Communicative Language Teaching: Strengths and Weaknesses - Term Paper Example

Communicative Language teaching: Strengths and Weaknesses The Communicative Language Teaching method makes use of an oral and interactive communicative aspect that has been increasingly mooted in recent times as a more effective tool in ensuring language acquisition skills as opposed to the traditional methods of learning where the focus is largely on mechanical grammar and vocabulary exercises that do not equip a learner adequately to communicate in an actual social situation. However, while several advantages have been demonstrated in the use of this approach and there have been several studies that have demonstrated that students are able to grasp the use of English much better, there are also other studies that show that this approach has been difficult to apply in some situations, notably in the Asian context, where the traditional learning methods have been so ingrained that there is resistance from both teachers and students to adopting the innovative approaches that are required in Communicative language teaching. Introduction: Education and learning involves the process of communication which is the act of sharing communication1. Communication is the product of a student’s culture because it is the medium by which he has been instructed in his early childhood through interaction with family, friends and peers and communication is likely to form the basis of continued learning along similar lines, responding well to culturally appropriate methods of learning and low academic achievement in an environment which is not culturally sensitive and which they therefore perceive as hostile. As Taylor2 points out, the cultural composition of schools in America is changing so that one third of the population will soon register themselves as arising from different cultures. The lack of cultural sensitivity and communication failures has resulted in school specific problems such as poor academic performance and criminal activity, with more African American students being placed in Special education classes. One of the issues in this connection which has been pointed out by Taylor is the issue of test bias in assessing student performance, particularly in the case of those students who do not speak standard English. Such students may not understand questions correctly and thereby respond with the wrong answers. Students may hold different values from the teacher and may function on the basis of different communicative rules in a social situation, which in turn may affect their responses to questions dealing with values and produce answers which may be considered wrong by the teacher who is operating from a different cultural value standard. Therefore corrective steps that may be taken in this regard, according to Taylor3 by ensuring that all student understand the test directions, excluding culturally discriminatory items from the tests, considering situational and inter-actional perspectives from a cultural perspective, ensuring compatibility with the learning styles and general cultural values of the students, etc. All these measures would serve to ensure that there is a measure of standardization included in the tests, which are likely to produce better results in assessing student performance without the barrier of cultural and communicative restraints. One of the major constraints in communicative language teaching is the barrier of cultural differences. Taylor points out that there are many cultural differences within a single race or nationality. For a teacher who is trying to teach English as a second language to students of a different culture, it is important to remember that while first hand experience may be required in order to truly understand another culture, nevertheless, a teacher can bear in mind the fact that feelings of low confidence or apprehension may be common in students from another culture, who may view the cultural differences as a threatening aspect, which proves to be an inhibitive factor in learning. Moreover, there is a tendency to emphasize the differences between two cultures rather than focusing on the similarities and stereotyping may occur among teachers who may not have much contact with another culture. Therefore, it is necessary to overcome such prejudices and understand that culture is a continually evolving process, where the best means to understand another culture is through its language, hence teaching language through a communicative mode requires sensitivity to cultural changes and differences. The sociolinguistic perspective: Taylor4 also emphasizes another aspect of low achievement of non standard English speakers – the fact that traditional methods used in language teaching have focused too much on language structure rather than on the achievement of communicative competence, without due regard to the use of non standard dialects. Recently, there has been an increased emphasis on the importance of introducing educational standards and strategies for second language teaching that incorporate the sociolinguistic perspective. Such an approach differs from traditional methods in that it does not impute the blame on the student for the cultural or linguistic differences that arise as a result of their ethnic, national or racial background, moreover allowance is made for the learner’s native language, dialects and cultural background while grading or assessing proficiency in the English language. Thus, teaching form a cultural perspective is focused more on oral communicative strategies and concentrates on the student’s grasp of the language as a mode for thinking and grasping concepts rather than adhering