Tema 1: Evolucion de la didactica de las lenguas (PDF)

http: / / www.sarasuati.com Tema 1: Evolucion de la didactica de las lenguas. Tendencias actuales de la didactica del Ingles como Lg extr. Los enfoques comunicativos. Madhatter Wylder 19 /06 / 2010  TOPIC 1:...

http: / / www.sarasuati.com Tema 1: Evolucion de la didactica de las lenguas. Tendencias actuales de la didactica del Ingles como Lg extr. Los enfoques comunicativos. Madhatter Wylder 19 /06 / 2010  TOPIC 1: 2.. Evoludon de la didactica de las lenguas Tendencias actuates de la didactica del Ingles como Lg extr Los enfoques comunicativos. TOPIC 1: Evolucion de la didactica de las lenguas. Tendencias actuales de la didactica del ingles como lengua extranjera. Los enfoques comunicativos. Table of contents 7. Introduction. 3 2. Focus on Message (Part 1) 5 3. Focus on Form 5 3.1. The Grammar-Translation Method ( GTM) - 1840 to 1940- 5 3.1.1. Drawbacks and Virtues. 5 3.2. The direct Method (DM) - 1860 to 1940- 6 3.2.1. Drawbacks & virtues 7 3.2.2. Berlitz School. 7 3.3. The audio -lingual Method (ALM)-1940 to 1970 8 3.3.1. Drawbacks and virtues. 9 4. Focus on message (part 2 ) 10 4.1. The Psycho -pedagogical approach. - 1970s- 10 4.1.1. Community Language learning (CLL ) -1970s- 10 4.1.2. Suggestopedia (Sug ) -late 1970s- 11 4.2. The communicative approach ( CA ) -early 1970s to 2000 s 12 4.2.1. Drawbacks and virtues. 13 4.2.2. Task based learning ( TBL ) - late 1980s to 2000s - 13 4.2.3. Co-operative learning (CL ) - 1990s to 2000s - 16 4.3. The Natural approach (NA) -1980s to 2000s - 17 4.3.1. Drawbacks and virtues 19 5. Educational technology (CALL ) - 1950s to ?- _ 19 5.1. Three Phases of CALL 19 5.1.1. Behaviouristic CALL 20 5.1.2. Communicative CALL 21 5.1.3. Steps toward Integrative CALL: Multimedia 21 5.2. Steps toward Integrative CALL: The Internet 23 6. Brief summary: 24 Appendix 1 26 Appendix2_ 28 Appendix 3 33 Symbols used : TL: Target Lg MT : Mother Tongue CLL : Community Lg learning FL: Foreign Lg DM: Direct Method GTM: Grammar translation Method ALM : Audio- lingual Method SL: 2nd Lg CA: Communicative approach Sug: Suggestopedia NA : Natural approach TBL : Task based learning CL : Co- operative learning St (s): Student(s) Ivan Matellanes' Notes  TOPIC 1: 3.. Evoludon de la didactica de las lenguas Tendencias actuates de la didactica del Ingles como Lg extr Los enfoques comunicativos. 1. Introduction. It's very well known that Lg is a purely a human activity, as it was stated by Jean Aitchkinson in her work The articulated mammal. David S. Palermo added that an act of verbal communication is only possible between humans who transfer their ideas from the mind of the speaker to the mind of the listener. But, what is the purpose of learning languages? They have always been the means of communication among peoples of different cultures. This is probably the main reason why the study of different languages has been of great importance from the very first stages of human race. There are more than 3000 languages in the world, since the 17th C, all the efforts to create an artificial & universal language have failed. The problem We don ’t know how is that we don't know how languages are acquired, and there is no Lqs are acquired. correct model to explain that. The psycholinguistic field is gaining importance in the study of Lg learning, but there are also good pieces of advice from experienced teachers. One good example can be one from Mary Finochiaro, who stated that there are no universal & magic solutions, but just diff methods that will or won't work w /our students, in our schools & in our environments. Each pupil and each classroom, she added, is a world in itself. Let's travel back now to have a look at the teaching methods used through history and how they developed. As hinted before, Lgs have been studied from the most ancient times: - The Egyptian & Babylonian used to send bilingual representatives for Egyptian & Babylonian commercial pacts among different foreign countries. In fact, there were more than 350 documents that proved the existence of a bureau for foreign affairs, in the kingdom of Amenopolis III. - The Greek did not pay much attention to the learning of Lgs, as they Greek thought that there was nothing worth reading abroad. - However, the Romans learnt Greek through their teachers-slaves, in Romans: Classical rhetorical order. order to be able to read Aristotle and Plato's works. Their learning was probably based on the classical order: lectio, disputatio,... (Texts were read and then discussed). Ivan Matellanes' Notes  TOPIC 1: 4.. Evoludon de la didactica de las lenguas Tendencias actuates de la didactica del Ingles como Lg extr Los enfoques comunicativos. Later on, the first Christian missionaries had to learn the Lgs of the Christian missionaries people they were trying to convert. All through the Middle Ages, the only Lgs considered worth learning were Latin & Greek, which were studied by mainly by monks. During the Middle Ages Latin was the most important second Language Middle Ages: Latin as lingua Franca. (SL). It was the dominant Lg of education, government & commerce. It was taught in the monastic schools through rote ( [= rutinario) learning of grammar rules (declension) and translations. The greatest milestone ( = echo memorable) in FL Learning was the Discovery of USA: 1st time used DM discovery of America, where the Direct Method was used for the first time. Six Indians were taken by Columbus to Spain in order to learn Spanish separately & totally deprived from their mother tongue (MT). In the Renaissance, the vernacular Lgs displaced Latin, even though it Discovery of USA: vernacular Lgs maintained certain importance. Latin grammar & rhetoric became the gained certain importance. model for FL study. Latin was studied as a mental gymnastic & was the basis of all forms of higher education. Not until the 18 th C that other Lgs entered the curriculum of European 18th C: SL entered the curriculum of schools1. These Lgs were taught according to traditional methodology: European schools Firstly, the teaching procedures were based on Latin learning tradition. Secondly, the textbooks were mainly a collection of abstract grammar rules, list of vocabulary and sentence for translation. Finally, the oral practice was limited to reading aloud written texts. During this century, and particularly since World War II (WWII), the Lg teaching theory teaching of SLs has undergone numerous changes, some profound, has a short memory. (...) we have tended other just cosmetic. To quote FI.FI. Stern: "Lg teaching theory has a to ignore the past short memory. (...) we have tended to ignore the past and to re- - and to re enact old battles over & over again enact old battles over & over again". The fact that some old methods are still with us and certain newer ones consist mostly of recycled ideas justifies an historical approach to the problem. In 1779, at the collage of William & Mary (Virginia), the study of French substituted that of Hebrew. Ivan Matellanes' Notes  TOPIC 1: 5.. Evoludon de la didactica de las lenguas Tendencias actuates de la didactica del Ingles como Lg extr Los enfoques comunicativos. 