INTODUCTION
The ever-growing need for good communication skills in English has
created a huge demand for English teaching around the world. Millions of people
today want to improve their English ability or to ensure that their children achieve a good ability in English. And opportunities to learn English are
provided in many different ways such as through formal instruction, travel,
study abroad, as well as through the media and the Internet. The worldwide
demand for English has created an immense demand for quality language teaching and language teaching
materials and resources. Learners set themselves demanding goals. They want to
be able to master English to a high level of accuracy and fluency. Employers,
too, insist that their employees have good English language skills, and fluency
in English is a prerequisite for success and advancement in many fields of
employment in today’s world. The demand for an appropriate teaching methodology
is therefore as strong as ever.
In this paper we will discus the methodology known as communicative language teaching, or
CLT. Since its beginning, CLT has served as a major source of influence on
language teaching practice around the world. Many of the issues raised by a
communicative teaching methodology are still relevant today, though teachers
who are relatively new to the profession may not be familiar with them. This paper therefore serves to find what its CLT.
First, Kaisheng states that The Communicative Language Teaching is defined as an approach of
teaching a second or a foreign language that focuses on learners’ interaction
whether as the means or the ultimate goal of learning a target language.
Interaction here means an activity in which two or more parties affect upon one
another. CLT refers to communicative approach to the teaching a second or a
foreign language as well. Doubtlessly, it is believed as the most effective
approach focuses
on the communicative competence of the learners in many countries[1].
Next, Parrish said that CLT is an approach which proposes that language learning should be
done in a meaningful setting with authentic language as the input. It is an
umbrella term which consists of an array of methods and techniques[2]. Moreover, CLT is generally regarded as an approach to language teaching.[3]
Lastly, Ying argues that CLT is an approach
to the teaching of second languages that emphasizes interaction as both the
means and the ultimate goal of learning a language.[4]
From
all statements above we can conclude that CLT is a method to teach foreign or second
language which emphasizes on communicative competence. It also emphasizes on
interaction as a method to teach language.
DISCUSSION
A. Communicative Language Teaching
It has been noticed that the goal of the most
of the methods is to make the students able to communicate in the target
language. But in the 1970s, the educators tried to find out whether they were
going to meet the goal of the students in a right way or not. It had been
observed that students were able to write and read the sentences in target
language correctly. But when it came to communicate in the target language,
they failed to do so. It made clear to the observer that to make the students
able to communicate in the target language, it required more than mastering
only the linguistic structures. It had been accepted by the educators that to
be able to communicate in the target language, communicative competence is
required with linguistic competence. There had been a shift from the linguistic
structure centered approach to communicative approach in the late 1970s and 80s[5].
CLT is an approach to teach foreign or second
language which emphasizes on communicative competence. It also emphasizes on
interaction as a means to teach language. Communicative Language Teaching
replaced the Situation Language Teaching which had been used to teach English
as a second or foreign language. It had been considered as the major British
approach. The focus of SLT approach was on to teach the basic structures of
language. But in the 1960s, the educators realized that language taught on the
basis of situational learning would have been of no use. Because to teach the
meaning, carried out from the utterances was more required as it expressed the
intentions of the speaker or writer.
In the mid of 1970s, the scope of Communicative
Language Teaching has extended. Both American and British proponents now see it
as an approach that aim to make communicative competence the goal of language teaching and develop
procedure for the teaching of four language skill that acknowledge the
interdependence of language and communication.
B.
The
Objectives of Communicative Language Teaching
The objectives of communicative language teaching are :
1)
To make the
communicative competence as the goal of
language teaching.
Its mean that the teachers have willing to make an
improvement in students’ language ability through communicative teaching.
2)
To develop
procedures for the teaching the four language skills that acknowledge the
interdependence of language and communication.[6]
Its mean that teachers hope through this method, students can master the
four language skills well and can apply in daily activity.
From the statements above we can conclude
that CLT has goal to make the student mastering all of language skills and able
to use them communicatively.
C. Types of Communicative Language Teaching
Many types of
activity have been used in CLT,
including the following:
1) Task-completion activities
puzzles, games,
map-reading, and other kinds of classroom tasks in which the focus is on using
one’s language resources to complete a task.
2)
Information-gathering activities
Student-conducted
surveys, interviews, and searches in which students are required to use their
linguistic resources to collect information.
3) Opinion-sharing activities
Activities in which students compare values, opinions, or beliefs,
such as a ranking task in which students list six qualities in order of
importance that they might consider in choosing a date or spouse.
4) Information-transfer activities
These require learners
to take information That is presented in one form, and represent it in a
different form. For example, they may read instructions on how to get from A to
B, and then draw a map showing the sequence, or they may read information about
a subject and then represent it as a graph.
