Band 60-70: Academic Writing about Communicative Language Teaching

Communicative Language Teaching: Introduction, Advantages and Disadvantages as well as it is potential application to Turkish context

From birth to death, there is always learning in human life beginning at home continuing at school,in some courses and at university. At early stages of life, learners are introduced to classrooms at schools where teachers welcome them.Besides different subjects, they teach a foreign language and Charlemagne says ‘To have another language is to possess a second soul.’ From this statement, it can be comprehended that learning another language grows different thoughts,perspectives and makes people in different world. Then,there can be a good language atmosphere.The target language is undoubtedly an important step for learners to their near future world hence language education has a pregnant part to have a strong language.In classrooms,big spaces can be created with good methods.On that occassion, how to teach language to learners is the basic question.For this, many language teaching methods and approaches have been asserted for many years. Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) is one of the methods that can be used for this aim.This paper examines CLT approach with its background, advantages and application of this method in Turkish context.

Learning a language is not just learning linguistic structures since learners may know rules but  they may not use.That means communicative competence is necessary as well as linguistic competence and it is important for CLT.Found in changes in the British language teaching tradition,CLT firstly started to be used in the late 1960s.Its methods for teaching language have wide-ranging features.Approach of CLT aims communicative competence in learning a language and gives the knowledge of feeling free in language and communication, this is simply done by providing. Speaker who has communicative competence chooses not just what to say but also how to say but another speaker who has grammmatical competence knows grammar but he may not know what to say in any situation. Authentic language namely a language that tells real situations.Learners try to express their thoughts using different words and are given chance to suggest their ideas.Then, their mistakes are tolerated.One of the main responsibilities of a teacher is to prepare proper situations to improve communication among learners.Learners try to guess what the picture is to look like studying with a partner and they take a part in this game.After creating an imaginary situation,they are to learn how to behave in it. The teacher creates communicative activities and during this process they are the ones who advise.Hence, CLT is the method that is preferred and used effectively in classes by teachers.

CLT, basically based on ‘student centered’, is a method which assists learners to communicate in the target language using many different forms.With its techniques and activities, CLT method creates some advantages.For instance, one of the techniques of CLT is authentic materials, thanks to these materials, learners can practise what he has learned using real subjects in activities that enables to use language as well as the speakers of the target language.Another advantage of CLT is learners teach how to combine and reach concordance in language characteristics thanks to scrambled sentences given  a text with scrambled sentences and asked to put them in their original order.Then, language games used in CLT approach help learners to create valuable discussion practice when organized well.With picture strip stories, learners are asked what the picture looks like, there is information gap here, because learners do not know about the content of the picture, then seeing the picture, students can take feedback.Another serious strength with this method is that thanks to roleplays, learners can take different roles in different social contents, role activities also ensure information gaps and feedback to learners.Then, because CLT interaction centered contrary to traditional education system which consists of dependent relationship, learners begin to engage in stres-free conversation with their partners thanks to initiative and amicable relationships.Also, because teachers create non-threatening environment in their classes, students do not feel under pressure while participating the lessons, which brings independence so thanks to the stres-free atmosphere, learning can happen and learners are encouraged to learn.With its beneficial techniques and activities, CLT can be considered as an important method for learners in terms of its advantages.

Considering some of the following issues, implementation of CLT in Turkey may not work for many aspects.Teachers can encounter many difficulties in implementing CLT in their classrooms.As is known, students at CLT are communicators, they are engaged in negotiating meaning.While performing it,they try to express themselves and understand others, however they may not be capable enough in the target language, but in Turkey,the competence of students is not generally enough to participate in oral communicative activities.Main characteristics of CLT every activity is done with a communicative purpose. Students practice the language with some activities communicating in forms of plays,roles and work of solving problems, on the contrary, Turkey has an exam-oriented system and exams are grammar based. The goal of student is to pass standardized tests. In CLT, a teacher is someone who mostly organizes activities that ensures interaction among students and helps coaction and main coaction is student-student centered.However, in Turkey,a teacher comes and teaches grammar and finishes the lesson without doing any activity. These difficulties teachers may face in implementing CLT  in the Turkish context stem from insufficient teaching resources,crowded classes that do not provide interaction between students and mismatch of principles of CLT and education system of Turkey.CLT is interaction centered but students in Turkey do not have chance to practice it outside the classroom.Because of these handicaps, CLT may not applicable in the Turkish context.

