Video 4: Back in Time: The Communicative Approach

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From the course by Arizona State University

Teach English Now! Theories of Second Language Acquisition

2298 ratings

Arizona State University

Teach English Now! Theories of Second Language Acquisition

2298 ratings

Course 2 of 4 in the Specialization TESOL Certificate, Part 1: Teach English Now!

In this course learners are introduced to second or foreign language theories and practices for teaching and assessing listening, speaking, and pronunciation. Learners will also be introduced to basic studies in second language acquisition and their pedagogical implications. Teachers will be invited to recognize the importance of grounding their own teaching philosophy through an examination of purpose, content, and technique.

From the lesson

A Study in Similarities: The Comprehension and Communicative Approach

Learners go back in time to visit the 1980s twice to speak with teachers from the Comprehension and the Communicative approaches. In our “Angel and Devil Debate” videos, learners will examine each approach from different points of view and decide for themselves which they agree with, if any. Finally, learners will be introduced to a variety of teaching methods that are derived from the Comprehension and the Communicative approaches.

Video 4: Back in Time: The Communicative Approach6:25

Video 5: Angel and Devil Debate: The Communicative Approach6:15

Video 6: What have we learned?: The Communicative Approach7:46

Meet the Instructors

Dr. Shane Dixon
Senior International Educator
Arizona State University Global Launch
Dr. Justin Shewell
Senior International Educator
Arizona State University
Jessica Cinco
International Educator
Global Launch

[MUSIC]

Hello, nice to see you again at Teach English Now.

Today we're going to take a look at the final approach.

It's called the communicative approach.

This approach came about in the 1970s and early 80s and

focused on the overall goal of using language to communicate meaning.

People began to realize that effective communication required more

than just a knowledge of vocabulary and grammar.

And that there were many different ways to communicate similar meanings.

So it made little sense to teach only one way.

Additionally, the world was becoming smaller.

And people were encountering situations where they needed to speak a foreign

language more frequently for work or for travel.

These people didn't have the luxury of time required by the comprehension

approach.

And needed to learn to communicate effectively in the target language.

So are you ready for our last time travel experience?

We are heading back to 1980 again.

This time to look at the communicative approach.

Let's go.

[SOUND] Well,

hello.

Welcome to my classroom, I'm glad you're here.

A little bird told me you have six questions you want to ask me

about language teaching using the communicative approach.

Well, as you can tell, I like using games in class,

so I thought we'd play a little game.

I'm going to throw one of these bean bags to one of you and

whoever catches gets to ask me the first question.

Sounds good?

Great, here we go.

All right, great, all right, what's your question?

I'm a fun loving guy who loves cultures and

meeting people from all over the world.

To me, language is a way to get to know different people.

I want to learn your language so I can communicate with you and

learn more about you.

I have always been fascinated by other cultures, and

that fascination has led me into teaching.

Of course, now that I am a teacher I want you to learn my language, so

you can communicate with me and learn more about me.

Really it's all about connecting people together,

in order to create opportunities for them to interact and grow closer together.

It's about learning other cultures through language.

Language is a portal, it's a gateway.

It's a way to understand someone and create a global society of friends.

Okay, can I have that bean bag back?

Great thanks, all right let's try this again.

Here we go!

All right, what's your question?

Well, really we should teach everyone, anyone who wants to learn.

I mean, I have taught in Korea, Russia, South America.

The world has changed, in fact, it's shrinking.

And we can actually play a part in helping to globalize the world.

Language teachers in that sense are something else.

I guess you could say that I'm an idealist because I really think I can change

the world, don't you?

There are different ways to learn a language.

Nobody is the same, right?

Some people learn languages through video and

audio, others need to touch real objects and see pictures.

Some others need games for the classroom to be exciting and fun.

Again, everyone's different, people learn a language when they care about it.

And if I care about students often they will care about me.

I am always interested in using new strategies and new techniques.

And so I love to stay up on the latest in technology and teacher strategy.

I read a lot of blogs and

even a few journals to make sure my techniques are well accepted.

Sometimes though,

I feel like I don't really have enough time to learn what's out there.

Kind of under a lot of pressure.

All right, give me that back, thanks.

Okay, who's going to ask the next question, let's see.

Oh, dropped that one.

A teacher should make learning fun and interesting.

I've been teaching for a long time.

In fact, I've been teaching for almost three whole years.

What I have learned is that the teacher can use games, high interest topics,

field trips, mobile devices, and websites.

Whatever it takes to keep students engaged and interacting in the language.

Teachers need to know about lots of different things as well.

I have been asked to teach pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary, speaking, listening,

reading, writing, and culture.

I help students prepare for tests like the toefl, toeic, and ielts.

I teach college students, military, aviators, adults, children, whoever.

A teacher needs to know a lot, and use that to help students learn language.

Hey, I'm always finding ideas from other people.

I just wish I knew which ones were best.

It seems like, for me, there's almost too much to choose from.

Okay, there's one more question, right?

Why don't you ask it?

You help people remember a language by making your lessons memorable.

You choose things they are interested in,

and use those to help them learn a language.

You make it fun, if students are having fun, hopefully they are engaged.

They are motivated with the language, and that will help them to learn.

[MUSIC]

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