2. Focus on Message ( Part 1) Before the 18th C, the most common means of acquiring a non-classical SL was by contact with native speakers of that Lg through travel, trade, Efficient communication war or hiring a foreign tutor. The need for efficient communication was sufficient to ensure learning was sufficient to ensure learning, and systematic study was left to the writers and grammarians of the time. It is interesting to note that current methodology favors a return to this approach in SL classes. 3. Focus on Form FORM 3.1. The Grammar -Translation Method2 ( GTM) -1840 to 1940-3 1.GTM : teaching Although non- classical Lgs eventually took over Lain in nearly all SL through Latin based grammar. aspects of communication in the Western Europe ( religion being the most notable exception), they still, in the 18th C, lack prestige and respectability as an object of study. It was felt that teaching them through Latin based grammar would enrich their status. After all, grammar had player an essential part in the intellectual development of the elite ever since Antiquity. The traditional method, as it is still applied today ( mainly at the university, in Classical studies), can be summarized as follows: a) Study & application of grammar rules: deductive approach. Stress on 1. Grammar -> deductive morphology. b) Concentration on the written code through the study of the "great 2 Emphasis written code authors". The level of Lg taught is therefore mostly literary, with little attention to speech. Lg is seen as a mainly access to Culture, not communication. c) Use of translation in vocabulary lists and exercises. 3. Translation of Voc list d) Class often conducted in the student ' s MT. 4. Class conducted in Sts’ MT 3.1.1. Drawbacks and Virtues. It is remarkable that this method became so popular and spread. It did BUT... - Nothing to enrich virtually nothing to enrich a student' s communicative ability in the Lg. st’s communicative ability. It was a tedious experience for the students, in which they have to memorize - Memorization of voc lists & grammar rules. 2 Also known as the traditional method, or the Prussian Methodonly) 3 See example of activity in Appendixl Ivan Matellanes' Notes  TOPIC 1: 6.. Evoludon de la didactica de las lenguas Tendencias actuates de la didactica del Ingles como Lg extr Los enfoques comunicativos. endless lists of unusable grammar rules & vocabulary in an attempt to produce perfect translations. However, the virtues of the method, especially from the instructors' point of view, took over the drawbacks. The virtues of the traditional method can be found foremost in its Virtues... - Intellectual appeal intellectual appeal. It is satisfying to master unfamiliar rules & their application, as well as to have access to great works of FL. Also, from the point of view of the instructor this method is extremely easy to use. There is a , - Instructor point of view (easy & objective) little need for the instructor to keep up to date with current Lg evolution (books are unalterable and grammar changes are not really often). Furthermore, there is no need for equipment in an essentially written approach ( books, workbooks & blackboards are always available and simple to use). Finally, the evaluation of the written work (fill-in-the-blanks and translation exercises) is relatively easy and objective. So, in that time of general confusion as to which methodology to adopt, many teacher got the most comfortable view of Lg teaching, which after all has a long- standing tradition. 3.2. The direct Method ( DM) -1860 to 1940-4 2.DM: prepare students for real Although strong on literature and intellect, the GTM was challenged in conditions of FL use. the late 19th C, mostly in France, for its inability to prepare students for the real conditions of FL use , in a world of expanding industry, international trade and travel. This movement coincided with the creation of the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) & let to the so called Direct Method. It can be characterized as follows: a) Classes conducted entirely in the SL. Vocabulary is thus taught 1. Class conducted in the SL through context. b) Focus on everyday spoken Lg and correct oral expressions. Emphasis 2. Focus on spoken Lg. on phonetics. SL learning must be an imitation of 1 Lg Acquisition. st 3. Voc taught through c) Establishment of direct associations btw words & objects, notions or demonstration actions, through the practice of mime, Qs and answers. Thus, vocabulary was taught through demonstration. 4. Grammar -» Inductive d) Grammar taught through practice : Inductively. 4 See example of activity in Appendixl Ivan Matellanes' Notes  TOPIC 1: 7.. Evoludon de la didactica de las lenguas Tendencias actuates de la didactica del Ingles como Lg extr Los enfoques comunicativos. 3.2.1. Drawbacks & virtues This revolutionary approach did not survive WWI, with the exception of Virtues... - Focus on spoken Lg the Berlitz Method, which has been commercially successful up to this day, but - Use of SL in class. - Active St participation almost any "method" can succeed when clients are willing to pay high prices for small classes, individual attention and intensive study. It does, however, remain with us in some of its major aspects: the focus on spoken Lg. on the constant use of the SL in class and on active learner participation. It was widely accepted in private schools where students were BUT... highly motivated and where native speaking teachers could be employed. On the contrary, it did not take well in public education where the constraints - Failure in public, education. of budget, classroom size, time and teacher background made such a method diff to use. DM was also criticized by its weak theoretical foundations. - Weak theories of Lg Furthermore, the DM was not a single "method" as we now understand the term. It was viewed more as an approach5 than a method. That is to say, it - High involvement of lacked theoretical basis in linguistics. DM demanded a high involvement of teachers. the teachers in the classes and they also found diff to transmit meaning - Diff to transmit meaning w/ out using MT. w /out using the MT. 3.2. 