Introduction
This monograph entitled "Technology and Language Learning" and has been divided into three chapters. Each chapter has the purpose of provide relevant information about the topic.
The first chapter is about English Language Learning, for which it has been divided into four subtopics, which contain definitions, types, Methods and factors that influence in the language learning.
The second chapter is about Technology, where explain the use of technology in education, the roles of teacher and student, the benefits of the technology for language learning and tools and material technology that help students to improve their English language learning.
The third chapter concerns the Didactic Application for which it has been divided into two subtopics, which contain questions that have been specially formulated to focus and define the teaching of the comparatives, and a didactic part in which is showed a lesson plan that will be applied to a model class.
CHAPTER I
English language learning
TECHNOLOGY AND LANGUAGE
LEARNING
ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNING
Learning is commonly defined as a process that brings together cognitive, emotional, and environmental influences and experiences for acquiring, enhancing, or making changes in one's knowledge, skills, values, and world views.(Richards, Jack. 361-362p) Learning as a process focuses on what happens when the learning takes place. Explanations of what happens constitute learning theories. A learning theory is an attempt to describe how people learn.
There are three main categories or philosophical frameworks under which learning theories fall: behaviorism, cognitivist, and constructivism. Behaviorism focuses only on the objectively observable aspects of learning. It is considered a habit to be learnt, and therefore drilled practice makes perfect, Cognitive theories look beyond behavior to explain brain-based learning. And constructivism views learning as a process in which the learner actively constructs new ideas or concepts. With the learners linking input to their own personal experience and perceptions of the world. Input from books, people, personal experience or practice is not seen as information to be added to a store of knowledge, but is considered and possibly used to reconstruct the learner"s existing internal knowledge (Nunan, David, 60 p)
TYPES OF LEARNING
RECEPTIVE LEARNING: In this type of learning the student only needs to understand the content to reproduce it , but does not discover anything
LEARNING BY DISCOVERY: The learner does not receive a passive content, discover the concepts and their relationships and rearranged to adapt their cognitive schema.
ROTE LEARNING: when students memorize content without understanding or relate prior knowledge, doesn´t find meaning to the content
MEANINGFUL LEARNING : The learning in which the learners relates their prior knowledge with new to form consistency with their cognitive structures.
Ausbel said that there are three types of meaningful learning :
a – Representational or Vocabulary Learning:
All other types of learning depend upon this basic form, which consists of the learning of single words or what is represented by them. The symbol mean, first is something complete unknown for them, something that they have to learn
b – Concept Learning or Conceptualization
Ausbel defines concept as "object, events, situations or properties the possess common criteria attributes and are designated by some sign or symbol. He identifies two kind of concept acquisition, the first occurring in young children called concept formation and the second occurring in school children and adult, called concept assimilation
c – Propositional Learning:
In this form of learning, it is not simply the meaning of single words that is learned, but the meaning of sentences that contain composite ideas, Syntax and grammatical rules must also be understood
LANGUAGE LEARNING METHODS
GRAMMAR TRANSLATION METHOD
Grammar-translation usually consists of an explanation of a grammatical rule, with some example sentences, a bilingual vocabulary list, a reading section exemplifying the grammatical rule and incorporating the vocabulary, and exercises to practice using the grammar and vocabulary. Most of these classes are taught in the student's first language. The grammar-translation method provides little opportunity for acquisition and relies too heavily on learning
AUDIO LINGUAL METHOD
An audio-lingual lesson usually begins with a dialogue which contains the grammar and vocabulary to be focused on in the lesson. The students mimic the dialogue and eventually memorize it. After the dialogue comes pattern drills, in which the grammatical structure introduced in the dialogue is reinforced, with these drills focusing on simple repetition, substitution, transformation, and translation. While the audio-lingual method provides opportunity for some acquisition to occur, it cannot measure up to newer methods which provide much more comprehensible input in a low-filter environment.
THE DIRECT METHOD
Several approaches have been called the "direct method"; the approach evaluated here involves all discussion in the target language. The teacher uses examples of language in order to inductively teach grammar; students are to try to guess the rules of the language by the examples provided. Teachers interact with the students a lot, asking them questions about relevant topics and trying to use the grammatical structure of the day in the conversation. Accuracy is sought and errors are corrected. This method provides more comprehensible input than the methods discussed so far, but it still focuses too much on grammar.
