ROSEリポジトリいばらき (茨城大学学術情報リポジトリ) · grammatical...

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お問合せ先 茨城大学学術企画部学術情報課(図書館) 情報支援係 http://www.lib.ibaraki.ac.jp/toiawase/toiawase.html ROSEリポジトリいばらき (茨城大学学術情報リポジトリ) Title Designing Communicative Drills for the EFL Classroom Author(s) 長沢. 邦絋 Citation 茨城大学教育学部紀要. 教育科学(41): 217-231 Issue Date 1992-03 URL http://hdl.handle.net/10109/11555 Rights このリポジトリに収録されているコンテンツの著作権は、それぞれの著作権者に帰属 します。引用、転載、複製等される場合は、著作権法を遵守してください。

Transcript of ROSEリポジトリいばらき (茨城大学学術情報リポジトリ) · grammatical...

Page 1: ROSEリポジトリいばらき (茨城大学学術情報リポジトリ) · grammatical item/items in a more or less communicative situation. TLe item/items may be a sentence

お問合せ先

茨城大学学術企画部学術情報課(図書館)  情報支援係

http://www.lib.ibaraki.ac.jp/toiawase/toiawase.html

ROSEリポジトリいばらき (茨城大学学術情報リポジトリ)

Title Designing Communicative Drills for the EFL Classroom

Author(s) 長沢. 邦絋

Citation 茨城大学教育学部紀要. 教育科学(41): 217-231

Issue Date 1992-03

URL http://hdl.handle.net/10109/11555

Rights

このリポジトリに収録されているコンテンツの著作権は、それぞれの著作権者に帰属します。引用、転載、複製等される場合は、著作権法を遵守してください。

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Bul監. Fac. Educ., Ibaraki Univ.(Edu. ScL)41(1992)217-231                         217

Designing Communicative Drills for the EFL Classroom

Kunihiro NAGASAWA*with Contributions by

Ibaraki Association of Modern English Teachers**

(Received September 13,1991)

Abstract

Communicative/Functional Approach has been criticised because it puts too

much emphasis on teaching language“functions”and conversational set phrases

and neglects teaching grammar which, everyone would agree, is the essentia1

component in learning a language. This article discusses the significance of us一

ing“communicative drills”which are proposed to reconcile the conflict between

communicative teaching and grammatical teaching. After a review of the con一

flict, the article identifies characteristic features of the communicative drill and

discusses its rationale in ELT in Japan. Examples of communicative drills are

examined to consider出eir applicability to classroom practice.

O lntroduction

When one considers the applicability of Communicative Approach to English lan一guage teaching, one of the crucial points which are made is wわether it is effective for                                                                    ‘

狽?≠モ?奄獅〟@grammar. This question is inevitable because one feels teacLing grammar is

essential in language teaching and, more practically, most textbooks in use are structure一

based. The communicative drill is a relatively recent idea wbich has been proposed for

bridging the domains of grammar teaching and communicative teaching. The purpose of

this article is to discuss the significance of using it in the EFL classroom in Japan.

In section 1, the relation between grammar teaching and communicative teaching is

rev量ewed against the background where communicative language teaching has been de一

veloping. In section 2, the concept of communicative drill is defined and its characteris一

tic features are identified. Section 3 discusses the rationale of the communicative drill.

In section 4, examples of commuhicative drills are examined in order to consider practic一

al problems which may be encountered in tbeir classroom practice.

@           ・

*English Language Teaching, Faculty of Education, Ibaraki University, Mito,310 Japan.

**T・・y・・hi lid・(Mit・uk・id・Jmi・・High S・h・・1);S・t・・k・Umesat・(Iw・m・J・ni・・High S。h。。1);T。d。y。ki

Oroku (Attached Junior High School of the Faculty of Education, Ibaraki University);Keiko Shlba

(Yachiy・Hig・・hi」uni・・High S・h・・1)・Kazu・Tanab・(Att・・h・d J・・i・r High S。h。。1。f th。 Facu監ty。f

Education, Ibaraki University).

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218              BulL Fac. Educ., Ibaraki Univ.(Edu. Sci.)41(1992)

1 Teaching Grammar and Teaching Communication:aReview

    The theory and practice of Communicative/Functional Approach puts greater stress

Bn teachi。g languag・fun・ti・n・, i.・.,・・ci・l p・・p・ses・f langu・g・use tLan・n t・aching lan一

メBg。,tru・tures per se. Th・traditi・nal・tructural d・il1・f audi・-li・gual typ・was criti-

Bised by・th・p・・P・nent・・f C・mmunicative ApP・・ach when th・y b・g・n t・preach thi・new

р盾モ狽窒奄獅?@of language teaching in the early 1970s. However, too much empllasis on

teachi。g functi・ns and general aspect・・f・・mmunicati・n seem・d t・blur th・imp・rtance@                                                                Wilkins to stressand necessity of teaching grammar. It is not necessary to quote D. A.