2. Berlitz School. BERLITZ School: The eye is One of the best known of DM popularizes was Charles Berlitz (who the enemy of the ear labeled his method as the Berlitz Method). In 1878, Max Berlitz founded the Berlitz School in Rhode Island, with the slogan: "The eye is the enemy of the ear ". That is, if a pupil does not see the text, but s/he can only listens to it, he will not associate the letters in his own Lg to those in the FL. It was the most outstanding school which, gradually, began to recognize that the students may be interested in speaking the Lg, rather than reading and writing it. By 1914, he had nearly 200 schools around the world. He was not academic methodologists, but an excellent systematizer of basic materials on the DM line. Nowadays, they still have hundreds of Lg schools in every country of the world. 5 Theoretical principles of Lg and learning. Ivan Matellanes' Notes  TOPIC 1: 8.. Evoludon de la didactica de las lenguas Tendencias actuates de la didactica del Ingles como Lg extr Los enfoques comunicativos. Teachers were all native speakers, must of them young and rarely trained in linguistics. Their directions were very clear: 1. No translation under no circumstance. 1. No translation. 2. The use of the MT was forbidden in class 2. Use of MT forbidden. 3. Strong emphasis in oral work 3. Emphasis on oral 4. Avoidance of grammar explanations until late in the course 4. Avoid grammar explanations 5. Qs-Answer techniques 5. Maximum use of Qs- Answer techniques. 3.3. The audio- lingual Method ( ALM )6-1940 to 1970-7 In the post-WWII, an attempt was made to build a new method with the 3. ALM: Lg teaching specialists adopted a basis of the DM, avoiding its most obvious drawbacks (See 3.2.1.). Moved by a structural linguists and a behavioral psychology desire to take advantage to the recent advances in the sciences related to the as a background of ALM field of this their field, Lg teaching specialists adopted a structural linguists and a behavioral psychology as a background of their work. They also encouraged maximal use of technological devices , such as tape recorders, Lg labs. The initial spark (= chispa) for this new revolutionary method come from the SL needs of the USA army & its very successful " Army methodbased on the structuralist linguistics. Impressed by its initial success and its underlying scientific basis, teachers all over the world applied the new methodology in an atmosphere of confidence and euphoria. The ALM can be summarized as follows: a) Procedures derived from Structural linguistics (Sapir & Bloomfield): Structural Linguists 1. Oral comprehension & a. Lg is essentially an oral means of communication ( oral expression precede writing comprehension & expression precede writing ) 2. Emphasis on syntax b. Lg is a sys of structures ( words are introduced in phrases or sentences; emphasis on syntax') 3 Preference c. Lg is defined by the majority of its speakers ( preference for contemporary vocabulary & commonly used contemporary vocabulary and commonly used structuresj structures 6 Also known as Audio- visual Method s Europe. It is used on the same general principles as its counterpart, but uses visual aids and corresponding oral dialogues. 7 See example of activity in Appendixl 8 Need for USA soldiers to become orally proficient in the Lgs of both the halleis and their enemies. Ivan Matellanes' Notes  TOPIC 1: 9.. Evoludon de la didactica de las lenguas Tendencias actuates de la didactica del Ingles como Lg extr Los enfoques comunicativos. d. Lgs have their own structures ( stress on the diff btw the MT 4. Stress on the diff btw the MT and the SL and the SL) 5. Grammar -» Inductively e. Grammar is taught by inductive analogy. Behaviorists psychology: b) Procedures derived from behaviorists psychology (Skinner): 1. Lg is behavior a. La is behavior (Structure practice in spoken SL) b. Behavior can be conditioned by a process of stimulus, 2. Process of stimulus, response and reinforcement. Successful responses are response and reinforcement (Lg drills, minimal step immediately reinforced. progression to avoid errors and thereby encourage students) i. Successful responses are immediately reinforced. c. Lg learning is essentially a habit formation (memorization of 3. Lg learning is habit formation. Avoid bad habits structures and dialogues through repetition and imitation, pattern (mistakes) drills to ensure the automatic control of linguistic structures, grammar taught through implicit analogy) i. Mistakes should be avoided , as they create bad habits. c) Use of Lg labs for collective drills practice and of tape recorders in class. 4. Use of Lg labs for collective drills practice 3.3.1. Drawbacks and virtues. Despite their promise, the ALM proved no better than their predecessors. BUT... - Linguistic and First, on theoretical grounds, their linguistic and psychological bases were psychological bases were challenged (N. Chomsky) challenged by several researchers, particularly by Noam Chomsky. It is now commonly accepted that Lg is first and foremost an innate, creative, meaningful and conscious activity, and not a mechanical process of stimulus-response and reinforcement, as assumed skinner. The boredom inherent in most lab pattern drills amply illustrates this point. Secondly, ALM simply did not yield the - ALM did not yield the expected results. expected results. The slow step-by -step progression did not cover much material and students found themselves laboring through repetition and memorization again and again over the same dull dialogues. Furthermore, the condemnation of writing lead many students to frustrations: They could not - Condemnation of writing understand why writing was not offered to them as well as the oral skills. Finally, the material covered and drilled proved to be less useful when - Bad method for actual communication. students had to use their SL for actual communication with Native speakers of that Lg. Ivan Matellanes' Notes  TOPIC 1: 10.. Evoludon de la didactica de las lenguas Tendencias actuates de la didactica del Ingles como Lg extr Los enfoques comunicativos. 