TEACHERS’ ATTITUDES AND STUDENTS’ PERCEPTIONS TOWARDS COMMUNICATIVE LANGUAGE TEACHING A GRADUATING PAPER Submitted to the Board ofExaminers as a partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Sarjana Pendidikan Islam (S.Pd.I) English Education
TEACHERS’ ATTITUDES AND STUDENTS’
PERCEPTIONS TOWARDS COMMUNICATIVE
LANGUAGE TEACHING
A GRADUATING PAPER
Submitted to the Board ofExaminers as a partial fulfillment of the
requirements for the degree of Sarjana Pendidikan Islam (S.Pd.I)
English Education Department of Teacher Trainingand
Education FacultyState Institute for Islamic Studies (IAIN)
Salatiga
By:
DUROTUN NASIKAH
113 11 094
ENGLISH EDUCATION DEPARTMENT
TEACHER TRAINING AND EDUCATION FACULTY
STATE INSTITUTE FOR ISLAMIC STUDIES (IAIN)
SALATIGA
2016
DECLARATION
In the name of Allah, Hereby, the writer declares that this graduating paper is written by the writer herself. This paper does not contain any materials which have been published by other people; and it does not cite any other people’s ideas except the information from the references.
This declaration is written by the writer to be understood.
Salatiga, March 11
st
, 2016 The Writer
DUROTUN NASIKAH NIM. 11311094 Faizal Risdianto, S.S.,M.Hum. The lecturer of English Education Department State Institute for Islamic Studies (IAIN) Salatiga ATTENTIVE COUNSELOR’S NOTE Case: Durotun Nasikah ’s Graduating Paper
Dear, Dean of Teacher Training and Education Faculty Assalamu’alaikum.wr.wb.
After reading and correcting name’s graduating paper entitled
TEACHERS’ ATTITUDES AND STUDENTS’ PERCEPTIONS TOWARDS
COMMUNICATIVE LANGUAGE TEACHING, I have decided and would
like to propose that this paper can be accepted by the Teacher Training and Education Faculty. I hope this paper will be examined as soon as possible. Wassalamu’alaikum.wr.wb.
st,
Salatiga, March 11 2016 Counselor, FaizalRisdianto, S.S., M.Hum.
NIP. 19750917200801 1010
A GRADUATING PAPER
TEACHERS’ ATTITUDES AND STUDENTS’ PERCEPTIONS TOWARDS
COMMUNICATIVE LANGUAGE TEACHING
WRITTEN BY:
NIM.11311094
has been brought to the board of examiners of English and Education Department of Teacher Training and Education Faculty at State Institute for Islamic Studies
th
(IAIN) Salatiga on March 29 , 2016, and hereby considered to complete the requirements for the degree of Sarjana Pendidikan Islam (S.Pd.I) in English and Education.
Board of examiners Head : Achmad Maimun, M.Ag. ___________ Secretary :FaizalRisdianto, S.S., M.Hum. ___________ Firstexaminer : Hanung Triyoko, S.S., M.Hum., M.Ed. ___________ Secondexaminer : Rr. Dewi Wahyu M, S.S., M.Pd. ___________
MOTTO
ْعِفُر ِهِداَقِتْعا َبْسَح يَتَفْلاِذِا ْعِفَتْنَي ْمَل ْدِقَتْعَي ْمَل ْنَم ُّلُكَو
“The Magnificence of somebody is measured by his
determination, No success without determination ”(Syech Syarifuddin Yahya al-'Imrithi)
If you can’t explain it simply,
you don’t understand it well enough.
(Albert Einstein)
DEDICATION I dedicate this graduating paper to:
My honorable parents (Rojudin and Munfajiroh) hope they got a great place in heaven.
My uncle Samsul Ma’arif,S.Pd., Mahsun Sodiq,S.E. and Dra.Sri Agus Putrianingsih, my grand father and grand mother, My older sisterand younger brother (Khoerotul Maftuhah,S.E. and Wahib Setiyawan). Thanks for your love, support and taking care of me.
Thanks for my honorable consultant (Mr. FaizalRisdianto, S.S, M. Hum.) who always guide and suggests me in accomplishing thesis.
