The communicative approach to teaching speaking pupils at the intermediate level of high school

6.5. Mediations/interventions are workouts, which enable learners to experience bridging information gaps while using the target language. For example, interacting with another or others based on incomplete information; interacting with others to change their opinions; talking one's way out of difficult situation.

6.6. Group Dynamics and Experiential Tasks are group activities which create opportunity for sharing personal feelings and emotions among learners. For example, small groups or pairs solve problems or discuss issues, which center on topics of personal concern, sharing of self and feelings rather than general subject matter topics external to self.

6.7. Problem-Solving Tasks involve learners in making decisions about issues while using the target language, enabling them to focus on the features of the activity rather than on language usage. In this type of activity, learners are involved in a “whole-task” process. For example, small group discussions around topical, political or local issues; posing a concrete problem about which the group must come to a consensus, make recommendations, and arrive a policy statement.

6.8. While similarly “whole-task” focused, workouts which involve transferring and reconstruction information emphasize cognitive uses of language. For example, following a language stimulus, often a regarding passage: transferring information from text to a graphic display such as a chart; filling in forms; providing language to complete visual display such as a cartoon or photograph; making judgement about people's motivates and intentions; putting sentence elements in sequence (the strip story.)

Methods of assessment.

As the communicative approach is adopted to language learning, methods of assessment much change. A pupil's performance can no longer be measured solely by a predetermined checklist of speaking and listening skills, but must reflect the effective use of language in different social situations. A pupil's performance includes the speaker's, hearer's ability to accomplish tasks with language, the ability to communicate and interpret intentions, knowledge of the functions that language can serve; the strategies that can be used to accomplish each function, and the knowledge of constraints of various social situations. These abilities can only be observed and assessed over a variety of situations in which various performances are appropriate. Wells G. in his book named as “The Meaning Makers: Children Learning Language and Using Language to Learn” (1986) has concluded after twelve years of research that linguistic interaction is a collaborative activity involving the establishment of triangular relationship between the speaker, the listener, and the context of the situation. Assessment must take place over a variety of realistic classroom situations.

The Communicative Approach.

"The focus on communicative activities and the concentration on the language as a means of communication such an approach has been called the communicative approach" [2, 41]. This is because its aims are overtly connected with communication and great emphasis is placed on training pupils to communicate in different situations in everyday life. That is why at various stages teaching communicative language involves functions (1991), making them integral parts of the approach. In recent years there has been an increased interest in using communicative activities. Nunan defined them as activities that "involve comprehending, manipulating, producing and interacting in the target language while their attention is principally focused on meaning rather than form" [2, 10]. Teachers of English have found a new excitement and confidence in adopting the communicative approach. They realized that teaching grammar and vocabulary without a context is not effective. Pupils, having memorized the grammar and vocabulary were not being able to put them into practice. They were not given the opportunity to expand their ideas, initiate questions or reinterpret what had been presented to them and consequently they could not communicate[2, 10]. Finocchiaro and Brumit state two assumptions that underline this approach: "The first assumption is that we are concerned in the classroom with language use, not language knowledge; the second is the view that we learn language most effectively by using it in realistic situations" [9, 90]. In this approach, far less attention is given to systematic mastery of sounds and structures. Real uses of language, especially social uses, are the new priority [10, 173]. Littlewood claims that the most efficient communicator in a learning foreign language is not always the pupil who is the best at manipulating its structures but those who are able to develop their skills "by being exposed to situations where the emphasis is on using the available resources for communicating meanings as efficiently and economically as possible" [11, 4]. Situational dialogues seem to meet all these requirements. Through engaging pupils in the activities that they will presumably perform in real life they contribute a lot to the development of speaking skills and strategies. Pros and cons in using communicative approach.

However, there are opponents among teachers who strongly object to using this technique in the classroom. One of the main causes of their discontent is connected with the roles that learners are asked to imitate. It may happen that a person will have to simulate a role that he/she will never adopt in real life, for instance; a nurse or a lawyer [12, 118]. Here arises a question: is practicing the activities that have no relevance to the pupils' lives really worth doing? What is important, perhaps, is the fact that "some pupils feel more comfortable as themselves or perhaps can not project their roles" [12, 118. Littlewood however claims that asking pupils to perform such activities does not necessarily mean that the language they practice is of no value. Pupils are still supposed to interact with each other, they are given a chance to speak and this is what should be of primary importance. The teacher must always give them an element of choice. Thus they can decide themselves which role they are most likely to identify with [11, 64]. Littlewood sees the next negative element, giving pupils the possibility of uncontrolled practice may result in lack of discipline and disorder during the lesson. If the pupils are required to communicate with each other it always produce a certain level of noise, and this not tolerated by all teachers as it goes against their traditional belief that a good class is a quiet one [11, 65] . Error correction in the communicative approach.