to strict structural grasp of English. This is an important aspect for second language teaching, where the grasp of a particular language is invariably interlinked with the learning of the cultural aspects of the language, including the verbal and non verbal communicative aspects. Many language experts believe that language and culture must be taught together and one cannot be excluded from the other. For example, according to Hendon: “Culture should be taught when we have students to teach”5 and children should be taught their culture, if necessary within their mother tongue, in order to enhance their grasp of the language. Peck defines culture as “the accepted and patterned ways of behavior of a given people”6 while according to Hammerly, culture is “the total way of life of a people.”7 Moreover, Peck also emphasizes the importance of teaching culture as a part of language teaching, as follows: “Without the study of culture, foreign language instruction is inaccurate and incomplete” thus language teaching without culture teaching is meaningless8. Communicative Conmpetence: The achievement of communicative competence in a foreign language is a more valid measure of assessment of proficiency in the language rather than the imbibing of the structural rules and form of foreign language. Canale and Swain9 and Canale10 have derived a model of communicative competence that emphasizes four areas of competence that teachers must focus on ensuring that their students learn : (a) grammatical competence (b) sociolinguistic competence (c) discourse competence and (d) strategic competence. Communicative competence has increasingly become the goal of all second language teaching, in order to ensure that foreign speakers can makes themselves effectively understood and can communicate well with native language speakers. The development of communicative language teaching has been favored and well received among teachers and scholars of English teaching as a second language since it enables students to acquire the necessary skills and linguistic knowledge to be able to use language appropriately in a variety of social situations11. In order to ensure that such a degree of skill is obtained, it is necessary that students have a great deal of exposure to the language and the use of the learner-centered, non threatening approach that is a part of the communicative style of teaching language has been found to be very useful in creating a non judgmental classroom atmosphere where students are able to learn effectively.12 According to Peterson and Coltrane, “in order for communication to be successful, language use must be associated with other culturally appropriate behavior.”13 Hendon14 believes that unless such culturally appropriate context is also taught, the students will only learn the outward utterances of a particular language but will not be able to grasp the cultural appropriateness of their use of tools of the language and will therefore not communicate to their fullest extent in that language. The communicative approach to teaching language is one that emphasizes the cultural aspects, which provide a multitude of advantage to the language student. For one, as Peck states, it allows the language students to “feel, touch, smell and see the foreign peoples and not just hear their language.”15 Moreover, creating the cultural awareness of a language helps to engage the attention and interest of the students and functions as a motivating factor to learn the language more effectively16. Teaching culture also helps to dispel stereotypes, since there are many different kinds of people within the same culture and the teaching of the culture helps to acquaint the students with these various sub types as well, thereby assisting in the debunking of stereotypes. Classroom communication: The method of communicative teaching of language in a classroom framework poses some problematic situation as pointed out by Cazden17 who describes classroom communication as a problematic medium, because there are differences that exist in the manner, style and method of communication that can not only create misunderstandings but also function as a damper on effective teaching. Therefore, in order to for effective communication of a second language to take place, the teacher must make all necessary efforts to understand the communicative context within the classroom and the norms dictating effective communication within that particular context. For example, according to Allwright who researched classroom interactions, “the process of classroom interaction determines what language learning opportunities become available to be learned from”18 and Ellis carries this further to involve the teacher by stating that “any second language learning that takes place must in some way result from the process of interaction the learner takes part in.”19 Halliday20 applies this premise within a teaching context and has analyzed the communicative approach in language teaching. He has analyzed the process of transmission of language text, wherein text refers to the language exercise in question that is being taught to the students. He states that it is important to first assess the environment within which the language exercise takes place and the interpretation of the text will be influenced to a great extent by the context of the situation, or the environment within which the language exercise is performed and interpreted. He explains this context in terms of there major aspects: field, tenor and mode. The mode is the actual channel of communication whether oral or non verbal and the role played by language itself in that particular exercise. Tenor refers to the students and teacher