ELTM Unit 2 The Communicative Approach

1. ELTM Unit 2The Communicative Approach Presented By: Jia Lin (Dana)

2. Unit 2 Objectives • Know what communicative competence means. • Learn what language processing involves. • Be able to apply principles of communicative language teaching. • Be able to use information-gap and role-playing activities in class. BeiwaiOnline P41

3. Unit 2 Overview BeiwaiOnline P40

4. Warm-up Exercise BeiwaiOnline P41-42

5. Warm-up Exercise Only #3! BeiwaiOnline P41-42

6. Warm-up Exercise BeiwaiOnline P41-42

7. Warm-up Exercise Only #2! BeiwaiOnline P41-42

8. 1Communicative Competence A1 P43-51 BeiwaiOnline

9. TTT STT interaction drill appropriate indirect functional meaning CLT ...teacher talking time ...student talking time ...two-way communication ...train by repeating patterns ...suitable to the situation ...not saying what is meant ...language used with a purpose ...Communicative Language Teaching Key Terms A1 P43-51 BeiwaiOnline

10. Types of interaction. • Like conversation, most everyday communication is two-way and involves an exchange of information. • Yet, most classrooms are dominated by “teacher talking time” (TTT) rather than “student talking time”. TTT usually flows one way (from teacher to student). • When students are learning to use a foreign language, they need more “quality” interaction. A1 T1 P42-43 BeiwaiOnline

11. Traditional classroom interaction. • Teacher reads and students repeat the new words. • Teacher explains language points. Key phrases are then analyzed and translated. • Students do exercises, such as filling in missing words or participating in drills. BeiwaiOnline A1 T1 P43-44

12. Interactions outside the classroom. • People don’t usually make sentences without a communicative intention. • People consider the appropriateness of what was said as being far more important than the grammar. • People often say things in an indirect way. A bit cold ‘ere. You want the window closed? A1 T2 P44-45 BeiwaiOnline

13. Functions and forms. • Just as a single linguistic form can fit a number of communicative purposes (functions), a function can be expressed by any one of several forms. • People consider the situation and other social factors before choosing a form to suit their functional meaning. BeiwaiOnline A1 T3 P45-47

14. Switching language forms. Which form do you think he would use with which person? BeiwaiOnline A1 T4 P47-48

15. Switching language forms. Which form do you think he would use with which person? BeiwaiOnline A1 T4 P47-48

16. Communicative competence. • Using suitable language requires that one knows what to say, when to say it (or not), and in what manner. • Success or failure is measured by the response of others (feedback). • So what do we need to develop communicative competence? ...A reaction! BeiwaiOnline A1 T5 P49-50

17. Kids aren’t the only ones who need practice. • To develop communicative competence, children need a chance to hear and practice language as well as responses from live human beings! • Practicing certain language structures for the sake of practice is not enough. • Communicative competence is driven by real information exchange under motivating conditions. BeiwaiOnline A1 T6 P50-51

18. Key Concepts BeiwaiOnline A1 P51

19. 2Language Processingand Production BeiwaiOnline A2 P51-64

20. cognitive background turn context clause lexical density back-channel ...using deeper thought ...setting for events ...a chance to speak ...setting, surroundings ...has subject and verb ...related to vocabulary ...how crowded sth. is ...say things to show you are listening Key Terms A1 P51-64 BeiwaiOnline

21. How language is processed. • As language is learned and produced, various cognitive processes are involved. • Structural, functional and social meanings are dealt with by different areas of the brain. • Background knowledge and memory may also be required to fully understand the meanings behind discourse. BeiwaiOnline A2 T1 P51-52

22. “Ich habe den ‘Tagesspiegel’ gekauft. Es stehen nicht nur di ganzen Kinoprogramme drin, sondern auch Einzelheiten uber die anderen Veranstaltungen, Oper, Theater usw.” Why is this language sample difficult to process? Problems in processing (1). • Well, if you don’t know the language (German), you won’t understand it. BeiwaiOnline A2 T1 P52-54

23. “I myself asked the Crab that question. He merely suggested that I try it out. So I fished a quarter from my pocket (you get three plays for a quarter), stuffed it in the slot, and hit buttons B-1, then C-3, then B-10—all just at random.” Why is this language sample difficult to process? Problems in processing (2). • Well, without additional text or any clues as to the context, it is difficult to imagine what the speaker is talking about (a jukebox that plays recorded music). BeiwaiOnline A2 T1 P52-54

24. When regal Autumn’s bounteous hand With wide-spread glory clothes the land, When to the valleys, from the brow, Of each resplendent slope, is rolled A ruddy sea of living gold, We bless, we bless the plough. Why is this language sample difficult to process? Problems in processing (3). • Well, even native speakers may find this style of writing difficult (if they don’t read poetry often). BeiwaiOnline A2 T1 P52-54

25. “For example, the virtual memory framework has Domain as its facade. A Domain represents an address space. It provides a mapping between virtual addresses and offsets into memory objects, files, or backing store. The main operations on Domain support adding a memory object at a particular address, removing a memory object, and handling a page fault.” Why is this language sample difficult to process? Problems in processing (4). • Well, it requires background, specialist knowledge (of object-oriented computer programming). BeiwaiOnline A2 T1 P52-54

26. Providing background information. • Fortunately, most texts used in ELT are not so difficult. • A teacher should anticipate areas of difficulty in a text when preparing a lesson. • Giving the students some background information should help them to understand unfamiliar contexts and situations. BeiwaiOnline A2 T2 P54-56

