000028853 COMMUNICATIVE LANGUAGE TEACHING THROUGH GAMES AND SONGS IN SPEAKING CLASSES Dạy ngôn ngữ giao tiếp thông qua trò chơi và bài hát trong các lớp học nói

000028853 COMMUNICATIVE LANGUAGE TEACHING THROUGH GAMES AND SONGS IN SPEAKING CLASSES Dạy ngôn ngữ giao tiếp thông qua trò chơi và bài hát trong các lớp học nói

HANOI UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN STUDIES HOCHIMINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES

COMMUNICATIVE LANGUAGE TEACHING

THROUGH GAMES AND SONGS

IN SPEAKING CLASSES

SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT

OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF

CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY

I certify m y authorship o f th e th esis subm itted today en titled:

C O M M U N IC A T IV E L A N G U A G E T E A C H IN G

T H R O U G H G A M ES A N D SONGS

IN SPE A K IN G CLA SSES

in term s o f the statem en t o f R eq u irem en ts for T h eses

in M a s te r’s P rogram m es issu ed by th e H ig h er D e g re e C o m m ittee.

H oC hiM inh City Jan u ary 30th, 1999

H O À N G T H Ị T H A N H TR A N G

R E T E N T IO N A N D U S E O F T H E T H E S IS

I h e re b y state th a t I, H O À N G T H Ị TH A N H T R A N G , b ein g the

c a n d id a te for the d e g re e o f M a ste r o f T E SO L , acc ep t the req u ire m en ts o f

th e U niv ersity relatin g to th e rete n tio n an d use o f M a s te r’s T h e se s d ep o sited

in th e L ibrary.

In term s o f th e se conditions, I a g re e that th e o rig in al o f m y thesis

d e p o site d in the L ibrary should b e acc essib le fo r p urp oses o f study and

re s e a rc h , in acco rdan ce w ith th e no rm al conditions estab lish ed by the

L ib rary for th e care, loan o r reprodu ction o f theses.

H o C hiM inh City Jan u ary 30th, 1999

H O À N G T H Ị TH A N H TR A N G

A CKNO WLED GEMENTS

I am especially g ratefu l to M s C ao T hị Q u ỳn h L oan , M A , my sponsor, for

h e r d etaile d and sensible guid an ce and en co u ra g em en t.

My h eartfelt thanks go to M r P han H oàng Quý and M s H oàng T hị T hanh

T âm for giving m e access to m any v alu ab le re fe re n c e sources.

I would like to exp ress sp ecial thanks to M r N g u y ễn V ăn M ười, Ph.D , for his preciou s com m ents and to th e E nglish T each in g S taff o f E n glish D ep artm en t o f Ho

C hi M inh U niversity o f Social S ciences and H u m anities for th e ừ in v alu ab le lectures and en co u rag em en t.

I am in d eb ted to my co lleag u e s and friends who give m e v alu ab le advice and assistan ce in d ev elo p in g the study.

Finally, I w ould also lik e to m en tio n th e co o p eratio n from my stu den ts o f Ho

C hi M inh U niversity o f F o reign L an g u a g es and Inform ation T echn olog y (H U FLIT) in

so m e g am es and songs w hich giv es m e m any h elp fu l id eas and e x p e rie n c e

English plays an im p ortan t ro le in V ietn am ese p e o p le ’s life now adays

b e c a u se it is a key to find a high - salary jo b w h en m ore and m o re fo reig n co m panies

o p e ra te and inv est throughout V ietnam M ost o f th e p e o p le co n sid er E nglish is a com m unication m ean to d ev elo p the k n o w led g e in th e ir fields S p eak in g and listening skills, th e re fo re, are alw ays em p h asized during th e teach in g and learning pro cess, and the C om m unicative A pproach is highly co n sid ere d and o ften ap plied in

th e S peakin g classes.

Firstly, I w ould like to m ention an o v erv ie w o f th e 2 0 th - century language teach in g with nine ap proach es with the h op e th a t such k n o w le d g e will g iv e som e

h ealth y p erce p tiv e in ev alu atin g the so - called innovations o r n ew app ro ach es to

m eth o d o lo g y th at will continue to e m e rg e o v ertim e.

S econdly, the study focuses on th e C o m m un icative L a n g u a g e T each in g which

h elp s th e te a c h e r supply stud en ts th e u sefu l lan g u ag e functions in d iffe re n t ‘r e a l’ situation s and then the stud ents fe e l m o re co n fid en t u sin g E ng lish o utside the classroom T h e study also em p h asizes on how th e C o m m u nicativ e A pproach w orks in

sp eak in g classes T he approach gives le arn ers m ore op po rtu n ities to p ractise w hat

th ey h a v e le a rn t in class and im prov es th e ir com m un icative c o m p e te n c e

As the m ain point o f th e study, th e ro le o f g a m e s an d songs in the

C o m m un icative A pproach are stu d ied and an aly zed G am es and songs c rea te an

e x citin g and friendly atm o sp h ere in class to en c o u ra g e stu d en ts p ractise th e lan gu ag e functions in the re a l daily life situations M o reo v er, during th e g am es and songs, the stu d e n ts ’ p o ten tial and activ en ess are ex p lo ited W ith th e se p o sitiv e resu lts o f gam es and songs in sp eak in g classes, te ach ers fe e l m o re co n fid en t to u tilise th e m and

o v erco m e so m e difficulties w hich th ey can m e e t w h en th ey apply th e se activities, such as classroom env iro n m en t, le a rn e rs ’ ch aracters and p sychology.

C h a p t e r 3: C o m m u n ic a tiv e L a n g u a g e T e a c h in g 11 3.1 D efin itio n and N ature o f C om m unicative L an g u a g e T each in g 11 3.2 P ricinples o f C om m unicative L an g u a g e T each in g 16

3.2.1 T h e m e ssag e is as im portant as th e gram m atical form s

3.2.5 S om e characteristics o f th e C o m m unicative L a n g u a g e T each in g

3.2.6 S om e com m u nicativ e activities in classroom 21 V

Chapter 4: Communicative Language Teaching in Speaking Class 23

A T h eo ry o f C om m unicative A pproach in sp eaking classes 23 y

B T he practicalities inv olved in im p lem en tin g th e C o m m u nicative

I D escription o f oral activ ities in my ow n sp eak in g classes 28

II D escription o f the stu d en ts in my ow n sp eaking classes 29 III Im plem en tatio n o f the C o m m unicative A pproach in my own

D P roblem - solving activities: 52 r

C h a p t e r 6: C o m m u n ic a tiv e L a n g u a g e T e a c h in g th r o u g h Songs