4. Focus on message (part 2) While some despaired, others looked for alternative ways of making SL learning interesting and closer to reality. The methods of the 70s and 80s MESSAGE reflect this constant preoccupation. Major new trends have emerged and they all had in common the belief that, after two centuries of focusing on correct form, the time has come to focus on communication: It is important for learners to get their message across first and to worry about perfection later on. 4.1. The Psycho-pedagogical approach. -1970s - This approach was directed towards the personalization of the student - teacher contact and the creation of a pleasant learning environment in the SL classroom. This trend is best represented by the Community Lg learning ( CLL) and Suggestopedia (Sug). 4.1.1. Community Language learning (CLL) -1970s-9 1.CLL: self-trust low anxiety CLL is essentially a form of task -oriented therapy applied to the learning warm personal contacts of SL. It fosters ([ = fomentar) self - trust , low anxiety and warm personal main conditions for effective learning contacts as the main conditions for effective learning. The principal activity consists of: a) Free conversations in the SL btw a small group of students (clients) 1. Free conversations in the SL btw a small group of students. seated in a circle. b) At first, students communicate through their teacher by speaking in 2. At first , sts communicate through their teacher. the MT & obtaining from him an immediate friendly translation. c) Then, they move from an exchange of banalities dependent on the presence of the interpreter, to a teacher - free (w /out the help of 3. Sts move to a teacher -free meaningful conversation the counselor ) meaningful conversation in the SL with their peers. 4. Correct errors is d) The correction of errors is seen as an inhibiting factor. an inhibiting factor This approach is very strong on motivation, because of its relaxing BUT... atmosphere of human empathy and its student- chosen content and it, - Unstructured approach may perfectly work with compassionate teachers. The rest of us, however, may 9 See example of activity in Appendix 2 Ivan Matellanes' Notes  TOPIC 1: 11.. Evoludon de la didactica de las lenguas Tendencias actuates de la didactica del Ingles como Lg extr Los enfoques comunicativos. find it hard to accept an unstructured approach, where empathy and translation skills are the dominant features. 4.1. 2. Suggestopedia (Sug ) -late 1970s- 10 Sug is highly structured and strongly teacher - centered. While empathy 2.Suq: attention to the physical aspects plays an important role, it is reinforced by special attention to the physical of the learning environment aspects of the learning environment. Thus, the presence of flowers, decorations, beautiful carpets and classical music is very common in Suggestopedia classrooms. The principles and procedures can be described as follows: a) Learning can be accelerated by suggestive factors at the 1 Accelerate learning by suggestive factors unconscious level ("suggestology"). b) Because of our negative social norms, we use a small fraction of our 2. Appropriate relaxation techniques can improve learning capacities. Appropriate relaxation techniques can put the learning rest to active use ( Yoga, deep breathing exercises,...) c) The prestige and authority of the source of information ( teacher ) is a 3. Teacher is a source of confidence , calm. source of confidence, calm & enjoyment. 4. Xtra-linguistic d) Extra -linguistic communication should not be overlooked ( = pasar por alto). communication is also imp. e) Inhibition blocks learning. 5. Error correction blocks learning. a. Error correction is inhibitive. 6. Oral skill more emphasized. f) Oral skill slightly more emphasized than reading and writing. 7. Procedure reminiscent of the DM. g) Procedure reminiscent of the DM, but more rigid, w/ a presentation phase (summary,...) and an acting phase (role-plays, games,...). Drilling is avoided in favor of communication. Sug was widely used in the 70s behind the iron curtain, particularly in its native Bulgaria, but this is no longer the case. Superlearning11 was massively introduced in the Canadian Public service Language classes in Ottawa, but just as massively abandoned a few years later. 10 See example of activity in Appendix2 11 As it came to be known in USA Ivan Matellanes' Notes  TOPIC 1: 12.. Evoludon de la didactica de las lenguas Tendencias actuates de la didactica del Ingles como Lg extr Los enfoques comunicativos. 4.2. The communicative approach (CA) -early 1970s to 2000s -12 3. CA: Importance of communication over Initiated in the USA & Europe in the early seventies, the CA constitutes a accuracy. major challenge to establish practices in the field of SL pedagogy. It is prominent in most European curriculums (English, French, and Spanish) in elementary schools, although implementations leaves a lot to be desired. Its main characteristics are: a) Communication involves not only linguistic skills, but also 1. Communication involves also “communicative” skills. Speech acts become imp. "communicative " skills ( use of Lg in its appropriate context). The notion of "sentence" is dealt with in the wider framework of "speech acts", which take into account the speaker ' s intentions and the context of his utterances. b) The CA is called... 2. Notional , Functional & situational CA. Study of a. Notional if the curriculum is organized around notions of time, forms is secondary. quantity,... b. Functional if focus is on functions such as accepting, refusing,... c. Situational if the situation is cntrl to learning (place, channel...) d. In all three cases, the study of forms is secondary. Students may be early exposed to diff grammatical items because the situation/notion/ function under study calls for it. 3. Focus on learning & c) Focus on learning and the learner , as opposed to teaching and the the learner. teacher. Teacher often becomes the resource person. d) Focus on message to be transmitted (linguistic form is 4. Focus on message to be transmitted. Errors supplemented by intonation, body Lg or anything else that helps are normal. Fluency + imp than accuracy. communication) a. Errors are seen as a normal part of learning. b. Fluency has more importance than accuracy. 5. Use of authentic material. e) Use of authentic materials whenever possible to sustain interest. f) Rejection of pattern drills as too mechanical and uninteresting. 6. Rejection of drills g) Focus on communicative strategies : How to get the native speaker 7. Focus on communicative strategies. to slow down, to repeat,... 12 See example of activity in Appendix2 and a comparison btw ALM & CA in Appendix3 Ivan Matellanes' Notes  TOPIC 1: 13.. Evoludon de la didactica de las lenguas Tendencias actuates de la didactica del Ingles como Lg extr Los enfoques comunicativos. 