Describe CLT approach key principles, how is CLT used in planning and material preparation. Analyse the CLT most important aspects and also some criticism levelled at CLT. (1000+ words)
Overview
Communicative Language Teaching is not a methodology; it is rather an approach where there is stress on the student’s autonomy and active communication. Such an approach can shape any methodology and so its flavours are found in most of the old as well as modern EFL teaching methods.
The method is working with the subconscious part of the language processes where in most of the students a separated foreign persona gets developed. To help this persona to exist on its own without the crutches of the student’s L1 is probably the key principle of CLT approach. Another important aspect would be to help this persona swim in the L2 fearlessly without knowing the proper strokes (pronunciation, grammar and vocabulary). The mistake is not what a hindsight might have seen but whether the message made it to the recipient. The correct form of the delivery is not the primary focus, it is somewhat self-regulating; it improves with practice. The communication is (and should be acknowledged as) a joint responsibility of both parts. The learning process in itself is intrinsic. Here are 3 key components that help learning: use of real, authentic language, this language is meaningful (for the learner) and it promotes meaningful tasks ( to express meaning, to learn, to control others etc) So the learning is still there even if both parts are inaccurate especially when they are bold, proactive(engaged), make guesses and learn from the errors.
It was shown that practice by doing is actually (besides learning by teaching) a very efficient and effective approach-way for any learning. If done properly, many skill and sub-skills are whipped simultaneously and so a very complex learning is achieved quite naturally, effortlessly and well: The retention is always better when there are more skills integrated and practiced together since their mutual references create more complex synapses in the brain.
Part of the production process is driven by immediate mimicking (mirror neurons referencing), other part by processing and using of patterns stored in the SS memory from the previous exercises and exposures. The grammar is learned on the go without conscious realisation. The conscious studying of the whole complex of the rules and their exemptions are the peripheral yet complement part of the CLT approach.
Thus it is quite important (helpful to the teacher) when there is a challenging, inspiring and immersing environment or setting where the natives challenge and motivate the learners. In a classroom these situations and challenges do not happen randomly and they need to be prepared (simulated) and stimulated (motivation). The important is a bespoke, relevant staging so that the most of the information is interesting and occurs as if on its own. This is not easy to do in big and/or uneven classes. The teacher’s decision is not just topical but also structural – what basic communication units= functions (e.g. request, denial, offer, complaint) are to be practiced and in what interaction form (real setting vs. role-play setting; focus on what macro skill. The body language when producing or receiving communication may be of a focus too.
The paramount theme of CLT is to deliver the intention, meaning between the communicating actors competently. If such a communication occurs whether it is straightforward or with some meaning negotiations, it may be considered fluent; the context is basic premise. Quite often many than 2 of all the 4 macro skills are being used in one ‘go’ and so they are recognized as interdependent.
CLT break down
Teacher role:
1) Facilitator (to organize resources based on learner analysis, to help learners to prepare their bespoke syllabi of learning activities)
2) An independent participant (paraphrase, give confirmatory feedback)
3) A researcher and learner as to students and learning and organisation (monitor, encourage, debrief)
Student role:
Assume responsibility for the learning process, eager to communicate and seek feedback.
Material types :
- text based (get the info and relay it),
- task based (jigsaw, role play),
- realia – authentic (news or description)
Tasks:
Functional Tasks:
e.g. compare sets of images (similarities and differences); work out a likely sequence of events based on the image set; discover missing feature in a map, blind instruction on how to draw st, solving a problem according to the shared clues.
Social tasks:
e.g. discussion, dialogue, role-play, simulation, skit, improve, debates.
5 CLT principles:
Appropriateness – using formal as well as casual style
Message real meaning f –sharing and transferring
Psycholinguistic process –engaging in cognitive processes
Risk taking- guessing and learning from the errors
Free (creative) and holistic practice -simultaneous use of various sub-skills
Criticism levelled on CLT approach
Some criticism stems from lack of definition or understanding about how universal and all-encompassing CLT is (or claims to be). CLT should not become a dogma (e.g. promote STT no matter what) because it is not a universal way for every learner. Some learners are not beginners and their previous knowledge (both of target language and the methods) had been shaped in the way they know best and so have feelings about. They surely have preconceptions of what teaching and learning should be like. Some other students may feel naturally shy in social communication or be extremely individualistic. CLT approach does not show how to deal with this ‘pragmatic burden handling’ in a structured manner. It rather promotes the trial-error boldness in taking learner’s responsibility (like if all learners were able to develop and use it). I would say this is not specific enough.
There may be a research opportunity on various learner profile phenotypes. Variables on target language-specific tags will be measured on psychological traits (ability to be open to new ideas – introspection, respect seeking, communication preferences, social anxiety), proficiency level achieved and the methods and languages (culture) exposure. Then some trials can be made on how to engraft these with CLT.
If we assume that CLT should be a predominant answer to all learning/teaching needs there still is a problem as its teacher role is more challenging than in most of other approaches. Also it assumes relatively small classes where there is enough time for good individual learner analysing. Both these facts raise teacher’s or lesson price. There also seems to be an ideal class size of min to max students. Say for me it would be like 4 and 14: Less than 4 would soon be a bit stale and also hard to create pairs. With more than 14 it would be challenging to analyse SS individually and give a solid feedback in class.
Also if students do not immerse in target language outside of school it may be better to engage explanations and drills to internalize the rules in shorter amount of time than by CLT. There are some modern polyglots like Emanuele Marini (20+ languages) or Timothy Ferris who at a beginner level promote starting with learning of the rules and sentence structures.
