CLT using CEFR and EIL in Southeast Asia and East Asia in the English language classroom

RELC Journal ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 003368822199807
Author(s):  
Joseph Foley
Keyword(s):  
Southeast Asia ◽  
East Asia ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
English Language ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Communicative Language Teaching ◽  
World Language ◽  
International Language ◽  
Language Classroom ◽  
English Proficiency Index

This article discusses language teaching and the move from a predominantly psycholinguistic to a more sociolinguistic approach through Communicative Language Teaching (CLT), the Common European Framework of Reference Languages (CEFR) and English as an International Language (EIL). The context is four plurilingual and pluricultural societies in Southeast Asia and East Asia, (Thailand, Japan, Vietnam and China). These countries were chosen as they had similarities in the development of CEFR and consequently there were common factors that needed to be addressed in implementing CEFR. According to the English Proficiency Index (2020) a number of countries in the region have been described as being in the category of low or very low with regard to proficiency. To help improve such a situation, given the need for economic development, CEFR was introduced by various Ministries of Education in addition to the already existing official CLT syllabuses. English as an international language has also been widely proposed by a number of researchers, in terms of making teachers, students and educators aware of English as a world language as well as developing an attitudinal change with regard to ‘standard’ English. This article suggests that the basic principles of Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) can be best applied through scaffolding using CEFR and EIL given the reality of teaching in relatively low English language proficiency contexts.

Observation of Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) in a Year 3 Primary School in Johor Bahru

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nur Hazwani Mohd Muhridza ◽  
Linda A/P V. Prapagara ◽  
Aminabibi Satanihpy@Saidalvi
Keyword(s):  
English Language ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Communicative Language Teaching ◽  
Communicative Skills ◽  
Language Classroom ◽  
Lesson Development ◽  
Meaningful Context ◽  
Field Notes ◽  
Implementation Data

Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) has a long history in an English as a Second Language (ESL) classroom. It is an approach which focuses on developing learners’ communicative skills in a meaningful context. However, the application of communicative language teaching (CLT) in an English language classroom has recently been debated extensively. Teachers still find it difficult and challenging to adopt CLT effectively in the classroom. This paper aims to report the application of CLT in a Year 3 English language classroom during a 90-minute lesson. Specifically, the study intended to observe and describe whether or not the teacher focused on CLT in terms of lesson development and implementation. Data was collected using an observation checklist and field notes in accordance with the objective of the study. The collected data was analysed using content analysis and validated by interrater reliability. The findings have indicated strengths and weaknesses in the lesson conducted. This can be seen in certain features of the observation towards CLT such as pair or group work activities, fluency of the language, error correction implemented by the teacher and the role of the teacher. It can be concluded that CLT approach should be given importance in the classroom by teachers in the learning process.

scholarly journals Omani Students’ Perceptive of Communicative Language Teaching Approach in Higher Education in Oman: Its Practice

Proceedings ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (21) ◽  
pp. 1333
Author(s):  
Mouza Said Al Kalbani ◽  
Josu Solabarrieta ◽  
Ahmad Bin Touq
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Classroom Practice ◽  
English Language ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Communicative Language Teaching ◽  
Teaching Approach ◽  
Clear Understanding ◽  
The Impact

This study aimed to analyze and understand learners’ attitudes towards Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) approach in a foreign language context in higher education in Oman. In the literature review, learners’ attitudes play a strong role in determining the success of innovations in instructional practices (Savignon and Wang 2003). In addition to that, this study is considered as an evaluative study to explore teachers’ implication of CLT and the impact of this implication on students “communicative competence”, which is considered as an ultimate goal of communicative language teaching in a foreign langue context (FL). The importance of this study is due to its significance to come up with a clear understanding of Omani learners’ beliefs considering teaching and learning process. It also aims to specify the impact of CLT as an effective teaching approach in English as a foreign language (EFL) among higher education students and to specify any difficulties or challenges that might hinder CLT implementation in the Omani context. To achieve this, a quantitative study had been used to collect data from both teachers and learners. The participants of this study were 631 students (189 male and 391 female) who were enrolled in Intensive English language programs (IELP) in Foundation Institute (FI) in two Universities (210 students from public university and 421 students from private university) and those participants were from three different English proficiency levels (247 level 1, 155 level 2 and 229 level 3). The analysis revealed that students perceived classroom’s practice to be more oriented towards using strategic and grammatical competence and less towards sociolinguistic and intercultural competences. Additionally, Omani learners reported statistically significant correlation between CLT practice. The students’ gender, language proficiency and education context affected how students perceived classroom practice.

