As a conclusion, I would say that since/as our National Syllabus for FL has adopted the communicative approach, it is quite obvious that the target language, English in our case, should be the language of communication and interaction in English class. This refers to communication and interaction between teacher-students and between and among students. And on the other hand we must also acknowledge (reconocer) the importance of strategies in the language-learning process, and consequently we should help students acquire and put into practice any strategies that may help them learn the target language, English

To sum up, in this topic I have dealt with the concept of communication, the 2 forms of communication : (verbal and non-verbal) and I have focused on how to deal with the Foreign Language in the English class in order to use it as a means of communication but the teacher-Student and among the Students in the English class.

In the 2nd part I have concentrated on the use of some Extralinguistic strategies in the English (classroom such as: TPR techniques, Action songs and drama game)

I would say that as our National syllabus for Foreign Language has adopted the communicative. Approach, the target language should be the language of communication. And interaction in the English class.

On the other hand, we must acknowledge the relevance of strategies in the language-learning process. So, we should help students acquire a strategy that may help them learn to communicate in the target language. These extralingüistic devices reveal the Students' adjustment to the communicative situation.

Though we may not wish to use a TPR methodology with all its implications, the contributions it makes to the teaching-learning process as part of our methodological plan in an eclectic approach can be valuable.

As teachers we will be aware that elements such as furniture, space, decorations and so on can help or hinder communication. There will be occasions when we will want to re-arrange desks, chairs, decorations, posters or other objects, so that they can help in a communicative process. For example, if we are perfoming a play we can set up various objects so that the children fell contextualized. For instance, in a play about Goldilocks and the Three Bears we could put a table in the centre of the classroom with three different-size chairs beside it. This extralinguistic elements help children, who can use them as aids in communication.

Some techniques, which focus on the aids of non-verbal communication. That we can use in class are:

TPR / ACTION SONG / DRAMA GAMES

TPR is a methodology for beginners. It was developed by ASHER. He postulated that language must be taught through actions
It is based in kinecthetics/learning which reinforces the learning of meaning of the words. An example is the chant: “close your eyes “Children learn to understand simple imperatives with associated parts of the face.

The other technique mentioned is Action songs, which involves body movements. Ss perform the actions mentioned in the song as they sing it, so that the language is more deeply acquire. An example of an action song is HEAD, SHOULDERS, KNEES AND TOES. This song practices the vocabulary of the body parts.

Actually, TPR exercises and Action songs (are choral activities that involve the whole class and offer Ss the opportunity to learn from the other Students.

The last type of activity that I will explain, in which Students have to use extralingüistic devices is Drama games.

Drama games: develops Ss ability to communitate both verbally and non-verbal. Also, they develop Students imagination and allowing the expression of emotions. E.g. What are we doing?
Where Students play in groups of 3. 2 Studentss mime an action, while the 3rd are has to guess what they are doing

EXTRALINGUISTIC STRATEGIES: NON VERBAL REACTIONS TO MESSAGES IN DIFFERENT CONTEXTS.-

In this part of the topic we will see how the use of extralinguistic elements is linked not only to achieving grammatical and sociocultural competence but to strategic competence. This is the ability to plan and adapt communication, so that the desired end is achieved.
Non-verbal inputs help us understand what is said.
Children need to use non-verbal communication. In order to compensate verbal cognitive deficits. So we should improve their non-verbal communication skills.

How does communication take place in Foreign Language classroom?

We can do it through the use of communicative activities. These activities are relapsed to the topics that we deal with in the course, and they are done through Controlled practice.

Littlewood distinguished 2 types of communicative activities.

Functional communication activities (which) involves the communication of information. E.g. doing surveys completing questionnaires of listening to stories.

Social ingeraction activities: Involve simulation and role-play. In a simulation pupils acts is themselves, while in a role-play. They act as some on else, An example is an activity in which Students of 6th level (can do a role-play) pretending they are ordering food at a restaurant.

Communication in the English class takes places in different ways. Focusing on Teacher´s interaction is essential that the teacher to communicate with Students in the Foreign Language. We speak English using a lot of gesturing and body language, using simple structures and vocabulary that Students are more familiar with.

