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Introduction

Language and communication skills are essential for all our pupils and we
recognise that the skills developed in English promote learning across the
curriculum. We want our pupils to be able to express themselves creatively and
imaginatively, and to communicate effectively both verbally and non-verbally with
others in a range of social situations. We teach pupils the skills they need to
communicate in ways relevant to their individual needs, through their most
preferred method of communication, developing their skills in speaking and
listening, reading and writing. They have English lessons following the National
Curriculum or follow cross-curricular themes which have been developed to meet
the individual learning styles of pupils with more complex learning difficulties.
Phonics and Colourful Semantics forms an important part of the English
curriculum.
 
Intent
We believe that all pupils deserve an education of the highest standard and
every pupil is entitled to a broad, balanced and enriched curriculum
through which their reading and writing skills will be developed; an
education that is mindful of the individuality of each pupil’s learning style
and recognises the need for a holistic and personalised teaching approach,
supported by a range of engaging multi-sensory activities.
English has a pre-eminent place in education and in society and reading
and writing are fundamental to learning in all curriculum subjects. All the
skills of language are essential to participating as fully as possible as a
member of society. A high-quality education in English will allow pupils to
acquire core skills essential to enhance their lives; it will enable learners to
communicate their ideas and emotions to others and to understand other
people’s communication and views. Through reading in particular, pupils
have an opportunity to develop culturally, emotionally, intellectually,
socially and spiritually. Reading enables pupils both to acquire knowledge
and to build
on what they already know.
 
Implementation:
Our English curriculum has been adapted to suit the needs of the learners,
so that skills are developed in a way that is meaningful and relevant to
each individual pupil at different stages in their school career. While some
children with autism read phonetically, many are natural sight-readers,
therefore both approaches are used in teaching reading and writing.  We
support children in developing their self-esteem and “I can” mind-set by
helping them to succeed in reading and writing activities tailored to their
interests and levels.
English at Rosehill encompasses all aspects of communication. It promotes
learning across all areas of the curriculum and underpins pupils’ achievements and
participation through developing vocabulary, reading and writing skills,
understanding grammar and as a result forming a sound base for lifelong learning.
 
Reading and writing are fundamental life skills, enabling access to lifelong
learning, promoting independence, and providing a source of enjoyment and self-
expression.
 
Developing the ability to understand and respond to the people and the
environment around them
Developing their own preferred means of communication – verbal, written,
symbols, objects, pictures, signs
Interacting and communicating effectively with others in a range of
situations
Obtaining and using information about the world around them
Developing creativity
Making choices, asking question and being actively involved in decision
making
Enriching and broadening their experience of the world
Developing lifelong enjoyment of a range of literature.
 
For further information about our English Curriculum please contact:
 
