COMMUNITY LANGUAGE LEARNING (CLL)

I. The Nature of CLL

Community language learning (CLL) is Language-teaching method in which students

work together to develop what aspects of a language they would like to learn. It is based on

the Counseling-approach in which the teacher acts as a counselor and a paraphraser, while the

learner is seen as a client and collaborator.

The CLL emphasizes the sense of community in the learning group, it

encourages interaction as a vehicle of learning, and it considers as a priority the students'

feelings and the recognition of struggles in language acquisition. There is no syllabus or

textbook to follow and it is the students themselves who determine the content of the lesson by

means of meaningful conversations in which they discuss real messages. Notably, it

incorporates translation, transcription, and recording techniques.

Community Language Learning (also called Counseling Language Learning) was created

by Charles A Curran, a Jesuit priest professor of psychology at Loyola University Chicago,

and counseling specialist. This method refers to two roles: that of the know-er (teacher) and

student (learner). Also the method draws on the counseling metaphor and refers to these

respective roles as a counselor and a client. According to Curran, a counselor helps a client

understand his or her own problems better by 'capturing the essence of the clients concern ...

[and] relating [the client's] affect to cognition...;' in effect, understanding the client and

responding in a detached yet considerate manner.

To restate, the counselor blends what the client feels and what he is learning in order to make the

experience a meaningful one. Often, this supportive role requires greater energy expenditure than

an 'average' teacher.

The CLL view of learning is a holistic one, since “true” human learning is both cognitive

and affective. This technique is used over a considerable period of time, until learners are able to

apply words in the new language without translation, gradually moving from a situation of

dependence on the teacher-counselor to a state of independence. The value of CLL has been its

emphasis on whole-person learning; the role of a supportive, nonjudgmental teacher; the passing

of responsibility for learning to the learners. The humanistic approach of CLL, which views

learners and teachers as a community, and thus the teacher as more facilitator than teacher, fits in

nicely with current trends in education.

II. The Role of CLL

CLL approach to language teaching aims to remove the anxiety from learning by

changing the relationship between the teacher and student.

Activities of CLL

“In this approach attempts are made to build strong personal links between the

teacher and student so that there are no blocks to learning”

CLL combines innovative learning tasks and activities. They include:

Translation: Learners form a small circle. A learner whispers a message or

meaning he or she wants to express, the teacher translates or interprets it in the

target language, and the learner repeats the teacher’s translation.

Group Work: Learners engage in various group tasks, such as small-group

discussion of a topic, preparing a conversation, preparing a summary of a topic

for presentation to another group, preparing a story that will be presented to the

teacher and the rest of the class.

Recording: Learners record conversations in the target language.

Transcription: Learners transcribe utterances and conversations they have

recorded for practice and analysis of linguistic forms.

Analysis: Learners analyze and study transcriptions of target language sentences

in order to focus on particular lexical usage or on the application of particular

grammar rules.

Reflection and observation: Learners reflect and report on their experience of the

class, as a class or in groups. This usually consists of expressions of feelings -

sense of one another, reactions to silence, concern for something to say, etc.

Listening: Learners listen to a monologue by the teacher involving elements they

might have elicited in class interactions.

Free conversation: Learners engage in free conversation with the teacher or with

other learners. This might include discussion of what they learned as well as

feelings they had about how they learned.

Importance of Community Language Learning

“Curran's approach is beyond simply a methodical pedagogy, but is rather a veritable

philosophy of learning which provides profound, even quasi-theological reflections on

Application of Community Language Learning for Effective Teaching P.Nagaraj

humankind! It encourages holistic learning, personal growth, and self-development.

Learning a language is not viewed necessarily as an individual accomplishment, but

rather as a collective experience, something to be disseminated out into the community at

large at a later stage in the second-language acquisition process”

The basic principle of the methodology is to establish interpersonal relationships

between the teacher and learners to facilitate learning. Community Language Learning

was designed to ease the anxiety of Foreign Language Learners in educational contexts

and promote group dynamics. In CLL, the aim is to involve the learner's whole

personality. The teacher understands the fears of the learner and vulnerabilities as they

struggle to master another language. By being sensitive to the learner’s fear, the teacher

can turn the negative energy of those fears into positive energy and enthusiasm for

learning. This methodology is not based on the usual methods by which languages are

taught rather the approach is patterned upon counseling techniques and adapted to the

peculiar anxiety and threat as well as the personal and language problems a person

encounters in the learning of foreign languages. Consequently, the learner is not thought

of as a student but as a client. The language-counseling relationship begins with the

client's linguistic confusion and conflict. Then slowly the teacher-counselor strives to

enable him to arrive at his own increasingly independent language adequacy.

