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1、Communicative Language Teaching in Middle School in China: Problems and SolutionsSUN Li-pingAbstract: Communicative language teaching (CLT) is an innovation in English language teaching. It has been introduced into China for middle school English teaching nearly a decade. But when the CLT was being
2、employed in a teaching situation in China, the effectiveness of communicative language teaching is not as satisfactory as it had been expected. This paper investigates and analyzes some problems in the application of CLT in middle school in China. According to some basic CLT theories, I will briefly
3、 describe some solutions taken to overcome the problems and to ensure CLT should be continued. Key words: Communicative language teaching; problems; the theories of CLT; suggestionsI. IntroductionCommunicative language teaching is probably the main trend dominating in the language teaching professio
4、n today (Chen & Shu, 1999: 32). The origins of CLT can be traced to concurrent development in both Europe and North America. It was introduced into China in the early 1986s and has become popular. Communicative language teaching distinguishes from the traditional language teaching approach which foc
5、uses on grammar and sentence structure. CLT gives students more opportunities to communicate in English in class, hence improve students communicative competence. Even more, with Chinas recent entry into WTO, there is an even stronger enthusiasm for communicating with Foreigners. So it is very neces
6、sary to use CLT in middle school in China. But unfortunately, some phenomena indicate that the effect of CLT is not as satisfactory as people expected. There are some difficulties in applying CLT in middle school in China. This paper attempts to clarify certain issues from the perspective of applyin
7、g the CLT in middle school, analyze the factors which impede the effects. Then according to the theories of CLT, some suggestions are put forward, which are relevant to the application of CLT in middle school education.II. Discoveries and analysis of some problems in applying CLT in middle school in
8、 ChinaIn order to approach the problems of CLT in middle school in China, I quote some questions from Jack.C,Richard and Theodore.S,Rodgerss book: “Questions that have been raised include whether a communicative approach can be applied at all levels in a language program, whether it is equally suite
9、d to English as a second language (ESL) and English as a foreign language (EFL) situations, whether it requires existing grammar-based syllabuses to be abandoned or merely revised, how such an approach can be evaluated, how suitable it is for non-native teacher, and how it can be adopted in situatio
10、ns where students must continue to take grammar-based tests (Richards.J.C. & Rodgers.T.S, 2000: 83).” Following is the analysis of some problems in details.A. Larger class In china, there are a large number of students in the regular classroom. Ideally, language classes should have no more than a do
11、zen people or so: large enough to provide diversity and student interaction, but small enough to give students plenty of opportunity to participate and get individual attention. “Unfortunately, most language classes are significantly larger, about 30 to 50, or even 70 students in one class (Shu, 200
12、5: 247).” Why is the large class the biggest problem? Lets discuss some problems large classes present:1. Ability across students varies widely.2. Individual teacher-student attention is minimized.3. Student opportunities to speak are lessened.4. Teachers feedback on students written work is limited
13、.5. It is hard to keep classroom discipline.B. Lacking communicative motivationIn current China, a lot of students lack communicative motivation. In other words, teenagers are not very interested in learning English and they only do it because they have to. For example, most of them study English ju
14、st 1. Because English is a compulsory subject.2. In order to pass exams.3. Because they know that being able to use English can lead to a better future. So the learners are motivated by different purposes (Jiang, 2003: 17). Only a small number of students communicate for their own interests. Another
15、 phenomenon is that students only speak English in the classroom or for teachers demand. They do not speak English or use English out of class. They just speak native language. So the communicative competence is not improved. The language has not established functions inside the learners community.
16、This is another barrier to communicative language teaching.C. Teachers with a lack of English proficiencyThe Open-door policy, coupled with Chinas recent entrance into the World Trade Organization and the increasing demand from the work units, the requirements for talents with a high English profici
17、ency have become much higher. So the students are no longer satisfied with a teacher who can only translate the English text into Chinese, explain grammar in Chinese and speak Chinese for most of the class time. Instead, they like a teacher who is fluent in Spoken English, who knows the culture of t
18、he target language, who is able to arouse their interest in English, who focuses on the cultivation of the students communicative competence, and who knows students real needs and can thus adopt the appropriate teaching method. “Teachers are facing increased challenges. They should increase ability
19、to incorporate teaching theories into practice. Even though, in order to be more familiar with the culture of target language, they should have the chance to visit an English-speaking country (Jiang, 2006: 17).”D. National educational system and pressure for taking examinationIn China, the State Edu
20、cation Development Commission (SEDC) is the official authority that can make educational system. It is the representative of the central government and can determine the goal, curriculum, course books, and even teaching methods throughout the country. The highly centralized Chinese system of educati
21、on subverts the development of more effective methods of teaching English in a number of ways (Cambell & Zhao, 1993: 4-6). Individual teachers are not expected to make any changes. The new teachers must take the designated textbooks and follow the methods required by the syllabus. If not, they would
22、 not be regarded by their administrators as competent and committed teachers. Also, there is a discrepancy between CLT and the examinations taken in China. For example, the practical reason for Chinese middle school students to learn English is to pass the college entrance examination so that they a
23、re able to study at the University for whatever other educational or vocational goals they may have. It is the primary duty of the Chinese middle school teacher to help his students pass this examination. Due to the test-oriented education, very little emphasis is really placed on communicative Engl
24、ish skills (Xu, 2005: 75). Although the listening has been tested during the past ten years, there are still no measures for oral testing in middle school. However, there is no doubt that oral English plays the most important role in the communication.III. The theories of CLTTo solve the problems me
25、ntioned above, we need to have a better understanding of CLT so as to implement it efficiently.A. Development of CLTCommunicative language teaching is a teaching norm generally accepted nowadays. Many of the other teaching methods discussed emphasize the acquisition of vocabulary and grammar, while
