A Communicative Approach?

There are a variety of approaches to teaching English as a second or foreign language. One aspect of English
and foreign language teaching involves using a Communicative Approach. But what exactly does using a
communicative approach mean?

Well for me, a Communicative Approach to language teaching includes several distinct aspects. We'll mention
two of them here. Applying these aspects means that language teaching and learning become far more than a
series of grammar lessons and vocabulary lists. For language teaching and learning to be truly communicative,
it must not only be in context, but used to convey ideas, preferences, thoughts, feelings and information in a
way that is addressed to reach others. Usually, I address communicative language teaching through the use of
two approaches:

o Content-Based Instruction (CBI)

o Task-Based language teaching (TBLT)

Definitions of CBI vs. TBL in ELT

In CBI (Widdowson, 1978), the focus of classes is not on the language and structure itself, but rather on
learners acquiring skills or knowledge using English as the language of instruction. If you teach a learner how
to repair computers, for example, and use English as the language of instruction, the learners improve their
language communicative skills while learning foremost the skill of computer repair.

Task-Based Learning in ELT

In the TBLT approach (Willis, 1996), the focus is on providing communicative activities needed for English
language learning, performing tasks using the target language (English) and using the English language in other
ways for learning tasks. Examples would be having learners buy postage to mail a letter by first teaching them
the structures and language needed to perform the task, then actually having them do it. Another example would
be teaching learners the needed English to order a meal in a restaurant, or make a shopping purchase, then
allowing them to complete such tasks on their own using unguided or free speech.

In the publication, "Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching" by Jack C. Richards and Theodore S.
Rodgers (CUP, 2001) more than a dozen approaches to ELT are explored in depth. From the now defunct
Grammar-Translation and Situational approaches to Total Physical Response (TPR), Neuro-Linguistic
Programming (NLP) and Lexical approaches to the Communicative approaches, the Natural approach and
Cooperative Learning, English and foreign language teachers world wide have a much greater language
teaching approach repertoire than ever before.

So, what's it going to be then?

Prof. Larry M. Lynch is an EFL Teacher Trainer, Intellectual Development Specialist, prolific
writer, expert author and public speaker. He has written ESP, foreign language learning, English
language teaching texts and hundreds of articles used in more than 120 countries. Get your FREE E-
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The Communicative Language Teaching Approach

All the methods described so far are symbolic of the progress foreign language teaching ideology
underwent in the last century. These were methods that came and went, influenced or gave birth to
new methods - in a cycle that could only be described as competition between rival methods or even
passing fads in the methodological theory underlying foreign language teaching. Finally, by the mid-
eighties or so, the industry was maturing in its growth and moving towards the concept of a broad
"approach" to language teaching that encompassed various methods, motivations for learning
English, types of teachers and the needs of individual classrooms and students themselves. It would
be fair to say that if there is any one umbrella approach to language teaching that has become the
accepted "norm" in this field, it would have to be the Communicative Language Teaching Approach.
This is also known as CLT.
Basic Features of CLT

The Communicative Approach

Ai The Contributions of the Communicative Movement

Ä. Goal of Language Teaching: Communicative Competence that can best serve the needs of the learner.

Communicative Competence (Canale and Swain, Ä


Sociolinguistic Competence Strategic Competence

srammatical Competence
(verbal and non-verbal communi-
(knowledge of lexical items and Sociocultural Discourse cation strategies that may be called
of rules of morphology, syntax, Competence Competence into action to compensate for break-
sentence- grammar semantics, (knowledge of (knowledge of downs in communication due to
and phonology) the relation of rules governing performance variables or to
language use to cohesion and insufficient competence)
its non-linguistic coherence)
context)

ß. A New Type of Syllabus: Notional/Functional Syllabus

A notional/function syllabus is one "in which the language content is arranged according to the meanings a
learner needs to express through language and the functions the learner will use the language for... A notional
syllabus contains (a) the meanings and concepts the learner needs in order to communicate (eg time, quantity,
duration, location) and the language needed to express them. These concepts and meanings are called notions.
(b) the language needed to express different functions or speech acts (eg requesting, suggesting, promising,
describing)." (Richards, Platt, and Weber, 1985, p. 196)

3. A New Category of Classroom Activities: Meaning Focused Activities

1) Information transfer -- is a type of communicative activity that involves the transfer of information from one
medium (eg., text) to another (eg form, table, diagram). Such activities are intended to help develop the learner's
communicative competence by engaging them in meaning-focused communication.

