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 presentin the Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) classrooms studied. In the CLTapproach, the focus is on communication, as opposed to grammar, as this isbelieved to lead to an improvement in language learning and acquisition instudents. Data for the study was collected from two classes at beginners andintermediate levels in a university in Malaysia. The teachers' classroominteractions with the students were audio taped and analyzed to identifyoccurrences of signals that would invite modified output from the learners. Resultsof the study show that the opportunities for the production of output were notalways available to the students. These results suggest the need for adjustmentsby the teachers during the classroom interaction process to encouragecommunication and enhance language learning.