Communicative language teaching approach in promoting the linguistic competence of efl learners

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Communicative language teaching approach in promoting the linguistic competence of efl learners

Victoriia Berezenko (Corresponding author),

Olesya Cherkhava, Yuliia Musiienko Kyiv National Linguistic University, Ukraine

Communicative language teaching approach in promoting the linguistic competence of efl learners

The article is devoted to the problems of foreign language education in linguistic universities, namely to promoting the students' linguistic competence, which has been the most urgent in mastering the language as a means of communication. The research prompts the standards to progress the grammatical competence. In the current study, we make a hypothesis that, in contrast to traditional teaching approach, the communicative approach is supposed to be more effective in teaching grammar and helps students to master the language and upgrade their linguistic competence in comprehending and processing spoken and written texts and become professionals after graduating the University. In the experiment two groups of students were involved: one using traditional approach to learning grammar at the classes and the other practising communicative language teaching approach. In total 79 bachelor's degree students of Kyiv National Linguistic University (Ukraine) took a tentative course in grammar. The current study testifies the effectiveness of the communicative approach to studying grammar structures as a way to develop the linguistic competence of students and to help them to acquire proficiency level for achieving success in real communication. communication language education

Keywords: foreign language education; linguistic competence; grammatical competence; communicative language teaching.

Introduction

Research Design

In order to achieve the goals set we initiated a combined research model based on quantitative, statistical, qualitative and descriptive methods. To obtain the objective results quantitative and statistical methods were used, which helped us to process the test results of students in two experimental groups, one using the traditional language teaching (further on as TLT) approach and the other - communicative language teaching (further on as CLT) approach. A qualitative method was designed to examine the students' opinions on the discussion of the lesson's issues. The inquiry in the form of a written questionnaire was designed to testify to the hypothesis of CLT approach efficacy. A descriptive method was applied for analysing the students' questionnaire and the research results.Participants

Six academic groups of the 3 ^d grade students of Kyiv National Linguistic University were engaged in the research. The six academic groups were divided into two experimental groups of students: one experimental group involved three academic groups (39 students), in which grammar was taught by using TLT approach, and correspondingly the other experimental group included three academic groups (40 students), which studied grammar using CLT approach. In total 79 bachelor's degree students of Kyiv National Linguistic University took an experimental course in grammar during the first term in 2019. The participants gave their consent for participating in the experiment. The study included 34 academic hours (2 academic hours a week). The results were assessed on the ABCDEF scale (A=90-100 points, B=89-82 points, C=81-75 points, D=74-66 points, E=65-50 points, F=lower than 50 points).

Instruments and Procedure

In order to check the significance of gaining the linguistic competence, the students of Kyiv National Linguistic University were suggested the experiment, which included three stages: 1) diagnostic: entry testing, aimed to check the initial foreign language learners' linguistic competence 2) training period and 3) checkout: final testing, designed to check the final foreign language learners' linguistic competence.

At the beginning of the learning process at the very first stage, the students were offered an entry test to check the initial foreign language learners' linguistic competence. At the third stage, the students were given a final test to assess their achievements. For both tests, they could get a maximum of 100 scores. The time needed to assess the levels of linguistic competence was about 80 minutes.

Both the diagnostic and final tests `Testing the linguistic competence of EFL students' were similar in tasks and included three parts. In Part 1 (Word use in the sentence) students were given a series of tasks designed to check the students' competence in using appropriate to the context words in the correct forms and positions. The next tasks of Part 2 (Sentence processing) were designed to clear out the students' ability to create sentences in accordance with the speech situation. The last tasks of Part 3 (Sentence functioning) included three sections: `Team work', `Individual work' and `Discussion'. Section `Team work' checked the abilities of the students in: 1) making up a dialogue using some of the indicated grammar patterns (different types of questions, comparative structure, have something done, incomplete sentences, one-member or two- member sentences, different communicative types of sentences) in one of the situations suggested;

2) discussing the situation from different topical perspectives using as many grammar patterns as possible;

3) describing the pictures using the listed grammar phenomena. Section `Individual work' was designed to examine students' skills in presenting soliloquies (stories, essays etc.). Section `Discussion' included tasks to control the students' communicative capacities in enterpreting different issues, on which the students were to share their opinions.

During the second stage - training period - the groups of students were expected to integrate grammar and vocabulary in close to real communicative situations. In both groups, there were studied the same grammar issues on the basis of the vocabulary from the same topics. The methods, though, were quite different.

That group, which was taught grammar applying TLT approach, was given the usual instructions explaining new terms and items, doing spoken and written tasks, writing essays. The teacher acted as the instructor, who controlled all the students' activities.

In the second group with the CLT approach used, students practised nearly all the grammar phenomena in groups. Teachers recommended students to use strategies such as predicting, summarizing, clarifying, questioning, supporting etc. A special accent was laid upon developing teamwork and communication skills. Accordingly, the situations in the tasks were designed to be close to real. EFL students communicated with each other using the studied grammar units within the setting of a certain life problem. The basic aim of the teacher was to give maximum independence to students and to help them only if needed. The full learning period included three periods in the curriculum of grammar: 1) the teacher's presentati on of the phenomena (or students' pre-reading), 2) language practice, 3) communicative practice. During the first period, new grammar units were introduced to students, stimulating their participation in the explanation, encouraging them to logically associate new terms or structures with the previous. The assignments of the language practice session were the following: filling in the blanks, transforming the structures, reproducing authentic dialogues, analyzing the contents of the texts. The communicative practice session included such tasks as filling in the missing contents in the sentence or a text, making a choice of the way to solve a problem, answering open-ended questions, analyzing the structures logically, discussing diagrams/pictures etc., making up dialogues, practising role-plays, recoding the information. The tasks of language and communicative practice motivated students to generate their understanding of the external (formal) features of the studied grammar units and their incorporation into the internal (semantic) cognitive basis and use the studied phenomena in discourse. At the final period during the group activity, students performed different communicative tasks, which represented various life situations. The teacher's role was a bit different in this group: being rather the assistant than the instructor.