We should always promote Students´ use of English when they talk to us. We can stick small posters on the walls containing some frequent expressing such as:

How you go something? I don’t know.

We should five good pronunciation models. We can use songs of chants to foster good pronunciation

In addition, we must create a Safe atmosphere in when Students feel confident in the use of the Foreign Language. and we should perform in a fun environment. Both aspects have to do with D ´s affective hypothesis.

We should take into consideration that the primary Students level of English is limited. Consequently, most of the Students´ production (in both oral and W) is guided and controlled production. The language input Ss receive should be just a little higher than their actual knowledge. This is what R calls INPUT +1

The other type of comm. in the English class is Topic Based. It refers to the fact that much of the communication that takes place in the classroom is about topics that should be very close to the Students´own life and experience. E.g. some topics that we usually teach are: food, clothes, family, shopping, hobbies, Students´ favourite school subjects.

So, communication is essential part of the Foreign Language curricular content.

The content can be expanded. E.g. regarding weather routine, Students from the 1st cycle learn the structure “It´s cold”.
In the 2nd cycle, She can add the expression It’s freezing now the Q is???

Ordinary Everyday classroom interaction

Includes:
• The use of routines
• The use of Everyday language functions.

English teachers use Routines when we start the class, like: Good M, How are you? What’s the weather like? Or What’s day is it today? This is a great way to start the class in a communicative way and is a wonderful Warm-up.

Everyday language functions and the structures associated with them are commonly use in class, such as expressing needs or asking permission.

Regarding communication in English class at Primary Education stage, we can distinguish 2 types of comm:

• The type of comm. that belong to ordinary everyday classroom interaction
• The type of comm. that is common in English class that is Topic-Based.

Non- Verbal communication: That is any transmission of signals accomplished by other means than spoken and written words, such as: body movements, physical characteristics, paralanguage, tactile conduct and artifacts.

Messages are sometimes communicated by non verbal signals. The following are typical contextual non verbal elements:

1. Body movements including gestures, movements of the body, limbs, hands, head, feet, facial expressions (smiling), eye behaviour such as blinking, direction of sight and also posture.
2. Physical characteristics include physical appearance, general attraction, body scents, height, hair, skin tone (these characteristics are constant).
3. Paralanguage: refers to how something is said and not what is said. It uses the non verbal vocal signs surronding speech (tone, qualities of the voice, rythm).
4. Proxemics: the use and perception of social and personal space. The individual determines his own space based on social and personal rules.
5. Tactile conduct: kissing, hitting, guiding, etc.
6. Artifacts: include the manipulation of objects, which can act as non-verbal stimuli, with interacting persons.These artifacts can be: perfume, clothing, lipstick ...
7. Surroundig factors: this category includes those elements that intervene in human relations which are not a direct part of it: furniture, interior decoration.

The purpose of non verbal communication is to:

a) to communicate emotions
b) to regulate communication/conventions.
c) To interpret.
d) To identify social status, etc.

The cultural specificness of these elements should be highlited (Spanish and English gestures, for instance, are different).

Meaningful language includes a knowledge of these aspects for true communication.
On the other hand, the importance of drama, mime, action songs, role-plays, simulation of real life situations to include as many non-verbal elements as possible cannot be underestimated.

Verbal communication means communication though Spoken or written words. The characteristics of verbal communication according to Canale & Swain are the following:

• 1st: it is used in social interaction.
• 2nd: it involves a high degree of unpredictibity and creativity in form and message. (humans can create a lot of messages; refers to the written language, poetry in the must creative written form and also creativity means that language evolves).
• 3rd: It takes places in sociocultural contexts which provide clues to the correct interpretation.
• 4th: comm. always has a purpose
  

As regards verbal and non-verbal communication in the context of language learning / teaching, we must point out that acquisition of verbal skills has set the standard, whereas non-verbal communication skills have been largely overlooked. On the other hand, non-verbal skills are relatively easy to teach because students use them when communicating in their own native language, although they do it unconsciously. So our aim as English teachers is to help students use those skills when they are communicating in English.

