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Ian Rogers & Peter Jarmics April 2010
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Workshop strategic confidence

Nov 11, 2014

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Education

Communicative Competence
Building Learner Confidence
Learner Sense of Responsibility
Discussion
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Ian Rogers & Peter JarmicsApril 2010

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Presentation Overview

1. Introduction to Communicative Competence- Focus on Strategic Competence

2. Building Learner Confidence3. Developing Learner Sense of Responsibility4. Teaching Learning Strategies

- Classroom Tasks and Activities

5. Discussion

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The Communicative ApproachCommunicative Language Teaching (CLT) is usually characterized as a broad approach to teaching, rather than as a teaching method with a clearly defined set of classroom practices. As such, it is most often defined as a list of general principles or features. One of the most recognized of these lists is David Nunan’s (1991) five features of communicative language teaching:

1. An emphasis on learning to communicate through interaction in the target language

2. The introduction of authentic texts into the learning situation3. The provision of opportunities for learners to focus, not only on

language but also on the learning management process4. An enhancement of the learner’s own personal experiences as

important contributing elements to classroom learning5. An attempt to link classroom language learning with language activities

outside the classroom. The focus is on developing communicative competence in English.

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Communicative CompetenceThrough the influence of communicative language teaching, it has become widely accepted that communicative competence should be the goal of language education, central to good classroom practice (Savignon, 1997). This is in contrast to previous views in which grammatical competence was commonly given top priority.

Canale and Swain (1980) defined communicative competence in terms of three components:– grammatical competence: words and rules– sociolinguistic competence: appropriateness– strategic competence: use of communication and learning strategies

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Developing Communicative Competence

• Utilize an eclectic communicative approach to teaching language acquisition – no single method is best– notional-functional approach (Van Ek, Alexander, 1975)– the natural approach (Krashen, Terrell, 1983)– suggestopedia (Lozanov, 1971)– total-physical response (Asher, 1969)– audio-lingual method (US Army, 1950s)– grammar-translation (18th/19th Century Europe)

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Developing Communicative Competence

• Teach language knowledge - vocabulary, idioms, grammar, pronunciation

• Teach practical, everyday language skills - listening, speaking, reading, writing

• Teach culture – this is how we do it, this is why we do it that way

• Teach strategies - build more learner introspection into language lessons

– increase self-awareness of their abilities build confidence– learn where their weaknesses lie and what they can do to improve

develop learning strategies

DEVELOP METACOGNITIVE ABILITIES

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Defining Strategic Competence• Strategic competence is:

– Knowing how to recognize and repair communication breakdowns– Knowing how to work around gaps in one’s knowledge of the language– Knowing how to develop one’s own learning skills and develop fluency on one’s own

• Strategic competence asks:– How do I know when I’ve misunderstood or when someone has misunderstood me?

• What do I say then?

– How can I express my ideas if I don’t know the name of something or the right verb form to use?– What can I do to learn and retain new vocabulary?– How can I prepare to communicate effectively in a particular context or situation?

• Strategic competence develops:– Confidence of one’s own abilities– Self-directed learning skills

• Strategic competence fosters:– Lifelong learning

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Teaching Strategic Competence• Why Teach Strategic Competence?

– Develop learner independence through self-directed learning skills– Develop learner confidence through the understanding that that the desired outcome of the

language learning process is the ability to communicate competently, not the ability to use the language exactly as a native speaker does.

All language learners, regardless of proficiency level, are somewhere in the ‘interlanguage’ stage of learning. Strategic competence is the recognition of this fact and the use of communication and learning skills to develop proficiency without too much preoccupation on the end goal.

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Confidence Building - Peter

• The Principles of “Building Confidence in Your Students”

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Fundamental Techniques in Developing Confidence

1. Do not criticize or complain. Remember you are teaching “Adults” who in most cases are educated, have families, and need help to adjust. Be compassionate.