8.2 V ie tn a m e se students in E n g lish sp eak in g classes 85

A p p e n d ix

A p p en d ix 1: P icture A and B in th e g am e ‘W hat are th e d iffere n ces ?’ 91

A p p en d ix 2: R esults b efo re and a fte r the im p lem en tatio n o f th e

gam e ‘Self- in tro d u c e ’ and the song ‘M y h e a rt w ill go o n ’ 92

C H A P T E R ONE

AN INTRODUCTION TO THE AREA OF STUDY

‘W hy do you study E nglish ?’ is th e question I ask ed my stu d en ts with

d iffe re n t lev els (from b eg in n ers to in term ed iate), d ifferen t m ajors (so m e study

E n glish as m ain sub ject and so m e study B usiness A dm inistration o r T ourism ) and

d iffe re n t ag es (from 18 to 40) 83% or m ore study English for th e ir jo b and th eir pro m otio n English is the in tern atio n al lan g u ag e in m any fields, such as trading, scien c es, banking, etc It is no su rprise that m any V ietn am ese rush to le a rn English

C o n seq u en tly , T eaching E nglish as the S econd L ang uage (TESO L) has b e e n born and d e v e lo p e d as a social scien ce in o rd e r to establish an e ffe c tiv e teach in g and learn in g m ethodology.

A im o f Study:

than e v e r b efo re In e v ery classroom , th e te a c h e r tries all his b e s t to im p ro v e the stu d e n ts ’ sp eak in g skill M ost o f th e te ach ers I ask ed a g re e d that th e C om m u nicativ e

A pproach w as on e o f the e ffe c tiv e m eth od to m ak e th eir stu den ts sp eak In fact, the stu d en ts in 1990’s p erhaps are not as good as th e o n es in 1 98 0 ’s are at g ram m ar, but they s p e a k m uch m ore fluently Is this a good resu lt from th e C om m un icativ e

A p p ro ach in sp eak in g classes ? Is th e C o m m u nicative A pproach th e m ost e ffectiv e

o n e in TESOL ?

In th e C om m unicative A pproach, th e functional u se o f la n g u ag e is

e m p h a siz e d T he re a l situations in daily life, th e re fo re , are v ery u se fu l in sp eaking classes T h e native sp e a k e rs do n o t n e e d to m ak e conscious re fe re n c e , b u t the stu dents o f TESO L n eed in form ation abo ut sociolinguistic ru les th a t m ay d iffe r from

th o se in th e ir own culture L an g u a g e cannot b e sep arated from cu lture b e c a u se they

sh ap e each other.

L an g u a g e is used not only to g iv e inform ation but also to m an ip u late o th e r

p e o p le W h e n w e sp eak , w e pay attention to b oth the content and th e function o f the

la n g u ag e It is difficult, h o w ev er, for the students o f TESO L to sp e a k E n glish fluently and correctly w h en they are too nervous or u n d er high p ressu re o f studying

E n v iro n m en t affects the sp eak in g skill a g re a t d eal You can sp e a k b e tte r if you h av e

a good s le e p , for ex am p le T h e en v iro n m en t in th e classroom is an im p o rtan t part o f teach in g and learnin g speak in g How to m ak e the classroom m ore frien dly and

ex citin g is alw ays my questio n b e fo re a sp eak in g class In my e x p e rie n c e , g am es and songs are th e n ecessary activities to m ake studen ts enjoy th e ir le arn in g m o re in

sp eak in g class.

At u niv ersity , I w as very in te re ste d in sp eak in g b eca u se I liked th e activities

in class, esp ecially th e g am es and songs A t th at tim e, I only e n jo y e d the frien dly and

ex citin g a tm o sp h ere in class, b u t I did not k no w how m uch th e g am e and songs affected th e sp eak in g skill B ecom ing a te ach er, I tried to find out th e w ay to m ake

my tim id stu d en ts sp eak and to im p ro v e my stu d e n ts’ sp eak in g skill, an d I realized that a fte r playing th e gam es my stud en ts felt m o re co nfident to sp e a k E n glish , e v e n

in fro nt o f th e class S om e songs h ad so m e effects on th eir p ro n u n ciatio n as w ell as vocab ulary Is this m y su b jectiv e p o in t o f v iew ? T hanks to th e study, I u n d erstan d

m ore clearly how g am es and songs w ork in th e sp eak in g classes and how m uch they help m y stu d en ts.

S o m e g am es and songs h av e th e results th a t are q uite d iffe re n t fro m w hat w e

difficulties th ey m ay m e e t d u rin g th e g am es and songs, th e te a c h e r w ill b e m ore

co n fid en t and fle x ib le and th e stu d en ts will en jo y th eir activities m ore.

B e fo re e v e ry sp e a k in g class, I o ften try to choose a suitable g am e or song for

my stu d en ts W e do n o t h a v e m an y books th a t collect som e g am es and songs for the

te ach ers; w e m ust do th e co llectio n by o u rselv es I know it tak es th e te a c h e rs tim e to

do it T h e re is th e q u e stio n th a t how w e can sav e tim e to p re p a re for it Som e teaching m e th o d o lo g y b o ok s and my six- y e a r e x p e rie n c e o f teach in g h elp m e a

g reat d e a l I w ould lik e to sh a re all th e inform ation with o th e r c o lle a g u e s in o rd e r to

im prove o u r te ach in g m eth o d o lo g y

C H A P T E R TW O

OVERVIEW OF TWENTIETH - CENTURY

LANGUAGE TEACHING

D ifferen t from physics or chem istry teaching, lan g u ag e teach in g is in flu en ced

by many trends and fluctuations that occur in youth culture T h e history o f 20th - century lan g u ag e teaching g ives us som e h ealth y k n o w led g e in ev alu atin g the new approaches to m ethodology th at will continue to e m e rg e o v e r tim e.

In th e book T e a c h in g E n g lis h as a S e c o n d L a n g u a g e (H ein le & H einle

P ublishers - 1991), M ariann e C elce- M urcia re fe rre d to nine ap p ro ach es o f lang uag e teaching in the final q u arter o f th e 20th- century:

1 G ram m ar- T ranslatio n A pproach

7 A ffective- H um anistic A pproach

8 C o m p reh en sio n - b a se d A pproach

9 C om m un icative A pproach

In e v e ry approach, sh e p o in ted som e sp ecial fe a tu re s and th e ro le o f the

te a c h e r in class.

I Grammar- Translation Approach:

In this app ro ach, th e te a c h e r gives the instructions in th e n ativ e la n g u ag e o f the students T h e re is little u se o f th e ta rg e t lan g u ag e, so th e te a c h e r d o es not h av e to

be able to sp eak the targ et lan g u ag e L an g u ag e teaching focuses on gram m atical parsing, i.e., the form and in flection o f w ords.