Abstract English has become a compulsory subject from Primary Three in China since 2003 and is
gradually being introduced even earlier into the curriculum in many schools. This highlights the official
importance of English in both primary school education and society. However, although a compulsory
subject, there are fewer English lessons than for Chinese and mathematics, the other core subjects. This
raises questions about the real status of English in primary school education and whether it is really
perceived as important. This paper firstly examines China’s current primary school English language
education policy and discusses the implications for the primary school curriculum. Adopting a qualitative
research design, which included six focus group interviews with students, the study investigated the
attitudes of students toward the learning of English in the primary schools. The study was conducted in
three different government schools with varied socio-economic status. Findings show the positive
attitudes of children toward English education and their support for the early introduction of English;
however, some feel that English is not as important as Chinese and mathematics. After reporting and
discussing the different perspectives of the students, this paper concludes by considering the
implications for English education in primary schools in China and other Asian countries. Keywords:
English education, Importance of English, Primary schools, Students, China Introduction As a multilingual
country, China represents a complex linguistic society, but one in which English is promoted as the key
to modernisation by policy makers. At different periods, English has been highly regarded in military,
political and economic terms for nation-building; however, the language has also been seen as a threat
to national integrity (Adamson 2002). Therefore, the history of English language education in China has
been controversial since it was first introduced into the Chinese education system in 1902 (Gu 1996). In
recent years, although English has been the priority foreign language in education as well as in society,
the real status of English is under question. First, in schools, in terms of contact hours, it has fewer than
the other core subjects. Second, English has no legal status in China (Gil and Adamson 2011). Previous
studies on English education in Chinese schools have key emphasis on the language education © 2016
Qi. Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use,
distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original
author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were
made. Qi Multilingual Education (2016) 6:1 DOI 10.1186/s13616-016-0026-0 reforms (Hu 2012),
language policy and planning (Kaplan et al. 2011; Li M. 2011), teaching pedagogy (Hu 2002), and teacher
beliefs (Zheng 2015). Kaplan et al. (2011) reinforces the importance of communities beyond the policy
making, underlining the necessary research on the ‘bottom-up’ responses to English language education
policies, however little research has been conducted. Chen (2011) investigates the attitudes of parents
toward English education in Taiwanese primary schools and concludes that parents lobby the
government to introduce English earlier and strongly advocate for consistency in English language
policies. Since Taiwan shares similar socio-cultural concerns in English education in schools, Chen’s study
provides a good reference and example for further studies. However, her study needs expanding
research subjects, namely, other key stakeholders. Students, as English language learners at school, are
one of the most crucial stakeholder groups highly involving in the language education process. Hu (2003)
examines the endeavours of students to learn English as a foreign language on the effect of socio-
economic backgrounds. The regional differences have been identified on English proficiency, classroom
behaviours, and language learning and use strategies. However, Hu’s study focuses on the context of
post-secondary students from China studying in Singapore. For these students, although their
backgrounds vary, compared to those rural (migrant) students, they have received much support and
resources to continue studying overseas. More importantly, reasons behind the trend of early exposure
to English are yet to be investigated. The present study is an attempt to explore the importance of
English for students in primary schools in China and how students from different Socio-Economic Status
(SES) backgrounds differ in their attitudes toward English. It is crucial to understand young learners’
beliefs and real needs in order to benefit the teaching and learning experiences in the current primary
school context. In this paper, it aims to answer three questions: 1. Do students believe that English is
important in primary school education? 2. Why do they think the way they do? 3. What are the potential
implications? The National English Curriculum As China’s economy was boosted due to open foreign
policies and the use of English, the policy makers of the Ministry of Education (MOE) decided to include
English as the first compulsory subject in the secondary school curriculum and tertiary level of study. In
2001, the MOE issued a document entitled ‘Guidelines for Promoting English Language Instruction in
Primary Schools’ (MOE 2001) emphasising a new approach for using English for effective interpersonal
communication. This document supported the early introduction of English language teaching in China
(Gao 2009). Then, after two years of consultation and trials, a new ‘studentcentred’ English language
curriculum was announced for all primary and secondary schools (MOE 2003). Most recently, the latest
version, 2011 English Language Curriculum Standard (MOE 2011) has been introduced, maintaining the
main concept and design of the previous versions. However, these updates have challenged all of the
key stakeholders in the education process, especially learners in primary schools. Thus, students’
concerns over learning Qi Multilingual Education (2016) 6:1 Page 2 of 18 English, possibly influenced by
their parents are worthy of study. This will facilitate an understanding of what they think of English and
why they think the way they do. The English subject in primary schools Although English has been
officially introduced as a compulsory subject in primary schools, the teaching hours in the curriculum are
not comparable to Chinese and mathematics, as will be illustrated below. According to the National
Curriculum, English, as one of the three core subjects, starts from Primary Three; however, local
education departments and individual schools have flexibility to decide when to include English lessons.
Many schools in metropolitan areas introduce English earlier, from Primary One, whilst for those in
remote and rural areas, the introduction of English may have to be delayed due to inadequate teaching
resources. Generally speaking, where English starts from Primary Three, based on the National
Curriculum in the version of 2011, the weekly lessons for three core subjects in primary schools are
required as shown in Table 1 (table designed according to MOE 2011). From Primary Three to Six,
students are offered three English lessons per week with 40 min per lesson. However, the weekly
contact hours for Chinese and mathematics are greater over six years of study. Compared to the minor
subjects, such as PE, science and music, English has a similar number of lessons (MOE 2001). English,
based on hours taught, could therefore be regarded as a minor subject. However, the status of English is
very contradictory, as in exams, Chinese, mathematics and English are always considered as three core
subjects, particularly because they are worth the same marks. Furthermore, there is a limited selection
of English textbooks for local education departments and individual schools. All the available textbooks
are designed in accordance with the National Curriculum. This raises an issue for those introducing
English earlier than the curriculum requires, as there are no official textbooks to choose from for
Primary One and Primary Two. As a result, the structure of English classes in both years varies. Some
schools use other commercial materials. Others, for instance, foreign language(s) primary schools
sponsored by local governments or community, are more flexible with the teaching content and aim to
offer a more interactive approach in a form of task-based language instruction that is derived the spirit
of Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) (Littlewood 2007). The CLT approach has been adopted in
the education developed areas in China recent years incorporating two perspectives of teaching on: 1)
the communicative functions and formal properties of English to engage students in using the language
in problem solving activities, namely, task-based language teaching (Hu 2005; Littlewood 2004); and 2)
natural interaction in English according to the content-based English instruction (Hu 2003). Despite the
National Curriculum has promoted the task-based English teaching since 2001, both approaches are
Table 1 Number of weekly lessons for three core subjects in primary schools Core Subject Primary One
Primary Two Primary Three Primary Four Primary Five Primary Six English N/A N/A 3 3 3 3 Chinese 9 9 7
7 6 6 Mathematics 5 5 4 4 4 5 Total weekly lessons 14 14 14 14 13 14 Qi Multilingual Education (2016)
6:1 Page 3 of 18 commonly used in classroom pedagogy and of which one is actually used depending
upon the materials, teachers and subject organisation. In short, schools are the decision-makers in
terms of what to teach, and how to teach, in Primary One and Primary Two, but the syllabus is fixed
from Primary Three. Urban and rural differences: families, schools and children The ‘one child’ policy,
introduced in 1978 and officially applied in 1979, has changed the family and social structure in China
(Chai 2012). The structure of the family has been transformed into a ‘4-2-1’ model; four grandparents,
two parents, and one child in each family (Shwalb et al. 2003). Within this structure, children in urban
areas have become the centre of families and are carefully nurtured by their parents and other family
members (Fong 2007). At the same time, since the ‘open door’ policy was implemented in China, social
changes and economic reforms have substantially increased individual and family incomes in urban and
city areas (Adams and Hannum 2007; Brown and Park 2002; Brown 2003; Hannum 2003; Hannum et al.
2009; Zhang Y. 2011). Therefore, this ‘open door’ policy has ensured urban parents can invest more in
education for their children. In contrast, there is a different story in rural areas of China. As people in
rural areas still largely rely on agriculture, labour is the priority. Prior to the introduction of the ‘one
child’ policy, most rural families believed that boys are the future for family living allowances and
development, as boys are necessary for labour in agriculture. At the same time, a specific ‘father-son’
relationship following Confucian tradition, characterised by filial piety, is considered as the most
important cultural heritage and value in rural families (Dong and Simon 2010). After the national
implementation of the ‘one child’ policy, it is not surprising that most of the Chinese residents in rural
settings have faced challenges, as a consequence of inadequate labour in rural communities. Children in
rural family settings are still unable to access the same educational resources as those born in urban
areas. In order to increase their family income and improve living conditions, millions of couples from
rural areas seek work opportunities in cities, especially in the developed south-eastern regions. These
people are migrant rural workers (农民工 nong min gong) who undertake labour and low-status jobs in
cities to strive for a better life for their children and themselves. However, these rural workers have to
register as rural residents working in cities with fundamentally different welfare systems, in
employment, housing and access to schools. Therefore, the majority of the rural migrant workers leave
their children in their hometowns to be cared for by the grandparents’ generation or parents’
generation (relatives and friends) (Zhou and Qing 2007). Some children may be fortunate enough to stay
with their parents in cities; however, they have to look after themselves or be cared for by their older
siblings. These children are called ‘left-behind’ children (Li 2002; Lv 2007). Methodology This study
conducted six focus group interviews with students in three different government primary schools in
Nanjing, Jiangsu Province. Each school had students from different socio-economic backgrounds.
Expressions of interest to participate in the study were displayed on the school noticeboards. Only those
who contacted the Qi Multilingual Education (2016) 6:1 Page 4 of 18 researcher indicating a willingness
to participate were considered for the focus group interviews. Two groups were formed from each
school, with each group containing four to five students aged 9 to 12, studying from Primary Three to
Six. Their participation was approved by their parents/guardians. The three different government
primary schools were chosen based on the socio-economic profile of their students. School One is a
prestigious and well-resourced government school, which represents the medium SES status of school in
Nanjing. This school locates in a new area of the Nanjing West and the majority of students who live
nearby and their parents are mostly middle class. School Two is a low SES status school, of which the
majority of students have parents who are rural migrant workers. Students (approximately 95% of a
total number) match the categorisation of ‘left-behind’ as mentioned earlier. School Two is also one of
the only four government schools where accepts migrant children to study. This school, thus, represents
a low SES school within the developed city. School Three is a unique government school providing
performing arts and academic curriculum. This school only admits students who are talented in music,
dancing or singing and also reside in Nanjing. The majority of students come from relatively high SES
status families as their parents are generally well-educated and willing to invest extra time and effort for
children in performing arts and academic study. It is important that the three schools represent three
different styles and levels of SESs in Nanjing and China to provide an insightful understanding of
students and generate reliable and generalised results for analysis. The interviews were semi-structured
and designed to seek the attitudes and perceptions of students on the importance of English. Putonghua
was the language utilised in the interviews. A thematic approach elicited themes identified from the
interview data. The thematic analysis was based on the original data in Chinese. The procedures shown
in Table 2 were adapted from Braun and Clarke (2006). Four themes were identified, namely: (1)Early
introduction of English (2)Importance of English and reasons for English education (3)Parental demand
and expectations (4)Examinations and admission Results As the students were under 18, their names
and details were protected and coded in the form capital letter S, underline and number. Table 3 shows
the student reference number, age, interview group, year of primary school and which school they were
studying at. Theme 1: Early introduction of English School One The students from School One, the
prestigious school, reported that they had early ex
Abstract The English curriculum is significant in schools in Kenya because of the importance of English
Language as the medium of instruction in schools in Kenya from upper primary school and beyond.
Further, English is the official language in Kenya. Oral communication skills which comprise listening and
speaking skills form the backbone to the teaching of English. They facilitate the acquisition of other
language skills: reading and writing. This paper is a report on a study on the teaching of oral
communication skills in English that was undertaken in Nandi North district, Kenya in the year 2009. The
study investigated the teaching of oral communication skills in the English curriculum in Primary schools
in Kenya. The study adopted Vygotsky’s (1978) theory of social interaction. It utilized a qualitative
research approach with a heuristic methodology. An exploratory research design was used. The research
population consisted of primary school teachers teaching English in upper primary classes and standard
six pupils. Data was collected using structured and focused group interview schedules, observation
checklists and document analysis. The study delved on two objectives: To find out the kind of learning
activities that the teachers selected for oral communication lessons; To find out the methods that
teachers used to convey the meaning of new language items during oral communication lessons. This
paper is a discussion of the findings, conclusions and recommendations of this study. Keywords:
Listening, speaking, language, communication 1. Introduction Language in very important in our lives as
it is the means by which people communicate. In the school curriculum, language plays a vital role in the
learning process in that all aspects of the curriculum depend to a greater or lesser extent on learners’
proficiency in all the language skills. In the school curriculum in Kenya, English language is vital in that it
is the medium European Scientific Journal October 2013 edition vol.9, No.28 ISSN: 1857 – 7881 (Print) e
- ISSN 1857- 7431 168 of instruction in all subjects (except in other languages) from upper primary
school and beyond. The four main language skills usually develop in the order thus: listening, speaking,
reading, and writing (KIE, 2006; Kisilu & Lelei, 2008). This order means that reading and writing skills
greatly rely on listening and speaking skills in that pupils will only be able to read and write what they
can understand and speak. Consequently, oral work lessons which comprise the teaching of listening
and speaking skills form the backbone to the teaching of English. However, despite the importance
attached to English in Kenya, cries have been heard over the falling standards in English in both primary
schools and secondary schools. In the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education Examination (K.C.P.E)
results of the year 2005, the performance in English was poor. English recorded a mean score of 39.3.
