Principles of communicative methodology (Adapted from Morrow, 1993,
communication in the classroom)
1) Know what you are doing/teaching and why
There should be a focus on the learning of how to do something. It should always
be clear to the learner what he is learning to do, why he is learning to do it, and
how it is communicatively useful.
2) The whole is more than the sum of its parts
The ability to use elements of language does not indicate the ability to
communicate. A learner needs to process sentences and ideas in the oral modes
(speaking & listening) in 'real' time. Thus, the learner works with the context as a
whole while being under certain time pressures. A communicative methodology
deals with language above the sentence level, using real language in real
situations. A communicative methodology uses both synthetic and analytic
procedures.
3) The processes are as important as the forms
There should be an effort to replicate the processes of communication. There are 3
processes that can be incorporated individually or together in teaching procedures.
The more processes that are incorporated the more communicative the exercise.
A. information gap- Communication takes place between two or more individuals
where one has information that is unknown to the other. The teacher needs to set
up situations where information gaps exist and students are motivated to bridge
said gaps.
B. Choice- Choice is a crucial characteristic of communication. Participants
should have the choice of what to say and hoe they will say it.
C. Feedback- When communication takes place the speakers have a specific aim.
Thus, a classroom task should have an aim that will allow the participants to
receive some sort of feedback.
4) To learn it, do it
What happens in the classroom must involve the learner and be judged by its
effects on him/her. Learning, to a large extent, is the learner's responsibility. The
teacher's responsibility is providing a framework which is conductive to learning.
Only by practicing communicative activities can we learn to communicate. A
communicative method should encompass stages of presentation, practice and
production.
5) Mistakes are not always mistakes
There are two possible causes for a learner making a mistake:
A. The teacher may believe that mistakes are not important as the learner is
getting his/her message across. However, seemingly 'trivial' mistakes and
grammar pronunciation can in fact impede communication.
B. The learner has been forced to try something that he has not been prepared
for, in which case the learner is actually not making a mistake.