The communicative approac 1

UNIVERSIDAD AUTÓNOMA DE SANTO DOMINGO

(UASD)
FACULTAD DE HUMANIDADES
POST GRADO

Lingüística Aplicada a la Enseñanza del Idioma Inglés

An Introduction to Applied Linguistics

Professor: Raul Billini

The Use of Communicative Approach in 5th Grade EFL Classes Using Technological Devices

In a Public School at Yuna countryside.

Presentado por:

Leonel Escolástico Rodriguez

Santo Domingo,
2019
The communicative approac 2

The Use of Communicative Approach in 5th Grade EFL Classes Using Technological Devices

In a Public School at Yuna countryside.

Leonel Escolastico Rodriguez. L.E

Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo (UASD)

The communicative approach and technology
3
Denkci-Akkas, F., & Coker, B. (2016). The use of communicative approach in 9th grade

efl classes. Eurasian Journal of Educational Research, 65, 71-90

10.14689/ejer.2016.65.05

Abstract

This proposal is about The Use of Communicative Approach in 5th Grade EFL Classes Using

Technological Devices In a Public School at Yuna countryside. The aim of this study will consist in

developing aids that teachers can use to helps their students to acquire better communicative

competence through the use of the communicative approach using technological devices as

primary resources. I will used the mixed method. Qualitative because I want to analyse the

students and teachers behaviour, quantitative because I will use two groups of students from

difference English courses. I will use a questionary of 5 questions to evaluate this research

study.
The communicative approach and technology
4

Table of Contents

Abstract…………………………………………………………………………………3

Problem statement………………………………………………………………………5

Literature review………………………………………………………………………..6

The importance of the communicative approach……………………………………….7

The importance of using technology in the classroom………………………………….8

Method and procedures…………………………………………………………………9

Reference……………………………………………………………………………….10
The communicative approach and technology
5
Problem statement

Learning and teaching of a second language has become a vital need rather than a

luxury in today’s world due to the fact that multilingualism has gained significant

importance as people are to follow the rapid developments in various areas.

In our country Dominican Republic public education system is having issues with the

teaching methodology of English as a second language. Most teachers still using the methods

that have not impacted positively the students. Years by years is visible the lack of speaking

competence in the students, and not only the students lack this competence, also many teachers

are not well prepared. Furthermore, the system itself should offer teachers specialities in the

field.

The use of technology is rarely used in the classrooms. The resources are limited just to a

simple board, chalk and an eraser.

Altan (2006) states that foreign language teachers in Turkey encounter serious

challenges while meeting the demands of the 21st century and therefore need efficient

support to improve their quality and to continue their professional development. It is also

argued that foreign language education policies affected by current issues and

administrative approaches without analyzing the needs and demands of the target group in

a scientific way have led to an undesirable failure in language teaching in Turkey (Li,

1998; Isik, 2008; Incecay & Incecay, 2009; Nergis, 2011).

The ministry of the Education in the Dominican Republic should take into consideration

the implementation of new technological resources in the public schools which will make the

acquisition of the students better for their own learning.

The communicative approach and technology
6

Literature review

Having appeared in the 60s, the Communicative Approach still keeps its popularity

in language teaching contexts. There is almost no doubt that its application varies

depending on the teacher’s understanding of the methodology.

The communicative approach aims to give learners more control and autonomy of

their own learning via student-centered group work activities and the chance to control

the content of the classroom instruction. However, in the observed classes, the content of

the instruction is mainly determined by the teacher and occasionally by the teacher and

the learners together, but never merely by the learners. Therefore, the teacher is regarded

as the expert in the classroom by both the students and the teachers themselves. This is

also consistent with the participants’ opinions about error correction, teacher and learner

roles. Likewise, in Tok’s (2010) study, the language learners preferred explicit grammar

instruction and correction provided by the teacher.

Bruner, Sinwongsuwat and Radic-Bojanic (2015) carried out a study to detect how

CLT contributed to foster communicative competence in two universities in Thailand.

The communicative approach have been used in many countries.

