Article # 4

     Communicative Competence:  A pedagogically motivated model with content specifications
                                                        Celce-Murcia, Dornyei, Thurrell

            The article states that competence has been some what better defined recently but the need to actually know what it is exactly will benefit teachers and writers.

            The views towards competence has changed from being seen as competence then communicative competence (grammatical and sociolinguistic) to competence but seen as (grammatical, sociolinguistic and discourse).  In the article according to Canale;

            1.  Grammatical competence is knowledge of language code that involves from pronunciation, grammar rules, vocabulary, spelling and more.

            2.  Sociolinguistic competence is mastery of the sociocultural code of language use, the correct use of vocabulary and the style used in a situation.

            3.  Discourse competence is being able to combine language structures into different types of cohesive texts like the use of speeches and poems.

            4.  Strategic competence is knowledge of verbal or nonverbal communication where the speaker is able to deal with a breakdown in a conversation in order to communicate.

            Some believe that behavioral objectives lead to problems and others like them because it helps define the use of communicative language.

            The authors of the article have a model in the area of sociolinguistic which makes it more specific and questions how they relate to one another.

            -Linguistic competence = not just grammar

            -Strategic competence= correct use

            -Sociocultural competence= correct usage

            -Actional competence= doing and receiving

            -Discourse competence= involves all of the above

            There are some suggested components of Discourse competence;

            1.  Cohesion= rules

            2.  Deixis = use of words

            3.  Coherence = makes sense time, order

            4.  Genre/Genric Structure = how to speak

            5.  Conversational Structure = a give and take of speaking

            What the C-MDT model shows is that from;

            -Grammatical to Linguistic

            -Strategic stays the same

            -Sociolinguistic to Sociocultural and Actional

            -Discourse with their suggested components

            I think that the C-MDT model gives us educators a better view or in take on what exactly to work with in order to achieve communication effectively and accurately.

Oral Approach and Situational Language Teaching

      

            Oral approach and Situational language teaching developed by British applied linguists in the 1930s.  The focus of this approach was mainly on vocabulary and grammar control then in the sixties there was emphasis on introducing and practicing new language points situationally, it was then the term situational; because of American structuralists such as Fries but with the notion of the British applied linguists such as Firth and Halliday, that structures must be presented in situations in which they could be used, gave its distinctiveness to Situational language teaching referring to the Oral approach.  Halliday stated “when we acquire our primary language, we do so by learning how to behave in situations, not by learning rules about what to say”. 

            The Situational language teaching is a term not commonly used today but has survived according to A. FKI-Aouam in his article, so far by completing later approaches and methodologies such as Audio-Lingual Method, Communicative Language Teaching, Total Physical Response, The Silent Way, Community Language Learning, The Natural Approach, Suggesstopedia, etc.

            The theory of learning underlying Situational Language Teaching is behaviorism, addressing more the processes than the conditions of learning according to Majid Al-Humaidi in his article.  And it includes the following principles;

            1.  Language learning is habit formation.

            2.  Mistakes are bad and should be avoided, as they make bad habits.

            3.  Language skills are learned more effectively if they are presented orally first, then in written form.

            4.  Analogy is a better foundation for language learning than analysis.

            5.  The meanings of words can be learned only in a linguistic and cultural context.

            In his article Majid Al-Humaidi also mentions the objectives of Situational Language Teaching;

            1.  A practical command of the four basic skills of language, through structure.

            2.  Accuracy in both pronunciation and grammar.

            3.  Ability to respond quickly and accurately in speech situations.

            4.  Automatic control of basic structures and sentence patterns.

            And the procedures are;

            1.  Procedures move from controlled to freer practice of structures.

            2.  Procedures move from oral use of sentence patterns to their automatic use in speech, reading and writing.

            Majid Al-Humaidi also points out in his article some disadvantages to this approach in his country;

            1.  Focus is primarily given to speech which was regarded the basis and structure viewed as the heart of speaking ability, which led to disregard of other abilities such as writing.

            2.  It’s time consuming, because insisting on giving the meaning of words and structures with drama, demo and association without using the 1st language led to using other techniques and wasting time.

            3.  The learner is expected to understand the meaning of a structure or vocabulary from the situation given in class which might lead to confusion or misunderstanding.

            4.  The learner is expected to use the language learned in the classroom outside the classroom, but would be hard to do in countries where the language learned is not used frequently.

            5.  Errors are not permitted; this could cause stress which may affect the learning process.

            6.  Accuracy in both pronunciation and grammar are regarded as crucial.

            7.  There is no mention to communicative ability and appropriacy in this method.

            And A. FKI-Aouam in his article states “since the purpose of teaching a foreign language is to enable the learners to use it, then it must be heard, spoken, read and written in suitable realistic situations.  Neither translation nor mechanical drills can help if they are not connected to practical life.”

           

Article # 2

The Whats, Whys, Hows and Whos of Content-Based Instruction

                                                    in Second/Foreign Language Education

By:  MARÍA DUEÑAS

                                                                  University of Murcia

            The article is basically an overall view of Content-Based Instruction or CBI as the author uses in her article.  The author provides what is CBI, why the use of CBI, how to use CBI and who are the authors and researchers behind CBI.

            What is CBI?   According to what I understood from the article CBI is integrating language and content which purposes are linguistic and subject matter learning at the same time.  The article states four whats

            1.  Subject matter core- organization of curriculum should be from the subject matter rather than from  functions or situations.

