The role of educational technologies in the development of communicative compentence of academic lyceum (Example of A1 level students) content introduction chapter I. The communicative approach to language teaching

CHAPTER I. THE COMMUNICATIVE APPROACHTO LANGUAGE TEACHING.

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   Communicative Approach to Language Teaching.
   

Littlewood explains that one of the characteristic features of the Communicative Approach to language teaching is that it pays systematic attention to functional as well as structural aspects Of language combining these into a more fully communicative view².
A Communicative Approach opens up a wider perspective on language. In particular, it makes us consider language not only in terms of structures (grammar and vocabulary), but also in terms of the communicative function that it performs.
In other words, we begin to look not only at language forms, but also at what people do with these forms when they want to communicate with each other. For example, the form-'Why don't you close the door?' might be used for a number of communicative purposes, such as asking a question, making a suggestion or issuing an order. Littlewood further explains that the Communicative Approach makes us aware that it is not enough to teach learners to manipulate the structures of the language. They must also develop strategies for relating these structures to their communicative functions in real situations and real time.
In the language classroom, the language teacher as Littlewood suggests must provide learners with ample opportunities to use the language themselves for communicative purposes. We must remember that we are ultimately concerned
With the learners' ability t o take part in the process of communicating through language, rather than with their perfect mastery of individual structures(thought hismay still be a useful step towards the broader goal).
Hence, with this approach, it is possible to provide language students with meaningful task practices ,to improve their motivation in language learning, to encourage natural learning in the language environment, and to create a context that supports learning. As Maurice puts it :
If communication is to be the product of language teaching, then it seems reason Able that it needs to be included in the process as well. To avoid doing this, is to Surrender before the battle, to withdraw from a solid approach before even giving it a try.
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 language³.
According to CLT, the goal of language education is the ability to communicate in the target language. This is in contrast to previous views in which grammatical competence was commonly given top priority. 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 English, but rather works on developing sound oral/verbal skills prior to reading and writing.
The communicative competence concept was originally developed and coined almost five decades ago by the sociolinguist Dell Hathaway Hymes, who defined it as “a term in linguistics which refers to a language user's grammatical knowledge of syntax, morphology, phonology and the like, as well as social knowledge about how and when to use utterances appropriately”. A communicative approach to English language teaching had to be sought to replace ineffective traditional approaches and methods, e.g., grammar/translation, direct method, and audio-lingual method, to develop learners who can communicate successfully and effectively in English both orally and in writing. Based on Hymes’ communicative competence concept, Henry Widdowson in the seventies developed what is now called communicative language teaching. Widdowson viewed language learning not merely as acquiring the knowledge of the rules of grammar, but also as acquiring the ability to use language to participate in communication and exchange meaningful information. Knowing a language is more than just to understand, speak, read, and write sentences; it extends to embrace how these sentences are used efficiently and intelligibly in interpersonal communication. We do not learn only how to compose and comprehend correct sentences as isolated linguistic units of random occurrence; but also how to use sentences appropriately to achieve communicative purposes and conserve the identity of the communicated messages.
There have been many definitions of communicative language teaching, however that of Richards, Platt and Platt in the Dictionary of language teaching and applied linguistics is a simple and straightforward one. Communicative language teaching in this dictionary is defined as “an approach to foreign or second language teaching which emphasizes that the goal of language learning is communicative competence”. The teachers’ role in the communicative competence context as pronounced by Czura⁴ is to develop knowledge, skills and attitudes in their students that will help them interact with interlocutors coming from different cultural, linguistic and national backgrounds.
According to Crawford, “Communicative approaches to second-language acquisition are based on concepts, theories, and hypotheses that converge around the constructivist paradigm”. The constructivist theory of learning is based on the notion that learners construct their own ideas instead of receiving them complete and correct from the teacher or any source of authority. This process of construction is internal, individualised and unique. Constructivist teaching is based on problem-solving and inquiry-based learning activities, with which students formulate and test their ideas, draw conclusions and inferences, and pool and convey their knowledge in a collaborative learning environment. Constructivism transforms the student from a passive recipient of information to an active participant in the learning process.
It is the authors' belief that English language learners need constructivist/communicative approach to learning English as a second language because the opportunities for learning are authentic and are focused on meaning-making and problem-solving.
Communicative language teaching has been reasonably assumed to be based implicitly or explicitly on some model of communicative competence⁵. Following the economic, political, and technological changes of the 21st century, communicative language teaching seems to be the best known approach to teaching English as a second or foreign language.
Communicative language teaching can be understood as a set of principles about the goals of language teaching, how learners learn a language, the kinds of classroom activities that best facilitate learning, and the roles of teachers and learners in the classroom. Let us examine each of these issues in turn⁶.

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