Another problem that may appear is lack of accuracy. Ur while talking about the advantages and disadvantages of the communicative approach says that "Not all mistakes need to be corrected: the main aim of language learning is to receive and convey meaningful messages, and correction should be focused on mistakes that interfere with this aim, not on inaccuracies of usage" [16, 244]. Children need to talk because without it they cannot become good at speaking English. As far as errors are concerned they should be treated as a natural part of the development of oral skills (1996). The methodologists of the communicative approach that have been mentioned also emphasize the fact that mistakes should be tolerated as long as the meaning is understood. Taking into consideration all pros and cons of the communicative approach, there ought to be no doubt about its beneficial significance in English teaching. Thanks to this method, pupils are given an excellent chance to practice all the structures they will need to use in real life situations.

Using research from the skills approach.

Considerably more research has been done on how to teach specific listening skills than on how to teach speaking skills. More research has defined listening either as unitary skill or a series of sub skills such as noted by Lundsteen in his paper “Listening : Its Impact at All Levels on Reading and the Other Language Arts'. These sub skills include (a) selecting facts and details (b) sequential ordering (c) selecting a main idea (d) summarizing (e) relating one idea to another (f) inference making and (g) critical listening which includes analyzing comprehension is viewed as a set of sub skills , it appears that these skills can enhance the learning of these skills. Little or no research exists as to whether these specific sub skills are needed to cognitively structure a speaker's message, but reviews of listening research have indicated that elementary pupils' receiving direct instruction in specific listening skills do improve in those skills. It is noted by person D & Fielding L. in their research (1983).

Scholars and researchers viewed oral communication as the integration of listening and speaking in a variety of contexts has done little to construct a theoretical mode from which to study this communication. This lack of communication model coupled with the paucity of speaking research and the fact that the bulk of listening as a writary skill or set of sub-skills rather than a complex, multidimensional skill has left the classroom instructor using a communication approach largely without a model or a research base to undergird methodology. However, if one examines the situation from the perceptive of the classroom teacher, one notices that during the course of oral communication activities such as discussions with peers pupils are often asked to demonstrate such subskills as the ability to summarize important points or to examine another speaker's viewpoint when and if direct instruction is needed in these skills teachers can draw on techniques which were develop in the specific instruction of listening and speaking oral communication models need to be developed and future research needs to focus on how to operationalize the communicative approach in the classroom. As a part the research multiple means of assessment within various contexts need to be developed.

Communicative Speaking Tasks.

A communicative task is a “goal oriented communicative activity with a specific outcome, where the emphasis is on exchanging meanings not producing specific language forms” (Willis 1996: 36). Several classifications of communicative speaking tasks have been proposed. For example, Harmer (1982) distinguishes between communicative tasks and uncommunicative tasks in terms of their communicative purpose, communicative desire, focus, range of language, teacher role, and degree of control in material. Gower et al. (1983) classify speaking into three types: controlled activities, guided activities, and creative communication.

Types of communicative exercises.

Warming-up exercises.

When people have to work together in а group it is advisable that they get to know each other а little at the beginning. Once they have talked tо each other in an introductory exercise they will be less reluctant to cooperate in further activities. One of the pre-requisites of cooperation is knowing the other people's names. А second one is having some idea of what individual members of the group are interested in. One important use of warming-up exercises is with new classes at the beginning of а course or the school year. If уоu join in the activities and let the class know something about yourself, the pupils are mоrе likely to accept you as а person and not just as а teacher. А second use of warming-up activities lies in getting pupils into the right mood before starting on some new project or task.

However, even warming-up activities mау seem threatening to very shy pupils. In particular, exercises in which one person has to speak about himself in front of the whole class belong in this category. You can reduce the strain by reorganizing the activity in such а way that the pupil concerned is questioned by the class, thus avoiding а monologue where the pressure is on one person only. Pupils often find pair works the least threatening because everybody is talking at the same time and they have only got one listener. Depending on the atmosphere in your classes, you mау wish tо modify whole-class exercises to include pair or group work.

А number of warming-up exercises, are also suitable for light relief between periods of hard work. Grouping contains а lot of ideas for dividing pupils into groups and can precede all types of group work.

Most of the warming-up exercises are suitable for beginners because they do not demand more than simple questions and answers. But the language content of the exercises can easily be adapted to а higher level of proficiency.

Names

Aims: Skills -- speaking

Language -- questions

Other -- getting tо know each other's names

Level: Beginners

Organization: Class

Preparation: As many small slips of paper as there are pupils

Time: 5-10 minutes

Procedure: Step 1: Each pupil writes his full name on а piece of paper. All the papers are collected and redistributed sо that everyone receives the name of а person he does not know.

Step 2: Everyone walks around the room and tries to find the person whose name he holds. Simple questions can bе asked, е.g. 'Is your name...?' 'Are you...?'