5) Reasoning-gap activities
These involve
deriving some new information from given information through the process of
inference, practical reasoning, etc. For example, working out a teacher’s
timetable on the basis of given class timetables.
6) Role plays
Activities in which students are
assigned roles and improvise a scene or exchange based on given information or
clues[7].
Role-Play are very important in CLT because they give students an opportunity
to practice communicating in different social context and in different social
roles. Role-Plays can be set up so that they are very structured (for example,
the teacher tells the students who they are and what they should say). They can
also be set up in a less structured way for example, the teacher tells the
students who they are, what the situation is, and what they are talking about,
but the students determine what they will say.the later is more compatible with
the CLT because it gives the students more choices. Structured role-plays also
provide information gaps since students cannot be sure what the other person or
people will say.
D. The Roles of Teacher in Communicative Language Teaching
The teachers
are just the facilitators who facilitate the learning process. it is the responsibility
of teachers to create such conditions in which communique can take place among
the pupil. They reveal the learning process. at the same time as using CLT
approach in the class room, the teachers do not interrupt all through the
learning process to correct the mistakes of the beginners. They simply notice
the mistakes and correct it at a later point. the teachers deliver such types
of activities which help to accelerate the communication process. the teachers
are also active participants of the communicative process[8] .
Rather than being a model for correct speech and writing and one
with the number one duty of making pupil produce lots of errors-free sentences,
the teacher had to develop a different view of learners’ errors and of her/his
own function in facilitating language learning[9] .
E. Characteristics of Communicative Language Teaching
There are some characteristics of
Communicative Language Teaching according to Richard and Rodgers namely:
1) Syllabus
Syllabus is a list of the topics, books,
etc that student should study in particular subject at school or college[10].
The syllabus emphasizes the purposeful use
of language. The syllabus is counting on the proper materials. The tasks that
are assigned to the beginners have purposes and meanings.
2) Communicative Activities
Enable
the learners to attain communicative objectives of the curriculum, engage
learners in communication, and require the use of such communicative processes
as information sharing, negotiation of meaning, and interaction.
3) Student Centered
The main focus while using CLT approach is
on the students. The teacher is just the facilitator. The teacher is someone
who manages the environment and allows the learners to become self sufficient.
4) Tasks and Materials
Communicative tasks give opportunities for the
learners of target language to express and use the target language. By using
students' communicative materials, the learners are set into the atmosphere
when the language used according to the context, time and situation of real
life.[11]
Students are therefore
encouraged to construct meaning through genuine linguistic interaction with
other.
F. Advantages and Disadvantages of Communicative
Language Teaching
1. Advantages of Communicative Language Teaching
The implementation of CLT has brought alot of advantages for
Teaching English as a foreign/second language. Some expert suggested some of the major
advantages of CLT as follow:
a)
It motivates
students to improve their ability of using English by themselves since it
emphasises on fluency in the target language.
Its mean that the learning process allowed them to boarding and
improving their ideas about what they are going to do and express. These enable
to raise their confident and enjoy talking more[12].
b) CLT focuses on and objectives at communicative competence. thus,
allowing the students to apply the language in a communicative situation to
fulfill their needs in actual-life communication is a priority in CLT . In
different words, it brings the actual life situation of the native English in
to classroom activities such as role-play and simulation[13].
c) The main part of the learning process is not upon the teacher for
this reason illustrating that CLT classes have moved from teacher-centeredness
to learner-centeredness. In different words, much more time issued by using the
learner that the role of the teacher is just to facilitate the learning
process. for that reason, the learner should exercise and communicate enough in
the CLT class to attain communicative competence[14].
2. Disadvantages
of Communicative Language Teaching
There have been various disadvantages of Communicative Language Teaching.
a) The method offers priority to meanings and regulations of use
rather than to grammar and rules of structure. In different words, it is felt
that there is not enough emphasis on the correction of pronunciation and
grammar error. it is because too much attention on meaning at the expense of
form. it's far believed that with CLT there is a danger of focusing too much on
oral skills and less emphasis is given to reading and writing abilities[15].
b) The CLT approach focuses on fluency but not accuracy in grammar and
pronunciation[16].
c) The CLT approach is great for intermediate student and advanced
students, but for beginners some controlled practice is needed Students with
low levels of proficiency in the target language may find it difficult to
participate in oral communicative activities and, if the exams used by any
institution are grammar based, communicative fluency may not be appropriate[17].
d) The monitoring ability of the teacher must be very good. despite
teachers’ best efforts, classroom activities are not truly real-life and it can
be difficult to breed honestly authentic language use and to facilitate real
interaction. furthermore, a chief principle underlying this method is its
emphasis on learners' needs and interests. this implies that much more effort
is predicted that each teacher should modify the syllabus to correspond with
the needs of the learners[18].
e) CLT is sometimes tough to be implemented in an EFL classroom due to
the lack of sources and equipments like authentic materials and native speaker
teachers as well as large size of the classes. in addition, suitable classrooms
aren't available that can permit for group paintings activities and for
teaching aids and materials[19].