狽?B imp。・tance・f teaching“semanti・・-gramm・tical”meani・g i・f・rei即languag・狽?≠モ?堰B&F。r exampl・, it i・n・t・uffi・i・nt t・k・・w・tandard phrases f・r ap・1・gi・i・g lik・

grm extremely sorry....”when one wants to make an apology. In many caseg one has

狽潤@know the second part of the sentence to complete one’s apology:1’m extremely sorry

h’mso late. The second part, whicb is tbe main clause and states the reason for the

。p。1。gy, mu・t b・・riginat・d by the speaker himself and・・mp・sed acc・rding t・the sy?-@                                                                    in what he lstactic rules of the language. T』e learner has to be creative and original

saying. Communicative/Functional ApProach, in a way・teaches youんow to say in ce「-

狽≠奄氏@situations, but it does not tell you wんα’to say. To compose this“what”the learner?≠刀@t。 k。。w。pP。。P。i。t・li・gui・tic stru・tures. Thi・i・why Wilki・・(1976)                                                                          equally

                                                                              o唐狽窒?唐唐?п@the importance of grammatical meaning and functional meaning in constructlng

the‘‘notional”syllabus.@   Wilkins’idea of the notional syllabus was materialised as an actual syllabus in van

dk and Alexander・。伽、ん。肌,。,1 Eπ9’融(1975),1)whi・h i・th・best exi・ti・g・・ti・nal

。yll。b。, f・r E・gli・h 1・nguag・teachi・g Thi・w・rk has exert・d great i・fluence・n th・

construction of ELT syllabuses and coursebooks ever since. But coursebook writing is

q。ite a different b・・iness f・・m・yll・b・・desi帥・The success・f窃…”・肌…’Eπ8’納

≠刀@a、yll、bu・did・・t・ecessarily lead t・P・・d・・ti・n・f g・・d・・ti・nal・・urseb・・k・・

sheoretically, Wilkins’idea of the notional syllabus comprises three categories of mean-

堰Bg、 semanti・・-gramm・tical, functi・nal, and m・d・l meani・g・But w・卜ave h・d・・P・b-’

lished coursebooks which successfully materialised all of止ese semantic components.On。。f th, m。st wid。ly used・・urseb・・k・・f thi・ki・d,5如・伽98∫・α∫・9∫・・(1977)・f・r ex一

。mpl。,,1・im・it i・based・n a fun・ti・nal・pP・・ach b・t actually it d・es n・t p・・vide acti・i-

@                                                                       It is moreties which require practice of language functions in communicative situations・

structure-oriented.In spit,。f the sh・rt・g・・f g・・d gramm・tical-functi・nal(i・・・…ti・nal)・・urseb・・k・・

EFL teacLers interested in communicative language teaching have been practising it in

their classroom, in most cases using strictly structural coursebooks・ Their concern is

h。w t。 apPly。。mmunicative m・th・d・1・gy t・teachi・g・t・u・tural textb・・k・・P・bli・h・d

b奄b撃堰Bgrap』ies。f th・practice・f・・mmunicative languag・teachi・g i・J・pan(see M・t・u-@                                             seem to indicate the degree to whichmura et al.1987;Nagasawa 1988;Kizuka 1991)

communicative language teaching has taken root in Japan. But t』e general feeling of

’ these practi・ing teachers i・th・t・t・ucture-based textb・・k・limit the sc・P・・f止・ir c・m-

@      municative activities in the classroom. And their general sentiment is that they加γε‘o

teacb grammar and・t・u・tures because th・y are there i・tb・t・xtb・・k・・and・nly・fter@                                                                            ideathat they are allowed to do communication activities. There seems to have been no

Bf teacLi。g grammar and・・mmunicati・n at the sam・tim・・It is a c・mparatively new idea

L

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Nagasawa:Designing Communicative Drills for the EFL Classmom          219

to teach grammar此70翻8・みcommunicative activities.

One of the best attempts to marry grammatica1-structural teaching and communica一

tive-functional teaching is Sandra L McKay’s 7セαc痂πg G7α朋ηα7’Fo〃η,翫πα’oηαη4

7セchπ∫q配ε(1987). It is a collection of communicative activities which are designed to

teach particular grammatical items. Each activity has a double objective:grammatical

and functiona1. For example, students learn“verb∫oわ8 in the present tense”for“ex一

pressing feelings”;“demonstrative pronouns”for“indicating preferences”;“expressions

of comparison”for“making comparisons.”Christine Frank and Mario Rinvolucri’s Gr〃η一

〃3αア’η14α’oπ’.4wα陀η8∬ノ1α’y薦ε51br L研8配α8εLθαrπ加8(1987)is similar to McKay’s

source book in that it aims to teach grammar through communicative methodology, but

different in that activities in this book have characteristics of“humanistic exercises.”It

is interesting to note that the authors of tbe book consider these activities as‘‘guided

exercises”whic}l need the teacher’s control over the language students ise. But by

“control”they do not mean tわe kind of mec弛anical pattern drilling wLich still is dominant

in the EFL classroom. Their concern is how to“close the gap between all too mechanic一

al and all too free language practice(p.8).”Penny Ur’s G7α〃2〃1α7 Prαα’cεノ1α’v漉ε3

(1988)is also a rich collection of structural drills which are of翫igLly communicative

nature. Tlle striking feature of this book is that it covers a large number of grammatic一

al items and provides great varieties of grammar practice activities. Perhaps the most

extensive source book of this kind by a Japanese author is Harada(1991).

As we have surveyed above, the key concept of this article“communicativ壱drill”is

not entirely new. What is new about the article is that it identifies its characteristic fea一

tures and examines its rationale and considers藍ts applications to tbe ELT situations in

Japan.

2 Characteristic Features of the Communica輔ve Drill

The communicative drill is a drill which is designed for practising a particular

grammatical item/items in a more or less communicative situation. TLe item/items may

be a sentence or words(practice of some adlectives, for example). The traditional EFL

teacher divides his teaching process into three stages of presentation, drills, and com一

munication activities. The communicative drill is a language act童vity which combines a

drill and a communication activity. In what follows we will give five characteristic fea_

tures of communicative drills.