The foreign language learner's tasks, according to CLL are (1) to apprehend the sound system of

the language (2) assign fundamental meanings to individual lexical units and (3) construct a

basic grammar.

In these three steps, the CLL resembles the Natural Approach to language teaching in which a

learner is not expected to speak until he has achieved some basic level of comprehension.

There are 5 stages of development in this method.

Five Stages of CLL

"In order for any learning to take place ... what is first needed is for the members to

interact in an interpersonal relationship in which students and teacher join together to

facilitate learning in a context of valuing and prizing each individual in the group"

The learner passes through five psychological stages as learning progresses, which

Curran compares to the progressing from childhood to adulthood.

Birth: The learners know nothing of the target language, and are completely

dependent on the teacher for everything they want to say.

Self: The learners start to get an idea of how the language works and to use it for

themselves, but still seek the teacher’s help.

Separate Existence: They start to use the language without referring to the teacher.

Adolescence: The learners continue to express themselves independently, but being

aware of gaps in their knowledge, and start to turn back to the teacher.

Independence: The learners continue their learning independently. They no longer

need the teacher, and may start to act as counselors for less advanced students.

III. The Techniques how to teach CLL

“Community Language Teaching is not a method; it is an approach, which

transcends the boundaries of concrete methods and, concomitantly, techniques. It is a

theoretical position about the nature of language and language learning and teaching”

Applying CLL today to teach language broadens its appeal. There are some different

techniques that have surfaced, such as: learners in conversation circle, transcription of

student-generated text using technology, small group tasks, reflecting on experience,

listening sessions, recordings of student-generated conversations, and transcriptions.

Games and songs complement these activities. The humanistic approach of CLL, which

views learners and teachers as a community, and the teacher as a facilitator more than

teacher, fits in nicely with current trends in education.

Community language learning (CLL) was primarily designed for monolingual conversation

classes where the teacher-counselor would b e able to speak the learners' L1.

The intention was that it would integrate translation so that the students would disassociate

language learning with risk taking. It's a method that is based on English for communication and

is extremely learner-focused. Although each course is unique and student-dictated, there are

certain criteria that should be applied to all CLL classrooms, namely a focus on fluency in the

early stages, an undercurrent of accuracy throughout the course and learner empowerment as the

main focus.

How it works in the classroom

o Stage 1- Reflection

o Stage 2 - Recorded conversation

o Stage 3 - Discussion

o Stage 4 - Transcription

o Stage 5 - Language analysis

o Length of stages

In a typical CLL lesson I have five stages:  

Stage 1- Reflection

I start with students sitting in a circle around a tape recorder to create a community atmosphere.

The students think in silence about what they'd like to talk about, while I remain outside

the circle.

To avoid a lack of ideas students can brainstorm their ideas on the board before

recording.

 

Stage 2 - Recorded conversation

Once they have chosen a subject the students tell me in their L1 what they'd like to say and I

discreetly come up behind them and translate the language chunks into English.

With higher levels if the students feel comfortable enough they can say some of it

directly in English and I give the full English sentence. When they feel ready to speak the

students take the microphone and record their sentence.

It's best if you can use a microphone as the sound quality is better and it's easier to pick

up and put down.

Here they're working on pace and fluency. They immediately stop recording and then

wait until another student wants to respond. This continues until a whole conversation has been

recorded.

 

Stage 3 - Discussion

Next the students discuss how they think the conversation went. They can discuss how they felt

about talking to a microphone and whether they felt more comfortable speaking aloud than they

might do normally.

This part is not recorded.

 

Stage 4 - Transcription

Next they listen to the tape and transcribe their conversation. I only intervene when they ask for

help.

The first few times you try this with a class they might try and rely on you a lot but aim

to distance yourself from the whole process in terms of leading and push them to do it

themselves.

 

Stage 5 - Language analysis

I sometimes get students to analyse the language the same lesson or sometimes in the next

lesson. This involves looking at the form of tenses and vocabulary used and why certain ones

were chosen, but it will depend on the language produced by the students.

In this way they are totally involved in the analysis process. The language is completely

personalised and with higher levels they can themselves decide what parts of their conversation

they would like to analyse, whether it be tenses, lexis or discourse.