Example 1: Listen to the story and then add names to the family tree (explanations of the symbols omitted).

I'd like to tell what I know about Ed and Mary's family. Ed and Mary first met at college. Both of them were 19
at the time and they started dating in their third year at college. They got married soon after they graduated from
college. Two years after their marriage, their first child was born. It was a boy. They name him Frank. A year
later, they had another child. This time, it was a girl. They asked Mary's parents to give her a name. They named
her Judy. Frank and Judy grew up. They went to the same college their parents went to. Judy met her boyfriend
Eric at college. Soon they decided to get married. Ed and Mary thought Judy was a bit too young, but Eric was
such a nice young man, they thought it was all right. Soon, Judy and Eric had their first child. It is a son. Judy
and Eric had a hard time naming their son. First they thought of Alexander. They both liked the name, but it
seemed such a long name for such a little baby. They decided to ask Judy's parents for help...
2) Information Gap -- is a type of communicative activity in which each participant in the activity holds some
information other participants don't have and all participants have to share the information they have with other
participants in order to successfully complete a task or solve a problem.

Example 1: There are two shuttles leaving Atlanta airport for Auburn, one at 11:00 am, and the other at 8:00
pm. Someone is coming to Auburn from Chicago. She or he wants to find a flight that arrives in Atlanta airport
45 minutes to an hour before the shuttle leaves for Auburn so that he or she can have enough time to catch the
shuttle, but does not have to wait for too long. Four students participate in this activity. Their task is to find two
flight they meet the above criteria. Each student has the flight information for only one of the following four
airlines, Delta, Northwest, United, and American. They have to share the flight information they have to
identify two flights that best fit for this person's need.

3) Problem Solving

Example 1: Listen to the following dialogues and find out how much each customer needs to pay for his or her
order. Use the menu provided (menu not shown here).

Customer 1

--Are you ready to order?

--Yes. I'd like to have a hamburger, French fries, and a cola, please.
--Is that all for you?
--Yes.
--Please pull to the front. Thank you.

Customer 2

--How can I help you?

--I'd like to have a chicken sandwich with cheese and an iced tea please.
--Is that all for you?
--I need a medium French fries too.
--Thank you.

Customer 3

--May I take your order?

--I'd like to have two hamburger with chili please.
--Would you like to have something to drink?
--Yes, two colas please.
--Thank you.

4) Role-Playing and Simulation

Remember what the CLT group did in class? They asked you to get into small groups and imagine that you
were sitting in an airplane. You talked among yourselves while enjoying the food and drink. It is very close to a
simulation activity. For a simulation activity, you may divide the class into 4-5 groups of 4 to 5 students each,
as the CLT group did. After demonstrating how to offer food and drink and accept/decline an offer, the
instructor can ask each student to take turn to act as a flight attendant, offering food and drink to the rest of the
group. I suspect that after all the four or five members of a group have done it, everyone should be highly
familiar with how to fulfill these functions in the target language.

