APPROACHES
The Integrative Approach
The Communicative Approach
PRINCIPLES
1) learning language by communicating with it
2) a focus on meaning and appropriate usage
3) a focus on fluency and accuracy
4) the use of authentic materials to reflect real-life situations
5) the integration of four skills (speaking, writing, reading and listening).
CONCEPT
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.
an approach to language teaching that emphasizes interaction as both the means and the ultimate goal of study.
CHARACTERISTICS
In communication, the speaker has a choice of what she will say and how she will say it. If the exercise is tightly controlled, so that students can only say something in one way, the speaker has no choice and the exchange, therefore, is not communicative.
In a chain drill, for example, if a student must reply to her neighbor’s question in the same way as her neighbor replied to someone else’s question, then she has no choice of form and content, and real communication does not occur.
True communication is purposeful. A speaker can thus evaluate whether or not her purpose has been achieved based upon the information she receives from her listener. If the listener does not have an opportunity to provide the speaker with such feedback, then the exchange is not really communicative.
Another characteristic of CLT is the use of authentic materials. It is considered desirable to give students an opportunity to develop strategies for understanding language as it is actually used.
Small numbers of students interacting are favored in order to maximize the time allotted to each student for communicating. While there is no explicit theory of learning connected with CLT, the implicit assumption seems to be that students will learn to communicate by practicing functional and socially appropriate
ADVANTAGES
Communicative approach is much more pupil-orientated, because it is based on pupils’ needs and interests.
Communicative approach seeks to personalise and localise language and adapt it to the interests of pupils. Meaningful language is always more easily retained by learners.
Seeks to use authentic resources. And that is more interesting and motivating for children.
Children acquire grammar rules as a necessity to speak so they are more proficient and efficient.
DISADVANTAGES
It pays insufficient attention to the context in which teaching and learning take place
The Communicative Approach often seems to be interpreted as: “if the teacher understands the student we have good communication” but native speakers of the target language can have great difficulty understanding students.
Another disadvantage is that the CLT approach focuses on fluency but not accuracy.
CONCEPT
An integrative approach (also known as integrative therapy) is a type of therapy in which the affective, behavioral, cognitive, physical, social, and spiritual aspects of an individual aspects of an individual are used in their treatment
ADVANTAGES
Focuses on basic skills, content, and higher-level thinking
Provides a deeper understanding of content
Encourages active participation in relevant real-life experiences
Provides connections among various curricular disciplines
Accommodates a variety of learning styles, theories, and multiple intelligences
DISADVANTAGES
Teachers are reluctant to put the time and effort into changing what they already do in the classroom to implement something that doesn’t guarantee exceptional results.
Lack of time to plan effective units.
There is not enough time in the day to teach everything in isolation.
PRINCIPLE
CHARACTERISTIC
“An integrated approach allows learners to explore, gather, process, refine and present information about topics they want to investigate without the constraints imposed by traditional subject barriers” (Pigdon and Woolley, 1992). An integrated approach allows students to engage in purposeful, relevant learning
Integrated Skills. Integrated Skills focuses on the four main English skills - reading, writing, speaking and listening - through a “Communicative Language Teaching” methodology. New grammar patterns are learned in the context of a conversation or a real-life situation.