On releasing the KCPE results of the year 2006, the then Minister for Education Professor George Saitoti
lamented that English was the worst performed subject in the examination recording a mean score of
40.68 (Daily Nation, December 29, 2006). He added that this trend had persisted. There was an
improvement in the national mean grade in English in the KCPE results of the year 2007 from 40.68 to
43.35 respectively (Daily Nation, December 22, 2007). However it is important to note that the
performance in English was still below average. At the time of this study, the performance in English in
Nandi North district had been persistently poor. In the KCPE results of the year 2005, 2006 and 2007,
English was the poorest performed subject recording a mean score of 48.82, 49.86 and 48.84
respectively (DEO’s office, Nandi North District, 19th May, 2008). Table 1 below summarizes the
performance in KCPE examination in Nandi North district in the years 2005, 2006 and 2007. Table 2:
Performance in KCPE Examination in Nandi North district in the years 2005, 2006 and 2007 Year/Subject
2005 2006 2007 English 48.82 49.86 48.84 Kiswahili 50.36 51.70 51.71 Mathematics 52.96 53.78 53.27
Science 51.95 53.65 53.35 Social Studies and Religious Education 52.58 51.82 52.01 (DEO’s office, Nandi
North District 19th May, 2008) Scholars have argued that the classroom teacher is responsible for
developing learner’s proficiency in the language (Perrot, 1982; Ryanga, 1986). Specifically, Perrot
(1982:5) asserts that “as is the teacher, so is the teaching”. This is because it is the teacher who
determines the mode of European Scientific Journal October 2013 edition vol.9, No.28 ISSN: 1857 –
7881 (Print) e - ISSN 1857- 7431 169 presentation of content, the extent of learner participation, the
choice of learning activities and learning material. Accordingly, teachers have a central role to play in the
teaching of English and this calls for their efficiency. Moreover, it has been argued that listening is a skill
that has been neglected in the Kenyan classroom (KemboSure, 1996; MOE, 1992). This is partly due to
the fact that there’s no listening (or speaking test) in both KCPE and KCSE examinations. This is alarming
in that any flaws in the teaching of listening and speaking skills can lead to flaws in the teaching of
reading and writing skills and generally in pupils’ proficiency in English. This research was a response to
this need. 2. Objectives of the study The objectives of this study were: To explore: i) The kind of learning
activities that the teachers selected for oral communication lessons in English. ii) The methods that
teachers used to convey the meaning of new language items during oral communication lessons in
English. 3. Theoretical framework The theoretical framework for this study was based on Vygotsky’s
(1978) social development and interaction theory. Vygotsky (1978) social development model asserts
that interactions with the surrounding culture and social agents such as parents, teachers and more
competent peers contribute significantly to a child’s intellectual development. Cognitive development
therefore is as a result of interaction. Cognitive development results from a dialectical process whereby
a child learns through problem solving experiences shared with someone else, usually, a parent, a peer
or a sibling. Initially, the person interacting with the child assumes most of the responsibility for guiding
the problem solving but gradually the responsibility transfers to the child. Based on this theory,
Vygotsky advanced the concept of Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD). This is the difference between
what a child can do on his/her own and what the child can do with help. In other words, it is the
difference between the child’s capacity to solve problems on his/her own and his/her capacity to solve
them with assistance. It is the distance between the actual developmental level as determined by
individual problem solving and the level of potential development as determined through problem
solving under adult guidance or in collaboration with more capable peers. The actual development level
refers to all the functions and activities that a child can perform on his/her own, independently and
without the help European Scientific Journal October 2013 edition vol.9, No.28 ISSN: 1857 – 7881 (Print)
e - ISSN 1857- 7431 170 of anyone else. According to Vygotsky (1978) full development of ZPD depends
upon full social interaction. Scaffolding is an important concept in Vygotsky’s theory too. This involves
the instructor or advanced peer working to support the development of the learner. The instructor
should guide the learner in such a way that the gap is bridged between the learner’s current skill levels
and the desired skill levels. As learners become more proficient and able to complete tasks on their own,
they can certainly do without assistance and the guidance can be withdrawn. Scaffolding requires that
the teacher provides the students with the opportunity to extend their current skills and knowledge.
The teacher must engage students’ interest, simplify tasks so that they are manageable and motivate
students to pursue the instructional goal. The implications of Vygotsky’s theory for this study is that
effective teaching of oral communication skills is dependent on interaction between the teacher, the
pupils and the learning tasks. This study was an investigation the selection of learning activities and the
choice of methods of conveying the meaning of new language items during oral communication lessons.
Based on Vygotsky’s theory, the two variables should be geared to enhancing interaction between the
teacher, the pupils and the learning tasks. This way, the teacher can help or guide pupils to attain the
Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD). 4. Literature Review Below is a discussion of the literature review
on the two research objectives that the study explored. 4.1 Selecting appropriate learning activities for
oral communication lessons Learning activities are constituents of learning experiences. Learning
experiences can be described as the external conditions in the environment which the learner reacts to
(Tyler, 1949). They include learning activities and teaching methods among others. On the other hand,
learning activities are the activities that the teacher and the students are engaged in during the lesson.
The appropriate learning activities for oral communication lessons should be those that foster
interaction (Vygotsky, 1978). English Language is a skill subject in which the learner can only be
successful if s/he actively participates in the teaching/learning process. Chomsky (1986) argues that
Language Acquisition Device (LAD) can only be realized in an interactive environment. Consequently, the
interaction between the teacher and the learning situation is fundamental in oral work lessons.
According to Chomsky (1986) the stimulation given to the child through their interaction with the world
around them is what kicks starts their language acquisition European Scientific Journal October 2013
edition vol.9, No.28 ISSN: 1857 – 7881 (Print) e - ISSN 1857- 7431 171 ability by providing them with an
interactive environment and meaningful activities. Similarly, teachers should kick start the LAD in their
pupils by providing them with an interactive environment and meaningful activities. Communication is
vital in oral communication lessons and all language lessons in general. Krashen and Terrel (1988)
discourage language teachers from using methods in which students are not engaged in real
communication, as they cannot be expected to produce students able to communicate in the language
they study. Long (1990) agrees with this and comments that language acquisition is strongly facilitated
by the use of the target language in interaction. The major approach is the Communicative Language
Teaching (CLT) (Krashen and Terrel, 1988; Richards & Theodore, 2001; Belchamber, 2007). CLT is an
approach to the teaching of second or foreign languages that emphasizes interaction as both the means
and the ultimate goal of learning a language. It focuses on helping learners create meaning. By
implication, CLT involves equipping students with vocabulary, structures and functions, as well as
strategies to enable them to interact successfully (Richards & Theodore, 2001; Belchamber, 2007).
Teachers in communicative classrooms should talk less but listen more. They are active facilitators of
their students’ learning. In a communicative classroom, students do most of the talking and the scene of
the classroom is active with students taking the responsibility to participate. Since the teacher already
knows more English than the students, s/he should talk less and allow the students to have more
speaking practice. This way the students will learn to communicate well. Communicative approach calls
on teachers to abandon teacher centered frontally controlled classrooms in favor of learner
centeredness. It makes use of real life situations that necessitate communication. In a nut shell, a
communicative language learning approach emphasizes on the student having a central role in the
teaching learning process. It draws from the social constructivist view point which stresses on the
importance of the learner being actively involved in the learning process (Gredler, 1997). The emphasis
is on the learner and not on the instructor or the content. The primary goal is the ability to
communicate. In addition, meaning is paramount and language learning is contextualized. It is an active
learning approach. The principal goal of communicative language learning is to develop communicative
competence. Communicative competence is a broad concept, encompassing grammatical (syntactical)
competence, semantic competence, which includes competence with lexical items and idioms,
phonological competence, strategic competence (social appropriateness) and fluency (Richards &
Theodore, 2001; Belchamber, 2007). European Scientific Journal October 2013 edition vol.9, No.28 ISSN:
1857 – 7881 (Print) e - ISSN 1857- 7431 172 Consequently, this study recommended that oral
communication lessons should be characterized by the following classroom activities: i) The students
speaking and listening for most of the lesson. ii) The students participating intensively in the class. iii) A
focus on comprehensible and meaningful input and output. iv) Involving the students in different kinds
of roles, necessitating the use of different styles of speaking. v) Students practice using conversational
routines and expressions and use authentic English communicatively. vi) Information sharing. vii) The
students developing meaning collaboratively by peer interaction. viii)The students manipulating
language in a substantial and meaningful way. ix) The teacher providing information about language
usage. x) The teacher providing timely and meaningful feedback. xi) A positive and supportive
environment that encourages language manipulation and exploration. xii) A learner-centered
environment, with the teacher acting as a facilitator. 4.2 Methods of conveying the meaning of new
language items during oral communication lessons Long (1990) argues that the understanding of
meaning has been shown to contribute greatly to the acquisition of vocabulary in Second Language
teaching. Learning the meaning of any new word involves learning how it is used to talk about relevant
objects, actions or relations in the world of experience. One way through which teachers can convey the
meaning of new language items is through explanations. Teachers should provide explicit explanations
and the explanations should not have grammatical complexity (Perrot, 1986; Lile, 2002). In other words,
the sentences used should have short constructions and the vocabulary should be within the learners’
experiences. Teachers should thoroughly understand what they explain, understand needs and concerns
of the students, use common language and clear structure in making explanations and to make the
explanations interesting. In addition, the explanations should be brief and to the point. They should be
clear, simple and explicit (Perrot, 1982; Lile, 2002). Teachers should accompany their explanations with
examples. Doff (1988) asserts that language teachers should give one or two examples to show what the
structure means, say the structure and ask students to repeat it, write an example on the board and give
other situations and examples. On European Scientific Journal October 2013 edition vol.9, No.28 ISSN:
1857 – 7881 (Print) e - ISSN 1857- 7431 173 the other hand, Perrot (1982) contends that examples are
used to clarify explanations and are basic to teaching. They are used to illustrate, clarify or substantiate
a principle, generalization or rule and they draw a link between the known example and the unknown
grammatical structure being learnt. Similarly, Perrot (1982) stresses that the examples used should be
familiar to the learner’s experiences. Teaching aids are helpful in conveying the meaning of new
language items. Teaching aids are things used in the classroom to aid teaching and learning. A well
designed aid should promote perception, promote understanding, help reinforce the spoken word, aid
memory retention, motivate and arouse interest through requiring students to use different senses to
learn and make effective use of the teaching time available to learn. Flash cards and charts can be used
as teaching aids. A flash card is a piece of paper or a card with a word written on it or a picture drawn on
it which is large enough for all students to read (Doff, 1988; Baker & Westrup, 2000). Flash cards are
useful in prompting drills, asking for suggestions about the characters or the process of a story, asking
for thoughts about a picture or a situation as well as prompting yes or no answers to questions. On the
other hand, charts are larger sheets of paper or card. The teacher can hold them up or display them on
the wall or the blackboard (Doff, 1988). In teaching the meaning of new words, teachers should
establish a direct link between the word and the meaning using real things such as tables, desks,
drawings and photographs. Real objects are things that the teacher and/or the students bring into the
classroom (Doff, 1988). By using real objects, learners are able to conceptualize teacher’s explanations
of abstract ideas. In addition, real objects add interest and relate language to the real world. Pictures
and drawings can be used as well. Pictures can be obtained from magazines, newspapers or
photographs (Doff, 1988). The teacher can devise questions based on the pictures to practice a
particular structure. The pictures used should be clear, recognizable and if are to be shown to all pupils
must be visible from the back of the class. Krashen and Terrel (1988) postulates that pictures supply the
“here and now” for the Second Language learner. They supply the extra linguistic context that helps the
acquirer to understand and thereby to acquire. Williams (1987) proposes that actions and
demonstrations can be used to convey the meanings of verbs, prepositions, adjectives and adverbs.
Whenever a new language item is introduced it should be accompanied by gestures and demonstrations
to make the meaning as clear as possible. It is a generally accepted learning theory that the greater the
degree of active participation and sensory involvement by the learner, the more effective European
Scientific Journal October 2013 edition vol.9, No.28 ISSN: 1857 – 7881 (Print) e - ISSN 1857- 7431 174
learning will be. Demonstration can lead to increased attentiveness, learning, and performance. Making
translations into Mother Tongue as a way of conveying the meaning of new language items should be
avoided at all costs (Baker & Westrup, 2000; KIE, 2006; Kisilu & Lelei, 2008). This method reduces pupils’
exposure to the target language and confuses them as well (Baker & Westrup, 2000; KIE, 2006).
 Teachers should provide a continuous and consistent exposure to the language being learned. Beeby
(1996) provides various disadvantages of making translations into Mother tongue when teaching L2.
These are that translation into L2 forces learners to view the foreign language always through the prism
of their Mother tongue thereby causing interferences and a dependence on L1 that inhibits free
expression in L2. Secondly, translation into L2 is a wholly purposeless exercise that has no application in
the real world, since translators normally operate into and not out of their Mother tongue. Thirdly,
translation into L2 is frustrating and demotivating in that the student can never attain the level of
accuracy or stylistic polish of the version presented to them by their teacher. It seems an exercise
designed to elicit mistakes, rather than achieving an accurate use of the language. It is appropriate for
the teacher to give an example of a sentence containing the new word then the class can guess what the
word means instead of making a translation (Doff, 1988). Language should also be taught in meaningful
contexts (Krashen & Terrel, 1988; Belchamber, 2007). Actually, the social constructivist paradigm views
the context in which learning occurs as central to the learning itself (Gredler, 1997). The context in
which the learning occurs as well as the social contexts that the learners bring to their learning
environment are thus critical to the learning itself. Teachers should not expect learners to acquire
difficult words in the same way a young child acquires its first language but should help learners arouse
their learning monitor by providing them with rich contexts containing the target language and by giving
them time to reflect on what the language item means (Krashen & Terrel, 1988). If pupils are taught an
item of a language in an appropriate situation they will associate the piece of language with that
situation and language will become more meaningful to them, quickly and successfully. Words seldom
occur in isolation and should thus be taught in spoken and written contexts. Teachers should think of
clear contexts when a word is used and either describe it to the learners or give them examples of
sentences to clarify the meaning (KIE, 2006). European Scientific Journal October 2013 edition vol.9,
No.28 ISSN: 1857 – 7881 (Print) e - ISSN 1857- 7431 175 5. Research Methodology This study utilized a
qualitative approach with a heuristic methodology. The epistemological position of constructivism was
adopted. An exploratory research design was used too. 6. Research Population and sample The research
population consisted of primary

