1. This is the first part from Pedagogy Section
1. What is communicative approach in language teaching? State the role of the teachers and the learners in the classroom in communicative approach. 5+5
Answer:
Communicative language teaching (CLT) is an established
approach to second or foreign language teaching which was emerged in 1960's It
is popular with several terms such as communicative methodology, communicative
approach, communicative and functional teaching activities and so on. This
approach is the demand of the day. It is different than other approaches
because it emphasizes on communication. CLT was developed by British applied
linguists as a reaction against the audio-lingual method, and as an extension
or the development of the notional functional syllabus. They saw the need to
focus in language teaching on communicative proficiency rather than the mastery
of structures. Thus, the origin of CLT is linked with the failure and
inadequacies seen in the traditional approaches like Situational Language
Teaching, Audio-lingual approach etc.
CLT centres on the essential belief that if students are
involved in meaning-focused communicative activities, then language learning
will take care of itself. It emphasizes interaction as both the means and the
ultimate goal of study. CLT also places great emphasis on helping
students use the target language in a variety of contexts and places great
emphasis on learning four language skills - listening, speaking, reading,
writing. Meaning is paramount in CLT. Communicative language teaching assumes
that language is a means of communication and therefore it should be handled as
a social phenomenon.
The primary concern of CLT is thus
with spoken functions as much as with written grammatical and textual
functions. The notion of when and how it is appropriate to say certain things
is of prime importance in CLT. It is believed that plentiful exposure to
language in use and plenty of opportunities to use it are vitally important for
the development of L2 knowledge and skill. Activities in CLT typically involve
students in real or realistic communication, when the successful achievement of
the communicative task is an important as the accuracy of language use. Both
fluency and accuracy are the goals of CLT, with a priority on fluency.
CLT is based on the theory of language as communication. The aim of language teaching is to develop communicative competence. There are some techniques of CLT. Larsen-Freeman suggests the following key techniques associated with communicative language teaching:
1. 1. Authentic
materials
Authentic materials are those materials which are natural to
native speakers of the target language. Authentic materials are newspaper
articles, print, video, and audio materials students
encounter in their daily lives, such as change-of- address forms, job
applications, menus, voice mail messages, radio programs, and videos. The supporters of CLT gives emphasis on the use of such
authentic language materials in the classroom. Sometimes, students cannot
transfer what they learn in the classroom to the outside world. To overcome
this typical problem, students should be exposed to natural language in a
variety of situations. The use of language materials authentic to native
speakers of the target language is one of them.
2. 2. Scrambled sentences
The students are given a passage (a text) in which the
sentences are in a scrambled order. This may be a passage before they have
worked with or one, they have not seen before. They are told to unscramble the
sentences to restore them in their original order. This type of exercise
teaches students about the cohesion and coherence. With the help of the feature
like cohesion and coherence, language becomes natural and comprehensible. In
addition to written passages, students might also be asked to unscramble the
lines of mixed-up dialogue or to put the pictures of a picture strip story in
order. They are asked to write the lines to accompany the pictures.
3. 3. Language games
Games make the students active, alert and attentive.
Different language games are used frequently in CLT. The students find them
enjoyable and have fun. If they are properly designed, they give students
valuable communicative practice. Games that are truly communicative have the
three features of communication which are information, choice and feedback.
4. 4. Picture/strip story
Many activities can be done with picture strip stories. One
of the activities can be a problem-solving communicative task. Problem solving
task work well in the communicative approach because they usually include the
three features of communication i.e. information, choice and feedback. First,
they don't know what the picture contains. They have choices to make
prediction. They convey their prediction. Finally, they receive feedback on the
content of the prediction. Moreover, they can be structured so that student
share information together to arrive at a solution. This gives students
practice in negotiating meaning.
5. 5. Role play
Role play is very important in CLT because it gives students
an opportunity to practice communicating in different social contexts and in
different social roles. Students are asked to play different roles in CLT. Role
plays can be set up so that they are very structured or in a less structured
way. Second one is very common in CLT because it gives the students more of a
choice. Students also receive feedback on whether or not they have effectively
communicated.
2. 2. What
is receptive skill? Write about the methodological model for teaching receptive skill as suggested by Harmer. 4+6
Answer:
Language is used for communication in terms of four skills. They
are listening, speaking, reading and writing. The four language skills may
rarely work in isolation. They are integrated to make communication meaningful
and effective. The skills are often divided into two types: receptive and
productive. Receptive skill is a term used for reading and listening from which
the learner receives or perceives something. Meaning is extracted from the
discourse from this skill. Productive skill is the term for speaking and
writing, skills where students actually have to produce or generate language
themselves. It is certainly the case that when we speak or write we are
producing language, and when we listen or read, we are trying to extract
meaning of what we have read or listened to. Listening and reading skills of
language involve receiving messages so they are often referred to as receptive
skills. The receptive skills involve active participation of the listener or
reader.
