Developing Communicative
Language Teaching
Dr. Michael Rost
Warm up: Mixer
> Find a partner near you, talk for 1 minute –
then when you hear the word “Change”,
change partners:
• What is something really important that
happened in your life this year?
• Why is it important to you?
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What is an effective communicative activity?
•
•
•
•
Engaged? (have to use strategies)
Personal? (have to reveal something)
Communication Gap? (need to listen)
Task? (outcome that is verifiable)
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One key : articulating standards for
…what is
successful
communication (in
L1 and L2)
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…how students can
achieve
this success step by
step
3 types of communicative assessment:
Holistic
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Checklist
Scale
Example of holistic evaluation
• How did you like this activity?
[1] ………[2] ……… [3] ………[4] ………[5]
Boring
Interesting
Not Worthwhile
Valuable
• If we do this activity again, what might we
do differently?
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The advantages of holistic
evaluation
• natural and spontaneous
• open to interpretation by everyone
• gives personal insights
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Let’s retry an activity…
with
communicative
goals in mind
…
This time, let’s
focus on…
What adds value to this activity?
• Speaker “readiness”, knowledge of topic
• Personalization – opportunity, willingness,
and desire to show one’s personal side
• Supportive listener – an interested partner
who wants to learn something
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Activity: Pair Exchange
Who has been the
best teacher in your
life so far?
What makes
this person the best
teacher for you?
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Conditions
• Think for one minute before you start.
• Take turns. 2 minutes for each person only. Face each other.
Speaker:
Describe the
person
carefully. Tell
about one
time that he or
she was a
good teacher.
Listener:
Listener:
Listen quietly
for one minute.
Then ask at least
3 questions to
learn more about
the person’s
teacher.
Try to
summarize
what makes
this person a
great teacher.
Speakers & Listeners:
Aim to use English 90% of the time!
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Example of check list evaluation
Did you …
__ speak for 1 minute in English only?
__ make your ideas clear to your partner?
__ ask at least 3 questions?
__ learn any new vocabulary in this activity?
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This type of assessment is
a “checklist” type.
Notice: We focus on
a few performance variables.
If our students meet these
performance criteria, they
have done the task well.
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If our students have troubles with
any of the criteria,
• We need to help them focus on the criteria.
And
• …give more support
• … let them try again!
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The advantages of checklists:
• clear and fair to everyone
• provides more specific feedback
• easy to adjust & expand
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Assessment checklists are used
for “achievement tests”:
• They measure
whether our students
have achieved the
specific objectives of
the unit.
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3rd kind of assessment:
Scale-based
Communicative Scales are based on:
• dynamic, interactive criteria
• possibility of corrective feedback
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Examples of feedback:
• good intention
• sensitive
• performed the task well
• clear and logical
• used effective connectors (especially _________ )
• used appropriate vocabulary (especially _______ )
• used appropriate grammar (especially ________ )
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Examples of feedback, TYPE 1
• clear pronunciation
• animated intonation
• correct grammatical structures
• range of structures
• precise vocabulary choice
• formulaic language
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Examples of feedback, TYPE 2
• smoothness
• richness of content
• confidence
• “communicative image”
• interactivity – listening to partner
• intention to communicate
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Activity: Speaking Circle
Speaker’s Topic:
• Talk for 1 minute:
• Who influenced you more – your father or
your mother? How did he or she influence
you?
Listeners’ Task:
• Listen quietly for 1 minute
• Then ask for specific examples
• At the end, give feedback on speaker’s main
point.
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Activity: Spotlight
Speaker’s Topic:
Listener’s Task:
List 5 important
dates. Why are they
important? Answer
your partner’s
questions.
Choose a date. Ask
why it’s important.
Ask 3 “follow on”
questions.
Monitor’s Task:
Pay attention to the
accuracy and fluency
of both S & L.
Give positive feedback at the end.
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A note about “mistakes”
• role of mistakes and recasts in SLA
• role of “attitude about mistakes” in
development
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Converting feedback to
a communicative scale assessment
Most widely used scales:
• TSE (TOEFL, Test of Spoken English)
• ILR
• FSI
• ELIUM
• ORDINATE
• COE (Council of Europe)
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Key concepts:
• “Base Line” or “Native speaker” norms
• “Rule-space” analysis of skills
• Continuum of performance variables: not
skills, but interactive processes
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COMMON TERMS USED IN COMMUNICATIVE RATING SCALES
•
Effectiveness of communication: The degree to which an intended message is
communicated successfully and efficiently conveyed to a listener.
•
Task Completion: The performance of an appropriate language function in a
specified context.
•
Communication strategies: Communication techniques such as paraphrase,
examples, redundancy, or demonstration to make one’s communication more effective
or to compensate for language deficiencies.
•
Coherence: The clear and logical organization of the speaker’s utterances.
•
Response to partner: The sensitivity of the speaker to the listener and the social
situation.
•
Accuracy: The degree to which pronunciation, grammar, fluency, and vocabulary
approach that of a native speaker.
•
Fluency: Smoothly flowing speech.
•
Vocabulary: Words and expressions that are appropriate for the intended message.
© Michael Rost
Some Important Scale Descriptors
(= Values!)
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•
•
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volunteers information freely
goes beyond the minimum task
repairs own mistakes
gives strong ideas
maintains strong contact with audience
has a clear purpose
smooth delivery
range of vocabulary
range of grammar structures
© Michael Rost
A band scale for holistic assessment
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Framework for a communication
assessment scale
Fluency
Accuracy
Complexity
Interactivity
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© Michael Rost
A framework for holistic assessment
Fluency
Accuracy
Complexity
Interactivity
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5
© Michael Rost
Conclusion:
1. You can make your own assessment tools:
Holistic
© Michael Rost
Checklist
Scale
Conclusion:
2. You can use assessment tools:
• to promote awareness
• to allow students to learn from feedback
• to describe each student’s progress
toward communicative goals
© Michael Rost
Summary:
• Assessment is vital for student progress in
communication.
• Assessment can be flexible – it can and should take
many forms.
• Evaluation should always include self-assessment.
• Communicative goals must be described to students.
• Effective communication should be modeled for
students.
• Feedback is the key to progress – give every student
feedback in every class
© Michael Rost
Thank you for your
participation!
You can download this presentation
(Developing Communicative Language Teaching)
from my blog:
latcomm.com/seminars/downloads
© Michael Rost