The first characteristic feature of the communicative drill is that when you do it,

you have a definite structure to teach, a“target structure”as it is usually called. Your

lob is to drill your students in it. In tLe communicative drill the target structure is used

in more or l6ss real situations, but tLe unreal thing about the activity is that students

use the structure repeatedly亡o Lave as much practice as possible. There is a certain

amount of control over the language to be used, and this feature distinguisbes com一

municative drills from wbat is usually called“communicative activities.”The communica一

tive drill has characteristics of autbentic communication but it still has artificial nature

of drills.

The second characteristic of tbe communicative drill is that tLere are information

gaps between the interlocutors. The questioner asks something because he does not

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220              Bull. Fac. Educ., Ibaraki Univ.(Edu. Sci.)41(1992)

know about it and the answerer answers his question because he needs to answer it. All

EFL teachers know that this is not the case in drills of audio-lingual type. T』ere the

teacher asks about t}1ings of which he knows the answers. (“Look at this picture. How

many flowers are there in tbe vase?”)In the communicative dril1, the interlocutors ex一

c}1ange information whicb they do not share with eac卜ot}1er. Certainly, in a communica_

tive drill tLe teacher controls the linguistic form the students have to use(that is, the

target structure)but there is very little control over the coη∫θπ’of what they have to

say. Students say what t}1ey want/need to say based on the experiences of their own

life.

TLe third characteristic is that止e communicative drill teaches language functions.

In communicative drills students use language for particular social purposes  asking

for permission, agreeing, apologising, narrating, requesting, etc・ So the communicative

drill has two oblectives:grammatical and functional. To teach imperative sentences, for

example, is a grammatical oblective, wトile to teach how to make requests(to a close

friend)through the use of imperative sentences is a functional objective. It is quite

necessary to get t』e students to know that they can perform some social behaviour with

1anguage. Tbis realisation is as important as the understanding of the grammatical sys一

tem of the target language. The junior lligb school textbooks presently in use in Japan

do not give structures in any connection with language functions. But the teacher can

use these structures to teacb language functions.

The fourth characteristic of tbe communicative drill is that it sometimes uses huma一

nistic techniques. It cannot be denied that Communicative/Functional Approach focuses

on individual students’wα班andπ8ε4 to say something. But individualisation in language

learning is more positive in“Humanistic Approach.”Here we are following the principles

of“caring and sharing”in t』e EFL classroom which Moskowitz(1978)advocated. Tlle

reasons why we use humanistic tecllniques are several・

Firstly, Humanistic Approach stresses not only interactive activities but individual

work. In individual writing, for example, students write about their own experiences,

values, likes and dislikes, fancy and imagination. These self-expressions are highly

valued in Humanistic Approach because, when they are“shared”and accepted positivelyρ

by the class, they are believed to contribute to the enhancement of tbe students’self一

image. Secondly, Lumanistic techniques provide written work, wllich is welcomed by

Japanese students because they are reluctant to speak out in front of their peers・

Thirdly, Humanistic Approach stresses creation and sustaining of“gentle”human rela一

tions and cooperation in groups. Communicative Approacll sometimes forces students to

cope with situations whicb challenge their linguistic and communicative abilities. Huma一

nistic Approacb releases students from that strain. The sustaining atmosphere within

the group/class assures tbe‘‘slowest”learners of their participation in the activity・

The fifth characteristic of the communicative drill is that it is done most often in

small groups. Individual, pair, and group work are frequently used in order to give much

practice and communication among students. Some people criticise communicative activi一

ties done in small groups because they do not allow the teacher to monitor the students,

activities and correct their“mistakes.”One might answer the criticism by noting tllat

group work is not the o畷y form of the communicative drill and that the teacher practis一

ing Communicative Approach makes it a rule to have a feedback session w』ere he may

make comments on the mistakes made in t』e preceding activity. Certainly, compared

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Nagasawa:Designing Communicative Drills for the EFL Classroom          221

with drills of more traditional type where the teacher control is maximum, communicative

drills may allow more mistakes to be made in the activity process. But, in practising

communicative drills, the teacher’s belief is that students eventually learn correct struc_

tures througll communication-oriented group activities in humanising classroom atmos一

phere where students can say anything and can make mistakes.

3 Rationale of the Communicative Drill

3.O Preliminary RemarksCommunicative Approach appeared in the ELT scene as an antithesis to the audio一

lingualism. The antagonism between the grammatical-structural teacber and tbe com一

municative teacher comes mostly from the differences in their teaching styles, met』odo一

logical beliefs, the nature of teacher-training courses they attended, their own experi一

ences of learning English and dispositions as teachers and lluman beings. But these

apParently polar apProaches to language teac}1ing can be easily reconciled・at least・in

theoretical terms. There are two possible ways of reconciliation.

The first of these is the theory of commロnicative competence. The traditional view

of linguistic abilities is that they mean abilit童es of recognising and producing grammati-

モ≠撃撃凵C。rrect sent・nces. This vi・w i・m・st typically represent・d by CL・m・ky’・(1965)

concept of competence. More recent views of linguistic abilities supPose several compo一

nents of competence. D. H. Hymes’(1971)classical view of communicative competence

stresses socio-linguistic knowledge of the target language. More recently, Canale

(1983)identifies four components of linguistic competence:grammatica1, socio-linguistic,

discourse and strategic competence. In these theories grammatical competence is only

part of communicative competence. The pedagogical implication here is that the overall

objective of foreign language teaching should be acquisition of communicative compe一

tence, not grammatical competence and that, in order to attain that objective, we should

develop methodology and materials for practical use.@   The sec。nd。pP。・ach t・tbi・p・・bl・m i・, as we n・t・d b・f・re, Wilki・・’(1976)・・n一

cept of the“notional syllabus.”The notional syllabus, which he considers is the most in一

tegrative syllabus, includes both of the components which structuralists and functional一

ists claim to be essential in language learning. The remaining Problem is how to mater一

ialise these ideas into coursebooks. And the best answer at present seems to be a co1一

1ection of communicative activities which are designed to practise琴rammatical items in

communicative situations, i.e., a collection of communicative drills・

Now let us examine more closely why we think that the communicative drill is an

effectlve method of English language teaching. We will give seven reasons.