TOTAL PHYSICAL RESPONSE
Total Physical Response, or TPR, involves the students listening and responding to commands given by the teacher such as "sit down" and "walk," with the complexity of the commands growing over time as the class acquires more language. Student speech is delayed, and once students indicate a willingness to talk they initially give commands to other students. Theory predicts that TPR should result in substantial language acquisition. Its content may not be always interesting and relevant for the students, but should produce better results than the audio-lingual and grammar-translation methods.
COMMUNICATIVE LANGUAGE TEACHING
Communicative language teaching is different from other approaches because it focuses on student interaction with the teacher and other students as a means of creating language skills in a new language.communicative language teaching relies on the participation of the student in conversation with the instructor and other students as a means of making the new language relevant to the student and therefore easier to learn and recall.
HOW TO ACQUIRE A SECOND LANGUAGE
(Kaufmann, Steven)
1. Spend the time!
By far the most important factor is how much time you are immersed in the language. The more time you spend with the language, the faster you will learn. This means listening, reading, writing, speaking, and studying words and phrases. This does not mean sitting in class looking out the window, nor listening to other students who do not speak well, nor getting explanations in your own language about how the language works. This means spending time enjoyably connected to the language you are learning.
2. Listen and read every day!
Listen wherever you are on your MP3 player. Read what you are listening to. Listen to and read things that you like, things that you can mostly understand, or even partly understand. If you keep listening and reading you will get used to the language. One hour of listening or reading is more effective than many hours of class time.
3. Focus on words and phrases!
Build up your vocabulary, you"ll need lots. Start to notice words and how they come together as phrases. Learn these words and phrases through your listening and reading. Read online, using online dictionaries, and make your own vocabulary lists for review. Soon you will run into your new words and phrases elsewhere. Gradually you will be able to use them. Do not worry about how accurately you speak until you have accumulated a plenty of words through listening and reading.
4. Take responsibility for your own learning!
If you do not want to learn the language, you won"t. If you do want to learn the language, take control. Choose content of interest, that you want to listen to and read. Seek out the words and phrases that you need to understand your listening and reading. Do not wait for someone else to show you the language, nor to tell you what to do. Discover the language by yourself, like a child growing up. Talk when you feel like it. Write when you feel like it. A teacher cannot teach you to become fluent, but you can learn to become fluent if you want to.
THE FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE THE LANGUAGE LEARNING
These factors can be broadly categorized as internal and external. It is their complex interplay that determines the speed and facility with which the new language is learned.
Internal factors
Internal factors are those that the individual language learner brings with him or her to the particular learning situation.
Age: Second language acquisition is influenced by the age of the learner. Who already have solid skills in their own language, seem to be in the best position to acquire a new language efficiently. Motivated, older learners can be very successful too, but usually struggle to achieve native
Personality: Introverted or anxious learners usually make slower progress, particularly in the development of oral skills. They are less likely to take advantage of opportunities to speak, or to seek out such opportunities. More outgoing students will not worry about the inevitability of making mistakes. They will take risks, and thus will give themselves much more practice.
Motivation: Intrinsic motivation has been found to correlate strongly with educational achievement. Clearly, students who enjoy language learning and take pride in their progress will do better than those who don't.Extrinsic motivation is also a significant factor. ESL students, for example, who need to learn English in order to take a place at an American university or to communicate with a new English boy/girlfriend are likely to make greater efforts and thus greater progress.
Experiences: Learners who have acquired general knowledge and experience are in a stronger position to develop a new language than those who haven't. The student, for example, who has already lived in 3 different countries and been exposed to various languages and cultures has a stronger base for learning a further language than the student who hasn't had such experiences.
Cognition: In general, it seems that students with greater cognitive abilities will make the faster progress. Some believe that there is a specific innate language learning ability that is stronger in some students than in others.
External factors
External factors are those that characterize the particular language learning situation
Instruction: Clearly, some language teachers are better than others at providing appropriate and effective learning experiences for the students in their classrooms. These students will make faster progress.The same applies to mainstream teachers in second language situations. The science teacher, for example, who is aware that she too is responsible for the students' English language development, and makes certain accommodations, will contribute to their linguistic development
Motivation: Students who are given continuing, appropriate encouragement to learn by their teachers and parents will generally fare better than those who aren't. For example, students from families that place little importance on language learning are likely to progress less quickly.
