CLT Experience

Richards (2006, p. 2) said that Communicative language teaching can be understood as a set of principles about the goals of language teaching, how learners learn a language, the kinds of classroom activities that best facilitate learning, and the roles of teachers and learners in the classroom.

Communicative Language Teaching was an awesome experience for me. It showed me a new way to process the language. In this approach, Johnson (p. 2) said that message-focus is central to communicative methodology because it is central to language use, and communicative methodologists aim to simulate processes of language use in the classroom. That was challenging for me, because I was not taught in that way. I could not imagine how I would deal with Ss like that.

But as we read the material, I started to realize the importance to make the classes more meaningful and real for Ss. Before CLT, teaching English were almost abstract, unreal and distant for Ss needs. The English materials were made with different realities than ours, so for a long time, English was unreachable for us as teachers, and for Ss too.

I realized that the system was grammatically arranged and I felt so difficult to give Ss the chance to understand English as useful language in real daily life. Then I thought in activities that perhaps can be used walking on the street, taking into account that Gualeguaychú is a touristic city and it is not necessary to travel abroad to find someone who speaks English.

I enjoyed material design, because I think it is a good way to make my communicative aims on teaching real and enriching. Making my own material I can have a wealthy support for the whole syllabus and I can also prepare games to make classes more entertaining.

I really took advantage of the course, I enjoyed a lot. The cooperating teacher was a great support for me, I felt encouraged by her. And Ss were very disposed to work despite their difficulties and their negativity to learn English sometimes.