My beloved friends (Isna, Filla, Hana, Mami, Ina,mbakIkah, Nobita, Lita, etc.) who always accompany me when Iwas sad and happy. Thanks foryour loving, loyalty, and smiling. I love you friends.
All of my beloved people who cannot be mentioned one by one.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
All praise due to Allah, the Most Gracious and the Most Merciful because of His wonderful blessing and His mercy, the writer can finish this graduating paper successfully. The incredible blessings make realize that nothing is impossible in the eyes. Thanks for Your will and endless blessing in my life.
Peace and salutation always be given to our beloved prophet Muhammad SAW that Moslem hopes his blessing in the Judgment day. However, this success would not be achieved without the support, guidance, advice, help and encouragement from individuals and institutions. Therefore, the writer would like to express the deepest gratitude to:
1. Mr. Dr. Rahmat Hariyadi, M. Pd., the Rector of State Institute for Islamic Studies (IAIN) Salatiga.
2. Mr. Suwardi, M. Pd., the Dean of Teacher Trainig and Education Faculty of State Institute for Islamic Studies (IAIN) Salatiga.
3. Mrs. Noor Malihah, Ph. D., as the Head of English Education Department.
4. Mr. Faizal Risdianto, S. S., M. Hum. as the counselor of this research thanks for suggestion and recommendation for this research from beginning until the end.
5. All lecturers of English Education Department of IAIN Salatiga, thanks for your advice, knowledge, and kindness.
6. Drs. H. Mudlofir, MMas the Headmaster of Madrasah Tsanawiyah (MTs)
Negeri Susukan and all of teachers and students, especially for my teachers
counselor Anima Ubbadah, S.Pd., Hidayah Rahmawati,S.Pd., Atina Husniati, S.Pd.I and Agus Santosa, S.Pd.I thanks for your kindness, help, guidance and advice.
All of my classmates in TBI 2011 whoaccompany me to do this thesis together. Thanks for your togetherness andfriendship. I will never forget you.
Those cannot be mentioned one by one.Thanks for your motivation, support,helps, learn, love and care, thank you so much. The writer hopes that this will give useful significance for readers.
st
Salatiga, March 11 , 2016 The researcher
DUROTUN NASIKAH NIM. 11311094
ABSTRACT
Nasikah, Durotun. 2016. Teachers’ Attitudes and Students’ Perceptions towards Communicative Language Teaching. A Graduating PaperEnglish Education Department of Teacher Trainingand Education FacultyState Institute for Islamic Studies (IAIN) Salatiga. Counselor: FaizalRisdianto, S.S, M.Hum.
Keywords : Teacher’s Attitude, Perception, Communicative Language Teaching
Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) advocates teaching practices that develop learners’ abilities to communicate in a second language. It represents a change of focus in language teaching from linguistic structure to learners’ need for developing communication skills. In recent decades,many English as Foreign Language (EFL) classrooms have adopted CLT into their curricula. The study is motivated by the review of previous literature showing that although teachers’ attitudes play a crucial role inrevealing their thinking about CLT and their implementation of CLT in the classrooms, there are few studies in Indonesia have focused on teachers’ attitudes toward CLT in a particular EFL setting. The study aimed at investigating teachers’ attitudes and students’ perception toward CLT.
Qualitative method was used in the study. Qualitative approach is considered as an appropriate research design. Then the result of this research is presented descriptively in order to reveal the teachers’ attitudes and the students’ perception comprehensively. The findings of this research show when the teachers were interviewed, they hold positive attitude towards teaching English through CLT. In other hand, when they were observed the teachers have negative attitudetowards teaching English through CLT. There is a clear mismatch between teachers’ classroom practices and their expressed attitudes towards communicative approach prompted an in-depth analysis of their responses to the attitude questions. To overcome the mismatch the teachers should be in line between what they think and believe and what they practice. If they hold positive attitude towards the principles of CLT, they should apply in their classroom. Students have goodperception toward the implementation of communicative language teaching.Only some of them have bad perception. These conditions can facilitate the teachers to easier implement the communicative approach.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TITLE ....................................................................................................................... i DECLARATION .................................................................................................... ii ATTENTIVE COUNSELOR NOTES .................................................................. iii STATEMENT OF CERTIFICATION .................................................................. iv MOTTO ................................................................................................................... v DEDICATION ....................................................................................................... vi ACKNOWLEDGMENT ....................................................................................... vii ABSTRACT ......................................................................................................... ix TABLE OF CONTENT ......................................................................................... x LIST OF TABLES .............................................................................................. xiii LIST OF ACRONYM .......................................................................................... xiv
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION A. Background of the Study ............................................................. 1 B. Problems of the study ................................................................ 3 C. Purposes of the study ................................................................. 3 D. Limitation of the Study .............................................................. 4 E. Significance of the Study ........................................................... 4 F. Definition of the Key Terms ...................................................... 5 G. Review of Previous Researches ................................................. 6
H.
