Communicative Approach of Language Teaching

ChapterIIICommunicativeApproachofLanguageTeachingThisisapopularlyusedteachingmethodinChina,butmanypeopledon’tunderstandwhatitreallyis.TeachingobjectivesWheredoesthiswayofteachingcomefrom?DefinitionofthisteachingwayCommunicativecompetenceItsfeaturesMethodologicalframeworkTheimplementationoflanguageskillsCommunicativeactivitiesTheProblemswithcommunicativelanguageteachingFactorsconstrainingCLTapplicationinChina1.Wheredoesthiswayofteachingcomefrom?1)Peoplewerenotsatisfiedwiththepreviouslymentionedteachingapproaches.a.Theydidnotknowhowtocommunicate.b.Thelanguagetheylearnedwasnotrealistic.c.Theydidnotunderstandthetargetlanguageculture.2)Languageusedinreallifeisdifferentfromthelanguagetaughtintheclassroom.(thetextbookp14,15…)3)In1970s,thismethodstartedfromtheEuropeanCommittee.a.Thiswasaninternationalorganizationwithtenmembercountries.Theyfelttheyhadalotofproblemswiththelanguages.b.TheyhadameetinginSwitzerlandtosolvethisproblem.Lateranewteachingmethodcameout.2.DefinitionofcommunicativewayofteachingLongmanDictionaryofLanguageTeachingandAppliedLinguisticsdefinescommunicativewayoflanguageteachingas“anapproachtoforeignorsecondlanguageteachingwhichemphasizesthatthegoaloflanguageteachingiscommunicativecompetence.”a.Teachesthelanguageneededtoexpressandunderstanddifferentkindsoffunctions;a.Isbasedoncommunicativelyorganizedsyllabus;b.Emphasizestheprocessofcommunication，suchasusinglanguageappropriatelyindifferenttypesofsituations;usinglanguagetoperformdifferenttasks,eg.Tosolvepuzzles,togetinformationetc.;usinglanguageforsocialinteractionwithotherpeople.3.CommunicativecompetenceCommunicativecompetenceisusedincontrasttoNoamChomsky’sLinguisticcompetence,whichmeansbesidesgrammaticalrules,languageuseisgovernedbyrulesofuse,whichensurethatthedesireorintendedfunctionsareperformedandthelanguageusedisappropriatetothecontext.Knowingwhethersomethingisgrammaticallyacceptable,andknowingthevocabularyofthelanguage,Knowingtherulesofspeaking(eg,howtobeginandendconversations,knowingwhattopicsmaybetalkedaboutindifferenttypesofspeechevents,knowingwhataddressformshouldbeusedwithdifferentpersonsandindifferentsituations.Knowinghowtouseandrespondtodifferenttypesofspeechacts,suchasthanks,invitations,apologiesetc.)Knowingwhethersomethingisunderstandabletohumanbeings,Knowingwhetherornotsomethingisinfactdone:Dopeopleactuallyuselanguagethisway?(comparethesewiththoseinyourtextbook1）语法能力（grammaticalcompetence)：能生成有结构的、能理解的话语（包括句法、词汇、语音和拼写等）2）社会文化能力(Socio-culturalcompetence)：能以有意义的方式来运用社会文化编码，即说出恰当的话语（如正式的或非正式的问候方式）3）话语能力(Discoursecompetence)：能根据不同的语体要求，运用形式的和语义的衔接手段，有目的地来调整语言进行交际。4）策略能力(Strategiccompetence):能设法提高交际效果（例如经过深思的发言）并能解决交际过程中出现的阻碍（例如：核实自己的理解是否正确，对某些误解进行解释，在冷场的时候插入一些话语以维持会话进程等）4.Thefeaturesofthisteachingapproach1.Studentsshouldbegivenopportunitiesforauthenticandcreativeuseofthelanguage;2.Itfocusesonmeaningratherthanform;3.Learningshouldberelevanttotheneedsofthestudents;4.Fluencyismoreimportantthanaccuracy.Studentsshouldbeencouragedandgivenmoreopportunitytotalkinthetargetlanguage,hopingthatInthefluentuseofthetargetlanguage,learnersimprovetheiraccuracy.5.Studentsshouldbegiventaskstoperformorproblemstosolveintheclassroom;Contextualizedlanguageuseismoreimportantthandecontextualized.6.Itemphasizesafunctionalapproachtolanguagelearning(whatpeopledowiththelanguage,inviting,apologizing,greetingandintroducingetc.)7.Classshouldbelearner-centeredandexperience-centered.Toomuchinterferefromtheteacherintotheclassroomactivitiesmayreducetheircommunicativity.Sotheclassshouldbemorestudent-controlledthanteacher-controlledsothatthestudentscanexperiencethetargetlanguageuseandgraduallyformtheirowninternalizedtargetlanguage.5.MethodologicalframeworkMainlypre-communicativeandcommunicativelearningactivities1)pre-communicativeactivitiesa.Structuralactivities(audio-lingualdrills)Theteacherisolatesspecificelementsofknowledgeorskillwhichcomposecommunicativeability,andprovidesthelearnerwithopportunitiestopractisethemseparately.EgJohnhaswrittentheletter.---Hewroteityesterday.Johnhasseenthefilm.----Hesawityesterday.Theaimoftheseactivitiesistoprovidelearnerswithafluentcommandofthelinguisticsystem,withoutactuallyrequiringthemtousethissystemforcommunicativepurposes.Thelearners’mainpurposeistoproducelanguagewhichisacceptableratherthantocommunicatemeaningseffectively.b.Quasi-communicativeactivitiesThesetrytocreatelinksbetweenthelanguageformsbeingpracticedandtheirpotentialfunctionalmeanings.Theytakeintoaccountofcommunicativeaswellasstructuralfactsaboutlanguage.Eg.Bytheway,hasJohnwrittenthatletteryet?Yes,hewroteityesterday.Hasheseenthefilmyet?Yes,hesawityesterday.2)CommunicativeactivitiesIncommunicativeactivities,thelearnerhastoactivateandintegratehispre-communicativeknowledgeandskills.a.FunctionalcommunicationactivitiesWemakethelearnersadapttheirlanguagesothatitreflectssomeaspectofnonlinguisticrealitysuchastheconcretesituation,apictureorpersonalknowledge.Usuallywerelatelanguagewithspecificmeanings.Eg.1.Shallwegotothecinema?Ohno,Idon’tfeellikegoingtothecinema.(Answertheq