who are participating in the particular activity and their respective activity. The field of the environment is the actual event that is occurring in the activity and therefore provides an overall picture of the language class where students are being taught English as a second language. A combined analysis of all there elements helps to analyze multimodal communication effectively. The Challenges of oral Communication: English language teachers have found it a great challenge to get their students to speak in the English classes. One of the reasons, as identified by Asato21 (2003) is the fact that most teachers are not trained in teaching oral communicative skills, neither do they have sufficient experience gleaned from their teaching to be able to create exercises that are sufficiently challenging and multi dimensional enough to enable their students to receive sufficient opportunities for communication. Secondly, most of the second language textbooks that are being used do not provide sufficient material or exercises that are comprehensive enough to enable students to grasp the required diversity and breadth of language skills that will be useful to them for communicating in a social situation. On this basis, Asato has pointed out the difficulties in establishing oral communication effectiveness in students, therefore they are unable to speak English with the necessary degree of fluency and when confronted with a problem during face to face interaction, may find it difficult to resolve the language dilemma and be stuck, since their knowledge of the language is largely grammar and writing centered. Asato has also referred to the three conditions that have been specified by Jane Willis22 in second language acquisition. She maintains that there are three essential conditions that must be met and she lists these there factors as (a) exposure to the language (b) opportunities to use the language and (c) the motivation to use the language. It is only when these three factors can be satisfied within the learning environment that optimum learning can take place. Willis states that language instruction from teachers is only a desirable condition and does not rank it as essential to achieve optimum language learning conditions. Exposure to the language helps the learner to assimilate a wide variety of language use that may be beyond his or her present capacity but could be stored in memory for later processing and use. Moreover, wide and continued exposure to the language provides a rich framework of the language that helps the learners who are seeking to discover how to express themselves adequately in the language. Therefore, teachers can be useful and enhance the ability of their students to learn by engaging in a great deal of teacher talk in the target language. The talk should be fairly simple so that the students can grasp it easily, while at the same time it should also be varied enough to allow students to pick up new words and terms. Asato also explains how providing students sufficient opportunities to experiment with the use of the language enhances the learning process. Students learn a language through a trial and error method. During such trial and error, they formulate hypothesis and then receive their feedback and process it, revising it where necessary in order to achieve increasing fluency in the language. In the traditional language classes, such opportunities for learning by trial and error are not provided since the learning is strictly from a textbook and teachers of English in an Asian setting do not engage in teacher talk, allowing the students to figure out the contexts of the language use. Rather they tend to stop themselves frequently and explain individual words because they are sympathetic to the students who do not understand the words. In the process, the facility of the natural flow and manner of language use are interrupted so that the students are able to acquire only a halting kind of language use which does not serve them well in a real situation. Therefore the communicative style is more effective in ensuring that students are able to gain a genuine grasp of the language and have the facility of experimenting with its use in oral communicative situations. Lastly, he also details how motivation plays a significant role in the student learning process. One of the major factors that functions as an inhibitor is the tendency of language teachers to correct the students frequently, which places a damper on the learning process as the student becomes self conscious and reluctant to come forward to participate actively in the class. Therefore, he echoes Willis’ view that mistakes should be viewed by teachers as beautiful, because children make mistakes in the same way when they learn their native language as well, however with continued use, most of these mistakes tend to disappear as the students gain increasing confidence and fluency with the use of the language. Therefore, the difficulties in employing an oral communicative teaching method lie in motivating the students to shed the natural reluctance that is a product, especially of eastern cultures in order to encourage them to participate effectively within an oral language use situation, which also provides a more efficient tool of measurement of individual student skills. Advantages of Communicative Learning: Technology is increasingly being used as an effective tool in the communication of language learning, especially, since classrooms are becoming more and more ethnically diversified. The use of on line conferencing and the facility of gathering a wider range of information through the Internet as well as the facility of collaborative