For acquiring the linguistic competence during the communicative grammar course EFL learners in the group with CLT approach investigated different language structures in divergent communicative situations through various activities. To achieve the goals set in the research teachers used certain strategies and methods, most of which at the final teaching stage dealt with interactional dynamics (Brooks, 2009; Dobrowolska, Balslev, 2017; Nunan, 1989; Richards & Renandya, 2002). The prevailing was collaborating interactive approach to create a cooperative classroom rather than a competitive one. Students achieved success as a result of paying attention to their peers, asking questions, helping each other. The cooperative strategy as the prevailing in the communicative language teaching approach revealed the most effective collaborating forms of group work: problem-solving, discussion, active learning, writing reports, essays, articles, literary sources studying for finding and commenting the illustrative material, translating, making up dialogues, making presentations, watching and discussing video materials, interactive/participatory role-play and games.

For instance, during the teaching session at the grammar classes while studying particles students practised their use in the form of the game "Guess the activity". This game was based on informing som e facts, which students should have interpreted with the implication shown by the appropriate modal word.

Guess game: "Where did students go at the weekend?" aimed at studying the meaning and use of modal words in discourse. Teacher/student gave some clue sentences: Pete travelled by car. Jane visited her friends. Anna celebrated her birthday. Students made their assumptions taking into account the value of the particle: `only implying contrast, while `even' - addition. For example: Only Sam did his home exercise in grammar / Even Sam had a rest from studying. Having made their supposition students could verify it by checking the teacher's version.

Another practice activity suggested at the grammar classes was paraphrasing the sentence with the modal word or expression by using the correlating modal verb. For instance, in the sentences like " Perhaps they go/went to the zoo" the students substituted the modal words for the modal verbs might/may/could with the Indefinite or Perfect Infinitives.

After students' finishing communicative based course in English grammar, having practised different activities and having exercised various communicative tasks suggested, it was an easier matter for them to cope with the tasks of the final testing.

After the final stage in order to check the value of the CLT approach, the students from the second group practising this approach were suggested an anonymous questionnaire, which contained several assertions for the respondents to agree or disagree. This questionnaire contained 5 questions with variants of answers that could be chosen by the respondents. All the questions were closed-ended. The time needed to complete the questionnaire was about 5-7 minutes.

Ethical issues

The study was carried out following the main ethical principles, which point to the need to do good and do no harm. The participation of the students in the experiment was completely voluntary. The students were informed about all the details and benefits of the research in advance and gave their informed consent for participating in the experiment.

Data Analysis

The process of data analysis contained three stages. First of all, an entry test (stage 1) was offered to the EFL learners to define the level of their communicative competence. Six levels were singled out for assessing the students' achievemnets: A (90-100 points), B (82-89 points), C (75-81 points), D (66-74 points), E (50-65 points) and F (lower than 50 points). After the experimental learning final testing (stage 2) was conducted. The results of the two tests were interpreted by the statistical significance tests, namely Mann-Whitney and Wilcoxon non-parametrical pair tests. The purpose of the Mann-Whitney test was to examine and process independent patterns which were entry and final tests within different groups. The Wilcoxon pair test was designed with the dependent samples (the entry test and the final tests within the same group). The significance level of a = 0.05 of the tests mentioned above was suggested by

Brownlee (2019), Sharpe, De Veaux, and Velleman (2010). For calculating the data received the statistical program `Statistica 10' was used. Finally, after the testing period, the questionnaire (stage 3) was suggested to the participants to clarify their attitude toward the CLT approach in the education process at grammar classes. Almost all the respondents involved in the experiment (97%) took part in the questionnaire and mostly 80% of them were sure in answering the questions. A number of participants (75%) testified that using CLT approach was engaging and helpful. All research results are illustrated by tables, presented in the next article section.

Results

The results of the entry testing revealed no remarkable differences in the levels of communication skills in both groups (See Tables 1 and 2). To assess the results the ABCDEF scale was used (A=90-100 points, B=89-82 points, C=81-75 points, D=74-66 points, E=65-50 points, F=lower than 50 points). Both groups had approximately the same percentage of students who achieved grades A: 5.1% and 5%, respectively, B: 7.7% and 7.5% of students, respectively, C: 51.3% and 55 % of students, respectively, D: 28.2 % and 25 % of students, respectively, E: 7.7% and 7.5 % of students, respectively. The final test results testified to the considerable rise in both groups. However, the percentage of students who got high grades (A, B) in the group increased significantly (thrice) compared to the group that used TLT approach (by 15% vs 5.1%, 17.5% vs 5.1% respectively). Also, the percentage of students who received low grades, D and E, decreased more significantly in the group with CLT approach than in the group using TLT approach (by 20 % vs 7.7%, 7.5% vs 2.6%, respectively).

Table 1. Entry and final test results in the group with TLT approach used in the grammar course