Preface
Nunan (1989: 12) addresses the problems of content and methodology in
language teaching quite clearly by stressing that ‘Although it is not immediately
apparent, everything we do in the classroom is underpinned by beliefs about the
nature of language and about language learning’. Concerning the former, almost
everyone involved in the teaching business would agree today that language is
something more than a system of rules, as its mere existence relies on the human need
to communicate rather than on a need to master linguistic structures. So, a more
appropriate definition would describe language as a structured system of
communication. As far as the way language is learnt, the view that mechanical
repetition can guarantee safe results is considered nowadays rather simplistic and
dated, due to the fact that language is extremely creative. We everyday produce
structures which are unique, which we have never come across before and this is
something behavioural theories cannot explain. On the contrary, there are other
factors such as motivation, the degree of exposure to the target language, in
combination with social and cognitive ones which are now considered of much
greater importance.
Communicative language teaching has emerged as a need to provide answers
to the above considerations. It is commonly described as an approach rather than as a
single method, due to the fact that it provides general guidelines rather than specific
instructions on how to teach language. This provides flexibility for the materials
writer or the teacher, but it can lead to misinterpretations as well.
The present book is the second of two books which aim at providing concrete
examples of communicative language teaching aimed to be used in primary schools in
Greece. It focuses on the teaching of oral skills, i.e. listening and speaking. In each
case, the book begins with a theoretical section which offers the framework for the
development of the activities. What is considered unique is that it provides an
adaptation of an existing lesson of the students’ book, before proceeding with a
suggestion which is based on authentic material. A full list of the activities as well as
detailed lesson plans which justify every activity are provided.
Nikolaos Pozoukidis
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