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a comparative study of SLT and CLT
我爱英语网 http://www.52en.com
A Comparative Study of Situational Language Teaching and
Communicative Language Teaching in Teaching Oral English
Xu Yanfei
Nov. 3, 2002
Outline
Thesis Statement: Using Situational Language Teaching and Communicative Language Teaching jointly in teaching oral English to freshmen majoring in international trade can get the best effect.
Key words: TEFL, real-life situations, communicative competence
I. Introduction
II. Problems in teaching oral English to freshmen majoring in international trade
A. Getting students involved in oral English class
B. Contents to be taught in oral English course
III. Brief introduction of SLT and CLT
A. Situational Language Teaching
B. Communicative Language Teaching
C. Comparison of the features of SLT and CLT
IV. Application of SLT and CLT in teaching oral English to freshmen
V. Conclusion
A Comparative Study of Situational Language Teaching and
Communicative Language Teaching in Teaching Oral English
I. Introduction
The teaching of foreign languages has evolved for many centuries. Different teaching approaches and methods have been developed by linguists and language teachers, especially in the twentieth century. Chinese foreign language teachers and linguists also developed and introduced some teaching approaches to the teaching of English in China. Among the teaching methods practiced in China, Situational Language Teaching (SLT) and Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) are given most consideration and are advocated to complement or even replace the traditional Grammar-Translation Method. Teachers of foreign languages in China have realized the drawbacks of the Grammar-Translation Method and are eager to find a better substitute, but we should also be aware that new methods and approaches might have limitations. We should adapt new teaching approaches creatively to fit into our own teaching practices. The paper mainly concerns the proper application of the above two approaches in teaching oral English to freshmen majoring in international trade.
II. Problems in teaching oral English to freshmen majoring in international trade
There are two major problems in teaching oral English to freshmen majoring in international trade. One is how to encourage students to speak more English in the class, and the other one is what should be taught to them in an oral English course.
A. Getting students involved in oral English class
Motivations for freshmen in college to learn oral English are mostly ‘intrinsic’, that is, they are eager to learn ‘something useful and practical in English’ (from students’ response in my questionnaire to freshmen majoring in international trade) for their own sake instead of for passing exams, although it is a requirement that they attend the oral English course. They are bored of the traditional Grammar-Translation Method practiced by their middle school teachers of English, and are eager to experience something original to them in an oral English class, which may be a first-time experience for almost all of them in their English learning process. They have learned English for six years in middle school mainly for the purpose of passing exams instead of for communicating with others, and they are quite knowledgeable in grammar since they have to be good English grammar learners to be admitted by such a national key university. However, their fluency in oral English is much worse compared to their ability in writing, as we can see from the difference of reading a prepared written speech and improvising a much easier conversation. In fact, few of them dare to speak English during the first few classes. They know every word or phrase they need to use and every grammar point they are to follow, however, the only problem is that they can’t express it orally. To encourage them to be brave enough and fluent enough in expressing ideas orally what they are already capable of writing in English is the greatest challenge for an English teacher in such a situation. They already have motivation and interest in learning and practicing oral English, and then it is the teacher’s responsibility to help them to take the first step in practicing oral English. Students’ active involvement in classroom activities is the basis of organizing a successful oral English class, and thus it requires the teacher to use a more student-oriented teaching approach. Therefore, it is suggested that a few classes shall be devoted to warming up and getting students actively involved in oral English classes, so as to set up the foundation for success in following classes. Communicative Language Teaching Approach can be preferably used to gain fluency in speaking English towards this end.
B. Contents to be taught in oral English course
A dilemma for an oral English teacher teaching students majoring in international trade is what to be taught in this course: common daily expressions or practical but more complicated business English. It is argued that English learners in China should emphasis on the vertical aspect rather than the horizontal aspect in learning and practicing oral English, that is to say, on the condition of limited time and energy, an English learner shall learn more expressions on complete and various topics concerning his present or future field of working, such as doing business with foreigners, rather than learning every possible expression on a same topic, such as saying hello to a foreigner. Since the students majoring in international trade are more likely to be involved in business in the future and they will only have oral English courses in the first year, it is suggested the content in the oral English course shall be based on real business situations incorporating everyday English expressions. The content shall be arranged according both to difficulty and to topics. Situational Language Teaching Approach can be used in explaining new points to students, while CLT activities can be adopted to practice fluency.
