Использование коммуникативных методов в преподавании английской грамматики на материале Cambridge Oxford University Press Macmillan Longman

Использование коммуникативных методов в преподавании английской грамматики на материале Cambridge Oxford University Press Macmillan Longman

СONTENT
INTRODUCTION 3
CHAPTER 1. THE HISTORY OF COMMUNICATIVE APPROACH 6
CHAPTER 2. FEATURES OF THE COMMUNICATIVE METHOD APPLICATION IN RUSSIA AND IN EUROPE 11
2.1. Communicative method in our country and abroad 11
2.2. Broadenings students' communicative competence in English Language Teaching 27
2.3. Communicative games In English Language Teaching 32
CHAPTER 3.REALIZATION OF THE COMMUNICATIVE METHOD (ADVANCED AND UPPER - INTERMEDIATE LEVEL) 37
3.1. Upper-Intermediate level (Inside Out. Upper-Intermediate. / – Macmillan; New Cutting Edge. Upper-Intermediate./ Longman) 50
CONCLUSIONS 58
LITERATURE 62
...

СONTENT

INTRODUCTION 3
CHAPTER 1. THE HISTORY OF COMMUNICATIVE APPROACH 6
CHAPTER 2. FEATURES OF THE COMMUNICATIVE METHOD APPLICATION IN RUSSIA AND IN EUROPE 11
2.1. Communicative method in our country and abroad 11
2.2. Broadenings students' communicative competence in English Language Teaching 27
2.3. Communicative games In English Language Teaching 32
CHAPTER 3.REALIZATION OF THE COMMUNICATIVE METHOD (ADVANCED AND UPPER - INTERMEDIATE LEVEL) 37
3.1. Upper-Intermediate level (Inside Out. Upper-Intermediate. / – Macmillan; New Cutting Edge. Upper-Intermediate./ Longman) 50
CONCLUSIONS 58
LITERATURE 62

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Girls' clothes
1. An outer article of clothing with sleeves, buttoned in the front.
2. An article of clothing from neck to waist, worn by women and girls.
3. A woman's, article of clothing that hangs from the waist.
4. An article of clothing with a top part and skirt, worn by a woman or girl.
5. Shoes made of soles with straps to hold them on the feet.
6. A covering for the head worn out of doors.
All cultures are different, but Russia, in particular, has a great number of English students who all have similar needs and demands. A teacher who has taught for years in Asia may find teaching Russian students more challenging. For example, Russian students have no problems talking in class; speaking is usually not a problem.
The communicative method of total immersion is currently themost popularly used method of teaching English at private schools in Russia. While Russians must learn English as part of their compulsory grade school education, it is taught in Russian.
When students take private lessons, they want to be taught by a native English speaker, and they want to be taught only in the English language.
New teachers should be prepared to be challenged on grammatical issues. During their grammar school education, Russians learned English grammar first and foremost. While the communicative method integrates grammar into communicative activities, Russian students want to know all the rules. Teachers should know their grammar inside and out, and be prepared to answer complicated grammar questions.
The communicative method of training (CELTA, TESOL, TEFL, etc.) tells teachers that when they are asked a grammar question that they don't know, the proper response is one of the following:
1. "We're not studying that today, but we'll study that later."
2. "Good question – does anyone know the answer?"
These methods do not work well in Russia, where the culture of education demands that teachers know the answers to everything. One of the best ways of handling this situation is to explain that language is an art, not a science, and that the course is not a grammar course, but a course on English language integration.
Passov Е.I. explains the communicative method of teaching to the foreign talking in those way12:
Another way of dealing with this is to ask the student what the function is. For example, if a student asks, "How do I say this in the past perfect continuous?" the teacher can respond by asking, "What is the function of what you are trying to say? The name of the grammar point is irrelevant."