Step 3: When everyone has found his partner, he introduces him tо the group.

Interviews.

We watch, read and listen to interviews every day. In the media the famous and not sо famous are interviewed on important issues and trivial subjects. For the advertising industry and market research institutes, interviews are а necessity. The success of an interview depends both on the skill of the interviewer, on her/his ability to ask the right kinds of questions, to insist and interpret, and on the willingness to talk on the part of the person being interviewed. Both partners in an interview should be good at listening so that а question-and-answer sequence develops into а conversation.

In the foreign language classroom interviews are useful not only because they force pupils tо listen carefully but also because they are sо versatile in their subject matter. As soon as beginners know the first structures for questions (е.g. Can you sing an English song? Have you got а car?) interviewing can begin. If everyone interviews his neighbour all pupils are practicing the foreign language at the same time. When the learners have acquired а basic set of structures and vocabulary the interviews mentioned in this section can be used. Of course, you may choose any topic you wish, taking them from recent news stories or texts read in class. In the warming-up phase of а course interviews could concentrate on more personal questions.

Before you use an interview in your class make sure that the pupils can use the necessary question-and-answer structures. А few sample sentences on the board may be а help for the less able. With advanced learners language functions like insisting and asking for confirmation (Did you mean that...? Do you really think that...? Did you say...? But you said earlier that...), hesitating (Well, let me see...), contradicting and interrupting (Hold on а minute..., Can I just butt in here?) can be practiced during interviews. When pupils report back on interviews they have done, they have to use reported speech.

Since the pupils' chances of asking а lot of questions are not very good in “language-oriented” lessons, interviews are а good compensation. If you divide your class up into groups of three and let two pupils interview the third, then the time spent on practicing questions is increased. As а rule pupils should make some notes on the questions they are going to ask and of the answers they get.

Self-directed interviews

Aims: Skills -- writing, speaking

Language - questions

Other -- getting tо know each other or each other's points of view

Level: Intermediate

Organization: Pairs

Preparation: None

Time: 10-30 minutes

Procedure:

Step 1: Each pupil writes down five to ten questions that he would like tо be asked. The general context of these questions can be left open, or the questions can be restricted to areas such as personal likes and dislikes, opinions, information about one's personal life, еtс.

Step 2: The pupils choose partners, exchange question sheets and interview one another using these questions.

Step 3: It might be quite interesting to find out in а discussion with the whole class what kinds of questions we asked and why they were chosen.

Variations: Instead of fully written-up questions each pupil specifies three to five topics he would like tо bе asked about, е.g. pop music, food, and friends.

Remarks: This activity helps to avoid embarrassment because nobody has to reveal thoughts and feelings he does not want to talk about.

Jigsaw tasks

Jigsaw tasks use the same basic principle as jigsaw puzzles with one exception. Whereas the player doing а jigsaw puzzle has all the pieces he needs in front of him, the participants in а jigsaw task have only one (or а few) piece(s) each. As in а puzzle the individual parts, which may be sentences from а story or factual text, or parts of а picture or comic strip, have tо be fitted together to find the solution. In jigsaw tasks each participant is equally important, because each holds part of the solution. That is why jigsaw tasks are said tо improve cooperation and mutual acceptance within the group. Participants in jigsaw tasks have to do а lot of talking before they are able to fit the pieces together in the right way. It is obvious that this entails а large amount of practice in the foreign language, especially in language functions like suggesting, agreeing and disagreeing, determining sequence, etc. А modified form of jigsaw tasks is found in communicative exercises for pair work.

Jigsaw tasks practice two very different areas of skill in the foreign language. Firstly, the pupils have tо understand the bits of information they are given (i.е. listening and/or reading comprehension) and describe them to the rest of the group. This makes them realize how important pronunciation and intonation are in making yourself understood. Secondly, the pupils have to organize the process of finding the solution; а lot of interactional language is needed here. Because the language elements required by jigsaw tasks are not available at beginners' level, this type of activity is best used with intermediate and more advanced learners. In а number of jigsaw tasks in this section the participants have to give exact descriptions of scenes or objects, so these exercises can be valuable for revising prepositions and adjectives.

Pair or group work is necessary for а number of jigsaw tasks. If your pupils have not yet been trained to use the foreign language amongst themselves in situations like these, there may be а few difficulties with monolingual groups when you start using jigsaw tasks. Some of these difficulties may be overcome if exercises designed for pair work are first done as team exercises so that necessary phrases can be practiced.

The worksheets are also meant as stimuli for your own production of worksheets. Suitable drawings can be found in magazines. If you have а camera you can take photographs for jigsaw tasks, i.е. arrangements of а few objects with the positions changed in each picture. Textual material for strip stories can be taken from textbooks and text collections.

Some of the problem-solving activities are also а kind of jigsaw task.

The same or different?