2. Give honest, sincere appreciation. Open the door and let them in as “peers” not “inferiors”.

3. Arouse in your students an eager desire to know you. 4. Talk about yourself and build rapport. Tell your life story be open and honest

about your life and purpose. Share your passion!5. Tell your students that you make mistakes. Be Human!6. Make your classroom a safe place to learn. 7. Be humorous; use humor to break down the barriers.

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Six Ways to Build Rapport1. Listen to your students2. Become genuinely interested in them. 3. Remember that a person’s name is to him or her, the sweetest and most

important word in any language. Learn their names and use it in class. Avoid dictating an English name it tears down the relationship.

4. Be a good listener; encourage people to talk about themselves and tell their life story.

5. Talk in terms of the other person’s interests. Show genuine interest as them as a person.

6. Make the other person feel important, and do it sincerely.

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TWELVE WAYS TO WIN YOUR STUDENTS OVER – REMEMBER TEACHING IS AN ART AS IS ACTING

1. The only way to get the best of an argument is to avoid it. 2. Show respect for the other person’s opinions. Never tell a person he or she

is wrong.3. If you are wrong, admit it quickly and emphatically. 4. Begin in a friendly way.5. Get the other person saying, “Yes, Yes” IMMEDIATELY. 6. Let the other person do a great deal of talking. 7. Let the other person feel that the idea is his (or hers).8. Try honestly to see things from the other person’s point of view. 9. Be sympathetic with the other person’s situation, ideas and desires. 10. Appeal to the nobler motives. 11. Dramatize your ideas. 12. Throw down a challenge.

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NINE WAYS TO “CHANGE” PEOPLE WITHOUT GIVING OFFENSE OR AROUSING RESENTMENT

1. Begin with praise and honest appreciation. 2. Call attention to persons mistakes only indirectly. 3. Talk about your own mistakes before criticizing. 4. Ask questions instead of giving orders. 5. Let the other person save face: Leave a “way out”. 6. Praise the slightest improvement and praise every improvement.

Be hearty in your approbation and lavish in your praise. 7. Give the other person a fine reputation to live up to. 8. Use encouragement. Make the fault seem easy to correct. 9. Make the other person happy about doing what you suggest.

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FUNDAMENTAL RULES FOR OVERCOMING WORRY

1. Live in a day-tight compartment, meaning plan each part of the day. 2. Learn how to face trouble:

Ask your students, “What is the worst that can possibly happen?”Prepare them to accept the worst. Tell them to try to improve on the worst.

3. Remind your students of the exorbitant price you can pay for worry, in terms of your health.

4. Keep your students busy. 5. Do not fuss about trifles. 6. Use the law of averages to outlaw their worries. 7. Cooperate with the inevitable. 8. Decide just how much anxiety a thing may be worth and refuse to give it

more. 9. Do not worry about the past. The past is over in a blink of an eye

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SEVEN WAYS TO INSTILL A MENTAL ATTITUDE THAT WILL BRING PEACE AND HAPPINESS

1. Fill their minds with thoughts of peace, courage, health and hope. 2. Never try to get even with your students. 3. Expect ingratitude. 4. Count your blessings – not your troubles. 5. Do not imitate others. 6. Try to profit from your losses. 7. Create happiness for your students.

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A BASIC MODEL FOR PROBLEM-SOLVING

1. Acknowledge the person’s feelings. 2. Ask questions to clarify feelings and the situation. 3. Summarize your understanding of the problem. 4. Ask the person if your understanding is correct. 5. Explain what you can or cannot do to help. 6. Problem-solve with the person. 7. Reassure the person of your willingness to help. 8. Follow through on all agreements made by setting a time and date.

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End of Confidence Section

• Next: Developing Learner Responsibility and Strategic Learning – by Ian

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Developing Learner Responsibility• Learners are responsible for their own learning. ESL class is not a potion

they can quaff to magically achieve fluency. They must examine and discuss their own habits and methods and understand what they need to do and what they can do to achieve their goal

• Every lesson should involve the development of self-study techniques and communication strategies built around the language theme being taught that class

• Homework should be heavy on learning strategies• Most ESL teachers neglect the development of strategic competence;

learners are eager to be coached in best language learning and communication practices. The best student evaluations can be attributed to teachers who help students learn to learn.