In teaching read in g co m p reh en sio n , th e re is early read in g o f difficult classical texts A nd a typical ex erc ise is to tran slate sen ten c es from the ta rg e t la n g u ag e into the m o th er tongue.

T h e resu lt o f this ap proach, th e re fo re , is usually an inability on th e p art o f the stu d en t to u se lang uag e for com m unication H ow ever, with this te ach in g approach, students a re good at g ram m ar b eca u se they g et the gram m atical rules in th e ir m other tongue T his approach is q uite su itab le for th e elem en tary le v el.

II Direct Approach:

It is a reaction to the gram m ar- translation approach and its failu re to produce learn ers w ho could u se the fo reig n lan g u ag e th ey had b e e n studying.

T h e m oth er tongue o f le a rn e rs is p erm itted to use in the class T h e te a c h e r

do es not n e e d to know the s tu d e n ts ’ n ativ e lan g u ag e T h e te a c h e r m u st b e a n ativ e

s p e a k e r o r h av e n ativ elik e proficiency in th e ta rg e t lan gu ag e.

L esso ns b e g in with dialo gu es and an ecd o tes in m od ern co n v ersatio n al sty le D uring

th e co u rse, actions and pictures are u se d to m ak e m eaning s clear G ram m a r and the

ta rg et cultu re is le a rn e d ind uctiv ely L iterary texts are re a d for p le a su re and are not

an aly sed gram m atically.

In th e classroom o f th e D irect A pproach, le arn ers h a v e to u se th e ta rg e t lan g u ag e to com m unicate w ith th e teach ers and th e ir classm ates, so th e ir speak in g and listen in g skills are im prov ed Y e t not m any students can afford to go ab ro ad for studying an d few te ach ers can u se a fo reign la n g u ag e w ell en o u g h to apply th e D irect

A pproach in c la s s

IV Audiolingualism Approach:

It is a reactio n to the R ead in g A pproach and its lack o f em p h asis on oral- aural skills This approach b eca m e d o m in an t in the U nited S tates during 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s It takes m uch from th e D irect A pproach and adds fe a tu re s from structural linguistics and b eh av io ral psychology.

L esso ns o n ce again b eg in w ith dialogs and g ram m atical structures are seq u e n c e d and ru les are tau g h t inductively M im icry and m e m o rizatio n are u sed ,

b ased on th e assu m p tion th at la n g u a g e is h abit form ation.

Skills a re seq u en ce d : listen in g and sp eak in g are em p h a siz e d - w riting and reading are po stp o n ed P ro nu nciation is stressed from th e b eg in n in g L an g u a g e is often m an ip u lated w ithout reg ard to m ean in g or context.

T h e te a c h e r m ust be p ro ficien t only in th e structures, v o cabu lary , etc th at h e

is teach in g since learn ing activ ities and m aterials are carefu lly contro lled A g reat effort is m ade to p re v e n t le a rn e rs ’ errors V ocabulary is s e v e re ly lim ited in initial stages.

I t i s a r e a c t i o n t o t h e i m p r a c t i c a l i t y o f t h e D i r e c t A p p r o a c h

T his approach gives le arn ers opportunities to p ractise th e ir fo u r lan g u ag e learn ing skills, esp ecially sp eak in g and listening ones H o w e v er, th e adults find

so m e difficulties in learning a foreign lan g u ag e b ecau se th ey h a v e to m em o rize a

g re a t d eal.

V Situational Approach:

It is a reaction to the R ead ing A pproach and its lack o f em p h asis on oral- aural skills T his approach b eca m e d o m in an t in B ritain during 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s It takes m uch from the D irect A pproach and adds featu res from th e p ro fessio n al field o f lan g u ag e p ed ag o g y

T h e sp o k en lan g u ag e is prim ary All lan g u ag e m a teria l is p ractised orally

b efo re b e in g p re se n te d in w ritten form ( i.e readin g and w riting are tau g h t only after

an oral b a s e in lexical and gram m atical form s has b e e n e stab lish ed ) T h e te a c h e r

m ust b e su re that th e m ost g e n e ra l, u sefu l and lex ical item s are p resen te d

G ram m atical structures are g rad ed from sim ple to co m plex and n ew item s (lexical and gram m atical) are introduced and practised situationally ( for e x a m p le at th e post office, at th e bank, etc.)

O n e m ore sp ecial featu re in th e ap proach is that only th e ta rg e t lan guag e should b e u se d in th e classroom

It is qu ite a good ap proach for le arn ers who w ant to im p ro v e th e ir sp eak in g skill b e c a u s e it pro vides th e m m any re a l situations to practise th e ir ta rg e t lan g u ag e.

VI Cognitive Approach:

It is a reactio n to the b eh av io rist featu res o f th e A u diolingual A pproach.

R ead in g and w riting are o nce again as im portant as listen in g an d speakin g

V ocabulary instruction is im portant, especially at in term ed iate and ad v an ced lev els and in stru ction is often individualized L e a rn e rs are re sp o n sib le for th e ir ow n

learning L ang uage learnin g is v iew ed as rule acquisition, not h ab it form ation

G ram m ar m ust be tau g h t d ed u ctiv ely (rules first, pratice later) o r in du ctiv ely

T h e te a c h e r is e x p e c te d to h av e good g en era l p ro ficien cy in th e ta rg et lan g u ag e as w ell as an ability to analyze th e targ et la n g u ag e b u t teach in g pronunciation is d e- em p h asized b eca u se p erfectio n is v ie w e d as u n realistic Errors are v iew ed as in ev itab le, som eth in g that should be used con structively in th e learning process.

In this approach, fluency has an im portant position in learn in g th e targ et

la n g u ag e, but accuracy is forgo tten in the elem en tary lev el T h e te a c h e r will spend

m uch m ore tim e to correct le a rn e rs ’ pronunciation in h ig h e r lev els.

VII Affective- Humanistic Approach:

It is a reactio n to the g e n e ra l lack o f affectiv e co n sid eratio n in both the

A udiolingualism and C o gn itive A pproach.

R esp ect is em p h asized for th e individual (each stu d e n t and th e te ach er) and for his feelin g s, so class a tm o sp h ere is v iew ed as m ore im p o rtan t than m aterials or

m ethods C om m unication th at is m e an in g fu l to th e le a rn e r is e m p h asized L ea rn ers can say w h a te v e r th ey w ant to, b e c a u se learning a fo reign la n g u a g e is v ie w e d as a self- realizatio n e x p e rie n c e Instruction involves-m uch w ork in p airs and sm all groups and p e e r su pp ort and interaction is n e e d e d for learning.