This paper has attempted to provide an overview on CLT method based on its background,advantages and followed by implementation of CLT  in Turkish context. As explained above, CLT is a method that is important in terms of learning a new language .It aims at communicative competency in learning a language.The important part of competence includes using language forms appropriately, preparing proper situations to improve communications, feeling free, taking part in games. Authentic materials, scrambled sentences, games, strip stories, roleplays are the technics that are used in this approach.However, implementation of CLT in Turkey is not applicable.Teachers who are concerned to apply CLT method in their classrooms may encounter some barriers because of insufficient teaching resources, crowded classes, education system of Turkey.The  competence of Turkish students may not enough to participate in oral communicative activities.We can draw a conclusion, instead of exam-oriented system, it is more beneficial for students to practise, participate in oral communicative activities.If teachers give up teaching only grammar in every class and finishing the lesson without doing any activity, students can have a chance to improve their oral skills.Teachers should use different activities communicating in forms of plays, roles and work of solving problems.The goal of students should be then having interaction with one another instead of passing the standardized tests.All activities should ensure interaction among students and help coaction.If these conditions are provided and fullfilled completely, CLT can be one of the most efficient techniques in the well-designed education circle.

Note: This is an original piece of writing lease cite this website if you want to use it for any educational purposes. The text was produced by 1st year ELT student Büşra Yeşil at Erciyes University, Kayseri

Band 80-90: Academic Writing about Communicative Language Teaching

Communicative Language Teaching: Introduction, Advantages and Disadvantages as well as it is potential application to Turkish context

    “The art of teaching is the art of assisting discovery.” The sentiment expressed in the quotation, embodies the view that, teaching is the key of exploration.This exploration may be possible by learning new things and reinforcing knowledge that could be obtained with teaching. To make teaching successful and permanent, one of the most principal tools is the language as the element that provides communication among people and connect them. With this connection, language makes it possible to share information with the future generations and for the accurate information transfer, one of the essential requisites is teaching the target language properly. To teach the language precisely, there are various methods and approaches in language teaching. These methods provide alternative ways for learners during the language learning process. One of the foremost methods is Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) which is used to teach a language based on the real life. This paper examines CLT method on the basis of its background, advantages and disadvantages , and application in Turkish context.

     Until the 1960s, the leading British approach to teaching English as a foreign language was Situational Language Teaching (SLT). However, as the number of people who want to learn English language started to increase gradually, alternative approaches were required to provide more opportunities for learners while they were in the process of learning the language. Afterwards, the other method emerged called CLT and with the provided facilities, usage of CLT started to increase. The basic cause behind the growth in utilization of CLT has been the strategies that are the parts of this method as the previous approach was based on the structural activities and focused on the accuracy, the using of the language in real life was not easy in terms of the fluency. Nevertheless, CLT has made the using target language in real life possible because one of the most important aims of this approach is to use the foreign language for interaction as fluency is a prominent aspect of communication. Focusing on communicative competence and interactive learning can enable students to have the ability to use the language effectively and, moreover, learners can become more fluent in target language.All in all, CLT has become one of the major approaches to teaching English and has had a significant role in language teaching since the 1960s.

     When CLT method is criticized, it could be said that this approach to teaching a foreign language has its merits and faults. One of the major advantages of CLT is closely linked to the idea that it emphasizes the importance of creating interaction between students and teachers. That is, students are expected to express their ideas and opinions more easily through using the target language interactively. This will simply improve the functional communication among students. Furthermore, the other advantage of this method could be that it has variety of techniques including language games, role plays, and pair work activities which can help teaching English effectively. These techniques also have a significant impact on the quality of classroom interaction as they make it possible to establish cooperative relationship among students, and encourage them to participate in classroom activities and also make students more likely to speak during the language leaning process. Since CLT method enables students to be more active in classes, motivation of students may gradually increase and they could become more confident while speaking English. Although there are many advantages of CLT, disadvantages of it should also be taken into account. One of the disadvantages is that CLT emphasizes fluency rather than accuracy in grammar and pronunciation which can be seen as an important part of he language. As a result of not enough focus on error correction and explicit grammar instruction, students may give priority to meaning and they might make incoherent and incorrect sentences in terms of the grammatical structure of the English language. Moreover, another disadvantage is that application of CLT method may not be appropriate for beginners because they need to have more practice to participate in oral communication, thus the weaker learners may have some problems while using the target language and their motivation might decrease. It can be seen from this critique that, having considered various advantages of CLT, it is also reasonable to take into consideration the possible disadvantages of this method.

