Community Language Learning

Introduction

This method advises teachers to consider their students as ‘whole persons.’ It means that
teachers consider not only their students’ intellect, but they also have some understanding
of the relationship among students’ feelings, physical reactions, instinctive protective
reactions, and desire to learn. The Community Language Learning Method takes its
principles from the more general Counseling-Learning approach developed by Charles A.
Curran. By understanding students’ fears and being sensitive to them, he can help students
overcome their negative feelings and turn them into positive energy to further their learning.

1 What are the goals of teachers who use the Community Language
Learning Method?

Teachers who use CLL want their students to learn how to use the target language
communicatively. In addition, they want their students to learn about their own
learning, to take increasing responsibility for it, and to learn how to learn from one
another.

2 What is the role of the teacher? What is the role of the students?

The teacher’s initial role is primarily that of a counselor. It means that

the teacher recognizes how threatening a new learning situation can be for adult
learners, so he skillfully understands and supports his students in their struggle to
master the target language.
Initially, the learners are very dependent upon the teacher. It is recognized,
however, that as the learners continue to study, they become increasingly
independent.
Any new learning experience can be
threatening. When students have an idea
of what will happen in each activity, they
often feel more secure. People learn
nondefensively when they feel secure.

3 What are some characteristics of the teaching/learning process?

According to Curran, there are six elements necessary for non defensive learning.
The first of these is security.
Next is aggression, students should be given an opportunity to assert themselves,
be actively involved, and invest themselves in the learning experience. One way of
allowing for this in the lesson we observed was for students to conduct their own
conversation.
The third element is attention. One of the skills necessary in learning a second or
foreign language is to be able to attend to many factors simultaneously. To facilitate
this, especially at the beginning of the learning process, the teacher helps to narrow
the scope of attention.
The fourth element, reflection, occurred in two different ways in our lesson. The
first was when the students reflected on the language as the teacher read the
transcript three times. The second was when students were invited to stop and
consider the active experience they were having.
Retention is the fifth element, the integration of the new material that takes place
within the whole self.
The last element is discrimination, sorting out the differences among target
language forms.

4 What is the nature of student–teacher interaction? What is the

nature of student–student interaction?
The nature of student-teacher interaction in CLL changes within the lesson and
over time. Sometimes the students are assertive, as when they are having a
conversation. At these times, the teacher facilitates their ability to express
themselves in the target language. At other times in the lesson, the teacher is very
obviously in charge and providing direction.
At all times initially, the teacher structures the class; at later stages, the students
may assume more responsibility for this. As Rardin (1988) has observed, the
Community Language Learning Method is neither student-centered, nor
teacher-centered, but rather teacher–student centered, with both being
decision-makers in the class.

Building a relationship with and among students is very important. In a trusting

relationship, any debilitating anxiety that students feel can be reduced, thereby
helping students to stay open to the learning process. Students can learn from their
interaction with each other as well as their interaction with the teacher. A spirit of
cooperation, not competition, can prevail.

5 How are the feelings of the students dealt with?

Responding to the students’ feelings is considered very important in CLL. By
showing students he understands how they feel, the teacher can help them
overcome negative feelings that might otherwise block their learning.
Student security in this lesson was provided for in a number of ways. Some of these
were the teacher’s use of the students’ native language, telling students precisely
what they would be doing during the lesson, respecting established time limits,
giving students only as much language at a time as they could handle, and taking
responsibility for structuring activities clearly in the most appropriate way. While
security is a basic element of the learning process, the way in which it is provided will
change depending upon the stage of the learner.
6 How is the language viewed? How is culture viewed?

Language is for communication. At the beginning of the process, the focus is on

‘sharing and belonging between persons through the language tasks.’ Then the
focus shifts more to the target language which becomes the group’s individual and
shared identity. Curran also believes that in this kind of supportive learning process,
language becomes the means for developing creative and critical thinking.

7 What areas of language are emphasized? What language skills are

emphasized?

In the early stages, typically the students generate the material since they decide
what they want to be able to say in the target language. Later on, after students feel
more secure, the teacher might prepare specific materials or work with published
Textbooks.
Particular grammar points, pronunciation patterns, and vocabulary are worked with,
based on the language the students have generated. The most important skills are
understanding and speaking the language at the beginning, with reinforcement
through reading and writing.