3.1 Acquisition of the Grammatical SystemThe basic idea of tトe communicative drill is that learning of structures and learning

of functions are essential for language learning. Communicative drills are designed for

practising linguistic structures and developing communicative abilities. The reasons we

№奄魔?@f。r the d・fense・f the c・mmunicative d・ill are, theref・re・・ffered・ither f・・m th・

。i。wp・i・t・f lu・tifyi・g gramm・tical teacbi・g・r f・・m the vi・wp・i・t・f lu・tifyi・g・・m一

muniCative/funCtiOnal teaCbing.

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222              Bull. Fac. Educ., Ibaraki Univ.(Edu. Sci.)41(1992)

The first rationale of the communicative drill can be stressed from the grammatica1

point of view:that language learning involves acquisition of tlle grammatical system of

the target language. In the communicative drill students do grammactical practice of

sentence structures and vocabulary. The defense of grammatical learning in a com一

municative approach can most effectively be found in Wi豆kins’(1976)idea of tbe notional

syllabus. He claims that language learning should involve learning of tllree categories of

1inguistic meaning:semantico-grammatical, moda1, and functionaL Modal meaning can be

expressed in sentenρes like,“John may be taller than Eddie.”By the use of the modal

verb〃薦y,’the speaker expresses配πc8r如’μy about the comparative heigLt of John and

Eddie. In t』is way the learner has to know the usage of tbe modal verb〃2αy in order to

express uncertainty about a fact. But, at the same time, he has to kn6w the syntactic

structure“John十be十taller十than十Eddie”to express the semantico-grammatical mean一

ing, which is attributed to the grammatical structure of出at particular language. In

order to express modal meaning it is not sufficient for the learner to know the usage of

modal verbs, but knowledge of the syntactic system of the language is indispensable in

the actual use of the language. The same is true witll the functional category of mean_

ing. In the sentence“I wonder if you could tell me the way to the City Hall, please?”the

functional meaning(asking the way)is expressed by the phrase“I wonder if you could...,

please?”But bere again, the speaker needs the syntactic knowledge of the structure

(“tell十indirect oblect十direct object十adverbial phrase”)to compose the main part of his

utterance. To put it in a nutshell, functional or modal meaning cannot be expressed in an

actual utterance without t}1e knowledge of syntactic structures whicb realise semantico一

grammatical meaning. This is the reason why grammatical teaching is indispensable even

in tbe framework of functional language teaching.

3.2 Learning in Communicative Situations

The second rationale of the communicative drill is concerned with the nature of

drills. Structural drills of Audio-hngual Approach are most typically illustrated in a

sentence pattern drill where real exchanges of meaning do not take place. The crudest,

but not uncommon, example of this kind is the teacher showing a large picture to the

class and asking llow many chairs there are in the room(the picture訥ow3 four chairs);

if there are bags on the table (tLereα7εbags on it);or asking students to ask questions

about things of which they can easily find the answers in the picture. In dril監s of audio一

lingual type students have to ask questions the answers of which they know;they have to

say what they do not necessarily want or need to say.

Communicative drills have characteristics exactly opposite to these. In communica一

tive drills students can say what they want/need to say about the actual world around

themselves and there they do not feel they are doing a language drill because they are

engaged in communication. They may or may not be aware of the target structure while

they are practising it in communicative situations. But the experiences and instinct of

EFL teachers tell us tLat grammar is best learnt when it is put to use, and structures

are best learnt wben they are used in meaningful situations.

3.3 Teaclling Structure-based Textbooks

It bas been thought difficult to apply Communicative/Functional Approach to EFL

situations like Japan where structure-based textbooks are used. To most EFL teacLers

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Nagasawa:Designing Communicative Drills for the EFL CIassroom          223

teacLing functions seems to be incompatible with teaching structures. Tbe assumption

there is tbat a structural coursebook requires structural drills of audio-lingual type and

structural drilling can hardly be communicative. But communicative drills can effective一

ly be used for teacbing structural coursebooks.

The lunior high scbool textbooks in Japan are basically structural. EacL lesson is

divided into sections and each sectionぬas a target sentence like“I cαημαy tennis.”“Cαπ

yo配write English?”or“How o14 are you?”The teacher’s main concern is how to make

effective drills ofthese structures and how to get t}1e students to use t』ose structures in

“communication activities”(“g8ηgo初御40”in the term of the Ministry of Education).

The central idea of the communicative drilhs to make drills communicative,出at is

to say, to design drills where students use structures for particular communicative pur一

poses. In a c{脚municative drill for practising Cαπyo配...?(to ask about tlleαわ∫”満y of

one’刀@interlocutor),for example, the teacher may ask each student to find two or three

persons who can do the same things as he can. In order to do this, students go round the

class, asking questions like“Can you ski/cook turkey/ride a horse/play tlle guitar?”to

know wbo can do these things which he can do and to complete his questionnaire. Tbe

nature of the task requires止e learner to use the same structure over and over again.

He is being drilled in this sense though he.does not feel he is. He is repeating the

structure not for practice’sake but to achieve a communicative purpose of completing the     o               ●

曹teSt10nnalre.

