COMMUNITY LANGUAGE LEARNING
(CLL)
A. Introduction
The Community Language Learning (CLL) method was developed by
Charles A. Curran, a professor of psychology at Loyola University in Chicago. This method refers to two roles: that of the
knower (teacher) and student (learner). Also the method draws on the counseling
metaphor and refers to these respective roles as a counselor and a client.
Community language learning (CLL) was primarily designed for monolingual
conversation classes where the teacher-counselor would be able to speak the
learners' L1 (native language). The intention was that it would integrate
translation so that the students would disassociate language learning with risk
taking. It is a method that is based on English for communication and is
extremely learner-focused. Although each course is unique and student-dictated,
there are certain criteria that should be applied to all Community Language
Learning (CLL) classrooms, namely a focus on fluency in the early stages, an
undercurrent of accuracy throughout the course and learner empowerment as the
main focus.
