Communicative language teaching: Difference between revisions

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'''Communicative language teaching''' ('''CLT'''), or the '''communicative approach''' ('''CA'''), is an [[language-teaching approach|approach]] to [[language teaching]] that emphasizes [[Social interaction|interaction]] as both the means and the ultimate goal of study.

Learners in environmentssettings usingwhich communicationutilise toCLT learn and practice the target language bythrough interactionsthe following activities: communicating with one another and the instructor, in the studytarget language; ofstudying "authentic texts" (those written in the target language for purposes other than language learning),; and the use ofusing the language both in class and outside of class.

LearnersTo promote language skills in all types of situations, learners converse about personal experiences with partners, and instructors teach topics outside of the realm of traditional grammar to promote language skills in all types of situations. That methodCLT also claims to encourage learners to incorporate their personal experiences into their language learning environment and to focus on the learning experience, in addition to the learning of the target language.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Nunan|first=David|date=1991-01-01|title=Communicative Tasks and the Language Curriculum|jstor=3587464|journal=TESOL Quarterly|volume=25|issue=2|pages=279–295|doi=10.2307/3587464|citeseerx=10.1.1.466.1153}}</ref>

According to CLT, the goal of language education is the ability to communicate in the target language.<ref name=":9">{{Cite book|title=Communicative competence : theory and classroom practice : texts and contexts in second language learning|last=J.|first=Savignon, Sandra|date=1997-01-01|publisher=McGraw-Hill|isbn=978-0-07-083736-2|oclc=476481905}}{{pn|date=January 2023}}</ref> This is in contrast to previous views in which [[grammar–translation method|grammatical competence]] was commonly given top priority.<ref name=":7" />

CLT also positions the teacher as a facilitator, rather than an instructor. Furthermore, theThe approach is a non-methodical system that does not use a textbook series to teach the target language but works on developing sound oral and verbal skills prior to reading and writing.

== Background ==

=== Societal influences ===

The rise of CLT in the 1970s and the early 1980s was partly in response to the lack of success with traditional language teaching methods{{fact|date=March 2024}}<!--How exactly was there 'lack of success'? It's not as if people hadn't succeeded in learning the languages they studied during all the decades and centuries in which grammar-translation was the standard approach.--> and partly by the increase in demand for language learning. In Europe, the advent of the [[European Common Market]], an economic predecessor to the [[European Union]], led to migration in Europe and an increased number of people who needed to learn a foreign language for work or personal reasons. Meanwhile, more children were given the opportunity to learn foreign languages in school, as the number of secondary schools offering languages rose worldwide as part of a general trend of curriculum-broadening and modernization, with foreign-language study no longer confined to the elite academies. In Britain, the introduction of [[comprehensive schools]], which offered foreign-language study to all children, rather than to the select few of the elite [[grammar schools]], greatly increased the demand for language learning.<ref name=":0" />

The increased demand included many learners who struggled with traditional methods such as [[grammar translation]], which involves the direct translation of sentence after sentence as a way to learn the language. Those methods assumed that students aimed to master the target language and were willing to study for years before expecting to use the language in real life. However, those assumptions were challenged by adult learners, who were busy with work, and by schoolchildren who were less academically gifted and so could not devote years to learning before they could use the language. Educators realized that to motivate those students an approach with a more immediate reward was necessary,<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=Communicative Language Teaching in Practice|last=Mitchell|first=Rosamond|publisher=Centre for Information on Language Teaching and Research|year=1988|isbn=978-0-948003-87-5|___location=Great Britain|pages=23–24, 64–68}}</ref> and they began to use CLT, an approach that emphasizes communicative ability and yielded better results.<ref>Richards, Jack C. ''Communicative language teaching today''. SEAMEO Regional Language Centre, 2005.</ref>{{page needed|date=March 2024}}{{clarify|date=March 2024}}<!--How exactly were the 'better results' established?-->

=== Academic influences ===

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Later in the 1970s British linguist [[M.A.K. Halliday]] studied how language functions are expressed through grammar.<ref name=":8">Littlewood, William. ''Communicative language teaching: An introduction''. Cambridge University Press, 1981, pp. 541–545</ref>