3.4 TeacLing Large Classes

When the applicability of Communicative Approach to ELT in Japan is discussed,

one argument raised against it is that it does not work in large classes. The argument

goes that if one wants to do pair work, for example, the teacher cannot monitor all the

pairs working at the same time;in this condition of non-teacber control, students would

keep making irrecoverable mistakes. This may be true with communicative activities to

some extent. However, one great difference between a communicative activity and a

communicative drill is that there is much teacher control in the communicative drill. As

we defined it, tわe communicative drill is a pattern practice which is done in a communica一

tive situation. The possibility of students making errors in communicative drills is far

1ess than in communicative activities. In this sense, communicative drills are“safer”

than communicative activities. And of course, if he wishes, the teacher can have a feed一

back session and check how correctly his studetns use the structure. The feedback in

tbe communicative drill can more easily be done than that of a commqnicative activity be一

cause the drill has a more distinctive pattern.

k

3.5 Students’Participation

Communicative language teaching has been criticised on the ground that its metb一

odology does not work in the Japanese educational climate wbere“receptive”learning is

more favoured by students than productive mode of learning. Every Japanese EFL

teacher knows that his students do not like to speak out or interact witb their peers.

These“national”characteristics of students seem to defy tbe methodology of Com一

municative APProach.

The communicative drill is expected to lessen the frustration of students which in一

evitably accompanies foreign language learning. Tllere are three possible means to do

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224              Bu1L Fac. Educ., Ibaraki Univ.(Edu. Sci.)41(1992)

t』is. First, the communicative drill provides written work, w}1icll does not require stu一

dents to speak out. Second, tlle communicative drill involves much individual work, in

which the students do not have to interact with each other. Third, the communicative

drill requires group work. In group work, individual students are not wholly responsible

for the results(and even for the process)of tlle task-performing activity. And yet when

group work has produced particular results, this gives∫η4’y∫414α1 students the feeling

that tbey have achieved something in that work. Of course, it is dangerous to always

bave recourse to this kind of group activities. Our 3tudents have to be accustomed to

talk to someone and be talked to by someone. But it is sometimes very important for

them to have tLe sense of participation and accomplishment.

3.6 Teaching for ExaminationsThe primary reason why Communicative Approach has been rejected by tlle malority

of EFL teachers in Japan is tbat it is not useful for entrance examinations to upper

schools. Communicative Approach has been misunderstood as teaching methodology

which does not require of the learner grammatical correctness in speaking and writing

and wbicb is not interested in reading. These were thought to be grave、disadvantages of

this methodology from the viewpoint of equipping learners for entrance examinations be一

cause examination-oriented learning of English desperately needs grammatical correct一

ness in writing and reading.

Communicative drills are different from communicative activities in that the former

puts greater stress on the correctness of the language the learner produces. The critic一

ism that Communicative Approach makes light of grammar teaching is, therefore, not ap一

phed to the communicative drilL It can be useful for examination-oriented learning of

English.

3.7 Practice in Team-taught Classes

Finally, there is anotber local advantage of the communicative drill for the teacher

who teaches with an Englisb-native assistant teacher(AET). If tbe Japanese.teacher of

English(JTE)is a traditional teacher,11e sticks to teaching grammar. But many AETs

are reluctant to teach grammar because they think it blocks communication in tbe class一

room. The teacher in charge of the class(the JTE)finds it very difficult to find a com一

promise. Tbe best compromise, we believe, will be tLe communicative drilL It will

satisfy the JTE with its emphasis on teaching correct linguistic forms and it will satisfy

the AET with its emp』asis on communicative aspects of tbe activities. Many teachers of

Englisb, particularly JTEs, recognise the difficult situations into which ELT in Japan

stepped since the introduction of team-teaching through the Monbusho Enghsh Fellow

project and more recently the Japan Exchange and Teaching Program. The greatest

concern for tbem is how to integrate teaching of grammar with teaching of communica_

tion. One way out is exploitations of止e communicative drill・

4 Practice of Communicative Drills

4.1 Examples of Communicative DrillsIn this section we will examine four examples of communicative drills and consider

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Nagasawa:Designing Communicative Drills for the EFL CIassroom          225                        1

how basic ideas of the communicative drill are realised in them. In each activity, de一

scriptions of the activities are given first and tLen comments and observations are made

on them. And 4.2discusses some problems which may be encountered in the classroom

practice of communicative drills.

Example l Target structure:Do you have any...?2)

Group workDivide the class into groups of four or five and give out a pack of playing cards to

each group. Five cards are distributed to each member of the group;the other cards are

set in a pile in the middle of tLe table, face down. The objective of the activity is to col一

lect sets of four cards of the same number(four queens, for example). The person who

got the most sets will be tlle winner. To do this, students, in turn, call out the name of a

person and ask,“Do you have any queens?”for example. This question can only be

asked when he has any cards of queen himself. And if the person asked has any number

of queens, he has to give all of them to the questioner. In this case, the questioner can

ask another question to any member of the group. If the person asked has no appropri一

ate cards, the questioner draws one card from the pile and the next person asks ques一

tions. The activity ends when all the sets are collected.

What is to be noted first in this activity is that the question form“Do you have any

...?”is used to perform a豆anguage function. The question is asked not just for“seek一

ing information”but it is asked to convey the speaker’s wαπ∫to get something. In this

case, the question form has the communicative value equivalent to the utterance,‘℃an I

have queens, please?”or“Could you give me queens, please?”TLis is a good opportun量ty

to teach the students that a question form can have tbe function of expressing one’s want

to get something.

One can also notice in this activity other characteristic features of the communica一

tive drill(information gaps, for example). And in order to make the activity more au一

thentic, the teacher may be interested to teach such expressions as“Here you are.”

