The Application of Communication Approach in High School English Teaching交际法在高中英语教学中的应用

交际法在高中英语教学中的应用The Application of Communication Approach in High School English TeachingAbstractCommunicative Approach is also called Functional Approach or Notional Approach Communicative competence is the core of English communicative teaching. Since Communicative approach was introduced to China, it has attracted a number of Chinese linguists to work on it. Just as Professor Wang Zongyan once said: We shouldnt only read the foreign books, we should look back at our own countrys condition and experiment with the things that we learned from abroad and prove them, correct them and complement them. As for how to apply theory to actual teaching, we have to be discussed.For many years Chinas high school English teaching has been to focus the memory of vocabulary, the master of the sentence and the understand of the grammar rule .They just learn language knowledge, not learn how to use English. So the purpose of high school English teaching is not only taught our students learn knowledge form books, but also teach them how to communicate in a real context, and improve the actual use ability. Communicative competence is a very complex knowledge and skill system, including persons linguistic knowledge, social and cultural background knowledge, cognize ability, emotional factors and other knowledge, foreign language teaching is not confined to the task of imparting knowledge of language.Communicative approach is not a single and fixed teaching mode ,the core content is using language to learn and learning to use language ,but not learning language simply and learning knowledge about the language .The ultimate goal of communicative approach teaching is to enable students to attain enough communicative competence. In the classroom teaching, students gain the foreign knowledge and communicative competence mostly under the situation of “intercourse”, “communicate”, “intercommunicate”, through listening, speaking, reading, writing, and other specific acts. But communicative approach is not the only effective way to improve teaching effiency. We should study communicative approach, and compared with other approaches, combing the actual situation of China, exploring one or more than one road which can meet the needs for foreign language teaching in China.Key words communicative approach, high school English teaching, communicative competence, communicative application.摘 要交际法也叫功能法或意念法、交际教学法的核心是关于交际能力的学说.自从交际教学法进入中国，已经吸引了许多中国语言学家去研究。王宗炎教授曾说过:我们不能只读洋书，要回头看本国情况，把从外国学来的那些东西加以试用、验证、修正、补充。至于怎样把理论运用到教学实践当中去，有待我们去探讨。许多年来，中国的高中英语教学一直把重点放在词汇的记忆，句式的掌握已及语法规则的理解上。他们只学习了英语知识，没有学习怎样使用英语。我们应该明白高中英语教学的目的不应是仅仅教给学生书本知识，更应是教会他们如何在真实的语境里交际，真正提高英语的实际使用能力。交际能力是一个 极为复杂的知识和技能体系，包括一个人的语言知识，社会文化背景知识，文体知识，认知能力，情感因素和其它知识，外语教学的任务不只局限于传授语言知识。交际教学法并不是一种单一的，固定的教学模式，它的核心内容是“用语言去学”和学会语言，而不是单纯的“学语言”，更不是“学习有关语言的知识”。交际法教学的最终目的是让学生获得足够的交际能力。在课堂教学中，学生在多数情况下是处在某种“交流”、“交往”、“交际”的场景中，通过听，说，读，写等具体的行为获得外语知识和交际能力。但交际教学法并不是提高教学效率的唯一有效的方法，我们应通过研究交际教学法，并与其他教学法对比，结合中国的实际情况，探索出一条（甚至多条）适合我国国情的外语教学途径。关键词： 交际法；高中英语教学；交际能力；交际应用iiiContentsAbstracti摘要iiiIntroduction11. An Overview of Communicative Approach31.1 Theoretical Basis of Communicative Approach31.2 Principles of Communicative Approach.71.3 Some Issues concerned in Communicative Approach101.3.1 The Learner and the Teacher101.3.2 Communicative Approach and Communicative Strategy121.3.3 Integration versus Separation of the Four Language Skills132. Some Major Problems in Current High School English Teaching152.1 The Shortage of Qualified Teachers and Equipment152.2 Communicative Failures162.2.1 Communicative -linguistic Failure162.2.2 Socio-Communicative Failure182.3 Students Lacking Opportunities for Application of the Language in Classroom Activities193. Application of Communicative Approach to High School English Teaching203.1 How Deal with the Roles of Teacher and Learner203.1.1 Definition of role203.1.2 Teacher authority and learner autonomy in interaction213.2 The Four Skills in Communicative Language Teaching243.2.1 Speaking253.2.2 Listening263.2.3 Reading273.2.4 Writing293.2.5 Grammar294. Disadvantages and Advantages in Communicative Approach324.1 Disadvatages324.1.1 Communicative Competence and English Teaching324.1.2 Other disadvantages Involved in Communicative Approach334.2 Advantages36Conclusion38Notes39Bibliography40Acknowledgements41vIntroductionSince the end of the Cultural Revolution in 1976, our country has adopted the reform and open policy. The rapid development in economy and culture has placed great demands on people with professional skills in foreign languages. English, as the most extensively used language in the world, has become the most popular foreign language in China. Meantime high school English teaching in China has made tremendous achievements during the past time.However, we cannot say our foreign language teaching is completely successful. The traditional teaching methods made our students very good at getting high marks in the examinations and good at memorizing vocabulary and grammatical rules. But whenever they are facing situations that require them to use English practically, they feel lost. Especially when they are required to communicate in English, they dont know what to say; they dont know whether what they are saying is proper or not; they even dont know how to say. Those existing problems are obvious and receiving more and more attention of both the students and the teachers. In addition to the currently itself, the development has presented new challenges for the school English teaching.In view of the urgency to further reform in high school English teaching, there has been a change of emphasis from presenting language as a set of forms (grammatical, phonological, lexical) to present language as functional system that is used to fulfill a range of communicative purposes. And it seems that if the classroom activities involve real communication and carry out meaningful tasks, the English teaching and learning will stir up the learners interest and help them take the initiative in learning English. It is suggested that the class should be of different communicative activities in accordance with the learners need and English capacity. In such a communicative teaching class, the teacher is no longer the center of the class, but an organizer, a guide and a group activity manager. Furthermore, the learner is expected to learn in an interdependent way by negotiation through the interaction within the classroom activities.At this point, communicative approach, as