Teaching english as a foreign language

One of the most important approaches in teaching English as a second language is the communicative one.. The method concept in language teaching—the notion of a systematic set of teachin

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A.In the restaurant 46

I actor 46

II actor 46

Teacher's notes 46

B.Taxi court role 47

Passenger: 47

Cabbie: 47

You do not think you should be in taxi court Saturday night, you picked up a drunk man and his girlfriend He was so drunk that you couldn't understand his directions You repeated "Cadman Plaza?" The customer was already kissing his girlfriend and didn't answer 47

C Neighbors at odds role cards 47

Create the atmosphere of a block of flats There are many residents Introduce the topic to the pupils Ask if the pupils have neighbors and what relations they have with their neighbors 47

The first resident aprt.102 47

The second resident aprt.202 48

Introduction

As a future teacher at a middle school, my main objective will be to help the pupils to master English at a high level This fact makes us use such terms that are generally handled in methodology They are: approach,

technique, method When we use the word approach we mean that an idea

or theory is being applied, that whatever the teacher does, certain theoretical

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principles are always borne in mind When we talk about a technique, we mean a procedure used in classroom Finally, a method is a set of procedures

or a collection of techniques used in a systematic way which it is hoped to result in efficient learning A technique is the narrowest term, meaning one single procedure A method will consist of a number of techniques, probably arranged in a specific order The word approach is much more general and has the implication that whatever method or techniques the teacher uses, he does not feel bound by these, but only by the theory in which will fit in with his approach, then we will adopt them Different approaches may share the same techniques and even the same methods, and different methods may share the same techniques, some techniques have developed independently but many of the important ones have arisen particular methods

Language teaching is a side of education that makes use not only of the language materials but of pragmatics One of the most important approaches

in teaching English as a second language is the communicative one We throw forward this idea because the essence of the relations in life is created thanks to communication

The aim of my paper is to bring home to the great majority ways to help the pupils to handle successfully the language

Aim and tasks of the investigation have made us use the following methods:

- the analytical methods;

- the comparative methods;

- the elements of the statistical methods

The structure of the paper is as follows: it consists of an introduction, three chapters, conclusion and bibliography

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In Introduction the importance of the topic investigation is discussed

the aims, tasks and methods used throughout the research

Chapter 1 is devoted to the theoretical aspect of the question that is the

language teaching, its history, its methods, approaches and techniques

Chapter 2 touches upon the communicative approach, its necessity and

its history It comes out according to different opinions this approach stands

at the bases of the development of speech habits at foreign language learners The role of the teacher is to encourage and to motivate the pupils’ participation

In Chapter 3 you can find the classification of the communicative

activities according to their structure and the aim of their usage We propose

some exercises too that may help all the teachers in heightening the fluency

In Conclusion the results of the licenta paper investigation are summed The Bibliography includes the list of literature and the web sites used in

the investigation

CHAPTER ONE: General Issues of Teaching English as a

Foreign Language

§1.1The needs of a foreign language teaching

When Aristotle wrote All we do is done with an eye to something else over

two thousand years ago 1 , he probably did not realize that he would be helping

introduce a book on human teaching

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Language teaching came into its own as a profession in the last century Central to this phenomenon was the emergence of the concept of "methods"

of language teaching The method concept in language teaching—the notion

of a systematic set of teaching practices based on a particular theory of language and language learning—is a powerful one, and the quest for better methods was a preoccupation of teachers and applied linguists throughout the 20th century Howatt's (1984)2 overview documents the history of changes of practice in language teaching throughout history, bringing the chronology up through the Direct Method in the 20th century One of the most lasting legacies of the Direct Method has been the notion of "method" itself

Methodology in language teaching has been characterized in a variety of ways When speaking about methodology 3 main terms are very important

A more or less classical formulation suggests that methodology is that which links theory and practice Theory statements would include theories of what language is and how language is learned or, more specifically, theories

of second language acquisition (SLA) Such theories are linked to various design features of language instruction These design features might include stated objectives, syllabus specifications, types of activities, roles of teachers, learners, materials, and so forth Design features in turn are linked

to actual teaching and learning practices as observed in the environments where language teaching and learning take place This whole complex of elements defines language teaching methodology When the linguists and the language specialists sought to improve the quality of language teaching in