26、CLT advocates focus on the use of the language and the “real-life” communication. They attach importance not only to accuracy but also fluency. CLT centers on notions, functions and communicative activities, such as talking about likes and dislikes, dining out, and expressing ones attitude. Moreover
27、, we carry out these functions within a social context. In talking about CLT, one can not avoid talking about “communicative competence”, a term coined by Hymes view. “Communicative competence” refers to the ability not only to apply the grammatical rules of a language in order to form grammatically
28、 correct sentences but also to know when and where to use these sentences and to whom. “Hymes emphases on the importance of context in determining appropriate patterns of behavior. Chomskey claimed that every normal human being was born with a language acquisition device (LAD). The LAD is a sort of
29、mechanism or device which contains the capacity to acquire ones first language. The LAD includes basic knowledge about the nature and structure of human language. That is why children develop competence in their first language in a relatively short time (Shu & Chen, 1999: 180).” Another linguistic t
30、heory of communication favored in CLT is Hallidays functional account of language use. Halliday described seven basic functions that language performs for children learning their first language: Language can be used to get things; to control the behavior of others; to create interaction with others;
31、 to express personal feelings; to learn and to discover; to create a world of the imagination and to communicate information. This powerful theory of the functions of language complements Hymess view of communicative competence for many other writers on CLT. Another source of a communicative view of
32、 language can be found in Henry Widdowson, who presented a view of the relationship between linguistic system and their communicative values in text and discourse. He focused on the communicative acts underlying the ability to use language for different purposes. B. The characteristics of CLT1. The
33、goal of CLT is to make the students improve their communicative competence. Communicative competence involves being able to use the language appropriately to a given social context. Students need to know some knowledge of the linguistic forms, meanings, and functions, and different forms can be used
34、 to perform a function and also that a single form can often serve a variety of functions.2. The role of the teacher is a facilitator (including a manager, advisor, and co-communicator) for the students learning. The students are, above all, communicators. They are seen as more responsible managers
35、of their own learning.3. The most obvious characteristic of teaching or learning process is that almost everything is done with a communicative intent. Activities (such as games, role-plays and problems-solving tasks) have three features: information gap, choice (a choice of what he will say and how
36、 he will say it), and feedback (evaluation). Another characteristic of the CLT is the use of authentic materials. Finally, the activities are often carried out by students in small groups.4. Language functions are emphasized on forms. Typically, a functional syllabus is used (C. Liu & S. Liu & Lin,
37、2004: 10).C. Principles of CLT According to the characteristics of CLT, we should comply with some principles in applying it.1. All the activities should be designed for communications;2. Try ones best to focus on the process of communications; 3. Students language errors should be accepted;4. CLT d
38、oes not only stress on oral English;5 CLT also needs grammar;6 Teacher should let the students know the culture of target language, social, life and so on. Some suggestions when applying CLTBased on the understanding of CLT and realization of some problems, I would like to recommend some suggestions
39、 for ways of solving the problems in order to apply CLT better in middle school. A. Integrating the four skills in CLTWhen we communicate, we often use more than a single language skill. On telephone, for instance, we listen and speak; maybe we also write down a message and read over what we have wr
40、itten. So it is very important to integrate the four language skills in our teaching. How can we do it? I would use a listening text as a model for the students speaking, and a reading text as a model for the students writing. This is common practice among teachers, and we will call it simple integr
41、ation. But we must know that integration of the four skills is concerned with realistic communication. This means that we are teaching at the discourse level, not just at the level of sentences or individual word and phrase. “Discourse is a whole unit of communicative text, either spoken or written.
42、 As we know that the focus on realistic language in use can help students to develop communicative competence. Learning English can be more motivating, because the students are using the language for a real purpose, instead of only practicing the grammar. Integration requires skillful teaching, but
43、it can bring worthwhile results (Wang & Cheng, 2000: 156).”B. Roles of teacher in a CLT classroomHowever, CLT is student-centered, which does not mean the roles of a teacher can be absolutely ignored. In a communicative classroom, a teacher is a facilitator of the students learning. She has many rol
44、es to fulfill. She is a manager of classroom activities. In this role, one of her major responsibilities is to establish situations likely to promote communication. During this time she acts as an advisor, answering students questions and monitoring their performance. At other times she might be a “
45、co-communicator-engaging” in the communicative activity along with the students. Therefore, the teachers level of proficiency in the target language is very important. The teacher will also work with very different kinds of teaching materials if he is to encourage learners to communicate in order to
46、 develop their own language learning-rather than to learn language in order to communicate. In other words, the teacher will teach a “living language” through the textbook instead of teaching the textbook. The teacher also should possess a very high level of language competence, because he/she is th
47、e main source of input, at least in the beginning stage and, especially, in the foreign language context. Accordingly, since the way communication develops is very difficult to predict in CLT, the teacher has to always prepare for any linguistic emergency. In a communicative approach classroom, less
48、ons tend to be less predictable, the teacher has to be ready to listen to what the learners say and not just how they say it, and to interact with them as “natural” as possible; she has to use a wider range of management skills than that of in the traditional teacher-dominated classroom.C. Better cl
49、assroom organizationPeople often regard the classroom as an artificial environment for students to learn and use a foreign language. This is of course the case if we judge what is “real” according to the situations that exist in real-life. However, the classroom is also a real social environment with its own characteristics and social relationships. It is where students interact with teachers as well as their peers using either the target language or the native l
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