Access to native speakers: The opportunity to interact with native speakers both within and outside of the classroom is a significant advantage. Native speakers are linguistic models and can provide appropriate feedback. Clearly, second-language learners who have no extensive access to native speakers are likely to make slower progress, particularly in the oral/aural aspects of language acquisition.
CHAPTER II
Technology
LEARNING TECHNOLOGY
WHAT IS TECHNOLOGY?
Technology is a body of knowledge used to create tools, develop skills, and extract or collect materials. It is also the application of science (the combination of the scientific method and material) to meet an objective or solve a problem.
Technology can be most broadly defined as the entities, both material and immaterial, created by the application of mental and physical effort in order to achieve some value. In this usage, technology refers to tools and machines that may be used to solve real-world problems. (Scott, Windeatt. 9p)
LEARNING TECHNOLOGY
Learning Technology is defined as: The application of technology for the enhancement of teaching, learning and assessment. Learning Technology includes computer-based learning and multimedia materials and the use of networks and communications systems to support learning. Learning Technology clearly embraces a wide range of application.
IMPORTANCE OF TECHNOLOGY IN EDUCATION
Technological advancement has helped to introduce many positive changes in the educational sector. New methods of learning and teaching have made the process simple and more interesting. Computer technology in schools and colleges has helped explain subjects properly and in detail and this has reflected in the overall performance of the students.
The Internet technology has been a revolution for the educational sector as it is an ocean of information. Students can search for the concepts which they learn in the books on the Internet and find out more information on the same. Importance of technology in physical education cannot be sidelined. Now, having understood the importance of technology in schools (Maley, Alan. 10p)
CHANGE IN ESTUDENT AND TEACHER ROLES
STUDENT´S ROLE
When students are using technology as a tool or a support for communicating with others, they are in an active role rather than the passive role of recipient of information transmitted by a teacher, textbook, or broadcast. The student is actively making choices about how to generate, obtain, manipulate, or display information. Technology use allows many more students to be actively thinking about information, making choices, and executing skills than is typical in teacher-led lessons. Moreover, when technology is used as a tool to support students in performing authentic tasks, the students are in the position of defining their goals, making design decisions, and evaluating their progress.
TEACHER"S ROLE
The teacher's role changes as well. The teacher is no longer the center of attention as the dispenser of information, but rather plays the role of facilitator, setting project goals and providing guidelines and resources, moving from student to student or group to group, providing suggestions and support for student activity. As students work on their technology-supported products, the teacher rotates through the room, looking over shoulders, asking about the reasons for various design choices, and suggesting resources that might be used. (Maley, Alan. 16p)
BENEFIT OF THE TECHNOLOGY FOR LANGUAGE LEARNING
(Williams, Peter. 22p)
Benefit One: Bringing New Resources into the Classroom
Since technology has become more readily available to schools, students have access to an environment that offers a wider range of learning modalities. The emergence of telecommunication brings a world of new possibilities to the classroom and dissolves the physical barriers to experiential learning. In addition, appropriate use of technology can engage students in fully exercising their potentials or "intelligences.",
Benefit Two: Motivating Learners
Learning through technology is far more exciting than traditional lecture and practice modes. Educational technology reaches students through a variety of senses, keeping them alert and interested in classroom activities. In addition, students actively involved in learning with technology assume responsibility for their education, developing the skills to continue learning years after formal education has concluded.
Benefit Three: Providing New Teaching Tools
Technology enables teachers to create new tools to facilitate instruction. These tools can often prepare students for the world beyond the classroom, helping them develop higher level thinking skills."
Benefit Four: Accommodating Different Learning Styles
If students are to learn to the best of their abilities, they must be taught in the way they learn best. Research on learning styles has found that most students are concrete learners. Who learn best through interpersonal communication, group learning.
Teachers find that many modes of technology can be used to meet the educational needs of a variety of students, allowing them to work individually or in small cooperative-learning groups. Students can effectively learn, whatever their style.
Benefit Five: Redefining the Role of Teachers
Technology particularly the computer and high-quality software enhances the opportunities for individual and group learning by providing students with a variety of resources and tools. Teachers, therefore, are allowed to assume the role of facilitator of learning rather than distributor of information. When used effectively, technology opens a world of possibilities for teachers and students. Effective applications of technology challenge students to use higher-level thinking skills and become active seekers rather than passive receivers of information.
