2.2.

2 Lecture: Implementing
Communicative Language
Teaching (CLT) and Task-Based
Language Teaching (TBL)
Communicative Language Teaching
Communicative language teaching (CLT) is an approach to language teaching where
meaningful interaction is the goal, and also the means of instruction. Learners engage
in interactive language practice and use English in authentic ways in their classroom
to help them acquire language skills. In this approach teachers give attention to
meaning and comprehension, and support learners' independent use of English by
engaging them in interactive activities to help them develop communicative
competence.

Communicative Classroom Activities

In order to for learners to develop communicative competence in the language
classroom, they must engage in meaningful language production, negotiation and
problem solving, and information gathering activities. There are several activities
that are typically used in communicative language classrooms. You will learn about
these in more detail in the upcoming modules.
Interviews
Learners may interview each other using the topics and structures of the target
language that are used in the lesson. For example, they may work in pairs or move
from student to student, and ask each other questions about what they like to do, or
what they did for a vacation or break, a time they were sick or hurt, etc. Teachers
should carefully plan the interview themes or questions to support students to use
language structures that they are currently learning.
Role Plays
In role plays, each student has a role or character (i.e. student A is a doctor, and
student B is the patient) and there is usually a situation or a goal (i.e. student B has an
injury and needs treatment.) Role plays can be open-ended for students who can
produce the target language at a higher proficiency level, or they may be supported.
Some supports would be to give students sentence starters or word lists to help
them.
Information Gap Activities
An information gap activity is done in pairs. Person A has some information that
Person B needs, and Person B has some information that Person A needs in order to
complete a task. They must talk to each other to get the missing information. For
learners who need more language support, the teacher can provide some sentence
starters that model the questions and statements needed to get the information.

Cooperative Learning Structures

Pairs
Learners may work together in pairs (teams of two) to interview each other, to solve
a problem or information gap activity, to practice dialogs and role plays, and to clarify
the meaning of words or phrases before sharing them in a larger group.
Small groups
Learners can work in small teams of 3 or more complete a communicative activity or
task. Learners may divide the work, and may each have a specific role, i.e. one is the
timekeeper, one is the recorder (writer) of group ideas, one is the reporter who
present the group results to the whole class, and so on.
Fluency Circles (Inside/Outside Circles)
Fluency circles provide multiple opportunities for students to speak with partners,
while getting them out of their seats. This structures maximizes the number of
students who are using English at one time, because they are all practicing with a
partner at the same time.Learners form a circle. They count off by two (one, two, one,
two, etc.). Students with the number 1 take a big step toward the center, then turn
around to face a student who is a number 2. The insider circle of students with the
number 1 partner with a person with number 2 in the outside circle (if there is an odd
number of students the teacher can be a 2). The teacher will then give students a
prompt and they will talk to each other in the target language. After each discussion,
1's or 2's might take one or two steps to the right to face a new partner, to practice a
new conversation.

For example, the teacher might say, "1's, ask your partner about their favorite
hobbies," or "2's, tell your partner what you did for summer break." Learners can
keep moving from partner to partner in the circles to have more opportunities to
practice. Conversations might be as simple as practicing introductions, "Hi, my name
is..." or more complex, such as "Talk with your partner to find three ways to improve
your community."
Jigsaw Activities
In jigsaw activities, students are grouped in home groups and expert groups. A home
group is made up of a team of 3-4 students who together must complete an activity
or task. This is one way to divide up a larger text, or bigger task into smaller chunks.
In the home groups, students will decide who will do which task and clarify each
person's role. Learners then move to expert groups, where they will complete their
task with others who have the same role. They support each other. When they have
finished their activity or goal, they return to their home groups and share their
learning.

For example, students are studying vacation destinations in the U.S. In their home
groups (Group A, B, and C) are told that they will have to learn about 3 U.S. vacation
destinations. In each home group there is student 1, student 2, and student 3. 1's will
learn about Ocean City, a famous family beach, 2's will learn about Yosemite national
park, and 3's will learn about New York City. All the 1's go the Ocean City expert
group where they will help each other understand and practice talking about the
information, 2's and 3's go to their expert groups too. When they are finished, they
come back and share their destination with their home group in a short presentation.
 “Jigsaw” by Heidi Faust for University of the Maryland Baltimore County is licensed under CC BY 4.0 (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.for use in the AE E-Teacher Program, sponsored by the U.S. Department of State.