Graduating Paper Outline .......................................................... 7
CHAPTER 1I: THEORETICAL REVIEW A. Theoretical Review of Perception ............................................. 9 B. Theoretical Review of Attitude ................................................ 11 1. Definition of Attitude .......................................................... 11 2. Components of Attitude ...................................................... 12 C. Theoretical Review of Communicative Language Teaching .. 14 1. Definition of Communicative Language Teaching ............... 14 2. The Goal of Communicative Language Teaching .............. 16 3. Characteristics and Principles of Communicative Language Teaching .............................................................................. 18 CHAPTER III: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY A. Research Design ....................................................................... 27 B. Place and Research Object ........................................................ 28 C. Source of Data .......................................................................... 29 D. Data Collection ......................................................................... 30 E. Validity of the Research Data ................................................... 34 F. Data Analysis ............................................................................. 34 G. Research Procedure .................................................................. 37 H. Data Presentation ...................................................................... 38 CHAPTER IV: RESEARCH FINDING AND DISCUSSION A. Research Finding ...................................................................... 42 1. Teachers’ Attitudes ............................................................ 42 a. Interview ....................................................................... 42
b.
Classroom Observation ................................................. 43 2. Students’ Perceptions ......................................................... 47 B. Discussion ................................................................................. 48 1.
Teachers’ Attitudes .............................................................. 48 2. Students’ Perceptions ........................................................... 53
CHAPTER: CLOSURE A.
Conclusions ................................................................................ 59 B. Suggestions ................................................................................ 60
REFERENCES CURRICULUM VITAE APPENDICES
LIST OF TABLES 1.
Table 3.1 Classroom Observation Guideline ........................................... 32 2.Table 3.2 Components of Interactive Analysis Models ........................... 35 3.Table 3.3 List of Respondent (Students) .................................................. 37 4.Table 3.4 List of Respondent (English Teachers) .................................... 38Table 3.5 Interview Guideline for Students ............................................. 39 6.Table 3.6 Interview Guideline for Teachers ............................................ 40 7.Table 4.1 Teachers’ Attitudes towards CLT ............................................ 42 8.Table 4.2 Place/Importance of Grammar ................................................. 44 9.Table 4.3 Group/Pair Work ...................................................................... 44 10.Table 4.4 Quality and Quantity of Error Correction ................................ 45 11.Table 4.5 The Role of the Teacher in the Classroom ............................... 45 12.Table 4.6 The Role and Contribution of Learners in the LearningProcess ..................................................................................................... 46
LIST OF ACRONYM 1.
CLT= Communicative Language Teaching 2. EFL= English Foreign Language 3. L1= First Language 4. L2= Second Language
CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION A. Background of the Study Human as sosial creature always make relationship (communication)
with other. Communication refers to the transmission and reception of information (a ‘message’) between a source and a receiver using a signalling system. In linguistic contexts, source and receiver are interpreted in human terms (Crystal,2008:89). In the classroom, sources and receivers are teachers and students. Interaction between teacher and students establish the success of teaching-learning language. Providing an appropriate stimulus in the foreign language teaching and learning process would be very critical for triggering the students to be able to use and practice the language actively. This kind of condition is needed to create an atmosphere where both teacher and students can intera ct well during the class.Students’ interaction is also important. When they give appropriate response to the teacher, it means they understand what teacher explained.
There are many problems that influence teaching and learning process. Some of them are teachers, students, curriculum, materials, and learning facilities. Talking about teachers, one part that can indicate the successful or unsuccessful foreign language learning is teachers’ attitude. Baker (1992:10- 11) in Attitudes and Language define attitud e as “hypothetical construct used to explain the direction and persistence of human behaviour”. Attitudes can’t be directly observed. Therefore attitudes are latent, inferred from the direction and persistence of external behaviour.