(when one has to give up cards)or“1’m sorry, I don’t have any....”(when one does not

have appropriate cards). These little phrases help students to use the target structureo                               ●          o              ,             ●

撃氏@COmmunlCatlVe SltUat10nS.

Example 2 Target structure:We can._

Individual work followed by group work

Divide the class into groupS of four or five. Give out a work sheet to each student

(see Appendix)and ask them to fill in the blanks(tlle underlined parts in Box A)with

verbs/verb pbrases which signify what the students can do in the appropriate places.

them in Box B。

One characteristic feature of t}1is activity is that it involves individual written work.

And in thinking of verbs/verb phrases for Box A, students can be creative and original.

The verb(pbrase)for the kitchen can be“cook”or“iron clothes.”Students can give

answers based on the experiences of their own life. In the group work, listening and

taking notes are involved, which make the activity more authentic. If the teacher wants

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226              Bull. Fac. Educ., Ibaraki Univ.(Edu. Sci.)41(1992)

to have more volume of practice, he may ask the students to add places to the given

items.

From the functional point of view, t}1e structure“we can....”can be used for ex一

plaining or defining places. The sentence“We can cook in the kitchen.”bas a functional

value equivalent to the sentence,“A kitcben is a place where we cook.”If the teacLer

wants to・emphasise the defining function of“we can”and make the students more crea_

tive he may ask them to give more than one verbs in the blanks, eliciting sentences like

“We can cook, have meals, and iron clotbes in tトe kitcben.”

In the feedback session, t}1e teacher may ask students to report to the class about

the phrases recorded in Box B. The class, in this way, s』are the information about who

gave what expressions for the appropriate places.

Example 3 Target structure:Iwant to....

Individual work followed by fluid pair work

Give each student a work sheet(see Appendix)and ask him to cboose any one out

of the three things given in column B whicb he wants to do most when he is in the moods

given in column A. Then the students go round tLe class to find persons who want to do

the same tbings in tlle appropriate moods. Before going into fluid pair work, students

may do full-class practice following the suggested framework of conversation(which may

be printed on the work sheet). The objective of the activity is to give as many names as

possible of those wbo want to do the same things when they are in tLe approriate moods.

The class is divided into two groups and Group l ask first and then the role is reversed.

One characteristic of this activity is that it is much controlled on t}1e wbole. Stu一

dents can use the suggested conversational framework;alternatives for answers aregiven in column B(therefore, there are no 100 per cent information gaps there). Tぬe

very fact that the activity is somewhat predetermined means that students can do the

practice quickly and with confidence and can have lots of practice. If, however, the

teacher wants to make the activity less controlled and more communicative, he gets the

students to give extra items in column B. This produces more information gaps between

the interlocutors and makes the activity more exciting because the accomplishment of the

task (completing the table)beavily depends on listening activity and the information

whicb is not given in the work sheet is more difficult to obtain.

Example 4 Target structure:Have you ever-ed?

Individual work followed by fluid pair work

Give eacb student a work sheet(see Appendix)and get tbem to read the directions

1through 10. (Tハe teacher may help students to understand the meaning of those

sentences.)T』en the students go round the class and ask questions according to tbe

directions. Tbe oblective of t}1e acitivity is to find as many appropriate people as

possible.

As the example on the work sheet shows, the activity is fairly guided. The given

imperative sentences give students some clue for constructing the required question

form. But tbis is not the type of the mechanical sentence transformation which is domi一

nant in the EFL classroom:“Convert the following sentences of the Present Pe「fect into

interrogative sentences.”T血e activity here is far more communicative in that the stu一

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Nagasawa:Designing Communicative Drills for the EFL Classroom          227

                        ,

р?獅狽刀@have theπ8cθ35∫リノto construct interrogative sentences in order to carry out the

task.

The assumption of this activity is that the students have to give answers based on

their personal experiences. This creates information gaps in the activity. This means

that tbe answers are not predictable and the questioners have to listen carefully in order

to complete his questionnaire. Of course, the students should be allowed to add extra

questions. In the feedback, tbe teacher gets some students to report to the class results

of their questionnaire. Uniqueness of students’experiences is highligllted and this may

greatly enhance their self-image and self-confidence.

4.2 Problems in Classroom Practice

The examples of communicative drills we have examined above are ones which tわe

members of Ibaraki Association of Modern English Teachers have practised in tLeir

classroom and found effective. After practising communicative drills for nearly two

years, tbey now bave a strong belief that the communicative drill works from t}1e view一

points of both grammar teacbing and communicative teacbing. But they have also』ad

difficulties and problems. Some of tbese are discussed in this section. The first prob一

1em is t}1at students look upon communicative drills as games and, therefore, not“se一

rious.”This sentiment leads them to do activities in a playful mood and speak Japanese.

Certainly they are interested in tbe activities and excited to perform their tasks, but

they do it in tbeir mother tongue. Perhaps the best approach to this problem is to cre一

ate classroom climate where it is considered natural and necessary to use English. Tbe

teacher can do so many things to create this atmosphere. Heわimself uses English in a

natural manner and encourages students to do so. He uses English not only in com- ’

municative drills but in other phases of teaching. He makes every effort to show tbat it

is a nice thing to be able to use Enghsh for communication. These are indirect

approaches to the problem. A more direct approach is to make a rule which forbids use

of the motber tongue during communicative drills and gives“penalty points”to those who

used the mother language. Another possible approach to the problem isηo∫to tell the

students that they are going to do“games.”And actually communicative drills are not

games but game-like activities. It is important for the teacher to convince students that

those game-like activities are seriously meant to teach grammar and that communicative

activities are necessary for the learning of grammar. He. might also suggest that the

processes and results of communicative drills are evaluated. Every teacher knows that

evaluation is one of the greatest motivating factors in learning.