Implementing Communicative Language Teaching

Activities
Below are some ideas for managing challenges that might occur when implementing
communicative activities related to language, participation and classroom
management.
Teacher Modeling
In order for learners to clearly understand what they must do during a
communicative activity, it is important to model or to show the students an example
of how to do the activity. Teachers may ask a student to be their partner, and
practice a role play, or answer the first question in an information gap activity. If the
teacher provides sentence starters, they might model for students how to use them.
For students who are used to receiving instruction directly from the teacher,
students may need time and practice to become comfortable
Sentence starters
Sentence starters, also known as sentence frames, support learners in producing new
language structures by providing the first few words or a phrase. For example, if
students are working on an information gap related to finding locations on a map (i.e.
restaurants, post office, market, gas station) the sentence starters might be, "Where
can I...?" (eat dinner, wash my clothes, buy bread). The sentence starters for the
response might be, "At the_____(restaurant, laundromat, bakery) on, ______ street."
Some helpful phrases for giving directions could include across from, next to, on the
corner of...
Management tips
Because communicative activities are interactive, and students move around, it can
be challenging to get and keep students' attention. Also, with all students talking and
practicing English at the same time, it can get noisy. This noise is a normal part of
communicative language teaching, but there are some ways to manage these
challenges.
Attention getters: You may choose to use a signal to get students to be quiet and pay
attention quickly, when they are all talking. For example, clap your hands three times,
teach your students to stop talking and clap three times back when they hear this
cue.
Volume cues: Tell students to use a voice loud enough for their partner to hear, but
not everyone else. You might call this an "inside voice" or a "buddy voice" to indicate
that it is a quieter voice for interactive activities.
Routines: Have students practice the fluency circle, pair and group work so that they
become routines. Keep the norms for these activities the same each time.

Task- Based Language Teaching (TBLT)

Task-based language learning is also known as task-based instruction (TBI). The goal
is for students to use authentic language to complete a meaningful task. Tasks might
include retrieving or giving information, solving a problem or sharing ideas or
feelings. Tasks might also take the form of on-going projects (project-based learning).
Tasks require students to identify and use the necessary target language, to work
together in small groups or teams, and to use the target language (English) to develop
an end-product. The end product may be designed for a specific audience. For
example, learners may plan to share their products with peers in their class, however,
more advanced tasks may be geared for a broader audience, such as tourists,
community members, etc.
For example, one teacher asked her High School English students to write a short
story with pictures for children who were beginning to learn English. The students
then visited a primary school and read the stories they made with the children.

Sample Tasks
Collect and organize information/data on a topic or to answer a question:

 What makes a good friend, neighbor, teacher, etc.? (Interview peers and
summarize the results.)

Create a resource:

 Design a travel brochure or presentation about your community to share with

English learners in other communities. (Research and describe its characteristics,
and/or convince others to go there.)
 Make biographies or profiles of students in your class or people in the community
(Interview people and create a poster to introduce them. Present these and/or
display them in the school lobby or classroom to introduce them to others.)

Solve a problem:

 Should cell phones be allowed in class? Write a cell-phone rule or policy for your
class. Brainstorm and/or research a policy, (how and when phones may or may
not be used in class), with a rationale (tell why), and consequences (what
happens) if people don't follow the policy or agreement.

Ranking items:

 Student may be given a list of topics/or items to rank. They must negotiate and
use evidence for why they rank the items the way they did.
 For example, one teacher is teaching a unit on health and medicine. Students
identify characteristics of traditional medicine, modern medicine, and a
combination of the two. Students must rank their preference and give reasons
why individually. Then they will work with a group to try to reach consensus.
They must provide reason for their ranking.
 Other topics students might rank cooperatively include favorite foods, music,
pets, vacation destinations, etc. They might rank solutions to a problem from
most to least effective or desirable. This will help them use higher order thinking
skills in English and more complex grammar structures in English.
Facilitating Task-Based Learning
Teachers should support learners in all stages of the task: Before, During and After
(Willis, 2016).
Before (Pre-Task )
Teachers review the language needed to complete the task. For support they may
provide a graphic organizer or some sentence frames to support student speaking or
writing. Before students begin a task, the teacher should provide clear directions,
and model what they want students to do. They may provide an example, and also
some guidelines for how teams should work together, and guidelines for what the
end result or product will be.
During (Task Cycle)
During the task, the teacher should observe and support the groups if they need
assistance. The teacher acts as a facilitator that helps groups stay on task, find
resources, resolve challenges in group work or language needs as needed. During the
task cycle, students complete the task, prepare to share their results, and
share/present the task in small groups.
After (Analysis)
After students complete the task in their small groups, they should share or present
their work. The teacher will facilitate this process and support students in sharing
the results of their work. The presentations and final products can be evaluated using
a rubric. Following the presentations, the teacher analyzes the students' success in
completing the task, as well as their language practice and production. This can be
used to assess students, evaluate the effectiveness of the task, and to plan future
instruction.