     Undoubtedly, CLT is one of the mostly used methods in teaching English as a foreign language. It is important, however, not to assume the applicability of CLT in Turkish context in all cases which can be based on the classroom-related and teacher-related issues. The difficulties which are presented by classroom can be based on the number of students in a class and and the types of furniture in it as the classroom environment has a significant effect on language teaching and learning process. That is, since CLT approach basically focuses on enhancing oral skills and teaching the target language through communication, more interaction between students and teachers is required to place emphasis on functional aspects of the language. This can be achieved in small size classes relatively more easily because teachers might be able to spend more time with students during the activities. Nevertheless, there are mostly large classes in Turkey, thus, teachers may not be able to deal with students individually. In addition, chairs are fixed in most of the classes in Turkey and this may cause practical problems for teachers and learners while practising some of the classroom activities such as, group works and role plays because stability of chairs may not allow practitioners and students to put chairs how they want; as a result, activities may not be done properly. Furthermore, teacher-related problems are the other difficulties which affect the implementation of CLT in Turkish context. As most of the English language teachers are not native speakers in Turkey, they may be deficient in oral proficiency and in spoken English and they may not feel confident in classroom. Therefore, teachers might be discouraged from teaching communicative courses and students may not improve their speaking skills. Despite the fact that CLT has made a significant contribution to teaching English language effectively in many countries for many years, the application of this method may not be feasible in Turkey.

     In conclusion, this paper analyzes the CLT method in terms of its background, which merits and demerits this approach has, and also how the application of CLT in Turkish context could be. It can be said that CLT method, which fundamentally aims to enhance communication skills of students while teaching English language, can help teachers create an appropriate classroom environment for the interactive and effective language teaching through using mentioned techniques. Nevertheless, for the successful language teaching, CLT may be used for intermediate and advanced students because it is mostly expected from students to speak the target language fluently. As a result of too much focus on fluency, according to Hughes (1983, p. 1) , CLT “produces fluent but inaccurate learners” and this can be seen as a disadvantage of this method. As the other defect is the implementation of this approach in crowded classes and by the non-native teachers who are inadequate for oral skills, it may be difficult to apply CLT method in Turkish context. In order to minimize these difficulties and employ the CLT method auspiciously, not only should teachers and practitioners promote their professional competence to deal with students more easily in teaching process, but the Ministry of National Education (MoNE) should also provide more facilities for teachers such as more qualified and equipped classrooms to make possible the using authentic materials. It is important to note, however, that CLT method has made a significant contribution to teaching English as a foreign language for many years and also has nourished the imagination of students by using the target language.

Note: This is an original piece of writing lease cite this website if you want to use it for any educational purposes. The text was produced by 1st year ELT student Kevser Atalay at Erciyes University, Kayseri

REFERENCES

http://citra.iain-palangkaraya.ac.id/2013/07/teories-of-communicative-language.html

https://www.slideshare.net/BerkayFrtna/disadvantages-of-communicative-learning-teaching-presentation

http://eng.hi138.com/education-papers/disciplinary-education-papers/201011/96198_advantages-and-disadvantages-of-communicative-language-teaching-and-the-improvement-methods.asp#.WS063GjyjIV

http://www.myenglishpages.com/blog/communicative-language-teaching-communicative-approach/

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/282877159_A_Critical_Overview_of_Communicative_Language_Teaching

http://justdowhatyouwannado.blogspot.com.tr/2011/11/communicative-language-teaching.html

https://www.slideshare.net/mortdida/communicative-language-teaching-method1?next_slideshow=1

https://criticalelt.wordpress.com/doing-an-ma-in-tesol/languagew-teaching-paper/

http://www2.vobs.at/ludescher/Alternative%20methods/communicative_language_teaching.htm# Theory of learning

https://coerll.utexas.edu/methods/modules/teacher/04/lifelong.php
http://iteslj.org/Articles/Belchamber-CLT.html

Band 70-80: Academic Writing about Total Physical Response

Total Physical Response: Introduction, Advantages and Disadvantages as well as it is potential application to Turkish context

Teaching, which is fundamental structure of education is a challanging process requiring a lot of effort. Today, because it is a stringent case, many people think knowledge is power; hence, teaching and learning have much significance. Language teaching that is one of the widest field of teaching shares the same importance, insomuch that is regarded as a vital point owing to international feature of today’s world when the Lingua Franca status of English is taken into account. Therefore, some methods, which are aimed to facilitate language acquisition have emerged in field of English Language Teaching (ELT) to render the efficiency of language acquirement considerably achievable. One of these methods in ELT is Total Phsyical Response (TPR) which demands physical participation of learners in learning process. This paper will advert TPR method in ELT. Consecutively, basic information about TPR will be highlighted before clarifying the approving and inimical sides of the method, and then a potential answer to whether it is appropriate for performing in Turkish education system will be briefly debated. 