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Types of Learning Strategies• Memorization Strategies

– Take notes when you hear/see words you don’t understand– Create mental pictures– Use body movement to associate language– Word association with native language– Put lists and labels on the wall at home

• Communication Strategies– Circumlocution – you know that thing that you use to open the door when it’s locked? Key? Ahh, yes.– Prepare a conversation before engaging – telephone calls, at the store– Real-life role-play

• Skill Development Strategies– Listening – listen to audio tapes and repeat (The Pimsleur Method), use music– Pronunciation – use tongue twisters, speak into a recorder, use a mirror, use music– Writing – chat on the Internet, find a pen pal, categorize new words, practice punctuation or

capitalization, write lines – Reading – circle words you don’t understand when reading the newspaper, identify the main idea in

an article, read photo captions, read children’s books

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Teaching a Communication Strategy

DAY 11. Hold up an unusual object (for example, a bottle opener/ corkscrew) and tell

students that you want to buy one of these in a shop but don't know the name in English. Ask students to brainstorm how they can describe the object.

2. Learners next listen to three native speakers trying to buy an unknown object in a hardware store and have to try to guess what it is. The focus of the activity is on how the native speakers use communication strategies to negotiate meaning.

3. Highlight the target language and focus on pronunciation problems with some quick choral/individual drilling.

4. Hand out a couple of other unusual objects (or pictures of objects) and ask pairs to work together describing them using all of the seven strategies focused on above; i.e. nutcrackers, tweezers, razor blades, hinges, hot water bottles, hampers, wallets, pacifiers, clothes racks

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Teaching a Communication StrategyDAY 21. Review the communication strategies taught in the previous lesson and hand out

sheets with around 10 pictures of unfamiliar objects on them. Ask pairs to work together to describe each of the objects using as many of the strategies as possible.

2. Students then form new pairs and describe objects at random to their partner who tries to guess what is being talked about.

3. The final stage is to see how well students can use these communication strategies without preparation. Prepare some more pictures of unusual objects and tape one picture onto each student's back.

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Overview• When you break down the barriers, either personality of culturally you create

instant rapport and respect within the learning environment. It allows the students to let down their guard and feel confident in learning, reducing worry, anxiety and opening the door for a partnership.

• Building confidence in the classroom will make your job easier and create an environment of open communication allowing the students to be comfortable and honest.

• Students should be encouraged to relax in the face of communication breakdown. In Canada, people tend to be very familiar with this type of problem and are not at all embarrassed - learners need to develop a similar type of confidence.

• If students don't know a word in English, they should be encouraged to describe it rather than looking for an instantaneous translation in their bilingual dictionaries.

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References• Asher, J. (1969). The total physical response approach to second language learning. Modern

Language Journal 53, pp 3-17.• Canale, M. and Swain, M. (1980). Theoretical bases of communicative approaches to second

language teaching and testing. Applied Linguistics 1, 1-47.• Ellis, G., & Sinclair, B. (1989a). Learning to Learn English - a course in learner training

Cambridge: Cambridge University Press• Krashen, Stephen D. and Tracy D. Terrell. 1983. The natural approach: Language acquisition

in the classroom. Hayward, CA: Alemany Press. 183pp• Lozanov, Georgi, Suggestology and Outlines of Suggestopedy, New York: Gordon & Breach

1978 (Translation of: Nauka i Iskustvi, Sofia 1971).• Nunan, D. (1991). Language teaching methodology . London: Prentice Hall International.• Savignon, S.J. (1997). Communicative Competence: Theory and Classroom Practice. New

York: McGraw-Hill. 2nd edition.• Van Ek, J.A. and Alexander, L.G. 1975. Threshold Level English. Oxford: Pergamon Press