Assignment - MA

Assignment: Methodological Approaches

Students names: Francis Kasibante, Olga Alba, Maria Ulloa y Jenny Florez

Group: 2017-10

Date: December 3rd, 2017

Using charts and tables to achieve communicative

goals

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Index

Index ... .2

Introduction 3

Question 1 3

Question 2 5

Question 3.... 7

Conclusion 8

References....... 9

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Introduction

It is well-known that using diverse kind of materials is essential in the teaching and learning
language processes, especially when we are working on improving communicative skills. For
that reason, "It seems important that the teacher should arrange different teaching materials
in order to make students remember their language they learn in foreign language teaching."
(Seven, M. A. & Engin, A. O, 2007: 2)

It is certainly true that the use of charts and tables in the English class can be helpful for
students at the time of answering short answers. However, what happens when we teachers
want to achieve a strong communicative goal? The chances to miss our communicative
point could be affected and lost if the charts are presented isolated and outside a real
context.

1-There are various statements in this text which are extremely questionable,
depending on your own personal view of language learning. For example, the text
says, ...the chart.... can serve as a basis for lively questions and discussions....
Why might this be questionable?

Charts can serve as a visual stimulating aid to present information to learners. It should be
known that a multitude of teachers use them when teaching English language because they
facilitate comprehension in communicative approaches. Language learning is a process
which involves fundamental concepts of communication. So, knowing how difficult it is to get
students using language in class in a meaningful way, regardless any level, language
teachers need to find strategies in order to motivate students to use language effectively. In
this way, using charts is one of the tools a teacher can use to simplify the language content
which is aimed when conducting a lesson.

The ideas about being questionable lie in the doubtfulness as regards charts validity to be
used as a means of imparting communicative language to learners. Therefore, much as
charts can serve the purpose, they alone cannot be based on as means of developing
communicative strategies because they do not hold lively discussions since communication
is supposed to be set as both interesting and communicative, something which creates
creativity in learners. According to Widdowson (2003: 86) Learners creativity will be directed
increasing receptivity if they involve activities which designed to facilitate internalization of
units of meaning so that they are put in store so to speak, ready when required for use.

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In fact, that is why the thought of charts being questionable comes in because; charts alone
cannot be a basis of language items which learners need to use in order to get things done.

In addition to the above, charts and tables can help to ensure the significance of the
information which is conveyed to the learners due to the fact that they provide a quick and
direct way of presenting information to learners. The problem might arise when learners lack
vocabulary to perform a given task by the teacher. That means that the ultimate goal of
learning a language and make them competent speakers may be rendered fruitless.

In line with above explanation, charts not necessarily provide long lively conversations and
discussions because learners are exposed to limited question and answer type of teaching.
In other words, charts do not always provide a chance to open ended questions, which are
designed to encourage a meaningful answer using the subjects own knowledge or feeling.
That is to say, charts tend to use close-ended questions, which encourage short or single
word answers.

In other terms, charts can also limit collaborative learning. Collaborative learning is an
educational approach of teaching and learning that involves groups of students working
together to solve a problem, complete a task, or create a product. According to Gerlach
(1994), "Collaborative learning is based on the idea that learning is a naturally social act in
which the participants talk among themselves. It is through the talk that learning occurs." So,
basing on the above definition, you find that, using charts cannot fill the communicative
approach, which is based on the idea that, learning language successfully comes through
having to communicate real meaning, intended to involve learners in real communication, to
acquire the language.

To concretize the above argument, Smith and Mac Gregor (1992) state in their assumptions
the following points: 1-Learning is an active process whereby students assimilate the
information and relate this new knowledge to a framework of prior knowledge. 2-Learning
requires a challenge that opens the door for the learner to actively engage his/her peers, and
to process and synthesize information rather than simply memorize and regurgitate it. 3-
Learners benefit when exposed to diverse viewpoints from people with varied backgrounds.
4-Learning flourishes in a social environment where conversation between learners takes
place. During these intellectual gymnastics, the learner creates a framework and meaning to
the discourse. 5-In the collaborative learning environment, the learners are challenged both
socially and emotionally as they listen to different perspectives, and are required to articulate
and defend their ideas. In so doing, the learners begin to create their own unique conceptual

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frameworks and not rely solely on an expert's or a text's framework. Thus, in a collaborative
learning setting, learners have the opportunity to converse with peers, present and defend
ideas, exchange diverse beliefs, question other conceptual frameworks, and be actively
engaged. Basing on the fact that charts do not fulfill all the above, it therefore justifies the
idea why using charts and tables might be questionable.

