Eliel's text task 4 -- EnglishtextsM

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Date Posted: 14:41:45 06/18/07 Mon
Author: Eliel Soares
Subject: Eliel's text task 4

Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais
Faculdade de Letras
Text production
Adriana Tenuta
Eliel Soares de Jesus

Task 4

Communicative and Structuralist approaches: What are the routes for productive language learning, and what is the best of them?

One day a Linguistics Professor told his students how he had learnt English. He said the classes he used to attend would always be too boring, since the students were supposed to know the word lists from the previous classes all by heart and they were asked to repeat them at the end of the class. That story caused such a surprise in the class that students could say nothing for a while. It was true that the professor did not have such a good English, but all those students liked him, he was not an English professor as well.
�How is it possible to learn to speak a language like a parrot?� Said one of those students somewhere in the classroom, referring to the drills the professor had mentioned.
�What is the best way to learn a language?� Calmly asked the professor with no air of discomfort. Actually, that question was made to whoever in the classroom wanted to give an answer� Nobody did�

But that question still resounds through those students` minds�

Since the 1950�s there has been too much discussion on Linguistic, as a consequence, substantial changes have happened to the way experts perceive and treat knowledge in the field of language studies and its teaching. Meanwhile by observing the routes of English teaching throughout the world some evidences point to the conclusion that Communicative approach, in contrast to Structuralist approach, is the best alternative to successful Language teaching.
Activity proposals in the Structuralist approach are based on drills, full of repetition, and detached of reality. That kind of activity stimulates memory, but that is not sufficient to achieve a deeper level of assimilation. Evidence can be given by people which return to English courses nowadays and who had studied the language during the 50�s and 60�s. Those people may be able to repeat entire lists of words, but usually they tend to present difficulties to formulate spontaneous utterances. Yet, activities on communicative approach are based on contextualized learning, less repetitive due to real context simulations are often present and there is always a relation established with students� reality too. Activities like those make students feel themselves as part of what they are learning. The point is that, both approaches contrasted in this text have their specific aims. That is why their activities follow such specific models. Automatism and autonomy, what contrast one to the other, and self-commitment, what they have in common, are the aims of each one.
If in one hand Structuralist approach aim is that by the end the students have automatism (even though Structuralist approach presumes that repetition brings proficiency), but one of the final aims is automatism.
Another target proposed by the approach is self-commitment, hence all activities demand time to be done, by that way students are instructed to look for their own improvement, once the practice is charged to them alone most of the time. If doubts are found, there is always a grammar book as a reference. Yet, on the other hand, communicative approach affords students to learn by themselves. But this happens in a way that students are taught how to think about their knowledge construction and also how to criticize it. This conjunct of factors generates autonomy. Similar to the Structuralist approach, it is mandatory that students research and try to overcome their difficulties. That is self-commitment. It is true that, if they need, the teacher will be a reference to help them to solve their doubts and, teachers may not only correct their mistakes or give the answer, but also they will lead them to other ways of thinking on the problems they find. After all, an important remark on this point is required. It is necessary to let students walk but they will often need a support. In other words, the teacher cannot take a stand as if he/she possessed all the knowledge, on the contrary, he/ she will serve as a facilitator in the process.
As the third point to be mentioned, considering Structuralist approach, the results obtained with the kind of teaching in this approach are that students may have the contents in their memories. Once memory needs exercise, if those students may have problems if they stay a long time without contact with the language. So it is possible to conclude the final result to this approach is reproduction. Students are able to copy patterns of sentences with no deep reflection at first. The cases in which people who learned from this approach acquire skillful language are those in which people spend some time in intense contact with the language, when they assimilate the features of the language learnt during the course with their use in real situation. And on the other side, the results obtained from communicative approach are stronger. Students are put in contact with language the same way of language acquisition process since the beginning of their courses. This approach enables students to acquire language in a more natural way, so it is harder to have it forgotten and if they stay long times without contact with the language, they can still understand it and its recuperation occur easier. The result obtained from reflection on the practice of the language is construction of knowledge, which remains for the entire life of people.
To sum up, to teach someone to speak a foreign language is not an easy task and contrasting those two approaches, the differences between both of them are remarkable. So it is necessary to choose the best tools available in order not to have the work lost. The contrast proposed in this essay took in to consideration the main conflicting factors between the two methodologies. And finally, it is noticeable that Communicative approach resembles natural language acquisition, what is a clear evidence of its possibility of success.

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Pier editing to Eliel -- Martinelly Martins, 15:30:47 06/18/07 Mon