Language learning is a demanding, time-consuming process involving many skills, all to be taught.
Communicative language teaching is a result of linguistists realizing that learning a language is a much more complex matter than learning words and grammar. Mission impossible? NO, but a 10-stage challenge for the teacher!
There are ten basic language skill areas involved:
- 1 Vocabulary – knowledge of words, pronunciation and the meanings of words enables communication at a basic level
- 2 Grammar – knowledge on ‘hidden’ rules how to combine words (sentences, utterances) to make sense to others
- 3 Listening and 4 Reading receptive / passive skills
- 5 Speaking and 6 Writing productive / active skills In addition there are four other skill areas that are sometimes neglected but which a teacher has to work on with the pupils and students:
- 7 Sociolinguistic skills – mastering the use of appropriate language in social situations – choice of words, politeness, style and register
- 8 Learning styles and strategies – learning how to learn languages effectively individually, in pairs or groups, enjoying the process and solving communication problems when they arise
- 9 Self-assessment/evaluation and exam preparation – knowing your strengths and weaknesses and how to cope with them
- 10 Cultural awareness – knowing what life is like in the countries where the target language is spoken
The term ‘communicative competence‘ is used when we assess to what extent the learner masters these language skill areas. With the limited time available we language teachers really have to know what we are doing and be very systematic and logical in the way we facilitate learning a new language.
The traditional order of importance in teaching language skills was often: 1. Reading 2. Grammar 3. Vocabulary 4. Writing 5. Listening 6. Speaking
Today the order might be: 1. Speaking 2. Use of vocabulary 3. Reading 4. Listening 5. Applying grammar 6. Writing
Preferences vary from country to country but the teacher has to know his/her own priorities to be able to set appropriate goals for learning.
Oh, yes! I nearly forgot. Then there is class management and control, dealing with the parents, writing and marking the exam papers. But I will deal with these topic later on.
In my school days in the 1960s and 1970s only points 1 and 2, and 4 partially (in translation) and 10 (a few photos) were observed. The teacher sometimes showed us colour photos taken in Britain and thanks to them I made a honeymoon to Britain in the mid-1980s. On one occasion I drove 150 kilometres to Blackpool just to see the mini ‘Eiffel tower’ which I had seen in our textbook. The photos also made me fall in love with the Lake District.
In 1988 I took my whole family to Britain travelling with a caravan. I had decided to visit all the places in Britain that I had been talking about at school but had never visited. While working in Turku I took more than 20 student groups for a week to London to learn about the culture and to use English in an authentic environment. Then finally in 2016 I visited New York for the first time having ‘taught’ about the city for 40 years. Such is life!