III. Brief introduction of SLT and CLT
To have a better idea of why and how SLT and CLT can be used in solving the above problems, we shall first have a thorough understanding of the these teaching approaches. Richards and Theodore (1988) give a best summary of teaching approaches in their book Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching. Since teaching oral English is the main concern of this paper, we will mainly focus on the aspect of teaching spoken English using these two approaches. A brief summary is as follows:
A. Situational language teaching
Acquiring linguistic data is not sufficient because the scene is not a linguistic one, we will meet different objects and events which are present at the moment of communication. In this respect Halliday remarks “when we acquire our primary language, we do so by learning how to behave in situations, not by learning rules about what to say” (M.A.K. Halliday et al. 1964:179)
The situational language teaching approach just follows this rule. Situational language teaching was originally called oral approach, which was developed by British applied linguists from the 1930’s to 1960’s, and it has provided guidance to many well-known EFL/ESL textbooks and courses, including New Concept English written by Alexander, which is still used in China and known by almost every Chinese English learner. In fact, most books on business English are compiled according to this approach too.
The theory of learning underlying Situation Language Teaching is behaviorism, addressing more the processes, than the conditions of learning.
Richards and Rodgers summarized the main characteristics of the approach as follows:
1. Language teaching begins with the spoken language. Material is taught orally before it is presented in written form.
2. The target language is the language of the classroom.
3. New language points are introduced and practiced situationally.
4. Vocabulary selection procedures are followed to ensure that an essential general service vocabulary is covered.
5. Items of grammar are graded following the principle that simple forms should be taught before complex ones.
Reading and writing are introduced once a sufficient lexical and grammatical basis is established. Situational Language teaching uses a structural syllabus and a word list. Structures are always taught within sentences, and vocabulary is chosen according to how well it enables sentence patterns to be taught. The practice techniques employed generally consist of guided repetition and substitution activities, including chorus repetition, dictation, drills, and controlled oral-based reading and writing tasks.
Since the purpose of teaching a foreign language is to enable the learners to use it, then it must be heard, spoken, read, and written in suitable realistic situations. Neither translation nor mechanical drills can help if they are not connected to practical life. The situational language teaching methods focused on the need to practise language in meaningful situation-based activities. Therefore, the situational language teaching approach continued to be part of the standard set of procedures advocated in many current British methodology texts.
B. Communicative language teaching
Communicative Language Teaching makes use of real-life situations that necessitate communication. The teacher sets up a situation that students are likely to encounter in real life. 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. Margie S. Berns, an expert in the field of communicative language teaching, writes that "language is interaction; it is interpersonal activity and has a clear relationship with society. In this light, language study has to look at the use (function) of language in context, both its linguistic context (what is uttered before and after a given piece of discourse) and its social, or situational, context (who is speaking, what their social roles are, why they have come together to speak)" (Berns,1984, p.5)
Wilkins, a British linguist proposed a communicative definition of language serves as a basis for developing communicative syllabuses for language teaching. Instead of describing the core of language through traditional concepts of grammar and vocabulary, Wilkins demonstrated the systems of meanings that lay behind the communicative uses of language. Both Americans and British proponents now treat communicative language teaching as an approach that not only to make communicative competence the goal of language teaching but also to develop procedures for the four language skills.
The functional view of language is the primary one behind the communicative method. The goal of language teaching is to develop what Hymes (1972) referred to as “communicative competence”, which involves being able to use the language appropriately to a given social context.
Communicative language teaching assumes that language teaching will reflect the particular needs of the target learners. These needs may be in the domains of reading, listening, writing, or speaking. And each of the former skills can be approached from a communicative perspective.