2Larsen-Freeman, D (2000) Techniques and principles in language teaching Oxford: Oxford University

Press.-p.29

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the late 19th century, they often did so by referring to general principles and theories concerning how languages are learned, how knowledge of language

is represented and organized in memory, or how language itself is structured The early applied linguistics such as Henry Sweet, Otto Jespersen, Harold Palmer3, elaborated principles and theoretically accountable approaches to the design of language teaching When they analyzed all the principles a lot

of things were left out An attempt to clarify the differences, Edward Anthony proposed a scheme He identified three levels of conceptualization and organization, which he termed as approach, method and technique

…an approach is asset of correlative assumptions dealing with the nature of language teaching and learning An approach is axiomatic It describes the nature of the subject matter to be taught.

…….method is an overall plan for the orderly presentation of language material……… An approach is axiomatic, a method is procedural Within one approach there can be many methods.

A technique is implementational –that which happens in the classroom 4

Following Anthony, approach refers to theories about the nature of the language and language learning that serve as the source of practices and principles in language teaching In order for an approach to lead to a method,

it is necessary to develop a design for the instructional system Design is the level of method analysis in which we consider what the objectives of a method are, how language content is selected and organized within the method, the types of learning tasks, the roles of learners, the role of the teachers, the role of instructional material.5

3 Richards, J Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching, Cambridge University Press.2001-p.18

4 Richards, J Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching, Cambridge University Press.2001-p.19

5 Richards, J., & Rodgers, T (2001) Approaches and methods in language Teaching (2nd ed.) Cambridge:

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§1.2Schools of Language Teaching Methodology

Within methodology a distinction is often made between methods and approaches, in which methods are held to be fixed teaching systems with prescribed techniques and practices, whereas approaches represent language teaching philosophies that can be interpreted and applied in a variety of different ways in the classroom This distinction is probably most usefully seen as defining a continuum of entities ranging from highly prescribed methods to loosely described approaches

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The period from the 1950s to the 1980s has often been referred to as "The Age of Methods," 6during which a number of quite detailed prescriptions for language teaching were proposed Situational Language Teaching evolved in the United Kingdom while a parallel method, Audio-Lingualism, emerged in the United States In the middle-methods period, a variety of methods were proclaimed as successors to the then prevailing Situational Language Teaching and Audio-Lingual methods These alternatives were promoted under such titles as Silent Way, Suggestopedia, Community Language Learning, and Total Physical Response In the 1980s, these methods in turn came to be overshadowed by more interactive views of language teaching, which collectively came to be known as Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) Communicative Language Teaching advocates subscribed to a broad set of principles such as these:

• Learners learn a language through using it to communicate

• Authentic and meaningful communication should be the goal of classroom activities

• Fluency is an important dimension of communication

• Communication involves the integration of different language skills

• Learning is a process of creative construction and involves trial and error.However, CLT advocates avoided prescribing the set of practices through which these principles could best be realized, thus putting CLT clearly on the approach rather than the method end of the spectrum

Communicative Language Teaching has spawned a number of off-shoots that share the same basic set of principles, but which spell out philosophical details or envision instructional practices in somewhat diverse ways These

6Howatt, A (1984) A history of English language teaching Oxford: Oxford University Press.-p.78

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CLT spin-off approaches include The Natural Approach, Cooperative Language Learning, Content-Based Teaching, and Task-Based Teaching

It is difficult to describe these various methods briefly and yet fairly, and such a task is well beyond the scope of this paper However, several up-to-date texts are available that do detail differences and similarities among the many different approaches and methods that have been proposed 7Perhaps it

is possible to get a sense of the range of method proposals by looking at a synoptic view of the roles defined for teachers and learners within various methods Such a synoptic (perhaps scanty) view can be seen in the following chart