The second problem whicb is encountered in practising communicative drills is

classroom discipline. This is connected with the first problem. Students are very noisy

when they are performing tasks using English and/or Japanese. In fluid pair work stu一

dents walk found the classroom and this makes noises greater. Some relaxation is

necessary for the EFL classroom but tbe teacher should remember some discipline is re一

quired for the success of communicative drills.

Noises are produced partly through the students’failure to understand the direc一

tions for the task to be performed. This problem can be resolved by constantly using

communicative drills and familiarising the students with basic ideas and procedures of

communicative drills.

Tbe last problem encountered by the teacher practising communicative drills is bow

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228              Bu1監. Fac. Educ., Ibaraki Univ.(Edu. Sci.)41(1992)

@                                                     魯

狽潤@give variety to activities. Teachers have their own teaching styles and prefer some

particular kinds of activities to others. That is, there is always a danger for teacLers to

fall into limited kinds of teaching metLods and strategies. Certainly this is}1elpful in

familiarising students witb the metbods the teacher uses. But very probably students

will soon get bored with them. Hence the need to provide varieties of activities。 There

are several ways of doing it.

First, variety can be created by varying types of activities into individual/pair/

group/class work. The best arrangement of t}1e students should be determined in

accordance with the purpose of the relevant activity. Also, students’cognitive styles

sbould be taken into account. Extrovert students may prefer group to individual work.

The less empathic students are not good at interactions in pair or group work and want

to be engaged in solitary work. The teacher takes advantage of these traits of individual

students and provides them with the kinds of activities which motivate and activate them

most. But he sbould also remember tbat in order to cultivate students’potential abili一

ties he must sometimes provide the kinds of activities wbich students migllt not like but

which he considers important for the development of their linguistic abilities.

Second, skill areas should be taken into account. The teacher has to give listening/

speaking/reading/writing activities in wel1-balanced proportions. This is done not only

to give variety to activities but to respond to students’preferences:different students

have different preferences for language skills to be used in activities.

Third, the teacher’s idea should be clear about whether an activity is structure一

oriented or task-oriented. In the former type of activity, the teacher naturally expects

students to be concerned more witL production of correct sentences. In the latter,11e

puts more empbasis on the success or failure of the task performed, not the correctness

of the language used in the process.

AU these considerations will give variety to communicative drills which the teacher

designs.

5Summary

The communicative drill is a relatively recent idea which has been devised for bridg一

ing the apparently contradictory domains of grammatical teaclling and communicative

teaching. After a brief review of the historical background in which the more recent

methodology of Communicative Approach has been opposed to t}1e more traditional

teaching of grammar, characteristic features of the communicative drill were identified

and its rationale in ELT in Japan was discussed. Finally, after discussing some exam一

ples of communicative drills, observations were made for the successful practice of com一

municative drills.

Notes

*)Iam greatly indebted to tLe members of Ibaraki Association of Modern English

Teachers for providing me witb the three examples of communicative drills which I

discussed in section 4 and tlle activity of“(海πyo配...?”in 3.3. I also would like to

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     Nagasawa:Designing Communicative Drills for the EFL Classroom         229

D

thank them for collaborating with me for the past two years in the project of compil_

ing communicative drills. Some of the ideas and suggestions advanced in tbose meet一

ings bave been incorPorated into this article.

1)Wilkins’1Vo加ηα1の1励班ε5(1976)was published after van Ek and Alexander’s

窃r8訥014 Lεvε’Eπg1お乃(1975). But the germ of his idea of the notional syllabus

appeared in Wilkins(1973)which contributed to the formation of 7乃7θ訪014.

2)This activity was designed by Miss CLie Hoshi(Tokiwa Joshi Hig』School, Mito,

Ibarakiken). I would like to thank her for permitting me to print it here.

References

              ∩

`bbs, B. and I. Freebaim.1977.5吻π加g∫∫r傭8」ω’αη血’887傭4加η8槻8εCo鷹θル7 Bεg’朋ε雌qブEη8’励.

Longman.

Canale, M. 1983. “From Communicative Competence to Communicative Language Pedagogy.”In J. C.

Richards and R. W. Schmidt(eds.),Lαπ8麗α8θαη4 Cαηη伽’cα∫’oπ(Longman),pp.2-27.

Chomsky, N.1965.ノ13ρεc応(ゾ疏81洗eαッqプ5y配肌 The M.1. T. Press:Cambridge, Massachusetts.

8Frank, C. and M. Rinvolucri.1987. G7α醒η1αr∫〃.4α’oπ∴Awαrθηε∬、4α加’”851br加πgκα8e Lεα’π’π8. Pren一

tice_Hall Intemational.

Harada, M.1991. Ejgo一πo Gθηgo丸傭配40κ.(English Communication Activities). Tokyo:Taishukan Shoten.

Hymes, D. H.1971.0πCo御〃2配η’cα”y8 Coη軍ρε‘επcε. Philadelphia:University of Pennsylvania Press.

Kizuka, M.1991.“Communicative Approach-nlyoru eigokyoikuno riron-to bouhou.”(Theory and Practice of

English Language Teaching through Communicative Approacb). Unpublis卜ed MA thesis submitted to the

School of Education, Tokyo University.

