Richards-Communicative-Language pdf

thinking.

 In language teaching, this means that students do not 

learn language for its own sake but in order to develop and apply 

their thinking skills in situations that go beyond the language 

classroom.

 

7.  Alternative assessment: New forms of assessment are needed 

to replace traditional multiple-choice and other items that 

test lower-order skills. Multiple forms of assessment (e.g., 

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26  Communicative Language Teaching Today

observation, interviews, journals, portfolios) can be used to build 

a comprehensive picture of what students can do in a second 

language.

 

8.  Teachers as co-learners: The teacher is viewed as a facilitator 

who is constantly trying out different alternatives, i.e., learning 

through doing. In language teaching, this has led to an interest in 

action research and other forms of classroom investigation.

These changes in thinking have not led to the development of a single 

model of CLT that can be applied in all settings. Rather, a number of different 

language  teaching  approaches  have  emerged  which  reflect  different  responses 

to the issues identified above. While there is no single syllabus model that has 

been universally accepted, a language syllabus today needs to include systematic 

coverage  of  the  many  different  components  of  communicative  competence, 

including language skills, content, grammar, vocabulary, and functions.

Different  syllabus  types  within  a  communicative  orientation  to 

language  teaching  employ  different  routes  to  developing  communicative 

competence.  We  will  now  examine  some  of  the  different  approaches  that  are 

currently in use around the world and which can be viewed as falling within the 

general framework of communicative language teaching.

Task 13

How have the eight changes discussed by Farrell and Jacobs 

influenced language teaching practices in your school or 

district?

 

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Communicative Language Teaching Today  27