Developing Children’s Understanding of English, Communication and Languages

Contents

Introduction

o 1.1Societal influences
o 1.2Academic influences

 2Classroom activities
o 2.1Role-play
o 2.2Interviews
o 2.3Group work
 o 2.4Information gap
o 2.5Opinion sharing
o 2.6Scavenger hunt

 3Critiques
 4See also
5Further reading

Introduction

Language and communication skills are essential for all our pupils and we
recognise that the skills developed in English promote learning across the
curriculum. We want our pupils to be able to express themselves creatively and
imaginatively, and to communicate effectively both verbally and non-verbally with
others in a range of social situations. We teach pupils the skills they need to
communicate in ways relevant to their individual needs, through their most
preferred method of communication, developing their skills in speaking and
listening, reading and writing. They have English lessons following the National
Curriculum or follow cross-curricular themes which have been developed to meet
the individual learning styles of pupils with more complex learning difficulties.
Phonics and Colourful Semantics forms an important part of the English
curriculum.
 
Intent
We believe that all pupils deserve an education of the highest standard and
every pupil is entitled to a broad, balanced and enriched curriculum
through which their reading and writing skills will be developed;
an education that is mindful of the individuality of each pupil’s learning
style and recognises the need for a holistic and personalised teaching
approach, supported by a range of engaging multi-sensory activities.
English has a pre-eminent place in education and in society and reading
and writing are fundamental to learning in all curriculum subjects. All the
skills of language are essential to participating as fully as possible as a
member of society. A high-quality education in English will allow pupils to
acquire core skills essential to enhance their lives; it will enable learners to
communicate their ideas and emotions to others and to understand other
people’s communication and views. Through reading in particular, pupils
have an opportunity to develop culturally, emotionally, intellectually,
socially and spiritually. Reading enables pupils both to acquire knowledge
and to build
on what they already know.
 
Implementation:
Our English curriculum has been adapted to suit the needs of the learners,
so that skills are developed in a way that is meaningful and relevant to
each individual pupil at different stages in their school career. While some
children with autism read phonetically, many are natural sight-readers,
therefore both approaches are used in teaching reading and writing.  We
support children in developing their self-esteem and “I can” mind-set by
helping them to succeed in reading and writing activities tailored to their
interests and levels.
English at Rosehill encompasses all aspects of communication. It promotes
learning across all areas of the curriculum and underpins pupils’ achievements and
participation through developing vocabulary, reading and writing skills,
understanding grammar and as a result forming a sound base for lifelong learning.
 
Reading and writing are fundamental life skills, enabling access to lifelong
learning, promoting independence, and providing a source of enjoyment and self-
expression.
 
