Introducing new language

The introduction of new language is frequently an activity that falls at the non-communicative end of our continuum. Often, here, the teacher will work with control techniques, asking students to repeat and performing drills, though discovery techniques may differ from these. At the same time we will insist on accuracy, correcting where students make mistakes. Although these introduction stages (often called presentation) should be kept short, and the drilling abandoned as soon as possible, they are nevertheless important in helping the students assimilate facts about new language and in enabling them to produce the new language for the first time. The production of the input is done in a completely manipulated way.

Practice

Practice activities are those which fall somewhere between the two extremes of our continuum. While performing these activities students may have a communicative purpose. At the same time, while students may be working in pairs, there may also be a lack of language variety as the materials may determine what the students do or say. During practice stages the teacher may intervene slightly to help, to guide and to point out inaccuracy in the way of gentle correction. The activities are of a predominantly manipulative or predominantly communicative character. Practice activities, then, often have some features of both non-communicative and communicative activities.

Communicative activities

Communicative activities are those which exhibit the characteristics at the communicative end of our continuum. The activities are of completely communicative character. Students are somehow involved in activities that give them both the desire to communicate and a purpose, which involves them in a varied use of language. Such activities are vital in a language classroom since here the students can do their best to use the language as individuals, arriving at a degree of language autonomy.

A point can be made here about the use of the students’ own language rather than English during practice and communicative activities. Particularly where students working in pairs and groups share the same native language, there is a tendency for them to revert to that language when they find a task hard. To some extent it will be their responsibility to make sure this does not happen. The teacher’s job will be to provide with the necessary language input and to insist on its use.