Chapter Nine

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Chapter Nine The Communicative
Approach
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Definition

• An approach to foreign or second language
  teaching which emphasizes that the goal of
  language learning is communicative competence

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Background

• Developed in the 1970s in Europe
• Reaction to the structural approach to language
  teaching
• The need for change in language teaching method

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language used in real life and traditional FLT.

Functions and forms Languages skills ways
In real life
The traditional FLT
consequence
perform certain communicative functions.
all skills, including the receptive and
productive skills.
used in a certain context.
isolate language from its context.
focuses on forms
one or two language skills
The learners have learned a lot of sentences or
patterns, but they are unable to use them
appropriately in real social situations.
The students are puzzled about how to use the
language in a particular context.
The learners cannot use the language in an
integrated way.
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Conclusions
The language we teach in traditional FLT is not
what we use in real-life communication.
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Theoretical Basis
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Theory of language

• Language is for communication.
• Language is used in context.
• The relationship between form and meaning is not
  a one-to - one correspondence.
• Discourse analysis studies language above
  sentence level.

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Theory of language

• Pragmatics studies how language is used in
  communication.
• Hymes and his notion of communicative competence
• Halliday and his functional account of language
  use
• Richards and Rodgers summary of the
  communicative view of language

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Theory of learning

• CLT should follow the natural acquisition
  process.
• Language is best learned through use in social
  context.
• Effective language learning will take place if
  the emphasis is on communication.
• Language learning is a process of meaning
  negotiation.

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Basic Principles
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Main features

• 1. Communicative purpose (information gap)
• 2. Communicative desire (real need)
• 3. (Focus on ) Content, not form (message)
• (Exchanging information, not pattern
  practice)

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• 4. Variety of language (not just one language
  form, free to improve/create)
• 5. No teacher intervention (done by Ss no
  correcting or evaluating how Ss do it assessment
  is based on the product or on communicative
  purpose rather than on the language.)

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Objectives

• The final goal of FLT
• to enable the learners to use the foreign
  language in work or life (communicative
  competence).
• we should teach
• that part of the language that will be used in
  the way that is used in the real world.

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Techniques

• Ways of integrating language skills
• listening and note-taking using
  audio-video materials
• giving oral presentation
• role-play/simulation etc.

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Techniques

• Ways of developing separated skills
• speaking problem solving activities,
  
• simulation/role-play etc.
• listening putting pictures in correct sequence,
  
• following directions on a map, checking off
  
• items in a photograph, completing a grid(?
• ???????), time table, or chart etc.

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Techniques

• reading skimming
• scanning
• text unscrambling(????)
• information transfer etc
• writing (mainly done in three steps)
• gathering ideas
• working an drafts
• preparing the final version

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Procedures

• 1) Presentation and comprehension (Students
  listen, then answer questions.)
• 2) Demonstration of functional patterns
  (????)(The teacher exemplifies (????)each
  functional pattern.)
• 3) Practising functional patterns (Students
  practise the dialogue in pairs.)

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Procedures

• 4) Free production (Students make mini-dialogues
  of their own.)
• 5) Checking students work
• 6) Reading new materials (integrating reading and
  writing)
• 7) Writing based on reading

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Summary and Comments
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Advantages

• 1) Wider considerations of what is appropriate
  and what is accurate
• 2) Wider range of language
• 3) Realistic and motivating language practice
• 4) Drawing on (??)learners knowledge and
  experience

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Disadvantages

• 1) Unclear about how rules of use can be taught
• 2) Difficult to tailor syllabus(????) to
  students needs
• 3) Fossilization (??)of learners errors