Community
Language Learning
Background
Community Language Learning (CLL) is the name of a method developed
by Charles A. Curran and his associates. His application of psychological
counseling techniques to learning is known as Counseling-Learning.In lay
terms, counseling is one person giving advice, assistance, and support to
another who has a problem or is in some way in need. Community Language
Learning draws on the counseling metaphor to redefine the roles of the teacher
(the counselor) and learners (the clients) in the language classroom. The basic procedures of CLL can thus
be seen as. derived from the counselor-client relationship.
CLL techniques also belong to a larger set of foreign language
teaching practices sometimes described as humanistic
techniques (Moskowitz 1978). Moskowitz defines humanistic techniques as those
that blend
what the student feels, thinks and knows with what he is learning in the target
language. Rather than self-denial being the acceptable way of life, self-
actualization and self-esteem are the ideals the exercises pursue. [The techniques]
help build rapport, cohesiveness, and caring that far transcend what is already
there . . . help students to be themselves, to accept themselves, and be proud
of themselves . . . help foster a climate of caring and sharing in the foreign
language class. (Moskowitz 1978: 2)
The origins of
Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) are found in the changes in the British
language teaching tradition in the late 1960s. Situational Language Teaching
(SLT) was the major approach to teaching English. Language was taught by
practicing basic structures in meaningful situation-based activities. British
applied linguists on the theoretical basis for a communicative or functional
approach to language teaching, the application of these ideas, the acceptance
of these principles by British language specialists came to be referred to as
the Communicative Approach or CLT. Communicative Approach aims to: make
communicative competence the goal of language teaching, and develop procedures
for the teaching of the four language skills (listening, speaking, reading and
writing) that acknowledge the interdependence of language and communication. There
are two version of the CLT: The weak version and the strong version.
Community Language Learning
Community Language Learning is the
name of a method develop by Charles A. Curran and his associates. CLL represents
the use of conseling learning theory to
teach language and draws on the counseling metaphor to redefine the role of
teacher 9the conselor and the learner (the client) in the language classroom.
The basic procedures of CLL can thus be seen as derived from counselor-client
relationship. The techniques also belong
to a large set of forign language teaching practices sometimes described as
humanistic techniques (mozkowist 1978)
Theory of Language
Communication is more than just a
message being transmitted from a speaker to a listener. The speaker is at the
same time both subject and object of his own message. Communication
involves not just unidirectional .transfer of information to the other. In the
language communication is an exchange which is incomplete without a feedback
reaction from the destine of the message.(la forge 1983;3) la forge also
elaborates on the interactional view of language underlying CLL “language is
people, language is person in contact, language is person in response. (1981:3)
Theory of Learners
CLL interactions are of two
distinguish and fundamental kinds,: interactions between learners and
interaction between learner and knower. Interaction between learners are
unpredictable in content but typically are said to involve exchanges of effect.
Interactions between learner and knower are initially dependent. The learner
tells the knower what he or she wishes to say in the target language and the
knower’s tells the learner to say it.
Design: Objectives, syllabus,
learning activities, roles of learners, teachers, and materials
Objectives
Since
linguistic or communicative competence is specified only in social terms,
explicit linguistic or communicative objectives are not defined in CLL. CLL
does not use a conventional language syllabus, which sets out in advance the
grammar, vocabulary, and other language items to be taught and the order in
which they will be covered. The progression is topic-based, with learners nominating
things they wish to talk about and messages they wish to communicate to other
learners. The teacher’s responsibility is to provide a conveyance for these
meanings in a way appropriate to the learners’ proficiency level.
The syllabus
In this sense, a CLL syllabus
emerges from the interaction between the learners expressed communicative
intentions and the teacher reformulation these into suitable target language
utterances, specifics grammatical points, lexical patterns, and generalization
will sometimes be isolated by the teacher for more detailed study and analysis
and subsequent specification of these of a retrospection account of what the
course covered could be a way of driving a CLL language syllabus.
Learning activities
As with most methods, CLL combines innovative learning tasks and
activities with conventional ones. They include:
1. Translation. Learners form
a small circle. A learner whispers a message or meaning he or she wants to
express, the teacher translates it into (and may .interpret it in) the target language, and the
learner repeats the teacher’s translation.
2. Group, work. Learners may. Engage
in various group tasks, such as small-group discussion of a topic, preparing a
conversation, preparing a summary of a topic for presentation to another group,
preparing a story that will be presented to the teacher and the rest of the
class.
3. Recording. Students
record conversations in the target language.
4. Transcription. Students
transcribe utterances and conversations they have recorded for practice and
analysis of linguistic forms.