2-Criticise the approach suggested here from the point of view of a strong
communicative teacher.

In the last decades, the communicative approach has become predominant in classrooms
around the world, since it allows students to have an active participation in their learning
process. Despite the fact that it has some basic principles, there are different views such the
strong and the weak versions proposed by Howatt (1984). We are going to see how the
communicative chart activity proposed evidences more traits of a weak version of CLT,
which does not accomplish with the main goal of the approach.

Howatt (1984: 279) differentiates between a strong and a weak version of CLT:

There is, in a sense, a strong version of the communicative approach and a weak
version. The weak version which has become more or less standard practice in the
last ten years, stresses the importance of providing learners with opportunities to use
their English for communicative purposes and, characteristically, attempts to
integrate such activities into a wider program of language teaching.... The strong
version of communicative teaching, on the other hand, advances the claim that
language is acquired through communication, so that it is not merely a question of
activating an existing but inert knowledge of the language, but of stimulating the
development of the language system itself. If the former could be described as
'learning to use' English, the latter entails 'using English to learn it.'

Following the weak version characteristics, charts belong more to this point of view since it is
necessary to teach firstly language forms and functions and then use them to develop
communicative skills. In the provided example, the teacher addresses the present simple,
presenting the structure of the third person and the function that is to express routines. Then,
students are asked to exchange questions using the previous information. As we can see, in
this model first you learn structure, to use it later in communicative contexts.

On the other hand, if we take as reference a strong form of CLT, language has to be
acquired through free and real communication activities where learners can fully participate
through interaction. It is not a matter of using communicative activities that put into practice a
previous passive knowledge, but a task that lets students demonstrate their language skills
in a deep and meaningful way. In this way, using these types of charts contradicts this

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perspective, as long as there is not a real context included where students can have a
spontaneous involvement.

Furthermore, as we have stated before, charts and tables usually give students a
comprehensible and clear input, because they can easily be understood and must contain
only necessary information: no more, no less. However, as Nunan (2001) states, Language
is generally seen as a dynamic resource for creation of meaning, so as charts present
limited information, the development of active language can result into more difficulties
compared to other communicative strategies that allow learners to freely achieve other
states of communication in real context, inside familiar situations, as the CLT pursuits.

Having in mind the previous idea, it is important to consider that charts and tables need to be
presented inside a context and supported by background knowledge; otherwise they will not
give learners a comprehensible, meaningful input. Also, it is crucial for teachers to know the
reality and needs of the class in order to provide an authentic setting that could be familiar to
them.

Considering this, charts and tables could be a very good choice in communicative classes in
which the linguistic competences allow students to give opinions, argue or state their own
points of view. In these cases, students will perform in an excellent way in the activities that
imply more than answering one word questions. However, in many monolingual schools
from many countries, the use of charts and tables will not always be successful in the
communicative activities, as students are not sufficiently exposed to English language so, as
a consequence, they usually do not achieve the necessary English level to perform in these
activities properly.

Finally, we consider that it is vital for communicative teachers to make sure that, students
have previously acquired the necessary knowledge in order to achieve a mental
representation of the theme in study and reach a strong, authentic and vivid
communication. In other words, the use of charts and tables do not give us a guarantee that
the class is going to strongly develop their communicative skills. On the contrary, a task in
which students associate with some prior knowledge would certainly be more meaningful
and will approximate them to eventually talk about things that they could perform outside the
classroom.

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3-Say what is good about the approach, from the point of view of a teacher more
focused on form and a step-by-step, linear approach

Regarding communicative approaches and their principles and techniques applied in

language learning, there are several benefits that other approaches like the linear one can
take advantage of. Hence, we can start saying that the linear approach suggests that the
language learning must be carried out step by step following a lined way or a correct order to
get all the knowledge consciously. According to Nunan (1998), learning English, with a linear
approach, is compared to constructing a wall, brick by brick; where the bricks are the
grammar rules learned and taught one by one with a specific order.