Developing the ability to understand and respond to the people and the
environment around them
Developing their own preferred means of communication – verbal, written,
symbols, objects, pictures, signs
Interacting and communicating effectively with others in a range of
situations
Obtaining and using information about the world around them
Developing creativity
Making choices, asking question and being actively involved in decision
making
Enriching and broadening their experience of the world
Developing lifelong enjoyment of a range of literature.
 
For further information about our English Curriculum please contact:
 

English encompasses reading, writing, spelling, speaking and listening and drama.

We use the Oxford Reading Tree as our key reading tool. English is taught daily.
We also teach phonics and cursive handwriting from Reception following a
continuum from Beginner Scribe to Graphics Expert.

Drama is recognised as an important feature in children’s education. In addition to

the Christmas production in which all children participate, every class presents a
school assembly at least once during the year, normally using a theme linked to
 the  term’s work. Parents are particularly welcome at these assemblies. Drama also
features as a means of supporting other curriculum areas.

Spanish is taught from Reception and we have strong links with Jueces de Castilla
School in Burgos, Spain. It is taught by a specialist teacher.

English in Year 1

During the early years of compulsory schooling, much of the focus is to develop
confident readers, mainly using the phonics approach. Many schools will follow a
programme of phonics teaching, so it is well worth finding out from your child’s
school if they have any parent support materials.

Phonics is the relationship between printed letters and the sounds they make.
Children will first learn the most common letter sounds, and then look at more
difficult patterns such as recognising that ‘ow’ sounds different in ‘cow’ than in
‘low’, or that both ‘ai’ and ‘ay’ make the same sound in different words.

Speaking and Listening

The Spoken Language objectives are set out for the whole of primary school, and
teachers will cover many of them every year as children’s spoken language skills
develop. In Year 1, some focuses may include:

 Listen and respond to adults and other children

 Ask questions to extend their understanding
 Learn new vocabulary related to topics or daily life

Reading Skills

 Learn the 40+ main speech sounds in English and the letters that represent
them
 Blend sounds together to form words
 Read aloud when reading books that contain familiar letter sound patterns
 Listen to, and talk about a range of stories, poems and non-fiction texts
 Learn about popular fairy tales and folk stories, and retell the stories
 Join in with repeated phrases in familiar books
 Make predictions about what might happen next in a book
 Explain clearly what has happened in a book they’ve read or listened to

Writing Skills

 Hold a pen or pencil in the correct and comfortable way

 Name the letters of the alphabet in order
 Write lower-case letters starting and ending in the right place
 Write capital letters, and the digits 0 to 9
 Spell simple words containing the main sounds they’ve learned in reading
 Spell the days of the week
 Learn to write words with common endings, such as –ed, –ing, –er and –est
 Plan out sentences aloud before writing them
 Write simple sentences, and those using joining words such as ‘and’
 Begin to use full stops and capital letters for sentences
 Combine some sentences to make short descriptions or stories

Parent Tip

Reading aloud at home continues to be vitally important at this age. You may even
get your child to read their own writing aloud, attempting to add expression
appropriate to the sentence.

English in Year 2

As children move through Key Stage 1, the new curriculum intends that almost all
children will secure the basic skills of decoding so that they can become fluent
readers. As their reading confidence grows they can begin to write their own ideas
down.
 Decoding is the ability to read words aloud by identifying the letter patterns and
matching them to sounds. Once children are able to ‘decode’ the writing, they can
then start to make sense of the words and sentences in context. Watch out for hard-
to-decode words such as ‘one’ and ‘the’. These just have to be learned by heart.

At the end of Year 2, all children will sit the National Curriculum Tests for Key
Stage 1. These will include two short reading tests, a grammar and punctuation
test, and a spelling test of ten words.

Speaking and Listening

The Spoken Language objectives are set out for the whole of primary school, and
teachers will cover many of them every year as children’s spoken language skills
develop. In Year 2 some focuses may include:

 Articulate and justify answers and opinions

 Give well-structured explanations and narratives, for example in show-and-
tell activities

Reading Skills

 Read words aloud confidently, without obvious blending or rehearsal

 Learn letter patterns so that decoding becomes fluent and secure by the end
of Year 2
 Blend letter sounds, including alternative patterns, e.g. recognising ‘ue’ as
the ‘oo’ sound
 Read aloud words which contain more than one syllable
 Recognise common suffixes, such as –ing and –less
 Read words which don’t follow phonetic patterns, such as ‘one’ and ‘who’
 Become familiar with a wide range of fairy stories and traditional tales
 Discuss favourite words and the meaning of new words
 Check that what has been read makes sense, and self-correct reading where
necessary
 Make predictions about what might happen next in a story
Children will be expected to read aloud books which are appropriate for their
reading ability. During Year 2 their increasing knowledge of decoding should
allow them to read a wide range of children’s books.

Writing Skills

 Form letters of the appropriate size, using capital letters where appropriate
 Use appropriate spaces between words when writing
 Begin to use joins between letters where needed
 Spell longer words by breaking them into their sound parts
 Learn to spell some common homophones, recognising the difference
between them
 Use the possessive apostrophe in simple phrases, such as ‘the boy’s
football’.
 Write about real events and personal experiences
 Plan out writing in advance, including by writing down key words
 Re-read writing to check that it makes sense and to make corrections,
including punctuation
 Use question marks, exclamation marks, apostrophes and commas in lists
 Use the present and past tenses correctly in writing
 Begin to write longer sentences by using conjunctions, such as ‘and’,’ but’,
‘if’ or ‘because’
Homophones are words which sound the same, such as ‘blue’ and ‘blew’, or ‘one’
and ‘won’

Parent Tip

When children are writing outside of school – or when you are looking at school
work with them – why not discuss their choices of vocabulary? Some common
words, such as ‘went’ and ‘said’ can often be replaced by more specific words that
give a sense of the action, such as ‘raced’ or ‘yelled’. You can also take
 opportunities to look at words like this that crop up in books you read with your
child, considering how the choice of word affects your understanding of a story.

English in Year 3 and Year 4

In lower Key Stage 2, your child will build on their work from the infants to
become more independent in both their reading and their writing. Most children
will be confident at decoding most words – or will have extra support to help them
to do so – and so now they will be able to use their reading to support their
learning about other subjects.

They will begin to meet a wider range of writing contexts, including both fiction
and non-fiction styles and genres.

Speaking and Listening

The Spoken Language objectives are set out for the whole of primary school, and
teachers will cover many of them every year as children’s spoken language skills
develop. In Years 3 and 4, some focuses may include:

 Use discussion and conversation to explore and speculate about new ideas
 Begin to recognise the need to use Standard English in some contexts
 Participation in performances, plays and debates
 Explain thinking and feeling in well-structured statements and responses

Reading skills

 Extend skills of decoding to tackle more complex words, including with

unusual spelling patterns
 Read a wide range of fiction, non-fiction and literary books
 Recognise some different forms of poetry
 Use dictionaries to find the meanings of words
 Become familiar with a range of traditional and fairy tales, including telling
some orally
 Identify words which have been chosen to interest the reader
 Ask questions about what they have read
 Draw simple inferences about events in a story, such as how a character
might be feeling
 Make predictions about what might happen next in a story
 Summarise ideas from several paragraphs of writing
 Find and record information from non-fiction texts
 Take part in discussions about reading and books
Children begin to identify how authors choose words for effect, for example by
selecting ‘wailed’ instead of ‘cried’, or ‘enraged’ rather than ‘cross’. They may
begin to make such choices in their own writing, too.

Writing skills

 Write with joined handwriting, making appropriate join choices

 Spell words that include prefixes and suffixes, such as anticlockwise
 Spell some commonly misspelt words correctly, taken from the Y3/4
list Use a dictionary to check spellings
 Use possessive apostrophes correctly in regular and irregular plurals, such as
children’s and boys’
 Use examples of writing to help them to structure their own similar texts
 Plan out sentences orally to select adventurous vocabulary
 Use paragraphs to organise ideas
 Use description and detail to develop characters and settings in story-writing
 Write interesting narratives in stories
 In non-fiction writing, use features such as sub-headings and bullet points
 Review their own work to make improvements, including editing for
spelling errors
 Read others’ writing and suggest possible improvements
 Read aloud work that they’ve written to be clearly understood
 Extend sentences using a wider range of conjunctions, including
subordinating conjunctions
 Use the present perfect verb tense
 Use nouns and pronouns with care to avoid repetition
 Use conjunctions, adverbs and prepositions to add detail about time or cause
 Use fronted adverbials
 Use direct speech, with correct punctuation
Young children have a tendency to repeat nouns or pronouns, leading to several
sentences containing ‘He’ or ‘They’. They can use alternatives to make writing
more interesting. For example, alternatives for describing an individual character
might include: he, the burglar, Mr Smith, John, the criminal, the villain, etc.