Teachers in communicative classrooms will find themselves talking less and listening more. The teacher has two main roles: the first role is to facilitate the communicative process between all participants in the classroom, and between the various activities. The second role is to cat as an independent participant within the language-teaching group. The teachers set up the exercise, but the students' performance is the goal. So, the teachers must step back and observe, sometimes acting as a monitor. A classroom during a communicative activity is not quiet. The students do most of the speaking, and the classroom during a communicative exercise is active. To participate, students may find they gain confidence in using the target language. Students are more responsible mangers of their own learning.
Thus creativity is incorporated into communicative competency. Focusing purely on language form i.e. syntactic structures was considered too narrow. Communicative language teaching therefore seeks to bring learners into closer contact with authentic language examples together with the promotion of fluency over accuracy.
C. Comparison of the features of SLT and CLT
We can summarize and contrast the major distinctive features of the Situational Approach and the Communicative Approach concerning oral English teaching as follows:
Situational approach Communicative Approach
Language teaching begins with the spoken language. Material is taught orally before it is presented in written form. Communication involves the integration of different language skills.
New language points are introduced and practiced situationally. The target linguistic system will be learned best through the process of struggling to communicate.
Vocabulary selection procedures are followed to ensure that an essential general service vocabulary is covered. Vocabulary is selected according to the necessity in communication
Items of grammar are graded following the principle that simple forms should be taught before complex ones. Grammar is taught in communicating with each other.
Teacher controls the learners and prevents them from doing anything that conflicts with the theory. Teacher helps learners in any way that motivates them to work with the language.
Mistakes are bad and should be avoided, as they make bad habits Learning is a process of creative construction and involves trial and error.
Analogy is a better foundation for language learning than analysis, the meanings of words can be learned only in a linguistic and cultural context Learners learn a language through using it to communicate.
Accuracy should be emphasized Fluency is an important dimension of communication.
The sequence of units is determined by principles of linguistic complexity Sequence is determined by any consideration of content, function, or meaning which maintains interest.
Communicative activities only come after the students have learned the usage grammars and vocabulary Attempts to communicate may be encouraged from the very beginning.
We can see from the above contrast the different principles underlying the above two language-teaching approaches. These principles can be applied to teach a variety of language contents. However, different approaches may be used preferably to teach different skills. Both of the two approaches focus on meaning instead of on unattached grammar items. Comparatively, situational approach is more systematic and more fully developed. There are series of textbooks that are used to teach all kinds of language contents to students from the very primary level to advanced level. However, communicative approaches are interpreted in different ways by different linguists and teachers, and have no fixed syllabus model or procedure.
Using situational approach, a teacher can systematically teach students graded vocabulary and grammar by putting them into concrete situations, which facilitates the students in learning the language knowledge by heart. For example, the teacher may teach the word “punctual” by telling the students an interesting story of what happened when someone was late for an appointment. Students are not likely to lose their interest in learning grammar and vocabulary as it happens in the Grammar-Translation Method when the teacher just makes up some unrelated sentences using this word, but the students may lack the practice of applying what they have learned into real communicative situations because the teacher is, for most of the time, the center of the class. So they maybe at a loss to communicate in the culture of the language studied as Johnson and Morrow (1981, p.1) point out that a large numbers of students in traditional grammar-based courses are structurally competent but communicatively incompetent.
Communicative approach focuses on the communicative competence, using real-life communication in the target language between students to help the students learn the usage of words and grammar. The learners work all the time in English and the activities require them to speak and listen to English from the first day, not only writing and reading. For example, the teacher may manage a discussion on the topic why we should learn a foreign language. In this discussion, students may encounter the subjunctive mood as in the sentence “If I hadn’t learned English, I would not have been able to tell the foreigner the way to the station.” In a communicative class, students may have more chances to put the target language into practice, but they are more likely to make mistakes since the primary goal is to achieve fluency instead of accuracy. Students may also get confused at some grammar points because grammar is not the focus of this approach.
Therefore, we can conclude that situational approach is better to be used to teach grammar and vocabulary as a supplement or improvement to the Grammar-Translation Method, while communicative approach should be followed in teaching oral English when the students have grasped the system of basic grammar points.
IV. Application of SLT and CLT in teaching oral English to freshmen
After investigating and comparing the theories and principles of SLT and CLT, we can apply them in solving the problems in the teaching of oral English to freshmen majoring in international trade as we discussed at the beginning of the paper.
