VISI Vol. 22 No.2 Juni 2014
VISI (Juni 2014) Vol. 22 No. 2
ISSN: 0853-0203
THE ENGLISH TEACHERS’ PERCEPTION AND IMPLEMENTATION ON
COMMUNICATIVE LANGUAGE TEACHING (CLT) METHOD:
A CASE STUDY AT SMA HKBP PEMATANGSIANTAR
David Berthony Manalu
(FKIP – Universitas HKBP Nommensen Pematangsiantar)
Abstrak
Penelitian ini diterapkan dengan tujuan untuk mengetahui persepsi guru tentang sebuah metode
pembelajaran bahasa Inggris: Pembelajaran Bahasa yang Komunikatif (Communicative Language
Teaching), dan juga untuk menyelidiki lebih dalam keterkaitan antara persepsi tersebut terhadap
penerapannya di dalam proses pembelajaran bahasa Inggris. Metode yang digunakan adalah
kualitatif. Subjek penelitian merupakan 4 orang guru bahasa Inggris di SMA HKBP
Pematangsiantar. Hasil yang ditemukan dari penelitian adalah: (1) kurangnya informasi mengenai
CLT menyebabkan kesalahpahaman guru terhadap konsep dan prinsip metode CLT, (2) penerapan
pengajaran di kelas membuktikan bahwa metode yang mereka gunakan bukanlah CLT melainkan
metode tradisional (Grammar-Translation Method). Penelitian ini juga mengungkapkan alasanalasan para guru terkait ketidaksesuaian antara rencana pelaksanaan pembelajaran (RPP) mereka
dengan praktik mengajar di kelas, yaitu: keterbatasan waktu yang disediakan kurikulum dan akan
tejadinya kesalahpahaman dari pihak siswa terhadap materi apabila para guru menerapkan metode
CLT.
Keywords:
Perception, Implementation, CLT (Communicative Language Teaching)
I. INTRODUCTION
1.1
Research Background
Nowadays there are various methods used in language teaching. Most of them have
appeared in the last century as a reaction against the Grammar Translation Method, which was the
first and most common method used for teaching English. It is because millions of people today
want to improve their English or to ensure that their children achieve Standard English. And
opportunities to learn English are provided in many different ways such as through formal
instruction, travel, and study abroad, as well as through the media and the Internet. Learners want to
be able to master English to a high level of accuracy and fluency. Employers, too, insist that their
employees have good English language skills, and fluency in English is a prerequisite for success
and advancement in many fields of employment in today’s world. The demand for an appropriate
teaching methodology is therefore as strong as ever. According to Richards (2006:1)
Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) has served as a major source of influence on language
teaching practice around the world and its issues are still relevant today, though teachers who are
relatively new to the profession may not be familiar with them.
Some researchers had investigated CLT and its implementation. Adhikari (2007) had
investigated the Nepalese English teachers’ perception of CLT and its implementation in Nepalese
secondary schools. Findings of this study confirmed that the Nepalese secondary school English
teachers involved saw themselves as well informed and competent when conducting the CLT
classes. However, it also revealed that there are a number of factors which restrict these teachers
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VISI (Juni 2014) Vol. 22 No. 2
ISSN: 0853-0203
from pursuing the CLT approach effectively in their classroom. These are: very little in-service
training; large class sizes, restrictive teaching materials; and long teaching hours. It was found that
the learner-centered approach to language teaching was perceived as important by most of the
teachers, even those who had not had any training in the CLT approach. More surprisingly, some
teachers who had recently completed CLT training still restricted themselves to the traditional
‘teacher-centered’ approach.
Another research by Chang (2010) explored factors that promote or hinder EFL teachers’
implementation of CLT in Taiwanese college English classes. The findings indicated that the
factors that impacted implementation of CLT related to teachers, students, the educational system,
and suitability of CLT in the local context. Also, certain situational constraints were found to hinder
the implementation of CLT. The research provided practical recommendations for teachers,
educators, and policy makers to further improve teacher training, curriculum design, and situational
constraints to ensure success in implementing the CLT approach.
Based on the researcher’s experience, as one of the field coordinator of teaching practice
program, which is organized by Teacher Training Faculty of Nommensen University, CLT has
been introduced to the teachers through various teacher training programs, workshops, and
seminars. But the implementation is still rarely found in the class. It can be proven from the
students’ responses while the researcher asked them something in English. There were still so many
students who were not able to speak communicatively and some of them kept silent or even looked
confused to what the researcher asked. This implies that CLT is not totally applied in English class.
This failure may come from the teachers’ side. They may understand the concept of CLT,
but fail to apply this method. It could be lack of motivation from the teachers that made the students
have no courage to speak in English. It is the teacher’s responsibility to motivate his/her students to
learn because the success of learning derives from not only the teacher, but also students’ attitude.
This issue attracted the researcher’s attention to investigate whether the English teachers of
SMA HKBP Pematangsiantar understand the concept of CLT or not, and to reveal the
implementation of CLT in their teaching process.
1.2
Research Problems
The problems of this study were formulated in the form of a question as stated below:
1. What perceptions do the English teachers of SMA HKBP Pematangsiantar have towards
Communicative Language Teaching (CLT)?
2. How is CLT applied in their teaching process?
3. Why do the teachers apply the CLT the way they are?
1.3
Research Scope
Dealing with the first problem, the scope is in the teachers’ perception or understanding on
CLT based on interview. The concept of communicative approach according to Brown (1994) and
Larsen – Freeman (1986) will be used as interview questions in order to get the teachers’ perception
about communicative approach. In answering the second problem, the researcher limits the
observation right on the time of teaching-learning process for 2 x 45 minutes for each teacher. This
is based on the English schedule at that school, that English has 6 hours in a week, which every
meeting has 2 hours. If the researcher finds the teachers do not use CLT, then he will find out the
causes hindering the implementation of CLT.