THE INTERNET
Graham David said that the internet is a computer network connecting millions of computers all over the world. It provides communications to governments, businesses, universities, schools and homes. Any modern computer can be connected to the Internet using existing communications systems
THE WORLD WIDE WEB
This is the most powerful and fastest growing Internet service, now known simply as the Web. The Web is accessed by means of a computer program known as a browser. Using a browser you can access websites all over the world and download pages of information. Most Web pages include pictures, and many include audio, animated graphics, video and links (Sharma, Pete, 17p)
The www is as diverse as human experience and with its graphical interface and ability to integrate text, sound, video, and pictures in a communications environment, it is a very realistic and accessible place to find authentic information for the language classroom. Thanks to hypermedia (known as links) it is possible to move from one place on the web to another without having to follow a linear path. The web can be navigated according to how and individual thinks. (Maley, Alan. 24p)
INTERNET FOR LANGAUGE LEARNING
The internet promotes the communication between people, separated by time, distance or both. The internet is a wonderful tool to learn English as a foreign language. There is tons of various information in Internet that the learners can find different materials and tools to help them to learn English. With the internet the Learners have access to practice or review any topic outside the language classroom and it can make learners more autonomous.
When we consider the role of technology, it is very helpful to distinguish between the language skill (reading, listening, writing , speaking) these have traditionally been divided into productive and receptive skills. And there are differences in the types of practice required to develop each of the four skills.
In the area of receptive skills of listening and reading, it is possible to identify a clear role played by a web based environment in providing exposure. Listening to digital audio, Learners have the opportunity to pause at will, and listen and read a transcript. Reading on screen, Learners can access meaning on demand by clicking on a hyperlink to find out the meaning of a word.
The productive skill of writing and speaking the learners can make a free composition using dictionary online or create a blog with their personal information. In the internet exist a lot of interactive exercises and activities to practice their speaking. There are many clearly benefits to be derived from integrating technology into learning.
WHY USE THE INTERNET FOR LANGUAGE LEARNING?
The internet is beginning to transform language learning, first of all by making available to teachers and students an enormous range of information and resources. Information, on virtually any subject, and resources, including articles, stories, poems, books, video and audio clips, music, and millions of images, are all only a few mouse clicks away.
As a means of communications, the internet allows students around the world to interact with one another cheaply, quickly, and reliably, opening up the classroom to the real world in a way which has never before been possible.
Because the internet is such a powerful tool for information and communication, there can be much more integration of computer works into the language curriculum. Both teachers and students can start to use the internet as a source of material for learning and newspapers, television, audio, and video. Eventually, they will probably use more internet-based than print resources, simply because these will be more easily available. (Scott, Windeatt. 12p)
TOOLS AND MATERIALS TECHNOLOGY
(Sharma, Pete.35-60p)
THE WEB: USING AUTHENTIC MATERIALS
WEBSITE
A website is a collection of web pages, (documents that are accessed through the Internet) There are millions of accessible web pages in the fastest and most effective way to find what you and your learners need. The best way to find something on the web is to use a browser. The three most popular browser are:
Yahoo http:/search.yahoo.com
MSN http:/search.msn.com
One of the benefits of the Web is the ability to easily access authentic material. Such material can be of great value for discussion classes, debates or project work in which learners need to explore the topic, separating the headlines from the text as a predicting exercise or creating a exercise to match. As well as using the wen as a source of text to adapt, choose and modify texts themselves to use in the classroom.
BLOGS
Blogs are web pages created by individuals or groups and stored on the internet. They usually include text and images. Blogs are an ideal space to write about your ideas and opinions. Blogs are often used like an online diary, giving regular updates on what"s happening. The benefits of blogs are:
Students can reflect on their own learning and give and receive feedback.
Students can use blogs to develop a topic of interest.
Teachers can offer support and guidance while the learner can ask further questions.
WIKIS
Wikis are web pages that can be created and edited by a group of people. Anyone in the group can add information and change bits here and there. The most famous wiki is the online encyclopedia is Wikipedia. All wikis rely on people working together to create a series of web pages.
Members of the group use a shared online space to contribute material and edit or update it regularly. They can add new pages and links between pages. Wikis are very creative and dynamic. They are a perfect tool to explore topics quickly. The learners feel far greater ownership of their work. Wikis can create a sense of community by giving all pupils a say in.