In this approach, th e te a c h e r is v iew ed as a co u n selo r o r facilitator T he

te a c h e r should b e pro ficien t in th e ta rg e t lan g u ag e and th e stu d e n ts ’ n ativ e lan g u ag e since tran slatio n m ay b e u sed h eav ily in the initial stag es to h e lp th e stu d en ts fe e l at ease; la te r it is g radu ally p h ased out.

T he friendly en v iro n m en t en co u ra g es stu dents to study th e ta rg e t lang uage

T hey fe e l learn in g a foreig n la n g u ag e is n ecessary and full o f fun Y et it is quite difficult for the te a c h e r to control th e class E ach stu d en t h as his ow n aim s and n eed s;

the te a c h e r cannot find out any m aterials to satisfy all stu d e n ts’ n e e d s at th e sam e tim e.

VIII Comprehension- based Approach:

It is an outgrow th o f rese a rc h in first la n g u ag e acq uisition, w hich led som e lan g u ag e m ethodologists to assu m e th at second o r foreign la n g u ag e le arn in g is very sim ilar to first lan g u ag e acquisition.

L isten in g co m p reh en sio n is v ery im portant and is v ie w e d as the b asic skill that will allow sp eak in g , reading and w riting to d ev elo p spo n tan eo u sly o v e r tim e given the right conditions L ea rn ers should b eg in by listenin g to m ean in g fu l sp e e c h and be resp o n d in g non- verbally in m ean in g fu l way b efo re they pro d u ce any lan gu age

th e m se lv e s L ea rn ers should not sp e a k until they fe e l they are read y to do so This results b e tte r than w hen th e le arn ers are forced to sp e a k im m ed iately E rror correction is se e n as u n n ece ssary and p erh ap s e v e n co u n terp ro d u ctiv e T he

im portant th ing is th at the le arn ers can u n d erstan d and m ake th e m se lv e s u n d erstoo d.

L e a rn e rs progress by b ein g ex p o se d to m ean in g fu l in p u t th a t is ju s t on e step

b ey o n d th e ir le v e l o f co m p eten c e R ule learn in g m ay h e lp le a rn e rs m on itor w hat they do, b u t it will not aid th e ir acquisition o f th e ta rg e t lan g u ag e.

If th e te a c h e r is not a n ativ e sp eak er, ap p ro p riate m a teria ls such as aud io tap es and v id e o ta p e s m ust b e availab le to p rov id e th e ap p ro p riate in p u t for th e le arn ers.

T o tim id le arn ers, this appro ach do es p o t give any e n c o u ra g e m e n t T hey

n e v e r f e e l read y to sp e a k a fo reig n lan g u ag e and th e n th e y h a v e g o t failure in

sp eak in g skill.

IX Communicative Approach:

T his ap proach grew out o f th e w ork o f an throp olog ical linguists (e.g H ym es, 1972) and F irthian linguists (e.g H aliday, 1973), who v ie w e d la n g u ag e first and forem o st as a sy stem for com m unication.

It is assum ed that th e goal o f language teachin g is le a rn e rs ’ ability to com m u nicate in the ta rg e t lan g u ag e and that the co n ten t o f a la n g u a g e teaching cou rse will include sem antic notions and social functions, not ju s t lin guistic structures

In this approach, four skills are in teg rated from the b eg in n in g ; a g iv e n activity m ight inv olv e reading, sp eaking , listening and p erhaps also w riting (this assu m es th at the

le arn ers are ed u ca ted and literate).

S tudents regularly w ork in groups or pairs to tra n sfe r (and, if n ecessary ,

n eg o tiate) m eaning in situations w h ere one person has inform ation th a t th e others lack T hey often e n g a g e in ro le- play or dram atization to adju st th e ir u se o f th e targ et

la n g u ag e to d iffere n t social contexts C lassroom m aterials and activ ities are often

au th en tic to refle ct real- life situations and d em ands.

T h e te a c h e r’s role is prim arily to facilitate co m m unication and seco n d arily to correct errors T h e te a c h e r should b e able to u se the ta rg e t lan g u ag e flu en tly and approp riately.

In th e C o m m u nicativ e A pproach, gram m ar and v o cabu lary are quite seco n d ary , b ein g tau g h t not in and o f th e m selv es, but only in so far as th e y help

e x p ress th e notions and th e functions that are in focus T h e stu d en ts d e c id e w h at they

w ant to learn in and to do w ith th e ta rg e t language.

This approach is very p o p u la r all o v er w orld now It is c o n sid e re d a good

m ethod to teach a foreign lan g u ag e In C hap ter III, w e h a v e got fu rth er inform ation.

I n s u m , w hat is a solution for the te a c h e r w hen th e re a re m any cu rren t

ap p ro ach es n ow adays ? T he te a c h e r should study m ore than o n e specific m e th o d and

th e re are things that th e te a c h e r should do b efo re h e m a k es a ch oice o f a m eth o d (or

a co m bination o f d iffere n t ap pro ach es):

- A ssess stu d e n ts’ n eed s

- E x a m in e in stru ctio n al co nstrain ts, for e x am p le tim e , class size, m aterials, audio - visual sup po rt, etc.

- D e te rm in e n e e d s , attitu d es and ap titu d es o f in div idu al stu d en ts to th e ex ten t

that is p o ssib le

i

T h e te a c h e r is certain ly in a b e tte r position to follow this adv ice if h e know s

th e history and th e sta te o f th e art o f o u r teach in g

C H A P T E R T H R E E

COMMUNICATIVE LANGUAGE TEACHING

F rom th e late 1960s, the chan ges in th e B ritish la n g u ag e teach in g tradition resu lted in the beg in ning s o f C om m unicative L an g u ag e T each in g T o g e th e r w ith the

se v e n m etho ds o f foreign lan g u ag e teaching such as th e D irect M eth o d , S itu ation al

A pproach and so on C om m unicative L an g u a g e T each in g is currently p ractised today

In this phapter, w e will learn about C om m unicative L an g u a g e T each in g by en terin g som e aspects w hich rela te to its definition and its nature.