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II. RESEARCH METHOD
2.1
Research Design
This research used qualitative study and conducts descriptive analysis. A qualitative research
is concerned primarily with process, meaning, and understanding, rather than outcomes or
procedures (Creswell 1994: 145). Therefore a qualitative researcher needs to report faithfully the
realities and to rely on voices and interpretations of informants. Descriptive research is designed to
obtain information concerning the current status of phenomena. They are directed toward
determining the nature of a situation as it exists at the time of the study. The aim of descriptive
study is to describe what exist with respect to variables or conditions in a situation. This research is
a descriptive qualitative study because it concerns with the natural context of classroom activities
during English teaching-learning process.
2.2
Research Subjects
The subjects of this research were the English teachers of SMA HKBP Pematangsiantar.
There were 4 teachers whom will be interviewed and observed. Two of them were the senior and
others were the junior. Two of them have been certified, one was in certification progress and other
was still not yet. All of them have S-1 degree.
2.3
Time and Place
This research was conducted in SMA HKBP Pematangsiantar which was located on Jl.
Gereja no. 26 Pematangsiantar between October – November 2013.
2.4
Techniques of Collecting Data
The techniques of collecting data in this research are conducted in three (3) phases, namely:
pre-interview, classroom observation, and post-interview. First the researcher will interview the
English teachers related to their perception towards CLT. Then the classroom observation will be
done to all teachers. The researcher uses digital camera to record the classroom activities. This type
of data will be transcribed into descriptive form in order to describe the natural situation of the
classroom. Last, the researcher will interview all the English teachers in order to clarify the points
which are observed.
2.5
Techniques of Analyzing Data
The researcher conducts indentifying the “coding” procedure to be used to reduce the
information themes or categories. Creswell (1994: 154) states that “coding is the flexible rules that
govern how one goes about sorting through interview transcription, observational notes, documents,
and visual material”.
The steps of analyzing data are sorted below:
Transcribing the pre-interview data
Transcribing the classroom observation data
Transcribing the post-interview data
Conducting the “coding” technique to determine the relevance of teachers’ perception
and implementation of CLT Method.
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III. FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION
3.1
Findings
From pre-interview, observation, and post interview, the researcher found out that:
(1) The English teachers understand the principles of CLT incompletely. There are some
principles of CLT which had been misunderstood by the teachers. For instance:
a. Two of the teachers said that CLT is a part of teacher-centered learning approach. In fact,
CLT is a kind of student-centered learning approach.
b. One of the teachers believed that the goal of learning in CLT is to make the students are
able to read and translate the text. This view shows that she referred to GrammarTranslation Method.
c. Three of the teachers stated that the role of teacher in CLT is as authority in classroom
activities. Teacher acts as motivator in the class of CLT.
d. All of them argued that the use of code mixing (native language and target language) is
an effective way to deliver material and instruction in CLT class. While in fact, CLT
does not use native language. It is only target language in the teaching and learning
process.
e. Three of them thought that errors must be immediately corrected. CLT method views
errors as a natural outcome of learning development, so it is tolerated because learning is
a result of trial-and-errors.
f. All of them considered that translation, memorization, deductive application of rule,
cognates and composition are kinds of techniques used in CLT. Indeed, those techniques
are part of Grammar-Translation Method.
g. Two of them said that accuracy is the only thing to be evaluated in students’ works.
While accuracy and fluency need to be evaluated in CLT class.
(2) In applying their teaching, all teachers used a mixed method between Grammar Translation
Method and CLT. This can be seen from:
a. The use of language in teaching and learning process. The most essential characteristic of
CLT method is the using of target language (i.e. English) from the beginning until the
closing of the teaching and learning process. There is no place for students’ native
language in the classroom. This dominant principle has been disobeyed by all teachers.
They gave chance to students to speak in Batak language and Indonesian language, while
English has been used for a very short time.
b. The teaching techniques used. There are some techniques that are suitable for CLT: role
play, games, jigsaw, information gap, opinion sharing, etc. But the teachers still
combined these types of techniques with: translating text, memorization or cognates in
some activities.
(3) There are some reasons related to why the teachers apply CLT the way they are, such as:
a. They mixed English and Indonesian or even Batak language in order to make the
students understand what they meant. Since they realized that it is impossible to use
English the whole time, so they preferred to mixed native language and target language.
b. The time used in teaching English is limited for 2 x 45 minutes a day for each class. So, it
is better to apply memorization and translation practice. The time needed for
memorization and translation is short so the learning goal based on the curriculum can be
achieved efficiently. Then the rest time they can use discussion or games. That is why
they mixed the techniques in teaching English.
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3.2
Discussion
3.2.1 Communicative Competence
The idea of communicative competence is originally derived from Chomsky’s distinction
between competence and performance. The term “communicative competence” was developed by
Hymes as a contrast to Chomsky's linguistic competence.
By competence, Chomsky means the shared knowledge of the ideal speaker-listener set in a
completely homogeneous speech community (1965: 3). Such underlying knowledge enables a user
of a language to produce and understand an infinite set of sentences out of a finite set of rules. The
transformational grammar provides for an explicit account of this tacit knowledge of language
structure, which is usually not conscious but is necessarily implicit. Performance, on the other hand,
is concerned with the process of applying the underlying knowledge to the actual language use,
commonly stated as encoding and decoding (1965: 4).
