The Patterns of Interaction in the communicative Language Teaching (CLT) Classroom

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

This study addresses the painful process ESL teachers face when making the transition from traditional to communicative language classroom Based on multiple observations, interviews and students` dialogue journals in two CLT-based ESL courses at University of Pennsylvania, it shows the real constraints of two ESL teachers who try to create a student-centered and interactive learning. It is found that even the ideal pair work organization does not produce interactive communication in one course. On the other hand, the other course, which consists only of whole-group discussion in which the teacher is present, is found to have exceptionally successful student-centered interaction. In this case, it is through the dialogue journals that the teacher teaches the skills required for students in student-centered class; how to express disagreement, how to act as a leader, how to participate. These findings reveal that an individual teacher`s devotion can overcome the negative aspects of other factors such as group size, students` cultural background and sex, in executing communicative theories in the classroom.