References (Copyrighted)
This content is copyrighted, and cannot be adapted in any way, or distributed after the end of this
course. It is not Public Domain or Creative Commons-licensed, and therefore not for public use.
Please do not save a copy for your personal use, and do not use it after the course ends.

Hobbs, J. (2011). Practical steps towards task-based

teaching. http://jaltpublications.org/proceedings/articles/1118practical-steps-
towards-task-based-teaching (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.
Richards, J.C. (2006). Communicative Language Teaching Today. NY: Cambridge
University Press.
Savignon, Sandra J. “Communicative Language Teaching: State of the Art.” TESOL
Quarterly , vol 25, no. 2, 1991, pp. 261- 277.
Willis, J. (2016). A flexible framework for task-based learning. Retrieved March 9
from:https://s3.amazonaws.com/academia.edu.documents/50948055/PDF_A_flexib
le_framework_for_Task-
based_Learning__Jane_Willis.pdf?AWSAccessKeyId=AKIAIWOWYYGZ2Y53UL3A&
Expires=1521667403&Signature=WGcztd6vRCR4SOFV%2B27SlAdpPvw%3D&res
ponse-content-
disposition=inline%3B%20filename%3DA_flexible_framework_for_task-
based_lear.pdf (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.
Willis, J. (n.d.) "Free task based learning lesson plan downloads." Willis-ELT.
[Website.] Retrieved from: http://www.willis-elt.co.uk/ (Links to an external
site.)Links to an external site.

2.2.3 Lecture: Brown's Principles

English Language Teaching in the Post-Method
Era
Approaches Replace Methods
In the past, teachers used different methods to teach their students (see previous
lecture). Now teachers use different approaches that are based on their own
judgement or experience. Here are some principles that Brown identifies.

Brown’s Teaching Principles

Cognitive principles focus on the way we think. Some of the things we need
to consider are

 meaningful learning - students learn new information better if it is related to

previous knowledge
 anticipation of reward - students are better motivated if is there is a reward
(good grade, teacher compliment, etc.)
 intrinsic motivation - students also need to be motivated from inside and not just
outside (reward)

Affective principles focus on our emotions. Some of these emotions are our

 language ego - the new language can create some confusion in some learners
 self- confidence - students need to be confident with the new language
 language-culture connection - students need to understand cross-cultural
differences

Linguistic principles focus on the language. Some of these ideas include

 native language effect - students’ native language can help students learn the
new language better, but it can also slow down the learning process
 communicative competence - students need to be able to use the language to
communicate with other people

Brown’s Advice for Language Teaching

Based on these principles, here are some things every teacher needs to consider
before starting to teach a new group of students.
Diagnosis - What are the characteristics and needs of the teaching context?

 Country of the learning institution

 Socioeconomic and educational background of the learners
 Purpose for learning English (social, political, institutional)
 Motivation for learning English

Treatment - What learning techniques will help students meet their language goals?

 controlled practice - drills

 semi controlled practice - information gap activities
 free practice - role plays, interviews
 group work - whole group, small group, pair work

Assessment - How will we know what students know and can do? What evidence and
assessments will tell us this?

 performance-based assessment - measure students' ability to apply the skills and

knowledge learned from a unit
 formative assessments - obtain a picture of learning that allows for pedagogical
changes mid-course
 summative assessment - evaluate student learning at the end of an instructional
unit

For a more detailed handout on Brown's Principles please click here.

Reference:
This content is copyrighted, and cannot be adapted in any way, or distributed after the end of this course. It is not Public Domain or Creative Commons-licensed, and therefore not for public use. Please do
not save a copy for your personal use, and do not use it after the course ends.

Brown, H. D. (2002). English language teaching in the “post-methods” era: Toward better diagnosis,
treatment, and assessment. In J.C. Richards & W. A. Renanyda (Eds.), Methods in Language Teaching.
(pp. 9-18). New York, NY: Cambridge.