All the
methods before 1970s had focused in the target language. But, In the 1970s
teachers thought if they were doing the right thing to teach the communicative
competence to their students. Communicative competence is not just dealing with
grammar, semantics, words, phonetics… this is linguistic competence, and they
noticed their students didn`t know how to use the language in a context,
because they didn´t take in account the person they were talking with.
We have 10 principles while we talk about Communicative Language Teaching:
1 What are the goals of teachers who use the Communicative Language Teaching?
The goal is to allow students to communicate in the target language. They have to know the forms of language that exists, but this is not enough, they have to know also which form they have to use depending on the situation and the person they are talking to.
2 What is the role of the teacher? What is the role of the students?
The teacher has to
encourage students to communicate, he/se has to introduce communicative
situations during the class. While the students are acting, he/she will answer
the question the students have.
Students have to communicate with each others. They have an active role, because they have to make themselves understood and also they have to understand the others. They are responsible of their own learning.
Students have to communicate with each others. They have an active role, because they have to make themselves understood and also they have to understand the others. They are responsible of their own learning.
3 What are some characteristics of the learning/teaching process?
Everything is done
with a communicative intention.
Activities have three characteristics:
- Information gap: it is when, in a conversation, one person knows something the other one doesn´t know.
- Choice: the communicator can choose what to say and how to say it.
- Feedback: you have feedback immediately because you know if your listener understands you or not.
Activities have three characteristics:
- Information gap: it is when, in a conversation, one person knows something the other one doesn´t know.
- Choice: the communicator can choose what to say and how to say it.
- Feedback: you have feedback immediately because you know if your listener understands you or not.
4. What is the nature of student-teacher interaction?
More often the
teacher provide the situation and the students have to communicate among them.
5. How are the feelings the students deal with?
Students will be more motivated to study a foreign language, because they feel
they are learning something useful. They also enhance their security to express
their ideas.
6. How is language viewed?
Students give live
to language, communication helps you to know when you can use the different language
functions.
7. What areas of language are emphasized? What language skills are emphasized?
It depends on the
level of the students, if they are beginners you should use simple forms, but
if the students have higher level you should complicate the language.
Students work the four skills: in oral communication you use speaking and listening, but you can also do an interaction between the reader and the writer, the reader tries to understand the writer’s intention and the writer writes thinking on who is going to read.
Students work the four skills: in oral communication you use speaking and listening, but you can also do an interaction between the reader and the writer, the reader tries to understand the writer’s intention and the writer writes thinking on who is going to read.
8. What is the role of the student´s native language
Native language is
permitted sometimes, but is essential to use the target language in
explanations and activities. Students have to saw the language as a vehicle for
communication, not just an object to be studied.
9. How is evaluation accomplished?
Teacher evaluates
accuracy and also fluency. The student who has the most control language is not
always the best communicator.
10. How does the teacher respond to students errors?
Errors during fluency-based activities are seen as natural progress of
communication.
COMMUNICATIVE ACTIVITIES YOU CAN DO IN CLASS
I took all these activities from http://coerll.utexas.edu/methods/modules/speaking/06/
Comic
Strip Stories
Description
One student recounts a
story based on a comic strip. The listener must arrange the comic strip images
to match the chronology of the story. The task can be made more difficult by
introducing ‘distractors,’ images that are superfluous to the storyline. Thus,
the listener musts determine which events (images) belong to the story and in what
order they occur.
Materials Needed
•comic strips
Preparation
•Choose a comic strip that
has a clear narrative structure. Make a copy of the comic strip to serve as the
original story.
•Cut the strip into its
individual images. Take another comic strip by the same cartoonist and do the
same. Decide how many extraneous images you wish to keep as distractors.
•Make as many copies of the
images as needed.
In Class
1. Tell the students the
goal of the task, eg., to recount a story clearly so that the listener can
reconstruct it with the aid of images. Encourage the listener to ask comprehension
questions if the narrative is not clear.
2. Pre-teach any vocabulary
or phrases that might be difficult for the students.
3. Give a time limit.
Information
Gap
Description
Students are given a task
to accomplish, but each group member only has part of the necessary
information. The students must combine and synthesize their individual bits of
information in order to solve a problem or make a decision.
Materials Needed
• Each student receives a
master sheet as well as a set of specific information (aka clues).
Preparation
•Search for topics that can
be visually presented such as geography via maps, genealogy via family trees,
institutional and political organization via flow charts, statistical
relationships via pie charts, diagrams and tables.
•Choose the visual aid and
erase much of the information.
•The “missing” information
that you removed must be distributed as ‘clues’ to the students. Make separate
clues sheets with this missing information.
In Class
1. Tell the students the
goal of the task, eg., to plan a trip using a map, to reconstruct a family’s
genealogy, to discern social or economic trends using statistics, etc.
2. Pre-teach any vocabulary
or phrases.
3. Give a time limit.
Ranking
Description
Small groups work together
to construct a ranking of members that all belong to the same category (e.g.,
most expensive American colleges, most popular college majors, most deadly
diseases, etc.). When the group reaches a consensus about their rankings, they
may compare their results to actual data. Note: this activity can also be based
on more subjective rankings (e.g., most over-exposed celebrities).
Materials Needed
•A master list of ranked items
based on a reliable source (e.g., US census, newspaper survey, etc.)
• A list of the same items
in the incorrect order to be given to each group
Preparation
•Create the two lists noted
above and make copies
In Class
1. Tell the students that
the goal of the task is to rank the items in the list.
2. Remind the students that
they must reach a consensus. Thus, one of the most important aspects of this
activity is to practice the art of persuasion. In other words, students must be
ready to justify their rankings.
3. Pre-teach any vocabulary
or phrases that might be difficult for the students.
4. Give a time limit.
REFERENCES
Bibliography:
DIANE
LARSEN-FREEMAN (2000) Techniques and
Principles in language Teachin.
Webgraphy:
Foreign Language Teaching Methods.
It has been seen in January 2014. Retrieved from http://coerll.utexas.edu/methods/pdf/sp/speaking-template-e.pdf
Foreign Language Teaching Methods.
It has been seen in January 2014. Retrieved from
http://coerll.utexas.edu/methods/pdf/sp/speaking-template-d.pdf
http://coerll.utexas.edu/methods/pdf/sp/speaking-template-d.pdf
Foreign Language Teaching Methods.
It has been seen in January 2014. Retrieved from http://coerll.utexas.edu/methods/pdf/sp/speaking-template-f.pdf
