Teaching good communication

Language specialists play an important role in the future of education because language underpins learning, writes Dr Nic Ghara

Languages have remained of significant interest to me as I was brought up in a refugee camp where on a daily basis we were living together with Estonians, Latvians, Russians, Germans, Polish and Slavic folk. My own exposure to English commenced only when I started school.

Hungarian, my own language, is quite phonetic, so it took some time to master the notion that the syllable ‘f' could also be written as ‘ph' or ‘gh', that ‘i' follows ‘e' except after ‘c' and the same sound can be achieved with a single ‘e', ‘ea' or ‘ee'.

Then there is the apparent contradiction that ‘re' at the end of a word is pronounced ‘er' and on it goes.

These variances can be quite confusing and I can still remember my early high school years where I read the problem in English, completed the necessary transaction in Hungarian and then mentally translated the result back to English again.

There is also no doubt that my early experiences in attempting to master English affected my confidence and subsequent attitude to later schooling. On many occasions I still feel apprehensive prior to delivering a public presentation.

Collapsing barriers

In these days of internationalisation and world travel, barriers are coming down at an increasing rate. As all of you who are engaged in teaching languages are aware, there are thousands of different languages.

Of these, purely on the basis of population and the number of speakers, English rates very highly - second in the world.

In fact, many would argue that English is the most universally used language in trade and commerce today and accordingly, one of the most widely taught.

Language teaching has changed dramatically over the years, and has a rich history. Some of the earliest teaching manuals date from 1396 and were used for the teaching of French to English travellers overseas.

These were commonly in dialogue form, and apart from providing the necessary survival skills in communication were designed to protect the individual from possible ‘sharp practices'.

There have been many cycles and periods of innovation, but a major reform commenced in the 1880s where a more scientific approach was used in teaching English and there was an accent on the primacy of speech; the relationship of the connected text; and increasing oral methodologies in classrooms.

Building approach

The traditional approach to teaching has been to separate each individual's learning programme into a series of discrete steps or ‘building blocks' and to deliver this in a ‘front end' approach at the beginning of one's life - as a ‘skills and information dump'.

However, this traditional lock step, front end approach commonly used for the transfer of knowledge is increasingly being seen as having a limited capacity to service the increasingly diverse learning needs of a society in change.

Now a broader approach to education to ensure continuous adaptation and the ability to cope with change is considered critical for the individual to survive.

The argument then follows, that the required development of a range of skills to underpin the transmission of knowledge may be most effectively achieved through a number of varied and "informal" settings.

Many contemporary teaching approaches rely on natural or conversation methods, where it is argued that the best way to learn languages was not on a step-by-step method incorporating exercises and tests, but more on an intuitive process relying on three conditions: Someone to talk to; something to talk about and the desire to be understood.

Inherent in this is a need for positive reinforcement in the classroom. I can still remember the first encouraging remark received in the margin of a year 12 English essay.

Reflecting on this later it became apparent that as the result of a single comment, this teacher had opened the door for me to confront and overcome what I had always considered a major handicap.

Teaching and learning issues are key, as is classroom motivation and the use of the most appropriate learning styles and delivery strategies to suit individual needs.

An early level of student participation, immersion in discussion and classroom interaction, is also considered particularly important. It is often a strong indicator to subsequent successful participation in education.

Access opportunities

We need to enable individuals to access learning opportunities continuously. The objective here is not only related to work priorities, but also to ensure social inclusiveness and the individual's ability to participate effectively within the community.

The key skill is literacy itself, as well as giving them the confidence to question and the ability to seek out information independently, thus enabling the learners to utilise their full potential.

The impact of globalisation, changes in technology, our changing social systems and labour market structures all have implications for future employment.

Indications tend to highlight the need for a more broadly trained, flexible graduate, with an ability in critical thinking, underpinned by the required knowledge and skills to survive in today's IT and knowledge based economies.

Increasingly, effective communication also seems to rest on electronic media skills. Of relevance here are the Unesco's ‘Four Pillars of Education' which list a number of skills essential for survival in today's complex world:

• Learning to know (the mastery of various learning tools)
• Learning to do (skilling people for survival and at work)
• Learning to live together (social skills and effectiveness in the community)
• Learning to be (reaching one's full potential)

Life skills

These complementary skills rely on effective lifelong learning skills, but in essence rest in literacy. The focus then shifts to the ability of the individual to effectively access information, to adapt and also to think in the abstract.

Renowned futurist Peter Ellyard predicted in 2000 that 70 per cent of the jobs of the year 2020 have yet to be invented.

These new employment demands are such that many of the new job categories and requirements are yet to be created, and so the teachers of today must be prepared to look beyond the teaching and learning patterns as we know them currently to prepare students for the world of the future.

As language specialists, teachers play a pivotal role in education because an effective communication language skill underpins learning.

The information, cultural context and richness which surrounds language instruction has the potential to provide a varied teaching and innovative teaching environment, so essential for motivating life long learning in our students.