Teachers’ attitudes are important in their decision to implement communicative language teaching. Communicative language teaching is a set of principles about the goals of language teaching, how learners learn a language, the kinds of classroom activities that best facilitate learning, and the roles of teachers and learners in the classroom (Richards, 2006:3). Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) advocates teaching practices that develop learners’ abilities to communicate in a second language. It represents a change of focus in language teaching from linguistic structure to learners’ need for developing communication skills. In recent decades, many English as Foreign Language (EFL) classrooms have adopted CLT into their curricula.
Implementing the principles of CLT in the classroom such as: CLT pays less attention to the overt presentation of grammar. The role of the learner is negotiator between the self and the learning process, and the object of learning. The role of teacher in the classroom as facilitator and co- communicator, in addition, the teacher acts as analyst, counselor, and group process manager. In CLT classes, both accuracy and fluency should be taken into consideration in language teaching, but the aim is to build fluency. During fluency-based activities, errors are considered natural and tolerable. Using pair work activities, role plays, group work activities and project work (Richards, 2006:4).
However, there are difficulties with the implementation of this approach in some EFL environments. In spite of frequent opportunities for interaction, teachers who are committed to the communicative approach often fail to exploit such opportunities for real interaction in their classrooms. Hargreaves (1994 in Clemente 2001:47) as cited in Al-Magid (2006:4) argues that we much to learn about teachers’ feelings, emotions and desires when they actually teach in classrooms. It become the reason that teachers’ attitudes in the classroom play a crucial role in the successful implementation of the communicative approach and th e learning process. Students’ perceptions towards teachers’ attitudes are also influence the learning process. It become the reason why the researcher conduct the research under the title:
“Teachers’ Attitudes and Students’ Perceptions towards Communicative Language Teaching” B. Problems of the Study
The problems of the study can be stated as follows: 1. What are teachers’ attitudes toward communicative language teaching? 2. What are students’ perceptions toward teacher’s communicative language teaching?
C. Purposes of the Study
The purposes of the study are: 1. To evaluate teachers’ attitudes toward communicative language teaching.
2. To explore students’ perceptions toward communicative language teaching.
D. Limitation of the Study
The writer must limit the area of this research, “Teachers’ Attitudes and Students’ Perceptions towards Communicative Language Teaching”, there are:
1. The analysis focusing on English teacher’s in Madrasah Tsanawiyah Negeri Susukan.
2. The analysis focusing on the perceptions of students class 7A in Madrasah Tsanawiyah Negeri Susukan.
E. Significance of the Study
It is hoped that the result of the research can be valuable contribution to English Education Faculty Institute for Islamic Studies (IAIN) Salatiga, students in English department, and anybody who reads this research.
1. A contribution to field of linguistics. The result of the study is hoped to increase the discussion of attitude and CLT.
2. A contribution to English Education Faculty Institute for Islamic Studies (IAIN) Salatiga especially for stude nts’ English department or advance student. It is hoped that by reading this research the students will be motivated to flesh out their knowledge in the study of sociolinguistic especially about attitude and CLT in method of language teaching.
3. A contribution to anyone who reads this research. The result of the study is expected to be valuable to anyone who is interested in learning English especially about sociolinguistic and method of language teaching.
F. Definition of the Key Terms 1.
Students’ Perceptions Students’ perception can be understood as the students’ ability to justify their own opinions and distinguish it from research being presented in the class. Perception has to do with understanding issues. It the sense organs. Perception is the cognitive impression that is formed of “reality” which in turn influences the individual's actions and behavior towards that object (Akande,2009:2).
2. Teachers’ Attitudes
Originally the term "Attitude" referred to a person's bodily position or posture. Fishbein and Ajzen as cited in Chang (2011:21) stated that an attitude is a learned predisposition to respond in a consistently favorable or unfavorable manner with respect to a given object. In a simple way attitudes are likes and dislikes (Bem, 1970:14). Teachers’ attitudes play a crucial role in revealing students’ thinking about foreign language and the implementation in the classroom and others (Chang, 2011:21) 3. Communicative Language Teaching
CLT can be understood as a set of principles about the goals of language teaching, how learners learn a language, the kinds of classroom activities that best facilitate learning, and the roles of teachers and learners in the classroom (Richards, 2006:3).