Aims Skills -- speaking, listening comprehension

Language -- exact description

Other -- cooperation

Level: Intermediate

Organization: Class, Pairs

Preparation: One copy each of handout А for half the pupils, and one сору each of handout S for the other half.

Procedure: Step 1: The class is divided into two groups of equal size and the chairs arranged in two circles, the inner circle facing outwards, the outer circle facing inwards, so that two pupils from opposite groups sit facing each other. All the pupils sitting in the inner circle receive handout А. All the pupils in the outer circle receive handout S. They must not show each other their handouts.

Step 2: Each handout contains 18 small drawings; some are the same in А and S, and some are different. By describing the drawings to each other and asking questions the two pupils in each pair have to decide whether the drawing is the same or different, and mark it S or D. The pupil who has а cross next to the number of the drawing begins by describing it to his partner. After discussing three drawings all the pupils in the outer circle move to the chair on their left and continue with а new partner.

Step 3: When all the drawings have been discussed, the teacher tells the class the answers.

Variations: The material can be varied in many ways. Instead of pictures, other things could be used, е.g. synonymous and non- synonymous sentences, symbolic drawings, words and drawings.

Techniques the teacher uses to develop hearing.

To fulfill the task the teacher must train his pupils in listening comprehension beginning with the first lesson and throughout the whole period of instruction. These are the techniques the teacher uses for the purpose:

1. The teacher uses the foreign language:

(a) when giving the class instructions;

(b) when presenting new language material (words, sentence patterns);

(c) when checking pupils' comprehension;

(d) when consolidating the material presented;

(e) when checking pupils' assimilation of the language material covered.

These are the cases when the target language is used as a means of communication and a means of teaching. There is a great deal of auding in all the points of the lesson. This raises the problem of the teacher's speech during the lesson. It should be correct, sufficiently loud, clear, and expressive. But many of the teachers are too talkative. We can hear them speaking most of the time. Moreover, some teachers speak a great deal in mother tongue.

Conducting a lesson in a foreign language gives the teacher an opportunity to develop pupils' abilities in hearing; to train them in listening to him attentively during the lesson; to demonstrate the language as a means of communication; to provide favorable conditions for the assimilation of the language; to perfect his own speaking skills; to keep his own speech under control, i. e., to keep himself from undue talkativeness.

2. The teacher uses drill and speech exercises for developing listening comprehension.

We can group drill exercises into exercises designed for overcoming linguistic difficulties, and exercises which can eliminate psychological difficulties.

The first group of drill exercises includes:

(a) phonetic exercises which will help the teacher to develop his pupils' ear for English sounds:

-- Listen to the following words and raise your hands when you hear the words with [ae] (The teacher says: desk, pen, ten, bag, etc.)

-- Listen to the following pairs of words and say in what sound they differ: pen -- pin; bed -- bad; eyes -- ice; white -- wide.

(b) lexical exercises which will help the teacher to develop pupils' skills in recognizing words:

-- Listen to the words and recognize the word boy among other words: a baby, a toy, a boat, a boy, a girl.

-- Listen to the following words and raise your hands when you hear the words referring to plants: street, tree, grass, class, flower, tower.

-- Listen to the following sentences and say whether the word country has the same meaning in both sentences:

I usually spent my holidays in the country.

The Soviet Union is a large country.

(c) grammar exercises which help the teacher to develop pupils' skills in recognizing grammar forms and structures:

-- Listen to the following words and raise your hands when you hear words in plural: desk, tables, book, box, pens, books, boxes, etc.

-- Listen to the following sentences and say in which one the word help is used as a noun.

He can help you. I need his help.

The second group of drill exercises includes:

(a) exercises which help the teacher to develop his pupils' auditory memory:

-- Listen to the following words and try to memorize them. (The teacher pronounces a number of words pointing to the object each denotes: a carrot, a potato, a cucumber, a tomato. Afterwards pupils are told to point to the object the teacher names.)

-- Listen to the phrases and repeat them. The teacher says: on the table, in the box, near the blackboard.

-- Listen to the sentences and repeat them. (The teacher says: I like tea. Ann doesn't like tea. She likes milk.)

-- Listen to the sentences and repeat them in the same sequence. (The teacher says: In the evening we have tea. I like it very much. The teacher may increase the number of sentences for pupils to memorize.)

(b) exercises which are designed for developing pupils' attention:

-- Listen to the following text: I have a sister. Her name is Ann. Mike has no sister. He has a brother.

Now say what the name of Mike's sister is.

-- Listen to the text. (The text follows.) Now say which sentence was omitted (added) when you listened to it a second time.

(c) exercises which develop pupils' visual imagination:

-- Listen to the following definition and give it a name: We write with it on the blackboard. We take it when it rains.

-- Listen and say which season it is: It is cold. It often snows. Children can skate and ski.

(d) exercises which help the teacher to develop his pupils' logical thinking:

-- Listen to the sentences and say whether they are logically arranged: Her name is Mary. This is a girl.