4.2.1. Drawbacks and virtues. As can be seen, the CA attempts to prepare students for real BUT... communication. Ideally, students are only learning what they need or what they want to know, in the most realistic way possible and through interesting - Teachers and sts are materials and experiences. In practice, however, teachers and students alike frustrated by a lack of grammatical and lexical are often frustrated by a lack of grammatical and lexical progression. progression. The CA has also been criticized for its attention to socio- linauistic detail at - Too much attention to socio -linguistic details. the expense of basic structures. Finally, this approach requires far more competence and flexibility from teachers than previous methodologies: knowledge of available resources, a higher level of competence in the SL, - Far more competence and flexibility from awareness of the student ' s needs, the ability to teach sub-groups teachers simultaneously and to improvise on student - centered interests. 4.2. 2. Task based learning (TBL ) - late 1980s to 2000s -13 In recent years increasing numbers of teachers, in all subjects, have 4. TBL: make the been looking for ways to change the traditional forms of instruction in which classroom more “st - centred” & sts play a knowledge is transmitted, in a one- way process, from a dominant teacher to a more active role. Involve sts in interaction with class of silent, obedient, "passive" learners. They have sought ways to make inf, objects and/or ideas. the classroom more "student- centred" and have investigated the different ways in which students can play more active roles in discovering and processing knowledge. This desire to make learning more student -centred is reflected in widespread attempts, in different areas of the curriculum, to introduce approaches which engage students actively in the learning process. These approaches have been described under a variety of labels: "experiential learning","discovery learning", "problem- based learning", "co - operative learning", the "activity- based approach", and others. Underlying all of these approaches is a desire to involve students in some kind of purposeful interaction with information, objects and / or ideas, often in groups, in order to develop their skills and knowledge. In the field of language teaching, the approach which is currently best known in this respect is "task - based learning". 13 See example of activity in Appendix2 Ivan Matellanes' Notes  TOPIC 1: 14.. Evoludon de la didactica de las lenguas Tendencias actuates de la didactica del Ingles como Lg extr Los enfoques comunicativos. Task -based learning can be regarded as one particular approach to implementing the broader "communicative approach" and, as with the communicative approach in general, one of the features of task - based learning that often worries teachers is that it seems to have no place for the teaching of grammar. The aim of task- based learning is to develop students' ability to communicate and communication (except in its most simple forms) takes place through using the grammatical system of the language. Or in other words: 'communicative competence' can only exist on a foundation of 'grammatical competence'. Confusion often arises in discussions of task - based learning because Definition of the term task : different teachers and writers use different definitions of the term task. Most people would probably agree, however, on the following basic characteristics of tasks: 1. Sts work towards an objtv. - Tasks are activities in which students work towards an objective. - The objective may be one that they have set for themselves or one 2. Objective set by themselves or by the teacher which has been set by the teacher. 3. Individual or group work. - Tasks may be carried out individually or ( more often) in groups. - Tasks may be carried out in competition with others or ( more often) in 4. Competition or collaboration. collaboration. - The outcome may be something concrete (e.g. a report or 5. There must be an outcome, a final product. presentation) or something intangible (e.g. agreement or the solution to a problem). The area of disagreement revolves around the relationship between tasks Disagreement in the definition of the term and communication. Some teachers and writers do not see this relationship task (relation btw task & communication) as crucial. They define a language- learning task as including almost anything that students are asked (or choose) to do in the classroom, including formal i a) A task is any activity that learning activities such as grammar exercises and controlled practice activities, learners engage in to further the provided the objective of the activity is related to learning the language. This is process of learning a language the view, for example, of Williams and Burden ( 1997, p. 168) : "A task is any b) Tasks are activities activity that learners engage in to further the process of learning a in which the goal is related to the language". Many other teachers and writers use a more restricted definition. communication of meaning. Nunan calls They exclude activities where the learners are focusing on formal aspects of the them “communicative task ”. Ivan Matellanes' Notes  TOPIC 1: 15.. Evoludon de la didactica de las lenguas Tendencias actuates de la didactica del Ingles como Lg extr Los enfoques comunicativos. language (such as grammar, pronunciation or vocabulary) and reserve the term task ' for activities in which the purpose is related to the communication of meanings , i.e. for what Nunan, 1989, p. 10, calls a "communicative task". Willis ( 1996, p. 23) is one writer who adopts this definition: "Tasks are always activities where the target language is used by the learner for a communicative purpose (goal) in order to achieve an outcome. " Tasks are usually organised in the following way: Tasks organization: - Pre - task stage : The teacher will introduce the topic and the students will do a similar task so that the task requirements are * i made clear. Different tasks will place different processing loads on 1. Pre -task stage: - Introduction of the topic. learners, therefore careful planning will ease the burden during the task - Make the task clear to Sts - Task has comprehensive input. and attention may be directed to the detail of the language. The teacher has ensured that the text structure and vocabulary are just beyond the students' current knowledge, so that redundancy can be activated