2.2. Broadenings students' communicative competence
in English Language Teaching
In recent years, there has been a major shift in perspective within the language teaching profession concerning the nature of what is to be taught. In relatively simple terms, there has been a change of emphasis from presenting language as a set of forms (grammatical, phonological, lexical) which have to be learned and practiced, to presenting language as a functional system which is used to fulfill a range of communicative purposes. This shift in emphasis has largely taken place as a result of fairly convincing arguments, mainly from ethnographers and others who study language in its context of use, that the ability to use a language should be described as communicative competence. Key components of communicative competence, as presented by Canale and Swain13, are grammatical competence, sociolinguistic competence, and strategic competence. Given this description of the separate components, we can characterize traditional language teaching methods and materials as concentrating on the development of grammatical competence, almost to the exclusion of the other components. Concentration on developing only grammatical competence, however, will not provide the learner with the ability to produce sentences or utterances which are appropriate to the context of use. This ability, called sociolinguistic competence, allows the language user to select which utterance form, from any number of possible correct forms, is considered appropriate within a language community on a particular interactive occasion. The third component of communicative competence is strategic competence: in simple terms, the ability to successfully "get one's message across'.
The investigation of strategic competence is very much tied to the use of communication strategies which enable language users to organize their utter utterances as effectively as possible to get their messages across to particular listeners. Such strategies are also considered to be part of the ability to compensate for breakdowns in communication.
The ability to communicate spontaneously in the target language requires the speaker to concentrate almost exclusively on the content of the message being transmitted14. Only when meaning, rather than form, becomes the focal point for speakers does actual communication between them take place.
There are four major types of communicative exercises, which are used for teaching both general and professional English. They are: personal (cognitive) or social (interactive) and closed or open. A personal exercise is one that requires a learner to formulate responses to a fixed question or set of directions, not necessarily requiring consultations with others. A social exercise, on the other hand, requires verbal give and take for its completion. A closed exercise is one in which there is either one or a very limited number of correct answers to a problem or question that is posed.
An open exercise is one in which there are many possible answers or solutions. Social exercises may be further divided into one way or two way depending upon whether information comes from one member of a group or more than one member15.
It should be stressed that communication exists on all proficiency levels except the very lowest. In teaching professional English important are the exercises which involve gathering and evaluation of personal data by a group. Such exercises are based upon what is generally known as the affective model. The term, "affective model", describes an approach to classroom work which takes into consideration extra-linquistic parameters, such as classroom atmosphere, interest of the students in the material and the general psychological state of the learners, which can have a positive or negative effect on the learning process. It means that an English teacher must take into account the relations among the students of a certain group, their age and sex, interests and inclinations, public activities and attitude towards future profession. Working on professional lexics the teacher ought to know if the students have already covered the material under consideration in their native language at the lessons on their speciality16.
Clearly tied in with the affective model is the humanistic approach to learning, which stresses the positive side of the process. For English as a foreign language teaching the basic humanistic premise is that competence in oral communication is best achieved through interaction hi a friendly, relaxed atmosphere.
It is the teacher's task to establish a positive classroom ambience and rapport among the learners, encouraging them to express personal feelings openly and without inhibitions in the target language. By avoiding what is negative, it is felt that communication should be more appealing and easier, leading to a speedier development of oral, writing and comprehending skills in professional English.
How, in what way can the English teacher broaden communicative competence of the students in their future profession? Besides communicative exercises and extra-linquistic parameters, mentioned above, teachers use traditional kinds of class work: dialogues, role-plays, manipulative and controlled exercises. It goes without saying, that basically professionally oriented texts for reading and comprehension are used.
Dialogues are intended to be a representation of actual speech encounters in the real world. Ideally they are an effective means of practicing the normal give-and - take of professional conversation. However, two basic points must be made at the outset of any dialogue work.
First, neither resourceful teachers nor imaginative students can completely neutralize the artificiality of the classroom situation. At the very best, dialogues remain only approximations of the real world. Students do not have the opportunity to use the target language as a natural language until they leave the protective walls of the classroom and are forced to communicate with native speakers in uncontrived circumstances.
