The Communicative Approaches Topics What is CLT What

The Communicative Approaches

Topics �What is CLT? �What are CLT’s main tenets? �Early CLT: Notional / Functional Syllabus �Linguistic Competence and Communicative Competence �Halliday’s Seven Basic Functions of Language �The Subskills in Communicative Competence

Topics II �The Lexical Approach �CLT Materials and Activity Types �Teacher Roles �Student Roles �Learner Error and Evaluation

What is CLT? The communicative approach is theory that language is communication. As it has been influenced by the humanistic methods, the affective facet of the learner is of paramount importance. The final aim of CLT is communicative competence.

CLT’s main tenets q. Learners learn a language by using it to communicate. q. Authentic and meaningful communication should be the goal of classroom activities. q. Fluency is an important dimension of communication. q. Communication involves the integration of different language skills. q. Learning is a process of creative construction and involves trial and error.

Notional / Functional Syllabus �D. A. Wilkins, one of the proponents of CLT, developed the notional – a. k. a. functional – view of language. According to this view, a learner needs notions and functions to communicate: �Notions: location, frequency, time, sequence, etc. �Functions: requests, threats, complaints, offers, etc.

Linguistic Competence �According to N. Chomsky, Linguistic Competence is knowledge and mastery of the underlying system of rules. �In other words, LC’s view of language is that of an abstract grammatical knowledge, faraway from any particular context of use.

Communicative Competence �On the other hand, Hymes’ conception is that language is always used in a social context or situation. �It is a competence that establishes: ◦ When to speak, and when not to speak ◦ What to talk about ◦ Where, in what manner and with whom �It is not a contradiction to Chomsky’s beliefs, but an extension to them.

Communicative Competence & Linguistic Competence �There are some aspects common to both concepts, although other ideas are not compatible. CC LC

Halliday’s Seven Basic Functions of Language �Halliday identified seven functions of language that complement the communicative competence: 1. Instrumental function: get things. 2. Regulatory function: control others’ behavior. 3. Interactional function: create interaction with others. 4. Personal function: express personal feelings and meanings. 5. Heuristic function: learn and discover. 6. Imaginative function: create imaginary worlds. 7. Representational function: communicate information to others.

Subskills in Communicative Competence �Canale and Swain identified four subgroups of competences which make up communicative competence: 1. Grammatical competence: use grammar and lexis accurately (linguistic competence). 2. Sociolinguistic competence: understand the social context in which communication takes place. 3. Discourse competence: interpret individual elements in a message through their coherence and cohesion. 4. Strategic competence: start, finish, maintain, repair or redirect communication.

The Lexical Approach �This approach moves away from the purely grammatical view of language. �Lexis, rather than grammar, plays a primary role in the acquisition of a language. �Lexis refers to multi-word prefabricated chunks that all speakers have in their minds. �The essential idea is that fluency is based on the acquisition of fixed and semi-fixed prefabricated items.

The Lexical Approach II �Multi-word items can be organized into four categories: ◦ Words: push, fruit, exit. These are not frequent in use but have a high information content. ◦ Polywords: by the way, on the other hand. These are used to generate patterns, but have a low information content. ◦ Collocations: consist of two word combinations that must go together – e. g. do a job. ◦ Fixed expressions: I’ll see what I can do, certainly not! These have a strong pragmatic meaning. ◦ Sentence frames or heads: At present, some experts believe, that’s all very well but…

CLT materials and activities �CLT makes extensive use of realia i. e. authentic materials – taken from real contexts. �Activities tend to help learners identify roles of language use (e. g. tourist, student, customer, waiter, etc. ) and to create scenarios of language use (hotel check-in, ordering a meal, visiting the doctor, etc. )

Teachers’ roles The teacher has two main roles: �To facilitate the communication process in the classroom �To act as an independent participant within the learning-teaching group The teacher is also expected to act as a resource, an organizer of resources, a motivator, a counselor, a guide, an analyst and a researcher. There are many other minor roles of a teacher, some of these would include being an actor and an entertainer.

Students’ roles �Students play a more active role in CLT: �They are learning to do something useful with the language they study. �They are encouraged to express their individuality. �Student security is enhanced. �Learner autonomy is promoted.

Learner Error and Evaluation �CLT sees error as a natural part of the learning process. �Error is seen as early attempts at using the language which will eventually lead them to improvement. �In CLT a learner is evaluated not only on accuracy but also on fluency, either during classroom communicative activities (informal) or through communicative tests (formal).