Unit 2 Communicative Principles and

Task-based Language Teaching

Background information: Students: 50 sophomores Lesson duration: 2 periods

Teaching objectives:By the end of the lesson, students should be able to:1. know the differences between the language learned

in classrooms and the languages used in real life. 2. grasp the concept of communicative competence3. know the implications of CLT to teaching and learni

ng4. grasp the main features of communicative activities 5. know what Task-based Language Teaching is .6. understand the differences between TBL and PPP?

Teaching contents:

1. Language use in real life vs. traditional pedagogy

2. Fostering communication competence

3. The implementation of language skills

4. Communicative activities

5. Conclusion: How do we learn language?

Key and difficult points:

1.Principles of communicative Language Teaching (C LT)

2. Main features of communicative activities

3. Task-based Language Teaching (TBLT)

Teaching approaches:1. Lecture ( Computer-aided Instruction) 2. Demonstration

Teaching aids: Multi-media, whiteboard, pictures,

Teaching procedures:

1. Understanding la. use in real life vs. traditional pedagogy

1.1 Lead-in activities

Let Ss work in groups and brainstorm any differences between the language used in real life and language learned in classrooms under traditional pedagogy, then fill in the form

in real life in classrooms

How is language used/taught?

What parts of language are used /taught?

1. 2 Presentation Very often there is a big gap between the language used in

real life and the language learned in classrooms.

The differences are numerous and we will focus on a few major points.

Generally speaking, the differences shows in the following

aspects:

aspects items

La. in real life La. in classroom

purpose to perform communicative functions

put emphasis on forms rather than functions

skills use all skills (receptive skills and productive skills )

focus on one or two La. skills

context used in certain context tends to isolate La. from its context

2. What is communicative competence?

One possible solution to bridge the gap between classroom La. teaching and

real–life La. use is the adoption of communicative language teaching (CLT)

The goal of CLT is to develop Ss’ communicative competence (including the knowledge itself and how to use it in communicative situations)

Hedge discusses there are five main components of communicative competence

a. Linguistic competence --------is concerned with knowledge of the language itself, it

s form and meaning

b. Pragmatic competence -------is concerned with the appropriate use of the language

in social context

c. Discourse competence-------refers to one’s ability to create coherent written text or

conversation and ability to understand them

d. Strategic competence------ refers to strategies one employs when there is commu

nication breakdown due to lack of resources.

e. Fluency-------means one’s ability to link units of speech together wit

h facility and without strain or inappropriate slowness or undue hesitation

3. Implications for teaching and learning Task 5 3.1. Let Ss work in groups and discuss the implications of each component of

communicative competence to La. teaching and learning .

3.2.. Ask the students to make a list in the space provided on Page19

3.3. Ask some students to present their results of discussions, and the teacher makes comments.

4. Communicative Language Teaching (C LT)4.1.How does CLT come into being?

The communicative approach could be said to be the product of

educators and linguists who had grown dissatisfied with the audiolingual

and grammar-translation methods of foreign language instruction. They felt

that students were not learning enough realistic, whole language. They did

not know how to communicate, using appropriate social language, gestures,

or expressions; in brief, they were at a loss to communicate in the culture

of the language studied. Interest in and development of communicative-

style teaching mushroomed in the 1970s; authentic language use and

classroom exchanges where students engaged in real communication with

one another became quite popular.

4.2.What is communicative language teaching? CLT makes use of real-life situations that necessitate

communication. The teacher sets up a situation that students are

likely to encounter in real life. Unlike the audiolingiual method of

language teaching, which relies on repetition and drills, the

communicative approach can leave students in suspense as to the

outcome of a class exercise, which will vary according to their

reactions and responses. The real-life simulations change from day

to day. Students' motivation to learn comes from their desire to

communicate in meaningful ways about meaningful topics.

4.3 What are principles of Communicative Language Teaching

(CLT)? a. Communication principle: Activities that involve real communication promote learning.

b. Task principle: Activities in which La. is used for carrying out meaningful tasks promote learning.

c. Meaningfulness principle: La. that is meaningful to the learner supports the learning process.

5. Main features of communicative activities

5.1 Lead-in activities The key assumption in CLT is Ss learn the La through engaging in a variety of communicative

activities. Then “what are communicative activities?”, “What are criteria for evaluating how

communicative classroom activities are?”

5.2 Presentation5.2.1 Communicative activities

It aims at the communication of meaning. They focus on fluency. They pass

directly from guided tasks through semi-guided to free-communication tasks.

Functional communicative activities: the main purpose of the activity is

learners should use the Language they know in order to get meaning across

effectively as possible. In the process of carrying out certain tasks Ss will:

share information, e.g. pair/group tasks: following directions; picture identification;

discovering differences; discovering missing information; arranging pieces of

information in sequences, communicating patterns and pictures, etc.

use information, e.g. group tasks: pooling information, solving problems.

Social Interaction Activities: the main purpose of the activity is to give the

learners an oppotunity to use the language in an appropriate social contex, to create

variety of social situations and relationships, e.g. pair/group tasks: conversations,

simulations, improvisation and role-playing.

