalmaterialsPractitionersofCLTviewmaterialasawayofinfluencingthequalityofclassroominteractionandlanguageuse.ThreekindsofmaterialscurrentlyusedinCLT:☆

text-basedmaterials:textbooksdesignedtodirectandsupportCLTsomerepresentativetextbookswhicharedifferent:

Communicate(1979)MarrowandJohnson

PairWork(1981)Watcyn-Jones

EnglishLanguageSyllabus(1975)

☆

task-basedmaterials:intheformofone-of-a-kinditems:exercisehandbooks,cuecards,activitycards,pair-communicationpracticematerials,andstudent-interactionpracticebooklets.☆

realia:objectsandmaterialfromeverydaylifeusedasteachingaids.Differentkindsofobjectscanbeusedtosupportcommunicativeexercises.ProceduresDescriptionoftypicalclassroomproceduresusedinalessonbasedonCLTprinciplesisnotfeasible.NeithertheactivitiesorthewaysofCLTproceduresareexclusivetoCLTclassroom.CLTproceduresareevolutionaryratherthanrevolutionary.Examples:Alessonoutlineforteachingthefunction‘makingasuggestion’offeredbyFinocchiaroandBrumfiton

P81Pre-communicativeactivitiesStructuralactivitiesQuasi-communicativeactivitiesIndividualskills,namely,pronunciation,grammar,vocabulary,etc.Asequenceofactivities:CommunicativeactivitiesFunctionalcommunicativeactivities:IdentifyingpicturesReconstructingstory-sequencesPoolinginformationtosolveaproblem.etcSocialinteractionactivities:DebateordiscussionRole-playingthroughcueddialoguesandsituation.etcListeningandspeaking:Redefinedintermsoftherealcommunicativeuse.Listeningisviewednotonlyasthecounterpartofspeaking,butasanindependentskillwithitsownobjectives.Studentsshouldhavethechancetolistentoandproducewhatismeaningful,authentic,unpredictable,andcreative.Thepointsneededtopayattentionto:WritingFinally,inCLT,thewritingskillhasbeenexpandedtofocusonitscommunicativegoalsaswell.Studentsshouldhavethechancetowritetoexpresstheirownfeelingsordescribetheirownexperiences,thusmakingthepracticeofwritingmeaningfulandauthentic.ReadingRedefinedtofocusonthepurposeofreading.InCLT,readingistoextractmeaningorinformationandthelearningofgrammarandvocabularyistofacilitatesuchaprocess.InCLTwithdifferentreadingpurposes,studentsusedifferentskills,suchasskimming,scanning,etc.AdvantagesItismorelikelytoproducethefourkindsofcompetenceneededinlanguagelearning．(2)Itisrelevantallowingthelearnertousethelanguageforhisownpurpose．Byhavingthelanguageclasscommunicatively，learnersbecomeawarenotonlyoftheirownpreferredwaysoflearning，butalsothechoiceofwhattolearnandhowtolearn

Asoneofmethodologiesthatmakesignificantimpactonlanguageteaching，theadvantagesofcommunicativeapproachisprovedsincethelastthirtyyears．SpecificadvantagesofitarepresentedbyBat(2003)asthefollowing:(3)Itmotivatesstudentsbetterwhowouldprobablybemorewillingtoputmoreeffortintousingtargetlanguageinacommunicativeway．(4)Itislesswastefuloftimesincethisapproachemphasizedonlywhatisrelevantandnecessary．Itismoreflexibletoallowamaximalamountoftimetogiveattentiontothespecificneedsofthelearners．AdvantagesThepracticalityintheChinesecontexts:constraintsThedesignofsyllabusforteachingpurposes