Drill exercises are quite indispensable to developing pupils' skills in listening comprehension.

Speech exercises are designed for developing pupils' skills in auding. Several groups of exercises may be suggested:

1. Exercises which teach pupils to understand texts different in content, form, and type. Pupils are asked to listen to a description or a narration; the text may be a dialogue, it may deal with the life of people whose language the pupils study, or with the pupils' environment.

-- Listen to the story. Your task is to define its main idea. You should choose one among those suggested by the teacher.

-- Listen to the story. Your task is to grasp as much information as you can. While auding try to put down key words and sentences; they will help you to convey the context of the story.

2. Exercises which develop pupils' skills to understand a text under different conditions. Sound producing aids should be extensively used for developing pupils' auding, as pupils are supposed to understand not only their teacher's speech, but other people speaking the target language, including native speakers. Besides, sound producing aids allow the teacher to supply pupils with recorded speech different in speed and voice.

Before pupils are invited to listen to the text the teacher should ensure that all the words and grammar are familiar to the pupils otherwise language difficulties will prevent them from understanding the story. Thus, if there are some unfamiliar words, the teacher introduces them beforehand; he either puts them down on the blackboard with the mother tongue equivalents in the sequence they appear in the text, or he asks pupils to pronounce the words written on the blackboard if he plans a talk on the text afterwards, and pupils are to use these words in their speech. [2, 55]

Then the teacher should direct his pupils' attention to what they are going to listen to. This is of great importance for experiments prove that if your aim is that your pupils should keep on talking on the text they have heard it stimulates their thinking and facilitates their comprehension of the text.

The following tasks may be suggested to draw pupils' attention to what they are auding:

-- Listen and try to grasp the main idea of the story. You will be asked questions later on.

-- Listen and try to grasp the details. You will have to name them.

-- Listen and make a plan of the story.

-- Listen to the story and try to finish it (think of the end of the story).

-- Listen to the story. You will ask questions on it afterwards.

-- Listen to the text. You will retell it afterwards.

-- Listen to the story. We shall have a discussion on it. Etc.

When pupils are ready to listen, the text can be read to them. If it is the teacher who reads or tells the story, he can help pupils to comprehend the text with gestures. If the text is recorded, a picture or pictures can facilitate comprehension. The pupils listen to the text once as is usually the case in real communication. Then the teacher checks their comprehension. If they have not understood it, they are told to listen to the text again. The teacher can use a dialogue to help pupils to understand the text after they have listened to the story for the first time, i. e., he may ask questions, make statements on the text for pupils to agree or reject them.

Checking pupils' comprehension may be done in many ways depending on the stage of instruction, pupils' progress in the language, and other factors. In any case, however, it is necessary to proceed in order of complexity from mere recognition to reproduction. The procedure may be:

general questions special questions wrong statements	The teacher checks his pupils' comprehension only.
pupils' questions on the text making a plan telling the text according to the plan (it may be done in a chain-like way) reciting the text giving the gist of the text written reproduction of the text discussing the text	The teacher checks pupils' comprehension and develops their speaking skills on the basis of the text heard.

Skills in hearing must be built up gradually. The teacher begins with a story containing 3--4 sentences. He uses pictures, gestures to help pupils to understand it. Gradually he can take longer sections and faster speeds with less visual help and in more difficult language. The teacher must bear in mind that careful grading in all these ways is of the utmost importance. Texts, stories to be read or recorded should be interesting and fairly easy.

Techniques the teacher uses for teaching speaking.

There are two forms of speaking: monologue and dialogue. Since each form has its peculiarities we should speak of teaching monologue and teaching dialogue separately.

In teaching monologue we can easily distinguish three stages according to the levels which constitute the ability to speak: (1) the statement level; (2) the utterance level; (3) the discourse level.

1. No speech is possible until pupils learn how to make up sentences in the foreign language and how to make statements. To develop pupils' skills in making statements the following procedure may be suggested:

Pupils are given sentence patterns to assimilate in connection with situations.

The sentence pattern is filled with different words. Thus pupils can express various thoughts. For example:

I can see a....

P u p i l 1: I can see a blackboard.

P u p i 1 2: I can see a picture.

P u p i l 3: I can see a map, etc.

I am fond of ...

P u p i l 1: I am fond of music.

P u p i 1 2: I am fond of classical music.

P u p i 1 3: I am fond of pop music, etc.

We are proud of...

P u p i l 1: We are proud of our country.

P u p i 1 2: We are proud of our sportsmen.

P u p i 1 3: We are proud of our school, etc.

Pupils are invited to perform various drill exercises within the sentence patterns given:

-- substitution: I have a book (a pen);

-- extention: I have an interesting book,

I have an interesting book at home;

-- transformation: He has a book,

He has no book;

-- completion: If I have time I'll ... .