TEACHING METHODS AND TEACHER & LEARNER

Corrector

ImitatorMemorizer

Audio-lingualism

Language ModelerDrill Leader

Pattern PracticerAccuracy EnthusiastCommunicative Language

Teaching

Needs AnalystTask Designer

ImprovisorNegotiator

Action

Order TakerPerformer

7Richards, J., & Rodgers, T (2001) Approaches and methods in language Teaching (2nd ed.) Cambridge:

Cambridge University Press.-p.90

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Learning

CounselorParaphraser

CollaboratorWhole Person

Props User

GuesserImmerser

Suggestopedia

hypnotistAuthority Figure

Auto-RelaxerTrue-Believer

As suggested in the chart, some schools of methodology see the teacher as ideal language model and commander of classroom activity (e.g., Audio-Lingual Method, Natural Approach, Suggestopedia, Total Physical Response) whereas others see the teacher as background facilitator and classroom colleague to the learners (e.g., Communicative Language Teaching, Cooperative Language Learning)

There are other global issues to which spokespersons for the various methods and approaches respond in alternative ways For example, should second language learning by adults be modeled on first language learning by children? One set of schools (e.g., Total Physical Response, Natural Approach) notes that first language acquisition is the only universally successful model of language learning we have, and thus that second language pedagogy must necessarily model itself on first language acquisition An opposed view (e.g., Silent Way, Suggestopedia) observes that adults have different brains, interests, timing constraints, and learning environments than do children, and that adult classroom learning therefore

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has to be fashioned in a way quite dissimilar to the way in which nature fashions how first languages are learned by children

Another key distinction turns on the role of perception versus production in early stages of language learning One school of thought proposes that learners should begin to communicate, to use a new language actively, on first contact (e.g., Audio-Lingual Method, Silent Way, Community Language Learning), while the other school of thought states that an initial and prolonged period of reception (listening, reading) should precede any attempts at production (e.g., Natural Approach)

§1.3 The Future of Methodology

The future is always uncertain, and this is no less true in anticipating methodological directions in second language teaching than in any other field Some current predictions assume the carrying on and refinement of current trends; others appear a bit more science-fiction-like in their vision Outlined below are 10 scenarios that are likely to shape the teaching of

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second languages in the next decades of the new millennium These methodological candidates are given identifying labels in a somewhat tongue-in-cheek style, perhaps a bit reminiscent of yesteryear's method labels

Matchmaking techniques will be developed which will link learners and teachers with similar styles and approaches to language learning Looking at the Teacher and Learner roles sketched in Figure 2, one can anticipate development of a system in which the preferential ways in which teachers teach and learners learn can be matched in instructional settings, perhaps via on-line computer networks or other technological resources

Crossbreeding elements from various methods into a common program

of instruction seems an appropriate way to find those practices which best support effective learning Methods and approaches have usually been proposed as idiosyncratic and unique, yet it appears reasonable to combine practices from different approaches where the philosophical foundations are similar One might call such an approach "Disciplined Eclecticism."

8 Pawley, A., & Syder, F (1983) Two puzzles for linguistic theory: Native-like selection and native-like

fluency In J Richards & R Schmidt (Eds.), Language and communication London: Longman.-p.67

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3. Curriculum Developmentalism 10

Language teaching has not profited much from more general views of educational design The curriculum perspective comes from general education and views successful instruction as an interweaving of Knowledge, Instructional, Learner, and Administrative considerations From this perspective, methodology is viewed as only one of several instructional considerations that are necessarily thought out and realized

in conjunction with all other curricular considerations

4. Content-Basics 11

Content-based instruction assumes that language learning is a by-product

of focus on meaning on acquiring some specific topical content and that content topics to support language learning should be chosen to best match learner needs and interests and to promote optimal development of second language competence A critical question for language educators

is "what content" and "how much content" best supports language learning The natural content for language educators is literature and language itself, and we are beginning to see a resurgence of interest in literature and in the topic of "language: the basic human technology" as sources of content in language teaching

The notion here is adapted from the Multiple Intelligences view of

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human talents proposed by Howard Gardner (1983) This model is one of

a variety of learning style models that have been proposed in general education with follow-up inquiry by language educators The chart below shows Gardner's proposed eight native intelligences and indicates classroom language-rich task types that play to each of these particular intelligences The challenge here is to identify these intelligences in individuallearners and then to determine appropriate and realistic instructional tasks in response