inquiry all function as factors enhancing the facility of use of the communicative approach in second language teaching, thereby enhancing the field in Halliday’s model. Moreover, the tenor is also enhanced because unlike the traditional teacher role as the authoritative figure, the use of computers provides the facility of group communications and interaction, leading to a more student centered approach to language learning. From being an expert in the subject content and the official presenter of the information in the ESL classroom, the teacher’s role shifts to that of a facilitator in a more student centered environment utilizing technology23. Jones and Wang 24 conducted a study in Taiwan on the efficacy of the communicative language teaching method for the study of English. They examined the program in the context of an elementary school, looking into factors such as the degree of improvement in the English language skills of the children after the program and which variables contributed towards such betterment. They also questioned the students and teachers to glean their perception of the usefulness of the program and observed oral tests being administered so that the skills of the students could be evaluated. Their study indicated that the students demonstrated an all round improvement in their English language skills and that one of the variables that influenced the performance of the students was whether or not they had attended after school classes to improve their English language skills and whether they were satisfied with their learning experience. However, this study established that the Communicative Language Teaching style can be effectively implemented within a Taiwanese elementary school and this was tested by using pre-test and post test comparisons, which showed that there was a significant gain in language acquisition after employing the communicative teaching approach. However, the performance was affected by one significant variable – the pre-exposure to English, since children who had never attended English classes before were disadvantaged in comparison to their peers. This appeared to indicate that there was a need to prepare children adequately to take English classes in the elementary school environment in order to enhance their language acquisition skills. Moreover, the attitude of students towards their English classes was also an important precursor of their success, because those who disliked English were less motivated to perform well. Hwang (No date) has examined the efficacy of using video as a communicative medium in teaching English. She concludes that since video provides both audio and visual input, while also highlighting the use of language within an appropriate context, it is therefore a very useful vehicle in foreign language instruction. Hwang 25 used the video drama titled “Connect with English” with a group of Taiwanese students in order to improve their communicative competence on three different levels (a) cultural awareness (b) phraseological accuracy and (c) pragmatic appropriateness. The video that Hwang used contained true to life scenarios and real locations where realistic social interactions took place using relatively simple language which enabled the students to grasp both the contextual and linguistic aspects that were involved in learning a language. In this instance, the author has concluded that the use of situational and linguistic contexts while teaching English to foreign students is of tremendous value in sensitizing the students to the kind of formulaic expression that are normally used and various conversational strategies that they may use, as well the appropriate lexical and/or syntactic choices that may be used. The use of such communicative approaches therefore pose a tremendous advantage in that they can enable non natives to acquire the fluency and knowledge of native speakers of English. Smith26 also found that the use of dramatic activities or television viewing within the language classroom was able to function as a motivator for students to learn faster. McMaster27 conducted an exhaustive review of the advantages of using the oral and dramatic communicative medium for imparting language instruction and in literacy development. One advantage which accrued was that students developed affect and their interest was sparked to participate actively in reading activities. Another advantage was that the use of the dramatic medium provided a rich background experience for students and also helped them to develop symbolic representation. The use of the dramatic foil to reading and other language activity in the classroom provided an opportunity to the students to develop fluency in a language within a meaningful environment. It also provides an opportunity for students to learn new words in a multi modal formal – visually and aurally, while also helping them to learn the correct meaning in context and accurate pronunciation of the words. Dramatic and oral activity also helps students to acquire different forms of discourse and enables them to monitor their own comprehension of the language. The most important advantage of using an oral/dramatic communicative mode of teaching in the classroom also provides the teachers with an immediate tool to assess the performance of the students, since they are able to evaluate the proficiency of the students and their comprehension directly upon their performance of the oral exercises. In a study conducted by Ferree28 on techniques used in language arts classes, he documented how the study of language was enhanced through the production of soap operas. The process of language instruction was carried out side by side with the