Pattern practice, of course, makes no pretence of being communication. However, pattern practice for communication is what playing scales and arpeggios are to a musician. Each pattern will have to be repeated many times with a great variety of changes in its contents until the pattern becomes a habit.

Pupils make statements of their own in connection with the situations suggested by the teacher.

Give it a name.

Teacher: We write with it.

Pupil: It is a pencil (pen).

Make statements on the picture.

Teacher (silently points to the picture of a cat)

P u p i l 1: This is a cat.

P u p i l 2: This is a black cat.

Say the opposite.

Teacher: I live in Gorky Street.

Pupil: I do not live in Gorky Street,

Teacher (pointing to the boy): He likes to play hockey.

Pupil: I don't like to play hockey.

When pupils are able to make statements in the foreign language within grammar and vocabulary they have assimilated their speech may be more complicated. They should learn to combine statements of various sentence patterns in a logical sequence.

2. Pupils are taught how to use different sentence patterns in an utterance about an object, a subject offered. First they are to follow a model, and then they do it without any help.

Teacher: Say a few words about it. (He points to an object.)

Pupil: This is a pencil.

The pencil is green.

It is on the table. I like the pencil.

Or Teacher points to a boy.

Pupil: This is a boy. His name is Sasha. He lives in Gagarin Street.

Get information and sum up what you have learnt from your classmates.

Teacher: She cut her finger.

Pupil: Who cut her finger?

Class: Ann.

-- When did she cut it?

-- Yesterday.

-- What did she cut it with?

-- With a knife.

-- Why did she cut her finger?

-- Because the knife was sharp.

Pupil: Yesterday Ann cut her finger. She cut it with a knife. The knife was sharp.

This exercise is useful both for developing dialogic and monologic speech.

Therefore the pupil's utterance involves 2--4 sentences which logically follow one another. At this stage pupils learn to express their thoughts, their attitude to what they say using various sentence patterns. Thus they learn how to put several sentences together in one utterance about a subject, an object, etc.

3. After pupils have learned how to say a few sentences in connection with a situation they are prepared for speaking at discourse level. Free speech is possible provided pupils have acquired habits and skills in making statements and in combining them in a logical sequence. At this level pupils are asked to speak on a picture, a set of pictures, a film-strip, a film, comment on a text they have read or heard, make up a story of their own; of course, this being done within the language material (grammar and vocabulary) pupils have assimilated. To help pupils to speak the teacher supplies them with "what to speak about". The devices used for the purpose are: visual aids which can stimulate the pupil's speaking through visual perception of the subject to be spoken about, including a text read; audio aids which can stimulate the pupil's speaking through auditory perception of a stimulus; audio-visual aids when pupils can see and hear what to speak about.[8]

The three stages in developing pupils' speaking should take place throughout the whole course of instruction, i. e., in junior, intermediate, and senior forms. The amount of exercises at each level, however, must be different. In junior forms statement level is of greater importance as a teaching point.

Rule for the teacher: In teaching monologue instruct pupils how to make statements first, then how to combine various sentences in one utterance and, finally, how to speak on a suggested topic.

We have already spoken about the linguistic characteristics of dialogue. Some more should be said about its structure.

A dialogue consists of a series of lead-response units. The significant feature of a lead-response unit is that the response part may, and usually does, serve in its own turn as a fresh inducement leading to further verbal exchanges, i. e., lead > response > inducement > response. A response unit is a unit of speech between two pauses. It may consist of more than one sentence. But the most characteristic feature of a dialogue is that the lead-response units are closely connected and dependent on each other. The lead is relatively free, while the response depends on the first and does not exist without it.

-- Where is the book?

-- There, on the shelf.

In teaching dialogue we should use pattern dialogues as they involve all features which characterize this form of speech.

There are three stages in learning a dialogue: (1) receptive; (2) reproductive; (3) constructive (creative).

1. Pupils "receive" the dialogue by ear first. They listen to the dialogue recorded or reproduced by the teacher. The teacher helps pupils in comprehension of the dialogue using a picture or pictures to illustrate its contents. They listen to the dialogue a second time and then read it silently for better understanding, paying attention to the intonation. They may listen to the dialogue and read it again, if necessary.

2. Pupils enact the pattern dialogue. We may distinguish three kinds of reproduction:

Immediate. Pupils reproduce the dialogue in imitation of the speaker or the teacher while listening to it or just after they have heard it. The teacher checks the pupils' pronunciation and intonation in particular. The pupils are asked to learn the dialogue by heart for homework.

Delayed. After pupils have learned the dialogue at home, they enact the pattern dialogue in persons. Before calling on pupils it is recommended that they should listen to the pattern dialogue recorded again to remind them of how it "sounds".

Modified. Pupils enact the dialogue with some modifications in its contents. They change some elements in it. The more elements (main words and phrases) they change in the pattern the better they assimilate the structure of the dialogue:

-- Will you help me, sonny?

