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 * Reflection of The Article Named "Some Misconceptions About Communicative Language Teaching" by Geoff Thompson **

Geoff Thompson wrote this article to clear the misconceptions about communicative language teaching. He would like to set out four main misconceptions about CLT. These are: CLT means not teaching grammar, CLT means teaching only speaking, CLT means pair work, which means role play, and CLT means expecting too much from the teacher.

For the first misconception (CLT means not teaching grammar), it is thought that grammar is not taught in CLT because CLT does not have any traditional methods to teach grammar. However, it doesn't mean that CLT is not a way of teaching grammar. In CLT, learners are first exposed to the language and then, they discover its grammar. Firstly, learners see the new language in a comprehensible context so that they can see its function and meaning. Then, they deal with the form of the language that they use to convey that meaning. This is how the author's perspective is. I agree with the author. CLT teaches grammar along with the language itself. Yet, it is not as explicit as the traditional way of teaching grammar. For example, learners figure out the function of a rule and its meaning, ant then, its form by using it repetitively. I think to teach grammar in CLT is not applicable in low level learners like beginner and elementary students. It requires a little bit of knowledge about the language and its use.

The second misconception is that CLT teaches only speaking skills to learners. I agree with the author. This is a widespread misconception. CLT seems to focus on only speaking, but it focuses on listening, grammar and writing implicitly. For example, to communicate with other person, you have to listen to him/her. As I said before, along with speaking, you can learn grammar. And when you learn speaking and grammar, there is no way of not learning writing.

The third misconception is that CLT is a work of pairs and mostly by role plays. Thompson (1994) indicates that role play is a useful technique, but there are more useful techniques of pair work such as doing a grammatical exercise together, solving a problem, analyzing the new language structures in a text, preparing a questionnaire for other members of the class and agreeing on the opinion they want to present to the class. In role play, there are mostly the dialogue presented and then, learners act it out. Yet, learners should have some control over their learning and right to choose what to say. So, they should be let free. In my opinion, it is true. Role play helps students to acquire the language, but it puts some boundaries to their minds. Therefore, not just role play but also alternative ways of pair work can be used in CLT.

The fourth and last misconception is that CLT expects too much from the teacher. The author claims that the label of misconception is valid for two reasons. One of them is that teachers can develop their skills and practices. The second of them is that the demands from the teacher are exaggerated. I disagree with him. CLT puts a lot of pressure on teachers' shoulders. If a teacher is not qualified enough, and expected to use CLT methods, s/he is in trouble because if even the teacher can't speak properly, how can we expect students to learn properly, and how can we expect the teacher to develop his/her skills with students which obviously are less capable of speaking than himself/herself. Thus, CLT demands much more effort from teachers, as well as students.

To sum up, there are three misconceptions proposed that I agree and one misconception proposed that I disagree. However, the article and the author's ideas are really helpful for teachers and candidates of teachers.

