Education+example+of+argument+of+definition

Adapted from: Thornbury, S. (2010, 8 15). C is for Communicative. Retrieved 9 18, 2013, from An A- Z of ELT: Scott Thornbury's blog: http://scottthornbury.wordpress.com/2010/08/15/c-is-for-communicative

The __term__ //communicative// is defined loosely. Typically it’s used to __describe__ any activity in which learners are interacting with one another. So, a coursebook activity in which learners perform a written dialogue, or a two students discussing what they did at the weekend, might both be __labelled__ ‘communicative’. No __wonder__, therefore, that the term //communicative approach// has become so elastic as to include any methodology that emphasizes speaking in pairs or small groups.  But, strictly __speaking__, //communicative// means more than simply //interactive//. In //An A-Z of ELT// I list the features of a communicative activity as being the following:
 * C is for Communicative **
 * //purposefulness //: speakers are motivated by a communicative goal (such as getting information, making a request, giving instructions) and not simply by the need to display the correct use of language for its own sake;
 * //reciprocity: //to achieve this purpose, speakers need to interact, and there is as much need to listen as to speak;
 * //negotiation: //following from the above, they may need to check and repair the communication in order to be understood by each other;
 * //synchronicity: // the exchange – especially if it is spoken – usually takes place in real time;
 * //unpredictability: //neither the process, nor the outcome, nor the language used in the exchange, is entirely predictable;
 * //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 16pt;">heterogeneity: //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 16pt;">participants can use any language that they know; in other words, they are not restricted to the use of a specific grammar item.</range id="457376422_3">

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 16pt;"><range type="comment" id="457376422_4">The __typical__ communicative activity is the information gap task (of the type that the students are doing in the picture above) where Student A has some information and Student B has some other information, and the task requires that they share this information in order to achieve the outcome. //Describe and Draw//, //Spot the Difference// and //Find Someone Who..//. are all __examples__ of information gap activities that meet the criteria outlined above. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 16pt;">__But__ how is this task better than, say, activities – such as rehearsing a scripted dialogue or playing a game like Pelmanism - that are interactive but not strictly communicative? The standard __argument__ (and a key tenet of the communicative approach) is that such activities better reflect the way language is used in the ‘real world’. Another way of __saying__ this (and a basic principle of task-based instruction) is that language is best acquired through such life-like language exchanges. Cognitive theorists might __add__ that the attention to meaning required in communicative interaction requires that learners don't concentrate too much on <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 1.5;">formal accuracy, and thereby develop strategies – __such__ as ‘chunking’ – that promote fluency.</range id="457376422_4">