Hewett et al. (1992) assert that as a discipline, HCI is “concerned with the

design, evaluation and implementation of interactive computing systems for human use

and with the study of major phenomena surrounding them” (as cited by Zhang et al.,

2002, p. 335).
The communicative approach and technology
7

The importance of the communicative approach

The birth of the communicative approach goes back to the late 1960s when

situational language teaching started to gain importance in Britain. After the discovery of

the creativity and uniqueness of individual sentences, it was realized that the functional

and communicative potential of language had a crucial role in language learning and

teaching. In the early 1970s, Wilkin studied on the communicative meanings to be

understood and expressed. His studies resulted in a new way to describe the core of

language: notional categories and communicative functions rather than the traditional

concepts of grammar and vocabulary. Thus, he produced “notional syllabuses” which led

to the development of the communicative approach (Richards & Rodgers, 2002).

Brown (2000, 246) defines communicative competence as the one that allows us to

exchange meanings between persons in particular circumstances.

The communicative approach aims to give learners more control and autonomy of

their own learning via student-centered group work activities and the chance to control

the content of the classroom instruction. However, in the observed classes, the content of

the instruction is mainly determined by the teacher and occasionally by the teacher and

the learners together, but never merely by the learners. (Ferdane Denkci Akkas & Berna

Coker, p.86)
The communicative approach and technology
8

The importance of using technology in the classroom

Levin and Wadmany (2006) conducted an exploratory, longitudinal study that

analyzes and interprets the evolution of teachers' beliefs regarding learning, teaching, and

technology, and their instructional practices, in the context of integrating technology-based

th th information-rich tasks in six 4 –6 grade classrooms.

Ertmer, Ottenbreit-Leftwich, and York (2006) conducted a study among 25 winners

of state wide technology teacher awards in order to identify factors that enabled teachers to

overcome internal and external barriers in teaching and still be exemplary technology-

using teachers who achieve meaningful technology use in learner-centred, constructive

environments. In addition, they also explored teachers' perceptions of the relative value of

both intrinsic and extrinsic factors that were perceived to play key roles in their success.

Using stories in learning a language is also used in English language teaching,

where a particular program allows learners to receive more information behind the idioms

and expressions (Boers, Demecheleer, and Eyckmans, 2004). The program is called

Idiomteach, that aims to let students think about the meaning of a particular idiom, help

one to create a background story on it and through this, aid its memorization (Loucky,

2006). This strategy is useful in many respects – to memorize a word, image and

anything that is used for English language learning.

As technology plays a important role in education nowadays, most of the science are

taking advantage of it. We teach now different because of technological resources. Now we can
The communicative approach and technology
9
use electronic books, video projector, speakers, and student may feel more motivated. Therefore,

it is necessary that the importance of technology be assumed for the teacher and students.

Method and procedures

In this study I will mixed both quantitative and qualitative approach. I plan to use 5

questions as instrument for the evaluation of the process. This questions are:

1- What are the techniques teachers use in their everyday activities in a public school

in Yuna countryside?

2- Are teachers aware of the new approaches in the English Language’s field?

3- What are the expectations of the students about learning a second language?

4- How teachers and students feel using the communicative approach?

5- How helpful could be technology during the teaching and learning process?

In this study 5 th grade students from a public school at Yuna countryside will take special

classes during 6 months, then they will be compared with the students of the 4 th of the same

public school whose will be taking normal classes as usually they do.

32 students from the 5th grade will be taken as the one who will be acquitting the knowledge

from differences resources also from a different method. While the 4th grade students will taking

their classes normally, the 5th grade students will demonstrate through differences activities how

effective or negative could be the use of the communicative approach. Also this classroom will

be well equipped with video projector, speaker, virtual books, virtual dictionaries, Learning

application such as: Kahoo, Duolingo, and also Whatsapp could be considered. Through the use

of the mixed method I will obtain teachers and students’ perceptions. After analyzing the data
The communicative approach and technology
10
through the instrument aforementioned, I will conclude with some advice and suggestions for

teachers and students.

Reference

Byrne, D., & Nelson, D. (1965). Attraction as a linear function of proportion of positive

reinforcements. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1, 659-663.

https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1171196.pdf
https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1227073.pdf
https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1121908.pdf
https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1121908.pdf
https://surface.syr.edu/etd