A Discussion of the Application of Communicative Language Teaching to English Teaching in Vocational Schools in China

【Abstract】Communicative Language Teaching （CLT） has become a driving force in English Language Teaching programs in most parts of the world.It is based on the assumption that students can more easily develop language skills if the language is related to their lives and if they are given sufficient opportunity to practice them with their peers.This approach considers communicative competence as its goal of teaching.In this paper，the author tries to explore the application of Communicative Language Teaching to English teaching in vocational schools in China.To begin with，the author gives a brief introduction to Communicative Language Teaching and vocational education in China，followed by the theoretical framework.Then，the application of CLT to English teaching in vocational schools in China is elaborated in detail.Finally，the author gets the conclusion that English teaching in vocational schools must consider training students communicative competence as its final target and a difficulty is noted by the author in terms of applying CLT to English teaching in vocational schools in China.

【Key words】Communicative Language Teaching （CLT）； English teaching； application

I.Introduction

Communicative Language Teaching （CLT），which dates back to 1970s，is widely used in English Language Teaching programs all over the world.Language is considered as a means of communication and the main purpose of the approach lies in enhancing learners“communicative competence” （Richards and Rodgers，2000）.

Vocational education in China is employment-oriented.Students training in vocational schools is approached from the perspective of meeting the demands of the job market so as to make sure that students are armed with professional skills as well as the ability to conduct communication effectively in their work after graduation，such as dealing with business affairs with foreign businessmen in which the ability of using English to communicate is essential.

Language develops in the process of communication.Therefore，teaching a language through a communicative approach is undeniably a better，if not the best，way of educating students who are supposed to use it for real-life communication.

Up until now，a number of researches have been done in the field of Communicative Language Teaching.However，only a few studies are found to address the application of CLT to English teaching in vocational schools.This paper aims to discuss how CLT can be applied to English teaching in vocational schools.

II.Theoretical framework

As Richards and Rodgers state in Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching：Communicative Language Teaching means little more than an integration of grammatical and functional teaching.Its comprehensiveness makes it different in scope and status from any other language teaching approaches （66）.

One of the features that distinguish CLT from other teaching methodology is that “it pays systematic attention to functional as well as structural aspects of language，combining these into a more fully communicative view” （Littlewood，2000：1）.

Communicative Language Teaching emphasizes that the goal of language teaching is communicative competence because it views language as a tool for communication.It holds that language should be learned through use and through communication.Communicative language teaching makes use of real-life situations.Based on this notion，teachers should set up situations that students are likely to encounter in real life and ask students to play roles in order to learn to use proper language in different types of situations.

CLT holds that students should be exposed to target language which is greatly encouraged to use in class.Teachers are supposed to use target language to conduct lessons，which acts as an input for students acquisition of the target language.Also，students are encouraged to deal with all kinds of language situations in target language and gradually their communicative competence will be developed.

CLT stresses two-way communication and place students in the centre of a class.We always have to exchange information with others in real life，rather than doing monologue.In CLT classes，teachers will find themselves talking less and listening more，acting as monitors or helpers in bringing students initiative into full play.Students，on the other hand，talks more and become active agents communicating with their peers throughout the classes instead of being passive recipients.

Last but not the least，CLT embraces all four language skills.By integrating listening，speaking，reading and writing，students will not only develop those skills but also constantly put them into use just as people use them in real life.

III.Application of CLT to English Teaching in Vocational Schools in China

Communicative Language Teaching is an approach that considers communicative competence as its goal of teaching.It is a systematic teaching methodology which involves teaching syllabus，teaching activities and skills as well as general teaching principles，etc.Some researchers have studied a number of teaching methods that can be employed in a communicative classroom，such as group discussion，playing games and role play，etc.But those methods are not exclusively used in CLT.Nevertheless，there are some teaching practices that distinguish CLT from other teaching approaches.According to the specific English teaching conditions in vocational schools in China，the author considers that the following three aspects need to be taken into consideration in English teaching.

1.Teachers should try to create real-life communicative situations as many as possible so as to provide a variety of communicative opportunities for students to practice English skills.

What kind of communicative situations can be considered real-life？ Firstly，the author holds that such situations should conform to those that are likely to occur in students work after graduation.For example，for students who are majored in International Trade，a situation，in which students act as domestic supplier and foreign buyer and move on to carry out a negotiating conversation in terms of price，quantity and quality as well as modes of transportation，is thought to be real-life.

The second requirement for real-life communicative situations is that such situations are able to stimulate students desire to communicate.That is，they have to listen，to ask and to read in order to acquire what he does not know or wants to know，and they need to speak and to write so as to make himself understood by others.For example，the teacher can create an information gap （the point is that one side owns some information that the other side does not know） and give students a specific task which they can only complete through mutual asking and answering.

Finally，real-life communicative situations ask for real-life language.Real-life language includes not only authentic and standard English，but unstandardized English or dialects as well，as is often the case in real life.Besides，it is normal that students miss one or two even several words or sentences.What really matters is that they can grasp the main idea of the speaker and conduct conversation accordingly.

2.Classroom teaching should be student-centered with teachers being organizers and facilitators

A CLT learner is expected to interact primarily with each other rather than with the teacher，and he should contribute as much as he gains and thereby learn in an interdependent way.While a CLT teacher assumes a responsibility for determining and responding to learner language needs （Richards and Rodgers，2000）.He sets up the exercise，and then steps back and observes because students performance is the goal and they are supposed to do most of the speaking.

For example，in lessons where reading and writing are the focus of communicative activity，the teacher can split the whole class into groups in which students read each others work，and collaborate while revising drafts of writing，suggesting improvements and correcting errors，thus generally act as editors（Tricia Hedge，2002：62）.Besides，in order to improve students communicative competence，the teacher may ask one student to do a presentation each day.The topics of the presentation can vary from humors to updated news.Through this，students communicative ability is enhanced and their interest in English is further stimulated.

3.Classroom learning should be effectively combined with acquisition.

Learning is quite different from acquisition.As Krashen puts it，learning refers to the “conscious representation of grammatical knowledge that has resulted from instruction”，while acquisition，on the other hand，is an “unconscious development of the target language system as a result of using the language for real communication”，thus it is the basic process involved in developing language proficiency （Richards and Rodgers，2000：72）.

Consequently，various second-class activities，such as speaking contest，drama show and English corner，etc，should be organized，in order that such unconscious language acquisition can play a major role in students overall language proficiency.

IV.Conclusion

To sum up，CLT is in itself an open system and there is much room for individual interpretation and variation.English teaching in vocational schools must consider training students communicative competence as its final target.However，there are bound to be some difficulties in the application of CLT to English teaching in vocational schools in China，as students must continue to take grammar-based tests.This kind of question needs to be noted if CLT and vocational education are to gain momentum in the future.

References：

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[2]Littlewood，William.2000.Communicative Language Teaching.Beijing：Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press.

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*本文系中国高等职业技术教育研究会课题《高职学生英语学习特点、能力评价及教学策略研究》（课题编号GZYLX1213253）的研究成果。

作者简介：樊文霞（1983-），女，讲师，天津商务职业学院教师，研究方向：英语教育、翻译。