When we think about the Communicative Approach the first thing that comes to our minds is PPP. The only problem about PPP is that CBs and us teachers never get to the 3rd P. Anyway, we'll talk about that later, what is important right now is to take a brief look at the different ways of presenting language (the 1st P).
- Demonstration: flashcards, use of realia, "say it yourself" etc.
- Personalisation: make it personal, tell a story about yourself.
- Situation: set a context, develop a story, justify the use of language, get Ss to want to say it.
- Examples: provide a model, move from theory to practice / real life, present/induce language skipping the theory.
- Explanation: talk about the language, use of charts.
- Text: guided discovery.
Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) came after all the criticism regarding the "structura" approach (repetition + role learning). Ss knew about the language but were not able to produce it!
New approaches based on linguistic structures (how), situational settings (when), and communicative acts (purpose) ended up generating communicative teaching and therefore, new communicative approaches were also developed.
The Communicative Approaches took into consideration not only what the language was , but also where, when, and why it was being used.
The Communicative Approaches:
- The "Deep-End" model (Johnson & Byrne).
1. immediate production;
2. see problems then provide presentation or practice.
- The "Task-Based" approach (Prabhu) - remember TBL?
1. non-linguistic problems or tasks;
2. Pre-task (Ss introduced to topic);
3. Language focus (revisit the task analysing language) - learn from mistakes!
4. Revisit the initial task;
2, 3, and 4 make the "Task Cycle";
- The "OHE" or "III" model (Lewis & McCarthy)
1. Lewis and McCarthy's view on PPP;
2. Observe, Hypothesize, Experiment;
3. Ss get an "Illustration" followed by "Interaction" with the lgg, which will hopefully lead to an "Induction";
- The "ESA" model (Harmer)
1. Harmer's view on PPP;
2. "Engage": focus emotionally on the lgg Ss are supposed to learn;
3. "Study": analysis of the lgg;
4. "Activate": Ss being encouraged to use the lgg;
- The "ARC" model (Scrivener)
1. His view that PPP can be combined in different orders;
2. "Authentic Use" - Production!
3. "Restricted Use" - Practice!
4. "Clarification" - Presentation!
5. Descriptive rather than prespictive;
- The Lexical Approach (Lewis) - Yes, he's got no life!
1. Here the focus shifts from syntax and structure towards Lexis and lexical phrases and how they are used to construct meaning;
2. No full methodologies yet to support an entire course under this approach;