To add information to a sentence about its location, children might use

conjunctions (“Although it was still early…”), adverbs (“Early that morning…”) or
prepositions (“At about six-thirty that morning…”). Often these techniques allow
children to write more complex sentences.

Grammar Help

For many parents, the grammatical terminology used in schools may not be
familiar. Here are some useful reminders of some of the terms used:

 Present perfect tense: a tense formed using the verb ‘have’ and a participle,
to indicate that an action has been completed at an unspecified time, e.g. The girl
has eaten her ice-cream
 Fronted adverbial: a word or phrase which describes the time, place or
manner of an action, which is placed at the start of the sentence, e.g. “Before
breakfast,…” or “Carrying a heavy bag,…”
 Direct speech: words quoted directly using inverted commas, as opposed to
being reported in a sentence

Parent Tip
 As children get older, they will increasingly take responsibility for their own work
and homework tasks. That’s not to say that parents can’t help though. Encourage
your child to work independently on their homework, but also take the opportunity
to discuss it with them and to have them explain their understanding to you.

English in Year 5 and Year 6

In upper Key Stage 2, your child will increasingly meet a wider range of texts and
types of writing, and will be encouraged to use their skills in a broader range of
contexts. Their knowledge of grammar will also increase as they prepare for the
National Curriculum Tests to be taken in the summer term of Year 6.

Year 6 children will take a reading test of about one hour, a grammar and
punctuation test of about forty-five minutes, and a spelling test of twenty words.
These will be sent away for marking, with the results coming back before the end
of the year. Your child’s teacher will also make an assessment of whether or not
your child has reached the expected standard by the end of the Key Stage.

Speaking and Listening

The Spoken Language objectives are set out for the whole of primary school, and
teachers will cover many of them every year as children’s spoken language skills
develop. In Years 5 and 6, some focuses may include:

 Speak clearly in a range of contexts, using Standard English where

appropriate
 Monitor the reactions of listeners and react accordingly
 Consider different viewpoints, listening to others and responding with
relevant views
 Use appropriate language, tone and vocabulary for different purposes

Reading Skills

 Read a wide range of fiction, non-fiction, poetry, plays and reference books
 Learn a range of poetry by heart
 Perform plays and poems using tone, volume and intonation to convey
meaning
 Use knowledge of spelling patterns and related words to read aloud and
understand new words
 Make comparisons between different books, or parts of the same book
 Read a range of modern fiction, classic fiction and books from other cultures
and traditions
 Identify and discuss themes and conventions across a wide range of writing
 Discuss understanding of texts, including exploring the meaning of words in
context
 Ask questions to improve understanding of texts
 Summarise ideas drawn from more than one paragraph, identifying key
details
 Predict future events from details either written in a text or by ‘reading
between the lines’
 Identify how language, structure and presentation contribute to meaning
 Discuss how authors use language, including figurative language, to affect
the reader
 Make book recommendations, giving reasons for choices
 Participate in discussions about books, building on and challenging ideas
 Explain and discuss understanding of reading
 Participate in formal presentations and debates about reading
 Provide reasoned justifications for views
Figurative language includes metaphorical phrases such as ‘raining cats and dogs’
or ‘an iron fist’, as well as using language to convey meaning, for example by
describing the Sun as ‘gazing down’ upon a scene.

Themes & Conventions

 As children’s experience of a range of texts broadens, they may begin to notice
conventions, such as the use of first person for diary-writing, or themes such as
heroism or quests.

Writing Skills

 Write with increasing speed, maintaining legibility and style

 Spell some words with silent letters, such as knight and solemn
 Recognise and use spellings for homophones and other often-confused
words from the Y5/6 list
 Use a dictionary to check spelling and meaning
 Identify the audience and purpose before writing, and adapt accordingly
 Select appropriate grammar and vocabulary to change or enhance meaning
 Develop setting, atmosphere and character, including through dialogue
 Write a summary of longer passages of writing
 Use a range of cohesive devices
 Use advanced organisational and presentational devices, such as bullet
points
 Use the correct tense consistently throughout a piece of writing
 Ensure correct subject and verb agreement
 Perform compositions using appropriate intonation, volume and movement
 Use a thesaurus
 Use expanded noun phrases to convey complicated information concisely
 Use modal verbs or adverbs to indicate degrees of possibility
 Use relative clauses
 Recognise vocabulary and structures that are appropriate for formal use
 Use passive verbs to affect the presentation of information
 Use the perfect form of verbs to mark relationships of time and cause
 Recognise the difference in informal and formal language
 Use grammatical connections and adverbials for cohesion
 Use ellipses, commas, brackets and dashes in writing
 Use hyphens to avoid ambiguity
 Use semi-colons, colons and dashes between independent clauses
 Use a colon to introduce a list
 Punctuate bullet points consistently
Cohesive devices are words or phrases used to link different parts of writing
together. These may be pronouns such as ‘he’ or ‘it’ to avoid repeating a name, or
phrases such as ‘After that…’ or ‘Meanwhile’ to guide the reader through the text.

Grammar Help

For many parents, the grammatical terminology used in schools may not be
familiar. Here are some useful reminders of some of the terms used:

 Noun phrase: a group of words which takes the place of a single noun.
Example: The big brown dog with the fluffy ears.
 Modal verb: a verb that indicates possibility. These are often used alongside
other verbs. Example: will, may, should, can.
 Relative clause: a clause which adds extra information or detail. Example:
The boy who was holding the golden ticket won the prize.
 Passive verb: a form of verb that implies an action being done to, rather than
by, the subject. Example: The boy was bitten by the dog.
 Perfect form: a form of verb that implies that an action is completed.
Example: The boy has walked home.

Communicative language teaching (CLT), or the communicative approach,

is an approach to language teaching that emphasizes interaction as both
the means and the ultimate goal of study.

Language learners in environments utilizing CLT techniques, learn and

practice the target language through the interaction with one another and
the instructor, the study of "authentic texts" (those written in the target
 language for purposes other than language learning), and through the use
of the language both in class and outside of class.

Learners converse about personal experiences with partners, and

instructors teach topics outside of the realm of traditional grammar, in order
to promote language skills in all types of situations. This method also
claims to encourage learners to incorporate their personal experiences into
their language learning environment, and to focus on the learning
experience in addition to the learning of the target language. [1]

According to CLT, the goal of language education is the ability to

communicate in the target language.[2] This is in contrast to previous views
in which grammatical competence was commonly given top priority.[3] CLT
also focuses on the teacher being a facilitator, rather than an instructor.
Furthermore, the approach is a non-methodical system that does not use a
textbook series to teach the target language, but rather works on
developing sound oral/verbal skills prior to reading and writing.

Contents

 1Background
o 1.1Societal influences
o 1.2Academic influences

 2Classroom activities
o 2.1Role-play
o 2.2Interviews
o 2.3Group work
o 2.4Information gap
o 2.5Opinion sharing
o 2.6Scavenger hunt
 3Critiques
 4See also
 5Further reading

Background[edit]

Societal influences[edit]

Language teaching was originally considered a cognitive matter, mainly

involving memorization. It was later thought, instead, to be socio-cognitive,
meaning that language can be learned through the process of social
interaction. Today, however, the dominant technique in teaching any
language is communicative language teaching (CLT). [4]

It was Noam Chomsky's theories in the 1960s, focusing on competence

and performance in language learning, that gave rise to communicative
language teaching, but the conceptual basis for CLT was laid in the 1970s
by linguists Michael Halliday, who studied how language functions are
expressed through grammar, and Dell Hymes, who introduced the idea of a
wider communicative competence instead of Chomsky's narrower linguistic
competence.[4] The rise of CLT in the 1970s and early 1980s was partly in
response to the lack of success with traditional language teaching methods
and partly due to the increase in demand for language learning. In Europe,
the advent of the European Common Market, an economic predecessor to
the European Union, led to migration in Europe and an increased
population of people who needed to learn a foreign language for work or for
personal reasons. At the same time, more children were given the
opportunity to learn foreign languages in school, as the number of
secondary schools offering languages rose worldwide as part of a general
trend of curriculum-broadening and modernization, and foreign-language
study ceased to be confined to the elite academies. In Britain, the
introduction of comprehensive schools, which offered foreign-language
study to all children rather than to the select few in the elite grammar
schools, greatly increased the demand for language learning. [5]

