Kolyada I. V.

The National University of Pharmacy (Ukraine)

The communicative approach as the best one in teaching foreign languages

To begin with, I would like to share my own experience: at school, I was taught the English language with the help of a grammatical-paramedic method, which significantly reduced the ability to speak the foreign language fluently and took away a lot of time. Therefore, I felt on my own, why it is not necessary to use Russian (or my native language) during English classes and how to learn to think in English. Today we will consider what prevents us from learning to speak, and later to think in English and we will try to speak out about some popular approaches in teaching the English language.

Current requirements for training a qualified specialist primarily require him to be a member of Intercultural Communication and have the necessary communicative abilities in the areas of professional and situational communication in speech and writing, skills practice foreign language in various types of speech activity in the amount of topics that are due to professional needs; and be able to master the latest professional information through some foreign sources. This increases the demand for qualified graduates (professionals) who are fluent in a foreign language, including the language of international communication, and hence the need to study the course "Foreign Language".

According to the official definition of this approache we can see the main idea of it: “Communicative language teaching (CLT), or the communicative approach, is an approach to language teaching that emphasizes interaction as both the means and the ultimate goal of study. Language learners in environments utilizing CLT techniques learn and practice the target language through interaction with one another and the instructor, study of "authentic texts" (those written in the target language for purposes other than language learning), and use of the language in class combined with use of the language outside of class. Learners converse about personal experiences with partners, and instructors teach topics outside of the realm of traditional grammar in order to promote language skills in all types of situations.”[1]

Nowadays many teachers are mulling over what approach in learning a foreign language is the best one. It is essential to highlight the communicative approach because its main idea is the study of speech in terms of communication. The communicative approach is very effective because it requires further study and development.

Basically, the communicative approach is a set of techniques designed to teach effective communication in the language environment. One of its main methods is imitation of real life situations designed to encourage students to speak their minds. It is very essential that the speaking topics are related to daily life situations.

Unlike classical methods, the basis of which is repetition and memorization, in classes held with the help of communicative methodology the teaching depends on the students themselves i.e. their responses, reactions, etc. In practice, this greatly contributes to the atmosphere of collective dialogue, organized on the basis of communicative situations. Of course, most of the studies cover speaking, reading, listening and writing. Teachers mostly direct the course of studying.

In my humble opinion, the communicative approach is one of the best approaches in teaching a foreign language due to three main reasons, which I am going to clarify in the following part of the article. 

First of all, your native language distracts you and leaves no opportunity to tune in to the English "wave" or, as the English say, "feel the language". Imagine how much time you waste in vain - at first, you formulate your thoughts in your native language, then frantically try to translate them into English and eventually you give out a phrase that is something like an English-Russian or Russian-English mixed language. Therefore, the first step is not to use your native language in general, and then soon you will be able to think in English!

Second, remember vividly the idea, that in order to learn to think in English you need to start talking in English, and for this reason you have to come to grips witht the fact that the more you keep silence during the practice, the more precious time you steal from yourself. Do not bother to make a mistake or turn out to be stupid (ridiculous), do not worry that you can be understood wrong or not understood at all. Bear in mind, your fears interfere with you and limit you, try constantly to answer during the classes only in English and never say a word in Russian. After all, you do not have many opportunities to practice (often they are reduced to the possibility of "expressing" in class). You have to remember, in order to overcome the language barrier you need to work out your skills to speak and listen to (listening, reading, and communicating in English).

Thirdly, in order to start thinking in English, you need to learn each new phrase / word, and also make an example with them and try to use it in your eyes. And, of course, you need to find out a lot in English - listen to songs and auditions, watch TV shows or videos, and find people with whom you can communicate or correspond in English.

The current situation in the country shows that there is a demand for highly skilled professionals who are fluent in a foreign language and its need increases every year. The most effective in teaching foreign language is the communicative approach, because it contributes to their communicative competence as a professional, affects the worldview, value system, the ability to think.

REFERENCES:

1. Svetlana Loginova/ URL. – http://englex.ru/thinking-in-english/

2. URL. - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communicative_language_teaching