New approaches and modern methods of teaching foreign language

COMMUNICATIVE APPROACH
1. Meaning is paramount.
2. Dialogs, if used, center around communicative functions and are not normally memorized.
3. Contextualization is a basic premise.
4. Language leaming is leaming to communicate.
5. Communication is sought.
6. Driliing may occur, but peripherally.
7. Corrprehensible pronunciation is sought.
8. Any device that helps the learner is accepted.
9. Communication may be encouraged from the beginning. Judicious use of L1 is accepted.
10. Translation may be used. Reading and writing can start from first day. Communicative competence is the desired goal.
11. Sequencing is determined by any consideration of content, function or meaning that maintain interest.
12. Language created through trial and error.
13,Fluency and acceptable language is the prímary goal: accuracy is judged not in the abstract but in context.
14. Students are expected to interact with other people.
Canale and Swain (1980) describe communicative competence as integrated by four parts: -linguistic competence -the grammatical, lexical, semantic and phonological competence; -discourse competence -the linguistic and meaning relationships within the discourse (cohesion, coherence, gesture...); -socio-linguistic competence or the understanding of the functional aspects of communication including role relationships, personal factors, social and cultural context -strategic competence, referred to the coping strategies developed to solve the learning problems and to be autonomous. The Communicative Approach can be considered rich and eclectic at the level of language theory, because it advocates the following main features (Richards and Rodgers 1986: 71)
1. Language is a system for the expression of meaning.
2. The primary function of language is for interaction and communication.
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.
The learning theory underlying this Approach is not very much developed, though some main elements emerge from its practice. Learning improves when these forceful ideas are applied to classroom activities (see Johnson 1982):
-Relationship of activities to real communication.
-Activities use language for meaningful tasks.
-Language used is meaningful to the learner.
-Language is used communicatively, rather than practicing language skills.