scholarly journals Use of Journal Articles in English Language Classroom

2018 ◽  
Vol 22 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 110-116
Author(s):  
Sagar Poudel
Keyword(s):  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
English Language ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Instructional Materials ◽  
Journal Articles ◽  
Teaching English ◽  
Language Classroom ◽  
Efl Teachers ◽  
Teachers And Students

Teaching English without any instructional materials may be difficult or even impossible. There are lots of materials which facilitate both the teachers and students in language teaching and learning. As with other teaching materials and resources, journal articles are also an important source for language teaching. Taking this into account, this article tries to explore how EFL teachers perceive the value of journal articles and how they use them in their classrooms. More specifically, the article tries to explore whether and to what extent journal articles can be used as instructional materials, and what strategies teachers employ to use journals articles to enhance language proficiency of their students.Journal of NELTA ,  Vol. 22, No. 1-2, 2017 December, Page: 110-116

Active Discussion Approaches for the Synchronous Online World Language Classroom

2022 ◽  
pp. 88-105
Author(s):  
Julie A. Sellers
Keyword(s):  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Communicative Language Teaching ◽  
Online Classes ◽  
World Language ◽  
Language Classes ◽  
Language Classroom ◽  
The Face ◽  
Course Material ◽  
Synchronous Online

The COVID-19 pandemic changed the context of world language teaching and learning around the globe in 2020 when schools unexpectedly switched to remote learning. In the face of this unanticipated shift, world language educators sought ways to adapt communicative language teaching to remote delivery. Active discussion approaches effectively encourage students to master course material and gain proficiency in synchronous online classes. This chapter discusses best practices for active discussions and offers examples for creating engaging discussion approaches for synchronous online world language classes.

Engaging Exam-Oriented Students in Communicative Language Teaching by ‘Packaging’ Learning English Through Songs as Exam Practice

RELC Journal ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 003368822097854
Author(s):  
Kevin Wai-Ho Yung
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
English Language ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
High Stakes Testing ◽  
Communicative Language Teaching ◽  
High Stakes ◽  
Secondary English ◽  
Language Curriculum ◽  
Teachers And Students

Literature has long been used as a tool for language teaching and learning. In the New Academic Structure in Hong Kong, it has become an important element in the senior secondary English language curriculum to promote communicative language teaching (CLT) with a process-oriented approach. However, as in many other English as a second or foreign language (ESL/EFL) contexts where high-stakes testing prevails, Hong Kong students are highly exam-oriented and expect teachers to teach to the test. Because there is no direct assessment on literature in the English language curriculum, many teachers find it challenging to balance CLT through literature and exam preparation. To address this issue, this article describes an innovation of teaching ESL through songs by ‘packaging’ it as exam practice to engage exam-oriented students in CLT. A series of activities derived from the song Seasons in the Sun was implemented in the ESL classrooms in a secondary school in Hong Kong. Based on the author’s observations and reflections informed by teachers’ and students’ comments, the students were first motivated, at least instrumentally, by the relevance of the activities to the listening paper in the public exam when they saw the similarities between the classroom tasks and past exam questions. Once the students felt motivated, they were more easily engaged in a variety of CLT activities, which encouraged the use of English for authentic and meaningful communication. This article offers pedagogical implications for ESL/EFL teachers to implement CLT through literature in exam-oriented contexts.

scholarly journals Constraints on innovation in English language teaching in hinterland regions of China

2020 ◽  
pp. 136216882097985
Author(s):  
Neil Murray ◽  
Antony J. Liddicoat ◽  
Gavin Zhen ◽  
Penny Mosavian
Keyword(s):  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
English Language ◽  
Time Pressure ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Eastern China ◽  
Language Education ◽  
Political Influence ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
Chinese Government