G. Review of Previous Researches
The following studies have been reviewed in relation to the present study.
1. The effect of teachers’ attitudes on the effective implementation of the communicative approach in ESL classrooms of teachers’ attitudeson their classroom behaviour and thus on the effectiveness of their implementation of theCommunicative Approach.The data is taken from attitudinal questionnaire which given to 38 teachers in Zimbabwe. Each teacher was observed twice in at least three lessons, rated on 15 statements on a 5-point scale. 20 Zimbabwean teachers of O-level ESL were interviewed. Statements about their teaching practice were derived from transcripts of the interviewsand were endorsed by the teachers themselves. The interviews are 45 to 60 minutes per teacher about their practices in applying the communicative approach.This study is essentially descriptive in its approach and employs features of qualitative andquantitative research methods. The result is a significant correlation was found between teachers’ attitudes andtheir behaviours in their respective classrooms, showing that there is a dependent relationbetween teachers’ positive attitudes and their effective implementation of the communicative approach in their ESL classrooms.
2. EFL teachers’ attitudes toward communicative language teaching in
Taiwanese college In 2011, Chang conducted the research to investigatingTaiwanese college teachers’ attitudes toward CLT and the reasons behindattitudes the teachers held toward CLT.An explanatory mixed method was used in the collection and analysis,followed by qualitative data collection and analysis. The qualitative phasewas used to explain the results of the quantitative phase. The results of thisstudy indicated that the teachers held favorable attitudes toward principlesof CLT and displayed characteristics of CLT in their beliefs. Also, theresults demonstrated that Taiwanese college English teachers believe CLTcan make English teaching effective and meaningful.
H. Graduating Paper Outline
This thesis will consist of five chapters. Each chapter has different elements as follows: Chapter I tell about introduction. The writer will explain about general background of the study, problem of the study, purpose of the study, the limitation of the study, significance of the study, the key term, research method, and graduating paper outline.
Chapter II describes about review of related literature. The writer takes some books written by many experts as references which will explain more about students’ perceptions towards teachers’ attitudes in CLT.
Chapter III discusses about the research methodology. It covers research method, method of data collection, research procedure and technique of data analysis.
Chapter IV presents research findings and discussion. It includes the analysis of teachers’ attitudes and students’ perceptions towards CLT.
and gives some suggestion of the problems discussed.
The last part is references, curriculum vitae and appendices.
CHAPTER II THEORETICAL REVIEW This chapter presents the comprehensive theories which become the basis
for this research. It takes a part as the foundation in determining the extent of the research. Since the research concerns on the student s’ perception and teachers
’attitudestowardscommunicative language teaching, this chapter likely covers the discussion of perception, teacher ’s attitude, and communicative language teaching.
A. Theoretical Review of Perception
Perception may be defined from physical, psychological and physiological perspectives (Adediwura and Tayo, 2007:1). But for the purpose of this study, it shall be limited to its scope. Adediwura and Tayo (2007:1) in their academic journal elaborate the theories of perception by taking some experts’ explanation. First, they take the theories as postulated by Allport (1966) who defines perception as the way people judge or evaluate others. The second, Eggen and Kauchak theories (2001) see perception from the cognitive dimension as the process by which people attach meaning to experiences. It means that the perception comes after people attend to certain stimuli in their sensory memories. However, perception will influence the information that enters working memory.
This theory is strengthened by the next statement from Glover et al. (1990). They state that background knowledge in the form of schemas affects perception and subsequent learning. Even, research findings have verified that background knowledge resulting from experience strongly influence perception.Finally, Baron and Byrne (1991) explain it as the process through which people attempt to understand other persons andattempt to obtain information about the temporary causes of others
’ behavior, for example, the emotions or feelings. follows:
… that every impression that comes in from without, be it a sentence, which we hear, an object or vision, no sooner enters our consciousness than it is drafted off in some determinate directions or others, making connection with other materials already there and finally producing what we call our reaction. From this it is clear that perception is the reaction elicited when an impression is perceived from without after making connection with other materials in the consciousness (memory) (Adediwura & Tayo, 2007: 165-166) From this point of view, it could be inferred that perception cannot be done in vacuum. It depends on some background information that will trigger a reaction. Perception may be energized by both the present and past experience, individual attitude at a particular moment, the physical state of the sense organ, the interest of the person, the level of attention, and the interpretation given to the perception (Adediwura andTayo, 2007: 166) Perception is the cognitive impression that is formed of
“reality” which in turn influences the individual's actions and behavior towards that object (Akande, 2009:2).
