COMPETENCY

BASED LANGUAGE
TEACHING
Resa Arsita (F1021171043)
Background

 According to Richards & Rodgers (2001, p.141) “Competency-Based

Language Teaching (CBLT) is an application of the principles of Competency-
Based Education to language teaching”. In Competency-Based Education
(CBE) the focus is on the “outcomes or outputs of learning”. By the end of
the 1970s Competency-Based Language Teaching was mostly used in
“work-related and survival-oriented language teaching programs for adults”
(Richards & Rodgers, 2001, p.141). Since the 1990s, CBLT has been seen as
“the state-of-the-art approach to adult ESL” (Auerbach, 1986, p.411) so that
any refugee in the United States who wished to receive federal assistance
had to attend a competency-based program (Auerbach, 1986, p.412) in
which they learned a set of language skills “that are necessary for
individuals to function proficiently in the society in which they live”
(Grognet & Crandall, 1982, p.3).
Theory of Language and Learning

 The major basis of CBLT is the “functional and interactional perspective on

the nature of language (Richards & Rodgers, 2001, p. 143) which means
that language learning always needs to be connected to the social context
it is used in. Therefore, language is seen as “a medium of interaction and
communication between people” who want to achieve “specific goals and
purposes” (Richards & Rodgers, 2001, p.143). This especially applies to
situations in which the learner has to fulfill a particular role with language
skills which can be predicted or determined for the relevant context
(Richards & Rodgers, 2001, p.143). In connection to this Competency-Based
Language Teaching shares the behaviorist view of learning that “certain life
encounters call for certain kinds of language” (Richards & Rodgers, 2001,
p.143). Another key aspect of both language and learning theory is the so
called “mosaic approach to language learning” (Richards & Rodgers, 2001,
p.143), which assumes that language can be divided into appropriate parts
and subparts. Communicative competence is then constructed from these
subparts put together in the correct order (Richards & Rodgers, 2001,
p.143). All these aspects together show that CBLT is in some respects
similar to Communicative Language Teaching (Richards & Rodgers, 2001,
p.143).
Syllabus

 A syllabus for a competency-based framework clearly differs from the

traditional approach to developing a syllabus. Instead of selecting a topic or
field of knowledge that one is going to teach (e.g., British History, American
Literature, or poetry) and then choosing “concepts, knowledge, and skills
that constitute that field of knowledge” (Richards & Rodgers, 2001, p.144),
Competency-based Language Teaching “is designed not around the notion
of subject knowledge but around the notion of competency” (Richards &
Rodgers, 2001, p.144). Therefore, the focus is on how the students can use
the language instead of their knowledge about the language. Schenck
(1978) points out that the teacher provides a list of competencies which the
course is going to deal with, and these are “typically required of students in
life role situations”.
 The fact that CBLT is an outcome-based approach also influences the
syllabus, especially the kind of assessment which is used. In contrast to
“norm-referenced assessment” (Docking, 1994, p.16), which is used in
many other teaching approaches and methods, “criterion-based
assessment” (Docking, 1994, p.16) is essential for CBLT. Students have to
perform specific language skills which they have already learned during the
course (Docking, 1994, p.16). The competencies tested “consist of a
description of the essential skills, knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors
required for effective performance of a real-world task or activity” (Richards
& Rodgers, 2001, p.144). These performance-criteria form the basis for the
assessment.
Learning Activities

 The learning activities used in CBLT can be described as systematically

designed activities to achieve a certain competence. These activities are
real-world tasks which “may be related to any domain of life” (Richards &
Rodgers, 2001, p.144) but especially to survival-oriented and work-related
situations in a new environment (Richards & Rodgers, 2001, p.144). Typical
areas, for which such competency-based activities have been developed,
are for example Job Application, Job Interview, or Work Schedules (Mrowicki,
1986). All these areas “can be described as a collection of units of
competencies” which consist of “specific knowledge, thinking processes,
attitudes, and perceptual and physical skills” (Docking, 1994, p.11).
Eight key features

