CLT--VS.--TBLT

英语学院E090113赵谦CLTVS.TBLTWhenwetalkabouttheCLTandTBLTteaching,weneedtoknowwhatareCLTandTBLTattheverybeginning.CLTisabbreviatedfromcommunicativeLanguageTeaching,whileTBLTisabbreviatedfromTask-basedLanguageTeaching.CLTisanapproachtotheteachingofsecondandforeignlanguagesthatemphasizesinteractionasboththemeansandtheultimategoaloflearningalanguage.Itisalsoreferredtoas“communicativeapproachtoteachingofforeignlanguages”orsimplythe“communicativeapproach”,whileLBLTfocusesontheuseofauthenticlanguageandonaskingstudentstomeaningfultaskusingthetargetlanguage.ArebothofthesetwoteachingmethodsappropriateinChinaforstudentslearningasecondlanguage?Whichhasabetterprospect?Let’sjusttalkabouttheircharacteristicsrespectivelyfirst.CLTisusuallycharacterizedasbroadapproachtoteaching,ratherthanasateachingmethodwithaclearlydefinedsetofclassroompractices.Assuch,itismostoftendefinedasalistofgeneralprinciplesorfeatures.TherearefivetypicalfeatureswhichlistedbyDavidNunan:1)anemphasisonlearningtocommunicatethroughinteractioninthetargetlanguage;2）theintroductionofauthentictextsintothelearningsituation;3）theprovisionofopportunitiesforlearnertfocus,notonlyonlanguagebutalsoonLearningManagementprocess;4)anenhancementofthelearner’sownpersonalexperiencesasimportantcontributingelementstoclassroomlearning;5)anattempttolinkclassroomlanguagelearningwithlanguageactivitiesoutsidetheclassroom.FromthefeaturesabovewecaneasilysummarizeitthatCLTpursuestheinteractionwiththeclassroom,anditstrivestotheirlearnersaswellastheconnectionbetweenthelanguageasitistaughtintheirclassandasitusedoutsidetheclassroomthustohelpstudentsdeveloptheircommunicativefromofinstruction,somethinglikethelanguagefunctions,grammarandpronunciationsthroughtheactivities.TBLTawaythatthestudentscanlearnlanguagejustfocusonanon-linguisticproblemastheywereconcentratingonlinguisticquestions.Thecoreofthelessonisjustasitsnamesuggestedthetask.Allpartsofthelanguageusedarenotemphasizedduringtheactivityitselftopayattentiononthetask.ThereisaverycomprehensiveframeworksuggestedbyJaneWillis:Pre-task,task,planning,report,analysis,practice.Inthefirststep,theteacherwillpresenttheexpectationforthestudentsinthetaskphase,besides;hewillpaymoreattentiontothevocabularyandgrammar.Wilehealsowillencouragethestudentsusewhattheylearnedandaskthemjustbecomfortableandconfidentwiththem.Theteachermayalsoprovidesomemodelsofthetaskbyeitherdoingthemselvesorbypresentingpictures,audioorvideotosupportthetask.Inthesecondstep,afterthetask,studentsprepareawrittenororalreporttotheclass,andtheteachercommentsthem.Inthethirdstep:theteachergivesafeedbacktothestudents.Forthstep:theteacherreviewsinthetask,andsumuptheproblemsofstudent’sextentssomeknowledge.Laststep：thisstagemaybeusedtocovermaterialmentionedtheteacherinforthstage.Itisanopportunityfortheteacher.Fromtheabove,wecaneasilyfindtheadvantagesanddisadvantagesofeach.英语学院E090113赵谦SomeexpertcritiqueCLTforpayinglessattentiontothecontextwhereteachingandlearningtakeplace,thoughCLThasalsobeendefendedagainstthiskindblame.Usually,CLTisconsideredasasuccessfulmethodiftheteacherunderstandsthestudent.But,iftheteacherisfromthesameregionofthestudent,theteacherwillmakesmistakeseasilyinconsequenceoftheirfirstlanguage.Thenativespeakersofthetargetlanguagemaystillhavedifficultiesonunderstandingthemduringthecommunication.WhileTBLTisincreasingpromotedworld-wide,itstillgotsomeofitsdisadvantages.Thestudentmaystaywithinthenarrowconfinesoffamiliarwordsandformstoavoidtheextraofeffortandrisksoferrorthataccompanystretchingtousenewwordsandforms.Andbecauseofworkingingroups,somestudentsjustrelyonotherpartnersinthegrouptodolotsofworkandlearning.Besides,thestudentsmaybelostifthelessondidnotincludesufficientplanningfor,orrunsoutoftimefor,thatthestudentstobecapturedandreinforcedwhileitisstillfresh.Andlast,itisthedifficultyofimplementingtask-basedteachingwhereclassesarelargeandspacelimited.So,whichoneismuchbetterforChinesestudentsinlearningasecondlanguage?Basedonthoseabove,Ithink,bothofthemareneededforChinesestudents.Justusethesetwomethodsindifferentsituation.SincetheintroductionofCLTinthelate1960s,ithasbecomepopular,ofcourse,therearesomemisconceptionsofitandhowitisimplementedinthesecondlanguageclassroom,whilemostdescriptionsofCLTemphasizethecommunicationofmessagesandmeaning.ThenthereisaproblemonifCLTshouldpaymoreattentiontotheanalysisandpracticeoflanguageform.InChina,Iwanderwhatisthespecificpurposeoflearningasecondlanguage?AsfarasIknow,chooseanappropriatemethoddodependonthestudent’spurpose.IfthestudentismeanttobeanexpertofthelanguageEnglish,thensheorheneedstopaymoreattentiontoTBLTmethod.BecauseTBLTgivesamorerigorouswaytolearnEnglish,andthelearnersdon’tneedthenativespeakersandnativeenvironmentthatmuch,afterall,noteveryonehastheconditiontoreachagoodnativeresource.However,ifthepurposeofthelearnerisjustforcommunication,thenCLTcanbeabetterwaytolearnEnglish,somepeoplementionedthatCLThaslostitsrelevancetoasecondteaching,Idonotthinkso,IthinkCLTisjustamoreactivewayoflearningasecondlanguage,asaconsequence,thelearnermustbebetteronora