Students ’ perception of teachers’ knowledge of subject matter, attitudes to work and teaching skills is absolutely dependent on the fact that they have been taught by the teachers under evaluation and are familiar with them. They therefore, have minds already pre-occupied with memories andreactions that inventory for data collection will measure (Allport, 1976; Glover et al., 1990 cited inAdediwura andTayo, 2007:165).
B. Theoretical Review of Attitude 1.
Definition of Attitude The Oxford Advanced Learners’ Dictionary of Current English
(1995:66) as cited in Al Magid (2006:37) defines attitudes as the way that you think and feel about somebody or something, the way that you behave towards somebody or something that shows how you think and feel. This definition centers mainly on how a person believes, feels and then behaves in a certain way that reflects his established belief and feeling (i.e. a young man believes that English is very useful) . Webster’s New Collegial Dictionary (1975:73) in Al Magid (2006:37), asserts the importance of belief as an integral component of attitude, and adds the “organism state of readiness to respond in a characteristic way to a stimulus such as an object, concept, or situation”. This definition indicates that individuals’ feelings are activated by a certain stimulus towards something, which in turn determines the behaviors of the individual. Baker (1992:10-11) in Attitudes and Language define attitude as “hypothetical construct used to explain the direction and persistence of human behaviour”. Attitudes can’t be directly observed. Therefore attitudes are latent, inferred from the direction and persistence of external behaviour.
In the framework, attitudes are a function of beliefs. In other words, beliefs have causal effects on attitudes. Typically, a person learns a number of beliefs about an object by direct observation or information from outside sources. People hold a set of beliefs about the object, and these beliefs serve as the basis that determines their attitudes. (Fishbein
It is clear that teachers’ beliefs toward CLT influence their practice of CLT, so teachers’ attitudes are important in their decisions to implement CLT, because they are responsible for applying and translating CLT principles in context of classroom. As Karavas-Doukas (1995) stated, the reason for mismatch between CLT theory and practice may be teachers’ attitudes, therefore the investigation of their attitudes serves as a starting point to identify the possible contradictions between teachers’ beliefs and CLT principles (Chang, 2011).
2. Components of Attitude
Plato, in his theory mentions that there are three main interrelated components: cognitive, affective, and readiness for action (Baker, 1992:12).
a.
Cognitive The cognitive component concerns thought and beliefs (Baker, 1992:12).
The dimension of beliefs establishes the teacher’s sense of plausibility concerning the relevant teaching approach, and that, in turn, controls behaviour in the classroom (Prabhu 1992 in Clemente
2001:50 in Al Magid 2006:40). This indicates that beliefs are instrumental in shaping teachers’ roles in their classrooms. Beliefs help teachers to apply their knowledge in a certain way in line with the principles of the teaching approach they practice (i.e. the Communicative Approach). Affective
The affective component concerns feelings towards the attitude object (e.g. communicative approach) (Baker, 1992:12). The feeling may concern love or hate of the approach, a passion for teaching approach, or an anxiety about that approach. The International Dictionary of Education (1977:14) in Al Magid (2006:39) defines feelings as “those aspects that emerge from experience and behaviour such as the teaching experience of teachers that will develop emot ionally in them”. It is important to establish rapport between the teacher and the method he/she is applying. Teachers’ feelings play an important role in any language teaching approach.
c.
Readiness for Action The action or conative component of attitudes concerns a readiness for action (Baker, 1992:13). It is a behavioural intention or plan of action under defined contexts and circumstances. The behavioural dimension of attitude is the teacher’s response or action tendencies, that is, the tendencies shaping his/her behaviour towards the approach. Behaviour will be more, or less, accepting according to the attitudinal affect and belief (Eiser 1984:66 in Al Magid 2006:39). According to Eiser, in language teaching, the adoption of specific methods of teaching depends on teachers’ feelings and beliefs about language teaching and learning. The teacher’s established beliefs and feelings concerning a teaching approach determine the teacher’s that produces certain observable behaviour.