production process and the students were provided instruction in language usage, spelling and grammar, using realistic study materials, the tools of technology and an interactive environment where students had to participate actively with their peers in the class in the activity of production of the soap opera. Ferree concluded that there was a greater degree of success in accomplishment of the goals of language acquisition skills, since the students were eager to learn because they had control over their own production. In a similar manner, Rossi29 examined language instruction from Spanish into English for first graders through the use of opera plays wherein the students in a similar manner, developed their skills better through the availability of a rich multi-modal environment that was available to them. Disadvantages of the Communicative style of teaching: The communicative style of teaching may not work in every instance. While Hwang’s and Jones and Wang’s study showed the efficacy of this style in the Taiwanese context, it may be really helpful only if the attitude of the students is also open and flexible with an eagerness and willingness to adopt the cultural contexts that are being communicated to them. For example, Anderson 30 has examined the Japanese style of learning and has pointed out their reluctance to engage actively in classroom discussions or to ask questions and seek clarifications of doubts, referring to the Japanese student’s style of communication as “group mindedness, consensual decision making, formalized speechmaking and listener responsibility.” He also points out how much this communicative style is a function of the Japanese culture, since this communicative style is only a reflection of the “kind of interaction prevalent in adult society as well as the processes through which children are socialized into that society.” 31 Therefore the use of the communicative style of teaching English could be inhibited or restricted in this context, since such students may not actively come forward to participate in the discussions that are centered around communicative strategies such as video tapes and oral discussions that requite active interaction to ensure that optimum learning takes place. He has also noted how Chinese students may also not be able to fully derive the benefits of the Communicative approach in learning because they are not used to interactive classroom activities. Moreover the Chinese culture is such that compromise is always adopted and people avoid expressing strong opinions within a group or when working in pairs because it could bring about a loss of face for them within the group. Eveyik-Aydin32 investigated the ramifications of the communicative style of second language learning within a Turkish context. In this study, the views of other researchers has also been presented that have examined teacher attitudes towards the communicative style of teaching language. The results of these studies have shown that the method was not fully effective owing to the deficiencies perceived some ESL teachers in reference to their own deficiency in English competence, more so where sociolinguistic and strategic competence were concerned. Several teachers, especially in Chinese schools for example, have pointed to several inhibiting factors within the learning environments which are not conducive to effective teaching of the second language using a communicative strategy, such as wider curriculum and class sizes, the lack of necessary funds and the low status and negative perceptions accorded to teachers employing the communicative strategy approach rather than a more traditional analytical approach. In a similar manner, Eveyik-Aydin also draws upon other studies that show how the communicative approach to teaching language may be restricted in its effectives in cultures such as Pakistan where learners are likewise reluctant to participate actively in communicative classes. In the Moroccan context, innovations to the curriculum are not welcomed and the teachers themselves refuse to make students work in groups or pairs in order that a learner centered style may be adopted in the classroom. Cultures such as the Japanese and the Koreans also appear to prefer a classroom situation where they can sit silently and take notes while the teacher lectures to them. The teachers also come to the classes with their own views about learning and how students should be taught and may not always be willing to be receptive to new approaches and styles. Moreover, other inhibiting factors in the use of communicative strategies are that most of the teachers of English are not adequately trained in the use of communicative strategies, especially in adequate and effective testing of acquisition of language skills. For example, most of the tests used in Asian countries such as Vietnam, Japan, etc are focused on testing grammar, translation and the ability to memorize rather than the ability to communicate effectively in a social situation through the use of the appropriate language. Moreover, since most of these countries have large classrooms with many students, it becomes difficult for an ESL teacher using the communicative strategy approach to ensure that every student is provided the necessary opportunities to interact or to effectively assess how much progress each student has made. In Turkey, Eveyik-Aydin found that the communicative language style of teaching was effective in private English medium schools where classrooms were less crowded and better equipped. These schools have more funds available at their disposal so they are able to hire the best English teachers, some of whom are also native speakers. However, since