Second, dialogues have been used in a wide variety of ways by English teachers. The most rigid approach is to be found in earlier audio-lingual texts, where a complete conversation is usually presented for drilling, memorization and eventual recitation in class17.
This type of activity requires learners to commit entire segments of speech to memory in the hope of instilling in them an immediate feeling of accomplishment.
The broader view of language learning which succeeded audio-lingualism allows for more input by the student. No longer is a finished piece of conversation presented for oral practice and memorization. Rather than simply memorizing, learners use their knowledge and imagination in the process of constructing dialogues.
They are also encouraged to concentrate on the meaning of the message that they were conveying rather than the form.
Simply put, a role play is a game in the target language in which learners act out parts that have been assigned to them in well defined situations. There is actually very little difference between role play and the guided dialogues. Both differ from controlled dialogues in that they develop more or less spontaneously and unpredictably within a conversational frame. No pre-fabricated conversations are presented for memorization and no conversation segments are provided as aids. In this sense both role play and guided dialogues approximate natural language.
Every speech situation, professionally directed as well, consists of speakers, location, and topic, with purpose or function as an added dimention18. While the speakers, location, and topic of a conversation are the normal framework for general dialogue practice, functions such as greetings, questioning and apologizing provide a particularly effective focus for role play.
For professionally aimed role play activities to be successful, at least two things are necessary. First, there should be no professional or personal impediments to prevent the members of the class from playing their roles. Cultural sensitivities as well as individual interests and ambitions should be taken into account when assigning roles to students. They should also understand the general pattern of behaviour expected of them. Second, the pace of the class should be lively and spirited. The general atmosphere should be positive and friendly. The teacher should circulate among the students to encourage them and to check on the progress of the activities19.
In conclusion, we can't help mentioning the confidence factor. Our practice in teaching professional English shows that self-confidence is assumed to have І great influence in successful learning. We are sure that self-esteem may be a crucial factor in the learner's ability to overcome occasional setbacks or minor mistakes in the process of broadening of students' communicative of competence both in general and professional English.
2.3. Communicative games In English Language Teaching
Modern language teaching in the UK and European countries has seen an enormous shift in the methodology in the past two decades. In have come notional/functional syllabuses, graded objective tests, and pupil-centered work in the target language.
The change in emphasis in language teaching is connected with recent second-language research. A well-known psycholinguist Stephen Krashen claimed that languages are normally acquired rather than formally learnt. Such psycholinguists as Hymes and Halliday argued for a functional view of the nature of language. The upshot of all this was to see communication as not only the end of language learning20.
It should be mentioned that the idea of changing the traditional education model of teaching has become popular not only in language teaching. Teaching different disciplines in Europe has focused on learning rather than teaching. The so-called communicative tasks are the normal type of exercise the schoolchildren in most European countries do at the lessons of History, Geography and even Chemistry (Science). It is of paramount importance that students are active in their learning process - they should be subjects rather than objects - so that they become as effective as possible in real life situations.
Though the wealth of psycholinguistic and socio-linguistic research have underpinned claims about learning languages, an enormous amount of time and attention has been devoted to researching the process of language learning, there has been a general reluctance to extrapolate findings in terms of actual classroom methodologies21.
The teachers have been told not to place too much faith in better research to proved answers22. In this connection in 1989 in Britain the Flexible Learning project was set up. It involved a number of schools in London and student teachers at Goldsmith College. The aim of the project was to encourage students and teachers to move away from the teacher-centered classroom and help develop greater pupil autonomy in language acquisition. The initial aim was to give language to students and allow them to work on their own terms. For this purpose a simple model of classroom organization was adopted where pupils rotated in groups through a carousel of activities (computer exercises, board games, an oral activity, some reading and writing). On the basis of this a more sophisticated model was developed. It included a unit of work defined in terms of topic. The completion of the tasks and the work schedule depended on the pupils.