a new teaching method was introduced to EFL (English as Foreign language) teachers in China and is gradually adopted. At the same time, many explorations and researches have been made to use communicative approach effectively. Unfortunately, some problems and weaknesses have arisen in the practical teaching and learning. Therefore, the main purpose of this paper is to suggest using the communicative approach in high school English teaching.1. An Overview of Communicative ApproachThis part serves as introduction to the CLT, and tries to make clear that effective approach will help to solve the problems in English teaching.1.1 Theoretical Basis of Communicative Approach As an approach of language teaching and learning, it is based on two theories: the theory of language and the theory of learning.As Richards and Rodgers (1986) have pointed that language teaching is based on the theory of language and the theory of learning. Therefore, the following section will reveal the theoretical basis of communicative approach from the theory of language and the theory of learning.As it is known, communicative approach in language teaching starts from a theory of language as communication. In 1960s, Chomskys theory of competence was popular. He thought that the focus of linguistic theory is to characterize the abstract abilities speakers possess that enable them to produce grammatically correct sentences in a language (1965). Hymens (1972) held that linguistic theory needed to be seen as part of a more general theory incorporating communication and culture. In order to contrast his communicative view of language and Chomskys theory of competence, he coined a term-communicative competence. In Hymens view, a person who acquires communicative competence acquires both knowledge and ability for language use. Therefore, Hymes theory of knowing a language offers a much more comprehensive view than Chomskys view of competence, which deals primarily with abstract grammatical knowledge.Another linguistic theory of communication favored in CLT is Hollidays functional account of language use though he claims that his theory has nothing to do with language teaching. In a number of influential books and papers, he has elaborated a powerful theory of the functions of language, which complements Hymens view of communicative competence. Moreover, Henry Widdowson, another theorist who is frequently cited for his view on the communicative nature of language, presented a view of the relationship between linguistic systems and their communicative values in text and discourse in his book Teaching Language as Communication (1978). He focused on the communicative acts underlying the ability to use language for different purposes. A later analysis of communicative competence is found in Canale and Swain, (1980) in which four dimensions of communicative competence are identified. They are grammatical competence, sociolinguistic competence, discourse competence, and strategic competence. Grammatical competence refers to what Chomsky calls linguistic competence. Sociolin- guistic competence refers to an understanding of the social context in which communication takes place. Discourse competence refers to the interpretation of individual message elements in terms of their interconnectedness and of how meaning is represented in relationship to the entire discourse or text. Strategic competence refers to the coping strategies that communicators employ to initiate, terminate, maintain, repair, and redirect communication.1It is obvious that communicative language teaching has a rich theoretical basis at the level of language theory. Richards and Rodgers (1986:71) offer the following four characteristics of a communicative view of language:(1) Language is a system for the expression of meaning.(2) The primary function of language is for interaction and communi- cation.(3) The structure of language reflects its functional and communicative uses.(4) The primary units of language are not merely its grammatical and structural features, but categories of functional and communicative meaning as exemplified in discourse.2Besides the theoretical basis of language, there is still a theoretical basis of learning. But in contrast to the amount that has been written in Communicative Language Teaching about communicative dimensions of language, little has been written about learning theory. However, Richards (1986) suggested that several elements of an underlying learning theory could be inferred from CLT practices.(1) The communication principle: Activities that involve real communi- cation promote learning.(2) The task principle: Activities in which language is used for carrying out meaningful tasks promote learning.(3) The meaningfulness principle: Language that is meaningful to the learner supports the learning process. Learning activities are consequently selected according to how well they engage the learner in meaningful and authentic language use (rather than merely mechanical practice of language patterns).However, more recent accounts of CLT have attempted to describe theories of language learning processes that are compatible with communi- cative approach. For example, Krashen sees acquisition as the basic process involved in developing language proficiency and distinguishes this process from learning. Acquisition refers to the unconscious development of the target language system as a result of using the language for real communication. Learning is the conscious representation of grammatical knowledge that has resulted from instruction, and it cannot lead to acquisition. It is the acquired system that we call upon to create utterances during spontaneous language use. The learned system can serve only as a monitor of the output of the acquired system.2At the same time, Johnson (1984) and Littlewood (1984) consider an alternative learning theory that they also see as compatible with CLT-a skill- learning model of learning. According to this theory, the acquisition of communicative competence in a language is an example of skill development. This theory encourages an emphasis on practice as a way of developing communicative ski11s.31.2 Principles of Communicative Approach.Now lets look at the primary teaching principles of the Communicative Approach.Contextualization is a basic premise of foreign language teaching .The basic teaching units of the CA are discourse in a given context without which the discourse has no communicative function. As far as English teaching is concerned. We should organize teaching content based