First of all, it is immensely pertinent to be informed about background data of Total Physical Response (TPR). It was first conceived by James Asher and was mentioned in a detailed way in Learning Another Language through Actions by James Asher in 1997.[i] Nascency of TPR began with Asher’s observation on communication between kids and their parents, and the fact that he realized learning their mother tongue is related to physical responses of their father or mothers. It can be concluded from these points that teaching a language has some exigencies according to the method TPR. One of them is that learners should have listening in target language instead of speaking at initial times.[ii] In that way, it can become painless to incarnate the language for learners. Moreover, Asher suggested that corporal acts are administeted by the right bisection of human brain, and if acquiring a new language is controlled by the right hemisphere, it has much more positive influences on learning process.[iii] By the same token, the process of acquisition a new language should be occur in a place where is not only far away from uneasiness but also natural.  To illustrate this point, it may be mentioned that babies learning their native language have an environment they can feel cosy. In TPR method, grammar is not taught intentionally but in an inductive way.[iv] Considering all these matters, knowing about the framework of TPR has high significance.

Secondly, TPR which is regarded as one of the appropriate methods being used in English teaching has some positive sides as well as some disadvantages. In order to decide if it is one of those which are the better among methods in ELT, its advantages may be mentioned initially. Stress-free environment that is one of the fundamentals of TPR is considered as an significant advantage. In stress-free environment, learners can succeed in the process of learning a foreign language, and they may retain from wasting their all energy in a redundant way. In addition to this positive side, participation of learners in learning by being active in classes is an enormous contribution to both facilitators and learners. Among benefits of TPR, the fact that learning occurs in a natural way has an influence as important as the two mentioned. Learners who experience the same things as in the acquisition of their mother tongue feel comfortable as if they were in their homes with their family. Therefore, they can focus on learning instead of the mistakes they do during learning process. In comparison with its benefits, TPR contains some disadvantages which make it hard to decide whether TPR is among others which are the better. The fact that facilitators have insufficient qualities can be a proportion that destroys effectiveness of TPR since facilitators have a great importance in their students’ learning process. Moreover, adaptation of TPR to some education systems can lead problems that are causes of procrastination in learning process. TPR has both advantages and disadvantages which have a incontrovertible influence on learning process.

Thirdly, adapting TPR to Turkish EFL context is challenging, and it demands some adjustments. To perform this method in Turkish schools properly, facilitators should be educated well about TPR. Educators ought to be aware of TPR so that they can help learners. Furthermore, materials and use of these items can immensely influence on the duration of adapting TPR to Turkish curriculum. For instance, while teaching colors, facilitators should have some colorful items. Supposing that materials for teaching English are appropriate for learning in Turkey, TPR can be an effective method. Moreover, learning environment has a huge significance for using TPR in Turkish education system. Learning environment which is important in almost every method may be one of the most significant issues in facilitating learners by using TPR in Turkey, and there should be serious amendments such as adjusting learning environments and materials used learning process in Turkish education system. Using TPR method in Turkey is an arduous issue that has some advantages and disadvantages if it is used in Turkish schools.

Consequently, this paper has attempted to present some background information of TPR, several advantages and disadvantages of this method, and adapting TPR to Turkish education system. As previously highlighted, TPR is one of the methods used in teaching English, and it was developed by James Asher in 1997. Among many, it has benefits such as providing stress-free environment, its natural learning technique and helping learners participate in learning process in an active way; on the other hand, there can be some potential negative influences on learners such as insufficient quality of facilitators and it is vital to stress that there may be crucial difficulties about using TPR in different education systems. In relation to TPR and Turkish context, TPR may be adapted to Turkish EFL context supposing that facilitators are qualified well, materials are chosen properly and learning environment arranged according to learners needs. Additionally, ties connecting these points display the fact that we ought to pay attention to its background during using TPR in Turkish educational institutions in order that its advantages may be enhanced, and its disadvantages can be derogated. If TPR can be adapted to Turkish education system by reducing its disadvantages, this method may be effective and benefical in teaching English process. Besides teaching English, in other fields of education, methods which would be convenient the most br considering learners should be implemented since scholarship is one of the most significant point of mankind development.

Note: This is an original piece of writing lease cite this website if you want to use it for any educational purposes. The text was produced by 1st year ELT student Elif Özdemir at Erciyes University, Kayseri

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[i] Byram, Michael, Routledge Encyclopedia of Language Teaching and Learning, Routledge Press, 2000, pp. 631-633.

[ii] Larsen-Freeman, Diane, Techniques and Principles in Language Teaching, Oxford University Press, 2000, pp. 107-108.

[iii] Richards & Rodgers, Jack C., Theodore, Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching, 2nd edition, Cambridge University Press, 2001, p. 75.

