Community Language Learning

Community Language Learning

Introduction
The method we will examine in this chapter advises teachers to consider their students as ‘whole-person’. Whole-person learning means that teacher consider not only their students’ intellect, but also have physical reactions, instinctive protective reactions, and desire to learn. This method takes the principles from Counseling-learning approach developed by Charles A. Curran. He believed that a way to deal with the fear of students is for the teachers to become ‘language counselors’. A language counselor does not mean someone that trained in psychologist; it means someone who is a skillful understander of a struggle student face as they attempt to internalize another language. By understanding students’ fears and being sensitive to them, he can help students overcome their negative feelings and turn them into positive energy to further their learning.

The principles
1. What are the goals of the teacher who use the Community Language Learning Method?
Teachers want their students to learn about their own learning, to take increasing responsibility for it, and to learn how to learn from one another. It can be accomplished in a non-defensive manner if the teacher and the learners treat each other as whole persons, valuing both thoughts and feelings.

2. What is the role of the teacher? What is the role of the students?
The teacher’s initial role is primarily that o a counselor, means that the teacher is a therapist, or that the teacher does not teaching. Initially the learners are very dependent upon the teacher. It is recognized, however, that as the learners continue the study, they become increasingly independent. The teacher focused not only on the language but also on being supportive of learners in their learning process.

3. What are some characteristic of the teaching/learning process?
According to Curran, there are six elements. The first is security. The second is aggression, means that students should be given an opportunity to assert themselves be actively involved, and invest themselves in the learning experience. The third is attention. The forth is reflection. The fifth is retention and the last is discrimination, sorting out the differences among the target language form.
4. What is the nature of student-teacher interaction? What is the nature of student-student interaction?
The nature of student-teacher interaction in this method changes within the lesson and over time. Building relationship between student-student is very important. In a trusting relationship, any debilitating anxiety that students feel can be reduced, thereby helping students to stay open the learning process. Students can learn from their interaction with each other as well as their interaction with the teacher.

5. How are the feelings of the students dealt with?
Responding to the students feelings is considered very important in Counseling-Learning. One regular activity is inviting students to comment on how they feeling. The teacher listening and respond to each comment carefully.

6. How is language viewed? How is culture viewed?
Language is for communication and culture is integral part of language learning.

7. What areas of language are emphasized? What language skills are emphasized?
The teacher might prepare specific materials or work with published textbook. Particular grammar points, pronunciation patterns, and vocabulary, based on the language the students have generated. And the most important skills are understanding and speaking.

8. What is the role of the students’ native language?
Students’ security is initially enhanced by using their native language.

9. How is evaluation accomplished?
• The students take a test at the end of a course.
• A teacher made classroom test likely be more of an integrative test than a discrete-point one.
• Students would be asked to write a paragraph or be given an oral interview.
• The teacher would encourage their students to self-evaluate-to look at their own learning and to become aware of their own progress.

10. How does the teacher respond to student errors?
The teacher to repeat correctly what the students has said incorrectly, without calling further attention to the error. It is consistent with sustaining a respectful, non-defensive relationship between teacher and students.