community language learning

introduction

Developed by Charles Curran who was a specialist in counseling and a professor of psychology. His application of psychological counseling techniques to learning is known as Counseling-Learning. CLL represents the use of Counseling-Learning theory to teach languages.

The learner is not thought of as a student but as a client. The instructors of the language are not considered teachers but, rather are trained in counseling skills adapted to their roles as language counselors.

student and teacher roles

• Students and teacher work together to develop the aspects of a language they would like to learn. 

• The teacher acts as a counselor, while the learner acts as a kind of patient being guided through established stages of development.

• This method considers the student to be “whole person”. It does not only focus on  students’ intellect but also their feeling in learning language.

• A relationship of mutual trust and support is considered essential to the learning process.

principles

• Content is determined by the participants/clients.

• Students are permitted to use their native language, and are provided with translations from the teacher which they then attempt to apply.

• Grammar and vocabulary are taught inductively.

• "Chunks" of target language produced by the students are recorded and later listened to they are also transcribed with native language equivalents to become texts the students work with.

stages

There are 5 main stages in CLL:

• Birth stage: a feeling of security and belonging is established

• As the learner's abilities improve, a measure of independence is achieved

• Learners start to speak independently

• The learners are secure enough to take criticism and correction

• The child becomes an "adult" and becomes proficient in the language