we will examine two approaches which focus more on the
outcomes or products of learning as the starting point in course design than on
classroom processes. They start by identifying the kinds of uses of language the
learner is expected to be able to master at the end of a given period of instruction.
Teaching strategies are then selected to help achieve these goals.
Text-Based Instruction
Text-based instruction, also known as a genre-based approach, sees communicative
competence as involving the mastery of different types of texts. Text here
is used in a special sense to refer to structured sequences of language that are
used in specific contexts in specific ways. For example, in the course of a day, a
speaker of English may use spoken English in many different ways, including
the following:
J Casual conversational exchange with a friend
J Conversational exchange with a stranger in an elevator
J Telephone call to arrange an appointment at a hair salon
J An account to friends of an unusual experience
J Discussion of a personal problem with a friend to seek advice
Each of these uses of language can be regarded as a text in that it exists
as a unified whole with a beginning, middle, and end, it confirms to norms of
organization and content, and it draws on appropriate grammar and vocabulary.
Communicative competence thus involves being able to use different kinds
of spoken and written texts in the specific contexts of their use. This view of
language owes much to the work of the linguist Michael Halliday. According to
Feez and Joyce (1998), TBI is thus based on an approach to teaching language
which involves:
J Teaching explicitly about the structures and grammatical features
of spoken and written texts
J Linking spoken and written texts to the cultural context of their
use
J Designing units of work which focus on developing skills in
relation to whole texts
J Providing students with guided practice as they develop language
skills for meaningful communication through whole texts
According to this view, learners in different contexts have to master
the use of the text types occurring most frequently in specific contexts. These
contexts might include: studying in an English-medium university, studying
in an English-medium primary or secondary school, working in a restaurant,
office, or store, socializing with neighbors in a housing complex.