Since the start of the twenty-first century, English has come to be seen by the Chinese government as a linchpin of its continued economic and political influence. Its resultant efforts to promote innovation in English language teaching align with the aspirations of a population, many of whom regard competency in English as a determiner of opportunity and success in their careers, and thus a vehicle through which to provide a good quality of life for themselves and their families. However, despite government-driven initiatives to improve English language education, change has been slow to materialize, especially outside of the main urban areas of Eastern China. Here, we report on a study that sought to explore the constraints governing attempts by teachers of English to innovate in universities located in some of the so-called ‘hinterland’ regions of Southwestern China. Key determinants that emerged, and which we discuss, included time pressure and competing priorities; scepticism towards new ideas; lack of investment in resources; the primacy of the textbook; students’ language proficiency; and opportunities for professional development. Together, these findings indicate the need for a change of culture if innovation is to be welcomed, both in principle and in practice, as a driver of positive change in the teaching of English in these universities. Teachers, their line managers, and university senior managers need to feel willing and able to engage freely in constructive and informed discourse, and in doing so consider recalibrating institutional priorities, thereby helping reconcile the pressures and tensions currently experienced by English language teachers and which impede progress.

Teaching oral requests

Pragmatics ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 499-517 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eleni Petraki ◽  
Sarah Bayes
Keyword(s):  
Conversation Analysis ◽  
English Language ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
Cultural Appropriateness ◽  
Language Classroom ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Everyday Communication

Research in English language teaching has highlighted the importance of teaching communication skills in the language classroom. Against the backdrop of extensive research in everyday communication, the goal of this research was to explore whether current discourse analytic research is reflected in the lessons and communication examples of five English language teaching textbooks, by using spoken requests as the subject of investigation. The textbooks were evaluated on five criteria deriving from research on politeness, speech act theory and conversation analysis. These included whether and the extent to which the textbooks discussed the cultural appropriateness of requests, discussed the relationship of requests and other contextual factors, explained pre-sequences and re-requests and provided adequate practice activities. This study found that none of the coursebooks covered all of the criteria and that some coursebooks actually had very inadequate lessons. The results of the textbook analysis demonstrate that teachers using these five coursebooks and designers of future coursebooks must improve their lessons on requests by using pragmatics research and authentic examples as a guide.

scholarly journals English foreign language teaching anxiety of Indonesian pre-service teachers of undergraduate internship program

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 222
Author(s):  
Huyi Intan Sari ◽  
Choiril Anwar
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Time Management ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
English Language ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Language Education ◽  
Teaching Experience ◽  
Negative Evaluation ◽  
Teaching Anxiety

Anxiety is a topic mostly investigated in the field of foreign language education. Unfortunately, the main focus of the studies on the aforementioned topic has primarily been provided in relation to anxiety suffered by students not teachers. Anxiety in speaking English while teaching has been proven to be a separate obstacle to the success of the language teaching and learning. This still happens to teachers who even have years of teaching experience. This study aims to investigate the English language teaching anxiety as experienced by the pre-service teacher at the department. The FLTA questionnaire consisting of 27 out of 45 items was adopted to collect data. Since this study was carried out during the COVID-19 pandemic, the questionnaire was distributed to the participants via email. The analysis was then made by implementing the qualitative descriptive approach and simple quantification to support the description. The results show that there were five factors of anxiety occur during the program. They were teaching inexperience, self-perception of language proficiency, fear of negative evaluation, lack of student�s interest, and difficulty with time management. These findings are expected to become a reference for the efforts of developing an internship preparation program.

scholarly journals Arab English Language Teaching Candidates Climbing the IELTS Mountain: A Qualitatively Driven Hermeneutic Phenomenology Study

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ali Al-Issa ◽  
Ali Al-Bulushi ◽  
Rima Al-Zadjali
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Student Teachers ◽  
Learning Strategies ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
English Language ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Hermeneutic Phenomenology ◽  
Critical Discussion ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
Structured Interviews

As a high-stakes international language proficiency benchmark, the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) requires different and special Language Learning Strategies (LLS), which pose numerous challenges to its takers. Some Sultan Qaboos University (SQU) majoring in English Language Teaching (ELT), have therefore, failed to achieve an overall score of Band 6 on the IELTS as a language proficiency requirement and a condition mandated by the Ministry of Education for selecting English language teachers among. This qualitatively driven hermeneutic phenomenology study, hence, discusses this issue from an ideological perspective. The study triangulates data from semi-structured interviews made with six fourth-year ELT Student Teachers (STs) at SQU and the pertinent literature. The critical discussion revealed various ideologies about the powerful impact of the IELTS on the STs’ English language development. The findings have important implications for the practices of the teachers in the Omani ELT school system and elsewhere.

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