called into action to compensate for breakdowns in communication due to
performance variables or to insufficient competence.’. The view that students need to
acquire communicative competence has, according to Canale and Swain (1980: 3233), certain implications to four main areas of second language teaching: syllabus
design, teaching methodology, teacher training, and materials development.
With respect to syllabus design, Nunan (1988b: 11) claims that
communicatively-oriented syllabuses should take into consideration what the learner
wants, or needs to do with the language, rather than what the linguistic elements
which the learner needs to master are. This, as Clark (1987) stresses, suggests a shift
of emphasis from the product (i.e. the content) to the process (i.e. the procedures) of
learning. Such as shift emphasises a focus on learner differences, learner strategies,
and learner self-direction and autonomy.
As far as teaching methodology is concerned, Canale and Swain (1980: 33)
claim that ‘…it is crucial that classroom activities reflect…those communication
activities that the learner is most likely to engage in’. Moreover, Williams (1997: 206)
stresses that activities should not only be meaningful to the child, according to her
level of growth, but also purposeful.
In relation to teacher training, Morrow (1977: 10) emphasises that the teacher
in the second language classroom should take on ‘…an activating role as the
instigator of situations which allow students to develop communication skills. Canale
and Swain (1980: 33) also stress that, as the new role assigned to teacher puts
emphasis on her role as a participant in meaningful communication, she must have a
fairly high level of communicative competence, in order to carry out this role
effectively.
Finally, with reference to materials development, it should be considered that,
as it is stressed in Leburn (1991: 98), ‘No materials can ever be truly ‘communicative’
when they are mass-produced for mass sales in many different countries of the world’.
Leburn (ibid: 105) emphasises that, the younger the students, the more necessary it is
that the materials are close and familiar to them. Hurst (1991) also notes that, when
developing materials for young learners, care should be taken so that they reflect the
kind of language children of that age use.
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