首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
Directions: In this part, you will have 15 minutes to go over the passage quickly and answer the questions on Answer Sheet 1. Fo
Directions: In this part, you will have 15 minutes to go over the passage quickly and answer the questions on Answer Sheet 1. Fo
admin
2010-01-26
21
问题
Directions: In this part, you will have 15 minutes to go over the passage quickly and answer the questions on Answer Sheet 1.
For questions 1-4, mark
Y (for YES) if the statement agrees with the information given in the passage;
N (for NO) if the statement contradicts the information given in the passage;
NG (for NOT GIVEN) if the information is not given in the passage.
For questions 5-10, complete the sentences with the information given in the passage.
The Advantages of Communicative Language Teaching
As a teacher trainer working with international groups, I am frequently asked to include an overview of communicative language teaching (CLT), and discuss ways of adapting materials to make lessons more communicative or interactive.
Most groups are enthusiastic about the lesson opportunities which CLT offers. However, some also indicated they felt constrained by the system under which they operated, especially those teaching in settings which are particularly exam-focused. In addition, they queried the relevance of CLT to their situation, where many of the students never used English outside the classroom. In contrast, I had shifted across a spectrum of learners, enthusiastically taking CLT along with me as universally appropriate.
Taking my colleagues’ concerns on board, I began to question the appropriateness of CLT for some of these diverse learner groups. This was supported by current reading on the topic; the titles of some articles made me think I should give up the support for CLT then and there. However, the more I read on the topic, the more I defended the continued suitability of CLT. It really does benefit the students in a variety of ways.
Elements of CLT
Communication — According to Ability
Whether CLT should be considered an approach or a methodology is a more abstract debate and here I want to deal with its more practical aspects, in fact, it is those very elements, and the name itself, which have been used to challenge the future relevance of CLT. Firstly, the label implies a focus on communication and some might argue that this method can’t be employed genuinely with low levels as there is no authentic communication, due to a limited vocabulary and restricted range of functions. Initially, many of a learner’s utterances are very formulaic. As an aside, consider just what percentage of our own English expressions are unique, and how often we rely on a set phrase; just because it is delivered unselfconsciously and with natural intonation does not make it original. The aim is that the length and complexity of exchanges, and confident delivery, will grow with the student’s language ability.
With the emphasis on communication, there is also the implication that spoken exchanges should be authentic and meaningful; detractors claim that the artificial nature of classroom-based (i.e. teacher-created interactions makes CLT an oxymoron. Nevertheless, a proficient teacher will provide a context so that class interactions are realistic and meaningful but with the support needed to assist students to generate the target language. We need to consider that producing language is a skill and when we learn a skill we practise in improvised settings. For example, before a nurse gives a real injection, they have punctured many a piece of fruit to hone their technique.
Accuracy as Well as Fluency
It might also be argued that the extent of some of the structures or functions may never be used in real life. One example is adjective order; I have given students an exercise where they have to produce a phrase with a string of adjectives, such as "a strong, orange, Norwegian, canvas tent." This is very unnatural, as most times we only combine two or three adjectives. The other example is directions—we have students follow a map and negotiate exhaustive directions which suggest maze-like complexity. In reality, most of us probably are only involved in a three-phase set of directions. In fact, what we are doing with these exercises is exposing students to patterns which they can later activate.
This focus on accuracy versus fluency is one of the issues not often considered in a discussion of CLT. The teacher decides to pay attention to one or other end of this band, depending on the type of lesson, or the stage of a particular lesson, and accuracy is their choice if they want to deal with students getting things right, take an opportunity for correction, or gauge the success of their teaching, for example. Freer speaking involves more choice, therefore more ambiguity, and less teacher intervention. While CLT implies the lessons are more student-centered, this does not mean they are un-structured. The teacher does have a very important role in the process, and that is setting up activities so that communication actually happens. There is a lot of preparation; accuracy practice is the bridge to a fluency activity. By implication, CLT involves equipping students with vocabulary, structures and functions, as well as strategies, to enable them to interact successfully.
The reference to strategies introduces the matter of grammatical versus communicative competence. If we view the two as mutually exclusive, then we are likely to champion one over the other, in terms of approach, curriculum or whatever else determines and defines our classroom teaching. In fact, Canale and Swain’s model of communicative competence, referred to by Guangwei Hu, includes four sub-categories, namely grammatical, sociolinguistic discourse and strategic. They consider someone competent in English should demonstrate both roles of grammar and use.
Promoting Learning
This returns us to the consideration of who we are teaching, and why. Are our students aiming to learn or acquire English? Do they need to know lexical items and linguistic rules as a means of passing an exam, or do they want to be able to interact in English? For those inclined to maintain the dichotomy between learning and acquisition, and who argue that our primary focus is learners, CLT still has relevance. It is timely to review an early definition of CLT. According to Richards and Rodgers, in Guangwei Hu, CLT is basically about promoting learning.
Then again, Mark Lowe suggests that we follow Halliday’s lead and drop the distinction between learning and acquisition, and refer to language mastery instead. After all, if the students master the language, they will certainly be able to perform better in exams, if that is their goal. In addition, those who do see a purpose beyond classroom-related English will be better equipped for using the language socially.