This increased demand included many learners who struggled with

traditional methods such as grammar translation, which involves the direct
translation of sentence after sentence as a way to learn language. These
methods assumed that students were aiming for mastery of the target
language, and that students were willing to study for years before expecting
to use the language in real life. However, these assumptions were
challenged by adult learners, who were busy with work, and some
schoolchildren, who were less academically gifted, and thus could not
devote years to learning before being able to use the language. Educators
realized that to motivate these students an approach with a more
immediate reward was necessary,[5] and they began to use CLT, an
approach that emphasizes communicative ability and yielded better results.
[6]

Additionally, the trend of progressivism in education provided further

pressure for educators to change their methods. Progressivism holds that
active learning is more effective than passive learning; [5] consequently, as
this idea gained traction, in schools there was a general shift towards using
techniques where students were more actively involved, such as group
work. Foreign-language education was no exception to this trend, and
teachers sought to find new methods, such as CLT, that could better
embody this shift in thinking.[5]

Academic influences[edit]

The development of communicative language teaching was bolstered by

new academic ideas. Before the growth of communicative language
teaching, the primary method of language teaching was situational
language teaching. This method was much more clinical in nature and
relied less on direct communication. In Britain, applied linguists began to
doubt the efficacy of situational language teaching. This was partly in
response to Chomsky's insights into the nature of language. Chomsky had
shown that the structural theories of language prevalent at the time could
not explain the variety found in real communication. [7] In addition, applied
linguists such as Christopher Candlin and Henry Widdowson observed that
the current model of language learning was ineffective in classrooms. They
saw a need for students to develop communicative skill and functional
competence in addition to mastering language structures. [7]

In 1966, linguist and anthropologist Dell Hymes developed the concept

of communicative competence. Communicative competence redefined
what it meant to "know" a language; in addition to speakers having mastery
over the structural elements of language, they must also be able to use
those structural elements appropriately in a variety of speech domains.
[2]
 This can be neatly summed up by Hymes's statement, "There are rules
of use without which the rules of grammar would be useless." [5] The idea of
communicative competence stemmed from Chomsky's concept of
the linguistic competence of an ideal native speaker.[2] Hymes did not make
a concrete formulation of communicative competence, but subsequent
authors have tied the concept to language teaching, notably Michael
Canale.[8] Canale and Swain (1980) defined communicative competence in
terms of three components: grammatical
competence, sociolinguistic competence, and strategic competence.
Canale (1983) refined the model by adding discourse competence, which
contains the concepts of cohesion and coherence.[8]

An influential development in the history of communicative language

teaching was the work of the Council of Europe in creating new language
syllabi. When communicative language teaching had effectively replaced
situational language teaching as the standard by leading linguists, the
Council of Europe made an effort to once again bolster the growth of the
new method. This led to the Council of Europe creating a new language
syllabus. Education was a high priority for the Council of Europe, and they
set out to provide a syllabus that would meet the needs of European
immigrants.[7] Among the studies used by the council when designing the
course was one by the British linguist, D. A. Wilkins, that defined language
using "notions" and "functions", rather than more traditional categories of
grammar and vocabulary. The new syllabus reinforced the idea that
language could not be adequately explained by grammar and syntax, and
instead relied on real interaction.[7]

In the mid 1990s, the Dogme 95 manifesto influenced language teaching

through the Dogme language teaching movement. This proposed that
published materials stifle the communicative approach. As such, the aim of
the Dogme approach to language teaching is to focus on real
conversations about practical subjects, where communication is the engine
of learning. The idea behind the Dogme approach is that communication
can lead to explanation, which will lead to further learning. This approach is
the antithesis of situational language teaching, which emphasizes learning
through text and prioritizes grammar over communication. [9]

A survey of communicative competence by Bachman (1990) divides

competency into the broad headings of "organizational competence", which
includes both grammatical and discourse (or textual) competence, and
"pragmatic competence", which includes both sociolinguistic and
"illocutionary" competence.[10] Strategic competence is associated with the
interlocutors' ability in using communication strategies. [10]

Classroom activities[edit]

CLT teachers choose classroom activities based on what they believe is

going to be most effective for students developing communicative abilities
in the target language (TL). Oral activities are popular among CLT
teachers, as opposed to grammar drills or reading and writing activities,
because they include active conversation and creative, unpredicted
responses from students. Activities vary based on the level of language
class they are being used in. They promote collaboration, fluency, and
comfort in the TL. The six activities listed and explained below are
commonly used in CLT classrooms.[5]

Role-play[edit]

Role-play is an oral activity usually done in pairs, whose main goal is to

develop students' communicative abilities in a certain setting. [5]

Example:

1. The instructor sets the scene: where is the conversation taking

place? (E.g., in a café, in a park, etc.)
2. The instructor defines the goal of the students' conversation. (E.g.,
the speaker is asking for directions, the speaker is ordering coffee,
the speaker is talking about a movie they recently saw, etc.)
3. The students converse in pairs for a designated amount of time.

This activity gives students the chance to improve their communication

skills in the TL in a low-pressure situation. Most students are more
comfortable speaking in pairs rather than in front of the entire class. [5]

Instructors need to be aware of the differences between a conversation and

an utterance. Students may use the same utterances repeatedly when
doing this activity and not actually have a creative conversation. If
instructors do not regulate what kinds of conversations students are having,
then the students might not be truly improving their communication skills. [5]

Interviews[edit]

An interview is an oral activity done in pairs, whose main goal is to develop

students' interpersonal skills in the TL.[11]

Example:
 1. The instructor gives each student the same set of questions to ask a
partner.
2. Students take turns asking and answering the questions in pairs.

This activity, since it is highly structured, allows for the instructor to more
closely monitor students' responses. It can zone in on one specific aspect
of grammar or vocabulary, while still being a primarily communicative
activity and giving the students communicative benefits. [11]

This is an activity that should be used primarily in the lower levels of

language classes, because it will be most beneficial to lower-level
speakers. Higher-level speakers should be having unpredictable
conversations in the TL, where neither the questions nor the answers are
scripted or expected. If this activity were used with higher-level speakers it
wouldn't have many benefits.[11]

Group work[edit]

Group work is a collaborative activity whose purpose is to foster

communication in the TL, in a larger group setting. [11]

Example:

1. Students are assigned a group of no more than six people.

2. Students are assigned a specific role within the group. (E.g., member
A, member B, etc.)
3. The instructor gives each group the same task to complete.
4. Each member of the group takes a designated amount of time to
work on the part of the task to which they are assigned.
5. The members of the group discuss the information they have found,
with each other and put it all together to complete the task.

Students can feel overwhelmed in language classes, but this activity can
take away from that feeling. Students are asked to focus on one piece of
information only, which increases their comprehension of that information.
Better comprehension leads to better communication with the rest of the
group, which improves students' communicative abilities in the TL. [11]

Instructors should be sure to monitor that each student is contributing

equally to the group effort. It takes a good instructor to design the activity
well, so that students will contribute equally, and benefit equally from the
activity.[11]

Information gap[edit]

Information gap is a collaborative activity, whose purpose is for students to

effectively obtain information that was previously unknown to them, in the
TL.[12]

Example:

1. The class is paired up. One partner in each pair is Partner A, and the
other is Partner B.
2. All the students that are Partner A are given a sheet of paper with a
time-table on it. The time-table is filled in half-way, but some of the
boxes are empty.
3. All the students that are Partner B are given a sheet of paper with a
time-table on it. The boxes that are empty on Partner A's time-table
are filled in on Partner B's. There are also empty boxes on Partner
B's time-table, but they are filled in on Partner A's.
4. The partners must work together to ask about and supply each other
with the information they are both missing, to complete each other's
time-tables.

Completing information gap activities improves students' abilities to

communicate about unknown information in the TL. These abilities are
directly applicable to many real-world conversations, where the goal is to
find out some new piece of information, or simply to exchange information.
[12]
Instructors should not overlook the fact that their students need to be
prepared to communicate effectively for this activity. They need to know
certain vocabulary words, certain structures of grammar, etc. If the students
have not been well prepared for the task at hand, then they will not
communicate effectively.[12]

Opinion sharing[edit]

Opinion sharing is a content-based activity, whose purpose is to engage

students' conversational skills, while talking about something they care
about.[12]

Example:

1. The instructor introduces a topic and asks students to contemplate

their opinions about it. (E.g., dating, school dress codes, global
warming)
2. The students talk in pairs or small groups, debating their opinions on
the topic.