Hymes believes that Chomsky’s view of competence is too narrow and idealized. Hymes
(1972) extends the notion of competence to be communicative competence and concludes that a
linguistic theory must be able to deal with a heterogeneous speech community, differential
competence and the role of socio-cultural features. He believes that we should be concerned with
performance, which he defines as the actual use of language in a concrete situation, not an idealized
speaker-listener situation in a completely homogeneous speech community. Hymes deems it
necessary to distinguish two kinds of competence: (1). linguistic competence that deals with
producing and understanding grammatically correct sentences, and (2). communicative competence
that deals with producing and understanding sentences that are appropriate and acceptable to a
particular situation.
Thus Hymes coins a term communicative competence and defines it as a knowledge of the
rules for understanding and producing both referential and social meaning of language.
Communicative competence consists of four components: Possibility – the ability to produce
grammatical sentences; Feasibility – the ability to produce sentences which can be decoded by the
human brain; Appropriateness – the ability to use correct forms of language in a specific sociocultural context; Performance – the fact that the utterance is completed (1972: 271).
According to Canale and Swain (1980), communicative competence is composed minimally
of grammatical competence, sociolinguistic competence, and strategic competence. The first
includes knowledge of the lexical items and rules of morphology, syntax, sentence grammar,
semantics, and phonology. The second consists of two sets of rules, socio-cultural rules of use and
rules of discourse, knowledge of both of which, is crucial to interpreting utterances for social
meaning particularly when there is a low level of transparency between the literal meaning of an
utterance and the speaker's intention. Strategic competence consists of verbal and non-verbal
strategies of communication that may be employed to compensate for communication breakdown
attributable to performance variables or to insufficient competence. Communication strategies are
of two kinds: those that are relevant, mainly to grammatical competence and those that relate more
to socio-linguistic competence. An example of the first kind is to paraphrase grammatical forms
that a person has not mastered or cannot recall, momentarily, while examples of the second would
be the various role playing strategies such as how a stranger should be addressed by someone who
is uncertain about the stranger's social status.
Savignon (1985: 130) refined the Canale and Swain’s views on communicative competence.
His views on communicative competence includes grammatical competence (sentence level
grammar), socio-linguistic competence (an understanding of the social context in which language is
used), discourse competence (an understanding of how utterances are strung together to form a
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meaningful whole), and strategic competence (a language user's employment of strategies to make
the best use of what s/he knows about how a language works, in order to interpret, express, and
negotiate meaning in a given context).
In conclusion there is an evolution in “communicative competence” concept. The evolution
can be seen from figure below.
Hymes
Possibility
(1972)
Feasibility
Appropriateness
Canale and Swain
Grammatical
(1980)
Competence
Sociolinguistic
Competence
Savignon
Grammatical
(1985)
Competence
Sociolinguistic
Competence
Discourse
Competence
Strategic
Strategic
Performance
Competence
Competence
Figure 1. Chronological Evolution of “Communicative Competence” Concept (Adopted
from Rickheit and Strohner, 2008: 21)
3.2.2 The Characteristics of CLT
Brown (1994: 35) summarized the characteristics of CLT based on the theory of language,
theory of learning, objective, syllabus, learner role, teacher role, language skills, activities, error
handling and material. Table below explains all the characteristics of CLT.
Methods
Communicative Language Teaching
Categories
Language is a system for the expression of meaning.
The primary function of language is interaction and communication.
Theory of The structure of language reflects its functional and communicative uses.
Language The primary units of language are not merely its grammatical and structural
features, but categories of functional and communicative meaning as exemplified in
discourse.
Theory of
Learning
Objectives
Syllabus
Learner
Roles
Teacher
Roles
Language
Skills
Activities involving real communication.
Carrying out meaningful tasks.
Using meaningful language promotes learning.
Language learning comes about through using language communicatively, rather
than through practising language skills.
Objectives will reflect the needs of the learner, they will include functional skills as
well as linguistic objectives.
Will include some/all of the following: functions, notions, themes, tasks.
Ordering will be guided by learner needs.
Learners as negotiator, interactor, giving messages as well as taking them.
Facilitator of the communication process, participant tasks and texts, need analyst,
counsellor, process manager.
Communication skill.
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Activities
Error
Handling
Materials
Engage learners in communication, involve processes such as information sharing,
negotiation of meaning and interaction.
Mistakes are tolerated, the emphasis being on the message and not on the form.
Primary role of promoting communicative language use.
Task-based materials.
Authentic.
3.2.3 Materials used in CLT
Nunan (1999: 78-79) classifies three kinds of materials currently used in CLT: text-based
materials, task-based materials, and realia (authentic materials).
Text-Based Materials
There are numerous textbooks designed to direct and support CLT. Their tables of contents
sometimes suggest a kind of grading and sequencing of language practice not unlike those found in
structurally organized texts. Some of these are in fact written around a largely structural syllabus,
with slight reformatting to justify their claims to be based on a communicative approach. A typical
lesson consists of a theme (e.g., relaying information), a task analysis for thematic development
(e.g., understanding the message, asking questions to obtain clarification, asking for more
information, taking notes, ordering and presenting information), a practice situation description
(e.g., "A caller asks to see your manager. He does not have an appointment. Gather the necessary
information from him and relay the message to your manager."), a stimulus presentation (in the
preceding case, the beginning of an office conversation scripted and on tape), comprehension
questions (e.g., "Why is the caller in the office?"), and paraphrase exercises.
