Professor Jack C. Richards - Communicative language teaching

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hello today we're going to talk about the methodology known as communicative

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language teaching I want to look at its evolution since it was first developed

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in the 1970s and look at how its influenced approaches to language

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teaching today you know in my experience many language teachers when you ask them

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to identify what methodology they use they often mention communicative as the

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methodology of choice however when pressed to give a more

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detailed account of what they mean by communicative their explanations tend to

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vary does this mean teaching conversation does it mean an absence of

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grammar in a course or perhaps an emphasis on open-ended discussion

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activities as the main features of a course so perhaps I could ask you what

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do you understand by communicative language teaching communicative language

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teaching can be understood as a set of principles first of all about the goals

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of language teaching assumptions about how learners learn a language the kinds

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of classroom activities that best facilitate learning and the roles of

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teachers and learners in the classroom so I'd like to examine each of these

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issues perhaps in a little more detail communicative language teaching sets as

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its goal the teaching of what is called communicative competence communicative

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competence can be contrasted with linguistic or grammatical competence

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which really focuses on sentence formation and the ability to produce

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grammatically correct sentences linguistic competence does not really

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describe how we use language as a basis for communication this is the focus of

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communicative competence and communicative competence includes a

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number of different dimensions of language knowledge in use for example

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knowing how to use a language for a range of different purposes and

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functions knowing how to vary our use of language according to the setting who

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we're talking to and whether a formal and informal or informal speech style is

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appropriate it also refers to how we can use language as a medium for

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cross-cultural communication interacting with people

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from different cultural backgrounds it includes knowing how to produce

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different types of texts such as narratives reports interviews or

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conversations it also includes how can we how we maintain communication despite

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having limitations in one's language proficiency through perhaps using

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different kinds of communication strategies communicative language

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teaching also reflects an understanding of what the processes of second language

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learning consist of and these processes include things such as the following

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interaction between the learner and the users of the language collaborative

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creation of meaning creating meaningful and purposeful interaction through

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language it includes learning through negotiation of meaning as the learner

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and the interlocutor arrived at understanding it includes learning

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through paying attention to the feedback learners get when they use the language

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it also includes noticing paying attention to the language one hears and

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trying to incorporate new forms into one's developing communicative

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competence and it also includes the ability to try out and experiment with

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different ways of saying things now when CLT began there was a movement

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away from traditional lesson formats where the focus was on mastery of

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different items of grammar and practice through controls activities such as

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memorization of dialogues drills and the use of it in CLT this moved towards the

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use of peer work activities role plays group work activities in project work so

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a movement away from accuracy based activities if you like towards more

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fluency communicative based activities the type of classroom activities

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proposed then also implied new roles in the classroom for teachers and learners

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learners now had to participate in classroom activities they were based on

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a cooperative rather than an individualistic approach to learning

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had to become comfortable with listening to their peers in group work or pair

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work tasks rather than relying solely on the teacher for a model they were

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expected to take on a greater degree of responsibility for their own learning

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and teachers now had to assume the role of facilitator and monitor rather than

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being a model for correct speech and writing and one were the primary

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responsibilities of making students avoid errors the the teacher had to

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develop a different view of learners errors and of his or her own role in

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facilitating language learning so under the influence of CLT Theory grammar

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based methodologies such as audio lingual ISM gave way to more functional

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and skill based teaching and at the same time accuracy activities such as

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drilling were replaced by activities based on interactive small group work as

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you can imagine communicative language teaching created a great deal of

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enthusiasm and excitement when it first appeared as a new approach to language

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teaching in the 1970s and 80s and language teachers and teaching

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institutions all around the world soon began to rethink their they're teaching

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their syllabuses their classroom and materials and in planning language

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courses within a communicative approach grammar was no longer the starting point

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new approaches to language teaching and language course development were needed

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the communicative approach prompted then a rethinking of classroom teaching

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methodology it was argued that learners learn a language through the process of

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communication in it and that communication that's meaningful to the

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learner provides a better opportunity for learning then through a grammar

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based approach new techniques were needed as I mentioned new roles for

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teachers new roles to the learner so instead of focusing on accurate

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repetition and memorization of sentences and grammatical practice presents

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activities that required learners to negotiate meaning and to interact

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meaningfully were required since the 1990s the communicative approach has

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been widely implemented but because it describes a set of very general

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principle grounded in the notion of communicative

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competence is the goal of second and foreign language teaching and learning

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and as well as the use of a communicative syllabus and methodology

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because of these general goals it's continued to evolve as our understanding

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of the processes of second language learning has developed current

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communicative language teaching theory and practice

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thus draws on a number of different educational paradigms and traditions and

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since it draws on a number of diverse sources there is no single or agreed

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upon set of practices that characterize current communicative approaches rather

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c or c today refers to a set of generally agreed upon principles that

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can be applied in different ways depending on the teaching context the

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age of the learners their level their learning goals and so on so current

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approaches to methodology draw on earlier traditions in CLT and continue

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to make reference to some extent to traditional approaches as well so

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classroom activities typically have some of these characteristics they seek to

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develop students communicative competence through linking grammatical

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development to the ability to communicate so grammar is not taught in

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isolation but often arises out of a communicative task thus creating a need

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for specific items of grammar students might carry out a task and then reflect

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on some of the linguistic characteristics of their performance in

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the classroom the activities for the requiring the communication interaction

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and negotiation of meaning are made use of these include problem-solving

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activities information sharing roleplay and task based activities and these

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provide opportunities for both inductive as well as a deductive learning of

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grammar activities also seek to employ content that connects to students lives

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and interests they also allow students to personalize learning by applying what

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they've learned to their own lives and classroom materials typically most

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use of make use of authentic texts authentic sources to create interest and

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to provide valid models of language here the internet is for

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fighting a great deal of a source for language teaching materials different

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syllabus types within the communicative orientation to language teaching employ

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different routes to developing communicative competence since its

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inception in the 1970s CLT has passed through a number of different phases in

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the first phase a primary concern was the need to develop a syllabus and

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teaching approach that was compatible with early conceptions of communicative

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competence as I said earlier this led to proposals for the organization of

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syllabuses in terms of functions and notions rather than simply in terms of

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grammatical structures later the focus shifted to procedures for identifying

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learners communicative needs and this resulted in proposals to make needs

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analysis an essential communicative an essential component of communicative

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methodology at the same time as I noticed methodologist focused on the

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kinds of classroom activities that could be used to implement a communicative

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approach such as group work task work and information gap activities so today

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CLT can be seen as describing a set of core principles about language teaching

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and learning which can be applied in different ways and which address

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different aspects of the processes of teaching and learning