With lower levels you can guide the analysis by choosing the most common problems

you noted in the recording stages or by using the final transcription.

Length of stages

The timing will depend entirely on the class, how quickly they respond to CLL, how long you or

they decide to spend on the language analysis stage and how long their recorded conversation is.

Be careful however that the conversation isn't too long as this will in turn make the transcription

very long

IV. The Strength and Weaknesses

A. The Strength

Learners appreciate the autonomy CLL offers them and thrive on analyzing their own

conversations.

CLL works especially well with lower levels who are struggling to produce spoken

English.

The class often becomes a real community, not just when using CLL but all of the time.

Students become much more aware of their peers, their strengths and weaknesses and want to

work as a team.

Working with monolingual or multilingual classes

I have used CLL with both monolingual and multilingual classes and found that it works

well with both. With the multilingual low-level classes I, as the teacher-counsellor,

reformulated their English in the same way you might do with higher levels. However,

the first few attempts at CLL work better with a monolingual class as the instructions can

be given in L1. It's important that the learners understand their and your new roles in the

language learning process.

Working with large classes

For the first lesson it's important to record the conversation as a whole class even though

this can limit student-speaking time. It's more practical in terms of giving instructions

before you start and for moving from one student to another when they need you to

translate or reformulate what they want to say. The next time you use CLL however, you

could split the class into two groups. This gives them more speaking time.

The strengths of the method include creating a supportive community to lower student

anxiety and help them overcome threatening affective factors, such as making errors

or competing with peers”

In the beginning of the course, the learners are totally dependent on the teacher’s

translation, but over time they are able to engage in more direct communication as they

move towards independence. In addition, learners are not limited in their topics of

conversation, regardless of their language proficiency. Learners are free to talk about the

affairs of daily life. This approach to language learning encourages the meaningful use of

Application of Community Language Learning for Effective Teaching P.Nagaraj

language which the learner can store, synthesize and use in new situations. CLL allows

learners to practice the structure or characteristic patterning of sentences and

conversations. Moreover, it is believed that from the teacher’s translation, learners will be

able to induce a grammar far more complex than they are able to use on their own. One

key reason this method seemed to work, was that it allowed the learners to continue using

their L1, while promoting the L2. It is important to be aware of its existence, so that

when the need arises, the strengths of CLL can be utilized.

B. The Weaknesses

In the beginning some learners find it difficult to speak on tape while others might find

that the conversation lacks spontaneity.

We as teachers can find it strange to give our students so much freedom and tend to

intervene too much.

In your efforts to let your students become independent learners you can neglect their

need for guidance.

V. The Conclusion

Although CLL is primarily meant as a 'whole' approach to teaching that have found it equally

useful for an occasional lesson, especially with teenagers. It enables me to refocus on the

learner while my students immediately react positively to working in a community. They take

exceptionally well to peer-correction and by working together they overcome their fear of

speaking. I have also found quieter students able to offer corrections to their peers and gladly

contribute to the recording stage of the lesson. It's a teaching method which encompasses all

four skills while simultaneously revealing learners' styles which are more or less analytical in

their approach to language learning. All of which raises our awareness as a teacher and that of

our students.

Community Language Learning is the most responsive of the methods which is

reviewed in terms of its sensitivity to learned communicative intent. It is applied in

various settings; it is used as an aid for language learning, under the radar, academically.

The value of CLL has been its emphasis on whole-person learning; the role of a

supportive, non-judgmental teacher; the passing of responsibility for learning to the

learners. The teacher must also be relatively non-directive and must be prepared to accept

and even encourage the adolescent aggression of the learner as he or she strives for

independence.

VI. References

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (April 2011)

Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching by J Richards and T Rodgers CUP 2002

CLL: A Way Forward? by Rod Bolitho taken from ELT documents 113 - Humanistic

Approaches: An Empirical View The British Council (1982)

Communicating Naturally in a Second Language by Wilga M. Rivers CUP 1986

Introducing Innovations into your Teaching by Denise Ozdeniz taken from Challenge and

Change in Language Teaching Ed. Jane Willis and Dave Willis Macmillan Heineman 1998

Language Teaching Methodology by David Nunan Prentice Hall 1998

Reformulation and Reconstruction: Tasks that Promote 'Noticing' by Scott Thornbury taken

from ELT documents 51/4 October 1997

Working with Teaching Methods by Earl W. Stevick ITP Co. 1998 

Jo Bertrand, Teacher, Materials writer, British Council Paris

Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching, Second Edition, Jack C.

