Community Language Learning

also called Counseling Language Learning was created in the 70's by Charles A Curran, a Jesuit priest and professor of psychology and Paul La Forge.  Inspired by the humanistic psychology of Carl Rogers, it aimed to remove the anxiety from learning by changing the relationship between the teacher and student.  In Community Language Learning the teacher is the "knower", the one who knows the language is seen as being in the same relationship to the student as the counselor is to a client.  The client has a problem(in this case not knowing the language)which is causing confusion and problems.  The counselors role is not to tell the client what to do, but to help him or her to explore and resolve the problem while retaining personal autonomy.  In Community Language Learning, the learner is the one who decides what is happening. Students are free to determine content.  A typical Community Language Learning lesson using this technique is as follows:
Stage one-Inverstment- The students sit in a circle with a tape recorder in the middle.  The knower is outside the circle.  The first student who wants to say something calls the knower over, and quietly says what she wants to say in his or her own language.  The knower repeats this in English, using an encouraging tone of voice.  The student has the chance to repeat and practice the utterance, with help if necessary from the knower, before finally recording it on the tape.  Another student who wishes to reply then repeats the process.Stage two-Analysis-Between one session and the next (or possibly immediately, on the board)the knower transcribes the complete conversation, and the students then listen again to the tape while following the transcript.  They then have the chance to ask for any explanation they want, and if they wish, to ask for practice activities on specific points.Stage three-Reflection-The students then have the chance to reflect on the whole experience, and to decide how useful it was, if the students could have done things differently and so on.