In order to involve the students in classroom activities, the oral English teacher shall try to adopt CLT activities and put communicative competence to the prime priority. Since the students have already had the basic linguistic competence and what they lack is enough practice so as to enhance their communicative competence to a level close to their linguistic competence, the teacher shall not play the dominant role in the oral English class as CLT requires, but give instructions and corrections while leaving enough time for creative and effective activities in which students are willing to speak English as much as possible. Efforts shall be made to convert their passive vocabulary to active vocabulary while learning new words, and the students shall be able to choose proper and varied words in their speech after a period of practice. Activities shall conform to established theories of language acquisition and learning. In fact, communicating with partners in English involves both listening and speaking and can help English learners improve English unconsciously. A sample activity in teaching business English is to ask a student to act as a manager and make a speech to motivate his subordinates to finish a task. Other students acting as subordinates may bargain for better working conditions or compensation. In the process of bargaining, students may get quite involved and try every possible expression they know in their arguments, unfettered by grammar rules. At the beginning, they may make many grammatical errors, which should be tolerated. Some typical or repeated errors shall be corrected after the heated discussion. Grammar is not emphasized but some important grammatical points can be reviewed if the teacher consciously creates situations that require the use of a certain grammar point. For example, ask the students to improvise a regret for not having done something and apologize to the supervisor using subjunctive mood. Students will gradually learn to monitor their uttering with grammar they learned and make fewer mistakes in the future.
When the students have acquired certain communicative competence, new knowledge shall be introduced using Situational Language Teaching Approach. When introducing new words or phrases, the teacher shall put them in concrete situations, and ask students to use these words in classroom activities. In doing so, we can set up a big project that incorporates almost every aspect of business English and takes several classes, through various activities. The teacher can divide the class into several groups and ask each group to set up a company with an initial investment of one million dollars. The teacher may first introduce some new words, expressions and background information every class, and then ask students in each group to fulfill a different task each class, such as holding a press conference for releasing new products, discussing questions and simulating interviews, discussing incentives to employees or solving strikes. Each task shall be of limited difficulty for students in terms of English used. New words and expressions shall be taught and practiced in business situations. The content shall be arranged not only according to difficulty, but also according to topics. Everyday English expressions shall also be incorporated to the project. For example, the task of attending a sales meeting in the U.S. can include situations in the airport and in a hotel. At the beginning of the course, it is urgent to activate students to speak English, so it is improper to correct every mistake they make as SLT required, but when they have overcome the difficult stage of getting to talk in English, errors shall be corrected so as to help them form the habit of speaking correct English.
V. Conclusion
By creatively adopting CLT and SLT principles and activities, an oral English teacher may be able to solve problems in various teaching situations, such as students’ reluctance to talk in English. However, no one teaching approach is a cure-all that is sufficient enough to be used as the sole basis of teaching, and we must subtract the essence out of each teaching approach and apply it creatively to our own teaching situation. Both SLT and CLT can be used to teach oral English, but we need to compare them, evaluate them and adapt principles that suit to our own teaching situation best. Similar to learning a language, we can find the best teaching method for ourselves only through trial and error. Constantly checking students’ progress and adjusting teaching strategies are necessary when we are applying teaching approaches. Every teacher shall find a best teaching method for himself that will give students most benefits.
References
Hymes, D. 1972. On Communicative Competence. In Pride, I. B. and Holmes, J. (eds), Sociolinguistics pp. 269-93. Harmondsworth: Penguin.
Johnson, K., and Morrow, K. (eds.) (1981) Communication in the Classroom London: Longman.
M.A.K. Halliday et al. (1964), The Linguistic Sciences and Language Teaching London: Longman
Richards, J.C., and Theodore, S. R. (1988). Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching New York: Cambridge University Press.
Savignon, S.J. and Berns M. S., (Eds). (1984). Initiatives in Communicative Language Teaching: A Book of Readings M.A.: Addison-Wesley Publishing Co.
Van EK, J. A. and Alexander, L. G. (1980). Threshold Level English New York: Oxford University Press.
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