[iv] Richards & Rodgers, Jack C., Theodore, Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching, 2nd edition, Cambridge University Press, 2001, pp. 75-76.

Band 80-90: Academic Writing about Community Language Learning

Community Language Learning: Introduction, Advantages and Disadvantages as well as it is potential application to Turkish context

“Education is the key to success in life, and teachers make a lasting impact in the lives of their students.” pointed out Solomon Ortiz to accentuate far-reaching roles of teachers on their students’ lives. Namely, teaching has been regarded as a crucial cornerstone of all societies on that account, widely composed of various types, including language teaching. Language teaching broadly hinges on an onerous responsibility in the furtherance of progress of learners. Additionally, language teaching profoundly represents embracing assorted approaches and rewarding methods in consideration of English Language Teaching (ELT). One of the most noteworthy teaching approaches to which ELT is intimately linked is Community Language Learning (CLL), as it intrinsically rests on a potent approach that assuage nervousness, anxiety and language problems a person confronts in the learning of English. It is commonly known that this demanding approach carries both benefits and impediments considering its applicability in divergent contexts. To recapitulate briefly, this paper will focus on the background knowledge about CLL followed by its advantages and disadvantages illustrating in the Turkish context.

CLL is one of the most significant language teaching methods, improved by Charles Arthur Curran, a scholar in counselling, and his collaborators. CLL is principally linked to the Counselling Approach, in which teacher is regarded mainly as a facilitator, counsellor while the learner is considered as a client in the process. The phrase “counselling” represents the person mostly asked for advice, furtherance and encouragement in an intellectually demanding process of learning. Humanistic Approach is incorporated over and above the Counselling Approach for the reason that it deals not only with feelings and sentiments, but also with linguistic knowledge and these approaches are supremely feasible in beginner classes. The CLL is a comprehensive learning, since proper learning of learners is cognitive and subjective. Such soothing learning occurs in a conversational atmosphere where teachers and students get involved in profound interaction, in which the teacher and the student have a part to play in the language learning process. The teacher’s primary role is that of teaching their students to adopt the objective language communicatively. The students are, on the other hand, highly dependent on the teacher at the beginning. As the students keep studying, they become progressively independent. Obviously, the main aim of this method is to pacify learners’ anxiety as much as possible in this challenging phase.

As is mentioned before, there are some advantages and disadvantages of CLL method, which is a colossal endeavor to auspiciously surmount some of the menacing factors in second language learning. To give an illustration of this, learners are not thoroughly confined in their subject of discourse so that sorts of conversations can be determined liberally by learners, regardless of potential retrievable blunders. Moreover, CLL is resourcefully carried out in a non-threatening attitude in order to promote learners’ enthusiasm. To put it another way, they are precisely treated with compassion in this regard since teachers make implicit correction and repair the mistakes rather than insulting or humiliating them among others. However, there are some insuperable impediments to practice CLL fastidiously in this can be exemplified by the fact that learners may have their own phrases and expressions coupled with the target language statements, which will inevitably bring about utter chaos in language learning process, and learners will potentially be totally bewildered by the dilemma between two languages as well. Furthermore, in CLL, teachers have to be immensely consummate in the target language since translation requires diligent proficiency. All things stated above show that CLL method vastly embraces both advantages and disadvantages in a language learning.

At a glance, when the possible contingency of CLL application in Turkish context is taken into consideration, two predominant factors are totally at variance with implementation of this method. To illustrate this, utilization of this method fundamentally requires to be laboriously scrutinized, since the number of learners is customarily supposed to be restricted in CLL in order to carry out this method prudently. In line with this, CLL is mostly executed with tape recording and transcription; therefore, it is supremely unfeasible to suffice enough for every one of the students in large groups. Namely, in constructive terms, this method is utterly impracticable in Turkey where the classrooms are constituted of numerous learners, who will instinctively call for definite amount of active and guiding directions from the competent counsellor. Moreover, teaching in Turkish context chiefly hinges on syllabus and it is demonstrably considered as textbook-oriented, which impedes prosecution of the method thoroughly. On the contrary, CLL method entirely disregards conventional textbooks and syllabus, which work out in advance vocabulary, grammar, and other language elements to teach. Besides, a CLL syllabus arises out of the communication between learners and intervention of the counsellor in maintaining communication. All things discussed above can explicitly spell out why the possible implementation of CLL in Turkish context is terribly inconvenient.