Opinion sharing is a great way to get more introverted students to open up

and share their opinions. If a student has a strong opinion about a certain
topic, then they will speak up and share.[12]

Respect is key with this activity. If a student does not feel like their opinion
is respected by the instructor or their peers, then they will not feel
comfortable sharing, and they will not receive the communicative benefits
of this activity.[12]

Scavenger hunt[edit]

A scavenger hunt is a mingling activity that promotes open interaction

between students.[11]

Example:
 1. The instructor gives students a sheet with instructions on it. (e.g. Find
someone who has a birthday in the same month as yours.)
2. Students go around the classroom asking and answering questions
about each other.
3. The students wish to find all of the answers they need to complete
the scavenger hunt.

In doing this activity, students have the opportunity to speak with a number
of classmates, while still being in a low-pressure situation, and talking to
only one person at a time. After learning more about each other, and
getting to share about themselves, students will feel more comfortable
talking and sharing during other communicative activities. [11]

Since this activity is not as structured as some of the others, it is important

for instructors to add structure. If certain vocabulary should be used in
students' conversations, or a certain grammar is necessary to complete the
activity, then instructors should incorporate that into the scavenger hunt. [11]

Critiques[edit]

Although CLT has been extremely influential in the field of language

teaching, it is not universally accepted and has been subject to significant
critique.[13]

In his critique of CLT, Michael Swan addresses both the theoretical and

practical problems with CLT. In his critique, he mentions that CLT is not an
altogether cohesive subject, but one in which theoretical understandings
(by linguists) and practical understandings (by language teachers) differ
greatly. Critique of the theory of CLT includes that it makes broad claims
regarding the usefulness of CLT while citing little data, that it uses a large
amount of confusing vocabulary, and that it assumes knowledge that is
predominately language non-specific (ex. the ability to make educated
guesses) is language specific.[13] Swan suggests that these theoretical
issues can lead to confusion in the application of CLT techniques. [14]

Where confusion in the application of CLT techniques is readily apparent is

in classroom settings. Swan suggests that CLT techniques often suggest
prioritizing the "function" of a language (what one can do with the language
knowledge one has) over the "structure" of a language (the grammatical
systems of the language).[14] This priority can leave learners with serious
gaps in their knowledge of the formal aspects of their target language.
Swan also suggests that, in CLT techniques, whatever languages a student
might already know are not valued or employed in instructional techniques.
[14]

Further critique of CLT techniques in classroom teaching can be attributed

to Elaine Ridge. One of her critiques of CLT is that it implies that there is a
generally agreed upon consensus regarding the definition of
"communicative competence", which CLT claims to facilitate, when in fact
there is not. Because there is not such agreement, students may be seen
to be in possession of "communicative competence" without being able to
make full, or even adequate, use of the language. That an individual is
proficient in a language does not necessarily entail that they can make full
use of that language, which can limit an individual's potential with that
language, especially if that language is an endangered language. This
critique is largely to do with the fact that CLT is often highly praised and is
popular, when it may not necessarily be the best method of language
teaching.[15]

Ridge also notes that CLT has nonspecific requirements of its teachers, as
there is no completely standard definition of what CLT is; this is especially
true for the teaching of grammar (the formal rules governing the
standardized version of the language in question). Some critics of CLT
suggest that the method does not put enough emphasis on the teaching of
grammar and instead allows students to produce utterances which are
grammatically incorrect as long as the interlocutor can get some meaning
from them.[15]

Stephen Bax's critique of CLT has to do with the context of its

implementation. Bax asserts that many researchers associate the use of
CLT techniques with modernity and, therefore, the lack of CLT techniques
as a lack of modernism. In this way, these researchers consider teachers
or school systems which don't use CLT techniques as outdated and
suggest that their students learn the target language "in spite of" the
absence of CLT techniques, as though CLT were the only way to learn a
language and everyone who fails to implement its techniques is ignorant
and will not be successful in teaching the target language. [3]
Creating a classroom environment for language At the heart of good English teaching is the environment
in which teaching and learning takes place. Some classrooms are rich in language and opportunities for
language. Walls are not only redolent with brightly coloured displays, including pictures and object for
children to discuss, but also adorned with pieces of text, lists of useful words and examples of children's
writing that can be read by the class and by visitors. There may, especially for younger children, be an
area in which role-play activities are focused on, say, a shop, cafe, house or train. There will be language
games, newspapers, books, timetables and advertisements, as well as, perhaps, football league tables,
interesting lists and facts about topic that interest children. A children move through the chool, they will
find that the language stimuli in their classroon1 change and increasingly cater for their different needs
and interests. It is part of the teachers' deci ion-making process to ensure that they create an
appropriately stimulating environment for their pupils that conveys the idea that language, both written
and spoken, is valuable and to be celebrated. Many of the children we teach will come from clean, tidy,
well-decorated homes in which there are many stimulating things with which to play. They may have
video recorder , computers, music ystems, iPods, iPads, DVDs and electronic games. By contrast, the cla
sroom can appear dull and uninviting. However, the provision of an attractive and lingui tically
stimulating classroom does not necessarily involve the inclusion of large amount of sophisticated
electrical equipment. Nevertheless, there are times when equipment such as an interactive whiteboard
can provide almost instant access to a wealth of material that could never be so readily available using
printed texts. The language-friendly classroom will include a range of stimuli both written and aural and
the pre ence of tactile displays that children are encouraged to discuss. It will also provide opportunities
for children to use language and explore its possibilities within a secure setting. In Key Stage 1
classrooms, in particular, the presence of structured contexts for play may lead to variations on the
traditional home corner. Ross (1992) suggested that such context should reflect some of the children's
experiences outside school and asserted that children are aware of a wide range of environments and
places, particularly through televi ion, and that they will use these naturally in play. Ross (1992) also
suggested the following variations on the home corner, each of which may be created with a minimum
of resource : 10 The pedagogy of teaching English in the primary school SHOPS TRANSPORT HEALTH
SERVICES WORKPLACES supermarket buses surgery bakery shoe shop station hospital cafe clothes shop
trains veterinary surgery building site post office airport optician To this list might be added pizza
restaurants, fast food shops, cars, lorries, dental surgeries, offices and factories. Within these, children
might be presented with different scenarios and invited to adopt the roles of a variety of people. There
might also be opportunities for reading and writing - for example, using menus in a restaurant, taking
custon1ers' orders, making tickets or writing prescriptions or recipes. The organisation of the furniture
in a classroom can affect the possibilities for language development. Tann (1991) maintained that,
although in many classrooms children are seated in groups around a table or cluster of desks, research
had shown that 90 per cent of teachers never used collaborative group work. However, this figure may
have changed since 1991, particularly as the Primary National Strategy (DfES 2006b) increased the
emphasis on speaking and listening, and it is hoped that this has led to an increase in collaborative work.
Seating arrangements in a classroom affect communication, even if this occurs in a way that the teacher
does not intend. When children sit in groups, they have eye contact with all the others in the group,
which may lead to greater interaction between them. Teachers who wish to reduce the level of talk in
their classrooms often introduce alternative seating arrangements such as rows and horseshoes. These,
too, may pron1ote conversation, but this may be limited to pairs and trios (see McNamara and Waugh
1993). Teachers should consider the nature of the interaction that they wish to foster when arranging
the furniture in their classrooms, and be flexible in changing. Such decisionmaking may well involve
seeking the views of classroom assistants and the children themselves. Teachers need to decide how
they want children to enter the classroom and what they will find when they get there. There may, for
example, be written guidance on what the children should do, with instructions for the first task of the
day written on the board. The drawers and cupboards may be labelled so that children can find things
easily without constant reference to the teacher. This should not only develop reading skills but also
encourage independence and free the teacher to concentrate on teaching rather than managing
resources. The teacher in a language-friendly classroom will take on many roles and will make almost
subconscious decisions about these. The teacher may act as a writer or reader to provide a model for
pupils, and may be an audience for their ideas and an arbitrator when disputes arise in discussions. The
teacher may provide stimuli for language activities and initiate and facilitate their development. The
teacher will also be a source of information and direct teaching of language skills as well as being an
assessor and recorder of children's progress. The language-friendly classroom is more than an
attractively adorned room filled with words and literature. It is an interactive environment in which
teachers play a leading role The pedagogy of teaching English in the primary school 11 1n fostering the
development of pupils' language skills through extensive use of the resources that they provide and that
they encourage the children to bring to school. It is also an environment in which teachers constantly
evaluate and assess what is happening and make decisions about what will happen next.