C. Theoretical Review of Communicative Language Teaching 1.
Definition of Communicative Language Teaching Communicative language teaching began in Britain in the 1960s as a replacement to the earlier structural method, called Situational Language
Teaching. This was partly in response to Chomsky's criticisms of structural theories of language and partly based on the theories of British functional linguistis, such as Firth and Halliday, as well as American sociolinguists, such as Hymes , Gumperz and Labov and the writings of Austin and Searle on speech acts. Communicative language teaching is a one of the english language approach that is a developing from previous method like situational language teaching and audio lingual method, in this, there is a combine between English aspects as structural and funtional. As structural CLT emphasize in grammar but as funtional it’s emphasize in usage that language.
In terms of language teaching methodology, the communicative approach provides the learners with an opportunity to use language for communication purposes without focusing on accuracy. The aims of the communicative approach are (a) to make communicative competence the goal of language teaching and (b) develop procedures for the teaching of the four language skills that acknowledge the interdependence of language and communication (Richards and Rodgers, 1986: 66). method in the classroom, there are still several misconceptions about what it involves (Thompson, 1996:10). Since the main goal of CLT is communicative competence and its emphasis is on communication, several theorists and teachers state that CLT does not involve teaching grammar at all. These ideas have been argued by Thompson (1996:10) who claims that learners will learn better if they themselves are involved in what they learn and see the relevancy in their learning. In other words, the method has moved from teacher covering grammar to the learners discovering grammar.
The other misconception is CLT only teaches speaking skills. As CLT emphasizes communication skill, it seems that CLT ignores the other three important skills in language learning which are listening, reading and writing. Again, Thompson (1996:10) points out that communication does not only take place through speech, but it also involves both writing and reading. Thompson’s view is a concrete statement because when we write, we are actually communicating with our reader and when we read, we are having communication with the text as well as the writer of that particular text. That is why when we read, we can argue with what the author writes in the paper.
The third misconception about CLT is the narrow scope of using other techniques besides pair work which means role play in most of the activities conducted in the classroom. Thompson (1996:12) once again, angle such as it can actually work as a preliminary stage to any contribution from the learners.
The last misconception about CLT is the demand on the teacher is practically greater. It means that the non-native teachers should have a high degree of proficiency in the L2 since the lesson in the classroom tends to be less predictable. He concludes that these misconceptions could arise from teachers who do not wish to change their old way of teaching (Thompson, 1996:14).
2. The goal of Communicative Language Teaching
Communicative language teaching sets as its goal the teaching of communicative competence (Richards, 2006:2). It is different with grammatical competence. Grammatical competence refers to the knowledge we have of a language that accounts for our ability to produce sentences in a language (Richards, 2006:3). It refers to knowledge of the building blocks of sentences (e.g., parts of speech, tenses, phrases, clauses, sentence patterns) and how sentences are formed. Grammatical competence is the focus of many grammar practice books, which typically present a rule of grammar on one page, and provide exercises to practice using the rule on the other page. The unit of analysis and practice is typically the sentence. While grammatical competence is an important dimension of language learning, it is clearly not all that is involved in learning a language since one can master the rules of sentence formation language for meaningful communication. It is the latter capacity which is understood by the term communicative competence.
Communicative competence is a complex notion that involves linguistic as well as sociocultural sectors. From proposed definitions, it can be concluded that communicative competence consists of knowledge of linguistic rules, appropriate language usage in different situations, connection of utterances in a discourse, and strategies to cope with for the use of language (Chang, 2011:19)
Communicative competence includes the following aspects of language knowledge (Richards, 2006:3): a.
Knowing how to use language for a range of different purposes and functions.
b.
Knowing how to vary our use of language according to the setting and the participants (e.g., knowing when to use formal and informal speech or when to use language appropriately for written as opposed to spoken communication). c.
Knowing how to produce and understand different types of texts (e.g., narratives, reports, interviews, conversations).
d.
Knowing how to maintain communication despite having limitations in one’s language knowledge (e.g., through using different kinds of communication strategies). Characteristics and principles of Communicative Language Teaching
Brown (2000:266-267) offers four interconnected characteristics of CLT, namely: a.