In epitome, this paper has attempted to wholly explicate the undue emphasis of CLL, following both advantages and disadvantages as well as regarding its potential applicability in Turkish context. In order to review the radical background of CLL, the method has been laid out assiduously to noticeably minimize learner’s disruptive anxiety and overwhelming hesitation. In line with this, CLL is a highly responsive method which has been painstakingly scrutinized in terms of occurrence of conversations in order to teach the target language and it is a relatively productive method for communication besides its remarkable efficacy for learners in the second language learning. Moreover, as mentioned before, CLL principally proposes to liberate learners from restrictive conversation types being treated like parents so that they contrive to learn the aimed language relatively smoothly. On the other hand, it cannot be contradicted by the fact that the method also has many hindrances resulting in bewilderment between two languages. Consequently, when the congregation of all ideas is taken into consideration, it can evidently be noticed that it is not advisable to implement CLL in Turkey regarding its contrasting education system. To illustrate this, having crowded classes and being dependent on a fixed syllabus can be demonstrated as barriers to prosecution of the method in there. In order to overcome the impediments ultimately, drastic alterations must be followed in terms of education system and the number of learners should be shrunk in an exact figure.

Note: This is an original piece of writing lease cite this website if you want to use it for any educational purposes. The text was produced by 1st year ELT student Sinem Hızcan at Erciyes University, Kayseri

Band 90-100: Academic Writing about Community Language Learning

     Community Language Learning: Introduction, Advantages and Disadvantages as well as it is potential application to Turkish context

      Perhaps one of the most compelling task is to teach something in an effective way since it obviously requires concerted effort for people to acquire knowledge. Likewise, with regard to language teaching, the procedure gets even more complex and challenging because of the fact that language calls for a great deal of practice in communication skills, a long process and a proficient instructor to supply all these. To efficiently achieve this, a wide range of approaches have been developed as initiatives enabling counselors (teachers) at schools to convey data to clients (learners). Content-based instruction (CBI), for instance, is a method proposing contextualized learning while Direct Method (DM) emphasizes the significance of demonstration in learning a foreign language. That is to say, methods are likely to vary depending on how they are implemented. In line with this, this paper primarily aims to review and evaluate Community Language Learning (CLL) by respectively presenting issues with a brief summary of method followed by advantageous and disadvantageous aspects of method and the potential application of method in Turkey. 

To start with an introduction, The CLL, an innovative approach developed by Charles A. Curran and his collaborators, derives from the humanism of modern counseling therapy as a reaction to Audio-Lingualism. The central principle of the approach is to build up strong interpersonal relationships between the teacher and learners to assist learning. Correspondingly, at the outset of constitution process, it was designed to reduce stress and eliminate negativity through a counselor as well as overcoming the fears learners may experience while learning something new in the target language so that a stress-free environment can be created for the purpose of an efficient language teaching. In a comprehensive manner, Curran's implementation of psychological counseling techniques to learning is commonly known as Counseling-Learning.  In "Counseling-approach", teacher, as a counselor, facilitates what learner intends to learn in the target language mostly through translation while learner, as a client, is encouraged to interact with another learner with whom he or she desires to communicate. In this respect, La Forge (1983) elaborates on interaction in language learning by stating that "language is people; language is persons in contact; language is persons in response" (1983: 9). There are two distinct fundamental kinds of interaction in CLL: first one is interaction between learners which develops in time with intimacy among learners as they try to keep up with one another's progress. Second one is interaction between learners and knowers that comprises of five stages of language learning accompanied by five stages of affective conflicts. Learners go throw a new affective crisis in each stage, and they gradually move to a higher stage of development as they work out a radical solution. This course proceeds until learners completely master the language.     

In this paragraph, the discussion centers on advantages and disadvantages of CLL approach. Three advantageous aspects run as follows: At the threshold of the course, learners are heavily reliant on counselor's translation, and counselor focuses mainly upon fluency rather than accuracy. It enables learners to use the target language communicatively as they steadily gain independence. In reflection stage, learners rectify their mistakes and try to learn from one another's faults. Besides, in this stage, they have the opportunity to candidly express their attitude towards the way they are taught. Such amendments can simply accelerate their progress apart from the fact that counselor can take students' comments and criticism into consideration for further improvement. As the last asset, CLL assists learners to increase the awareness of individual responsibility for their own learning. It indicates that CLL is not only paying dividends for language learning but also making a valuable contribution to the character trait of learners. With regard to disadvantages of CLL, the list goes: First defect is that CLL completely relies on inductive learning; however, deductive learning is also crucially required for the function of distinct skills in the target language as it is a grand strategy of learning. Furthermore, since CLL lacks a conventional language syllabus, it is expected to evolve its own curriculum, which makes aims and objectives unclear to pursue and accurate assessment arduous to carry out. Along with the previous disadvantages, there is one more concern to be added: teacher has to be fairly proficient in L1 and L2 for a competent management method in the classrooms. In translation, for instance, the success of method depends greatly upon the translation expertise of the counselor. Naturally, the question of whether or not teachers must be trained in advance to attempt counseling arises. As explicitly stated above, CLL owns both vantages and drawbacks in language teaching process.

