Communication
is "the process by which people exchange information or express their
thoughts and feeling" Longman Dictionary (1995:266). Richards, J. and Schmidt, R. (2002) add that
this kind of exchange happens between two or more persons who take the roles of speaker or sender who
transmits a message and a receiver whom this message is intended to.

Nobuyoshi, J. and Ellis, R. (1993) say that
communication tasks are important for both fluency and accuracy. They aid
fluency by enabling learners to activate their linguistic knowledge for use in
natural and spontaneous language, such as when taking part in a conversation.
One way in which this is achieved is by developing strategic competence,
defined by Canale (1983) cited in Nobuyoshi, J. and Ellis, R. (1993) as the
verbal and non-verbal strategies used to compensate for breakdowns in
communication and to enhance the effectiveness of communication. They
contribute to accuracy by enabling learners to discover new linguistic forms
during the course of communicating, and also by increasing their control over
already-acquired forms.
It is important to
encourage pupils to communicate and use the language in their real life. The
most important opportunity to achieve this is by providing communicative tasks inside
the classroom. They are the best way to improve the skill of speaking. Ur , P. (2002) suggests
that we should be careful when we choose or create a speaking activity. She
suggests characteristics of a successful speaking activity such as:
- Learners talk a lot. The successful speaking activity provides an opportunity for the pupils to have an enough time to talk. The teacher should reduce his talk and pauses.
- Participation is even. All pupils must have chances to talk. Teacher should help the weak pupils to participate in the speaking activity.
- Motivation is high. The successful speaking activity makes the pupils interested in the topic of the activity in order to make the learner eager to speak.
- Language is of an acceptable level.
(Ellis, 1982) adds that communication
tasks have the following features:
- There must be a communicative purpose.
- There must be a focus on message rather than on the linguistic code.
- There must be some kind of information gap.
- There must be opportunity for negotiation when performing the task.
- The participants must choose the resources - verbal and non-verbal - required for performing the task.
We can also divide the
characteristics of a successful speaking task into four categories. They can
evaluate and judge the effectiveness of a communicative task.
The first category involves
the purposive characteristics. This appears when pupils use the language for a
purpose which can be shown when they are motivated. To create a purpose,
activity should be designed to meet learners' needs and target language
structures and provides interaction, which guides pupils to have reason for
speaking.
The second category
focuses on the interactive characteristics. For example, when learners exchange
information and match their language level to others. Learners apply speaking
skills in real time conditions. Interaction appears when learners ask and
answer questions, seek solution to problem and guess or predict.
Participative
characteristics construct the third category of a successful speaking task that
provides opportunities for each pupil to have a role within group and maximizes
learners' participations. The task involves most pupils to talk and minimizes
teacher's correction.
The fourth category involves
the flaunt characteristics. The effective communicative task allows pupils to
speak privately and spontaneously. It focuses on conveying effective meaning.
Pupils are encouraged to use their own words and not interrupted by teacher who
should ignore the grammatical mistakes and focuses on fluency rather than
accuracy.
Read also: Stages of Communicative Task
References
- Cameron, L. (2001). Teaching Language to Young Learners. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
- Candlin, C. (1987) Towards Task-Based Language Learning. In Candlin, C. and D. Murphy (Eds.) Language Learning Tasks. Englewood Cliffs NJ: Prentice Hall.
- Nunan, C. (1989) Designing Tasks for the Communicative Classroom. Cambridge, CUP
- Richards, J, C. and Schmidt, R. (2002). Dictionary Of Language Teaching & Applied Linguistics. Harlow: Longman
- Scott, W.A. and Ytreberg, L.H (1990). Teaching English To Children. Harlow: Longman
- Ur, P. (1996) A Course In English Language Teaching. Cambridge: CUP.
- Wray, D. and Medwell, J (1991). Literacy and language In The Primary Years. London: Routledge.