McKay, S. L.1987。7セoc痂ηgαα7川襯7’1わr醒,血ηα∫oπαπ47セcみπ’gωε. Prentice。Hall InternationaL

Matsumura, M.8’α’,1987.“Communicative Language Teaching:riron to lissen”(Communicative Language

Teaching:Theory and Practice). E’80之y側∫κκ(English Teacheガs Magazine),36(8),pp.68層79.:

Moskowitz, G.1978. Cρr加8απ45加7」π8勉酌e 1わrε’gπL伽8槻8εαθ∬’α50πrcεわooκoπH躍πρπお’εc 7セcん。

π’g配ε5.Newbury House Publishers.

Nagasawa, K.1988. Co澗η朋∫c副vε、4〃70σcんωwρπαπ’κσ.(Wbat is Communicative Approach?)Tokyo:

San’yusa Shuppan.

Ur, P.1988. G7α鋭規4r P川c”cεノ1α∫v’ε’ε∫」αPrαα記α1 G擁4ε1br 7加c加泥5. Cambridge University Press.

Van Ek, J. A. and L. G. Alexander. 1975. 7洗r8訪o’4 Lεve’Eη8傭ん’παE麗r6p8伽乙肋’〃C’ε4」∫5y5飴〃11bア

. ルfo487πLαη8那α8e Lεση加8わyノ隻4罵’菰∫. Pergamon Press・                          .

Wilkins, D. A.1973.“The Linguistic a脆d Situational Content of tbe Common Core in a Unit/Credit System.”

1蹴J.L. M. Trim, R. Richterich, J. A. van Ek and D. A. W謎kins,の∫’ε〃認Dεyψρ2πεπ’∫ηノ【4梶〃Lαη8翼α8ε

Lθσ7π’η8’αE即9ρeαπ砺ε〃Crθ4」∫5y5‘ε〃11brルIo4ε7ηLαπ8照8εLθα7π∫η8δy/14π’雄(Pergamon Press)・

PP.129-143.

Wilkins, D. A.1976.1Vo∫’o朋’5y〃αわ㈲ω’α71ακoπ07ηyαη4’玄5 R8’8り4πcε配)」Fbア8’8η加π8照g8α7r’c配伽醒

ト  D8ve’gρ醒επ∫. Oxford University Press.

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230               Bu1L Fac. Educ., Ibaraki U範iv.(Edu. Sci.)41(1992)

Appendix

Example 2

P豆aces Wbat you can do

(A)We can        in the kitchen.(1)kitchen }  一 , 一 雫 騨 , F 甲 鴨 層 冒 , 一 ロ ■ 冒 層 曽 曾 一 糟 曹 - 曽 層 一 一 璽 一 一 一 一  一 騨  } 8 - 一 ■ 一 一 一 一 璽 P 層 9 騨 , 鴨  曽 一 帽 囑 o 層 謄 一 一 曽 一 一 一 一 ■ 一 一 一 一 一

(B)

(A)We can        in the classroom.(2)classroom 一一幽一一幽一一一一 一一一一一一 一一一一一一一一甲一一冒一,一冒冒標}層一響胃,一,曹一一一曹ロー曹雪一一一冒一一一肩一一一辱幽圏曹,一一

(B)

(A)We can        in the gym.(3)gym 伽一曹噛一一一一一一一幽一一一一一一一一一}一一一}一}F,冒,,}冒,-7一冒響甲層,一冒層一一曾一曽一一-一一一一9”一,騨噛,一■-O幽

(B)

(A)We can         in the TV station.(4)TV station 一一一一一一一薗9-一一一璽一一圏一一一一一一藺一一一一 一一一一一一 一一一一一一一 一一一}一一一需雫,響冒,一一響冒一一一一一-一一一一

(B)                   ’

                                     、

Example 3                 ’

A B

恥appy dance with you/sing songs/invite some friends to dinner

bored go to the movies/go to Disney豆and/sit down and watch TV

tired go home/sit down on a chair/take a taxi

sleepy go to bed/stop studying/stay at home

*Suggested framework of conversation:

Sl:You iook (A)      . What “oyou want to do now?

S2:rm A . So I want to B        .

Task:Write in the appropriate boxes the names of the persons who want

t。do t翫e same things as you do,

4things 3things 2tbings lthing nil

                 r魔hn tbe column of“4 tbings”write the names of persons疲bo want to

dO止e 4 Same thingS aS yOu dO, etC.

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Nagasawa:Designing Communicative Drms for the EFL.Classroom          231        ,

Example 4 Task:Fhd someone who....

「一一}一冒冒冒ロー一■薗o脚冒一一一一一薗一一幽一一一一F騨層曹冒一曾一9一騨騨,冒■一一塵幽一一一一一一一甲響,冒一一一一一一噛一ロー一一幽一一一一一},一一一一一圏一層一一一一一伽P                                                                                                                                                         量

l                                                                                                                               l堰@1.Find someone who has had a car accident.                il                                                                                                                               ■

欄                                                                                                                                                         l

,                                                  l

幽                                                                                                                               ■

1                                                                                                                               ■

奄R. Find someone who has read books written by Jiro Akagawa.     1・                                                  1

1                                                                                                                               l

1                                                                                                                               6

奄S. Find someone who has eaten a frog.                  i,                                                                                                                               1,                                                                                                                               ,

1                                                                                                                                                         幽

1                                                                                                                               「

戟@ Name:                                   ;・                                                  1

l                                                  l

.臨                                                                                                                               脚L幽一一一一一冒一冒一一一一一.層曹一一一一一一薗一一薗___一___一_冒一冒_一一_r一噛一_一一一一髄一______甲F__響曽一一9鱒r璽,一_,■一一一一__一___層r冒一1

E.g. Find someone who has been to Europe.

→Have you ever been to Europe?