A basic methodological model for teaching receptive skills as
suggested by Harmer is presented below:
There are five different stages in the basic methodological
model for teaching receptive skills. The procedure for teaching receptive skill
generally begins with Lead-in then teacher directs comprehension tasks and so
on. These stages are presented below:
1.
Lead in
In this stage the students and the teachers prepare themselves
for the task. They familiarize themselves with the topic of the listening and
reading task. In this stage we engage the students with the topic and try to
activate their schema, a term which refers to our pre-existent knowledge of the
world. Thus, lead-in activities provoke the learners' schema.
2.
T directs comprehension
tasks
In this stage, the teacher makes sure that the students know
what they are going to do. The comprehension tasks can be of two types: type 1
and type 2. Type 1 task is general text related/comprehension task which is
general in nature whereas type 2 task is specific comprehension task. In the
first phase, the type 1 tasks are directed by the teacher and then type 2 tasks
can be directed.
3.
SS read/listen for tasks
In this stage, the students are engaged in listening and reading
to a text to perform the tasks the teacher has set for them. The students can
perform the tasks or do the exercises individually, or in pairs and in small
groups.
4.
T directs feedback
In this stage the teacher helps ang gives feedback to the
students. When the students have performed the tasks, the teacher helps them to
see if they have successfully completed the task. The teacher also tries to
find out how well they have done the work. The teacher gives feedback (explicit
or implicit) to them. From this stage the teacher leads students towards two
directions: first, to text-related tasks, and next, to type 2 tasks including
comprehension tasks and listening/reading activities.
5.
T directs text-related tasks
When the students have performed both
types of tasks, i.e. general or type tasks and specific or type 2 tasks, the
teacher gives some more follow-up tasks which are related to the text. On the
basis of their previous performance and teacher's feedback, the students
perform on the text-related tasks.
The model can be presented in the following way
A basic model for teaching receptive skills.
3. Write about the basic skills of ICT for English Language teacher. 10
Answer:
Teachers should be updated according
to the situation and changes of the world. The same teaching style shouldn't be
used. It should be changed or reformed according to the innovation of the
world. Therefore, teachers should have some skills of ICT which can be applied
and used in teaching. ICT is the abbreviated form of Information and
Communication Technology. It is a cry of the day. The successful integration of
Information and Communications Technology (ICT) into the teaching and learning
of English Language is largely dependent on the level of teacher's ICT
competence. Virtual teaching is possible if the teacher has the knowledge of
ICT. In this pandemic situation ICT plays vital role in teaching learning
activities. The utilization of ICT in the language classroom depends on the
competence of the teacher. There are some factors that challenge teachers to
use ICT in language teaching.
ICT is taken as the most potential
tool for teaching. It provides educational opportunities in both formal and non-formal
ways. ICT's can increase motivation to the learner and they will be engaged in
classroom activities. It gives opportunity to the learners to uplift the
standard of digital literacy.
Some basic skills of ICT for English
language teachers are given below:
a.
Computer literacy:
The teachers should be literate in computer. They should
know how to use different soft wares in teaching. They should be able to
operate useful computer programs, share common features and icons, which means
and use basic programs (word, excel, powerpoint, one note, outlook, g-mail etc.
They should be literate on using different search engines and download the
materials.
b.
Ability to put the files in back-up:
The teachers should have the idea to back-up or restore the
files and documents so that they can be used in future too. Computers are the
store house where we can store the resources which are created. Sometimes they
can be shared and saved on computers. If the teacher wants to protect the
documents / files, he/she needs to know how to back-up their files.
c.
Ability to use online project work:
Most teachers as students to take part in group work at some
point, but how often teachers do this type of work themselves. If you want to
be able to really help your students, get involved in some projects that are
run online - either in or outside of school. Your experiences will stand your
students in good stead.
d.
Familiar with social networking
skills:
Teachers should have a basic understanding of how online
networks work. They should be familiar with different social sites. Because of
social networking, they can easily get the excess to get and use materials.
e.
The benefits of teacher training:
In order to become a confident user of ICT in the classroom,
teachers need to take part in ongoing training Teachers should understand the
benefits of digital literacy. Teachers require extensive, on-going exposure to
ICTs to be able to evaluate and select the most appropriate resources. However,
the development of appropriate pedagogical practices is seen as more important
than technical mastery of ICTs. One-off training is not sufficient, schools
need to invest in and implement long term ongoing training and continuous
professional development in order to keep up with rapidly evolving digital
technologies.
