SEDU 718
CLT & Syllabus Design
Prelude
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What did you understand as the key
components of CLT?
What questions did you have?
What intrigued/shocked/distressed
&/or excited you most about CLT?
Dave’s Key Points
CLT
Vocabulary
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Schemata
Expectancies
Top-down
Bottom-up
Communicative Language Teaching
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CLT…
Discussion Question: 1
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If you had to choose 3 adjectives to
describe CLT, what would they be?
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Why did you choose these?
True communicative need
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Collaboration
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Expression
Interpretation
Negotiation
Coping Strategies
Learner’s Styles
Dave’s Language Model
Production
Pragmatics
Semantics
Skills
Speaking, Listening
Reading, Writing
Pronunciation
Syntax
Culture
Style
Register
Dialect
Intonation
Reception
Communicative Competence
Contexts
Define & discuss
each component…
• How can/should each
become part of our
language teaching?
ELL Iceberg
Cognitive Process
BICS
Language Process
• Vocabulary
• Knowledge
• Pronunciation
• Comprehension
• Grammar
• Application
• Semantic meaning
• Analysis
• Functional meaning
• Synthesis
• Evaluation
CALPs
Discussion Question: 2
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What might be some obstacles
encountered by teachers who try to
implement a communicative approach
to language teaching?
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How would you approach the obstacles?
More Vocab
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Content-based Instruction
Immersion
Holistic Assessment
Portfolio Assessment
Discussion Question: 3
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Of the 5 CLT components:
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Language Arts
Language for a Purpose
Personal Language Use
Theater Arts
Beyond the Classroom
which are you most comfortable with:
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As a teacher &/or as a student
Why?
Shaky Proof
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That overt language instruction is
helpful in an ESOL context
Learner’s Motivation
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Integrative
Instrumental
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Also…
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Learner Styles
Discussion Question: 4
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With regard to your teaching, do you
feel English to be a foreign, second or
native language?
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How might these feelings affect your
teaching?
Which of the three do you think we as
teachers should strive to feel about English
for our students?
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Why?
End Goal
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Up to the learner…
Book overlooks ‘purse-string’ issues…
Discussion Question: 5
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Who sets the norm for English language
use in your teaching situation/context?
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Why?
How?
Is this good or bad?
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Why?
On Grammar & CLT…
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Communicative purpose
Integration of
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Form focused
Meaning focused
Strategy training (Dave’s addition)
Discussion Questions: 6-7
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If we’ve not already covered these:
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What do you like/dislike about CLT?
What do you feel the best mix of the 5
components might be for your current
teaching context?
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Why?
Syllabus Design
David Nunan
Discussion
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What do you see as the individual
teacher’s role in syllabus design?
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In reality in your situation?
In a theoretical ‘best-case’ scenario?
In a practical ‘really-ought-to work’ view?
Strengths & Weaknesses
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Formal Grammar
Organic Grammar
Needs Analysis
Competence-based
Standards-based
Notional-Functional
Content-based
Task-based
Challenge:
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Support, attack, improve or add to
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Chart on page 64…
Compare
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Look at the ESOL text Dave supplies
(and any you may have)
Decide which syllabus/method each
follows
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Which do you like best?
Which do you like least?
How could you use your least favorite in
the most effective manner?
Discussion
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If you were asked to design a syllabus
for a new ESOL course for your current
teaching situation, what style would you
choose?
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Why?
What would be some key components?
Wrap-up
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What is 1 thing you can change about
your teaching based on what we’ve
read &/or discussed this week?