 A focus on successful functioning in society which means that language is

taught in order to prepare the students for the different demands of the
world (Richards & Rodgers, 2001, p.146).
 A focus on life skills to determine that language is always taught as a
medium of communication in concrete tasks in which specific language
forms/skills are required (Richards & Rodgers, 2001, p.146).
 Task- or performance-centered orientation. The focus is on what the
students can do with the language and certain behaviors instead of
knowledge of the language (Richards & Rodgers, 2001, p.146).
 Modularized instruction emphasizes that the competencies which are
taught have to be systematically separated into manageable parts so that
both the teacher and students can handle the content and realize their
progress (Richards & Rodgers, 2001, p.146).
 Outcomes that are made explicit a priori. “Outcomes are public knowledge, known
and agreed upon by both learner and teacher” (Richards & Rodgers, 2001, p.146).
Therefore, the students clearly know what behaviors and skills are expected of
them (Richards & Rodgers, 2001, p.146).
 Continuous and ongoing assessment which means that the students are tested
before the course to determine which skills they lack and after they have had
instructions in that skill they are tested again to ascertain whether they have
achieved the necessary skills or not (Richards & Rodgers, 2001, p.146).
 Demonstrated mastery of performance objectives. The assessment is based on
the students’ performance of specific behaviors instead of traditional paper-and-
pencil-tests (Richards & Rodgers, 2001, p.146).
 Individualized, student-centered instruction. The instructions given by the teacher
are not time-based but the focus is on the progress the individual students make
at their own rate. Therefore, the teacher has to concentrate on each individual
students in order to support them in those areas in which they lack competence
(Richards & Rodgers, 2001, p.146).
Role of Teacher

The role of the teacher in a competency-based

framework is not defined by specific terms. The
teacher has to provide positive and constructive
feedback in order to help the students to improve
their skills. She/he needs to be aware of the
learners’ needs so that everybody feels welcome in
class (Richards & Rodgers, 2001, p.146). The
different competencies dealt with in class require
specific instructions for the various learning
activities. Thus the teacher has to give clear orders
and explanations to make sure that every student
understands the task they are going to deal with.
But the teacher does not push the students
because the instructions are not time-based;
instead the student’s progress is most important
(Richards & Rodgers, 2001, p.146). Another task of
the teacher in CBLT is to select learning activities
and to design a syllabus according to the
competency the students are going to acquire.
Role of Learners

 The role of the learner in a competency-based framework is to decide

whether the competencies are useful and relevant for him/her (Richards &
Rodgers, 2001, p.146). This shows that the learner has an active role in the
classroom which is underlined by the fact that the students are expected to
perform the skills learned (Richards & Rodgers, 2001, p.146). The
competencies the students will learn are clearly defined and present in the
public so that “the learner knows exactly what needs to be learned” and for
which purpose he/she has to use the competencies (Richards & Rodgers,
2001, p.147). In this regard it is vital that every competency is mastered
one at a time because this makes sure that the learners know what they
have already learned and what the next steps will look like (Richards &
Rodgers, 2001, p.147). Moreover, the students have to stay in the actual
program until they improve. After they mastered their skills, they move into
a more proficient group of students. The main goal of the learner in
Competency-Based Language Teaching is to be able to adapt and transfer
knowledge from one setting to another.
materials

 The materials the teacher chooses are mainly “sample texts and
assessment tasks that provide examples of texts and assessment tasks that
relate to the competency” (Richards & Rodgers, 2001, p.147). These
materials are used to provide the students with “the essential skills,
knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors required for effective performance of a
real-world task or activity” (Richards & Rodgers, 2001, p.144). A great
variety of competencies should be improved by these tasks. On the one
hand, knowledge and learning competencies as well as oral competencies
are dealt with. On the other hand, the materials include tasks to improve
the reading and writing competencies (Richards & Rodgers, 2001, p.147).
Procedure

 At the beginning of a course in a competency-based framework the

students have to go through an initial assessment, in which the teacher
determines the current proficiency level of the individual student. After this
the students are grouped on the basis of “their current English proficiency
level, their learning pace, their needs, and their social goals for learning
English” (Richards & Rodgers, 2001, p.147). Furthermore, a course based
on CBLT is divided into three stages, which the students have to go through
in order to successfully finish the course (Richards & Rodgers, 2001, p.147).
At Stages 1 and 2 the learners deal with twelve competencies which are
related to general language development (Richards & Rodgers, 2001,
p.147). At Stage 3 the students are grouped on the basis of their learning
goals and “competencies are defined according to the three syllabus
strands of Further Study, Vocational English, and Community Access”
(Richards & Rodgers, 2001, p.147).
Conclusion

 There are both critics and supporters of Competency-Based Language

Teaching. According to Tollefson (1986) it is very difficult to develop lists of
competencies for every specific situation. This is due above all to the fact
that many areas in which people need certain competencies are impossible
to operationalise (Richards & Rodgers, 2001, p.148). Other researchers
argue that describing an activity in terms of a set of different competencies
is not enough in order to deal with the complexity of the activity as a whole
(Richards & Rodgers, 2001, p.148). But on the other hand, CBLT is gaining
popularity in the whole world. It is argued that through the clearly defined
outcomes and the continuous feedback in CBLT, the quality of assessment
as well as the students’ learning and the teaching are improved (Docking,
1994, p.15). These improvements can be seen on all educational levels,
“from primary school to university, and from academic studies to workplace
training” (Docking, 1994, p.15). Rylatt and Lohan (1997, p.18) point out that
“the business of improving learning competencies and skills will remain one
of the world’s fastest growing industries and priorities” in the future.
THANK YOU