The development of communicative language teaching was bolstered by these academic ideas. Before the growth of communicative language teaching, the primary method of language teaching was [[Language pedagogy#The oral approach and situational language teaching|situational language teaching]], a method that was much more clinical in nature and relied less on direct communication. In Britain, applied linguists began to doubt the efficacy of situational language teaching, partly in response to Chomsky's insights into the nature of language. Chomsky had shown that the structural theories of language then prevalent could not explain the variety that is found in real communication.<ref name=":10">{{Cite book|title=Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching|last1=Richards|first1=Jack|last2=Rodgers|first2=Theodore|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2014|isbn=978-1-107-67596-4|___location=Cambridge|pages=23–24, 84–85|edition=3nd}}</ref> In addition, applied linguists like Christopher Candlin and [[Henry Widdowson]] observed that the current model of language learning was ineffective in classrooms. They saw a need for students to develop communicative skill and functional competence in addition to mastering language structures.<ref name=":10" />

In 1966, the linguist and anthropologist [[Dell Hymes]] developed the concept of [[communicative competence]], which redefined what it meant to "know" a language. In addition to speakers having mastery over the structural elements of language, they must also be able to use those structural elements appropriately in a variety of speech domains.<ref name=":9" /> That can be neatly summed up by Hymes's statement: "There are rules of use without which the rules of grammar would be useless."<ref name=":0" /> The idea of communicative competence stemmed from Chomsky's concept of the [[linguistic competence]] of an ideal native speaker.<ref name=":9" /> Hymes did not make a concrete formulation of communicative competence, but subsequent authors, notably Michael Canale, have tied the concept to language teaching.<ref name=":11">{{cite journal |doi=10.1093/applin/I.1.1 |title=Theoretical Bases of Communicative Approaches to Second Language Teaching and Testing |year=1980 |last1=Canale |first1=M. |last2=Swain |first2=M. |journal=Applied Linguistics |pages=1–47 }}</ref> Canale and Swain (1980) defined communicative competence in terms of three components: grammatical competence, [[sociolinguistic]] competence, and strategic competence. Canale (1983) refined the model by adding discourse competence, which contains the concepts of [[cohesion (linguistics)|cohesion]] and [[coherence (linguistics)|coherence]].<ref name=":11" />

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In the mid-1990s, the Dogme 95 manifesto influenced language teaching through the [[Dogme language teaching]] movement. It proposed that published materials stifle the communicative approach. As such, the aim of the Dogme approach to language teaching is to focus on real conversations about practical subjects in which communication is the engine of learning. The idea behind the Dogme approach is that communication can lead to explanation, which leads to further learning. That approach is the antithesis of situational language teaching, which emphasizes learning by text and prioritizes grammar over communication.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Savignon |first1=Sandra J. |title=Communicative language teaching |journal=Theory into Practice |date=1 September 1987 |volume=26 |issue=4 |pages=235–242 |doi=10.1080/00405848709543281 }}</ref>

A survey of communicative competence by Bachman (1990) divides competency into the broad headings of "organizational competence," which includes both grammatical and discourse (or textual) competence, and "pragmatic competence," which includes both sociolinguistic and "[[illocutionary act|illocutionary]]" competence.<ref name=":12">{{Cite book|title=Fundamental Considerations in Language Testing|last=Bachman|first=Lyle|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1990|isbn=978-0-19-437003-5|___location=Oxford|pages=84–92}}</ref> Strategic competence is associated with the interlocutors' ability in using communication strategies.<ref name=":12" />

When discussing CLT, sometimes it can be found that there are mentions of two versions of the approach: the weak and the strong. The weak version emphasizes giving learners opportunities to use English for effective communication. The strong version, on the other hand, posits that language acquisition primarily occurs through communication.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Setiyadi |first=Agus Bambang |url=http://repository.ut.ac.id/3946/1/PBIS4403-M1.pdf# |title=TEFL II |publisher=Universitas Terbuka |year=2014 |isbn=9796898845 |edition=1st |___location=Jakarta |pages=1.17 |language=English}}</ref>

==Classroom activities==

CLT teachers choose classroom activities based on what they believe is going towill be most effective for students developing communicative abilities in the [[Target language (translation)|target language]] (TL). Oral activities are popular among CLT teachers, as opposedcompared to grammar drills or reading and writing activities, because they include active conversation and creative, unpredicted responses from students. Activities vary based on the level of language class they are being used in. They promote collaboration, fluency, and comfort in the TL. The six activities listed and explained below are commonly used in CLT classrooms.<ref name=":0"/>

=== Role-play ===

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*[[Learning by teaching]] (LdL)

*[[Notional-functional syllabus]]

*[[Task-based language learningteaching]]

*[[Teaching English as a foreign language]]

*[[Target language (translation)]]