A Study on Three Teaching Principles of Communicative Language

朱加強

寧夏大學

【Abstract】Communicative Language Teaching is a new teaching methodology different from the Chinas traditional teaching methodology. For the application of Communicative Language Teaching in English class in todays China， this paper briefly illustrates the significance of three out of twelve principles of Communicative Language Teaching which come from the book Teaching by Principles： An Interactive Approach to Language Pedagogy （3rd Edition）.

【Key words】Communicative Language Teaching； teaching principles； teaching methodology

1. Introduction

Foreign Language Teaching has its ultimate objective that is to enable learners to use the target language both correctly and appropriately in social communication. In order to facilitate English teaching in China， Communicative Language Teaching （CLT） as a new teaching methodology has been tried for years. CLT is systematically structured. To analyze it deeply， the twelve principles should be recognized in advance. Three out of twelve principles are selected at random and they will be discussed in detail in the following.

2. Three Principles of Communicative Language Teaching

There are twelve teaching principles in all， which reflect the great vitality and advantages of CLT. The writer has chosen three of them to state the significance of CLT， they are： Meaningful Learning， Willingness to Communicate and Language-Culture Connection.

2.1 Meaningful Learning

Meaningful Learning refers to turning new information into the existing knowledge and experience. It combine the new information with the existing knowledge and experience together， and it will help learners to memorize the knowledge points better and longer. The Chinas thinker Confucius once said that reviewing the old will acquire the new one. For example， after studying new knowledge， the learners could compare it with the old one. He may find out the difference or similarity during the process， and it is beneficial for them to acquire tightly what they have learned.

2.2 Willingness to Communicate

Willingness to Communicate means the students courage or confidence for facing the hard assignments. And there is an old Chinese saying that Interest Is The Best Teacher. Although there are some activities of competitions held in every semester， but those activities are not as frequent as expected. Besides， only a few students who are interested in English or who are brave enough are willing to participate in the games. As a result， students always feel embarrassed to open their mouths to speak English， and they may fear they will make mistakes. Non-speaking will prevent them from going further in language learning. But Willingness to Communicate encourages learners to speak more， and so their spoken English ability can be improved.

2.3 Language-Culture Connection

Language-Culture Connection emphasizes culture is the basement. Culture determines language， and the teaching of language is always with the introduction of its background or culture. In classes， teachers can introduce more culture information to rise the students interest， such as the holidays， lifestyle and tourist places in the Britain or some other English-speaking countries. And the different styles of buildings and people attract students deeply. And therefore， Language-Culture Connection will bring convenience for teachers to prepare their classes.

Foreign language class， like English class， is one of the parts that constitute culture. It functions as the exchange for thoughts and minds and the reflection of cultural values and cultural production of human being. Language links tightly with the content it implies， and there is no doubt that the two sides cannot be separated alone. Wilkins believes that there is no need to insist on the total banishment of all use of the mother tongue from the classroom.

3. Conclusion

Communicative Language Teaching is of great benefit to help students learn a second language more effectively. It is an approach to produce the communicative competence and equips learners for the real world. It can inspire students， make students learn automatically and develop their critical thinking ability in the final.

References：

[1]劉曉雷.交際教學法在初中英語語法教學中的應用[D].山東師范大學，2008.