27. Where do I find background information? • “The ushers seated some of the bride’s friends on his side of the church so things wouldn't look off balance.” • A good dictionary could explain terms like “ushers” and “off balance”. • A movie about an American wedding or an American friend could explain the customs. • Does this take time? Yes, but professional teachers should develop contacts and resources. Besides, what do you think all that holiday time is for? BeiwaiOnline A2 T3 P57-59

28. Consider both the difficulty of the text and the amount of background knowledge required. Consider the style: simple clauses or more complex ones. Look at the lexical density (number of content words). Are there many ideas packed in each sentence? How to select text. A2 T4 P58-61 BeiwaiOnline

29. Writers need to use more formal and exact language, but speakers can take advantage of being in the same context as the listener. As each person takes turns in speaking, they can check if their message has been understood. Students need to learn how to use informal language, and adjust the message to the context. Students also need to learn to take turns, respond and check if the listener has understood. Oral communication. BeiwaiOnline A2 T4 P61-64

30. Problems in oral communication. Match each problem with a possible solution. BeiwaiOnline A2 T4 P63-64

31. Problems in oral communication. Were you able to match them correctly? BeiwaiOnline A2 T4 P63-64

32. Key Concepts BeiwaiOnline A2 T5 P64

33. 3Introduction to Communicative LT BeiwaiOnline A3 P65-77

34. syllabus authentic rehearsal discourse convention artificial autonomy negotiate meaning ...course contents ...realistic, genuine ...practice session ...long piece of language ...normal pattern ...not genuine ...directing oneself ...determine meaning through discussion Key Terms A1 P51-64 BeiwaiOnline

35. What the syllabus may include. • A syllabus for Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) usually includes functional items, topics and structures: • situations such as traveling or shopping; • topics such as education; • functions such as making requests; • skills such as listening/speaking/reading; • vocabulary and grammar needed to understand the language used. BeiwaiOnline A3 T1 P65-66

36. Authenticity is the key. • Authentic language is language that native speakers would really use. • Practice sessions in class should be a rehearsal for real life. • Language needs to be understood at the discourse level (e.g. entire meaning of a long text) not just at the word/sentence level. BeiwaiOnline A3 T2 P66-67

37. Being authentic in the classroom. • Even if texts are written for ELT, they can be authentic if they follow genuine conventions. • Language that sounds artificial should be avoided. • When tasks are designed, they should be as close as possible to something a person would do in real life. BeiwaiOnline A3 T3 P68-70

38. Authentic tasks for a weather report. In groups, discuss possible tasks for the above text and their practical value. BeiwaiOnline A3 T3 P68-70

39. Teacher’s roles. • Manager... organizing activities. • Assessor... giving marks and feedback. • Participant... working along with students. • Prompter... making suggestions. • Resource... source of language and knowledge. • Instructor... teaching and training. BeiwaiOnline A3 T4 P70-71

40. Which are appropriate? In groups, discuss which roles would be appropriate during these activities. BeiwaiOnline A3 T4 P72-74

41. What good learners do. • Make opportunities for experimenting with language. • Demonstrate autonomy by developing strategies---ways of learning that work best for them. • Negotiate meaning when they communicate with the teacher and with other students. BeiwaiOnline A3 T4 P75-77

42. Key Concepts BeiwaiOnline A3 P77

43. 4CommunicativeActivities BeiwaiOnline A4 P78-96

44. unpredictability jigsaw questionnaire information gap role-play cued dialogue ...not knowing what will happen/be said ...exchange information from different sources ...collect answers, survey ...incomplete information results in sharing ...create dialogue in which people act out parts ...give prompts to control dialogue Key Terms A4 P78-96 BeiwaiOnline

45. Features of communicative activities. • Communicative activities are good because they contribute to student motivation and long-term learning. • For activities to be considered communicative, there must be: • a necessity and purpose to communication, • unpredictability (e.g. the listener should not know what the speaker will say), and • a choice (e.g. the speaker should be able to select from a range of things to say). BeiwaiOnline A4 T1 P78-79

46. Designing activities. • Necessity... does the task create a desire and purpose for communication? • Unpredictability... does the task allow students to create their own messages using a variety of possibilities? • Choice... are the students free to express themselves and finish speaking without interruption? BeiwaiOnline A4 T2 P79-81

47. Types of activities. • Functional communicative activities require the students to get their meaning across. • Social interaction activities require greater attention to social norms and to the social appropriateness of language. It’s green! More tea? BeiwaiOnline A4 T3 P81-82

48. Information gap activities. • In an information gap activity (sometimes called a jigsaw activity) students need to share different bits of information. • Communication results from one or both sides needing information from the other. • A student questionnaire could be designed as an information gap. More typical exercises involve a two-way exchange. BeiwaiOnline A4 T4 P83-86

49. Some examples. • Each student has a copy of a table with different areas blanked out. They need to share information to fill in the whole table (e.g. text p 84-5). • Students look at a complex picture together and ask questions about what the other person is looking at (e.g. text p 86-7). • One student has a map and the other a weather report. The one with the map asks the other about weather conditions and what type of clothes he/she should wear (e.g. text p 87-8). BeiwaiOnline A4 T4 P84-88

50. Try a simple information gap activity. • Choose a person in the cartoon, but don’t tell your partner which one. • Your partner will make up questions about people in the cartoon and guess which person you are thinking about based on your answers. • Comments? BeiwaiOnline A4 T4 P88