Students' Output In Communicative Language Teaching Classrooms

Abstract

Second Language Acquisition is the production of modified output by learners.
The objective of the present study is to assess whether this condition is present
in the Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) classrooms studied. In the CLT
approach, the focus is on communication, as opposed to grammar, as this is
believed to lead to an improvement in language learning and acquisition in
students. Data for the study was collected from two classes at beginners and
intermediate levels in a university in Malaysia. The teachers' classroom
interactions with the students were audio taped and analyzed to identify
occurrences of signals that would invite modified output from the learners. Results
of the study show that the opportunities for the production of output were not
always available to the students. These results suggest the need for adjustments
by the teachers during the classroom interaction process to encourage
communication and enhance language learning.