Motivation
One of the constant discussions in all my teacher training groups was how to motivate students. This suggests that the focus on passing the exam was not always enough. Motivation relates to engaging students but also includes confidence building. If there is a climate of trust and support in the classroom, then students are more likely to contribute. One way of developing this is to allow pair-checking of answers before open-class checking occurs. Another way is to include an opportunity for students to discuss a topic in small groups before there is any expectation that they speak in front of the whole class. Evelyn Doman suggests that "The need for ongoing negotiation during interaction increases the learners’ overt participation..." It is this involvement we need to harness and build on.
Sometimes the participation is hardly what we would define as "negotiation", but merely a contribution. For a few students, just uttering a word or a phrase can be an achievement. Indeed, some of the teachers in the training sessions said this was the goal they set for their more reticent pupils. And I have had students who, after writing their first note or e-mail in English, expressed their pride at being able to do so.
If teachers consider an activity to be irrelevant or not engaging enough, there are many other tasks which may be more appropriate, such as surveys, using a stimulus picture and prompt questions (Who... Where... When...What...), or a series of pictures which need to be sequenced before a story is discussed. In this respect, CLT addresses another area which constantly challenges teachers, the mixed-ability class. When the lesson progresses to a freer-speaking activity, students can contribute according to their ability and confidence, although I acknowledge both need to be stretched. So there is a challenge for the more capable students, while those with an average ability still feel their effort is valid. This compares with the less creative opportunities offered by some textbooks, where students read a dialogue, perhaps doing a substitution activity, for example.
A basic responsibility is considering and responding to the needs of our students, so if the course book is inadequate we need to employ the following steps: select, adapt, reject and supplement. Moreover, because each class we teach has its own characteristics and needs, CLT will vary each time we employ it.
Since in reality, most of us probably are only involved in three phase-set of directions, it is meaningless for the students to negotiate exhaustive directions.
选项
A、Y
B、N
C、NG
答案
A
解析
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/X3dK777K
0
大学英语六级
相关试题推荐
TermsandConditionsofEmploymentThesetermsandconditionsshouldbereadbeforeyousignyourcontract.Salary:Yo
Thecostofheatingyourhome,particularlyduringthecolderwintermonths,makesupabout60%ofenergybills.Ifyouneedan
Whatshouldyoudoifyoudiscoveryou’rebeingscammed(诈骗)?Thefirstthingistostopallcontactwiththescammer(诈骗者).It’
Asanemployer,youshouldmakesureyourworkers(train)________onhowtodotheirworkwell.
A、Theerrorswillbecorrectedsoon.B、Thewomanwasmistakenherself.C、Thecomputingsystemistoocomplex.D、Hehascalledth
Bysaying"theU.S.andChinahaveoppositeproblems"(Line1,Para.1),theauthorthinksthatthesavingproblemsintheU.S.an
A、Heisseeingapopularfilm.B、Heisdiscussingtheprice.C、Heistalkingsomethingaboutthelatestfashion.D、Heismaking
Whatdiscoveryindicatesthatthebehaviorsofhumanbeingsdecoratingthemselvesstartedearlierthanwaspreviouslythought?
A、Theuseofphotographsinpainting.B、TheTVprogramaboutNormanRockwell.C、TheSaturdayEveningPostmagazine.D、Exhibitso
A、Theywereseverelypunished.B、Theyweretreatedwell.C、Theyweresoldtoanotherwhiteman.D、Theyweregivendifferentwork
随机试题
领导类型的划分是()
患者,女性,37岁,已婚,1-0-3-1,因“放宫内节育器6年,近1年经期延长至10余天”就诊。该患者进一步的检查应选择[病史询问结果]患者6年前在乡计划生育指导站人工流产时放置T型宫内节育器,经过顺利;术后每年1次随访,但近2年因外出打
下列药物在使用前需要做过敏试验的是
某企业上年12月31日资产负债表部分项目的年初数和期末数如表7—3所示。(单位:元)该企业上年度产品销售收入4000000元,利润总额400000元,应交所得税100000元,利息支出15000元。本年1月份发生的部分经济业务如下:(
在对客户的资金调用和调整成本方面,理财师应把握好的原则有()。
甲企业为增值税一般纳税人,适用的增值税税率为17%,存货采用计划成本法核算。该企业2010年9月初“应交税费”账户余额为零,当月发生下列相关业务:(1)购入材料一批,价款200000元,增值税税额34000元,以银行存款支付,该材料计划成本210000元
职工基于企业组织一员的身份而得到的,与职工个人的工作绩效无直接关系的是()。
李安新片《少年派的奇幻漂流》,再度引发观影热潮。短短十几天之内.几乎每一位评论家都在谈论导演想象的奇谲,每一位观众都在解读影片背后的玄妙深意。应该说.优秀的作品为受众提供了开放的读解空间,而受众的解读也为文艺作品的阐释提供了丰富的认知可能。然而,值得警惕的
参加阅兵式的官兵排成一个方阵,最外层的人数是80人,这个方阵共有官兵多少人?()
Madewasatall,handsome22-year-oldBalinesemanwhowasinlovewithonegirlbutexpectedtomarryanother.Hisstepmotherh
最新回复
(
0
)