-- What shall I do, Mother?

-- Will you bring me a pail of water?

-- Certainly I will.

The use of pictures may be helpful. Besides pupils use their own experience while selecting the words for substitutions.

The work should not be done mechanically. Pupils should speak on the situation. As a result of this work pupils master the structure of the pattern dialogue (not only the contents), i. e., they can use it as a model for making up dialogues of their own, that is why pattern dialogues should be carefully selected.

The first two stages aim at storing up patterns in pupils' memory for expressing themselves in different situations, of course within the topics and linguistic material the syllabus sets for each form.

3. Pupils make up dialogues of their own. They are given a picture or a verbal situation to talk about. This is possible provided pupils have a stock of patterns, a certain number of phrases for starting a conversation, joining in, etc. They should use those lead-response units they have learned in connection with the situation suggested for a conversation.

At the third stage the choice of stimuli is of great importance, as very often pupils cannot think what to say, though they know how to say this or that. Therefore audio-visual aids should be extensively utilized.

Rule for the teacher: In teaching dialogue use pattern dialogues; make sure that your pupils go through the three stages from receptive through reproductive to creative, supply them with the subject to talk about.

In teaching speaking the problem is what form of speech to begin with, and what should be the relationship between monologue and dialogue. This problem may be solved in different ways. Some methodologists give preference to dialogic speech in teaching beginners, and they suggest that pupils learn first how to ask and answer questions which is mostly characteristic of a dialogue, and how to make up a short dialogue following a model. Others prefer monologic speech as a starting point. Pupils are taught how to make statements, how to combine several sentences into one utterance in connection with an object or a situation offered. [7, 56]

These approaches to the problem are reflected in school textbooks now in use. A. D .Starkov and R. R. Dixon in their textbooks prefer to begin with dialogic speech. They start by teaching pupils how to ask various types of questions. For example:

The book is on the desk.

The book isn't under the desk.

Is the book on the desk? Yes, it is. (No, it isn't.)

Is the book on the desk or under it? It's on the desk.

Where's the book? It's on the desk.

S. K. Folomkina and E. I. Kaar give preference to developing pupils' monologic speech. For example:

I see a pen.

I see a desk.

Pete sees a desk and a pen.

As to the relationship between monologue and dialogue, it should vary from stage to stage in teaching speaking in schools. In the junior stage (5--6 forms) dialogic speech, the time which allows the teacher to introduce new material and consolidate it in conversation, must prevail. In the intermediate stage (7--8 forms) dialogue and monologue must be on an equal footing.

In the senior stage (9--10 forms) monologic speech must prevail since pupils take part in discussion and, therefore, express their thoughts in connection with a problem or retell a text read or heard. To sum it up both forms of speech (monologue and dialogue) should be developed side by side with preference for the one which is more important for pupils' progress in learning a foreign language at a certain stage.

The Value of Communicative Speaking Tasks

Communicative tasks are very important for developing children's speaking skills. This importance, according to Cameron (2001), has two reasons. The first is because they help children to find a purpose for using their knowledge. The second reason is that they help children to understand as a medium of communication.

Communicative tasks provide a purpose and a desire to communicate. The existence of a purpose is important because it makes the child activate their knowledge and speaking skills in a similar way to real life listening and speaking. Phillips (1993) affirms that teaching speaking in a communicative way will give children a purpose for learning other aspects of language, such as grammar and vocabulary.

Essential principles of the communicative approach

Communicative lessons are:

(1) Task-Oriented

* an exercise: has a purely linguistic application (often practice for practice's sake)

* a task: has a real world outcome which the language helps achieve

Implications of task orientation:

· focus of a lesson is not on the present progressive tense, but on “talking about plans”--plans that learners could well make themselves--and ideally, plans they will actually carry out

· with pair or group work, there should be some resulting outcome that can be used in the next phase of the lesson, not just practice for practice's sake, e.g., “you will practice this activity in pairs in order to…”

(2) Needs-Based

* when designing curriculum: how are my students most likely to use English?

* when modifying curriculum: how would my students most likely use this language?

* for data: query students, other teachers, former students--observe interactions that people like your students engage in (be they native or non-native speakers)

(3) Learning-Centered

* transparency: show why we are doing this and why we are doing it in this particular way

* personalize whenever possible

* exploit materials to the fullest and scaffold learners so that they always get to use the language “off the page” as well as “on the page”

* running notes can help teachers respond to “what actually happened” as well as “what was in the lesson plan”

(4) Contextualized

* relate to learner experience

* relate to course objectives and previous and future lesson features

* make lesson activities inter-related, as well having all activity items in the same context

(5) Authentic in discourse (language presentations and all subsequent activities)

* use discourse that wasn't created only the teach language

* develop topics and situations as we really interact in them in communicative events

* engage in the kinds of things we really do with language in the real world

* ensure that the activity's discourse structure is faithful to reality

* choose situations that learners can easily imagine themselves engaging in learning experiences

* appeal to a variety of learning strategies and styles

* structure activities to correspond to our notion of what effective learning is

(6) Aligned with Course/Instructional Objectives

* great activities alone typically do not result in great lessons (See “Contextualized” above)

(7) Situated in Discourse (Gee: “Discourse is language plus all that other stuff”)

* just getting the language right isn't enough--we have to get the behaviors, conventions, roles, and practices that go with the language right as well.