PODCASTS
A podcast is an audio or video file that you save on computer. You can listen to or view podcasts on a computer, various types of MP3 player, or mobile phone.
Podcasts can be used in various ways to support teaching and learning in and out of school. For example: podcasts can be used to share recordings of lessons Teachers can find and share podcasts that are relevant to coursework or the students can create their own podcasts of presentations, interviews, music, plays and debates, the teacher can prepare materials such as comprehension question, vocabulary sheets. etc.
WEBQUEST
Webquests are research activities that require learners to collect information about a subject using the web. The websquest inquiry-base lessons, the students work systematically, individually or in group. The task usually involve a problem that students must solve and report on them.
MUSIC TECHNOLOGY
In the internet exist different pages where the learners can choose the music according to the topic that their need. This offer the possibility to practice the grammar and pronunciation with the music. the learners can access to listening from native speakers.
ELECTRONIC DICTIONARIES:
CD-ROM DICTIONARIES
CD-ROM dictionaries offer the chance to expand their vocabulary, inside and outside the classroom. Dictionaries can help learners in the area of pronunciation, using technology to work on the pronunciation of a difficult sound.
ONLINE DICTIONARIES
Many dictionaries are now available online. Online dictionaries are often supported by resources such as downloadable worksheets, interactive games and new word. Examples:
Cambridge Dictionaries Online
http://dictionary.cambridge.org.
this side include the possibility of searching several dictionaries, such as the Cambridge Dictionary of Phrasal Verbs and the Cambridge Dictionary of idioms.
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English Online
http://www.idoceonline.com
this includes the pronunciation of selected examples of words and sentences.
Oxford Advanced Learner"s Dictionary Online
http://www.oup.com
The search result of many words includes a drop-down menu. This enables users to go directly to a particular idiom or expression.
PORTABLE ELECTRONIC DICTIONARIES (PEDs)
PEDs often include extensive vocabularies, grammar references, phrase banks containing colloquial expressions and common phrasal, and other information, such as list of irregular verbs. Include the pronunciation.
Some advantages of using electronic dictionaries include the fact they are portable, and can be taken on trips, used in lectures and so on. This allows for just-in-time access and means learners can use them to access meaning on the move, in museums, while shopping; the possibilities are endless.
OFFICE SOFTWARE
PRESENTATION SOFTWARE
These program allow you to prepare a presentation made up of electronic slides, which can contain text, pictures and diagrams. hyperlinks to documents, web pages and multimedia elements such as audio clips. The most popular program is PowerPoint from Microsoft. The principal use for presentation software is making presentations. You can use it as a classroom tool to support input lesson for areas such as grammar or functional language, diagrams, examples or list of exponents
INTERACTIVE WHITEBOARDS
Interactive whiteboards are large touch-sensitive boards connected to a digital projector and a computer. They are usually at the front of the class, in place of a blackboard or traditional whiteboard.
The teacher and students can work with the interactive whiteboard to move and change images, text and objects. With some interactive whiteboards you do this with your finger. On others, you use a special wireless pen.
Lessons are easy to save and use again, and can include sounds, video and animation. Their big attraction in schools is allowing whole classes to interact with the same content at the same time. Interaction is an important part of learning and can be much more powerful than just reading or hearing about something.
An IWB is a perfect way to provide warmers, introductions to a topic, practice activities and so on. Learners can also come to the front of the class to demonstrate something or annotate the screen, An IWB can be used to promote group interaction and communication.
COMPUTER-MEDIATED COMMUNICATION
TEXT CHAT
Learners may well be already using text chat and communicating in English with friends across the world as part of their everyday lives. Teacher can incorporate similar activities in their classes and have their learners communicate with other learners around the world.
Chat offer learners a chance to develop their language abilities. For instance, they are using the keyboard in real time, and concentrating on fluency and communication, when text chat conversation partners do not understand what a learner has written, they will tell them. Forcing the writer to rephrase his or her message. This negotiating of meaning can arguably work towards improving your learners language abilities.
ELECTRONIC MAIL (E-MAIL)
E-mail stand for electronic mail. The sending and receiving of emails. Actually the teachers have an email account and most learners too.
