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Date Posted: 14:39:21 07/25/03 Fri
Author: Flávia Pinheiro Bernardes
Subject: task 12

1 – Examine one textbook and choose a good communicative activity. Describe it and then classify that activity according to the types presented by Littlewood.

The textbook I examined was American Headway 2. The activity I have chosen to analyse is on page 53. It first caught my attention for emphasising communicative aims. The students are leaded to use all of the skills, and to exchange knowledge adquired.

The activity on page 53, is “Listening and Speaking – The band Style”, is divided in three parts:

First, it proposes a warm-up by asking students some questions related to the subject matter, such as “What kind of music do you like?”, “Who are your favorite bands and singers?”, among others.

After that, students listen to an interview with two musicians, in order to extract informations from the listening and answer some questions about it.

The second part, “Language work”, students focus on the accuracy by making sentences about the two musicians using informations from what they have heard, and what is on the textbook. Then, they have to analyse their sentences and check the tenses used.

The last part, “Role Play”, students must work in groups of four. Each group is divided between musicians and journalists (two for each) and they have to do a role-play, develop a interview where they have to ask and answer questions.

According to Littlewood, an activity can have different proposes: (a) to communicate meanings intelligibly, (b) to produce correct language or (c) to do both. The activity I have chosen fits on “c”. First, because it achieves communicative aims, and second because it persuades accuracy (at the second part). It also has both “functional communication” and “social interaction” aspects: students must take information from the listening and exchange among them (functional communication activity); students learn how to use the information gained in real life situation – role-play (social interaction activity). The role of teacher in this kind of activity also follows the ones described by Littlewood, and it is essential to its success.

In summary, the activity analysed achieves communicative aims and fits in Littlewood´s description of how a communicative activity must be.

Sources:

Littlewood, W. Communicative language teaching.Cambridge: Cambridge Univeristy Press, 1981. p. 16 to 42

Soars, John and Liz. American Headway 2. Student Book. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001. p.53.

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