Task-Based Materials
A variety of games, role plays, simulations, and task-based communication activities have
been prepared to support CLT classes. These typically are in the form of one-of-a-kind items:
exercise handbooks, cue cards, activity cards, pair-communication practice materials, and studentinteraction practice booklets. In pair-communication materials, there are typically two sets of
material for a pair of students, each set containing different kinds of information. Sometimes the
information is complementary, and partners must fit their respective parts of the "jigsaw" into a
composite whole. Others assume different role relationships for the partners (e.g., an interviewer
and an interviewee). Still others provide drills and practice material in interactional formats.
Realia (authentic materials)
Many proponents of Communicative Language Teaching have advocated the use of
"authentic," "from-life" materials in the classroom. These might include language-based realia, such
as signs, magazines, advertisements, and newspapers, or graphic and visual sources around which
communicative activities can he built, such as maps, pictures, symbols, graphs, and charts.
Different kinds of objects can be used to support communicative exercises, such as a plastic model
to assemble from directions.
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3.2.4 Classroom Activities in CLT
Richards (2006: 14-21) clarifies there are various activities that can be applied in CLT
model.
Fluency and Accuracy Activities
Focusing on Fluency
Focusing on Accuracy
Reflect natural use of language
Reflect classroom use of language
Focus on achieving communication
Focus on the formation of correct examples of
language
Require meaningful use of language
Practice language out of context
Require the use of communication strategies
Practice small samples of language
Produce language that may not be predictable
Do not require meaningful communication
Seek to link language use to context
Control choice of language
Example of activities focusing on fluency:
A group of students of mixed language ability carry out a role play in which they have to
adopt specified roles and personalities provided for them on cue cards. These roles involve the
drivers, witnesses, and the police at a collision between two cars. The language is entirely
improvised by the students, though they are heavily constrained by the specified situation and
characters. The teacher and a student act out a dialog in which a customer returns a faulty object she
has purchased to a department store. The clerk asks what the problem is and promises to get a
refund for the customer or to replace the item. In groups, students now try to recreate the dialog
using language items of their choice. They are asked to recreate what happened preserving the
meaning but not necessarily the exact language. They later act out their dialogs in front of the class.
Example of activities focusing on accuracy:
Students are practicing dialogs. The dialogs contain examples of falling intonation in WHquestions. The class is organized in groups of three, two students practicing the dialog, and the third
playing the role of monitor. The monitor checks that the others are using the correct intonation
pattern and corrects them where necessary. The students rotate their roles between those reading the
dialog and those monitoring. The teacher moves around listening to the groups and correcting their
language where necessary. Students in groups of three or four complete an exercise on a
grammatical item, such as choosing between the past tense and the present perfect, an item which
the teacher has previously presented and practiced as a whole class activity. Together students
decide which grammatical form is correct and they complete the exercise. Groups take turns
reading out their answers.
Teachers were recommended to use a balance of fluency activities and accuracy and to use
accuracy activities to support fluency activities (Richards, 2006: 15). Accuracy work could either
come before or after fluency work. For example, based on students’ performance on a fluency task,
the teacher could assign accuracy work to deal with grammatical or pronunciation problems the
teacher observed while students were carrying out the task. An issue that arises with fluency work,
however, is whether it develops fluency at the expense of accuracy. In doing fluency tasks, the
focus is on getting meanings across using any available communicative resources. This often
involves a heavy dependence on vocabulary and communication strategies, and there is little
motivation to use accurate grammar or pronunciation. Fluency work thus requires extra attention on
the part of the teacher in terms of preparing students for a fluency task, or follow-up activities that
provide feedback on language use.
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IV. CONCLUSION
This research concludes that CLT can be applied effectively in SMA HKBP
Pematangsiantar, if only, the English teachers make a solid commitment. Using code mixing in
teaching process requires much time than only English. It does not help the learners much to
understand the material. It is true that so many teachers had succeeded their students by using their
own techniques the way they are, but let us think for a moment: this world has changed; everything
has changed, so we need to change our habit and strategy in teaching process. No one is perfect but
everything must be in progress to the development of her/himself. There is no wrong if we attempt
to re-learn what we have learnt. Besides, since everything has changed, then we need to renew our
knowledge and techniques to transfer that knowledge. Teachers may enter the higher education than
she/he had right now.
REFERENCES
Adhikari, Kalpana. 2007. An Investigation of Nepalese English Teachers’ Perception of CLT and
its Implementation in Nepalese Secondary Schools. Journal of NELTA Vol. 12 No. 1 & 2
December 2007.
Brown, H. Douglas. 1994. Teaching by Principles: An Interactive Approach to Language
Pedagogy. Prentice-Hall Regents
Canale, M. & Swain, M. 1980. Theoretical Bases of Communicative Approaches to Second
Language Teaching and Testing. Applied Linguistics, 1, 1-47.
Chang, Ming. 2010. Factors Affecting the Implementation of Communicative Language Teaching in
Taiwanese College English Classes. Canadian Center of Science and Education. English
Language Teaching Journal Vol. 4, No. 2; June 2011.
Chomsky, N. 1965. Aspects of the Theory of Syntax, Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press
Creswell, John W. 1994.
Publications.
Research Design: Qualitative & Quantitative Approaches. Sage
Hymes, D. 1972. On Communicative Competence, In J. B. Pride and J. Holmes (Eds.),
Sociolinguistics (pp. 269-285). Harmondsworth: Penguin Books.
Larsen – Freeman, Diane. 1986. Techniques and Principles in Language Teaching . Hong Kong:
Oxford University Press.
Nunan, David. 1999. Second Language Teaching and Learning. Massachusetts: Heinle & Heinle
Publishers.