The last debate revolves around the potential implementation of CLL in Turkey. First and foremost, CLL necessitates classes less than 10 students in order for method to be properly implemented. Besides, interaction under way in classrooms is tightly constrained by the number. As a matter of fact, the classrooms, with the exception of private schools, in Turkey are excessively filled with students. As this number exceeds what is demanded in CLL, under no circumstances can CLL currently be efficient in Turkey. Another concern to be considered is that the students in Turkey have a propensity to be regularly directed under the guidance of a teacher in the process of learning. Therefore, it has become a characteristic feature of the way they learn the target language. In contrast to conventional teaching system in Turkey, CLL can be intended to provide independence for both students and teachers at the beginning of the course. It may be counter-productive in practice as the students naturally would need directions after some time. Correspondingly, teachers will suffer from the confusion and they will start to actively intervene when they realize that students fail to carry the assignments further. It inevitably will be at variance with the regulations of CLL. On logical grounds, it can be concluded that the issue of whether CLL should be applied in Turkey is clouded by the compelling reasons set out above.

To draw a conclusion, this paper was an attempt to view CLL approach in a different perspective regarding the effectiveness and applicability of the methods in it. First and foremost, in compliance with the views above, it is to be elucidated that Curran's approach is an authentic philosophy of learning which provides intellectual reflections on humankind rather than being merely a pedagogy based on methods. Therefore, not only does CLL stress the linguistic dimensions of language learning but humanistic side of it by regarding language as something to be widely distributed throughout the community. To put it another way, it can be suggested that the ultimate aim of CLL is both to assist learners accomplish a sense of individuality while learning a language and to experience language learning collectively by removing competitiveness among learners. Secondly, implementing CLL today to teach language can widen its appeal. However, potential practitioner should be cautious about and beware of the fact that CLL requires preparation for a proper application. There are two fundamental implications for teaching a language more effectively through CLL: one is that counselor should work out syllabus in advance so as to successfully pursue the aims of course. Another precaution is to be always alerted as a counselor in the class, which will keep learners engaged. Whether its effectiveness gets down to counselor or circumstances, the utilizers of CLL are virtually unanimous on the point that CLL works out quite well for beginners and adult learners.

Note: This is an original piece of writing lease cite this website if you want to use it for any educational purposes. The text was produced by 1st year ELT student İbrahim Eskin at Erciyes University, Kayseri

Band 80-90: Please Press There

“The point is not how we use a tool, but how it uses us.” said Nick Joakvin to express his feelings about the detriments of technology and internet. As he said, it is often assumed by humankind that technology and internet (TI) are so constructive instead of thinking TI is being the owner of the world, of the people themselves. Thanks to technology(!) , on the internet everyone can share what they do, what they eat, where they go. However, people are not even aware of sharing their private life effortlessly without thinking over the significant results. Especially the youth is getting obsessed with TI more easily than the adults by overusing smart phones, smart TVs and some other deceitful tools. Not only TI is a threat for youth or adults, but also because of TI, there might be no life in the future in terms of wars and political issues. As is seen, TI is baneful for people in many ways which three of them are so remarkable; privacy and easiness, youth, wars & political issues.

First and foremost, it is a vital problem that people share their private life with the others in such a simple way. TI, which guarantees the inviolability of privacy, make people ask a reasonable question about how TI, itself, gets the information of people's private life.  If TI keeps sharing people’s private life, because of letting TI, soon there may not be right of defending our privacy. And also TI makes people consider that life is more easier on using tools but acutally people are getting lazier in virtue of TI. They do not worry or think about the problems because TI does instead of them. TI seems attractive by their easiness and privacy but in reality these two are essentially abominable.

Secondly, because of TI, youth is getting highly obsessed with technological devices. With unhealthy obsessions, in their daily life, time is being spent unnecessarily with TI; they are using mobiles, TVs, computers, laptops, headphones, wifi... There is almost no communication among teenages. The only thing that young people care about is a world of lie on the internet which made by technology. They cannot breath without Wi-Fi instead of not breathing without oxsygen. The other problem is that youth is not healthy because they do not need to move anymore. It has been thinking that everything is quite simple and available. For instance, young people do not want to climb up stairs, they use escelator. With a lot of examples like this situation that can be known nearly by everyone, might be thought as a threat of a dreadful obsession.

