Communicative language for speaking proficiency in English of Korean students

Abstract

English has now inarguably achieved global status. The convergence of cultures, societies and economies created by the forces of globalization in recent years has meant that people have to grapple with a constantly-evolving body of knowledge. More than that, the globalization of systems and cultures also gives rise to an inevitable convergence of values and attitudes - and the currency with which people address. As the links between people across the world grow, there is an increasing need for students to learn not just to communicate in multilingual and multicultural situations, but also to comprehend and to cooperate effectively. English has become the global language that enables us to communicate globally. Citing Crystal (1997),McKay (2002) reports on the dominance of English in various areas, including international organizations, motion pictures, popular culture, publications, electronic communications, and education. To negotiate various academic, political, economic, and cultural issues with people around the world, many of the students will be required to use English in "highly sophisticated communication," both face-to-face and on-line (Warschauer, 2000, p. 158), although they may not need the who range of communicative competence. These global interactions will include both those with native speakers and those with other non native speakers. Teachers need to recognize that the classroom is a place for students not only to study the target language but also to develop their relationship with their teachers and peers. Each classroom is unique in the particular dynamics that exist among the participants in the lesson. These and other socio-cultural factors need to be considered when new teaching approaches are proposed, and western methodologies need at least to be tailored to suit local circumstances. Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) is generally regarded as an approach to language teaching. It is based on the theory that the primary function of language use is communication. One of the fundamental principles of CLT is that learners need to engage in meaningful communication to attain communicative fluency in ESL settings. Therefore, the researcher's goal is to enable learners and teachers to appreciate the interconnectedness between language forms and functions through communicative language teaching. This approach assists the learners in achieving the ability to integrate skillfully the four components of communicative competence and to convey meaning successfully in a socially appropriate manner. Although CLT has been interpreted in different ways, the tenets of CLT commonly include a focus on meaning, a focus on communicative functions, the use of authentic tasks, the use of authentic materials, learner-centered perspectives, an emphasis on the needs and interests of the learner which brings a very colorful alternative to a traditional classroom. By becoming familiar with the student's speaking proficiency, selecting correct authentic materials and preparing authentic tasks, teachers are more equipped to prepare activities in class that would enhance their speaking skills, and be able to design a module that would address the needs of the students. This thesis entitled, Communicative Language for Speaking Proficiency in English for Koreans aimed to investigate the English proficiency of Koreans in the speaking level. Specifically the study sought to answer the following questions: 1.What is the English Speaking proficiency of Korean students in the pretest in terms of: a. fluency and spontaneity, and b. gesture and facial expression? 2. What is the English Speaking Proficient :7 of 'Korean students in the post test in terms of: a. fluency and spontaneity, and b. gesture and facial expression? 3. What is the significant difference in the pretest and post test of the English Speaking proficiency of Korean students along: a. fluency and spontaneity, and b. Gesture and facial expression? 4. What Communicative Language Teaching Modules on English Speaking Proficiency can be designed for Bi level Korean Students? Based on the research problems, the following were the findings of the research: 1. a. Initially, B1 level Korean students' English manifest an average level of proficiency required to acquire the necessary concepts of oral fluency and spontaneity. b. On the aspect of gesture and facial expression, Bi Korean students showed an average level of proficiency along nonverbal communication which involves symbolic movements related to speech. 2. a. When it comes to fluency and spontaneity, Korean students manifested average proficiency in the posttest. This suggested that there were no significant changes and that the effectiveness of the treatment was not as linear as it might have been expected. b. The posttest result of gesture and facial expression of Korean students was average. This implied that the effectiveness of the treatment had not affected the nonverbal proficiency of the students. 3. For fluency and spontaneity, the result was not significant and factors such as length of time, type of material, nature of the treatment used, sociolinguistic competence, and motivation affected the results of the test although there was an improvement on the students' nonverbal communication after they were exposed to a communicative approach in the class. 4. A module is necessary to help teachers address and improve the speaking skills of students and enable them to appreciate the challenges in learning the English language. Based on the findings of the study, the following were the conclusions that the researcher had drawn: 1. a. Assessing learners' oral production is necessary to determine if fluency training is warranted or which aspects of fluency should form the focus of instruction. b. Gesture serves as a communicative function in the speaker's encoding of speech. 2. a. The act of communication is to foster communicative competence carried out through multimodality aspects of cognition. b. The use of gestures is not a fixed process but a dynamic one. 3. Nonverbal communication is inextricably linked with verbal communication by accentuating, highlighting and enlarging what is being said. 4. CLT advocates the use of language to communicate. It is an approach to organize different kinds of teaching activities. In order to accomplish the goal of Communicative Language Speaking, effective schemes can be carried out as follows: 1. Language Education Centers or institutions have to systematize effective design in facilitating communicative approaches to English language teaching and learning. 2. Teachers have to develop skills and knowledge related to communicative teaching and learning to increase level of CLT practice. 3. Language institutions have to support action research on communicative teaching and learning to understand the effectiveness of non-verbal communication in L2 classrooms, its status as input, and its role in learner acquisition and output of the L2. 4. Continuously assess the results of the implementation of the communicative approaches in terms of syllabus design, teaching and learning in classrooms, learner performance, and attitudes towards CLT of both EFL teachers and learners. 5. A CLT module is recommended to guide both the teacher and learner for further development of communicative competencies. The module includes four stages: preparation, speaking, reflection, and performance stage. Each stage involves communicative tasks that would help enhance communicative abilities of students and teaching approaches of the teacher.