such schools are quite expensive, they are placed out of reach of the students who belong to the lower socio economic strata of society. The study conducted by Eveyik Aydin to explore the attitudes prevailing among teachers towards the employment of the communicative style of teaching showed that while most of them had a favorable perception about its potential benefits, they also identified the same constraints as those identified in the Japanese, Chinese and Korean settings in terms of its effective implementation within a Turkish context. Some of these drawbacks were the nature of the educational system, the students and the attitudes of the teachers themselves. These teachers experienced a conflict between what they believe and what they actually practice within the context of the school environment. Some of the notable limitations identified by the teachers included the nature of the curriculum, the policies in place as laid down by the department of education and the need for reform and revision in the educational policies by the Turkish educational authorities. This study was also able to identify the fact that in some cases where a communicative style cannot be successfully adopted into the educational system, it may be possible to adapt the style and modify it such that it becomes usable within the context of the Asian or Turkish system. Moreover, this study also highlighted the importance of soliciting the cooperation of teachers in implementing a communicative style of language teaching, since the success of the program depend to a large extent upon the degree of comfort that teachers feel with the innovations mooted under the system and the extent they are able to cooperate with the requirements and demands that are placed upon them to successfully execute the program. Conclusion: On the basis of the above, it may be seen that the Communicative Language Teaching style appears to offer several advantages in that it allows a learner to more effectively learn the language and to acquire the necessary skills to interact well with a degree of linguistic fluency in an actual social situation. The necessary prerequisites that facilitate this kind of oral and interactive learning are repeated and large scale exposure to the language, opportunities to use the language in differing and unorthodox classroom situations and the necessary motivation to encourage the students to apply their minds and put in the necessary effort to acquire the skills that are necessary to interact successfully. Using videos and dramatic situations in a language classroom helps to eschew traditional methods where the role of the teacher is that of the sole repository of knowledge and allows for a more interactive style of communicative learning which is more effective in bringing about an effective grasp of the language by the students. The use of technology has also increased in recent times and this provides a further incentive for students to interact in a group, which further enhances learning and introduces variety and flexibility into the learning environment. Research studies have shown that students are more highly motivated to learn a language when it is a part of a program or show that they have to produce on their own. However, there are also some disadvantages of this approach that have been pointed out by researchers who have examined the efficacy of the Communicative Teaching approach in the Asian context. Cultural factors have been found to play a significant role in the language learning process and the cultural environment in the Asian context is such that students are used to traditional methods where the teacher disperses the information and they soak it in. Moreover, the Asian cultural milieu does not encourage active group participation, which may be viewed as discourteous by other group members. Therefore the group situation does not work well in an Asian context due to the cultural drawbacks. Moreover, there are also factors that inhibit the efficacy of the Communicative approach, such as overcrowded classrooms, teacher resistance to the communicative approach, lack of motivation of the students to undertake the study of the English language and the need to reform the educational curricula and policies. However, on the whole it appears that the Communicative Teaching style may be quite useful if certain measures are taken to improve motivation among students and introduced better and reformed educational policies within Asian countries, in order to ensure that the method functions well. Bibliography * Asato, Moriatsu, 2003. “Challenges and Change for EFL oral Communication instruction.” ERIC Document no: ED 475 020 * Allwright, D. (1984). The importance of interaction in classroom in classroom language learning. Applied Linguistics, 5:156-71. * Anderson, F. E. (1993). The enigma of the college classroom: Nails that don’t stick up. In A Handbook for Teaching English at Japanese Colleges and Universities, 101-110. Oxford: Oxford University Press. * Canale, M. & Swain, M., (1979). Theoretical Bases of Communicative Approaches to Second Language Teaching and Testing. Applied Linguistics, 1(1): 1-39. * Canale, M. (1983). “From communicative competence to communicative pedagogy”. IN J.C. 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(Eds.), "Learning through dramatics: Ideas for teachers and librarians" Phoenix: Oryx: 4-14. * Taylor, Orlando L, 1985. “Cross cultural communication: An essential dimension of effective education.” Available online at: http://www.nwrel.org/cnorse/booklets/ccc/index.html#return * Willis, Jane, 1996. “A framework for task based learning” England: Addition Wesley Longman Ltd. Read More