It is possible send an email to one person or many. , with this tool the teacher can send and receive homework task, the learners can work together composing an email. This is a good medium to send a real world message, about a change of classroom or any suggestions.
VIDEO CONFERENCING
Video conferencing allows people in different locations to have a conversation where they can see and hear each other talking. It is also known as video chat or a video call. One of the big benefits is bringing together learners in different locations, especially when a face-to-face visit is not possible.
MOBILE TECHNOLOGIES
The term "mobile technologies" often refers to mobile phones and smart phones (that is, mobile phones with in-built computer functions). It also applies to laptops, media players, digital cameras and e-book readers.
Mobile technologies have benefits as• supporting learners learning inside and outside the classroom • giving learners flexible access to information, resources and tools • making learning a personal experience
CHAPTER III
Didactive application
I. COMPARATIVE AS A TEACHING TOPIC
The next questions have the purpose of specifying the level of difficulty for the topic COMPARATIVE ADJECTIVES and the most effective method to teach it, We have formulated them taking into account the skills used in the learning of this topic
HOW DO THE LEARNERS BENEFIT FROM USING TECHNOLOGY IN THE LESSON?
The technology brings to learners new resources into the classroom; Learning through technology is far more exciting than traditional class. And the learners have access to differents tools and material in internet.
AT WHAT LEVEL IS IT IMPORTANT THE USE OF COMPARATIVE?
The use of comparative adjective is especially important at higher English levels (intermediate level and advanced level.)
WHICH LANGUAGE TEACHING METHOD WILL BE THE MOST
EFFECTIVE IN COMPARATIVES ADJECTIVES?
Teaching comparatives adjectives has to be related to encourage the students to express their ideas, And the goal of teachers who use the COMMUNICATIVE LANGUAGE TEACHING is to enable students to communicate in the target language. To do this students need knowledge of the linguistic forms, meanings, and functions.
They need to know that many different forms can be used to perform a function and also that a single form can often serve a variety of functions. They must be able to choose from among these the most appropriate form, given the social context and the roles of the interlocutors. The language teaching method which would be the most effective in teaching comparative adjectives is the communicative language teaching.
II. THE COMMUNICATIVE LANGUAGE TEACHING
The goal of most of the methods is for students to learn to communicate in the target language. In the 1970s, though, educators began to question if they were going about meeting the goal in the right way. Some observed that students could produce sentences accurately in a lesson, but could not use them appropriately when genuinely communicating outside of the classroom. Others noted that being able to communicate required more than mastering linguistic structures. Students may know the rules of linguistic usage, but be unable to use the language (Widdowson 1978). It became clear that communication required that students perform certain functions as well, such as promising, inviting, and declining invitations with in a social context (Wilkins 1976).
Being able to communicate required more than linguistic competence; it required communicative competence (Hymes 1971) knowing when and how to say what to whom. Such observations contributed to a shift in the field in the late 1970s and early 1980s from a linguistic structure centered approach to a Communicative Approach (Widdowson 1990).
Communicative Language Teaching aims broadly to apply the theoretical perspective of the Communicative Approach by making communicative competence the goal of language teaching and by acknowledging the
Interdependence of language and communication. (LARSEN FREEMAN, Diane 2008 p.121)
2.1 PRINCIPLES OF THE COMMUNICATIVE LANGUAGE TEACHING
(Larsen Freeman, Diana 2008 p.125-128)
1) Whenever possible, "authentic language" – language as it is used in a real context – should be introduced.
2) Being able to figure out the speaker"s or writer"s intentions is part of being communicatively competent.
3) The target language is a vehicle for classroom communication, not just the object of study
4) One function can have many different linguistic forms. Since the focus of the course is on real language use, a variety of linguistic forms are presented together. The emphasis is on the process of communication rather than just mastery of language forms
5) Students should work with language at the discourse or suprasentential (above the sentence) level. They must learn about cohesion and coherence, those properties of language which bind the sentences together.
6) Games are important because they have certain features in common with real communicative events – there is a purpose to the exchange. Also, the speaker receives immediate feedback from the listener on whether or not she has successfully communicated. In this way they can
negotiate meaning. Finally, having students work in small groups maximizes the amount of communicative practice they receive.
7) Students should be given an opportunity to express their ideas and opinions.
8) Errors are tolerated and seen as a natural outcome of the development of communication skills. Since this activity was working on fluency, the teacher did not correct the student, but simply noted the error, which he will return to at a later point.