APPROPRIATE EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIES

Intellegence

Type Educational Activities

journals, debates

drawing, films

Interpersonal group work, peer tutoring, class projects

Intrapersonal reflection, interest centers, personal

values tasks

Naturalist field trips, show and tell, plant and

animal projects

6. Total Functional Response 13

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Communicative Language Teaching was founded (and floundered) on earlier notional/functional proposals for the description of languages Now new leads in discourse and genre analysis, schema theory, pragmatics, and systemic/functional grammar are rekindling an interest in functionally based approaches to language teaching One pedagogical proposal has led to a widespread reconsideration of the first and second language program in Australian schools where instruction turns on five basic text genres identified as Report, Procedure, Explanation, Exposition, and Recount Refinement of functional models will lead to increased attention to genre and text types in both first and second language instruction

"Learning to Learn" is the key theme in an instructional focus on language learning strategies Such strategies include, at the most basic level, memory tricks, and at higher levels, cognitive and metacognitive strategies for learning, thinking, planning, and self-monitoring Research findings suggest that strategies can indeed be taught to language learners, that learners will apply these strategies in language learning tasks, and that such application does produce significant gains in language learning Simple and yet highly effective strategies, such as those that help learners remember and access new second language vocabulary items, will attract considerable instructional interest in Strategopedia

Pawley, A., & Syder, F (1983) Two puzzles for linguistic theory: Native-like selection and native-like

14 www.wikepedia.com

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8. Lexical Phraseology

The lexical phraseology view holds that only "a minority of spoken clauses are entirely novel creations" and that "memorized clauses and clause-sequences form a high proportion of the fluent stretches of speech heard in every day conversation." One estimate is that "the number of memorized complete clauses and sentences known to the mature English speaker probably amounts, at least, to several hundreds of thousands" Understanding of the use of lexical phrases has been immensely aided by large-scale computer studies of language corpora, which have provided hard data to support the speculative inquiries into lexical phraseology of second language acquisition researchers For language teachers, the results of such inquiries have led to conclusions that language teaching should center on these memorized lexical patterns and the ways they can

be pieced together, along with the ways they vary and the situations in which they occur

Renewed interest in some type of "Focus on Form" has provided a major impetus for recent second language acquisition (SLA) research "Focus

on Form" proposals, variously labeled as consciousness-raising, noticing, attending, and enhancing input, are founded on the assumption that students will learn only what they are aware of Whole Language proponents have claimed that one way to increase learner awareness of how language works is through a course of study that incorporates broader engagement with language, including literary study, process writing, authentic content, and learner collaboration

We know that the linguistic part of human communication represents

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only a small fraction of total meaning At least one applied linguist has gone so far as to claim that, "We communicate so much information non-verbally in conversations that often the verbal aspect of the conversation

is negligible." Despite these cautions, language teaching has chosen to restrict its attention to the linguistic component of human communication, even when the approach is labeled Communicative The methodological proposal is to provide instructional focus on the non-linguistic aspects of communication, including rhythm, speed, pitch, intonation, tone, and hesitation phenomena in speech and gesture, facial expression, posture, and distance in non-verbal messaging

Chapter II Language Communication Teaching

§2.1 The Essence of Communicational Approach

The subject matter of my research is the development of speech habits at school during the classes of English When speaking about the development

of the speech, we refer to communicative language teaching approach Communication is the process of passing information and understanding from one person to another The communication process involves six basic elements: sender (encoder), message, channel, receiver (decoder), noise, and

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feedback Supervisors can improve communication skills by becoming aware of these elements and how they contribute to successful communication Communication can break down at any one of these elements

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words or images The message is the information that the sender wants to

transmit The medium is the means of communication, such as print, mass, electrical, and digital As a sender, the supervisor should define the purpose

of the message, construct each message with the receiver in mind, select the best medium, time each transmission thoughtfully, and seek feedback Words can be verbal - written and spoken Words are used to create pictures and stories (scenarios) are used to create involvement