I Definition and Nature of Communicative Language Teaching:

No single d efinitio n o f C om m unicative L an g u a g e T each in g today has b e e n

u n iv ersally acc ep ted F or som e, C om m unicative L an g u a g e T each in g m e an s an integration o f g ram m atical and functional teach ing T h ey ack n o w le d g e th a t structu res and vo cabulary are im portant and C om m unicative L an g u a g e T ea ch in g pay s system atic atten tio n to functional as w ell as structural asp ects o f la n g u ag e (

L ittlew oo d, 1981 ; cited in R ichards and R o gers, 1986) F o r o th ers, C o m m u n icativ e

L an g u a g e T ea ch in g m eans th at learn ers in pairs o r groups follow p ro ced u res w hich

re q u ire th e m to u se av ailab le lan g u ag e reso u rces in p ro b lem -so lv in g tasks O th e r

p ro p on ents o f C o m m un icativ e L an g u a g e T each in g think th a t it is a p ro cess in w hich

at le ast tw o p arties a re in vo lv ed in an interactio n o r tran sactio n o f so m e kind “O ne party has an in ten tio n and th e o th e r party ex p an d s or reac ts to th e in te n tio n ” (R ichards and R o g ers, 1986 ) In spite o f the d iffe re n t d efin itio n s, both A m erican and

B ritish su p p o rters o f C o m m unicative L an g u ag e T each in g a g re e th a t its aim s a re to

m ak e co m m u n icativ e co m p eten c e th e goal o f la n g u ag e teach in g and to d e v e lo p w ays for th e te ach in g o f th e four lan g u ag e skills that m ak e lan g u ag e and co m m un ication

d e p e n d on eac h oth er L an g u a g e is acquired th rou gh com m unication In add ition , th e

view of secon d lan g u ag e teachin g applied to C o m m unicative L an g u a g e T each in g is a

le a rn e r-c e n te re d and e x p e rie n c e -b a s e d view

T he C om m un icative L an g u ag e T eaching should be c o n sid ere d as a m etho d as

w ell as an approach T h e re exists a d iffere n ce b e tw e e n th e se tw o te rm s, h o w ev er A

m ethod is d efin e d in term s o f th ree lev els : approach, d esig n , and p ro ced u re In o th er

w ords, it is a g e n e ra l te rm for th e specification and in terrelatio n o f th eo ry and practice “A m eth od is p ro c e d u ra l.” (R ichards and R ogers, 1986 : 15 ) T h e th eo ry o f

C om m unicative L an g u a g e T each in g is about the basic id e a that co m m u nicativ e ability is the goal o f fo reig n lan g u ag e learning T he im plications o f this g oal have

b e e n ex plored thoroughly and clearly and put into practice since th e a p p ea ran ce o f

C om m unicative L an g u a g e T eaching T hat is the reaso n why C om m unicativ e

L anguage T each in g is d e fin e d as a m ethod C om m unicative L an g u a g e T each in g is also an appro ach in the se n se that it o p ens up a w ide p ersp ectiv e on la n g u a g e and on language learn in g Both A m erican and British supporters now s e e it as an approach and not a m eth od C om m unication is th e theory o f la n g u ag e th a t C om m u nicativ e

L anguage T each in g b ases on and th e g o al o f lan g u ag e teach in g is, th e re fo re , to

d evelo p “com m un icative c o m p e te n c e ” ( H ym es, 1972 ; cited in R ichards and R ogers,

1986 ) C o m m un ication and culture n e e d to b e in co rp orated and a le a rn e r, in

C om m unicative L an g u a g e T each in g view point, n e e d s to kn ow this re la tio n in o rd er

to b e com m un icativ ely co m p eten t in a sp eech com m unity A p e rso n who is com m unicatively co m p e te n t acquires linguistic, sociolinguistic, d isco u rse and strategic c o m p e te n c e In term s o f linguistic c o m p eten c e, a co m p e te n t le a rn e r has to

m aster pho no log y, vocabu lary and gram m ar In H y m e s’s v iew , it is “w h e th e r ( and to

w hat d e g re e ) so m eth in g is form ally p o s sib le ” ( H y m es, 1972 : 28 1; cited in R ichards and R ogers, 1986) Sociolinguistic co m p eten c e m ean s “th e u n d erstan d in g o f w hat language is ap p ro p riate in certain situ a tio n s” (H arm er, 1992 : 18) D iscourse com p eten ce refers to a p e rs o n ’s k n o w led g e o f org an isatio n al s e q u e n c e which

enables him to order what he says or writes Strategic competence is a person’s ability to know how to use language rather than just knowing about language In other words, he knows how to employ strategies to, initiate, terminate, maintain, repair and redirect communication.

In the communicative view of language, language is a system for the expression of meaning Interaction and communication are the extremely important function of language and, therefore, the structure of language reflects its functional and communicative uses In the communicative view of language learning theory, three principles are needed to facilitate the learning process Firstly, it is the communication principle which requires activities to involve real communication Secondly, the task principle promotes activities in which language is used for carrying out meaningful tasks The meaningfulness principle explains that language must be meaningful to the learner Krashen ( cited in Richards and Rogers, 1986 ) considers acquisition as the basic process involved in developing language proficiency This process, however, differs from learning In his view, the former is

“the unconscious development of the target language system ” W e acquire a

>

language through use of that language for real communication The latter refers to

“the conscious representation of grammatical knowledge that has resulted from instruction” Learning cannot lead to acquisition Krashen and other second language acquisition theorists usually emphasize that language learning happens through using language communicatively, rather than through practising language skills

The methodological framework which contributes towards an overall communicative approach to foreign language teaching consists of pre-communicative and fully-communicative activities Through pre-communicative activities, the learners practise specific elem ents of knowledge or skill separately Different types

of drill or question -and-answer practice are included in this category Pre- communicative activities such as mechanical activities and paradigm memorisation

provide learners with a fluent command of the linguistic system without having these learners use the system for communicative purposes In addition, some of these activities which link mechanical activities with function are subcategorised as “quasi- communicative” It is because they include communicative as well as structural facts about language, in contrast with purely structural activities In fully-communicative activities, the learner is engaged in practising the total skill of communication Both functional communicative and social interaction activities are involved in thiscategory As a matter of fact, there is no clear distinction between these different

i

categories The categories just represent differences of emphasis and orientation and the changing orientations of individual learners determine the nature of one activity

to be pre-communicative or fully-communicative

Sociolinguistic aspects of Communicative Language Teaching are the origin

of the communicative movement It is a sociolinguistic approach that deals with ways

of examining language in use to help teachers to teach language for use through the analysis of learners’ needs and target text analysis The consumers of what we have

to offer in language teaching are not only students but also the society of which they are a part Students’ needs in language learning depend on political situations, societal demands, and career opportunities; their wants derive from their or their parents’ perceptions of these factors Once teachers are able to specify the target behaviour of the learners, teachers can then use that target behaviour to determine orientation to the learning tasks In my own view of English Language Teaching, a questionnaire on students’ perceived needs is a good start The questionnaire needs

to be supplemented by teachers’ observation and attentive listening to students and community Target text analysis involves issues of language function, social use, context, situation and register One item is likely to perform the communicative function as well as the structure of the linguistic forms For example, “Why don’t you open the window?” From a structural viewpoint, it is truly an interrogative From a

functional viewpoint, however, it may function as a question - the speaker may really wish to know why the listener doesn’t open the window on such a hot day ; it may function as a command - the speaker wants to have the window opened ; or it may function as a suggestion, a complaint A single linguistic form can express a number

of functions, so also can a single communicative function be expressed by a number

of linguistic forms In terms of social use, the classroom should be employed as a social context The target language may be used for classroom management and as a teaching medium Conversation and discussion sessions may be experienced in the target language and dialogues and role-plays are based on school experience