Often, there is not text, grammar rules are not presented, and
classroom arrangement is nonstandard. Students are expected to interact
primarily with each other rather than with the teacher, and correction of
errors may be absent or infrequent. Student with low levels of proficiency in
the target language may find it difficult to praticipate in oral communicative
activities and, if the exams used by an institution are grammr based,
communicative fluency may not be appropriate.
CONCLUSION
Communicative Language
Teaching best regarded as an approach rather than a method. So although a
reasonable level of consistency can theoretically be seen at the level of
language and learning theory, at the level of design and procedures there is a
larger space for individual interpretation and variation than most methods
permit. It could be one of the versions of the various proposals for a model
syllabus, kind of sports, and classroom activities can gain a wider agreement
in the future, giving Communicative Language Teaching equal status with other
teaching methods. On the other hand, a different interpretation might cause
homogeneous subgroups.
Communicative Language
Teaching arise when teaching English is ready for a paradigm shift. Situational
Language Teaching no longer felt appropriate methodology to reflect the
seventies and beyond. CLT appealed to those looking for a more humanistic
approach to teaching, where the interactive process of communication is received
priority. Adoption and implementation of the communicative approach quickly
also results from the fact that it quickly assumed the status of orthodoxy in
the teaching of English, received the sanction and support of leading British
applied linguist, linguists, publishers, and agencies, such as the British
Council (Richards 1985) ,
REFFERENCES
Ankitaben a. Desai. July:2015.
Characteristics and Principles of
Communicative Language Teaching.International Journal of Research in
Humanities & Soc. Sciences .Ganpat University, Kherva. Vol. 3, Issue: 7,
Bambang Setiyadi, 2006. Teaching English as a Foreign Language, Yogyakarta:
Graha Ilmu,
Hongkham Vongxay. 2013. The Implementation of
Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) In an English Department in a Lao Higher
Educational Institution: A Case Study. New Zealand: United Institution of Technology.
Jack C.Richards. 2006. Communicative Language
Teaching Today. Cambridge University Press
Oxfords Advanced Learner’s Dictionary
Simhachalam
Thamarana. 2015.
A Critical
Overview of Communicative Language Teaching. International
Journal of English Language, Literature and Humanities. Andhra
University. Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh India.
Siti Martini Mustaphaa , Ros Aizan Yahayab. Communicative
Language Teaching (CLT) in Malaysian context: its’ implementation in selected
community colleges.
Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 90 ( 2013 ) 788 – 794,
Faculty of Education, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Shah Alam, 40200 Selangor,
Malaysia
Sri Gustiani, The Communicative Language
Teaching: Review On Own Experience In ELT At English Department, Sriwijaya State Polytechnic, Palembang
[1] Kaisheng in Sri Gustiani, The Communicative Language Teaching: Review
On Own Experience In ELT At English Department, Sriwijaya State Polytechnic,
Palembang
[2] Parrish.2004
in Siti Martini
Mustaphaa , Ros Aizan Yahayab.
Communicative
Language Teaching (CLT) in Malaysian context: its’ implementation in selected
community colleges. Procedia - Social and Behavioral
Sciences 90 ( 2013 ) 788 – 794,
Faculty of Education, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Shah Alam, 40200 Selangor,
Malaysia.p.790
[3] Larsen-Freeman, 2000; Richards and Rodgers, 2001in Hongkham Vongxay, the implementation of
Communicative Language Teaching (clt) in an English Department in a Lao higher
educational Institution: a case study. Unitec Institution Of Technology, New Zealand.2013.p2
[5]
Jack C.Richards. Communicative
Language Teaching Today. Cambridge University Press 2006.
[8]Richard&Rodgers 1986:66 in
Ankitaben a. Desai. Characteristics and Principles of
Communicative Language Teaching.International Journal of Research in Humanities & Soc. Sciences .Ganpat
University, Kherva. Vol. 3, Issue: 7, July: 2015 p 50
[12]Simhachalam Thamarana. A Critical Overview of Communicative Language Teaching. International Journal of English Language ,
Literature and Humanities. Andhra University
Visakhapatnam, Andhra
Pradesh India. Jully 2015.p 96
[13]
Ibid
[15] Ibid
[16] Ibid
[17] Ibid
[18] Ibid
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