This is the essence of the communicative language teaching approach The origins of CLT are to be found in the changes in the British language teaching tradition from the late 1960’s Until then the situational language teaching represented the major British approach to teaching English as foreign language in situational language teaching, the language was taught

by practicing

Basic structures in situation-based activities In the mid 60’s British applied linguists began to call into question the theoretical assumptions underlying situational language teaching:

By the end of the 60’s it was clear that the situational approach had run its course………… 15

This was a response to the sorts of criticisms the American linguist Noam Chomsky had leveled at the structural linguistic theory in his classic book Syntactic Structures Chomsky had demonstrated that the current standardStructural theories of the language were incapable to account for the fundamental characteristic of the language- the creativity and uniqueness of individual sentences The other linguists saw that the need to focus in

15Richards, J., & Rodgers, T (2001) Approaches and methods in language Teaching (2nd ed.)

Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.-p.153

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language on communicative proficiency rather than on mere mastery structures Scholars who advocated this view were C Candlin, H.widdowson, J.Firth, D.Hymes, W Labov.Both American and British proponents now see it is an approach that aims to make the communicatice competence the goal of language teaching; to develop procedures for the teaching of four language skills that acknowledge the interdependence of language and communication CLT is more than an integration of grammatical and functional teaching Littlewood states :

One of the most characteristic features of CLT is that it pays systematic attention to functional as well as to the grammatical aspects of the language 16

This means using procedures where learners work in pairs employing available language resources in problem solving tasks The development

of this approach is the essence of the society, without the communication the child , the pupil and the society can not live

A more pedagogical analysis of the CLT was given by Henry Widdowson

He identifies four dimensions of communicative competence :

Grammatical competence is what refers to Chomsky’s linguistic competence It is the domain of grammatical and lexical capacity

Sociolinguistic competence to an understanding of the social context in which communication takes place, including role relationships, the shared information of the participants

Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.-p155

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Discourse competence refers to the interpretation of individual message elements.

Strategic competence refers to the copying strategies that communicator employs to initiate, maintain and terminate the conversation

When speaking about the implementation of the CLT in school, we can say that Piepho draws the attention to the following objectives:17

1 An integrative and content level

2 A linguistic and instrumental level

3 An effective level of expressing interpersonal relationships( a means

of expressing values and judgments about oneself and the others)

4 A level of individual learning needs( remedial learning based on error analysis)

5 A general educational level of extra-linguistic goals( language learning within the school curriculum)

The emphasis in CLT on the processes of communication leads to different

roles for the learners Thus candling says that the role of the learner is that

of a negotiator 18 There is an acknowledgement that learners bring

preconceptions of what teaching and learning should be like The teacher has a role too In such a way according to Breen:

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The teacher has two main roles: the first role is to facilitate the communication between the participants in the classroom……the second role is to act as an independent participant within the learning- teaching group.

The other roles of the teacher according to Jack C.Richards are needs

analyst,

Councelor, and group process manager.

The needs analyst is the teacher’s responsibility for determining and responding to learner language needs Typically these assignments contain items that attempt to determine an individual’s motivation for studying the language

The teacher counselor is expected to exemplify an effective communicator seeking to maximize the meshing of speaker intention and of the hearer interpretation, through the use of paraphrase, confirmation and feedback.CLT procedures often require teachers to acquire less teacher-centered classroom management skills It is the teacher’s job to organize the classroom as a setting for communication Guidelines for classroom practice suggest that during an activity the teacher monitors, encourages and suppresses the inclination to have gaps in grammar and lexis The focus on fluency and comprehensibility may cause anxiety among teachers that are accustomed to seeing error suppression and correction as the major instructional responsibility

A great variety of materials are used to support CLT approach The

materials currently used are text- based, task- based and realia.

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There are a lot of textbooks designed to direct and support CLT Their tables of content sometimes suggest a kind of grading and sequencing of language practice not unlike those found in structurally organized texts Some of these are written around a largely structural syllabus, with slight reformatting to justify their claims to be based on a communicative approach.