Richards, Jack C. 2006. Communicative Language Teaching Today. New York: Cambridge
University Press
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ISSN: 0853-0203
Rickheit, Gert and Hans Strohner. 2008. Handbook of Communication Competence. Berlin: Walter
de Gruyter GmbH & Co.
Savignon, S. 1985. Evaluation of communicative competence: The ACTFL provisional proficiency
guidelines. The Modern Language Journal, 59, 129-134.
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ISSN: 0853-0203
THE ENGLISH TEACHERS’ PERCEPTION AND IMPLEMENTATION ON
COMMUNICATIVE LANGUAGE TEACHING (CLT) METHOD:
A CASE STUDY AT SMA HKBP PEMATANGSIANTAR
David Berthony Manalu
(FKIP – Universitas HKBP Nommensen Pematangsiantar)
Abstrak
Penelitian ini diterapkan dengan tujuan untuk mengetahui persepsi guru tentang sebuah metode
pembelajaran bahasa Inggris: Pembelajaran Bahasa yang Komunikatif (Communicative Language
Teaching), dan juga untuk menyelidiki lebih dalam keterkaitan antara persepsi tersebut terhadap
penerapannya di dalam proses pembelajaran bahasa Inggris. Metode yang digunakan adalah
kualitatif. Subjek penelitian merupakan 4 orang guru bahasa Inggris di SMA HKBP
Pematangsiantar. Hasil yang ditemukan dari penelitian adalah: (1) kurangnya informasi mengenai
CLT menyebabkan kesalahpahaman guru terhadap konsep dan prinsip metode CLT, (2) penerapan
pengajaran di kelas membuktikan bahwa metode yang mereka gunakan bukanlah CLT melainkan
metode tradisional (Grammar-Translation Method). Penelitian ini juga mengungkapkan alasanalasan para guru terkait ketidaksesuaian antara rencana pelaksanaan pembelajaran (RPP) mereka
dengan praktik mengajar di kelas, yaitu: keterbatasan waktu yang disediakan kurikulum dan akan
tejadinya kesalahpahaman dari pihak siswa terhadap materi apabila para guru menerapkan metode
CLT.
Keywords:
Perception, Implementation, CLT (Communicative Language Teaching)
I. INTRODUCTION
1.1
Research Background
Nowadays there are various methods used in language teaching. Most of them have
appeared in the last century as a reaction against the Grammar Translation Method, which was the
first and most common method used for teaching English. It is because millions of people today
want to improve their English or to ensure that their children achieve Standard English. And
opportunities to learn English are provided in many different ways such as through formal
instruction, travel, and study abroad, as well as through the media and the Internet. Learners want to
be able to master English to a high level of accuracy and fluency. Employers, too, insist that their
employees have good English language skills, and fluency in English is a prerequisite for success
and advancement in many fields of employment in today’s world. The demand for an appropriate
teaching methodology is therefore as strong as ever. According to Richards (2006:1)
Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) has served as a major source of influence on language
teaching practice around the world and its issues are still relevant today, though teachers who are
relatively new to the profession may not be familiar with them.
Some researchers had investigated CLT and its implementation. Adhikari (2007) had
investigated the Nepalese English teachers’ perception of CLT and its implementation in Nepalese
secondary schools. Findings of this study confirmed that the Nepalese secondary school English
teachers involved saw themselves as well informed and competent when conducting the CLT
classes. However, it also revealed that there are a number of factors which restrict these teachers
1
VISI (Juni 2014) Vol. 22 No. 2
ISSN: 0853-0203
from pursuing the CLT approach effectively in their classroom. These are: very little in-service
training; large class sizes, restrictive teaching materials; and long teaching hours. It was found that
the learner-centered approach to language teaching was perceived as important by most of the
teachers, even those who had not had any training in the CLT approach. More surprisingly, some
teachers who had recently completed CLT training still restricted themselves to the traditional
‘teacher-centered’ approach.
Another research by Chang (2010) explored factors that promote or hinder EFL teachers’
implementation of CLT in Taiwanese college English classes. The findings indicated that the
factors that impacted implementation of CLT related to teachers, students, the educational system,
and suitability of CLT in the local context. Also, certain situational constraints were found to hinder
the implementation of CLT. The research provided practical recommendations for teachers,
educators, and policy makers to further improve teacher training, curriculum design, and situational
constraints to ensure success in implementing the CLT approach.
Based on the researcher’s experience, as one of the field coordinator of teaching practice
program, which is organized by Teacher Training Faculty of Nommensen University, CLT has
been introduced to the teachers through various teacher training programs, workshops, and
seminars. But the implementation is still rarely found in the class. It can be proven from the
students’ responses while the researcher asked them something in English. There were still so many
students who were not able to speak communicatively and some of them kept silent or even looked
confused to what the researcher asked. This implies that CLT is not totally applied in English class.
This failure may come from the teachers’ side. They may understand the concept of CLT,
but fail to apply this method. It could be lack of motivation from the teachers that made the students
have no courage to speak in English. It is the teacher’s responsibility to motivate his/her students to
learn because the success of learning derives from not only the teacher, but also students’ attitude.
This issue attracted the researcher’s attention to investigate whether the English teachers of
SMA HKBP Pematangsiantar understand the concept of CLT or not, and to reveal the
implementation of CLT in their teaching process.
1.2
Research Problems
The problems of this study were formulated in the form of a question as stated below:
1. What perceptions do the English teachers of SMA HKBP Pematangsiantar have towards
Communicative Language Teaching (CLT)?
