Draft:Promoting Language Learning Through the Communicative Language Teaching Approach: History, Focus, and Characteristics

What Is Communicative Language Teaching?

Perhaps the majority of language teachers today, when asked to identify the methodology they employ in their classrooms, mention “communicative” as the methodology of choice. However, when pressed to give a detailed account of what they mean by “communicative,” explanations vary widely. Does communicative language teaching, or CLT, mean teaching conversation, an absence of grammar in a course, or an emphasis on open-ended discussion activities as the main features of a course? What do you understand by communicative language teaching?

The CLT is defined as an approach of teaching a second or foreign language that focuses on learners’ interaction whether as the means or the ultimate goal of learning a target language. (Kaisheng, 2007).

CLT means knowing when to say what to whom (communicative competence) more than linguistic competence. (Zainab & Eman, 2023)

History of CLT The inception of this teaching methodology is believed to have started in the 1960s. It was Noam Chomsky, the American linguistic theorist who has given rise to the communicative language teaching methodology. His theories have accelerated the shift from situational language teaching to CLT. Unlike, communicative language teaching, situational language teaching did not give importance to direct communication. The traditional language teaching approaches did not have much impact as the learners failed to master foreign languages in their true sense or rather failed to communicate effectively. In the 1970s, when people started traveling from one country to the other for better prospects, second language learning became essential. A lot of people around the world started migrating to Europe in the hope of better life. Expats had to master foreign languages in order to thrive in their careers. Prior to this, the opportunity to learn a second language in school was only available to members of the elite classes, making it a sign of privilege. However, migration made it a necessity for all people to learn foreign languages as the need for communication became inevitable. Hence, people started learning different languages. In addition, the Council of Europe played a vital role in fostering the development of CLT as they realized the inefficacy of situational language teaching. They focused on developing syllabi tailored to meet the requirements of European immigrants. It facilitated the growth of CLT, which later became the main approach for language teaching. Noam Chomsky pointed out that structural language theories cannot cover the varieties that the spoken language would have. Moreover, linguists like Christopher Candlin and Henry Widdowson emphasized the ineffectiveness of situational language teaching methodologies. Subsequently, the concept of communicative competence gained popularity, and language learning shifted towards approaches that accentuated the importance of functional competence and communication skills.

What’s the focus of Communicative Language Teaching?

    The CLT approach focuses on giving students the skills to clearly and confidently communicate in real-world situations with native speakers of their target language. As such, it moves away from a traditional focus on grammar to encourage the active and authentic use of language in learning and acquisition. CLT therefore prioritises interaction and problem solving and usually involves classroom activities such as role play and pair or group work.

Author and researcher David Nunan identified five key elements to the CLT approach: • An emphasis on learning to communicate through interaction in the target language. • The introduction of authentic texts into the learning situation. • The provision of opportunities for learners to focus, not only on the language but also on the learning process itself. • An enhancement of the learner’s own personal experiences as important contributing elements to classroom learning. • An attempt to link classroom language learning with language activation outside the classroom. Characteristics of CLT • It aims to make learners to attain communicative competence so the learners can use language accurately and appropriately.

• The major focus while using CLT approach is on the learners. The teacher is just the facilitator. The teacher is a person who manages the environment and helps the learners to become autonomous.

• The syllabus emphasizes the functional use of language. The syllabus is relying on the authentic materials. The tasks which are assigned to the learners have purposes and meanings.

References

Dessie, A. (2015). ‘Characteristics and principles of communicative language teaching’. International journal of research and humanities & soc. 3(7).