Communicative Ability
According to Tomlinson, communicative ability is not only about grammar. Name any two other important elements of communicative ability.
Any two of the following: fluency, appropriacy, clarity, effectiveness / achieving intended effects.
What teaching sequence does Tomlinson criticize when materials focus on isolated language items?
PPP: Presentation, Practice, Production.
According to Bao, what is one limitation of many traditional speaking tasks?
They are often too conventional, too narrow, too controlled, or rely too much on simple information-gap activities.
Bao says fluency is not just speed. Name the three dimensions of verbal fluency.
Cognitive fluency, utterance fluency, perceived fluency.
If you design a task where students only repeat useful phrases, which chapter idea are you ignoring?
That learners need meaningful, purposeful communication and not only controlled repetition or isolated phrase practice.
Why does Tomlinson prefer the term communicative ability over communicative competence?
Because communicative competence can refer to knowledge, while communicative ability focuses more clearly on the actual ability to communicate successfully.
What kind of input does Tomlinson say learners need in order to develop communication more effectively?
Rich, comprehensible, contextualized, authentic input.
Bao says speaking tasks should be meaningful and pleasurable. What does that suggest about task design?
Tasks should engage learners, feel purposeful, allow creativity or personal meaning, and make speaking enjoyable rather than mechanical.
Which type of fluency is about the mental planning process before speaking?
Cognitive fluency.
If you want to support cognitive fluency, what should you add before the speaking task?
Planning, rehearsal, scaffolding, idea-generation, or pre-communicative support.
What does Tomlinson mean by intended effect in communication?
It means the speaker or writer successfully achieves their purpose, for example persuading, building rapport, getting agreement, or influencing the listener/reader in some way.
According to the chapter, why is it a mistake to treat accuracy and fluency as opposites?
Because they should be developed together through meaningful interaction with authentic input and with other learners.
What are two alternatives Bao mentions to the traditional information-gap model?
Any two: observation gap, imagination gap, viewpoint gap, attitude gap.
Which type of fluency refers to the flow and delivery of oral production?
Utterance fluency.
A good speaking material should help learners think about the listener’s response. Which concept from Bao’s chapter does this relate to?
Perceived fluency.
Tomlinson argues that communication is more than sending a literal message. Give two examples of what communication also involves.
Any two: building trust, creating rapport, expressing opinions, establishing identity, interacting with others, being creative, being critical, achieving social effects.
Tomlinson says fluency should not be built only through controlled language practice. What kinds of opportunities should materials give learners instead?
Opportunities to talk and write at length, discuss familiar topics, express views, interact unstructuredly, collaborate socially, and communicate without over-relying on taught expressions.
Why is sociocultural competence important in speaking-task design?
Because speaking involves adapting language and behavior to different roles, situations, relationships, and cultural contexts, not just producing correct forms.
Which type of fluency depends on how the listener experiences and judges the speech?
Perceived fluency.
Your speaking activity has grammar focus, but no role, no audience, and no communicative purpose. Based on both chapters, what is the main weakness?
It does not support real communicative ability because it lacks meaningful context, appropriacy, intended effect, and purposeful interaction.
Explain why a grammatically correct message may still be a poor example of communicative ability.
Because it may still be inappropriate, unclear, unnatural, ineffective, or unsuccessful in achieving its purpose, even if the grammar is correct.
Why does Tomlinson criticize native-speaker norms as the only target for learners?
Because language varies across regions and users, and many L2 interactions happen between non-native speakers, so international intelligibility and successful communication matter more than copying an idealized native speaker.
A speaking task only asks learners to describe one picture in the same way. Based on Bao’s chapter, why might this be weak?
Because it offers little freedom of choice, limited interaction, limited meaning-making, and often no real communicative purpose or variation in perspective.
Why does Bao argue that fast speech does not automatically mean high-quality fluency?
Because learners may speak quickly but still have weak thinking, poor planning, unclear ideas, or communication that is difficult for listeners to understand.
Give one example of how to redesign a weak speaking task so it reflects ideas from both chapters.
Possible answer: add a real context, audience, and purpose; include planning time; allow learner choice; build interaction; focus on appropriacy and intended effect; include reflection or revision afterward.