Педагогические науки/5.Современные
методы преподавания
Teacher, Olga Pavlova
National Technical University of Ukraine “KPI”,
Ukraine
Why competent and experienced
teachers are necessary for communicative language teaching.
Communicative Language Teaching is best considered as an approach
rather than a method. Within methodology a distinction is often made between
methods and approaches, in which methods are held to be fixed teaching systems
with prescribed techniques and practices, whereas approaches represent language
teaching philosophies that can be interpreted and applied in a variety of
different ways in the classroom.
Since the primary aim of the
approach is to prepare learners for meaningful communication, errors are
tolerated. The range of exercise types and activities compatible with a
communicative approach is unlimited. Moreover, it is not assumed in this
approach that the teacher is the center of all classroom activities. In other
words, the communicative methodology is a learner-centered approach to language
learning. This, however, does not lead to the conclusion that there is no role
played by the teacher in this approach. To the contrary, a highly competent and
imaginative teacher is a major requirement for the successful application of
the approach. Therefore, a teacher's and learner's motivation and positive
attitude are crucial for effective teaching and learning.
Points of criticism
1) The communicative approach
focuses on the use of language in everyday situations, or the functional aspects
of language, and less on the formal structures. However, critics believe that
there needs to be some sort of "bridge" between the two in order for
effective language learning.
2) The approach relies extensively
on the functional-notational syllabus which places heavy demands on the
learners.
3) The various categories of
language functions are overlapping and not systematically graded like the
structures of the language.
4) A major premise underlying this
approach is its emphasis on learners' needs and interests. This implies that
every teacher should modify the syllabus to correspond with the needs of the
learners.
5) The approach gives priority to
meanings and rules of use rather than to grammar and rules of structure. The
latter are taught by means of functions and notions. Such concentration on
language behavior may result in negative consequences in the sense that
important structures and rules would be left out.
6) The requirements are difficult:
availability of a classroom that can allow for group work activities and for
teaching aids and materials.
Today, communicative
language teaching (CLT) is viewed as the most effective and widely
used approach in EFL/ESL teaching, and most modern methods and techniques
emphasize it, and most textbooks and materials are designed
for it.
Teaching materials are often given priority, with large
sums of money spent on developing course books and
inviting foreign expertise to prepare conferences and workshops. To be more
specific, though the syllabuses claim to be communicatively oriented, there seem
to be a common understanding that the teachers' orientation about the different theories
and principles of communicative language teaching approach is limited. Besides,
these programmes do not attempt to explore teachers' attitudes and beliefs about
teaching and learning. Also, focus has not been given in identifying the constraints
that might conflict with the philosophy behind the teaching materials though
many teachers, students and some education officials are often heard complaining
certain difficulties they have encountered in the attempt to implement the approach.
Teachers
bring personal characteristics into the style of their teaching. These characteristics
include beliefs that have developed over their lifetimes, and are the result
of accumulated events and knowledge of the world. Beliefs can be diverse and developed
from a range of angles: experience as a student, perceived exemplary instruction
one is exposed to, one's own cognitive capacities to process learned information
and the socio-cultural and political setting of one's developmental years that
are currently affecting one's life. Together these beliefs result in attitudes
that are firmly entrenched by an individual. In
curriculum innovation, teachers' attitudes are seen to play a crucial role in determining
the implementation of an approach. For one thing, the introduction of a new
programme or approach will be in competition with well-established theories of language
teaching and learning which are the products of previous teaching and learning
experiences, prejudices, and beliefs. For theother
thing, teachers' educational attitudes and theories although in many cases unconsciously
held, have an effect on their classroom behaviour, influence what students
actually learn, and are a potent determinant of teachers' teaching style.
Attitude
change is an essential and inevitable part of any pedagogical innovation since
a change in materials or methods does not simply operate at surface level, but represents
an increase in understanding and knowledge. If
incompatibilities
between the philosophy of an approach and teachers' theories exist, teachers
will tend to interpret new information in the light
of their own theories, and will tend to translate
innovative ideas to conform to their own style of teaching. In order to fill
this gap, therefore, we need to investigate teachers'
attitudes for they help us to identify the difficulties teachers face when
implementing curricular innovations in the classroom and it can also help in
establishing the most appropriate kind of support that is needed in inservice teacher
development. However, positive attitudes
towards communicative language teaching and positive intentions to
do it in the classroom may be influenced by factors that may be divided into
two broad categories: (1) internal and (2) external
constraints.
Internal
constraints represent those factors that come from within teachers themselves,
such as poor subject knowledge. External constraints refer to factors that
come from structural and organizational factors, which teachers have no control
over like students and parents' beliefs, lack of resources or administrative obstacles.
The two sets of constraints are interdependent.
Although the Communicative
Approach to language teaching is one of the latest, yet it is too ambitious and
the requirements for its success are difficult. This should not lead to a
complete distrust of this approach, but rather to more efforts drawing its
guidelines and blueprints. Again, it is suggested that it becomes part of the
whole framework of language teaching which incorporates different approaches
and methods, making use of the advantages of each and avoiding the
disadvantages. This again requires very sophisticated syllabuses, materials and
teaching aids, and, above all, competent and experienced teachers.
References:
1.
Hedge, T. (2000). Teaching
and learning in the language classroom, Oxford University Press.
2. Rogers,
T. (2001) Language teaching
methodology, online resource (http://www.cal.org/resources/digest/rodgers.html),
Sep. 2001.