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12
Introduction
6.Studentsaregivenalotofpracticebutnonethelessdonotreallyunderstandtherules
ofthetargetlanguage.
Manyteachersandforeignlanguageteachingspecialistssharetheobservationslisted
above.Someoftheseproblemsaswellastentativesolutionstotheseproblemswereno-
ticedbytheauthorofthisbookwhileteachinginLiceumOgólnokształcącenr3inGdańsk
(2001–2005)aswellasinZespółSzkółZawodowychnr3inGdańsk(1997–2002)and
whileorganisingteachingpracticeplacementsattheUniversityofGdańsk(2004tothe
present).
Asregardstherstproblem,HannaKomorowska(2004:137–148)discussestheprob-
lemofthechoiceoftopiccontentandlinguisticdevices.Thetendencyistoteacheasy
languageandusetrivial,low-broworalmostzerocontent.Thereasonswhichareusually
giventoexplainthistendencyincludethepracticalneedsofusingthelanguageineveryday
situationsandmotivatingstudentsbygivingthemsimplethingstostudy.Thereasonscan
becomparedtotheruleswhichgoverntelevision:commercialismsupersedesthemission
becausetheformeriseasier.Thisproblemisparticularlycrucialatschool,wheretherole
oftheteachershouldbetoencouragestudentstodevelopinsteadoflettingthemstayatthe
samelevel.
Thesecondproblemisparticularlyconspicuousinthecaseofthestudentswhohave
passedtheFirstCerticateinEnglish(FCE)ortheCerticateinAdvancedEnglish(CAE).
Manyheadteachersandlearnersthemselvesseelittlepointinfurtherlanguageeducation.
Withstudentshavingnodifcultyincommunicationandtheadvancedlevelrequirements
havingbeensatised,compulsoryEnglishclassesseemsuperuous.Theconclusionthat
maybedrawnfromtheseobservationsisthatsomelearnerslosetheirmotivationtostudy
andsometeacherslosetheirmotivationtoteachoncestudentscancommunicateinevery-
daysituationsintheforeignlanguage.ReachingthelevelofFCEorCAEisnotbad.Mo-
tivation,however,frequentlydwindlesmuchearlierifcommunicationisregardedasthe
ultimateaim.Studentscancopewithmosteverydaysituationsattheintermediateleveland
neithersophisticatedlanguagenorcorrectnessisessentialforthispurpose.
Thethirdproblemarisesfromarrangingcommunicativeactivities.Dividingtheclass
intogroups,movingchairsandtheeventualgroupworkresultinquitealotofchaosand
timewastage.Itisalsotime-consumingtoexplaintothestudentswhattheyaresupposed
todo.Asaresultofrejectinggrammar,learnersarefrequentlyatalosswhenitcomesto
expressingtheirideas.Consequently,studentsworkinginpairsorgroupsfrequentlyuse
theirmothertongueandteachersnditdifculttocontrolsomanystudentsspeakingsi-
multaneously.Whatismore,notallstudentscontributeequallytospeakingtasks.Thereare
somestudentswhotendtodominatetheinteractiontakingplacewhileothersusuallysay
nexttonothing.
Thefourthproblemisconnectedwithsimulatedcommunication,whichoftentakes
placeinclass.Eventhoughteachersendeavourtomakethecommunicationasnaturalas
possiblebybringinginvariousgadgetsandauthentictexts,itisdifculttointroducethe
realneedtocommunicatewhenstudentsaretopractisesituationsattheairport,forexam-
ple.Inthiscase,thetaskinevitablybeginswiththephrase"Imaginethatyouareatthe
airport…,”whichmakesthelanguageusesimulated.Itstillseems,however,crucialto
givethestudentsomeopportunitiestousethelanguageauthenticallyinclass.