5. Analysis. Students
analyze and study transcriptions of target-language sentences in order to focus
on particular lexical usage or on the application of particular grammar rules.
6. Reflection and
observation. Learners reflect and report on their experience of the class, as a
class or in groups. This usually consists of
Expressions of feelings - sense of one another, reactions to
silence, concern for something to say, and so on. •
7. Listening. Students
listen to a monologue by the teacher involving elements they might have
elicited or overheard in class interactions.
8. Students engage in free conversation with the teacher or with
other
learners. This might include discussion of what they learned as well as
feelings they had about how they learned.
Learner Role
Learner roles in CLL are well defined. Learners become members of a
community - their fellow learners and the teacher - and learn through
interacting with the community. Learning is not viewed as an individual
accomplishment but as something that is achieved collaboratively. Learners are
expected to listen attentively to the knower, to freely provide meanings they
wish to express, to repeat target utterances without hesitation, to support
fellow members of the community, to report deep inner feelings and frustrations
as well as joy and pleasure, and to become counselors of other learners. CLL
learners are typically grouped in a circle of six to twelve learners, with the number of knower’s
varying from one per group to one per student.
Learner roles are keyed to the five stages of language learning
outlined earlier. The view of the learner is an organic one, with each new role
growing developmentally out of the one preceding. These role changes are not
easily or automatically achieved.
Teacher Role
The teacher’s role derives from the functions of the counselor in
Rogerian psychological counseling. The counselor’s role is to respond calmly
and nonjudgmentally, in a supportive manner, and help the client try to
understand his or her problems better by applying order and analysis to them.
“One of the functions of the counseling response is to relate affect... to
cognition. Understanding the language of ‘feeling’, the counselor replies in
the language of cognition” (Curran 1976: 26). It was the model of teacher as
counselor that Curran attempted to bring to language learning.
Material
Materials may be developed
by the teacher as the course develops, although these generally consist of
little more than summaries on the blackboard or overhead projector of some of
the linguistic features of conversations generated by students. Conversations
may also be transcribed and distributed for study and analysis, and learners
may work in groups to produce their own materials, such as scripts for
dialogues and mini-dramas.
Because each Community Language Learning course is in a sense a
unique experience, description of typical CLL procedures in a class period is
problematic. Stevick (1980) distinguishes between “classical” CLL (based
directly on the model proposed by Curran) and personal interpretations of it,
such as those discussed by different advocates of CLL (e.g., La Forge 1983).
The following description attempts to capture some typical activities in CLL
classes. Reflection
provides, the basis for discussion of contracts, personal interaction,
feelings toward the knower and learner, and the sense of progress andfrustration.ggh Dieter
Stroinigg (in Stevick 1980: 185-186) presents a protocol of what a first day’s
CLL class covered, which is outlined here:
1. Informal greetings
and self-introductions were made.
2. The teacher
made a statement of the goals and guidelines for the course.
3. A conversation
in the foreign language took place.
a)
A circle was formed so that everyone had visual contact with each
other.
b)
. One student initiated
conversation with another student by giving a message in the LI
c)
The instructor, standing behind the student, whispered a close
equivalent of the message in the L2.
d)
The student then repeated the L2 message to its addressee and into
the tape recorder as well.
e) Each student
had a chance to compose and record a few messages.
f) The tape
recorder was rewound and replayed at intervals.
g)
Each student repeated the meaning in English of what he or she had
said in the L2 and helped to refresh the memory of others.
4. Students then
participated in a reflection period, in which they were asked to express their
feelings about the previous experience with total frankness.
5. From the
materials just recorded the instructor chose sentences to write on the
blackboard that highlighted elements of grammar, spelling, and peculiarities
of capitalization in the L2.
6. Students were
encouraged to ask questions about any of the items above.
7. Students were
encouraged to copy sentences from the board with notes on meaning and usage. This
became their “textbook” for home study.
Communicative Approach
Communicative Approach aims to: make communicative
competence the goal of language teaching, and develop procedures for the
teaching of the four language skills (listening, speaking, reading and writing)
that acknowledge the interdependence of language and communication.There are
two version of the CLT: The weak version stresses the importance of providing
learners with opportunities to use their English for communicative purposes
(learning to use English). The strong version advances the claim that language
is acquired through communication. That is not merely a question of activating
an existing but inert knowledge of language, but of stimulating the development
of the language system itself (using English to learn it).
Approach Theory of Learning and Language.
