Communicative language teaching

SIMON COFFEY

CLT emerged in the early 1970s

Resulting from developments in  Linguistics  Psychology / educational research  The language learning ‘ market ’

Key names associated with CLT

• Hymes (communicative competence) • Canale & Swain (pedagogic model to apply comm competence to language teaching) • Savignon • Brumfitt (in UK) and see list of references

Historical overview of language teaching trends:

Who learnt languages?

For what purposes?

Foreign language learning as a mark of Culture From governess to schoolroom and the grand tour

19 th century mass migrations language learning needs change

Direct method e.g. Berlitz

Beginning of oral drills.

(But what does it all mean?)

Developments in psychology and linguistics Early 20 th until 1950s century Pavlovian psychology prevails

Behaviourism

Developed by BF Skinner

Practice makes perfect

Are errors bad habits!

Then came Chomsky (1959)

We have inbuilt grammatical competence.

This innatist (or nativist) view of language overtook behaviourism: Chomsky proposed that we have a deep, inbuilt language acquisition device. Consider: I promised Tom to not be late I asked Tom to not be late or John is easy to please John is eager to please His ideas related to acquisition of L1 but started to be applied to foreign language learning, especially the idea that there is a universal grammar.

1960s Austin



Searle

Speech acts

What do we do with language?

The socio-cultural dimension Think of an example in a language you know



functional view of language

1972 Dell Hymes communicative competence

a language is not just about using a stock of words and rules.

Canale & Swain (1980, 1983)

Hymes’ concept was further developed by Canale and Swain (1980) and then by Canale (1983) into the following four competences: • • • •

Grammatical competence Strategic competence Socio-linguistic competence Discourse competence

How can this taxonomy inform language teaching?

Communication Became key word in language teaching: i.e. the ability to use language rather than have knowledge about language e.g. to introduce oneself

Accuracy vs. meaning

 

La plume de ma tante est sur le bureau de mon oncle Mon mere est une magasin assistant .

focus on structure – language as words and rules focus on meaning – pragmatic dimension

Despite these theoretical developments school based language learning often stayed limited to a combination of grammar-translation and drills And, is knowledge of a foreign language (= French / German) the hallmark of an educated person?

1960s / 70s Comprehensivization What are the implications for language teaching?

Social constructivist view of learning Vygotsky

Learning is a social activity

Zone of proximal development (ZPD)

What is teaching?

The traditional view might be:

the teacher who knows, transmits knowledge to the pupils who don’t know so that they receive knowledge as input.

The ‘transmission model’

Why is this transmission model inadequate?

Another consideration: Language

teaching

vs. language

use Language teaching is not the same as language use in ‘natural’ settings. How are they different?

Current (since 2008) MFL National Curriculum FOUR KEY CONCEPTS

   

Linguistic competence Knowledge about language Creativity Intercultural understanding

Skills-based approach

Combines skills (especially listening and speaking) with function e.g. use the future tense to say what you will do next week Therefore you can ‘describe a future plan’

P P P (presentation – practice – production

still prevalent, though subject to criticism (e.g. Klapper, 2003; Pachler, 2000).

Think of different ways to

Present new language



Practice the new language (different drill, habituation techniques)



Produce the language (creative contexts)

Striking a balance. Language ...

as a structure for social bonding for self expression for practical purposes