Language Teaching in the “Post-Communicative” Era

1. Language Teaching in the “Post-Communicative” Era Harvard University Department of Romance Languages and Literatures TF/TA Workshop August 2009

2. Grammar Translation Method Based on classical language study: translation of literary texts Long lists of vocabulary Lots of grammatical rules Class conducted in L2 Little practice speaking/original writing Little room for creativity Demise: 1960’s http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IIAdHEwiAy8

3. Audio-Lingual Method (ALM) • Behaviorism • Language learning is habit-formation • Mistakes are bad • Oral presentation first, then written • Memorizing dialogues • Substitution drills -- lots of drills • Class conducted in L2 -- no L1 allowed • Very little creative use of the language • Goal: proficiency • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WckCw_-7e3M&feature=PlayList&p=770E8A546E86DA4F

4. French class

5. Communicative Languge Teaching (CLT) An “approach,” not a “method” Goals: • Communication through interaction • Authentic texts/materials • Expressing personal experiences/opinions • Linking classroom activities to the “real world”

6. The 4 Communicative SKILLS Reading Writing Speaking Listening All should be ACTIVE skills

7. Communication MODES • Interpretive mode • Presentational mode • Interpersonal mode

8. Communicative Competence (Canale and Swain, 1980) = the knowledge and use of language • Grammatical competence • Sociolinguistic competence • Strategic competence • Discourse competence: the mastery of combining grammatical forms and meanings to achieve a unified spoken or written text in different genres.

9. Flaws of CLT • Lack of proficiency: focus on meaning, with little emphasis on form • Sentence-level pedagogical focus • Not enough focus on writing, going beyond personal experience • Not enough attention to context and linguistic register (discourse factors)

10. Inductive vs. Deductive grammar instruction Deductive grammar explanation: In Spanish, adjectives end in ‘o’ when masculine and ‘a’ when feminine. Make the following adjectives feminine: bonito, sucio, guapo, etc.

11. Inductive grammar instruction What rule can you propose to explain the difference between masculine and feminine adjectives in Spanish? David Letterman es guapo y sincero. Madonna es bonita y flaca. Activity: Listen to the following utterances, and decide whether the speaker is referring to David Letterman or Madonna.

12. “Post-communicative” language teaching Goals: • Improve proficiency/accuracy as well as communicative skills • Stress language use at discourse level • Include all types of texts (written too) • Integrate more intellectual content • Focus on literacy

13. How to Accomplish Goals: Focus on Discourse Competence • Study language as connected discourse, not at sentence-level • Distinguish among types of sociolinguistic settings • Link reading to writing; listening to speaking • Study grammar within context

14. A Framework INDUCTIVE LANGUAGE LEARNING From Understanding to Producing • Students receive data/input • Students work with data (as researchers) • Consciousness raising • Tasks • Finally --> Output/production For all skills and all modes of communication

15. TF/TA Training: 2009-2010 Topics: Teaching Reading Teaching Writing Focusing on Literacy Teaching Grammar Teaching Using Technology