Identify theory behind communicative language teaching (CLT)
Informations
found in Spada and Savignon’s article:
There are many answers to the
question “What is CLT?” depending on whom you ask. In this article by Spada,
many say that CLT is meaning-based but they have different perceptions on the emphasis.
Some says that it focuses the comprehension and production of message but not
teaching or correction of language form; some says that CLT is an approach to
L2 instruction as well as it includes both fluency and accuracy. These
different perspectives are believed due to the presence and absence of the
attention in language form which is when Howatt’s (1984) distinction on weak
and strong CLT came about.
Hymes’ theory of communicative
competence and the belief that knowing a language includes more than knowledge
of the rules of grammar also knowledge of the rules of language has influenced
CLT. Hyme introduced this theory in broadening the current conceptualizations
of language. In this article, the theories stated are very closely related to
SLA where the comprehensible input and interactionist hypothesis by Krashen and
Long has been discussed. Both hypotheses emphasize on the central role of
meaningful communication in language acquisition.
In Savignon’s article, he said Hymes (1971) proposed the term communicative
competence to represent the use of language in social context, the observance
of sociolinguistic norms of appropriacy. Hymes’ communicative competence was
seen as the same as Halliday’s meaning potential where his focus was also on
language as a social behavior and not language learning. Berns (1990) stresses
that the definition of a communicative competence appropriate for learners
requires an understanding of the sociocultural contexts of language use.
Savignon
also raised the issue on how grammar and CLT, communication cannot take place
with the absence of structure or grammar. It is written that Canale and Swain
(1980) sought to put grammatical competence within a more broadly defined
communicative competence. In the development of communicative ability, the
research findings have support the integration of form-focused exercises with
meaning-focused experience. Grammar is important in communication, and leaners
learn grammar best when they relate it to their communicative needs and
experience.
At the
end the article, Savignon also mentioned that communicative language teaching
cannot continue without the involvement of classroom teachers. Hence, teachers
need to find materials that work to involve learners in the experience of
communication.
Theory behind communicative language teaching
Communicative Competence has four components:
i)
Linguistic
competence
ii)
Discourse
competence
iii)
Pragmatic
competence
iv)
Strategic
competence
Linguistic competence is the knowledge one has in the application of
linguistic items; in order words, linguistic competence is the knowledge on how
the language system is being used in communication. Linguistic items include
pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar and syntax. Learners with such competence
possess the ability to utilise grammar of a spoken language to express
themselves. In addition, the learner will demonstrate good knowledge in using
appropriate words while communicating. However, if one lacks linguistic
competence, he or she will face difficulties in achieving the communication
goal in which will lead to communication breakdown.
Discourse competence refers
to the ability to produce meaningful speech in such way where ideas are linked
across sentences (written discourse) or utterances (spoken discourse). In
discourse competence, sentences are assembled following the cohesion rules and
rhetorical organisation. Cohesion is how we make use of linguistic items
(vocabulary, grammar, etc) to link ideas and meaning in a sentence. Eg:
-
A:
It’s very cold.
B: I’ll increase the temperature of the
air-conditioner.
Rhetorical organisation focuses on the structure of
a text according to genre, it varies according to content, topic and purpose.
For example, one would recognise a text which begins with “Once upon a time…”
as a narrative writing/fairy-tale story. Discourse competence allows language
learners to maintain communication with others.
Pragmatic Competence is the ability to use language appropriately in
different situations. A learner that possesses pragmatic competence will be
able to transmit and interpret intentions (illocutionary force) with the
appropriate language depending on the social situations he or she is put in.
Illocutionary force comes from speech act theory and illustrates an utterance
to perform different functions or a function represented by different
utterances depending on context (Searle, 1969). Eg:
-
Teacher:
Please switch off the lights.
Student immediately turns on the light.
(Students know that it is an order and follows
the teacher’s order)
In pragmatic competence, we can see how language is
used through relationships between people. Pragmatic competence is important as
it helps start or maintain social relationships and to avoid miscommunication.
