Communicative language teaching

Communicative language teaching (CLT), or the communicative approach, is an approach to language teaching that emphasizes interaction as both the means and the ultimate goal of study.

Background

Communicative language teaching rose to prominence in the 1970s and early 1980s as a result of many disparate developments in both Europe and the United States. First, there was an increased demand for language learning, particularly in Europe. The advent of the European common market led to widespread European migration, and consequently there was a large population of people who needed to learn a foreign language for work or for personal reasons. At the same time, children were increasingly able to learn foreign languages in school. The number of secondary schools offering languages rose worldwide in the 1960s and 1970s as part of a general trend of curriculum-broadening and modernization, and foreign-language study ceased to be confined to the elite academies.

Outline

CLT is usually characterized as a broad approach to teaching, rather than as a teaching method with a clearly defined set of classroom practices. As such, it is most often defined as a list of general principles or features. One of the most recognized of these lists is David Nunan (1991) five features of CLT:

1. An emphasis on learning to communicate through interaction in the target language.
2. The introduction of authentic texts into the learning situation.
3. The provision of opportunities for learners to focus, not only on language but also on the learning process itself.
4. An enhancement of the learner’s own personal experiences as important contributing elements to classroom learning.
5. An attempt to link classroom language learning with language activities outside the classroom.

These five features are claimed by practitioners of CLT to show that they are very interested in the needs and desires of their learners as well as the connection between the language as it is taught in their class and as it used outside the classroom.

Classroom activities

Classroom activities used in communicative language teaching can include the following:

• Role-play
• Interviews
• Information gap
• Games
• Language exchanges
• Surveys
• Pair-work

Role of the teacher

the teacher facilitates the communication in the classroom, and he also acts like an adviser and a guide. Role of the student: Ss are communicators. They are actively engage in trying to make themselves understood and in understanding others. Use of the mother tongue: can be used. However, whenever possible the target language should be used.

 Activities

 Scrambled sentences Language Games Picture Strip Story Role Play.

 Techniques

 Communicative language teaching uses almost any activity that engages learners in authentic communication. functional communication activities in which communication is involved, and social interaction activities, such as conversation and discussion sessions, dialogues and role plays.

 MATERIALS

Language materials authentic to native speakers of the target language. (news paper, radio and television broadcast, menus, weather forecast, timetables). For beginner students it is possible to use real with out a lot of language.