to fill in for partial comprehension of certain parts of the text. The density of information is controlled either by the choice of text ( authentic texts are used) or the choice of activities. - Durinq - task stage: The area of communicative stress is concerned 2. During the task: - Teacher manipulates pressure (time,...) with how the task is negotiated. The teacher will need to manipulate - Focus on communication. pressure : he/ she carefully considers the time limits for the task (time pressure) in relation to the length of text, type of response and number of participants, so that learners use language at a comfortable speed. If a task is transacted in pressure conditions and without careful planning there is the danger that students will by -pass syntax in the attempt to process meaning and will use fossilized language (language they have rehearsed/memorized). - Post- task stage : Students will have the incentive to focus attention 3. Post-task stage: - Focus on form. - Teacher gives feedback. more clearly to language itself. Feedback by part of the teacher will be wise. Ivan Matellanes' Notes  TOPIC 1: 16.. Evoludon de la didactica de las lenguas Tendencias actuates de la didactica del Ingles como Lg extr Los enfoques comunicativos. 5. CL: involves students 4.2.3. Co -operative learning (CL) -1990s to 2000s- 14 working in teams to accomplish a common CL is instruction that involves students working in teams to accomplish a goal. common goal, under conditions that include the following elements: I 1. Positive interdependence. Team members are obliged to rely on one 1. Positive interdependence: another to achieve the goal. If any team members fail to do their part, Members of the group rely in each other to do the task. everyone suffers consequences. 2. Individual responsibility. All students in a group are responsible for 2. Individual responsibility. doing their share of the work and for mastery of all of the material to be learned. 3. Face- to - face promotive (= fomentada) interaction. Although some of 3. Face-to-face work promotes interaction: the group work may be parcelled out and done individually, some must be done interactively, with group members providing one another with feedback, challenging one another's conclusions and reasoning, and perhaps most importantly, teaching and encouraging one another. 4. Use of collaborative 4. Use of collaborative skills. Students are encouraged and helped to skills. develop and practice trust -building, leadership, decision-making, communication, and conflict management skills. 5. Feedback. Team members set group goals, periodically assess what 5. Feedback. they are doing well as a team, and identify changes they will make to function more effectively in the future. Cooperative learning is not simply a synonym for students working in groups. A learning exercise only qualifies as CL to the extent that the listed elements are present. Cooperative learning may occur in or out of class. In- class exercises, which may take anywhere from 30 seconds to an entire class period, may involve answering or generating questions, explaining observations, working through derivations, solving problems, summarizing lecture material, trouble- shooting, and brainstorming. Out - of- class activities include carrying out experiments or research studies, completing problem sets or design projects, writing reports, and preparing class presentations. 14 See example of activity in Appendix2 Ivan Matellanes' Notes  TOPIC 1: 17.. Evoludon de la didactica de las lenguas Tendencias actuates de la didactica del Ingles como Lg extr Los enfoques comunicativos. There are several reasons why cooperative learning may work. The idea VIRTUES... that students learn more by doing something active than by simply - Sts learn more by doing smthing active. watching and listening has long been known to both cognitive psychologists and effective teachers and cooperative learning is by its nature an active method. Beyond that, cooperation enhances learning in several wavs. Weak students working individually are likely to give up when they get stuck; - Strong sts must explain working cooperatively, they keep going. Strong students faced with the and clarify material to weaker sts. task of explaining and clarifying material to weaker students often find gaps in their own understanding and fill them in. Students working alone may tend to delay completing assignments or skip them altogether, but when they know that others are counting on them, they are often driven to do the work in - Sts are responsible for a timely manner. Students working competitively have incentives not to help their work in a group. That often encourages them. one another; working cooperatively, they are rewarded for helping. The proven benefits of cooperative learning notwithstanding, instructors who attempt it frequently encounter resistance and sometimes open BUT... hostility from the students. Bright students complain about begin held - Bright students complain about begin held back by back by their slower team- mates, weaker or less assertive students their slower team-mates. - Weaker sts complain complain about being discounted or ignored in group sessions, and resentments about being discounted or ignored in group sessions. build when some team members fail to pull their weight. Furthermore, not all students are fond of the idea of working in groups. Many of them like to work - Some sts prefer to work individually and too much work - group does not motivate them at all. individually than in group. Instructors with sufficient patience generally find ways to deal with these problems, but others become discouraged and revert to the traditional teacher- centred instructional paradigm, which is a loss both for them and for their students. 4.3. The Natural approach ( NA) -1980 s to 2000 s- 6. NA: It rejects the notion that Lgs must be It is best represented by J.Asher and S. Krashen. The NA rejects with taught in class to be learned. supportive data the notion that Las must be taught in class to be learned , especially if teaching revolves around the explanation and application of grammar rules. It challenges, therefore, the very essence of SL teaching as we know it and brings us back to Montaigne's Latin teacher and to the DM, although with important surface modifications. Ivan Matellanes' Notes  TOPIC 1: 18.. Evoludon de la didactica de las lenguas Tendencias actuates de la didactica del Ingles como Lg extr Los enfoques comunicativos. The first principle is that reception should precede production. 