Hence, learners also need to learn to be sensitive to different culture
practices that will affect the way communication is being conducted.
Strategic Competence is the ability to keep communication going. A
learner who possesses this communication competence will be able to maintain
communication even when there is a communication breakdown, he or she will also
be able to enhance the effectiveness of the communication. Eg:
-
Using
simple words or hand gesture to give directions or to describe an object.
b) State the implications of communicative language teaching towards
materials development
Howatt (1984) claims there are ‘weak’ and ‘strong’
version of communicative approach. The
weak focused on the use English by providing learners with opportunities to
communicate and the strong version argued that language can be acquired through
communication. There is no one perfect approach to teach because it depends on
the learners’ language proficiency.
Activities are designed to improve learners’ fluency
through negotiating meaning and sharing information in a communicative-based
classroom. However, accuracy is also a
crucial element. According to Brown (1993), accuracy and fluency are
“complementary principles” for communicative ability. Learners trying to be
fluent need to have language accuracy to be able to produce comprehensible
utterances.
Cunningsworth (1995) stated that language skills
help learners communicate effectively and complement linguistic knowledge.
Vocabulary is important to help learners develop learners’ understanding of the
English language. For example, learners have to scan, skim and also summarise
the passage when writing a summary of a passage. Learners must good vocabulary,
so that they able to produce a meaningful summary writing.
Materials and tasks should reflect authenticity, as
they connect the classroom and the outside world. Rogers and Medley (1988)
defines authentic as language reflecting “a naturalness of form, and an appropriateness
of cultural and situational context that would be found in the language as used
by native speakers” (op cit, 468). One problem is the suitability of the
materials to match the learner’s language proficiency level and interest
because of the different background. Learners could lose their interests if the
materials are too difficult for them.
The traditional role of the teacher has changed as a
facilitator to facilitate learners’ language learning progress by designing,
executing and managing activities in the classroom. Teacher also has to act as
an independent participant within the learning-teaching group. The learner
plays an active role of becoming in language learning. Teachers have to help
learners attain autonomy in their own learning by making learners be aware of
the language.
The social context is crucial for communicative
approach to be successfully implemented. The communicative approach should be
context-dependant to enable learners to become communicatively competent.
C) Locate principles supporting CLT
within the KBSM English Language Curriculum and F1 English Language
The
objectives given are taken from form 1 KBSM English Language Curriculum.
Objectives
(Form 1)
·
Make friends and talk about
themselves, recount experiences and also enquire about the person(s) they are
talking to
Principle 1:
Teach communicative competence: grammatical competence plus ability to use
grammar appropriately
-
To
achieve communicative competence, learners must be aware of the rules in
grammar. So, based on this objective, they need a certain level of linguistic
competence to achieve the aim of the objective. Bachman (1990) states that
linguistic competence is the knowledge and application of linguistic items.
Therefore, the activities done must contain elements of proper grammatical
usage. For instance, one of the activities in this objective is “Introducing
oneself”; learners must be acquainted with proper sentence patterns that suits with
“Introducing oneself”. Hence, when
learners are introducing themselves using the English Language (if they have
the chance to), they would be able to use proper sentence patterns that they
have already learned in their lesson.
Principle 2:
Practice functions and forms in context rich environment
-
According
to David Wilkins, “Any individual sentence can be used to perform virtually any
function in language and consequently any function may take a variety of
forms”. Learners must be able to express through functions as well as
demonstrate through form. In terms of function, this principle relates to
pragmatic competence. Hedge (2000) stated that pragmatic competence refers to
the leaner’s ability to transmit and interpret intentions using appropriate language
according to the social context. Learners must be able to express language
properly and in-context as to maintain social relationships and to avoid any
miscommunication. So, activities being done must be pragmatically competent.
