First, the development of communicative language teaching

(A) the theoretical basis of communicative approach

Communicative teaching method, also known as communicative language teaching, is put forward on the basis of On Communicative Competence by American anthropologist hymes, emphasizing the social and cultural characteristics and communicative functions of language. The core idea of communicative language teaching is that the purpose of language learning is "communication", so the most effective teaching method must be "communication", that is, learning communication through communication, especially communication between individuals, and finally enabling students to acquire the ability to communicate in English. Communicative approach is also one of the most effective methods in foreign language teaching.

(B) the main manifestations of communicative approach

The communicative approach used in foreign language teaching has the following four forms: ① Language is a communicative tool to transmit information, and both teachers' language teaching and students' language learning serve purposeful communication; ② Speech communication takes place in a specific context, and teachers teach language materials in a specific language background in class, so that students can finish their speech tasks purposefully; If there is freedom of choice in communication, unexpected situations will occur. Group activities are often used to strengthen communication between students and improve their communicative competence. ④ Communication is based on the authenticity of language and context. Teachers should carefully design teaching contents and tasks, and organically combine in-class communication activities with out-of-class communication situations, which will help students complete discourse communication in real language situations and improve their comprehensive language application ability and practical skills. Therefore, communicative approach advocates organizing teaching by performing and completing meaningful communicative tasks, and emphasizes language learning in middle school and active communication in language learning.

Second, the problems in English teaching in higher vocational colleges

(A) vulnerable to the limitations of the traditional teaching model

At present, the implementation of English teaching in higher vocational colleges has been seriously affected in space, class hours and the number of students. The traditional English teaching classroom is terraced, with podium, blackboard, tables and chairs, and no simulated working environment. The teaching of "working process knowledge" naturally becomes the transmission of "pure theoretical knowledge", which is in sharp contrast with the need of "restoring classroom work scenes" mentioned in the reform of higher vocational education. Moreover, English in higher vocational colleges has always been taught in large classes, with a large number of students and limited class hours. It is impossible for teachers to take care of every student and pay attention to the cultivation and exercise of students' practical language ability. This has also formed another big problem-the contradiction between the cultivation of practical ability as the core and knowledge teaching as the core.

(B) the role of teachers and students is single

In the traditional English teaching class, the roles of teachers and students have always been "actors" and "audience". In class, teachers are used to explaining and giving orders, and students are used to listening and obeying. Basic language communication is limited to teachers asking questions and students answering them. Most of the time in class, teachers talk about knowledge, students keep taking notes, teachers give priority to explanations, and students take notes. The whole teaching classroom is orderly and silent. If there is more communication, it may also be discussed separately by teachers and students after class. This "less communication between teachers and students, no communication between classmates" Chinese teaching classroom has formed another outstanding contrast with the training goal of cultivating higher vocational students to use English for practical work communication.

(C) cross-cultural awareness training is weak

For many years, English classroom teaching has been focused on systematically teaching grammar, correcting pronunciation and discriminating vocabulary. If teachers break away from the learning materials in textbooks and integrate other cultural background knowledge into the classroom, students will feel abrupt and unaccustomed. The general view of English teaching is language teaching, which aims at cultivating students' listening, speaking, reading and writing skills, and students' solid mastery of vocabulary, and culture is dispensable. Weak cross-cultural awareness will make students think that language learning is just four skills plus culture. Higher vocational English not only cultivates learners with specific cultural abilities, but also cultivates cross-cultural personality. Its teaching purpose is to improve students' ability to express their views and communicate in English. However, few English teachers systematically and deeply introduce cultural knowledge related to teaching content in class, let alone cultivate students' cross-cultural ability, which is another major problem in English teaching in higher vocational colleges.

Third, the application of communicative approach in vocational English teaching

Higher vocational education is in the stage of reform, and English teachers in higher vocational colleges are actively exploring ways to change the status quo and solve existing problems. Among them, communicative approach, as a relatively mature teaching theory, conforms to the overall trend of social development and the educational goal of higher vocational colleges. Its application in language teaching plays an obvious role.