1. Reception should Like children in the MT situation, SL learners should listen actively for a while precede production ( Silent Period) before attempting to speak ( silent period). Students are only exposed to correct SL, as provided by their instructor or recorded sources. Class activities are similar to the DM ones, except that students respond first with actions and gestures. Krashen's theory of Lg learning is based in the following principles: 2. Natural order Acq. a) Linguistic structures are acquired in a relatively fixed natural order. which may or may not coincide with the textbook classification. b) One only learns by receiving comprehensible input (exposure to a 3. Comprehensible input. level of Lg just above one's own - i+1- ) 4. Affective filter. c) Students only learn when their affective filter (resistance to learning) is down. 5. Distinguish learning d) Learning , a conscious and analytic process, should be distinguished from Acquisition. from subconscious acquisition, which alone can be lead to fluency. Although it may precede it, learning does not turn into acquisition, which can only come from natural, communicative situations. e) Learning is only useful when one can use one' s monitor (Lg control 6. Monitor theory device) i.e., when one knows the rules to be applied and one has the time to concentrate on their application, as in writing or very careful speech. People who manage to control their speech at all times are rare and usually speak in an unnatural manner. The teacher is the source of the learner's input and the creator of the interesting and stimulating variety of classrooms activities. Learner will presumably move through what Krashen define as three stages: 1. Preproduction stage : Development of listening comprehension skills 2. The early production stage : It is usually marked with errors, as the student fights with the Lg. Teachers focused on meaning here, not on form and therefore the teacher does not correct errors during this stage (unless they block comprehension). 3. Last stage: It is one of extending production into longer stretches of discourse. Ivan Matellanes' Notes  TOPIC 1: 19.. Evoludon de la didactica de las lenguas Tendencias actuates de la didactica del Ingles como Lg extr Los enfoques comunicativos. 4.3.1. Drawbacks and virtues Although the above principles are presented as hypothesis, they have BUT... - The learning/Acq and already received considerable support from recent research. The Monitor hypothesis are too weak in supportive learnina / Acquisition and Monitor hypothesis have, however, given rise to evidence. - Teachers are merely controversy , mainly because the supportive evidence is often considered viewed by krashen as the equivalent of the native speaker too weak and practical classroom application too diff. it should also be pointed that, if validated, they would completely redefine the Lg teaching profession: teachers would no longer "teach", since they are merely viewed by Krashen as the equivalent of the native speaker, with perhaps the advantage of being better able to make their Lg comprehensible to the learner. 5. Educational technology (CALL) - 1950s to ?- Ever since the WWII, SL educators have been using available technology to expose students to Lg experiences which teachers could not provide themselves. First, with ALMs, teachers equipped themselves with films, tape recorders and Lg labs to bring the outside world right into the classroom. With The old ALM Labs the global failure of the ALM new ways were sought to make use of all that progressively developed into audio- visual expensive technology. The old Labs progressively developed into audio - learning centers, where students could come visual learning centers , where students could come and work on their and work on their own. own. The development and availability of computer technology has given prominence to a new subfield of education called Computer assisted Lg The development and availability of computer learning (CALL). Until quite recently, CALL was a topic of relevance mostly to technology has given birth to a new subfield of those with a special interest in that area. Recently, though, computers have education called Computer assisted Lg become so widespread in schools and homes and their uses have expanded so learning (CALL). dramatically that the majority of language teachers must now begin to think about the implications of computers for language learning. 5.1. Three Phases of CALL Three Phases of CALL Though CALL has developed gradually over the last 30 years, this development can be categorized in terms of three distinct phases which I I will refer to as behaviouristic. communicative , and integrative CALL. As we will see, the introduction of a new phase does not necessarily entail Ivan Matellanes' Notes  TOPIC 1: 20.. Evoludon de la didactica de las lenguas Tendencias actuates de la didactica del Ingles como Lg extr Los enfoques comunicativos. rejecting the programs and methods of a previous phase; rather the old is subsumed within the new. 5.1.1. Behaviouristic CALL 1. Behaviouristic CAL The first phase of CALL, conceived in the 1950s and implemented in the ( 1950 ) 1960s and 70s, was based on the then-dominant behaviourist theories of Programs entailed repetitive language drills learning ( ALM). Programs of this phase entailed repetitive language drills and and can be referred to as drill and practice. can be referred to as drill and practice (or, more pejoratively, as "drill and kill"). Drill and practice courseware is based on the model of computer as tutor. In other words the computer serves as a vehicle for delivering instructional materials to the student. The rationale behind drill and practice Rationale behind drill and practice was: was not totally spurious, which explains in part the fact that CALL drills are still used today. Briefly put, that rationale is as follows: a. Repeated exposure to - Repeated exposure to the same material is beneficial or even the same material is beneficial to learning essential to learning. - A computer is ideal for carrying out repeated drills, since the b Computer is ideal for carrying out repeated machine does not get bored with presenting the same materials. drills, as it does not get bored. - A computer can present such material on an individualized basis, allowing students to proceed at their own pace and freeing up class c. Free up class time for other activities. time for other activities. Based on these notions, a number of CALL tutoring systems were developed for the mainframe computers which were used at that time. One of b- CALL PROGRAM : the most sophisticated of these was the PLATO system , which ran on its own PALTO sys special PLATO hardware, including central computers and terminals. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, behaviouristic CALL was undermined bv two important factors. First, behaviouristic approaches to language learning had been rejected at both the theoretical and the pedagogical level. Secondly, the introduction of the microcomputer allowed a whole new range of possibilities. The stage was set for a new phase of CALL. Ivan Matellanes' Notes  TOPIC 1: 21.. Evoludon de la didactica de las lenguas Tendencias actuates de la didactica del Ingles como Lg extr Los enfoques comunicativos. 5.1. 2. Communicative CALL 2. Communicative CALL: (1970 s-80s) The second phase of CALL was based on the communicative approach to teaching which became prominent in the 1970s and 80s. Proponents of this approach felt that the drill and practice programs of the previous decade did not allow enough authentic communication to be of much some premises for communicative CALL: value. Here there are some Premises for Communicative CALL : T - Focuses more on using forms rather than on the forms themselves. a. Focus on using forms - Teaches grammar implicitly rather than explicitly. b. Grammar taught implicitly - Allows and encourages students to generate original utterances. c. Allows & encourages sts to generate original utterances - Does not judge and/or evaluate the students. d. Does not judge sts - Avoids telling students they are wrong. e. avoid telling the Sts if they are wrong - Uses the Target Lg (TL) exclusively f. Uses TL exclusively On the face of things communicative CALL seems like a significant advance over its predecessor. But by the end of the 1980s, many educators felt that CALL was still failing to live up to its potential. Critics pointed out that the computer was being used in an ad hoc and disconnected fashion. These critiques of CALL dovetailed with broader reassessments of the communicative approach to language teaching. No longer satisfied with teaching compartmentalized skills or structures (even if taught in a communicative manner), a number of educators were seeking ways to teach in a more integrative manner, for example using task - based approaches. 5.1.3. Steps toward Integrative CALL: Multimedia 3. Integrative CALL: Integrative approaches to CALL are based on two important (1990s t o ?) Based on two important technological developments of the last decade: Multimedia computers and technological developments of the last decade: Multimedia the Internet. Multimedia technology (exemplified today by the CD-ROM) computers (Hypermedia) and the Internet allows a variety of media (text, graphics, sound, animation, and video) to be accessed on a single machine. What makes multimedia even more powerful is that it also entails hypermedia. That means that the multimedia resources are all linked together and that learners can navigate their own path simply by pointing and clicking a mouse. Ivan Matellanes' Notes  TOPIC 1: 22.. Evoludon de la didactica de las lenguas Tendencias actuates de la didactica del Ingles como Lg extr Los enfoques comunicativos. Hypermedia provides a number of advantages for language Hypermedia advantages : learning : T - A more authentic learning environment is created, since listening is a. A more authentic learning environment is combined with seeing, just like in the real world. created since listening is combined with seeing. - Skills are easily integrated, since the variety of media make it natural b. Skills are easily integrated to combine reading, writing, speaking and listening in a single activity. c. Students can go at their own pace - Students have great control over their learning , since they can not only go at their own pace but even on their own individual path. d. Facilitates focus on the - A major advantage of hypermedia is that it facilitates a principle content w/out sacrificing form. focus on the content , without sacrificing a secondary focus on language form or learning strategies. An example of how hypermedia can be used for language learning is the i-CALL PROGRAM: DUSTIN program Dustin which is being developed by the Institute for Learning Sciences at North-western University. The program is a simulation of a student arriving at a U. S. airport. The student must go through customs, find transportation to the city, and check in at a hotel. The language learner using the program assumes the role of the arriving student by interacting with simulated people who appear in video clips and responding to what they say by typing in responses. If the responses are correct, the student is sent off to do other things, such as meeting a roommate. If the responses are incorrect, the program takes remedial action by showing examples or breaking down the task into smaller parts. At any time the student can control the situation by asking what to do, asking what to say, asking to hear again what was just said, requesting for a translation, or controlling the level of difficulty of the lesson. Yet in spite of the apparent advantages of hypermedia for language learning, multimedia software has so far failed to make a major impact. Several major problems have surfaced in regarding to exploiting multimedia for language teaching: Ivan Matellanes' Notes  TOPIC 1: 23.. Evoludon de la didactica de las lenguas Tendencias actuates de la didactica del Ingles como Lg extr Los enfoques comunicativos. There is the question of quality of available programs. Today' s computer programs are not yet intelligent enough to be truly - QuestionBUT... of quality of available programs. interactive. A program like Dustin should ideally be able to understand a - Today's computer cannot be truly interactive yet. user's spoken input and evaluate it not just for correctness but also or appropriateness. 5.2. Steps toward Integrative CALL: The Internet The Internet: Lg learners The World Wide Web is probably the single computer application to date can communicate directly with other St or speakers of the TL 24 hours a day. with the greatest impact on language teaching. For the first time, language learners can communicate directly, inexpensively, and conveniently with other learners or speakers of the TL 24 hours a day, from school, work, or home. This Asynchronic communication communication can be asynchronous ( not simultaneous) through tools such (not simultaneous: mail, forums ) as electronic mail (e-mail or forums), which all