The meaningfulness of the Communicative Language Learning Approach
by O. G. P.
Subject: Teaching English as a Foreign Language: Methodology I
In this essay, I will discuss what I perceive as the core of the Communicative Language Learning and why it represents such an important meaningfulness in language pedagogy.
The objective of this approach is that SS develop functional abilities in the target language, but one of the key views in this approach is that “language is acquired through communication” (Howatt, 1984; en Knapp, 2009: 504), a statement that I think that anybody could accept by reflecting on their experience. However, it is sad to see that, because of negligent professors, sometimes students fail to fully understand the communicative use of a second language in real life.
Today, there are indeed many syllabi, textbooks and language courses in which the importance of communicative purposes is highly neglected and that shouldn’t be the case. Learning is more difficult when one sees a topic as useless or irrelevant, but it is easier when someone helps us to understand and make us apply the language, being aware of its actual usefulness. Such idea might be determining in any language lesson because then motivation can be seen as the outcome of understanding the usefulness of language functions.
Another important thing in the CLL, is that communication takes place paying attention to the social context, and using the language in situations where one communicates in meaningful ways, beyond just the structural analysis of language. Following that line of thought, pragmatic and cultural aspects of language are rightly considered more than important than usual.
Function rather than form is a third feature. The perfect “structuralization” is not sought. What is important instead is the perfect transmission of the meaning learners want to communicate. So, in this view, there is a vital principle for language education. Quite often, many language teachers forget that language is extremely flexible and that there is not just one ultimate answer or one only structure to say the same thing in the target language. Accordingly, the role of the teacher as a promoter of communication and facilitator should be assumed.
In my opinion, the principles of the Communicative Language Learning approach should always be taken into account by professors. For me, they represent learning meaningfulness to both the professor and the student, and because of that, I would certainly use this method in my lessons.
The objective of this approach is that SS develop functional abilities in the target language, but one of the key views in this approach is that “language is acquired through communication” (Howatt, 1984; en Knapp, 2009: 504), a statement that I think that anybody could accept by reflecting on their experience. However, it is sad to see that, because of negligent professors, sometimes students fail to fully understand the communicative use of a second language in real life.
Today, there are indeed many syllabi, textbooks and language courses in which the importance of communicative purposes is highly neglected and that shouldn’t be the case. Learning is more difficult when one sees a topic as useless or irrelevant, but it is easier when someone helps us to understand and make us apply the language, being aware of its actual usefulness. Such idea might be determining in any language lesson because then motivation can be seen as the outcome of understanding the usefulness of language functions.
Another important thing in the CLL, is that communication takes place paying attention to the social context, and using the language in situations where one communicates in meaningful ways, beyond just the structural analysis of language. Following that line of thought, pragmatic and cultural aspects of language are rightly considered more than important than usual.
Function rather than form is a third feature. The perfect “structuralization” is not sought. What is important instead is the perfect transmission of the meaning learners want to communicate. So, in this view, there is a vital principle for language education. Quite often, many language teachers forget that language is extremely flexible and that there is not just one ultimate answer or one only structure to say the same thing in the target language. Accordingly, the role of the teacher as a promoter of communication and facilitator should be assumed.
In my opinion, the principles of the Communicative Language Learning approach should always be taken into account by professors. For me, they represent learning meaningfulness to both the professor and the student, and because of that, I would certainly use this method in my lessons.
Reference:
- Knapp, Karlfried; Seidlhofer, Barbara; Widdowson, H. G. (2009). Handbook of Foreign Language Communication and Learning. Volume 6 of Handbooks of applied linguistics. Walter de Gruyter
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