(A) the creation of language situations, to create a language communication background

As we all know, language communication needs an appropriate and good context. In the process of language teaching in higher vocational colleges, because students cannot be brought into the real working context, the classroom is a direct place to stimulate students' interest in learning, enhance students' participation and cultivate students' communicative competence. In the limited space and time, it is impossible to change the overall pattern of the classroom. Therefore, teachers should give full play to their subjective initiative, try their best to create a language situation in line with the working environment, create a communicative background for language learning, strengthen the interaction between teachers and students by using appropriate teaching methods and advanced teaching means, and improve students' awareness of classroom participation. First of all, the space next to the podium can be set as "working corner", and several tables and chairs can be simply placed in the U-shaped pattern of the conference room before class, so that students can complete the simulated work communication process in this simulated scene, not only practicing English, but also showing themselves. Students can increase their learning enthusiasm and self-confidence by directly participating in language communication activities. Secondly, teachers can create language communication background according to the teaching content. For example, in the "work and occupation" unit, we can re-integrate the teaching content and design the language exchange background of "entering the workplace" from the aspects of talent recruitment, resume production and simulated interview. Because it is closely related to students' work and life, students must actively participate in this teaching process, thus improving the teaching effect. If teachers carefully design the communication background of each language, the classroom will gradually form different language communication situations at work, laying a good foundation for students to adapt to work communication.

(B) the use of "working process knowledge", set up language communication tasks

The ultimate goal of language learning is for interpersonal communication. Teachers should stop singing "one-man show". Teachers should learn to use scripts, that is, "working process knowledge", and guide, organize, evaluate and help students complete performances like "directors", that is, "language communication tasks". Here, we can use two types of communicative classroom teaching activities to carry out classroom teaching. ① Functional and interactive activities. For example, a "warm-up" session is held before each class, and questions are set according to the teaching content, such as comparative and selective questions or disordered questions, so that students can answer according to common sense or experience, and teachers will not announce the answers first, so as to guide students to attend classes in suspense, which can strengthen the interaction between teachers and students, promote students' positive thinking, and thus enhance their interest in learning; ② Social interaction activities. On the one hand, teachers choose teaching content according to "working process knowledge", set language communication tasks that are in line with students' knowledge base, and then let students cooperate with each other through teaching steps such as grouping, topic discussion and role playing, so that students can experience the spirit of cooperation in their work and cultivate the sense of teamwork; On the other hand, teachers can organize students to hold debates, writing competitions or oral competitions, so that students can know how to handle crises and resolve conflicts in English, and at the same time, they can enhance their sense of competition.

(C) strengthen cross-cultural awareness, improve language comprehensive ability

Language is the carrier of culture, and culture is the background of language teaching, which affects the teaching effect all the time. Moreover, in view of the present situation of English teaching in higher vocational colleges, strengthening the cultivation of cross-cultural awareness must be one of the main goals of teaching and learning. Communicative approach emphasizes that language teaching should not only acquire the ability to understand and generate grammatical sentences, but also help students develop their communicative competence. Therefore, when designing the syllabus, English teachers should arrange teaching activities with cultural background according to the teaching content, so that students can feel the differences of language behavior in different cultural backgrounds in the process of language communication. For example, when western countries introduce others for the first time, they often mainly introduce their work, identity and education, such as "she is a new employee who graduated from Harvard University". In China culture, personal relationships, hobbies and external images are mainly introduced, such as "This is a new employee. She is very good and beautiful. " If Americans are not happy to hear this introduction, they will think that their abilities are not recognized. Therefore, appropriately expanding the knowledge of language and culture background and introducing the folk traditions and customs of the destination country can make students more decent and generous in the process of language communication and avoid misunderstanding. The cultivation of cross-cultural awareness can train people's way of thinking and thinking ability, and finally enable students to realize the all-round improvement of humanistic quality through language learning.

Four. conclusion

Communicative teaching method can make the boring and monotonous language teaching process lively. Applying it to English teaching in higher vocational colleges can not only improve students' interest in language learning, cultivate students' English communication ability and improve classroom teaching effect, but also provide effective guidance for the reform and development of English teaching in higher vocational colleges in the future. Therefore, as English teachers in higher vocational colleges, we should continue to practice and explore in depth on the basis of communicative teaching method, sum up English teaching methods and teaching models that are more suitable for the training objectives of higher vocational talents in China, and cultivate more high-quality, communicative and applied skilled talents for the society.

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