Richards and Theodore Rodgers, Cambridge University Press, Rs.195/-, Page

Nos. 90 to 98.

http://www.google.co.in/search?hl=en&q=community+language+learning&start=

70&sa=N

http://www.google.co.in/search?hl=en&q=methods+of+english+language+teachi

ng&btnG=Google+Search&meta=

http://www.englishclub.com/tefl-articles/history-english-language-teaching.htm

http://www.englishraven.com/method_communicative.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community_language_learning

http://elt-wiki.cw.idm.fr/elt-wiki/index.php/Community_Language_Learning

http://matsuda.jslw.org/mediawiki/index.php/Community_Language_Learning

http://www2.vobs.at/ludescher/Alternative%20methods/Community%20Languag

e%20Learning.doc

http://eltnotebook.blogspot.com/2007/02/community-language-learning-partone.

html

http://coe.sdsu.edu/people/jmora/almmethods.htm

http://members.fortunecity.com/nadabs/communitylearn.html

http://www.onestopenglish.com/section.asp?docid=146410

http://www.tefl.net/alexcase/category/teaching/tefl/alternative-teachingtechniques/

community-language-learning/

http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/Community-language-learning

http://cd-2006.blogspot.com/2007/07/teaching-community-languagelearning.

html

http://www.linguatics.com/methods.htm

http://esl.fis.edu/teachers/support/method.htm

http://www.signonline.org.uk/curriculum_development/effective_teaching/metho

dology/community_language_learning.php

http://www.worldofquotes.com/topic/Language/2/index.html

The modern journal of applied linguistics

Volume 1:3 May 2009 Dr. Mohammad Ali Salmani-Nodoushan, Ph.D.Iran

Bharathiar University

Coimbatore - 640146.

The Community Language Learning Method takes its principles from the more general

approach COUNSELING LEARNING APPROACH developed by Charles A. Curran. He found

that adults often feel threatened by a new learning situation. Especially the fear that they will

appear foolish is the most important factor. To deal with the fears of the learners, teachers should

become language counselors. A teacher (who believes the approach) should -understand the

students’ fear and anxiety -be sensitive to them -help learners to overcome such negative feelings

-turn these negative feelings into positive energy to further their learning. All humanistic

approaches consider the learner WHOLE PERSON. In general students’ intellectual sides are

emphasized. We usually address to learners, cognition. But they have feelings and physical

reactions. Building relationship with and among students is very important. Language is for

communication and students should have conversation. Any new learning experience can be

threatening. If students have an idea of what will happen in each activity, they often feel more

secure. The teacher then should tell the students what they are going to do and also should

explain the whole procedure. The teacher should be sensitive to students' level of confidence and

give them just what they need to be successful. The teacher translates what the students want to

say in chunks The superior knowledge and power of the teacher can be threatening. If the

teacher does not stay in the front of the classroom, the threat is reduced and the students'

learning is facilitated. For that reason, teacher stands behind the students. This case fosters

interaction among students rather than from student to teacher. Considering that each learner is

unique, teacher creates an accepting atmosphere. The teacher accepts what each student says.

Learners feel free and lower their defenses and the learning experience becomes less threatening

for them. The teacher counsels the students. The teacher should work in a nonthreatening way.

S/he does not offer advice, but rather shows them that s/he is really listening to them and

understands what they are saying. The students’ native language is used to make the meaning

clear and to build a bridge from the known to the unknown. Students feel more secure when they

understand everything. Students need to learn to discriminate, for example, in perceiving the

similarities and differences among the target language forms. Students work together in

groups of three. In groups, students can begin to feel a sense of community and can learn from

each other as well as the teacher. Cooperation, not competition, is encouraged. In the

beginning stages, the 'syllabus' is generated primarily by the students. Students are more willing

to learn when they have created the material themselves. QUESTIONS What are the goals of

teachers who use the Community Language Learning Method? Teachers want their students to

learn how to use the target language communicatively. In addition, they want their students to

learn about their own learning, to take increasing responsibility for it, and to learn how to learn

from one another. 2

What is the role of the teacher? The teacher's initial role is primarily that of a counselor. The

teacher should recognize that how threatening a new learning situation can be for adult learners.