The language wall is erected one linguistic 'brick' at a time. The easy grammatical bricks are
laid at the bottom of the wall, providing a foundation for the more difficult ones. The task for
the learner is to get the linguistic bricks in the right order: first the word bricks, and then the
sentence bricks. If the bricks are not in the correct order, the wall will collapse under its own
ungrammaticality. (Nunan, 1998: 1)

Thus, charts and tables could be the means through we achieve that grammar goal, they are
useful for linear teachers because they represent authentic material that have a
comprehensible input that can produce meaningful output. Hence, linear approach is
focused on input, which is shared with the Natural approach What characterizes the Natural
Approach is the use of techniques in order to provide comprehensible input Arzamendi, Ball
& Gass, n.d. p.66). Furthermore, as these authors mentioned, most of the time
comprehensible input comes from materials, making the classroom activities a meaningful
supply. Therefore, for a linear teacher using charts and tables is beneficial because these
are materials easy to adjust to students' needs and levels, to different lexical and
grammatical topics; which means that the written and oral language use can also be
controlled and the approach will not lose their essence, the learner will continue being
passive and the class will be teacher-centered.

For comprehensible input and in general for second language acquisition, it is also essential
to take into account the affective filter because "the insistence on grammatical accuracy at
very early stages, the use of error correction, and the grammatical focus of the course may
cause anxiety and a high filter for all but the most dedicated Monitor user." (Krashen, 1982 :
136)

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In other words, this clue factor can obstruct students' learning language processes, making
decrease motivation and self-confidence and for obvious reasons increasing anxiety. As
cited in Richard, J.C. & Rodgers, T.S (1986: 133): "Krashen sees the learner's emotional
state or attitudes as an adjustable filter that freely passes, impedes, or blocks input
necessary to acquisition. A low affective filter is desirable, since it impedes or blocks less of
this necessary input. The hypothesis is built on research in second language acquisition,
which has identified three kinds of affective or attitudinal variables related to second
language acquisition:
1. Motivation. Learners with high motivation generally do better.
2. Self-confidence. Learners with self-confidence and a good self-image tend to be more
successful.
3. Anxiety. Low personal anxiety and low classroom anxiety are more conducive to second
language acquisition

In this way, it is seen that charts and tables can help to increase students confidence when
developing their communicative skills, as long as there is some previous knowledge and
input that help them to have a clear idea of what to do and how to perform.

Conclusion

Conclusively, we wish to emphasis the fact that there is no one method which could assure
the success in the process of imparting knowledge to learners. It just requires a teacher to
be a master of different methods and use them in their proper ways.

The use of charts and tables have pros and cons, but it certainly can be successful in order
to achieve communication if we previously consider some aspects in relation to the reality of
our students, such as the background knowledge they have acquired, the relationship of the
topic that is being studied and their familiarity to their real environment, the linguistic level of
the classroom and to situate charts and tables inside a communicative, real context,
avoiding the use of these tools in isolation.

With that being said, the use of charts and tables can be an efficient way to achieve a strong
communication if we use them properly in context and also if we consider the characteristics
of each class. Communicating effectively is one of the most powerful skills in learning a
second language, so it is crucial for teachers to devote a great deal of work, time, and
attention to this area.

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References

Arzamendi, J. Ball, P., and Gass, E. (n.d) Methodological Approaches. FUNIBER, pp 66 -

86.

Gerlach, J. M. (1994). "Is this collaboration?" In Bosworth, K. and Hamilton, S. J.

(Eds.), Collaborative Learning: Underlying Processes and Effective Techniques, New
Directions for Teaching and Learning No. 59. San Francisco: USA, pp 5-14.

Krashen, S. (1982). Principles and practice in second language acquisition. California: USA,
pp 137-140.

MacGregor, J.T. (1990). "Collaborative learning: Shared inquiry as a process of reform" In

Svinicki, M. D. (Ed.), The changing face of college teaching, New Directions for Teaching
and Learning No. 42. San Francisco: USA
Nunan, D. (1998). Teaching grammar in context. ELT Journal No. 52, pp 101-109.

Nunan, D. (2001). Designing Tasks for the Communicative Classroom. Cambridge

University Press, pp 30, 40, 42.

Richards, J.C., Rogers, T.S. (1986) The natural approach. In C. U. Press (Ed.),Approaches
and methods in language teaching. New York: United States of America. Cambridge
University Press. pp 128-141.

Seven, M. A. & Engin, A. O. (2007) The importance and effect of using aid materials in
foreign language teaching. pp1-12 Retrieved from
https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED497456.pdf

Widdowson, H. (2003). Defining Issues in English Language Teaching. Oxford: Oxford

University Press.