9) One of the teacher´ major responsibilities is to establish situations likely to promote communications.
10) Communicative interaction encourages cooperative relationships among students. It gives students an opportunity to work on negotiating meaning.
11) The social context of the communicative event is essential in giving meaning to the utterances.
12) Learning to use language forms appropriately is an important part of communicative competence.
13) The teacher acts as a facilitator in setting up communicative activities and as an advisor during the activities.
14) In communicating, a speaker has a choice not only about what to say, but also how to say it.
15) The grammar and vocabulary that the students learn follow from the function, situational context, and the roles of the interlocutors.
16) Students should be given opportunities to listen language as it is used in authentic communication. They may be coached on strategies for how to improve their comprehension.
REVIEWING THE TECHNIQUES AND THE MATERIALS OF THE CLT
(LARSEN FREEMAN, Diane 2008 p.132-135)
There may be aspects of the CLT that you find appealing. This review has been provided in the event you wish to try to use any of the techniques or materials associated with the CLT.
1) Realia
To overcome the typical problem that students cannot transfer what they learn in the classroom to the outside world and to expose students to natural language in a variety of situations, adherents of the CLT advocate the use of language materials authentic to native speakers of the target language
Of course, For students with lower proficiency in the target language, it may not be possible to use [high level proficiency] language materials (…). More accessible materials , or at least ones that are realistic, are most desirable.
With a lower level class it is possible to use realia that do not contain a lot of language, but a bout which a lot of discussion could be generated. Menus in the target language are an example; timetables are another.
2) Scrambled sentences
The students are given a passage (a text) in which the sentences are in a scrambled order. This may be a passage they have worked with or one they have not seen before. They are told to unscramble the sentences so that the sentences are restored to their original order.
This type of exercise teaches students about the cohesion and coherence properties of language. They learn how sentences are bound together at the suprasentential level through formal linguistic devices such as pronouns, which make a text cohesive, and semantic propositions, which unify a text and make it coherent.
3) Language games
Games are use frequently in the CLT. The students find them enjoyable, and if they are properly designed, they give students valuable communicative practice.
4) Picture Strip Story
Many activities can be done with picture strip stories. We suggested one in our discussion of scrambled sentences.
5) Role Playing
Role plays are very important in CLT because they give the students an opportunity to practice communicating in different social contexts and in different social roles.
Role plays can be set up so that they are very structured (for example, the teacher tells the students who they are and what they should say) or in a less structured way (for example, the teacher tells the students who they are, what the situation is, and what they are talking about, but the students determine what they will say). The latter is more in keeping with CLT, of course, because it gives the students more of a choice. Notice that role plays structured like this also provide information gaps since students cannot be sure (as with most forms of communication) what the other person or people will say (there is a natural unpredictability). Students also receive feedback on whether or not they have effectively communicated
III. DIDACTIC APPLICATION
This monograph has the purpose of provide relevant information related with the technology and language learning, the formation have been given and explained in the first chapter. In this part called "DIDACTIC APPLICATION" we are going to apply the theory into a Lesson Plan that will be sustained in a Model Class to a jury.
3.1. LESSON PLAN
In the next page we have prepared a Lesson Plan which develops an item of Comparative Adjectives with follows a method of language teaching, and since the Education Ministry is suggesting apply the Communicative Language Teaching (CTL) as better in order to make students learn easily in a communication environment.
LESSON PLAN
I.-GENERAL INFORMATION:
1.1. – Level: Secondary 1.2. – Area: English 1.3. – Class: Tatiana is taller than…… 1.4. – Time: 20 min. 1.5.- Date: January 05th, 2011.
1.6. – Teacher: Bach. Jackeline Nina Morales
TATIANA IS TALLER THAN………
WORKSHEET
Topic : ________________ Name: ______________________________________
Date : January 05TH, 2011 Teacher: Jackeline Nina Morales. Class : 3th "A"
I. Write the comparative form of these adjectives
a. Famous : ______________ g. Polite : _______________
b. Friendly: ______________ h.Thin : _______________
c. Good : ______________ i. Bad : _______________
d. Heavy : ______________ j. Strong: _______________
e. Beautiful: ______________ k. Sociable : ______________
f. Strong : ______________ l. fat : ______________
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