Community Language Learning

Introduction

Community Language Learning advises teacher to consider their students as “whole person.” It means that teachers consider not only their students’ feeling and intellect, but also have some understanding of the relationship among students’ physical reaction, their instinctive protective reactions and their desire to learn. The Community Language Learning Methods takes its principle from the more general Counseling-Learning approach developed by Charles A. Curran. He discovered that adults often feel threatened by a new learning situation. They are threatened by the change inherent in learning by the fear that they will appear foolish. Curran believed that a way to deal with the fear of students is for teachers to become “language counselors.” A language counselor does not mean someone trained in psychology, it means someone who is skillful understander of the struggle students face as they attempt to internalize another language. The teacher who can “understand” can indicate his acceptance of the student. By understanding students’ fear and being sensitive to them, he can help students overcome their negative feelings and turn them into positive energy to further their learning.

1.      Observations and Principles of Community Language Learning

	Observations	Principles
1	The teacher greets the students, introduces himself and has the students introduce themselves.	Building a relationship with and among students is very important.
2	The teacher tells the students what they are going to do. He explains the procedure of the first activity and sets a time limit.	Any new learning experience can be threatening. When the students have an idea of what will happen in each activity, they often feel more secure. People learn best when they feel secure.
3	Students have a conversation and record it.	Language is  for communication.
4	The teacher stands behind the students	The superior knowledge and power of the teacher can be threatening, so the teacher should not always be in the front of classroom, the threat is reduce and the students’ learning is facilitated.
5	The teacher translates what the students want to say in chunks.	The teacher should be sensitive to students limitations and not overwhelm them with more than they can handle.
6	The teacher tells them that they have only a few minutes remaining for the conversation.	Students feel more secure when they know the limit of the activity.
7	Students are invited to talk about how they felt during the conversation.	Teacher and students are whole persons.
8	The teacher accept what each student says.	Guided by the knowledge that each learner is unique, the teacher creates an accepting atmosphere. Learners feel free to lower their defenses and the learning experience becomes less threatening.
9	The teacher understands what the students say.	The teacher “counsels” the students.
10	The students listen to the tape and give the Indonesian translation.	The students’ native language is used to make the meaning clear.
11	The teacher asks the students to form a semicircle in front of the blackboard so they can see easily.	The teacher should take the responsibility for clearly structuring activities in the most appropriate way possible for successful completion of an activity.
12	The teacher reassures the students that they will have time later on to copy the sentences.	Learning at the beginning stages is facilitated if students attend to one task at a time.
13	Before the teacher puts in the Indonesian equivalents, he pauses. If no one volunteers the meaning, he writes himself.	The teacher encourages students’ initiative and independence.
14	The teacher reads the transcript three times. The students relax and listen.	Students need quiet reflection time in order to learn.
15	In the Human Computer activity, the students choose which phrase they want to practice pronouncing; the teacher, following the students’ lead, repeats the phrase until the learner is satisfied and stop.	Students learn best when they have a choice in what they practice.
16	The students have to listen carefully to see if what they say matches what the teacher is saying.	Students need to learn to discriminate in perceiving the similarities and differences among the target language forms.
17	The 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.
18	The teacher corrects by repeating correctly the sentence the student have created.	Teachers should work in a non-threatening way with what the learner has produced.
19	The students read their sentences to the other members of the class.	Developing a community among the class members builds trust and can help to reduce the threat of the new learning situation.
20	The teacher plays the tape while the students listen.	Learning tends not to take place when the material is too new or conversely too familiar.
21	The students are once again invited to talk about the experience they had that evening.	In addition to reflecting on the language, students reflect on what they have experienced.
22	Other activities with the transcript of the first conversation occur. Then, the learners have a new conversation.	In the beginning stages, the “syllabus” is designed primarily by the students. Students are more willing to learn when they have created the material themselves.

2. Reviewing the Principles of Community Language Learning Method

In reviewing the Principles of Community Language Learning method, we answer ten questions and add some additional information about this method.

1. What are the goals of teachers who use the Community Language Learning Method?

Teachers who use the Community Language Learning Method want their students to learn how to use the target language communicatively.

2. What is the role of the teacher? What is the role of the student?

Teacher acts as counselor, supporting students with understanding of their struggle to master language in often threatening new learning situation. The learner is very dependent upon the teacher.

3. What are some characteristics of the teaching/learning process?

Nondefensive learning requires six elements: security, aggression (students have opportunities to assert, involve themselves), attention, reflection (students think about both the language and their experience learning it), retention, and discrimination (sorting out differences among target language forms).

4. What is the nature od student-teacher interaction? What is the nature of student-student interaction?

Both students and teacher make decisions in the class. Sometimes the teacher directs action, other times the students interact independently.

5. How are the feelings of the students dealt with?

Teachers routinely probe for students’ feelings about learning and shows understanding, helping them overcome negative feelings.

6. How is language viewed? How is culture viewed?

Language is for communication, a medium of interpersonal sharing and belonging, and creative thinking. Culture is integrated with language.

7. What areas of language are emphasized? What language skills are emphasized?

At first, since students design syllabus, they determine aspects of language studied; later teacher may bring in published texts. Particular grammar, pronunciation points are treated, and particular vocabulary based on students’ expressed needs. Understanding and speaking are emphasized; reading and writing have a place.

8. What is the role of the students’ native language?

Use of native language enhances students’ security. Students have conversations in their native language and the target language translations of these become the text around which subsequent activities revolve. Instructions and sessions for expressing feelings are in native language and the target language is used progressively more.

9. How is evaluation accomplished?

No specific means are recommended for evaluation, but adherence to principles is urged. Teacher would help students prepare for any test required by school, integrative tests would be preferred over discrete-point tests, self-evaluation would be encouraged, promoting students’ awareness of their own progress.

10. How does the teacher respond to the student errors?

Teachers should work with what the learner has produced in a nonthreatening way.

3. Reviewing the Techniques

1. Tape-recording student conversation, that is, it is used to record student-generated language as well as given the opportunity for community learning to come about.
2. Transcription, that is, the teacher transcribes the students’ tape-recorded target language conversation.
3. Reflection on experience, that is, the teacher takes time during or after the various activities, gives the students the opportunity to reflect on how they feel about the language learning experience.
4. Reflective listening, that is, the students relax and listen to their own voice speaking the target language on the tape.
5.  Human computer, that is, a student chooses some part of the transcript to practice pronouncing. She/he is in the control of the teacher when she/he tries to say the word or phrase.
6. Small group tasks, that is, firstly the students are asked to make new sentences with the words on the transcript with their small group.  And the groups share the sentences they made with the rest of the class.

Conclusion

The two most basic principles which underlie the kind of learning that can take place in the Community Language Learning Method are summed up in the following phrases:

1. “Learning is persons” which means that both teacher and learner(s) must make a commitment of trust to one another and the learning process.
2. “Learning is dynamic and creative” which means that learning is a living and developmental process.