Theoretical Bases of Communicative Approaches to Second Language Teaching and Testing

Abstract

The purpose of this research project is to analyze the possibilities offered by reading fixed art images of the work of Colombian artists in strengthening oral communicative ability in English, in a population of 34 eleventh grade students from the Agustín Nieto Caballero Educational Institution from the municipality of Dosquebradas (Risaralda, Colombia). Its investigative approach is descriptive, interdisciplinary and qualitative, where the referential teaching experience and the theoretical foundation in the study of the visual image in the educational context and its aesthetic qualities, as well as the communicative skills in English and its inductive teaching method, converge in the development of a didactic unit that acts as a research instrument. Cooperative work is prioritized and audiovisual, plastic and digital products are generated, in addition to categories of analysis originated in the application of investigative techniques, resources or instruments such as semi-structured interviews, observation guides, field diary and the Likert test. It is possible to verify spontaneity as a valuable ally for oral communication in English, the growth in the fluency of students from the recognition of the work of national artists as a motivating agent, the appropriation of new learning spaces such as museums, the importance of teamwork to reduce the fear of making a mistake and the value of the didactic unit for structuring the complexity of learning.

A Historical Survey of Research Regarding Constructed-Response Formats

“…The TOEFL ® test transitioned as well. It evolved from a test conceived in the 1960s to a measure rooted in the communicative competence construct (Canale and Swain 1980;Duran et al 1987). The earlier efforts to bolster TOEFL by introducing stand-alone writing and speaking tests-the Test of Written English (TWE® test) and the Test of Spoken English (TSE® test)-were seen as stopgap measures that led to an "awkward" situation for the "communication of score meaning" (C. A.…”

English Usage and Problems of Industrial Pharmacists at Two Large Multi-National Pharmaceutical Manufacturers in Thailand

“…These problems may result from a lack of English competence. According to Canale and Swain (1980), learners should be prepared to achieve a sufficient level of three communicative competence components: 1) grammatical competence, which involves knowledge of lexicons and rules of morphology, syntax, semantics, and phonology, 2) sociolinguistic competence, which involves the ability to know about sociocultural rules in ways whereby learners can produce and comprehend language appropriately and politely in certain social situations, 3) strategic competence, which refers to the ability to use verbal and non-verbal communication strategies, in order to compensate breakdowns in communication due to insufficient competence.…”

“…colleagues, suppliers, auditors, clients and bosses). Second, oral communicative communicative competence framework (Canale & Swain, 1980) which are grammatical, sociolinguistic, and strategic competence.…”

“…This study explores English use and problems of 51 industrial pharmacists within two large multinational pharmaceutical manufacturers by using a self-developed questionnaire based on the frameworks of needs analysis (Hutchinson & Waters, 1987) and communicative competence (Canale & Swain, 1980). The findings indicate that reading is the most frequently used skill, followed by writing, listening and speaking, respectively.…”

English Language Assessment for the Business Processing Outsourcing (BPO) Industry: Business Needs Meet Communication Needs

“…I also began to think that a sociolinguistic framework would perhaps provide a more holistic and systematic view of language that could incorporate soft skills, culture, lexico-grammatical and pronunciation into one communications training and assessment approach. I turned to Canale and Swain (1980), Canale, 1983, Bachman, 1990 and their early definitions of communicative competency which seemed highly relevant to this worksite context. Such a theoretical construct would also introduce criteria such as discoursal and interactional competencies, thus challenging the sole reliance on MTI phonological and grammatical mistakes in assessing speaking.…”