Thirdly, wars and political issues are the most critical effects of TI’s surrounding the world. Especially wars are not occuring like in the past centuries; weapons, people, thoughts... The weapons and even people & thoughts are developed by technology. Unfortunately these developments are so infinite and happening so fast that today these can be the reason of the end of the world. Wars that happening via TI can have an end if politicians let. However they think that as a country, if you have the weapon of TI, you have the power; If you do not, then you are not a country anymore. They want to feel powerful so they do not let the war end. If people let the war continue, TI also continue surrounding the world and the end can be dark.

All in all, besides it is thought that TI has a lot of profits, it also has curical and dreadful detriments. As mentioned before,  people should not let TI have the information of their own private life that easily. Conjointly, TI obviously make every tool slightly accesible, on the other hand, people are getting lazier by this situation. Conspicuously, the youth can be seen at the top of the laziness chart.  Moreover, not only youth are getting lazier, but also they are getting much more obsessed with TI day by day. Furthermore, wars and political issues that affect the world are the results of TI’s being the owner of the world. The most effective and healthy decision is to use TI sufficiently and effectively. As far as I am concerned, people are on the edge of a cliff and the more people let TI hold them, the less they may have the chance to live.

by Sümeyye Aydın 1st year ELT Student @ Erciyes University

band 80-90: DIAMOND OF 21ST CENTURY

        Vilifying the technology completely, ignoring the advantages or, praising it with individuals’ eyes closed is not appropriate thoroughly. The usage of technology determines whether it is useful or detrimental. Some people think that technology and internet makes our lives easier while the others say it makes us addicted and lethargy.  However, it is in our hands taking the positive sides of technology and internet by making good use of them or exposuring the harm effects of  them. Using the technology and internet is like choosing a friend. Because our friends are one of the most crucial part of our lives as the technology and internet and may affect us in so many situations. Technology and internet can ensure a lot of benefits to us, like a special companion,. However making our lives effortless, education and health are foremost ones.

        To begin with, one of the most influential advantages of using technology and internet can be viewed as making our lives effortless.. The first benefit can be identified with ‘’transpotation.’’ Looking back, people walked or got on some animals such as;horse,camel,ox to go to distant places. However, today people have a lot of transportation vehicles ranging from bus,train,car to plane. They go to somewhere even which is really remote as swift as they go to their neighbours  thanks to these vehicles. Furthermore, technology an internet are the most influential companions of people at their homes. People do things more quickly and efficiently under favour of their escorts. For instance; kitchen equipments,washing machines and hoovers are indispensable helpers for people because these stuff retrench the time and effort of people. Another point to add is that internet banking does the same thing. People do not have to go and bide in a long queue to pay their bills. Briefly stated, one of the most crucial advantages of technology and the internet can be thought as  making our lives easier.

       Second major factor that is related to advantages of using technology and internet can be regarded as the possibilities in education.Pupils have  innumerable facilities in terms of using technology and internet for their educational life. For instance, students use internet not just because they are  accustomed to using it for fun but they use internet as an assitant  for their homework. There are plenty of sites and online classes, owing to them pupils have a chance to see different types of questions and to learn new knowledge. Moreover, these classes and websites are practical for  the teachers,too. Instructors do not have to grade so many assignments  thanks to them.  Additionaly,  scholars can reach a great deal of information from online encyclopedia instead of gathering information from the books. With the help of this, they reach the information quicker than it used to be. In a word, education is one of the fields people can take advantages of internet and technology.

The third of the most considerable  advantages of using technology and internet might be health facilities. So many people suffering from diabets and high blood pressure have some achievabilities.To illustrate, these people are not obliged to go to any health care center or hospital, since they can easily  access  blood-pressure and blood- glucose  monitor at their homes. To boot, many diseases such as cancer  and allergic cases can be noticed and  cured early  thanks to health assistance  equipments.With the help of this, survival rates of the patients are increasing more and more. Furthermore, people  can handily get an appointment on the internet rather than going to hospital  too soon.  They do not have to bide wantonly at hospital owing to online appointment  system. In a nutshell, internet and technology contribute a lot of  opportunites in the fields of health and these opportunites are unignorable.

         On the whole, making our lives effortless, education and health are just three out of many other profitable advantages of technology and internet . The most influential advantages of using technology and the internet can be regarded as making our lives facile. Owing to this influence, individuals are accustomed to utilising them in every part in their lives. Education is one of the most widespread area which is made use of technology and the internet, as well. Another point is that health is impressed from technology an it has significant effect on the lives of humans. ‘’Technology and the internet are so big, so powerful and pointless that for some people it is a complete alteration on human beings.’’

by Ayça Solsun 1st year ELT student @Erciyes University