A variety of games, role plays, simulations and task- based communication activities have been prepared to support CLT These typically are in-one-of-a-kind items: exercise handbooks, cue cards, activity cards, pair-communication practice materials and student interaction booklets In pair communication materials enter two sets of material for pair of student They contain different information Sometimes the information is complementary and the partners must fit their parts in the jigsaw Others assume different role relationships for the partners

Many proponents of CLT have advocated the use of authentic, from-life materials These might include language-based realia, such as signs, magazines, newspapers, visual sources around which the communicative activities can be built

Generally all the activities that are used in developing the speech habits should undergo a procedure

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Social interactional activities

As you can observe the class of communication is supposed to be very well structured if we want to achieve results Thus before the speaking begins it

is necessary to prepare the class for the topic The pupils are given structures for training, then they are supposed to introduce the formulas in some situations

This is going to take a period of time before the speaking itself starts When the pupils have a command of the formulas they are given the intended tasks Only after it different types of discourses are used To sum up I would like to mention that the preparation and the training of CLT is a very hardworking and a time-taking job

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Chapter III Oral Communication Skills in Pedagogical

Research.

When someone asks you Do you speak English?, they usually mean if you

can carry on a conversation The goals and the techniques for teaching conversation are diverse, depending on the student, teacher, context, class Recent pedagogical research on teaching conversation has provided some parameters for developing objectives and techniques

Generally speaking when working on CLT we are interested in fluency and comprehension There has been a controversy over the role of pronunciation work in a communicative course The problem is that the foreign language learners will never keep in mind perfectly the stress and the intonation

This fact as many others can bring to misunderstanding

There are many cases in the everyday usage of CLT when the pupils meet some problems This is related to some peculiarities of the language

§3.1What makes Speaking Difficult? 19

Douglas Brown in his book Teaching by Principles draws the attention of the teachers to some things that may stop the understanding

• Clustering Fluent speech is phrasal, not word by word Learners can organize their output both cognitively and physically When we speak we break our speech in small parts Clauses are common

19 Brown ,D Teaching by Principles, Second Edition San Francisco State University.2001-p.270

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constituents, but the phrases within the clauses are more easily retained This the job of the teacher when handling a communication.

• Reduced forms This is a process where some unstressed syllables are lost in the flow of speech In English there are a lot of reduced forms They phonological(Dijeetjt), morphological(I’ll), syntactical(tomorrow, may be) These reductions pose a lot of difficulties, especially for language learners who were exposed to full forms

• Rate of delivery The speed can stop the understanding too That is why you are supposed to teach the pupils the speed along with other attributes of the fluency The learners will nevertheless be able to comprehend the speech a any rate of delivery

• Stress, rhythm and intonation This is the most important feature of English The stress-timed, along with its intonation patterns convey important messages Intonation patterns are very important; they are supposed to be taught to understand subtle meaning conveyed by these

• Colloquial language Make sure your pupils are reasonably well acquainted with the words, phrases from the colloquial language

As you could observe the problem that we have tried to bring to your judgment is Teaching Speech Habits It is a topic that is linked to methodology and it is worth studying as the communication is the essence of our living My practical chapter will be centered around techniques that are

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necessary in developing speaking, and principles for designing speaking techniques.

§3.2Principles for Designing Speaking Techniques 20

20 Brown ,D Teaching by Principles, Second Edition San Francisco State University.2001-p.275

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1. Use techniques that cover the spectrum of learner needs, from language-based focus on accuracy to message based focus on interaction, meaning and fluency In our current zeal for interactive language teaching, we can easily slip into a pattern of providing zesty content- based, the interactive activities that do not capitalize on grammatical pointers When you begin a game make sure that your task include techniques that help the students to perceive and use the building blocks of language.