]. New Areas/Topics of Research for Enhancing Second Language Teaching

a. Need Analysis

Need analysis is the assessment of the needs for which a learner or group of learners may require a language. As
a research area, it started in the early 1970s along with the development of the communicative approach and has
gone through substantial developments in the 1970s and 1980s owing much to the work done by researchers
such as Richterich, Munby. Proponents of the communicative approach argued that the selection of instructional
materials should be based on a systematic analysis of the learners' needs for the target language. The rational
behind need analysis is straightforward: people learn a foreign language for different purposes and need it to do
different things. The type of language varies along with the learners' needs for the language. A graduate student
learning a second language for academic purpose requires different language skills from a flight attendant.
Thus, to design an effective language course, it is critical to know why a learner decides to study a second
language and under what circumstances she or he is going to use it.
Need analysis involves "compiling information both on the individuals or groups of individuals who are to learn
a language and on the use which they are expected to make of it when they have learnt it." (Richterich, 1983, p.
2) A variety of data collecting methods are used in need analysis, such as questionnaires, interviews, and
observations. Information may be obtained from the learner, sponsoring organization, receiving institutions,
people already in the target situation. Different kinds of framework have been established for analyzing
language learners' needs. The following information is often taken into consideration need analysis (as part of a
learner's needs profile):

Language Needs
--reasons for learning,
--place and time of anticipated target use,
--others with whom the user will interact,
--content areas (such as traveling, telephone conversations),
--skills (listening, speaking, note-taking, translation, reading, etc.),
--level of proficiency required;

Learning Needs
--how do the learners learn (e.g., learning styles and strategies)?
--what resources are available (e.g., teachers' proficiency in L2; cultural factors; amount and quality of input
outside classroom)?
--who are the learners (e.g., age, background language)?
--where and when will the ESP course take place?

b. English for Specific Purposes (or English for Special Purposes

Another field of language teaching that is closely related to the communicative approach is English for Specific
Purposes, or ESP. ESP is not a result of the communicative movement. It started earlier than that, in the 1960s.
However, the communicative movement has certainly contributed a great deal in the rapid development of ESP
since the 1970s and ESP in turn has much enriched the communicative movement.

ESP is contrasted with EGP, or English for General Purposes. When English is taught as a second language in
elementary or middle schools, it is generally taught with a general purpose, i.e., an educational purpose.
English, along with other school subjects, is considered something good for them, or something they may need
in the future. There is usually no immediate requirement for the students to use English for any real
communicative purpose. Different from such English teaching as part of school curriculum, there are
circumstances where a learner learns English with an immediate and specific purpose and real needs. English
learned under such circumstances is called English for Specific Purposes. Many different terms exist to describe
English teaching programs aimed for different subject areas, such as English for Science and Technology,
English for Nurses, English for International Business, English for Finance. A distinction is generally made
between English for Academic Purposes (EAP) and English for Occupational Purposes (EOP). EAP deals with
English learning in study settings such as learning English for pursuing a college degree. EOP deals with the
learning of English for professional purposes or in work places. It should be noted that such distinction is not
always clear-cut.

According to Robinson (1991, pp. 2-4), there are two critical features that are shared by all ESP programs and
three other features that may apply to some ESP programs:

1) Critical Features:
--goal-directed, i.e., a means rather than an end in itself. Language is considered as a "service" rather than
studied as a subject for its own sake.
--based on an analysis of learners' needs (Jiang: including analysis of the register/genre of the language used in
the target situation^).

2) Typical Characteristics:
--learners are frequently adults;
--the time period available for learning is often limited;
--homogeneity (of subject background or profession) may exist. (from Johnson and Johnson,1998)

In addition to keeping in line with the learner's language and learning needs, the selection and presentation of
instructional materials are also based on an analysis of the register and/or genre of the language used in the
target situation.