4. 4. What is action research in teaching? Why is
it called 'a cycle of action'? 5+5
Action research is known as classroom research. It is propounded by Kurt Lewin. He introduced it in 1946 in order to bridge up between theoretical and applied research It is said that an action research a conducted to improve the action but not to prove any theory. As Lewin says. "Action research is the term which describes the integration of action (implementing a plan) with research (developing an understanding of the effectiveness of this implementation)". Action research is conducted to solve the problems that occur during our teaching. As the name suggests it is applied to take action regarding the immediate problem of classroom. Action research must be conducted by the practitioner, i.e. teacher in the case of teaching to solve any problem immediately that is seen in the classroom teaching. It is conducted to bring a change in the existing situation. Action research is applied to improve the existing situation. It is the most commonly recommended form of classroom research.
Stages/steps of action research
Different scholars have different views on the stages of action research. The
stages/steps presented by Burns (2015) is mentioned below:
1. Planning a.
identifying b. informing c. organizing
2. Acting a.
Trialing b. collecting c. questioning
3. Observing a.
analyzing b. reporting c. sharing
4. Reflecting a. valuating b. implementing c. revising
Action research is cyclic in nature because the practitioner can follow its cycle. Those above mentioned four stages of action research are used again and again until they achieve the expected result. These steps are followed in cyclic order like in the following diagram.
First the researcher or the teacher
in this context makes plan to solve the existing problem. Then s/he takes
action according to his/her plan to bring changes. After that s/he collects,
observes and analyses the data to find out whether there is change or not. If
there is not expected change, the steps are again followed until good results
are achieved. So, this research is also called the cyclic research or it is the
cycle of actions.
5. 5. What is error analysis? Write the different
techniques to correct errors. 4+6
Answer:
It is human nature to make mistakes.
The students also make mistakes when they are speaking and writing. Sometimes
they create fun and merriment. Some mistakes can be easily corrected by them
but some mistakes can be repeatedly done by them although we guide them several
times. This type of mistake that is deeply rooted to the learner's
interlanguage competence is known as error. Why is this so? Is there any
difference between the mistakes made by a native speaker and those made by a
learner? What kinds of mistakes there are? What are the things that are
responsible for these mistakes? The answers to these questions are tried in
error analysis. Describing the purpose and process of error analysis, Corder
(1975) says, From the study of his errors we are able to infer his knowledge at
that point in his learning career and discover what he still has to learn. By
describing and classifying his errors in linguistic terms we build up a picture
of the features of the language which are causing him learning problems. The
purpose of error analysis is to find out the sources of error, that is why does
a learner make particular kind of mistakes. This shows what features or areas
of the language are causing him problems in learning. This knowledge, then is
used to provide remedies. As to how error analysis is carried on can be seen as
a series of successive steps. There are some steps of error analysis. The steps
of error analysis are:
a) collection of data
b) identification / recognition of errors
c) description / classification of errors
d) explanation of errors
e) evaluation of errors
The main purpose of doing error
analysis is to facilitate learning, Errors provide feedback to the teacher.
They tell the teacher something about the strength and weakness of their teaching
techniques: where their teaching was successful and where it was a failure.
They enable them to decide whether they should move onto the next reaching item
or concentrate more on the item they have been teaching.
There is no single best technique
for correcting errors. A teacher should be flexible in her/his techniques of
correction. It is also very important that she should be aware of the effect on
each individual learner of correcting errors. Most teachers do not consider
students' personality and the effect of their way of correcting these errors.
Although they correct errors, they bluntly criticise the students for making
them. As a result, students gradually lose interest in their lesson. So, a good
teacher makes correction with positive comment and uses different strategies
according to the kind of error, the ability and personality of the student, and
the general atmosphere of the class. The correction can be made by the teacher
her/himself (teacher correction), by the students themselves (student
correction), or by both teacher and students (mixed correction).
There are some techniques of error
correction. They are mentioned below.
a. a. Self-correction techniques:
Errors can be corrected by the students if we guide them
again and again without pointing their errors. They should find out their
errors themselves and correct them themselves. The errors which are corrected
by themselves may not occur later because they find their error by
themselves. Sometimes teachers can
correct the errors together with the students. It is mixed technique to correct
the errors.
b. b. Peer correction techniques
Errors can be corrected by their friends or peers. That is
collaborative type of error correction technique. In this type of correction
both of the students are active in learning. This type of correction is student
centered too.
c. c. Teacher correction techniques
We can correct the errors of the students. It is the easiest
way to correct the errors but it is less supportive for learning. The objective
of correction is not to show the students their ignorance and not to criticise
them but to help and encourage them learning more. To achieve this objective a
teacher has to be very careful in her/his correction techniques.
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