Communicative Language Teaching

Communicative Language Teaching1. The Goal of the teacher To enable Ss communicate in L2Knowledge of linguistic formsMeaning & functionCommunication: process & knowledge of forms: insufficient 2. The teacher’s & learners’ role The teacher’s role: a facilitator of Ss’ learning, manager of classroom activities & advisor Learners’ role: - communicators, responsible managers for their own learning3. Learners’L1 & Interactions Learners’ L1: no particular role L2 used during activities, giving instructions, explanation & homework L2: tool for communication, not a subject to study Interactions Ss-Ss: very often (group work, pair work, discussion, projects)4. Vocabulary Teaching Meaning: conveyed through visual aids, real objects, models & context Vocabulary: taught within context5. Grammar Teaching Functions: explicitly taught One function different forms One form different functions Grammar explanation: explicitly given (if these are believed to be useful for the acquisition of forms & functions) 7. Language Skills4 skills from the beginningSpeaking: (conversation structures) Listening: (gist, specific details) Reading (skim, scan) Writing (coherence, cohesion) Functions: emphasized over forms 6.How language & culture are viewed Language: - Language is for communication - Communicative competence: knowledge of form, meaning & functions Culture: everyday lifestyle of people who use the target language 8. Materials & Syllabus Authentic Materials: articles from magazines, songs, newspaper, short stories, communicative activities (information gap), task-based activities Syllabus: functional-notional syllabus (frequency, location) notion: a particular context (e.g. shopping) function: a specific purpose for a speaker in a context (e.g. asking about prices, features of products, bargaining)9. Teaching Techniques authentic materials: menu, timetable, magazines scrambled sentences: cohesion, coherence Language games: communicative practice in L2 Picture strip story: opinion gaps Role play: practice L2 in various social contexts Survey Interview10. Error correction Errors of form: tolerated – natural outcome of language development Ss with limited linguistic knowledge can be successful communicators DISCUSSION Morrow states truly communicative activities have three features: information gap, choice & feedback. Explain these features in your own words. It is said that the communicative approach to language teaching is more effective than any other methods in the history of ELT. Do you agree or disagree? Use specific examples to illustrate your answers.What problems may a teacher of English in high school in Vietnam deal with in case he/she adopts this teaching approach?