The following are the components of a sample EAP course (from Jordan, 1997, p. 74)

Average %
Course components time spent
on
 components
A EAP COMPONENTS
1 academic writing 25
2 listening and note-taking 15
3 academic speech (oral presentation & seminar strategies) 14
4 reading comprehension and strategies 16
5 library/reference/research skills 9
6 integrated study skills 16
7 individual study project 18
8 note-making (from reading) 18
9 subject-specific topics/language 30
10 guest lectures/plenaries 7
11 individual tutorials --
12 self-access/individualized learning 10
B NON-EAP COMPONENTS
1 grammar 12
2 English for social purposes 16
3 computer literacy 8
4 vocabulary development 11
5 pronunciation/language laboratory --
6 media:newspapers/TV/video --

. A Hands-On Activity

Design a communicative classroom activity (e.g., information transfer or information gap) that is appropriate
for intermediate to advanced ESL learners.
ESL Term:

Ê



 

ack to ESL Resources |
ack to Glossary




 : A set of principles about teaching
including recommendations about method and syllabus where the
focus is on meaningingful communication not structure, use not usage.
In this approach, students are given tasks to accomplish using
language, instead of studying the language. The syllabus is based
primarily on functional development (asking permission, asking
directions, etc.), not structural development (past tense, conditionals,
etc.). In essence, a functional syllabus replaces a structural syllabus.
There is also less emphasis on error correction as fluency and
communication become more important than accuracy As well,
authentic and meaningful language input becomes more important.
The class becomes more student-centered as students accomplish
their tasks with other students, while the teacher plays more of an
observer role.

In recent years, some authors have combined an emphasis on lexis

with the communicative approach to suggest a lexical approach to
language learning and teaching.

A word of caution: every ESL textbook claims to be based on the

communicative approach. Whether they are infact or not is another
question.

Communicative Language
Methodology | Teaching Approach
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Communicative Teaching Methodology

An effective teaching method to learn Spanish & enjoy it!

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Language Teaching Centered in Communication

The communicative teaching method views language as a medium of communication. It recognizes that
communication has a social purpose: the language learner has something to say or to find out. In this teaching
method importance is placed on helping the student get the message delivered. This is what really matters: if the
student can understand and be understood.

The communicative methodology is centered in helping the student develop certain skills and abilities: oral
interaction and expression, hearing and reading comprehension, and writing expression. In each class students
will be lead to practice Spanish in contextualized, practical and everyday situations through activities with
predefined goals.

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The communicative approach gives primacy to oral work. Direct contact with the language is very important.
Not just from hearing the teacher, but also from using it and from hearing other people besides the teacher.
Having personal contact with the language, practicing sounds, improvising and trying to make your own
sentences and getting the chance to make mistakes and learn from doing so. This is another good reason why
classes should be entirely in Spanish.

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Use of Language in a Creative and Spontaneous Environment

Errors are a natural part of learning a language. Learners who try their best to use the language creatively and
spontaneously are bound to make mistakes. In our Spanish teaching method constant correction is not
necessarily essential and can even be counterproductive, especially at the lower levels. Correction should be
discreet and the teacher should take note of student's mistakes in order to help them discover on their own the
correct way of speech. Meaning is given precedence over form.

In this language teaching method grammar is still taught, but less systematically, in traditional ways alongside
with more innovative approaches.

The communicative approach seeks to personalize and to localize language and to adapt it to student's interests.
The use of idiomatic, everyday language and even slang words is encouraged in this Spanish teaching method.

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Students will gain a natural ability to correct themselves as they advance. Teachers should let their students
talk and express themselves. The form of language becomes secondary.

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Traditional Methods vs a Modern Approach

In many cases people have been studying a foreign language at least since they were in high school. Later in life
students complain about the fact that in spite of having studied a language for several years they are not able to
use the language at all. It is encouraging to know that this is not entirely the students fault. It is mostly a
consequence of a traditional approach to language teaching with an enormous emphasis on grammar.

In the past it was thought that the grammatical rules of a language were the most important aspect of it. Students
were forced to memorize hundreds of verb tenses and word lists, but they never really learned how to use the
language spontaneously and naturally.

The writing and reading skills were also given precedence under the traditional method in detriment of the
listening and speaking ones. As a result, the overall communicative competence of the students was very poor.

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Language is about communicating, not about grammar rules. And communication embraces a whole spectrum
of functions (seeking information, apologizing, expressing likes and dislikes, etc.) and notions (apologizing for
being late, asking where the nearest post box is, etc.).

