Justification of Curriculum
The prevalence of social challenges, such as drug abuse in urban learning environments, has negatively impacted learning in various grades. Students experience a myriad of physical, social, and psychological problems as a result of the aforementioned social challenges. As a result, they have difficulty learning English in class.
The communicative language teaching approach (CLT) is ideal for teaching English in an urban elementary school context. A modality that allows students to put their language skills into action is essential (Toro et al., 2019). CLT incorporates elements of their lives and equips them with the skills they require to navigate social challenges, express their frustrations, and develop coping strategies, all while learning the target language.
Setting
The community’s socio-economic level can be defined as poor, given the high degree of unemployment. It mainly comprises immigrant families with limited resources, and many children are not proficient in English. The community is plagued by a variety of socio-economic problems, which have resulted in a high incidence of challenges such as gun possession, drug abuse, and violence.
Children from non-native families primarily populate the school. Many arrived in the country having achieved minimal formal education in their native nations. They have varying degrees of English knowledge, given their backgrounds. Many of the school’s attendees have difficulties communicating in English and are enthusiastic about learning. The class comprises an equal number of boys and girls, each with specific academic challenges. Most students are at level 2 of English achievement, while the rest are between levels 3 and 4.
Review of Literature
Existent Curriculum Framework
Human beings must communicate to express ideas, thoughts, and feelings effectively. A student’s spoken language is more productive in scenarios where they are actively engaged in a dynamic learning environment. A person’s ability to understand spoken language in varied situations is essential. The ability to express one’s frustration could potentially alleviate tension and facilitate the avoidance of violence.
Language also allows individuals to communicate and effectively address varied challenges, which limits harmful behavior. Toro et al. (2019) note that activities aimed at enhancing communication facilitate the expression of ideas, break down barriers, and help individuals better adapt to the prevailing culture. Providing real communicative contexts is the most effective teaching modality because it facilitates accurate information exchange and realistic interactions.
Standards
Effective communication is essential for the achievement of academic and social goals. Miguel and Santos (2020) emphasize that four key pillars define CLT. The first is language skill, defined as knowledge about specific language elements such as syntax, voice, vocabulary, and word formation rules. The second is social language skills, which apply all learned language skills in daily environments. The third is textual competence, the student’s ability to handle grammatical forms and context and use them in meaningful structures in written and oral formats. In addition, the learners can express semantic coherence and language convergence (Miguel & Santos, 2020).
The final pillar is strategic competence, which refers to the learner’s ability to improve their communication effectiveness and avoid mistakes in verbal and non-verbal areas. CLT is designed to help the learners learn the communication skills required to use the target language effectively.
Various researchers have defined specific aspects of CTL that make it an effective teaching modality. According to Stickler et al. (2020), creating opportunities for interaction is paramount in communicative language learning, as outlined in the theories of second language acquisition. Sultana (2019) notes that CLT has replaced conventional teaching models, such as the grammar-translation method, given the former’s effectiveness in classroom contexts. Students can relate to the content because it is associated with concepts and experiences they encounter regularly.
Zhao (2022) emphasizes that CLT fosters an individual’s communicative competence. The modality emphasizes interaction and the exchange of ideas, all of which facilitate the creation of an immersive academic environment. Zhao (2022) further points out that communicative activities fill information gaps, enable learners to make choices, and allow for feedback, which is essential for learning. CLT allows students to enhance their fluency in the target language while gaining meaningful exposure to their immediate environment. CTL provides an opportunity for the teacher to address social challenges such as the possession of guns, violence, and drug abuse.
The first standard that the CLT approach addresses is a student’s capacity to “quote accurately from a text when explaining what a text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text” (Indiana Department of Education, 2020, p. 7). Additionally, it enables students to identify a story’s theme from the text, particularly the characters’ reactions to difficulties (Indiana Department of Education, 2020, p. 7).
The standards are met because the CLT learning approach is student rather than teacher-centered. The teacher’s responsibility in the classroom context is to guide communication between students using practical learning tasks. It involves allowing the students to have interpersonal interactions, share peer examinations, and exchange ideas (Miguel & Santos, 2020). The development of an interactive atmosphere facilitates the achievement of set academic goals.
Expectations
The student-centered nature of the CLT approach allows it to meet specific curriculum expectations. The modality allows students to share their thinking with their peers because community resources form the basis of their learning. Athawadi (2019) highlights that CLT prioritizes the social relationship between tutors and their students. This allows learners to gain a sense of ownership over the academic experience, which is highly motivational (Athawadi, 2019). CLT satisfies the following requirements: reading and understanding literature texts from the fifth grade, using a combined understanding of letter-sound correspondences and syllable kinds, and providing pertinent details from texts to support responses.
Curriculum Design
Theme: Friendship
Grade Level: 5th Grade
Story: Best Friend Blues
Duration: 30 minutes
Expectation: Provide the relevant details from texts to support answers.
References
Athawadi, A. (2019). Factors hindering the implementation of communicative language teaching in Libyan university English classes. European Journal of English Language Teaching, 4(3), 60–74. Web.
Indiana Department of Education. (2020). Indiana academic standards English language arts: Grade 5. Web.
Miguel, L., & Santos, D. (2020). The discussion of communicative language teaching approach in language classrooms. Journal of Education and E-Learning Research, 7(2), 104–109. Web.
Stickler, U., Hampel, R., & Emke, M. (2020). A developmental framework for online language teaching skills. Australian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 3(1), 133–151. Web.
Sultana, N. (2019). Language assessment literacy: an uncharted area for the English language teachers in Bangladesh. Language Testing in Asia, 9(1), 1–14. Web.
Toro, V., Camacho-Minuche, G., Pinza-Tapia, E., & Paredes, F. (2019). The use of the communicative language teaching approach to improve students’ oral skills. English Language Teaching, 12(1), 110–118. Web.
Zhao, Y. (2022). An analysis of communicative language teaching approach based on the international research. Proceedings of the 2022 3rd International Conference on Language, Art and Cultural ExchangeICLACE 2022), 673, 40–43. Web.