5.2.2 Criteria for evaluating how communicative classroom activities Communicative purpose Communicative desire Content, not form Variety of language No teacher intervention No materials control

5.2.3 Practice

Ask Ss to discuss the three sample activities on page 25-26, and fill in the form provided

on Page24. then the teacher makes comments.

6. Task-based Language Teaching (TBLT)

6.1 What is TBLT?

Task-based Language Teaching is, in fact, a further development of Communicative

Language Teaching.It shares the same beliefs, as language should be learned as close

as possible to how it is used in real life. However, it has stressed the importance to

combine form-focused teaching with communication-focused teaching.

6.2. What is a task ?6.2.1 Discussion

The following (Pages.27 to 28) present some definitions given by different scholars. Let Ss work

in pairs and identify some main features of a task

Four components of a task

Clark, Scarino and Brownell believe that a task has four components:

a purpose

a context

a process

a product

6.2.3. Differences between exercises , exercise-tasks and tasks

Focus on individual language items

Purposeful & contextualised communication

exercise exercise-task task

Practice

Organize Ss to discuss the following activities ( page29-30) and decide which are tasks and which are

exercises and explain the reasons, and the teacher makes comments.

7. Differences between PPP and TBL

7.1 The definition of two models of teaching

PPP Presentation Practice Production

TBL Pre-task Task cycle Language focus

7.2 Discussion

Organize Ss to read the differences between the two models of teaching, and

let them have a general idea of the two models.

8. How to design tasks?

8.1. Using Pictures in classroom

Pictures contribute to increase interest and motivation and a sense of the content of the language,

especially 'unusual' pictures, foster students' imagination, which in turn motivates them to use English.. With pictures we can:

teach, practice, or review new vocabulary

do guided practice (drills)

practice grammatical structures

practice listening comprehension

do writing activities do semi-guided or free speaking practice such as problem solving activities,

role plays, discussions,

Some examples for using pictures

Below, I'll describe some activities that can be done with pictures. As you start using pictures in

new and creative ways, you will come up with many variations. Textbooks may also give you ideas

for working with pictures.

1) Topic from pictures

a. show pictures from inside the book.

b. Ask Ss to tell you as much as they can about the topic of the story. The topic or theme may

be about anything: dragons, losing something, dangerous animals, wishing for something,etc.

2) Muddled pictures

a. Prepare a series of picture of key moments in the story. You can photocopy and act up the

pictures for each pair of children, or display them on the board, each one with a letter.

b. Show separate pictures from the story.

c. Ask the children to try to put them into the correct sequence.

3) Children’s pictures

a. Give the children a brief description of what the story is about.

b. Put the pictures on the wall. Get the children to predict the story. Then tell it.

4) Pass the picture and tell the story

a. Stand in a circle with the students.

b. Hold up a picture and briefly tell the part of the story which goes with it.

c. Give the picture to the child on your left. Who must repeat the sentences you said.

d. That student then passes it to her or his neighbor, who does the same thing.

8.2 Using games in classroom

Well-chosen games can give Ss a break and at the same time allow Ss to practice language skills. Games are highly motivating since they are amusing and challenging. Again,they employ meaningful and useful language in real contexts. They can increase Ss ability of cooperation in its process, Ss can practice all language skills and do many types of communication.

Games are often used as short warm-up activities or when there is some time left at the end of a lesson.

8.2.1 When to use games

8.2.2 How to choose games (Tyson, 2000) A game must be more than just fun.

A game should keep all of the students involved and interested.

A game encourage Ss to focus on the use of language rather than on language itself.

A game should give students a chance to learn, practice, or review

8.2.3 Some examples for using games:

1) Picking the apples:

The teacher draws a large tree on the board and sticks many cuttings of red apples onto

the tree. On the back of each apple is a question for the children to pick. An example

question could be: “Spell the word train”. If the children answer correctly, they can keep

the apple. Otherwise they have to put the apple back on the board. The questions can

be various and the apples can be replenished. The aim of the activity is to see who

harvests the most apples.

2) Hot / cold game Play the hot / cold game to practice prepositions of place. Hide the object somewhere in the classr

oom. Your Ss try to locate it by asking questions such as “ Is it near the chalkboard? Is it behind the

door?” If they are far away, you say “ You’re cold”. As they approach the object, you say “You’re

getting warm”,if they are very near, you say “You’re hot.”

3) Horror Box Bring a box in which there is a common thing. Choose one of Ss to come to the front of classroom wit

h

knowing that it is in the box. Other students know there is no horror thing in it. The student on the

platform guess through touching the thing in the box while asking some questions like “Dose it bite

me?”, “dose it have fur?” or “Is it soft?”.

------- Games and educational activities are necessary to keep the class enjoyable and create a sense of fun;

NOTE; Be careful the activities shouldn’t last too long or the children will be bored.

Assignments:

1. Tell the difference between linguistic competence and communicative competence.

2. Can you list some communicative activities? What are the common features of these

activities?

3. What are the criteria for evaluating communicative activities?

4. What extent do you think communicative language teaching approach can be used in the

context of teaching English in the middle schools?