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Interactive and Dynamic Teaching Methodology

Once you enter our classrooms the word boring will disappear from
your vocabulary. Our Spanish teaching methodology leads us to
bring real communication situations into the classroom. You will
participate in "many in class conversational activities" and strolls
through town where you will practice what you have just learned in
class.

Each of these activities are well planned and structured but also
leave enough space for improvisation, necessary to practice Spanish
naturally in normal life situations. Students will be taken to the
market and encouraged to enter into a negotiation with a vendor,
given a list of items with certain characteristics to purchase to make
a meal, taken to a bank and have a costumer service representative
explain the bank's different services.

Interactive classroom activities maximize opportunities for learners to use target language in a communicative
way for meaningful activities. In this Spanish teaching method emphasis is placed on meaning (messages being
created or tasks being completed) rather than form (correctness of language and language structure), just as in
first language acquisition.

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Think about the way children learn a language: they learn to speak and understand before learning to read and
write and without learning rules about conjugations and grammar structure.

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A Task based Focus Teaching Method

The task based focus of the communicative method takes into
account that all of us do things in our everyday life, and many of
those things that we do are related with language. For example: we
talk about our favorite hobbies, we have interviews, we tell
somebody about our love life, we discuss about our city or country
problems, we work, we think about our aspirations or just make
wishes, we purchase a service, we talk about our feelings, we watch
movies and then we talk about them, we suffer a disease and
complain about it, we give health advice, we recommend a product
or buy something, we describe places, we talk about our past or tell
a story, we give an opinion, and the list could go on and on.

In more technical terms: a task based focus is part of a language

teaching method centered in actions, because it considers the students that are learning the language as
members of a society that has tasks (not only related with the language) that need to be done within a series of
specific circumstances, in a specific environment and inside a specific field of action.

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The conclusion should be obvious: language is closely related to tasks, so language teaching should
incorporate those tasks and aim to produce the language for those specific tasks.

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c
Activities within our Language Teaching Methodology
The communicative method with a task based focus works with
interactive activities that represent real life communicative
situations. Each one of these activities is carefully structured and has
its own sequence that will lead the student to the acquisition of a
predefined goal by the teacher and the student (a combination on
what the student needs and what he wants).

The spirit of a task based method takes into account that what we do
in our normal lives are tasks. We do things... and we repeat them,
and language happens within those tasks.

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At Habla Ya Language Center we bring those tasks to you, so you can learn Spanish in those communicative
situations: the real life situations that you will encounter every day. We do this through interactive activities in
and outside of the classroom.

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Complementary Language Teaching

Methods
Besides the communicative method, other language teaching
methods that can help are the audio lingual method, the direct
method, the natural method and the acculturation method. At our
Spanish language school besides using a communicative approach,
we take from each other method what we need in order to meet the
specific requirements of each of our students.

All of our Spanish teachers are continually trained in the use of the most effective language teaching
methodologies. The last Saturday of every single month is teacher training day at Habla Ya!

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The way we teach Spanish depends on each and one of our students learning styles and needs. We will adapt
our method so that you really learn Spanish.

A objective & reliable system to measure you level

When you start learning Spanish it is important to be placed at the appropriate level according to your
language skills. It is also necessary to have the contents of your course well detailed and outlined in order to
advance securely and in order.

School Methodology | Communicative Method | Level System | Course Syllabus

j y Learn Spanis

If you speak Spanish you can communicate with almost 500 million people worldwide. Imagine how many
friends you could make, think about how many more employment opportunities that could you! And if you are
traveling in Latin America or Spain, a little knowledge of Spanish will go a long way. And of course, if you are
planning to retire or relocate in a Spanish speaking country, Spanish is a must in order to get the most out of
your new life.
Gaining consciousness of the reasons an individual has for learning Spanish is an important step in the learning
process. If you do not have a reason, you will not be motivated to learn the language. Read more about why you
should learn Spanish.