on functions which English can achieve in given contexts so that what we teach can best meet student needs for communication.Teaching process is communicative.Communicative teaching process suggests that instead of making students have mechanical practice of drilling, imitating and memorizing the target language communicative language teaching involves students in communicating in authentic language in a real-life or semi-real language situation. Activities that are truly communicative have three features: information gap, choice and feedback.a. Information gapIn real life, communication takes place between two or more people one of whom knows something that is unknown to the others. The purpose of communication is to bridge this information gap.In classroom terms, an information gap exercise means that one student must be in a position to tell the other something that he does not already know. b. ChoiceAnother crucial characteristic of communication is that the participants have of what they will say and how they say it. From the view of the speaker, this means that he must choose not only what ideas he wants to express at a given moment, but also what linguistic forms are appropriate to express them.c. FeedbackTrue communication is purposeful. According to the characteristics of foreign language teaching, communicative activities can be grouped into teaching activities simulating activities and real activities.Authentic or “fromlife” materials are adopted which native speakers use in their communication.It is essential to put the students in a real communicative situation. Let them get in touch with lots of authentic or semi-authentic materials, help them use the target language idiomatically and allow them to communicate meanings in meaningful situations rather than merely demonstrate knowledge of grammar points or lexical items.In communicative teaching processes, teaching activities are developed with students as the center:a. As language is a tool of communication, it must be learned by students through a great deal of practice and use. Students are the internal factors whereas teachers are the external factors. Whatever the teachers teach, it must be ultimately mastered by the students themselves. The major role of teachers is that of an organizer and a manager of classroom activities, who provides students with communicative situations and occasions for them to express their own notions creatively and freely.b. Students language errors are regarded with greater tolerance.The CA suggests that errors of forms be tolerated and be seen as a natural outcome of the development of communication skills. There are probably two factors which may account for such attitudes towards errors. The first factor is the focus will be on the success of communication instead of concentration on accuracy. The second is that the learners may be forced into activities for which they have not been prepared and in an effort to deal with them even they may make mistakes.Easy and lively learning atmosphere are provided in language teaching classroom.Psychologist C. Rogers thinks that the aim of education is to help students bring their individual potential into play and become full-functioning participants. It is the responsibility of the teachers to take active and effective methods to create a favorable foreign language learning environment for the students and activate their interest and motivation.1.3 Some Issues concerned in Communicative ApproachOne of the most striking characteristics of CA is that it takes as its basis the view that language is communication, and that learning a language is to learn to communicate. According to Widdowsons words (1978; 18): knowledge of correct unable is of little utility on its own: it has to be complemented by knowledge of appropriate us.41.3.1 The Learner and the TeacherIn traditional high school English classrooms, the teacher is in the dominant position while the student is viewed as a passive recipient and is required to take down and memorize everything told by the teacher. But how could the learning succeed when the classroom atmosphere is dull and the students motivation is kept low. And how could the leaner develop his communicative competence if he does not have enough chances to produce the language in the classroom. So a good method must see to it that the learner will become active participant in the learning process. Breen and Candlin (1980:1l0) describe the learners role in the followings terms:The role of learner as negotiator-between the self, the learning process and the object of learning-emerges from and interacts with the role of joint negotiator within the classroom procedures and activities the group undertakes. The implication for the learner is that he should contribute as much as he gains and thereby learn interdependently.What then is the teachers part in a learner-centered approach? No longer as a provider of correct answers, the teacher should function as a helper or a facilitator, giving guidance and advice whenever necessary. In the words of Breen and Candlin, the teacher should “facilitate the communication process between all participants in the classroom, and between these participants and the various activities and texts”. The teacher must first of all be able to organize the classroom a setting for communication and communicative activities. Secondly, he must be able to monitor the class and to facilitate the learning process. Thirdly, the teacher must be able to note the students problems for later commentary and communicative practice .Finally, he should be able to lead in the debriefing of activity pointing out alternatives and extensions and assisting groups in self-correction discussion.In a word, the teacher has to be not to teach vet see to it that his students learn. This is where the true art of communicative teaching lies and this is where the difficulty locates.51.3.2 Communicative Approach and Communicative StrategyToday the communicative strategy, the strategy of learning based on attempted communication via the target language is promoted and emphasized by the communicative approach. The term “communicative approach” covers a whole spectrum of somewhat differing orientations and procedures, and of course, not all teachers recommended the excusive use of the communicative strategy.Obviously, the notion of the communicative approach is not tantamount to the notion of the communicative strategy of language teaching. The former is a broader concept since it includes not only a certain teaching strategy bu