I would also like to stress the fact that the terms verbal and oral should not be confused. Verbal communication means communication through words, and these words may be spoken or written. A verbal translation, for example, is a translation made word for word. The term “oral”, on the other hand, excludes the written form of language.

Following Canale & Swain, communication is understood as the exchange and negotiation of information but, at least, 2 individuals, through the use of verbal and non-verbal symbols, oral of written modes, production & comprehension processes.

There are two forms of communication: Verbal & non-verbal communication.

Communicative competence is therefore a linguistic term which refers to a student's L2 ability. It not only refers to a student's ability to apply and use grammatical rules, but also to form correct utterances, and know how to use these utterances appropriately. The term was coined by Dell Hymes in 1966, reacting against the inadequacy of Noam Chomsky's distinction between competence and performance.



Canale and Swain developed the idea of communicative competence, which consists, basically of five subcompetences:

(1) GRAMMATICAL Competence or the ability to use the rules of the language system. (example: the position of the adjective in English)

(2) DISCOURSE Competence or the ability to use different types of speech o writing based on the situation and to do it coherently and cohesively.

(3) SOCIOLINGUISTIC C. or the ability to adapt utterances to a particular social context (social class, regional languages, registers).

(4) STRATEGIC C. or the ability to influence the course of a communicative situation (body movement, intonation). The aim is to maintain the channel of communication open or to improve the reception.

(5) SOCIOCULTURAL C. being familiar with the social and cultural context, the background where the language is spoken.(e.g., when we say “milkman” we understand all the contexts such as: Who is the milkman?, When does the milkman deliver the milk? and so on).

1. Notional categories are the meanings and concepts that the learner needs in order to communicate, for example, time, quantity, duration and location.
   
2. Categories of communicative function are speech acts such as requesting, offering apologizing. This analysis has been incorporated by the Council of Europe. The Council of Europe’s aims are to make communicative competence the goal of language teaching and to develop procedures for the teaching of the four language skills that acknowledge the interdependence of language and communication.

Communication has been defined as the communication as the exchange of meanings between individuals through a common system of symbols.

According to SAVIGNON, communication takes place in an infinite variety of situations and success in a particular role depends on one’s understanding of the contents and on prior experience of similar kind. Success requires making appropriate choices of register and style in terms of the situation and the other participants. Communication started being studied in detailed in the 1920´s. in the 1960´s MC LUHAN emphasized that contemporary society had moved from a print culture to a visual one. His famous phrase: “The medium is the message”. By the late twentieth century, the main focus of interest of communication was drifting away from MC LUHAN theory and centring upon:

a) the mass communication industries

b) persuasive communication and the use of technology to influence dispositions

c) processes of interpersonal communication as mediators of information

d) dynamics of verbal and non verbal communication between individuals

e) perception of different kinds of communication and

f) uses of communication technology for social and artistic purposes including education.

La comunicación en la clase de lengua extranjera: comunicación verbal y no verbal. Estrategias extralingüísticas: reacciones no verbales a mensajes en diferentes contextos.

The first part of this essay is to study Communication in the foreign language class and verbal and non verbal Communications. The second part of this essay will study extralingüistic strategies including non verbal reactions to messages in different contexts.

First of all, I would like to point out an important change that has taken place in the teaching of foreign languages in past few decades. Traditional approaches used to treat foreign language teaching and learning as a package of knowledge that needed to be analysed and observed as successive series of rules mostly grammatical that needed to be learnt before moving on to further sets of rules. The use of the target language in class for communication purposes was only marginal.

The communicative approach with its focus on communication in the target language as both as means and an end in itself is a relatively phenomenon in language teaching. It was developed by ROBERT LANGS in the early 70s, has greatly changed the way foreign languages are learnt and taught not only in Spain but worldwide. I will refer to this with more detail later on.

• To develop the first part of this topic: Communication in the foreign language class, I will deal with the Communication theory. For this purpose, I will firstly present the definition of communication. Secondly, I will discuss the main types of communication and finally I will try to identify the nature of communication.