For example, when learners are recounting an experience, they must have
boundaries in the experience that they are telling in order to not offend other
learners in the same class. On the other hand, in terms of form, learners must
be able to manifest language being use in speech and writing and this can be
done through context rich environment.
Context rich environment is a situation where learners are exposed to
linguistic items which reflect real world activities. When learners are exposed
to activities which reflect the real world or a situation where they could
relate to in their lives, the process of attaining and retaining linguistic
items would be much more effective. An activity which reflects real world
situation, for instance recounting an experience; learners must be able talk
about a situation that they have experienced. Hence, the must have the correct
vocabulary (adjectives) to express the situation that they have experience.
·
Make enquiries about services and
products and place an order for the product or services
Principle 1:
Teach communicative competence: grammatical competence plus ability to use
grammar appropriately
-
When
making enquiries about services and products and also placing an order,
learners must be able to use the WH- questions correctly and this relates to
lexical competence. If the learners do not have the proper lexical competence,
they would not be able to use proper grammar. When this happens, communicative
breakdown will occur. For instance, one of the activities in this objective is
role playing activities as a buyer and seller. If learners are not able to
produce proper grammar, then interaction between buyer and seller would be
affected. In a real-life situation, the seller might misinterpret the message
of the buyer. So, having communicative competence allows the learners to be
able to engage in a conversation well.
·
Socialize with friends and in groups
and make plans and arrangements for joint activities
Principle 7:
Promote Collaborative and Cooperative Learning
-
In
CLT, learning a language should be collaborative and cooperative. So, learners
should interact with each other in order for negotiation of meaning to occur.
In a collaborative and cooperative learning environment, scaffolding occurs.
The high proficiency learners are able to help and guide the low proficiency
learners in doing activities or tasks. Moreover, interaction between learners
might help the low proficiency learners to attain certain characteristics of
language use. For instance, the low proficiency learners might be able to pick
up proper grammatical usage from the high proficiency learners and implement
them into their own, thus, raising their own language proficiency.
Principle 8:
Provide Error Corrective Feedback
-
Interaction
between learners promotes error corrective feedback. Positive feedback confirms
the correctness of learner’s response while negative feedback relates to error
correction. So, if both are delivered effectively, it would facilitate
learning. Thus, this would benefit greatly in interactions between low
proficiency learners and high proficiency learners.
·
Obtain information from various
text-types such as instructions and notices and obtain factual information on a
topic from short texts and present the information briefly to others orally and
in writing
Principle 1:
Teach communicative competence: grammatical competence plus the ability to use
grammar appropriately
-
In
a presentation, learners are asked to present information on a topic from short
text to others orally and in writing. This relates to linguistic competence as
learners need to have decent pronunciation during oral presentation and an
adequate use of grammar during writing. Hence, activities such as reading aloud
can promote correct use of pronunciation. On the other hand, activities such as
writing recounts can help learners to master certain grammatical aspects such
as the use of linkers.
Principle
8: Provide Error Corrective Feedback
-
This
principle relates to the interaction between the teacher and learners. Teachers
could help students in their pronunciation skills by correcting them during the
reading aloud activities and also correcting their grammar mistakes in writing
activities. However, teachers should not hesitantly correct every mistake or
errors that the learners make as some learners’ affective filter would increase
and this can result in learners not able to acquire the targeted language.
D) Identify general categories and
specific items to evaluate chapters in a Malaysian English Language textbook
General
categories: according to (Rubdy, 2003) 3P
i)
Psychological validity
-rationale/learners need
-independence and
autonomy
-self-development
-cooperation
-creativity
ii)
Pedagogical validity
-guidance
-choice
-reflection/exploration/innovation
iii)
Process and content validity
- Methodology
- Content
- Authenticity
- Appropriacy
- Cultural sensitivity
- Layout graphic
- Accessibility
- Linkage
- Selection/grading
- Sufficiency
- Balance/integration/challenge
- Stimulus/practice/revision
- Flexibility
- National/local curriculum concerns
