试论CLTThe试述Influence试述of试述CLT试述on试述Syllabus试述Design试述and试述Testing

Abstract：Communicative Language Teaching （CLT） is generally accepted in the field of second language teaching. It has great influence on syllabus design and testing.
Key words：influence； CLT； syllabus； testing
1672-1578（2013）05-0005-01
Communicative Language Teaching （CLT） is generally accepted in the field of second language teaching. It has great influence on syllabus design. A traditional language syllabus usually specified the vocabulary and th源于：论文模板www.618jyw.com
e grammatical items that students should master and they are normally graded from beginner level to advanced level. But what would a communicative syllabus look like？
Several new syllabus types were proposed by advocates of CLT. They stressed an integrated-skills approach to the teaching of the skills. Considering that the skills often occur together in real life， they should also be linked in teaching.
A functional syllabus is organized according to the functions learners should be able to carry out in English， such as offering and accepting apologies， introducing someone， and giving explanations. Communicative competence is regarded as mastery of functions for communication across a wide range of situations. Vocabulary and grammar are chosen according to the functions. Then similar to the PPP lesson cycle， a sequence of activities is used to present and practice the function （Richards， 2006）.
The notional syllabus takes the desired communicative capacity as the starting point. One of the highlights of a notional syllabus is that it gives priority to the semantic content of language learning. The first step in the construction of any language syllabus or course is to define objectives. These will be based on an analysis of the learners and their needs which will in turn be expressed in terms of the particular types of communication in which the learner will need to engage.
The development of the notional functional syllabus was one of the first efforts to try toshift from an exclusive focus on language forms to language meanings and functions. This novel approach to L2 syllabus construction demonstrated an entirely different way of organizing language. Its emphasis on communicative functions led some L2 educators to conclude that the notional-functional syllabus was synonymous with CLT. However， it can be rather said that the notional-functional syllabus was developed under the influence of CLT.
Communicative Language Teaching （CLT） also has influence on testing. The communicative approach to language testing is based on the assumption that language is learned to express different kinds of functions. It emphasizes the need of testing language by asking the students to use language in different types of situations to perform on a wide range of tasks. Such tests stress authenticity of test methods， materials and responses so that the test outcomes reveal a real description of a tester’s communicative competence. Thus， the focus is on qualitative evaluation of the candidate's language knowledge rather than the quantitative assesent of linguistic features （Signon， 2000）. There are some specific criteria that can be used to tell if a test is communicative.
First，performance test should be involved in communicative tests. The assumption underlying the performance tests advocated and developed in the 1980s was that the observation of behior that reflected real-world communication would lead to scores that would in一般论文格式范文www.618jyw.com
dicate whether the learner could perform in the real world.
Second，communicative tests should be authentic. The notion of authenticity was developed first within applied linguistics in the 1960s. “Bachman suggested that two types of authenticity had to be distinguished： situational and interactional authenticity”（Lewkowicz，2000，p.48）. While situational authenticity was concerned with the relationship between the test task and the criterion behior， interactional authenticity indicated the interaction between test task and test taker.
Third， communicative tests should be scored based on real-life outcomes. In performance what is being tested is defined through the rating scale. As rating scales of more components of models of communicative language ability are designed and used in research， language testers and SLA researchers will learn more about language and how it is used across a range of tasks and target language use situations by speakers with different characteristics.
References：
Richards， J. C.（2006）. Communicative language teaching today[M]. New York： Cambridge University Press.
Signon，S.（2005）. Communicative language teaching： strategies and goals[M]. In Handbook of research in second language teaching and learning （pp. 635-651）. Mahwah， NJ： Erlbaum.
[3]Lewkowics， J. A. （2000）. Authenticiity in language testing： Some outstanding questions[J]. Language Testing， 17（1）， 43-64.
作者简介：王茂娟，女，四川乐山，乐山师范学院外国语学院讲师， 硕士， 主要从事英语语言学研究。