Class #6

Class Simulation

Ana Yanci Rodríguez, Cindy Jimenez and Adriana Rodríguez.

Monday, October 7th, 2019

Communicative learning approach

The communicative approach is based on the idea that learning a language successfully comes through having to communicate real meaning. When learners are involved in real communication, their natural strategies for the language the acquisition will be used, and this will allow them to learn to use the language.

Example: Practicing question forms by asking learners to find out personal information about their colleagues.

In the classroom is necessary to produce meaningful and real communication, at all levels. As a result, there may be more emphasis on skills than systems, lessons are more learner-centered, and there may be the use of authentic materials.

Characteristics of the communicate learning approach:

1. Classroom goals are focused on all of the components of communicative competence and not restricted to grammatical or linguistic competence.

2. Language teaching techniques are designed to engage learners in the pragmatic, authentic, functional use of language for meaningful purposes. Language forms are not the central focus but rather aspects of language that enable the learner to accomplish those purposes.

3. Fluency and accuracy are seen as complementary principles underlying communicative techniques. At times fluency may have to take on more importance than accuracy to keep learners meaningfully engaged in language use.

4. In the communicative classroom, students ultimately have to use the language, productively and receptively, in unrehearsed contexts.

ADVANTAGES

·         Increase of fluency in the target language.

·         Seeks to use authentic resources. And that is more interesting and motivating for children.

·         Children acquire grammar rules as a necessity to speak so it is more proficient and efficient.

·             The approach also leads to gains in the areas of grammatical/sociolinguistic/discourse/strategic competence through communication.

DISADVANTAGES

·         Is difficult for the teacher alone to check the language use of every student, especially in a big class.

·         The Communicative Approach often seems to be interpreted as: “if the teacher understands the student, we have good communication” but native speakers of the target language can have great difficulty understanding students.

·         Focuses on fluency but not accuracy.

Teacher roles

-          The first role is to facilitate the communication process between all participants in the classroom, and between these participants and the various activities and texts.

-          The second role is to act as an independent participant within the learning-teaching group.

-          The latter role is closely related to the objectives of the first role and arises from it. These roles imply a set of secondary roles for the teacher; first, as an organizer of resources and as a resource himself, second as a guide within the classroom procedures and activities... A third role for the teacher is that of researcher and learner, with much to contribute in terms of appropriate knowledge and abilities, actual and observed experience of the nature of learning and organi­zational capacities

Learner roles

The emphasis in Communicative Language Teaching on the processes of communication, rather than mastery of language.

Text-based material like textbooks will, if designed on CLT principles, offer the learners many kinds of prompts on which they can build up conversations. They will typically contain visual cues, pictures and sentence fragments that the learners can use as a starting point for conversation. Other books consist of different texts the teacher can use for pair work. Both learners get texts with different information and the task is to ask each other questions to get to know the content of the missing piece.

Task-based the material consists of exercise handbooks, cue cards, activity cards, pair-communication practice materials, and student-interaction practice booklets. Using realia in communicative language teaching means using authentic material, for example, newspaper articles, photos, maps, symbols, and many more. Material which can be touched and held makes speaking and learning more concrete and meaningful. Maps can be used to describe the way from one point to another and photos can be used for describing where things are placed, in front of, on top of or underneath something, and so on.

Kare
Ricardo
Yohanna

Cooperative Learning Method

Introduction

1-What is a cooperative learning method of teaching?

*Cooperative learning is an educational approach which aims to organize classroom activities into academic and social learning experiences. There is much more to cooperative learning than merely arranging students into groups, and it has been described as "structuring positive interdependence." ... positive interdependence.

*Cooperative learning is a teaching method where students of mixed levels of ability are arranged into groups and rewarded according to the group's success, rather than the success of an individual member.

2-What are cooperative learning strategies?

Cooperative Learning, sometimes called small-group learning, is an instructional strategy in which small groups of students work together on a common task. ... Face-to-face interaction: Students encourage and support one another; the environment encourages discussion and eye contact

3-How can cooperative learning be used in the classroom?

Using cooperative learning strategies such as think-pair-share, and the jigsaw technique encourages peer teaching and brainstorming, as well as the open exchanging of ideas. ... Explain how you use cooperative learning in your classroom, giving examples, and tell us why this is a useful strategy.

4-What is the jigsaw cooperative learning method?

The jigsaw method allows the teacher to break students into groups and assignments into smaller pieces, all for accomplishing tasks with more detail and collaboration. ... Jigsawing requires students to listen and learn, and the group is rewarded when each individual contributes their skills and knowledge to the whole.

5-What are the five elements of cooperative learning?

The five basic elements of cooperative learning are:

·         Positive interdependence.

·         Individual and group accountability.

·         Interpersonal and small group skills.

·         Face-to-face promotive interaction.

·         Group processing.

6-What is the purpose of cooperative learning?

The purpose of cooperative learning, groups is to make each member a stronger individual in his or her right. Students learn together so that they can subsequently perform higher as individuals. The third essential component of cooperative learning is promotive interaction, preferably face-to-face.

7-What are the types of cooperative learnings?

Informal Learning Groups

These groups are short term and not very structured. They typically involve activities where classmates turn to a neighbor to discuss a problem or concept for a few minutes. Informal groups are generally small, usually two but no more than three people. It’s most convenient to use informal learning groups for quick activities such as checking for understanding, brainstorming, quick problem solving, summarizing, or review. Discuss a controversial problem peer to peer.

Formal Learning Groups

Formal learning groups are assigned a task or project and stay together until it is complete. There is a clear structure to these groups set by the teacher that includes task and behavior expectations. Formal learning groups can be heterogeneous or homogeneous, depending on the assignment. Most groups perform well with three to four people, any more than five can become unproductive. Doing a project, solving a series of problems, reviewing for a test, or writing a report are all examples of how formal learning groups can be used in a classroom.

Cooperative Base Groups

These groups are different from the previous two in that they are long term support groups. Base groups should last for a minimum of a semester but can be anywhere up to several years. Since they are long term commitments, typically these groups become more than just academic problem solving groups. Members in base groups often become a personal support system for each other, building relationships and trust during the duration of their cooperative learning process.

8-Conclusion

It is acceptable to use more than one type of group at a time! For example, you can assign a project using formal learning groups and still use informal groups during teaching time where the formal groups aren’t working together. If you have a class where cooperating is a challenge, you may need many opportunities for your students to practice working together. Start out simple and work your way towards more formal cooperative learning situations.