Soon it became clear that not enough attention had been given to the process of language learning itself, - in particular, the skills and strategies. One of the major outcomes was understanding of what the presence or absence of certain types of strategy implied in terms of the process of language learning. It was found out that on early seminal study the pupils should gain success in ten Learners strategies: 1) planning strategy; 2) active strategy; 3) emphatic strategy; 4) formal strategy; 5) experimental; 6) semantic; 7) practice; 8) communication; 9) monitoring; 10) internatiolisation. Learner's strategies refer explicitly to the habitual practices, such as dictionary techniques, ways of remembering etc. Communicative strategies are part of a learner's repertoire of techniques for charring out conversations, they are under conscious control and personally determined. Although communicative strategies are what we desire of pupils in free, interactive speech, it is learner's strategies that are most readily accessible to classroom teaching. If pupils have a good set of learner strategies, we can provide opportunities for pupils' autonomous use of language, and then it is possible that learner strategies can form the basis of more developed communicative strategies, and thus communicative competence.
Taking into consideration the difference existing between communicative and learner's strategies we cannot but accept the classification of communicative activities, offered by Paul Bress in MET Nov.2 1994. He roughly divided the most common communicative activities, information gap activities, into two main types – authentic and unauthentic ones, defining information transfer activities used in English for Academic Purposes as a different 3d type. Unauthentic activities are the ones which required to bridge "knowledge gaps" in a way different from a real communication (back to back exercises, jigsaw milling, and human ordering on cards). These games are very valuable at lower levels. Authentic activities come closer to real life communication as there is no contrived blockage to the communicative process - discussions, surveys. The examples of the 3d type of activities can be found in EAP course books. Most of them are threefold listening tasks. They may not seem communicative as there is no student to student interaction, but for more advanced students the sense of gain comes from the degree of interest of the materials used in the classroom. Thus, the students can not only have an opportunity of practicing the target language, but also learn something in addition to just learning. Otherwise, students' needs and expectations might well not be met. As the students' proficiency inceases, there should be a tendency to phase out unauthentic activities and to phase in more authentic ones. This insures that learners focus on and learn what is immediate to their needs and communicative purposes, involving them as people, not just as language students. Which seems to be the most important factor of motivation that helps to gain the target.
The authors of the above mentioned Flexible Learning Project emphasized its clearly developmental character, but the attempts to find the best way of teaching without teacher’s domination are being constantly made23.
“Communicating without the course book” project was designed by teachers at the British Council in Naples. The courses begin at lower-intermediate level. They do not use any course book and finding material and tasks as well as the ways of assessment are the problems exploited linguistically. The students have a range of non-material based project work, such as interviewing people in the streets or planning a reorganization of the city transport system. When material is needed they use educational publications as well as “realia” in the shape of magazines, newspapers etc. Focusing on errors can also be a source of language input. There is no limit to the extent of practice that can be generated in such activities. And the most important point is that language work emerges naturally and is generated by the group itself rather than is contrived or predetermined. This insures that learners focus on and learn what is immediate to their needs and communicative purposes, involving them as people, not just language students. Which is the most important factor of motivation that helps to gain the target24.
Communication method is considered to be efficient not only for solving purely methodological problems. It is viewed as the most efficient way of creating the general encouraging atmosphere, which is so important in the classroom where young people are educated and brought up. Thus, communication method developed on the basis of the latest educational and behavioral theories (social-learning theory, theory of reasoned actions, theory of diffusion of innovations) can help solve numerous problems in the modern society.
It is very important for the learner to listen to and to speak with the teacher, as the latter is the one who may and can decide whether the required level of accuracy has been achieved.
The students always look up at the person teaching them, as a person who has the necessary skills to observe, understand and most important correct the mistakes. But this is not always the best way to learn, especially when it comes to a foreign language. Alongside with presentation or practice (as part of the lesson approaches) there is the part of production.
The student learns a lot from what he hears from the teacher or from a tape, but is more important to become the one who can eventually produce language. One of the problems in teaching a foreign language lies not only in the process of input, of providing information – that is uttering the words and explaining their meaning. It is also the problem of output, of what the student is capable of uttering.
Chapter 3.