2. How is CLT applied in their teaching process?
3. Why do the teachers apply the CLT the way they are?
1.3
Research Scope
Dealing with the first problem, the scope is in the teachers’ perception or understanding on
CLT based on interview. The concept of communicative approach according to Brown (1994) and
Larsen – Freeman (1986) will be used as interview questions in order to get the teachers’ perception
about communicative approach. In answering the second problem, the researcher limits the
observation right on the time of teaching-learning process for 2 x 45 minutes for each teacher. This
is based on the English schedule at that school, that English has 6 hours in a week, which every
meeting has 2 hours. If the researcher finds the teachers do not use CLT, then he will find out the
causes hindering the implementation of CLT.
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II. RESEARCH METHOD
2.1
Research Design
This research used qualitative study and conducts descriptive analysis. A qualitative research
is concerned primarily with process, meaning, and understanding, rather than outcomes or
procedures (Creswell 1994: 145). Therefore a qualitative researcher needs to report faithfully the
realities and to rely on voices and interpretations of informants. Descriptive research is designed to
obtain information concerning the current status of phenomena. They are directed toward
determining the nature of a situation as it exists at the time of the study. The aim of descriptive
study is to describe what exist with respect to variables or conditions in a situation. This research is
a descriptive qualitative study because it concerns with the natural context of classroom activities
during English teaching-learning process.
2.2
Research Subjects
The subjects of this research were the English teachers of SMA HKBP Pematangsiantar.
There were 4 teachers whom will be interviewed and observed. Two of them were the senior and
others were the junior. Two of them have been certified, one was in certification progress and other
was still not yet. All of them have S-1 degree.
2.3
Time and Place
This research was conducted in SMA HKBP Pematangsiantar which was located on Jl.
Gereja no. 26 Pematangsiantar between October – November 2013.
2.4
Techniques of Collecting Data
The techniques of collecting data in this research are conducted in three (3) phases, namely:
pre-interview, classroom observation, and post-interview. First the researcher will interview the
English teachers related to their perception towards CLT. Then the classroom observation will be
done to all teachers. The researcher uses digital camera to record the classroom activities. This type
of data will be transcribed into descriptive form in order to describe the natural situation of the
classroom. Last, the researcher will interview all the English teachers in order to clarify the points
which are observed.
2.5
Techniques of Analyzing Data
The researcher conducts indentifying the “coding” procedure to be used to reduce the
information themes or categories. Creswell (1994: 154) states that “coding is the flexible rules that
govern how one goes about sorting through interview transcription, observational notes, documents,
and visual material”.
The steps of analyzing data are sorted below:
Transcribing the pre-interview data
Transcribing the classroom observation data
Transcribing the post-interview data
Conducting the “coding” technique to determine the relevance of teachers’ perception
and implementation of CLT Method.
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III. FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION
3.1
Findings
From pre-interview, observation, and post interview, the researcher found out that:
(1) The English teachers understand the principles of CLT incompletely. There are some
principles of CLT which had been misunderstood by the teachers. For instance:
a. Two of the teachers said that CLT is a part of teacher-centered learning approach. In fact,
CLT is a kind of student-centered learning approach.
b. One of the teachers believed that the goal of learning in CLT is to make the students are
able to read and translate the text. This view shows that she referred to GrammarTranslation Method.
c. Three of the teachers stated that the role of teacher in CLT is as authority in classroom
activities. Teacher acts as motivator in the class of CLT.
d. All of them argued that the use of code mixing (native language and target language) is
an effective way to deliver material and instruction in CLT class. While in fact, CLT
does not use native language. It is only target language in the teaching and learning
process.
e. Three of them thought that errors must be immediately corrected. CLT method views
errors as a natural outcome of learning development, so it is tolerated because learning is
a result of trial-and-errors.
f. All of them considered that translation, memorization, deductive application of rule,
cognates and composition are kinds of techniques used in CLT. Indeed, those techniques
are part of Grammar-Translation Method.
g. Two of them said that accuracy is the only thing to be evaluated in students’ works.
While accuracy and fluency need to be evaluated in CLT class.
(2) In applying their teaching, all teachers used a mixed method between Grammar Translation
Method and CLT. This can be seen from:
a. The use of language in teaching and learning process. The most essential characteristic of
CLT method is the using of target language (i.e. English) from the beginning until the
closing of the teaching and learning process. There is no place for students’ native
language in the classroom. This dominant principle has been disobeyed by all teachers.
They gave chance to students to speak in Batak language and Indonesian language, while
English has been used for a very short time.
b. The teaching techniques used. There are some techniques that are suitable for CLT: role
play, games, jigsaw, information gap, opinion sharing, etc. But the teachers still
combined these types of techniques with: translating text, memorization or cognates in
some activities.
(3) There are some reasons related to why the teachers apply CLT the way they are, such as:
a. They mixed English and Indonesian or even Batak language in order to make the
students understand what they meant. Since they realized that it is impossible to use
English the whole time, so they preferred to mixed native language and target language.
b. The time used in teaching English is limited for 2 x 45 minutes a day for each class. So, it
is better to apply memorization and translation practice. The time needed for
memorization and translation is short so the learning goal based on the curriculum can be
achieved efficiently. Then the rest time they can use discussion or games. That is why
they mixed the techniques in teaching English.
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3.2
Discussion
3.2.1 Communicative Competence
The idea of communicative competence is originally derived from Chomsky’s distinction
between competence and performance. The term “communicative competence” was developed by
Hymes as a contrast to Chomsky's linguistic competence.