W henever possible, “authentic language” - language as it is used in a real context - should be introduced

A psycholinguistic approach of Communicative Language Teaching deals with our revolutionised ideas about the connections between teaching and learning In this view, we do not learn the language in the classroom and then go out and use it We learn the language as we use it ; we, therefore, must use the language in order to learn it “Structure can best be learnt when attention is focused on m eaning.” ( Prabhu ; quoted in Johnson, 1996 : 135 ) Communicative Language Teaching is considered to help students learn language because we are involved in communication, and are not paying much attention, if any, to the forms of language

or the “co d e” in which we communicate In this way, we are approaching the full competence of the native speaker However, there appears a central problem of second language learning : to what extent should language teaching be a formal study

of the language or simply involve the learner in natural communication ? In the psycholinguistic approach, communication as an authentic direct experience which is deliberately and systematically built into the curriculum at a very early stage of language learning must be part of language teaching The skill-getting practices must

be associated with skill-using opportunities Within the language class, the main

emphasis is on content, so that the learner has something of value to communicate

“Take care of the substance, then the language will take care of itself.” ( Alatis, 1981 : 92 ) It is the unconscious absorption of language in real use and it offers the learner

an opportunity to develop coping techniques that he needs when he finds himself alone in the new language environment

II Principles of Communicative Language Teaching:

The Communicative Language Teaching is an idea or a set of principles that owes much to a social view of language and to the concept of communicative competence described by Hymes (1970) The goal of the Communicative Language Teaching is to produce people who are communicatively, not merely, linguistically competent

1 The message is as important as the grammatical forms that convey the

True communication is purposeful A speaker can thus evaluate whether his purpose has been achieved based upon the information he receives from her listener

+ Any correction will disturb the nature of fluency exercises Trying to communicate becomes impossible if someone else keeps interrupting you and telling you that you have left an article out or got a wrong tense.

+ Interrupting people to correct their grammar when they are trying to communicate will make these people unwilling to try to communicate Once that happens, the learners become embarrassed then the whole aim of fluency exercises

is lost The whole area of students’ feelings towards language learning in general and communicating in particular is of crucial importance A related classroom atmosphere where students are not frightened or feel worried about embarrassing themselves is, therefore, not only a ‘nice’ thing for the teacher to try and establish but also a vital one as it will help students learn, especially if these students are secondary children and young teenagers

3 The goal of the Communicative Approach is students’ communicative

Language is for communication Linguistic competence, the knowledge of language forms and meanings, is just one part of communicative competence Another aspect of communicative competence is knowledge of the functions language is used for A variety of forms can be used to accomplish a single function

A speaker can make a prediction by saying, for example, ‘It may rain’ or ‘Perhaps it will rain’ Conversely, the same form of the language can be used for a variety of functions ‘M ay’, for instance, can be used to make a prediction or to give a permission as in ‘They may sit in the back’ (Celce- Murcia and Larsen Freeman, 1983).

Thus, learners need knowledge of forms, meanings and functions However, they must also use this knowledge and take into consideration the social situation in order to convey their intended meanings appropriately A speaker can seek permission using ‘m ay’ (‘May I have a piece of fruit ?’ ), but if the speaker perceives his listener as being more of a social equal or the situation as being informal, he would more likely use ‘can’ to seek permission (‘Can I have a piece of fruit ?’ )

Culture is the everyday lifestyle of people who use the language natively There are certain aspects of it that are especially important to communication- the use of nonverbal behaviour, for example, which would therefore receive greaterattention in the Communicative Approach The process of absorbing other culture is

i

the process of putting out students’ own cultures and getting another one into theirs Therefore, the teacher should give his students a chance to think who they are and compare what they have and what they have learned

4 The role of th e te a c h e r and students in Com m unicative classroom :

The teacher is a facilitator of his students’ learning As such he has many roles

to fulfill He is the manager of classroom activities In this role, one of his major responsibilities is to establish situations likely to promote communication During the activities, he acts as an advisor, answering students’ questions and monitoring theirperformance At other times, he might be a ‘co- communicator’- engaging in the

i

communicative activity along with students The teacher is the initiator of classroom activities but he does not always himself interact with the students He gives the students as many opportunities as possible to express their individuality by having

them share their ideas and opinions This helps students ‘to integrate the foreign language with their own personality and thus to feel more emotionally secure with it’ (Littlewood, 1981, 94).

Errors of forms are tolerated and are seen as a natural outcome of the development of communication skills Students can have limited linguistic knowledge and still be successful communicators Therefore, the teacher should not correct every students’ error

Students are communicators They are actively engaged in negotiating meaning- in trying to make themselves understood- even when their knowledge of the target language is incomplete They learn to communicate by communicating They interact a great deal with one another in various configurations: pairs, triads, small groups, and the whole group Since the teacher’s role is less dominant than in a teacher- centered method, students are seen as more responsible managers of their own learning One of the basic assumptions of Communicative Approach is that students will be more motivated to study a foreign language if they feel they are learning to do something useful with the language they study

5 Some characteristics of the Communicative Language teaching and learning

process:

The most obvious characteristic of the Communicative Approach is that almost everything that is done will be done with a communicative intent Students use the language a great deal through communicative activities such as games, role- plays, and problem- solving tasks

Activities that are truly communicative, according to Morrow (Johnson and Morrow, 1981), have three features: information gap, choice, and feedback An information gap exists when a person in an exchange knows something that is the other person does not If we both know today is Monday and I ask you ‘W hat is today

?’ and you answer ‘Monday’ Our exchange is not really communicative In

communication, a speaker has freedom to decide what to say and how to say If an exercise is tightly controlled, students say something in only one way The real communication, therefore, does not occur.