Classroom goals are focused on all of the components of communicative competence and not restricted to grammatical or linguistic competence.
b.
Language techniques are designed to engage learners in the pragmatic, authentic, functional use of language for meaningful purposes.
Organizational language forms are not the central focus but rather aspects of language that enable the learner to accomplish those purposes.
c.
Fluency and accuracy are seen as complementary principles underlying communicative techniques. At time fluency may have to take on more important than accuracy in order to keep learners meaningfully engaged in language use.
d.
In the communicative classroom, students ultimately have to use the language, productively and receptively, in unrehearsed contexts.
Based on Evdokia Karavas-Doukas (2011:4)in his journal Using
Attitude Scales to Investigate Teachers’ Attitudes to the Communicative
Approach , the statements covered the main aspects of the communicative
learner centred approach are: a.
Group/pair work learners the opportunity to negotiate meaning. Pair and group-work activities are carried out through providing information, paying attention to the social relationships, and providing suitable tasks for pairs and groups of L2 learners. Language learning is facilitated and enhanced by sustained interaction between learners and the teacher as a means of negotiating meaning: to understand and be understood in the L2 (Brown 2000: 251, 287). Interaction occurs naturally in pair and group-work activities. Group work has helped learners, more than traditional teacher-led classes, to use the L2 for social and interpersonal purposes.
In pair and group-work activities, learners are encouraged to ask for clarification, verification or correction from peers or their teacher.
This process leads to meaningful interaction that sustains and modifies learners’ output, which is required for successful learning of an additional language, according to research by Swain (1985 in Al Magid, 2006:23). Group work is more suitable to large classes in EFL environments as a compensatory technique to provide learners with opportunities to negotiate meaning of L2 input. Grouping is used to reduce the limiting effects of large classes, which is crucial for maximum results in teaching EFL according to the Communicative Approach. Activities such as problem solving, role plays and games are recommended for effective interaction in pair and group-work
Learners are not closely monitored in pairs or groups. In pair and group-work activities, teachers have to provide their learners with opportunities to engage in meaningful interaction with the spoken or written text. A text is read in order to support oral discussion in EFL classrooms. The teacher may instruct the class to read the passage and discuss the questions with other group members. Pair and group work in L2 classrooms is a crucial factor for the development of L2 learners’ linguistic and discoursal competencies as it provides opportunities to discuss the linguistic forms and the coherence and cohesion of the taught texts. It develops sociolinguistic competence, as it requires learners to negotiate meaning in various socially demanding situations. It also develops strategic competence since it provides different strategies such as role plays, problem-solving activities, discussions and games to ensure effective classroom interactions. b.
Error correction This subsection discusses the concept of ‘error correction’.
Errors are unavoidable when learning a language and developing communicative competence. Brown (2000:217) defines an error as “a noticeable deviation from the adult grammar of a native speaker that the learner”. Error reflects the level of L2 learners’ proficiency. How these errors are to be handled in EFL classrooms has generated numerous viewpoints, which will be outlined in this subsection. Learners’ errors may be caused by many factors: L1 interference, inadequate L2 knowledge, complexity of the L2, fossilisation, over generalisation, and various psycholinguistic, cognitive and affective variables (Ancker 2000:21 and Brown 2000:218 in Al Magid, 2006: 28 ). Learners’ attention is usually drawn to their errors by teachers or peers during interaction otherwise, their intended messages will not be conveyed.
Corrective feedback has been considered helpful in achieving successful communicative competence in L2. Studies by Lightbown and Spada (1990) and Spada and Lightbown (1993) in Al Magid (2006: 30) suggest that immediate feedback during classroom interaction can lead to improved accuracy. Immediate correction created longer and lasting awareness of errors and correct use of the forms concerned. Practitioners of the Communicative Approach regard errors as part of the L2 natural learning process, so they are allowed as a positive sign of hypothesis-formation (Richards and Rodgers 1986:68).
Error correction has to be kept to a minimum and priority should be given to errors that hamper communication, as the aim is to develop learners’ communicative fluency. Incidental and planned in a feedback process during communicative activities and tasks.
Lyster and Ranta (1997:46-48) in Al Magid (2006: 30) specify certain types of error correction, as follows: 1)