Little has been
written about learning theory in contrast to the amount of that has been
written about CLT literature. Elements of an underlying learning theory can be
discerned in some CLT practices as follows: One element is the communication principle:
activities that involve real communication promote learning. Another element is
the task principle: activities in which language is used for carrying out meaningful
tasks promote learning. A third element is the meaningfulness principle:
language that is meaningful to the learner supports the learning process. As a consequence, learning activities are
selected based on how well they engage the learner in meaningful and authentic
language use (rather than just mechanical practice of language patterns). Other
accounts of CLT have attempted to describe theories of language learning
processes that are compatible with CLT. Savignon (1983) surveys L2 acquisition
research as a source for learning theories and considers the role of
linguistic, social, cognitive, and individual variables in language
acquisition.
Design Objectives
The following
are levels of objectives in a communicative approach: An integrative and content level (language as
a means of expression). A linguistic and instrumental level (language as a
semiotic system and an object of learning). An affective level of interpersonal
relationships and conduct (language as a means of expressing values and judgments
about oneself and others). A level of individual learning needs (remedial learning
based on error analysis). A general educational level of extra-linguistic goals
(language learning within school curriculum)
Syllabus
One of the first syllabus models to be
proposed was described as a notional syllabus (Wilkins, 1976), which specified
the semantic- grammatical categories and the categories of communicative
function that learners need to express.• The Council of Europe expanded and
developed this into a syllabus that included the following: description of the
objectives of FL courses, situations in which they might typically use an L2
(travel, business), topic they might need to talk about (education, shopping),
functions they needed language for (requesting information, expressing
agreement & disagreement), the notions made use of in communication (time,
frequency, duration), as well as vocabulary and grammar needed.
Learning
activities
The range of exercise types and activities
compatible with a communicative approach is unlimited. Exercises enable Ss to
attain communicative objectives of the curriculum, engage Ss in communication,
require the use of communicative processes like information sharing,
negotiation of meaning, and interaction. Classroom activities are often
designed to focus on completing tasks that are mediated through language or
involve negotiation of information and information sharing. Littlewood (1981) distinguishes between
functional communication activities and social interaction activities. •
Comparing sets of pictures and noting similarities and differences, discovering
missing features in a map or Functional picture, one learner communicating
behind a screen to another one giving instructions on how to draw a picture
Communication Activities or shape. • Conversation and discussion sessions,
dialogues, role plays, simulations, skits, improvisations and debates. Social
Interaction Activities.
Learner roles
The learner is
a negotiator (between himself, the learning process, and the object of
learning). The implication is that the learner should contribute as much as he
gains, and learn in an interdependent way. It are expected to interact
primarily with each other rather than with the teacher. Give and receive
information.
Teacher roles
CLT teacher assumes require responsibility for
determining in the Community Language teachers to acquire less and responding
to Ss language Learning, is expected to teacher-centered classroom needs.
exemplify an effective management skills. CLT teacher administer a needs
communicator seeking to CLT teacher organizes the assessment instrument to
maximize the speaker intention classroom for communication determine an individual’s
and hearer interpretation, and communicative activities. motivation for
studying the through the use of paraphrase, language. confirmation, and
feedback.• Based on needs assessment results, CLT teacher plan instruction and
activities that respond to Ss needs.
Procedure
The
methodological procedures reflect a sequence of activitiesrepresented as
follows: Pre-Communicative communicative Activities Activities Functional
Structural Communication Activities Activities Quasi- Social Communicative
Interaction Activities Activities
Community Language Learning places unusual demands on language
teachers. They must be highly proficient and sensitive to nuance in both LI and
L2. They must be familiar with and sympathetic to the role of counselors in
psychological counseling. The teacher must operate without conventional
materials, depending on student topics.
Critics of Community Language Learning question the appropriateness
of the counseling metaphor on which it is predicated. Questions also arise
about whether teachers should attempt counseling without special training.
Other concerns have been expressed regarding the lack of a syllabus, which
makes objectives unclear and evaluation difficult to accomplish, and the focus
on fluency rather than accuracy, which may lead to inadequate control of the
grammatical system of the target language. Supporters of CLL, on the other
hand, emphasize the positive benefits of a method that centers on the learner
and stresses the humanistic side of language learning, and not merely its
linguistic dimensions.
CLT is best
considered an approach rather than a method. Approach refers to a diverse set
of principles that reflect a communicative view of language and language
learning used to support a variety of classroom procedures. CLT has passed
through a number of different phases to apply its principles to different
dimensions of the teaching/learning process.• The first phase was the need to
develop a syllabus that was compatible with the notion of communicative
competence. The second phase, CLT focused on procedures for identifying
learners’ needs and this resulted in proposals to make needs analysis an
essential component of communicative methodology. In the third phase, CLT
focused on the kinds of classroom activities that could be used as the basis of
a communicative methodology, such as group work, task-work, and information-gap
activities.