By competence, Chomsky means the shared knowledge of the ideal speaker-listener set in a
completely homogeneous speech community (1965: 3). Such underlying knowledge enables a user
of a language to produce and understand an infinite set of sentences out of a finite set of rules. The
transformational grammar provides for an explicit account of this tacit knowledge of language
structure, which is usually not conscious but is necessarily implicit. Performance, on the other hand,
is concerned with the process of applying the underlying knowledge to the actual language use,
commonly stated as encoding and decoding (1965: 4).
Hymes believes that Chomsky’s view of competence is too narrow and idealized. Hymes
(1972) extends the notion of competence to be communicative competence and concludes that a
linguistic theory must be able to deal with a heterogeneous speech community, differential
competence and the role of socio-cultural features. He believes that we should be concerned with
performance, which he defines as the actual use of language in a concrete situation, not an idealized
speaker-listener situation in a completely homogeneous speech community. Hymes deems it
necessary to distinguish two kinds of competence: (1). linguistic competence that deals with
producing and understanding grammatically correct sentences, and (2). communicative competence
that deals with producing and understanding sentences that are appropriate and acceptable to a
particular situation.
Thus Hymes coins a term communicative competence and defines it as a knowledge of the
rules for understanding and producing both referential and social meaning of language.
Communicative competence consists of four components: Possibility – the ability to produce
grammatical sentences; Feasibility – the ability to produce sentences which can be decoded by the
human brain; Appropriateness – the ability to use correct forms of language in a specific sociocultural context; Performance – the fact that the utterance is completed (1972: 271).
According to Canale and Swain (1980), communicative competence is composed minimally
of grammatical competence, sociolinguistic competence, and strategic competence. The first
includes knowledge of the lexical items and rules of morphology, syntax, sentence grammar,
semantics, and phonology. The second consists of two sets of rules, socio-cultural rules of use and
rules of discourse, knowledge of both of which, is crucial to interpreting utterances for social
meaning particularly when there is a low level of transparency between the literal meaning of an
utterance and the speaker's intention. Strategic competence consists of verbal and non-verbal
strategies of communication that may be employed to compensate for communication breakdown
attributable to performance variables or to insufficient competence. Communication strategies are
of two kinds: those that are relevant, mainly to grammatical competence and those that relate more
to socio-linguistic competence. An example of the first kind is to paraphrase grammatical forms
that a person has not mastered or cannot recall, momentarily, while examples of the second would
be the various role playing strategies such as how a stranger should be addressed by someone who
is uncertain about the stranger's social status.
Savignon (1985: 130) refined the Canale and Swain’s views on communicative competence.
His views on communicative competence includes grammatical competence (sentence level
grammar), socio-linguistic competence (an understanding of the social context in which language is
used), discourse competence (an understanding of how utterances are strung together to form a
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meaningful whole), and strategic competence (a language user's employment of strategies to make
the best use of what s/he knows about how a language works, in order to interpret, express, and
negotiate meaning in a given context).
In conclusion there is an evolution in “communicative competence” concept. The evolution
can be seen from figure below.
Hymes
Possibility
(1972)
Feasibility
Appropriateness
Canale and Swain
Grammatical
(1980)
Competence
Sociolinguistic
Competence
Savignon
Grammatical
(1985)
Competence
Sociolinguistic
Competence
Discourse
Competence
Strategic
Strategic
Performance
Competence
Competence
Figure 1. Chronological Evolution of “Communicative Competence” Concept (Adopted
from Rickheit and Strohner, 2008: 21)
3.2.2 The Characteristics of CLT
Brown (1994: 35) summarized the characteristics of CLT based on the theory of language,
theory of learning, objective, syllabus, learner role, teacher role, language skills, activities, error
handling and material. Table below explains all the characteristics of CLT.
Methods
Communicative Language Teaching
Categories
Language is a system for the expression of meaning.
The primary function of language is interaction and communication.
Theory of The structure of language reflects its functional and communicative uses.
Language The primary units of language are not merely its grammatical and structural
features, but categories of functional and communicative meaning as exemplified in
discourse.
Theory of
Learning
Objectives
Syllabus
Learner
Roles
Teacher
Roles
Language
Skills
Activities involving real communication.
Carrying out meaningful tasks.
Using meaningful language promotes learning.
Language learning comes about through using language communicatively, rather
than through practising language skills.
Objectives will reflect the needs of the learner, they will include functional skills as
well as linguistic objectives.
Will include some/all of the following: functions, notions, themes, tasks.
Ordering will be guided by learner needs.
Learners as negotiator, interactor, giving messages as well as taking them.
Facilitator of the communication process, participant tasks and texts, need analyst,
counsellor, process manager.
Communication skill.
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Activities
Error
Handling
Materials
Engage learners in communication, involve processes such as information sharing,
negotiation of meaning and interaction.
Mistakes are tolerated, the emphasis being on the message and not on the form.
Primary role of promoting communicative language use.
Task-based materials.
Authentic.
3.2.3 Materials used in CLT
Nunan (1999: 78-79) classifies three kinds of materials currently used in CLT: text-based
materials, task-based materials, and realia (authentic materials).
Text-Based Materials
There are numerous textbooks designed to direct and support CLT. Their tables of contents
sometimes suggest a kind of grading and sequencing of language practice not unlike those found in
structurally organized texts. Some of these are in fact written around a largely structural syllabus,
with slight reformatting to justify their claims to be based on a communicative approach. A typical
lesson consists of a theme (e.g., relaying information), a task analysis for thematic development
(e.g., understanding the message, asking questions to obtain clarification, asking for more
information, taking notes, ordering and presenting information), a practice situation description
(e.g., "A caller asks to see your manager. He does not have an appointment. Gather the necessary
information from him and relay the message to your manager."), a stimulus presentation (in the
preceding case, the beginning of an office conversation scripted and on tape), comprehension
questions (e.g., "Why is the caller in the office?"), and paraphrase exercises.
