As we talk about orienting our teaching practices towards being proficiency-based, we are also emphasizing teaching with communication both as the goal and the vehicle of language instruction.
So what is communication?
A titan of SLA, Bill VanPatten defined communication as
“the expression, interpretation, and sometimes negotiation of meaning in a
given context. What is more, communication is also purposeful.” (VanPatten, B. (2017). While we’re
on the topic: BVP on language, acquisition, and classroom practice. ACTFL.)
Another useful definition comes from Florencia Henshaw and Maris
Hawkins, explaining that communication is "the purposeful interpretation
and/or expression of meaning" (Henshaw, Hawkins. (2022) Common Ground: Second Language Acquisition Theory Goes to the Classroom. (p.33). Focus.
If we describe our teaching practices as communicative, or our goal to get students to communicate proficiently, we better have a good working definition of communication! We need to know what expression, interpretation, negotiation of meaning, and so forth represents in the context of our classroom, as well as outside in the real world. This informs so much of our teaching practice!
For a more detailed explanation, click on the infographic.
To learn more about Communication, see the following resources:
