Community Language Learning

Question 1

Community Language Learning
Background

Answer 1

The psychologist Charles Curran developed community language learning (Counseling-Learning in Second Languages, 1976). Curran believed that students were often inhibited in learning a second language. In his method, teachers are viewed more as counselors and are expected to facilitate language learning as opposed to teaching it. He believed that creating a humanistic learning community would lower students’ defenses and encourage open communication, thus allowing students to comprehend and absorb language more efficiently. This approach is an example of an affective approach. Affective approaches attempt to make students more emotionally comfortable within the classroom in the belief that if students are relaxed and open, they will be able to perform better.

Question 2

Community Language Learning
Strategy

Answer 2

1. Students sit in a small circle.
2. The teacher stands behind a student.
3. The student makes a statement or poses a question in his or her own language.
4. The teacher translates the statement or question into the language being learned.
5. The student repeats what the teacher said.
6. The new phrase is recorded on a tape recorder.
7. The procedure is repeated with other students until a short conversation is recorded.
8. Students take a tape home or copy written conversation from the board to study at home.
9. Direct instruction of grammar or vocabulary may take place from conversation.

Question 3

Community Language Learning
Strengths

Answer 3

CLL’s humanistic approach, which views students and teachers as a community, and thus the teacher as more facilitator than teacher, fits in nicely with current trends in education.

Question 4

Community Language Learning
Weaknesses

Answer 4

• CCL requires a number of conditions that may make it difficult to use in many situations. To be most effective, it requires teachers who are specifically trained in this method and also, ideally, trained in counseling techniques.
• CLL requires bilingual teachers and small, homogeneous classes.