Study 13: grammar plus communicative practice
In one of the earliest experimental studies of communicative language teaching, Sandra Savignon(1972) in French language courses at an American university. The students were divided into three groups: a ‘communicative’ group, and a CONTROL GROUP. audiolingual instruction where the focus was on the practice and manipulation of grammatical forms. In addition, each group had a special hour of different activities. The ‘communicative’ group had one hour per week devoted to communicative tasks in an effort to encourage practice in using French in meaningful, creative, and spontaneous way. The ‘culture’ group had an hour devoted to activities, conducted in English, designed to ‘foster an awareness of the French language and culture through films, music, and art’. The control group had an hour in the language laboratory doing grammar and pronunciation drills similar .The tests of linguistic competence included a variety of grammar tests, teachers’ evaluations of speaking skills, and course grades. The tests of communicative competence included measures of fluency and of the ability to understand and transmit information in a variety of tasks, which included: However, the communicative group scored significantly higher than the other two groups on the four communicative tests developed for the study. However, the communicative group scored significantly higher than the other two groups on the four communicative tests developed for the study. Even more important in the context of the approach was the evidence that opportunities for freer communication did not cause learners to do less well on measures of linguistic accuracy.