Another characteristic of the Communicative Approach is the use of authentic materials It is considered desirable to give students an opportunity to develop strategies for understanding language as it is actually used by native speakers in their daily life

6 Some communicative activities in classroom: i

6.1 S c r a m b le d S e n te n c e s:

Students are given a passage (a text) in which the sentences are in a scrambled order This may be a passage they have worked with or one they haven’t seen before They are told to reorder the sentences so that the sentences are restored

to their original order This types of exercise teaches students about cohesion and coherence properties of language In addition to written passages , students might also be asked to unscramble the lines of a mixed- up dialog or to put the pictures of a picture strip story in order and write lines to accompany the pictures

6.2 L a n g u a g e G am es:

i

Game are used frequently in the Communicative Approach Students find them enjoyable, and if they are properly designed, they give students valuable communicative practice

6.3 P ro b lem - so lv in g T a sk s:

Problem- solving tasks work well in the Communicative Approach because they usually include the three features of communication: information gap, choice and feedback They can be structured so that students share information or work together to arrive at a solution This gives students a practice in negotiating meaning

Role- plays are very important in the Communicative Approach because they give students an opportunity to practise communicating in different social contexts and in different social roles Role- plays can be set up so that they are very structured (for example, the teacher tells his students who they are and what they should say) or

in less structured way (for example, the teacher tells the students who they are, what the situation is but the students determine what they say) The latter is more in keeping with the Communicative Approach because it gives students more of a choice Students also receive feedback on whether or not they have effectively communicated

»

In conclusion, in this chapter, we have been provided the definition of the Communicative Language Teaching (the Communicative Approach) and its principles by some linguists such as Hyme, Halliday, etc Once again, we obtain an opportunity to gain an understanding of the Communicative Approach and we can check our own belief about this approach and about how to put it into practice Perhaps such consideration will help the teacher to understand better why he does what he does in the Communicative classes

6.4 Role- plays:

i

CHAPTER FOUR

COMMUNICATIVE LANGUAGE TEACHING IN

SPEAKING CLASSES

It has become apparent in recent years that there have been marked changes

in the goals of language education program Today, language learners are considered successful if they can communicate effectively in the target language Two decades ago, the language produced was likely the major criterion to the judgm ent of learners’ success or failure Therefore, speaking skill has become increasingly important in the modern language teaching

A T H E O R Y OF COM M UNICATIVE APPROACH IN SPEAKING CLASSES :

Communicative competence entails not only grammatical accuracy but also a knowledge o f sociocultural rules of appropriateness, discourse norms, and strategies for ensuring that a communication is understood

Therefore, rather than implementing activities and exercises which focus strictly on accuracy, many teachers have concentrated on promoting communicative competence in language learners by using ‘communicative activities’, which rely more on the students’ ability to understand and communicate real information The aim of such ‘fluency activities’, as Brumfit calls them, is to develop the language interaction in the classroom like in the daily life In other words, communication in the classroom should mirror the authentic communication that occurs in the real world

However, this is does not mean that accuracy has no place in communicative speaking class Some research (e.g., Higgs and Clifford, 1982) suggests that forcing communication too early without any regard for accuracy can result in early

fossilization Some researchers believe that it is possible to teach explicitly grammar

through communicative means (e.g., Celce- Murcia and Hilles, 1988)

W hen using communicative activities, it is important to strive for a classroom

in which students feel comfortable and confident, feel free to take risks, and have

sufficient opportunities to speak According to Pica, Young and Doughty (1987),

there are two kinds of classroom available to second language learners :

- Input has been modified or simplified such as in a traditional ‘teacher- fronted’ classroom; and

-Authentic student- to- student interaction is emphasized It provides the

learners more opportunities for speaking since the speakers try to achieve mutual

understanding and modify their language according to the demand of the situation

Objectives for speaking are often given by the particular program in which the

teacher must work In some cases, the syllabus will consists of a list of grammatical

structures to be taught, perhaps as part of a multiskills class; specific goals for

speaking may not be explicitly given It is then up to the teacher to decide how to

integrate speaking with other skills to form a coherent curriculum The teacher needs

to be flexible in making best use of what is available for teaching purpose In other

words, the teacher must have some freedom in deciding what objectives to meet,

what content to cover, and what activities to use In this case, the teacher can go

beyond the more specific goals and objectives of the particular program to the

speaking needs that the students have in the ‘real world’

Accordingly, a necessary first step in implementing a course in speaking is a

needs analysis which identifies the requirements of the learners While university-

level students may be required to lead discussions, explain ideas or present opinions,

the adult students have more practical needs that concern survival skills in everyday

life, such as using the telephone, or going to the bank

There are many speaking activities for use in classroom We can organize these into four types:

(1) drills, or linguistically structured activities,

L in g u istic ally s tr u c t u r e d a c tiv itie s:

Prator (1972) classifies classroom activities by means of a continuum, with

‘manipulative’ activities at one extrem e and communicative activities at the other extreme Nowadays, communicative activities tend more effectively m eet the goals

of the curriculum and students are received ‘prepackaged’ structures from their teacher, tape or book

In controlled practice, the teacher can model the forms to be produced, providing necessary linguistically correct input The students are then allowed to practise the material, and the teacher follows up by reinforcing the forms practised

W hat is important is that the students are allowed to speak about what is true, real and interesting The structured interview is an example of this The students question each other and answer factually, thus exchanging ‘real’ information, while at the same time repeating and reinforcing special structures (e.g., Yes- no questions, WH questions)

Some language games provide opportunities for controlled practice Picture games which require students to match texts with pictures are ideal for beginning students to practise manipulating certain structures

Gatbonton and Segalowitz (1988) suggest the teacher should give students the chance to focus on and repeat specific structures, while at the same time perform natural, ‘authentic’ tasks.

P e r f o r m a n c e a c tiv itie s : »

Performance activities are those in which the students prepare beforehand and deliver a message to a group In the usual classroom, a student gives a speech and the teacher gives feedback, often using an evaluation form However, peer evaluation is more useful since:

- the ‘audience’ becomes involved and active

- the evaluation process helps student to gain confidence in their own ability to evaluate language

- the evaluation activity itself becomes an opportunity for real interaction

With self- evaluation, students listen and watch their recorded speeches and

i

evaluate themselves according to the same criteria that the teacher use They focus

on their problems and non- nativelike features, considering way to restructure the speech so that it would be more effective

A variation on the speech given by one person is assigning two or more people to deliver a talk It gives students opportunity to negotiate tasks, share information and provide assistance when needed

‘Role- play’ and ‘dramas’, if performed in front of the class, can also function

as ‘performance activities’ More guidance can be provided for beginning learners Debates can be serve as an opportunity for intermediate and advanced learners

P articip atio n Activities:

‘Participation’ activities can be some of the most interesting in the oral communication repertoire These are activities where the student participates in some communicative activity in a ‘natural setting’

One of the most commonly used participation activities is the ‘guided discussion’, where the instructor provides a brief orientation to some problem or controversial topic Students in small groups discuss the topic, suggesting possible solutions or complications.(React Interact- Situations for Communication - Byrd & Clemente- Cabetas, 1980; Non- Stop Discussion Workbook- Rooks, 1981).