            2.  Use of authentic texts- should be primarily from those produced for native speakers of the language.

            3.  Learning of new information- should use the 2nd language to learn new things.

            4.  Appropriate to the specific needs of the student- topics, content, materials and learning activities should correspond to the cognitive and affective needs and proficiency level of the student.

            Why the use of CBI?  In the article, someone by the name “Dupuy” stated,  “when the conditions mirror those present in first language acquisition the instruction is on meaning rather that on form.”  The article also states seven whys according to Grabe and Stroller.

            1.  The student is exposed to considerable amount of language while learning content, where they are able to recall prior knowledge and to their needs and the activities are not meaningless.

            2.  The student is taught useful language embedded within the contexts rather than as isolated     fragments.

            3.  The use of coherent context allows the student to recall prior knowledge in order to learn additional language and material.

            4.  The student is exposed to complex information and is involved in demanding activities which can  lead to intrinsic motivation.

            5.  Uses a variety of strategies that can recycle information and learning tasks.

            6.  Allows greater flexibility and adaptability.

            7.  Student-Centered classroom activities.

            How to use CBI?  The author explains four types of approaches with CBI and I will explain in my own words each approach.

            1.  Immersion Education- everything is taught in the 2nd language they only time first language is used it for that course or class only; ex:  Spanish in Spanish class only and English in every other subject or class.

            2.  Sheltered Courses- when the students with limited 2nd language are enrolled in  a course apart  from the native speakers and taught the content but with emphasis on the second language such as reading, writing and listening/speaking, used  normally in high school or university level.

            3.  Adjunct Courses- a class where 2nd language learners learn what is needed in the primary subject class in order to pass it, synchronization is what the article said between two courses in order to help the 2nd language learner also used in high school and university level.

            4.  Theme-Based Models- where the topics of the course vary but all have one main theme in common and helps 2nd language learners with motivation and relate to their needs, also used in high school and university level but mentioned that it could be used in all levels.

            The Who’s in CBI?  The author mentions various authors and researchers in the field of CBI from as far back as the late 1980s until now, and from all over the world but primarily from Canada and United States.

            The author states that CBI is a new orientation within CLT (Communicative Language Teaching) and that the teacher that wants to use CBI has to motivate him/herself in order to motivate the 2nd language learner.

            I like CBI but it would be hard to work with when you as a teacher do not have the support of the parents and of other teachers, always with the same excuse I do not know English, how am I going to help him/her (student) to study.  We all need to sit and talk in order to be on the same page, the student’s future, long term not short term.

Article # 1

“Communicative Competence and Communicative Language Teaching”

 

            In this article the author Atsako Ohno basically explains the theories of others in the field of communication.  Competence in how the language is used, when it is used and the different forms depending on the person or place.  I will try to explain with an example the theory of communicative competence according to Hymes from what the article states.  Riding a bike, if you do not know how to ride a bike you will find information and understand the rules and what is needed before riding, then you go and ride the bike but if you are in your neighborhood you will probably ride without a helmet or any type of protection, meanwhile if you are going to ride in the street, you will use the helmet and the protection needed, you will know the correct use of the bike according to location. 

            On communicative language teaching, what I understood was that according to Widdowson you can explain the rules but if you do not show them in use, what is the point.  A student needs to see the rules in function.  According to Canale and Swain there are three points in language; the grammatical, sociolinguistic and the strategic.  Where you know the rules, you use them and you defend yourself with verbal or non-verbal expression to get by.  Then according to Stern, his language curriculum, I believe is what we use in the classroom to teach our students, structural, functional and sociocultural.  Finally according to Rivers, she believes in “skill-getting” and “skill-using” where the student  repeats or copies the teacher in “skill-getting” in “skill-using” the student most some how communicate using what ever is available like gestures or visual aids if she/he do not know the correct words to use.

            The author believes that both communicative competence and language teaching still needs to be studied further, but the information that we now have helps teachers as well as the students improve on their target; learning a new language.

Journal # 1

Journal # 1

A.  The difference between use and usage, I will explain with this example the use of a broom is to clean floors to sweep, but my mom has many usages for her broom, one is she scrubs the bathroom walls.  In other words use is the actually purpose and usage is what we make of it.

B.  The difference between fluency and accuracy, is wiggle room, with fluency a person can speak a second language make mistakes and keeps talking like nothing happened but with accuracy the person most speak the second language without any mistakes.

C.  The difference between a functional syllabus and a structural one, is the practical use of it, a functional syllabus is more hands on, while a structural syllabus is a step by step use and one has to complete a step to get to the next.

Article # 3

Article # 3

            The article “Benefits and Strategies of Communicative Language Learning” was helpful, easy to follow and understand.  The article provided information on three strategies to communicate language learning, the first was Private Dialog, where the student will talk amongst themselves to get a feel of the second language.  The second was An Immersion Environment, where the second language is used with no help from the mother tongue and the third was the Aid of Retention by Instructional Songs, where the student listens to music to help remember or relate information, all in the second language.

            I think that all of these strategies are useful, if you are consistent with their use.  I also found that the information seemed related to some of the methods and approaches we use like Suggestopedia (the use of music) and the Direct Method (the use of second language only).  If we find interesting ways to teach a second language way not use it, especially if it has be proven to work with other languages.