CLT is not good for preparation for standardised tests either.
Overview
Communicative Language Teaching is not a methodology; it is rather an approach where there is stress on the student’s autonomy and active communication. Such an approach can shape any methodology and so its flavours are found in most of the old as well as modern EFL teaching methods.
The method is working with the subconscious part of the language processes where in most of the students a separated foreign persona gets developed. To help this persona to exist on its own without the crutches of the student’s L1 is probably the key principle of CLT approach. Another important aspect would be to help this persona swim in the L2 fearlessly without knowing the proper strokes (pronunciation, grammar and vocabulary). The mistake is not what a hindsight might have seen but whether the message made it to the recipient. The correct form of the delivery is not the primary focus, it is somewhat self-regulating; it improves with practice. The communication is (and should be acknowledged as) a joint responsibility of both parts. The learning process in itself is intrinsic. Here are 3 key components that help learning: use of real, authentic language, this language is meaningful (for the learner) and it promotes meaningful tasks ( to express meaning, to learn, to control others etc) So the learning is still there even if both parts are inaccurate especially when they are bold, proactive(engaged), make guesses and learn from the errors.
It was shown that practice by doing is actually (besides learning by teaching) a very efficient and effective approach-way for any learning. If done properly, many skill and sub-skills are whipped simultaneously and so a very complex learning is achieved quite naturally, effortlessly and well: The retention is always better when there are more skills integrated and practiced together since their mutual references create more complex synapses in the brain.
Part of the production process is driven by immediate mimicking (mirror neurons referencing), other part by processing and using of patterns stored in the SS memory from the previous exercises and exposures. The grammar is learned on the go without conscious realisation. The conscious studying of the whole complex of the rules and their exemptions are the peripheral yet complement part of the CLT approach.
Thus it is quite important (helpful to the teacher) when there is a challenging, inspiring and immersing environment or setting where the natives challenge and motivate the learners. In a classroom these situations and challenges do not happen randomly and they need to be prepared (simulated) and stimulated (motivation). The important is a bespoke, relevant staging so that the most of the information is interesting and occurs as if on its own. This is not easy to do in big and/or uneven classes. The teacher’s decision is not just topical but also structural – what basic communication units= functions (e.g. request, denial, offer, complaint) are to be practiced and in what interaction form (real setting vs. role-play setting; focus on what macro skill. The body language when producing or receiving communication may be of a focus too.
The paramount theme of CLT is to deliver the intention, meaning between the communicating actors competently. If such a communication occurs whether it is straightforward or with some meaning negotiations, it may be considered fluent; the context is basic premise. Quite often many than 2 of all the 4 macro skills are being used in one ‘go’ and so they are recognized as interdependent.
CLT break down
Teacher role:
1) Facilitator (to organize resources based on learner analysis, to help learners to prepare their bespoke syllabi of learning activities)
2) An independent participant (paraphrase, give confirmatory feedback)
3) A researcher and learner as to students and learning and organisation (monitor, encourage, debrief)
Student role:
Assume responsibility for the learning process, eager to communicate and seek feedback.
Material types :
- text based (get the info and relay it),
- task based (jigsaw, role play),
- realia – authentic (news or description)
Tasks:
Functional Tasks:
e.g. compare sets of images (similarities and differences); work out a likely sequence of events based on the image set; discover missing feature in a map, blind instruction on how to draw st, solving a problem according to the shared clues.
Social tasks:
e.g. discussion, dialogue, role-play, simulation, skit, improve, debates.
5 CLT principles:
Appropriateness – using formal as well as casual style
Message real meaning f –sharing and transferring
Psycholinguistic process –engaging in cognitive processes
Risk taking- guessing and learning from the errors
Free (creative) and holistic practice -simultaneous use of various sub-skills
Criticism levelled on CLT approach
Some criticism stems from lack of definition or understanding about how universal and all-encompassing CLT is (or claims to be). CLT should not become a dogma (e.g. promote STT no matter what) because it is not a universal way for every learner. Some learners are not beginners and their previous knowledge (both of target language and the methods) had been shaped in the way they know best and so have feelings about. They surely have preconceptions of what teaching and learning should be like. Some other students may feel naturally shy in social communication or be extremely individualistic. CLT approach does not show how to deal with this ‘pragmatic burden handling’ in a structured manner. It rather promotes the trial-error boldness in taking learner’s responsibility (like if all learners were able to develop and use it). I would say this is not specific enough.
There may be a research opportunity on various learner profile phenotypes. Variables on target language-specific tags will be measured on psychological traits (ability to be open to new ideas – introspection, respect seeking, communication preferences, social anxiety), proficiency level achieved and the methods and languages (culture) exposure. Then some trials can be made on how to engraft these with CLT.
If we assume that CLT should be a predominant answer to all learning/teaching needs there still is a problem as its teacher role is more challenging than in most of other approaches. Also it assumes relatively small classes where there is enough time for good individual learner analysing. Both these facts raise teacher’s or lesson price. There also seems to be an ideal class size of min to max students. Say for me it would be like 4 and 14: Less than 4 would soon be a bit stale and also hard to create pairs. With more than 14 it would be challenging to analyse SS individually and give a solid feedback in class.
Also if students do not immerse in target language outside of school it may be better to engage explanations and drills to internalize the rules in shorter amount of time than by CLT. There are some modern polyglots like Emanuele Marini (20+ languages) or Timothy Ferris who at a beginner level promote starting with learning of the rules and sentence structures.
CLT is not good for preparation for standardised tests either.