Another participation activity that elicits enthusiastic student response is ‘the interview’ In this activity, the student interviews the other students to collect the different ideas of the same topic

O b s e rv a tio n A c tiv itie s:

These are activities in which students observe and/or record verbal and nonverbal interactions between two or more native or fluent speakers of the target language This technique is useful for building students’ appreciation and awareness

of language as it is actually used in the real world With these activities, students feel more interested in the sociolinguistic variance and can distinguish which ones should

be used in formal situations and which ones- in informal situations

In conclusion, we have just mentioned some important features of the Communicative Language Teaching in speaking classes and various communicative activities toward the oral goals However, it is emphasized that speaking can be easily and usefully taught in conjunction with the other traditional skills of listening, reading and writing

Moreover, the effective teacher is able to pick and choose activities with various criteria in mind He emphasizes not only on oral fluency but also on oral accuracy, such as pronunciation and grammar There is a place for more structured speaking tasks which focus on language forms up to the needs and objectives of the students as a guide

B THE PRAC TIC ALITIES INVOLVED IN IM P LEM EN TIN G THE

CO M M UNICATIVE APPROACH IN M Y OWN SPEAKING CLASSES:

I D escription of oral activities in my own speaking classes:

The notion of communication is put into practice in the Communicative Approach As a teacher of English as well as a proponent of Communicative Language Teaching, I have tried my best to employ Communicative Language Teaching in my own teaching situation in terms of general approach and in terms of practical activities which are suitable for that situation I am in charge of speaking classes and, therefore, most of my class time is spent on speaking activities which generally involve spontaneous exchanges in unplanned discourse I usually have my students work in pairs or in small groups so that they may receive the amount of communicative practice as much as they can They are given an opportunity to express their ideas and opinions through pairwork and groupwork To encourage students to participate in speaking activities, I try to establish situations which are likely to promote communication Barrier tasks, role-plays, games and so on are often used in the classroom Students usually have to overcome an information gap or solve a problem All my classroom activities are based on the principle that communication is not a late phase that follows language teaching ; it is employed at the very beginning of language learning process The focus of these activities is on negotiation o f meaning and exchange of information and not on the language and its forms Learners’ incorrect utterances, particularly ungrammatical ones, are, therefore, accepted by me, provided that it is relatively clear what they are intended

to mean In addition, the target language is used in class, but not all the time All thestudents in my class are Vietnamese ; so I exceptionally provide Vietnamese

i

equivalents of an English word, phrase or sentence I usually find a way to describe the concept expressed by the word in a certain way

In my communicative class, the teacher is a facilitator of his students’ learning and the class is learner-centered Communicative activities are carried out by students and the teacher just answers their questions and regularly checks their performance During pairwork or groupwork, I walk around, listen in, and provide help when necessary Sometimes, I let my students choose the topic and/or the form

of speaking activity

One function can have a number of different linguistic forms Since the focus

of my teaching process is on real language use, a variety of linguistic forms are presented together For example, my students are asked to make an invitation in different ways By doing this, students have a choice not only about what to say, but also how to say it

The Communicative Approach has contributed remarkably to language leaning and teaching Thanks to the Communicative Approach, language learning is a lot more fun than it used to be Learners’ fluency also develops faster However, this approach requires more of the teacher who needs to have fluency and confidence This is a difficulty that teachers, especially non-native teachers, must try to overcome

II Description of the students in my own speaking classes:

There are about five hundred students of English in the Ho Chi Minh City University of Foreign Languages and Information Technology (HUFLIT) where I work The majority of these have to learn English for seven years at highschool before entering colleges or universities Indeed, by 1985, English has become a predominant foreign language and fewer and fewer people learn Russian, French, and Chinese Now, English is the only foreign language that is taught in my college Students’ aim to learn English nowadays also changes and it leads to the alteration of language teaching methodology In the past, students learnt English just to read books, especially, to improve knowledge in their career by reading books of their

field written in English There were very few opportunities for them to communicate

with other people in English Today’s situation is entirely different Students learn

English not only to read books but also to be able to communicate effectively The

importance of the latter has been more and more emphasized This is the main reason

why the Communicative Language Teaching is very welcome and has been the most

popular language teaching methodology in our situation

Although the vast majority of our students have learnt English for seven years

before they enter our college, it would be misleading to suggest that they all speak

English well As a matter of fact, their level of English proficiency is high in terms of

:

vocabulary and grammar but their speaking and listening ability is very poor The

explanation for this phenomenon is that these students were taught English in the

Grammar-Translation method when they were in high schools They find a

completely new method of learning English in our college, as they have told us

There are a number of students who have first come into contact with English in a

meaningful way as a means of communication So the Communicative Language

Teaching is not quite new to me or to my colleagues but it may be something

unfamiliar with my students In addition, our English language class may comprise

students who come from city as well as from the countryside Mixed ability classes

are, therefore, not uncommon What is more, class size is also a difficulty for us All

these points taken make the application of Communication Language Teaching in our

situation not an easy one

III Implementation of the Communicative Approach in my own speaking

classes:

In the Communicative Approach, communication is the basis of the theory of

language and the goal of language teaching is to develop “communicative

com petence” ( Richards and Rodgers, 1986 ) In my opinion, this theoretical

approach is appropriate to my teaching situation As I have mentioned above, our

students have a purpose of learning English to communicate competently There is no doubt that the sooner we apply the Communicative Language Teaching, the better results we have.

The primary role of instructional materials in Communicative Language Teaching is to promote communicative language use (Richards and Rodgers, 1986 ) With this principle in mind, I usually choose text-based materials and task-based materials in teaching spoken language Pictures or two different texts for pairwork, the text-based materials are very helpful in encouraging students to talk Games, songs, role plays, simulations and so on, the task-based materials, are also involved

in a speaking class Through these activities, students really communicate with one another in order to fulfill the task successfully, in terms of realia, signs, magazines, advertisements, and so on, are used because they are “authentic”, “from-life” materials They create a specific communicative intention that leads students to utter

it on a particular occasion The theory and research in Communicative Language Teaching suggest that “learning to speak in a second or foreign language will be facilitated when learners are actively engaged in attem pting to com m unicate”

(Harmer, 1992 : 51 ) However, we should also allow our students to engage in manipulative, form-focused exercises since “linguistic competence is so obviously a central component of communicative com petence” and “the new grammar and vocabulary constitute the main body of unknown material for a foreign-language learner” ( Littlewood, 1992 : 82 ) In teaching spoken language, we aim at helping students use the language essential to real-life situations and this goal requires us to

m ake a speaking lesson an integrated skills lesson In other words, introducing new forms, connecting speaking skills with the other skills are the issues involved in teaching spoken language One of the principles of the Communicative Language Teaching is “the message is as important as the grammatical forms that convey the

m essage” ( Das, B.K, 1985 : 177 ) In introducing new forms to students, we should