Then s/he should skillfully understand and support the students in their efforts to learn the target

language. What is the role of the students? Initially the learners are very dependent upon the

teacher. As the learners continue to study, they become increasingly independent. What are

some characteristics of the teaching/learning process? At the beginning students typically use

their native language. Teacher translates what they want to say into the target language in

chunks. These chunks are recorded, and when they are replayed, it sounds like a fairly fluid

conversation. Later, the transcript is changed into a written conversation, and native language

equivalents are written beneath (under) the target language words. The transcription of the

conversation becomes a 'text' with which students work. Various activities are conducted (for

example, examination of a grammar point, working on pronunciation of a particular phrase, or

creating new sentences with words from the transcript) that allow students to further explore the

language they have generated. According to Curran, there are six elements necessary for non-

defensive learning. 1-Security, 2-Aggression, (opportunity to express themselves, be actively

involved, and invest themselves in the learning experience). 3-Attention. 4-Reflection, (careful

consideration and fixing of the thoughts on what someone is doing) 5-Retention (the act or

power of remembering things) 6-Discrimination (The power of making fine distinctions,

discriminating judgments) What is the nature of student teacher interaction? Community

Language Learning Method is neither student- centered, nor teacher-centered, but rather teacher-

student-centered, with both being decision-makers in the class. Teacher physically removes

himself/herself from the circle to encourage students to interact with one another. What is the

nature of student-student interaction? Building a relationship with and among students is very

important. Students can learn from their interaction with each other as well as their interaction

with the teacher. How are the feelings of the students dealt with? Responding to the students'

feelings is very important. One regular activity is inviting students to comment on how they feel.

The teacher listens to and responds to each comment carefully. By showing students s/he

understands how they feel, the teacher can help them overcome negative feelings that might

block their learning. How is language viewed? Language is for communication. 3

How is culture viewed? Culture is an integral part of language learning. What areas of

language are emphasized? In the early stages, they want to be able to say in the target

language. Later on, after students feel more secure, the teacher might prepare specific materials

or work with published textbooks. What language skills are emphasized? Particular grammar

points, pronunciation patterns, and vocabulary. The most important skills are understanding and

speaking the language at the beginning, with reinforcement through reading and writing. What is

the role of the students’ native language? The purpose of using the native language is to

provide a bridge from the familiar to the unfamiliar. Native language translations are given and

this makes their meaning clear. Directions in class and sessions during which students express

their feelings are conducted in the native language. How is evaluation accomplished? There is

no particular mode of evaluation prescribed in the Community Language Learning Method.

Whatever evaluation is conducted considering the principles of the method. It is advisable that

teachers would encourage students to self-evaluate-to look at their own learning and to become

aware of their own progress. How does the teacher respond to student errors? Teachers

should work with what the learner has produced in a non- threatening way. Teacher can repeat

correctly what the student has said incorrectly, without calling further attention to the error. THE

TECHNIQUES Tape recording student conversation This technique is used to record

student-generated language. Students are asked to have a conversation using their native

language. After each native language utterance, the teacher translates what the student says into

the target language in appropriate-sized chunks. Each chunk is recorded. After a conversation

has been recorded, it can be replayed. The recording can be used to simply listen to their voices

in the target language. Transcription The teacher transcribes the students' tape-recorded target

Language conversation. Each student is given the opportunity to translate his or her utterances

and the teacher writes the native Language equivalent beneath the target Language words.

Students can copy the transcript after it has been completely written on the blackboard. The

transcript provides a basis for future activates. Reflection on experience The teacher spends

time during or after the activities to give the students the opportunity to reflect on how they feel

about the language learning experience, themselves as learners, and their relationship with one

another. Reflective listening The students relax and listen to their own voices speaking the target

language on the tape. Another possible technique is for the teacher to read the transcript while

the students simply listen, with their eyes open or shut.

A third possibility is for the students to mouth the words as the teacher reads the transcript 4

Human Computer A student chooses some part of the transcript to practice

pronouncing. Student is under the control of the teacher when s/he tries to say the word

or phrase. The teacher repeats the phrase as often as the student wants to practice it. The

teacher does not correct the student's mispronunciation. The student self-corrects as he or

she tries to imitate the teacher's model. Small group tasks In these tasks students are

asked to make new sentences with the words on the transcript. Afterward, the groups

share the sentences they made with the rest of the class. Later in the week, students

working in pairs can make sentences with the different verb conjugations. There are a lot

of different activities suitable for small groups. Teachers who use small group activities

believe students can learn from each other and can get more practice with the target

language by working in small groups.