8 What is the role of the students’ native language?

Students Security is initially enhanced by using their native language. The purpose
of using the native language is to provide a bridge from the familiar to the
unfamiliar. Where possible, literal native language equivalents are given to the
target language words that have been transcribed. This makes their meaning clear
and allows students to combine the target language words in different ways to
create new sentences. In later stages, of course, more and more of the target
language can be used. By the time students are in Stages III and IV, their
conversations have few native language words and phrases. In a class where the
students speak a variety of native languages, conversations take place right from the
start in the target language. Meaning is made clear in other ways, with pantomime,
pictures, and the use of target language synonyms, for example.

9 How is evaluation accomplished?

Although no particular mode of evaluation is prescribed in the Community
Language Learning Method, whatever evaluation is conducted should be in keeping
with the principles of the method.Also, a teacher-made classroom test would likely
be more of an integrative test than a discrete-point one.

10 How does the teacher respond to student errors?

Teachers should work with what the learner has produced in a non threatening way.
One way of doing this is for the teacher to recast the student’s error, i.e. to repeat
correctly what the student has said incorrectly, without calling further attention to
the error. Techniques depend on where the students are in the five-stage learning
process, but are consistent with sustaining a respectful, non defensive relationship
between teacher and students.

Reviewing the Techniques

Recording Student Conversation

This is a technique used to record student-generated language as well as to give the

opportunity for community learning to come about. By giving students the choice
about what to say and when to say it, students are in a good position to take
responsibility for their own learning. Students are asked to have a conversation using
their native language or a language common to the group.
In multilingual groups with no common language, other means will have to be
employed. For instance, students can use gestures to get their meaning across.
After each native language utterance or use of a gesture, the teacher translates what
the student says or acts out into the target language. The teacher gives the students
the target language translation in appropriate-sized chunks. Each chunk is recorded,
giving students a final recording with only the target language on it.

Transcription

The teacher transcribes the students’ recorded target language conversation. Each
student is given the opportunity to translate his or her utterances and the teacher
writes the native language equivalent beneath the target language words. Students
can copy the transcript after it has been completely written up on the board or on
large, poster-sized paper, or the teacher may provide them with a copy. The
transcript provides a basis for future activities. If poster-sized paper is used, the
transcript can be put up in the classroom for later reference and for the purpose of
increasing student security.

Thinking about the Experience

The teacher takes time during and/or after the various activities to give the students
the opportunity to reflect on how they feel about the language learning experience,
themselves as learners, and their relationship with one another. As students give
their reactions, the teacher understands them—shows that he has listened carefully
by giving an appropriate understanding response to what the student has said.

• Reflective Listening
The students relax and listen to their own voices speaking the target language on
the recording. Another possible technique is for the teacher to read the transcript
while the students simply listen, with their eyes open or shut. A third possibility is
for the students to mouth the words as the teacher reads the transcript.
• Human ComputerTM
A student chooses some part of the transcript to practice pronouncing. She is “in
control” of the teacher when she tries to say the word or phrase. The teacher,
following the student’s lead, repeats the phrase as often as the student wants to
practice it. The teacher does not correct the student’s mispronunciation in any way.
It is through the teacher’s consistent manner of repeating the word or phrase clearly
that the student self-corrects as she tries to imitate the teacher’s model.

• Small Group Tasks

There are a lot of different activities that could take place with students working in
small groups. Teachers who use small group activities believe students can learn
from each other and get more practice with the target language by working in small
groups. Also, small groups allow students to get to know each other better. This can
lead to the development of a community among class members.

Activity
Actividad del video que pasó Sofi. Luego se grabará la voz del alumno para
reflexionar sobre su pronunciación.

Conclusion

The two most basic principles which underlie the kind of learning that can take
place in CLL are summed up in the following phrases:
1 ‘Learning is persons,’ which means that whole-person learning of another
language takes place best in a relationship of trust, support, and cooperation
between teacher and students and among students.
2 ‘Learning is dynamic and creative,’ which means that learning is an ongoing
developmental process.