(8) Sources of Comprehensible, Negotiated Input

* maintain a high ratio of language use in relation to time spent talking about language

* pair and small group problem-solving increases interaction and negotiation

* activities are structured so that students have opportunities to experiment with language (at the appropriate moment in the lesson--you need a foundation before you can experiment)

* scaffolding is highly valued

* debriefing is encouraged

(9) Recursive

* lexical items are reintroduced in and across lessons

* attention is paid to reintegrating previously taught features into later lessons

(10) Sequenced with Attention to Learning and Acquisition

* Movement from Inductive Learning to Deductive Learning (from discovery and deduction to clear explanation and models to practice/application of the models)

* Movement from Acquisition Activities to Learning Activities (to Acquisition Activities)

o Acquisition activities: engage in rich, authentic discourse for its own sake; the teacher scaffolds the student discovery process rather than following an explicit, directed, and pre-established activity structure

o Learning Activities: are clearly sequenced and follow explicit explanation and models: they support the pupil's learning and allow them to access structures and language they may not yet have acquired.

o Provide pupils with the language, skills, and strategies necessary to successfully carry out the activities (e.g., you need a lot more than the present perfect tense to be able to carry out an authentic job interview role play).

Many of the points made about games hitherto echo the fundamental principles of communicative approaches to language teaching. A brief exploration of how the two correspond will clarify some of the reasons for using games. It is a principle of communicative approaches to ELT that task-based activities enhance learning. In language learning, task-based activities are those which stimulate effective use of language but involve no conscious analysis of language. An exercise which instructs learners to change the tense of verbs is not task-based because it is language-focused. Getting learners to listen carefully to instructions in order to draw a picture, make a model or play a game are examples of a task-based approach. The purpose perceived by the learners is non-linguistic. The understanding and use of language is necessary but the analysis of language is not. Getting learners involved in tasks will thus be a catalyst for language learning. To play a game is to enjoy competing alone or in groups against other players, against time or against the challenge of the game, and not to think consciously about the language involved in doing so. In other words, games may be seen as tasks. If they successfully engage the learners' attention as a proper children's game should, then learning will be supported. Another important principle of communicative methodology is that the teaching situation must be learner-centered. Learners' needs both as future language users and active language learners should be the chief criterion for assessing how appropriate syllabus and methods are. A high affective filter causes the learner to be a relatively inefficient learner and is likely to result from anxieties, disturbances or inhibitions. A low affective filter which may result from feelings of relaxation, well-being or success maximizes learning efficiency. If it is a condition of games that they contain an element of fun and that they absorb the interest of the learner, it seems clear that using them in the classroom will produce a low affective filter in participants. Accordingly, the capacity of learners to learn should be acknowledged and brought out. Teachers of young learners may find acknowledging the natural tendencies and desire of children to play and incorporating games into classroom activities in a well-ordered and purposeful way to be an effective strategy. The arguments for using games run parallel with and indeed are simply a part of the broader arguments and theoretical justifications of adopting a communicative approach to ELT.

Our teachers use an approach known as the “communicative method.” This method has the following advantages: 1. Popular with pupils, because it is a dynamic method which fosters active participation. 2. Familiar to teachers, because it is a part of the curriculum of most language teaching programs. 3. Easy to contextualize, which makes the course activities more relevant to the professional world of the participants? Our version of the communicative approach is based on the following 5 activities: 1. C-issue (controversial issue): the vocabulary necessary to complete this activity is introduced through a news article adapted both to your level and to your professional or target context(s). The acquisition of the vocabulary is consolidated using a debate. 2. G-point (grammar point): an outline of the problem, consisting of a balanced mix between theoretical rules and concrete examples, is given by the teacher. This is followed by oral and written exercises. 3. RP-situation (role play situation): the goal of this activity is to practice situations which you face on a daily basis. 4. LE-topic (listening exercise topic): again, a subject adapted to your professional or target context(s) is chosen by the teacher. The difficulty of the audio fragment is adapted to your level. Each time the fragment is heard, the questions asked by the teacher become more detailed. 5. W-task (writing task): the goal of this activity is to teach you to edit or fill in the various documents you use professionally. The teacher splits up this activity into four sub-activities: document type, grammar point, style tip, composition tip.