2. Provide intrinsically motivating techniques Try all the time to appeal

to students ‘ultimate goal, interests Even if the activity does not send the students into ecstasy, it make them understand how they will benefit them

3. Encourage the use of authentic language in meaningful contexts.It takes energy to devise authentic contexts and meaningful interaction, but with the help of a storehouse of teacher resource material it can be done

4. Provide appropriate feedback and correction In TEFL situations, students are totally dependent on the teacher for useful linguistic feedback It important that you take advantage of you knowledge to inject the kinds of corrective feedback that are appropriate for the moment

5. Capitalize on the natural link between speaking and listening Many interactive techniques include both speaking and listening We are supposed to integrate these two skills

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6 Give students to initiate oral communication Part of oral communication competence is the ability to initiate conversation, to nominate topics.

7. Encourage the development of speaking strategies The concept of strategic competence is one that few beginning language students are aware of The students are supposed to participate in the development

of the dialogue There some of the possibilities:

• Asking for clarification

• Asking someone to repeat smth

• Using mime and nonverbal expression to convey meaning

• Getting someone’s attention

• Using paraphrases

As you notice each class of speaking is a hard work as you should achieve the most important goal in teaching a foreign language, this is ability to speak and understand the interlocutor

According to Richards21 to major approaches characterize current teaching for conversation: an indirect approach and a direct approach

The indirect approach implies that one does not actually teach conversation, but rather the students acquire conversational competence by engaging in meaningful tasks

21 Klippel, F Getting Students to Talk: Communicative Fluency Activities for Language teaching

Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.1984-p.67

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A direct approach explicitly calls the students’ attention to conversational rules, conventions and strategies.

Thus the conversational classes according to Marianne Celce-Murcia can be divided into:

1. Imitative A very limited portion of classroom speaking time may be

spent generating human tape recorder speech, where the students practice an intonation contour Imitation of this kind is trained not for the purpose of meaningful interaction, but for focusing on particular element of language form They offer limited practice through repetitions They allow focusing on one element of the language They can help in establishing psychomotor patterns there are some pieces of advice for teachers:

Keep them short

Keep them simple

Make students know why they are doing the drill.

Limit them to phonology or grammar points.

Don’t overuse them.

2. Intensive Intensive speaking goes beyond the imitative to include

any speaking performance that is designed to practice some phonological grammatical aspect of language Intensive speaking can

be self initiated, where students are going over some certain forms of language

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3. Responsive A good deal of student speech is responsive, that means

questions and answers They may be of different types, beginning from the trivial ones: How are you?, Who is on duty, finishing with How do you find life in Moldova? The only condition is that these questions do not expand into dialogues

• Use the questions!

1 has been dating his/her SO for more than a

2 was not sleeping at midnight last night What?

3 was going to school when s/he fell in love for

4 has been playing a sport for more than 5 years Which?

5 was doing English homework when s/he realized that Jim is a great teacher Why?

6 is thinking about something other than English What?

7 has been studying English for more than five

8 is getting good grades in his/her classes How good?

9 has been planning something special for a long

10 _ was out drinking Saturday night Where? Who?

11 _ has recently been studying English very hard

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12 _ has been playing a computer game for more that three years Which?

• Fill in sentences can be attributed to responsive activities

1. has been to Australia

2 has been to a country in North America

3 has been to a country in South America

4 has been to a country in Europe

5 has been to another country in Asia

7 enjoys traveling by train

8 enjoys being a passenger in a car

9 enjoys driving cars

Write down three places you'd like to visit These should be places that you have never been to before 1.

2.

1 enjoys cooking What ?

Do you enjoy cooking? What do you like to cook?

2 doesn't enjoy cooking How often ?

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Do you enjoy cooking? How often do you cook?

3 likes to listen to music What kind ?

Do you like to listen to music? What kind of music do you like?

4 doesn't mind studying English Why ?

5 doesn't like studying English Why ?

6 likes pizza How often ?

7 hates pizza Why ?

8 loves animals Why ?

9 really likes to watch TV What ?

10 _ really dislikes watching TV How often ?

11 _ is thinking about a TV show right now Which ?

12 _ likes his or her job Why ?

13 _ doesn't like to exercise Why ?

4.Transactional Transactional language, carried out for the purpose of

conveying or exchanging specific information, is an extended form of responsive language Generally we can speak about the talk referring to transactional language The work can be divided into:

pre-speaking activity

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