Task-Based Materials
A variety of games, role plays, simulations, and task-based communication activities have
been prepared to support CLT classes. These typically are in the form of one-of-a-kind items:
exercise handbooks, cue cards, activity cards, pair-communication practice materials, and studentinteraction practice booklets. In pair-communication materials, there are typically two sets of
material for a pair of students, each set containing different kinds of information. Sometimes the
information is complementary, and partners must fit their respective parts of the "jigsaw" into a
composite whole. Others assume different role relationships for the partners (e.g., an interviewer
and an interviewee). Still others provide drills and practice material in interactional formats.
Realia (authentic materials)
Many proponents of Communicative Language Teaching have advocated the use of
"authentic," "from-life" materials in the classroom. These might include language-based realia, such
as signs, magazines, advertisements, and newspapers, or graphic and visual sources around which
communicative activities can he built, such as maps, pictures, symbols, graphs, and charts.
Different kinds of objects can be used to support communicative exercises, such as a plastic model
to assemble from directions.
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3.2.4 Classroom Activities in CLT
Richards (2006: 14-21) clarifies there are various activities that can be applied in CLT
model.
Fluency and Accuracy Activities
Focusing on Fluency
Focusing on Accuracy
Reflect natural use of language
Reflect classroom use of language
Focus on achieving communication
Focus on the formation of correct examples of
language
Require meaningful use of language
Practice language out of context
Require the use of communication strategies
Practice small samples of language
Produce language that may not be predictable
Do not require meaningful communication
Seek to link language use to context
Control choice of language
Example of activities focusing on fluency:
A group of students of mixed language ability carry out a role play in which they have to
adopt specified roles and personalities provided for them on cue cards. These roles involve the
drivers, witnesses, and the police at a collision between two cars. The language is entirely
improvised by the students, though they are heavily constrained by the specified situation and
characters. The teacher and a student act out a dialog in which a customer returns a faulty object she
has purchased to a department store. The clerk asks what the problem is and promises to get a
refund for the customer or to replace the item. In groups, students now try to recreate the dialog
using language items of their choice. They are asked to recreate what happened preserving the
meaning but not necessarily the exact language. They later act out their dialogs in front of the class.
Example of activities focusing on accuracy:
Students are practicing dialogs. The dialogs contain examples of falling intonation in WHquestions. The class is organized in groups of three, two students practicing the dialog, and the third
playing the role of monitor. The monitor checks that the others are using the correct intonation
pattern and corrects them where necessary. The students rotate their roles between those reading the
dialog and those monitoring. The teacher moves around listening to the groups and correcting their
language where necessary. Students in groups of three or four complete an exercise on a
grammatical item, such as choosing between the past tense and the present perfect, an item which
the teacher has previously presented and practiced as a whole class activity. Together students
decide which grammatical form is correct and they complete the exercise. Groups take turns
reading out their answers.
Teachers were recommended to use a balance of fluency activities and accuracy and to use
accuracy activities to support fluency activities (Richards, 2006: 15). Accuracy work could either
come before or after fluency work. For example, based on students’ performance on a fluency task,
the teacher could assign accuracy work to deal with grammatical or pronunciation problems the
teacher observed while students were carrying out the task. An issue that arises with fluency work,
however, is whether it develops fluency at the expense of accuracy. In doing fluency tasks, the
focus is on getting meanings across using any available communicative resources. This often
involves a heavy dependence on vocabulary and communication strategies, and there is little
motivation to use accurate grammar or pronunciation. Fluency work thus requires extra attention on
the part of the teacher in terms of preparing students for a fluency task, or follow-up activities that
provide feedback on language use.
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IV. CONCLUSION
This research concludes that CLT can be applied effectively in SMA HKBP
Pematangsiantar, if only, the English teachers make a solid commitment. Using code mixing in
teaching process requires much time than only English. It does not help the learners much to
understand the material. It is true that so many teachers had succeeded their students by using their
own techniques the way they are, but let us think for a moment: this world has changed; everything
has changed, so we need to change our habit and strategy in teaching process. No one is perfect but
everything must be in progress to the development of her/himself. There is no wrong if we attempt
to re-learn what we have learnt. Besides, since everything has changed, then we need to renew our
knowledge and techniques to transfer that knowledge. Teachers may enter the higher education than
she/he had right now.
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Adhikari, Kalpana. 2007. An Investigation of Nepalese English Teachers’ Perception of CLT and
its Implementation in Nepalese Secondary Schools. Journal of NELTA Vol. 12 No. 1 & 2
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Brown, H. Douglas. 1994. Teaching by Principles: An Interactive Approach to Language
Pedagogy. Prentice-Hall Regents
Canale, M. & Swain, M. 1980. Theoretical Bases of Communicative Approaches to Second
Language Teaching and Testing. Applied Linguistics, 1, 1-47.
Chang, Ming. 2010. Factors Affecting the Implementation of Communicative Language Teaching in
Taiwanese College English Classes. Canadian Center of Science and Education. English
Language Teaching Journal Vol. 4, No. 2; June 2011.
Chomsky, N. 1965. Aspects of the Theory of Syntax, Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press
Creswell, John W. 1994.
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Research Design: Qualitative & Quantitative Approaches. Sage
Hymes, D. 1972. On Communicative Competence, In J. B. Pride and J. Holmes (Eds.),
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Rickheit, Gert and Hans Strohner. 2008. Handbook of Communication Competence. Berlin: Walter
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