COMMUNICATIVE

APPROACH

INTRODUCTION
Introduction
■ From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Communicative Language Teaching (CLT)
is an approach to the teaching of second and
foreign languages that emphasizes interaction
as both the means and the ultimate goal of
learning a language.
■ also referred to as “communicative approach”
Notional-functional syllabus
■ instruction is organized not in terms of
grammatical structure as had often been done
with the ALM, but in terms of “notions” and
“functions.”
■ a “notion” is a particular context in which
people communicate,
■ and a “function” is a specific purpose for a
speaker in a given context.
Notional-functional syllabus
■ For examples:
■ the “notion” or context shopping requires
numerous language functions including
asking about prices or features of a product
and bargaining.
■ the notion party would require numerous
functions like introductions and greetings and
discussing interests and hobbies.
 What is communicative
competence?
■ 1. The goal of CLT
■ The goal of CLT is to develop students’
communicative competence, which includes
both the knowledge about the language and
the knowledge about how to use the
language appropriately in communicative
situations.
■ Task 2: “Why don’t you close the door?”
■ a real question, a command or a complaint?
2. Five main components of communicative competence.

■ Linguistic competence: “concerned with

knowledge of the language itself, its form
and meaning”(Hedge, 2000)
■ Pragmatic competence: concerned with
the appropriate use of the language in
social context.
■ Discourse competence: one’s ability to
create coherent written text or conversation
and the ability to understand them.(Canale
and Swain, 1980)
2. Five main components of communicative
competence.
■ Strategic competence: strategies one
employs when there is communication
breakdown due to lack of resources.
■ Fluency: one’s ability to “link units of
speech together with facility and without
strain or inappropriate slowness or undue
hesitation”(Hedge)
3. Language competence and communicative competence

■ Chomsky’s theory: knowledge of the

language system: grammatical knowledge
in other words
■ Hymes’s theory: there are “rules of use
without which the rules of grammar would
be useless”. Besides grammatical rules,
language use is governed by rules of use,
which ensure that the desired or intended
functions are performed and the language
used is appropriate to the context.
■ According to Hedge (2000) communicative
competence refers to the psychological,
cultural and social rules which discipline the
use of speech. It concerns not only the
knowledge of language but also ability to put
that knowledge into use in communication, in
other words, knowing when and how to say
what to whom.
3. Language competence and communicative competence
Overview of CLT
■ an extension of the notional-functional
syllabus,
■ CLT places great emphasis on helping
students use the target language in a variety
of contexts and on learning language
functions.
■ its primary focus is on helping learners create
meaning rather than helping them develop
perfectly grammatical structures or acquire
native-like pronunciation.
‘What to teach” aspect

■ Stressed the significance of language

functions rather than grammar and
vocabulary
■ To train students to use these language forms
appropriately in a variety of contexts and for a
variety of purposes.
‘How to teach’ aspect
■ Related to the idea that ‘language learning
will take care of itself’
■ Plentiful of exposure to language in use and
plenty of opportunities to use it are very
important for a student’s development of
knowledge and skill.
■ Activities involve students in real or realistic
communication
■ Accuracy is less important
■ Activities should replicate real communication
David Nunan’s (1991) five features of CLT:

■ 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 language but also on the
Learning Management process.
David Nunan’s (1991) five features of CLT:

■ An enhancement of the learner’s own

personal experiences as important
contributing elements to classroom learning.
■ to link classroom language learning with
language activities outside the classroom.
Non-communicative activities Communicative activities

No communicative desire A desire to communicate

No communicative purpose A communicative purpose

Form not content Content not form

One language item only Variety of language

Teacher intervention No teacher intervention

Materials control No materials control

The CLT classroom

■ Communicative competence in an authentic

context - pair and group work requiring
negotiation and cooperation between
learners,
■ fluency-based activities that encourage
learners to develop their confidence,
■ role-plays in which students practice and
develop language functions, as well as careful
use of grammar and pronunciation focused
activities.
Classroom activities used

■ Role Play
■ Interviews
■ Information Gap
■ Games
■ Language Exchanges
■ Surveys
■ Pair Work
■ Learning by teaching
Techniques and materials:
1. Authentic materials (real world)
2. Scrambled sentences
(cohesion and coherence)
3. Language games (information
gap, choice and feedback)
4. Picture strip story (information
gap, team work, problem
solving and negotiating
meaning)
5. Role play (different social
contexts lead to different roles
and each role uses certain
forms for each function).
Examples of classroom activities

■
Topic: Food
■ Age group: Teenagers (in Asia)
■ Grammar: Like/don't like/quite like/love/hate
+ countable/uncountable
■ Level: Beginner/Elementary
Examples of classroom lesson

■ Warm-up/Review
■ "I went shopping and bought..." chain/memory
■ New Vocab/Grammar
■ Mind map (spider diagram) on the board -
food & drink
■ Food sheet (food names matching to pictures)
+ flashcard foods
■ like (chanting) "Do you like ...?" (students =
yes/no, I do/don't)
Examples of classroom activities

■ Activities
■ like it/quite like it/don't like it/hate it (ask &
answer, game)
■ Do you like...? (Flashcard game)
How is evaluation accomplished?
Both accuracy and fluency are
evaluated. The ideal learner is a
the best communicator. The use
of forms is not valuable by itself.
Note: the tests are integrative
such as writing a letter to a
friend which is a function and
conveys meaning. It is also a
social activity.
How are the errors treated?
At the early stages no direct
correction happens. Later they
receive indirect correction on
form.
How are the errors treated?
Errors of form are tolerated as a
natural outcome. Linguistic
knowledge is not very critical for
communicative ability.
The nature of interaction?
The teacher initiates. The when
they feel relaxed the students
also initiate interaction.
How are the errors treated?
At the early stages no direct
correction happens. Later they
receive indirect correction on
form.
How is language/culture viewed?
Language is for communication.
Culture is integrated with
language.
 CHECKLIST FOR ENSURING LESSONS ARE COMMUNICATIVE

1. Is the lesson appropriate to the learner’s age and proficiency?

(if not, can it be adapted?)

2. Does the lesson have a single focus?

3. Is the lesson based on an instructional objective or student need? (if

the main reason for the lesson is the activity, there may be problems of
sequencing)

4. Does the lesson address a real communicative problem?

5. Does the lesson have a real world (or at least school practice)
outcome?
 CHECKLIST FOR ENSURING LESSONS ARE COMMUNICATIVE

6. Does the lesson begin inductively and later move to a more

deductive footing? (the deductive segment provides clarity)

7. Is there a mix of acquisition and learning activities?

8. Have learners been provided with all the language, skills, and
knowledge they need to carry out every activity?

9. Do you have a language presentation—is it a piece of authentic

discourse?
(Beware of lessons that begin “Today students, we are going to
study…”)

10. Do all activities occur in a realistic communicative context?

(e.g., only playwrights and screenwriters write dialogues)
 CHECKLIST FOR ENSURING LESSONS ARE COMMUNICATIVE

11. Do all activities have a clear goal other than “to practice the
language” or “it’s good for you”?
NOTE: this is especially important for pair and group work and all
concluding communicative activities

12. Will learners easily imagine themselves (either now or in the future)
engaging in these kinds of activities in English?

13. Are settings and vocabulary fields for all activities in the lesson
consistent?

14. Are there opportunities for choice?

15. If you’ve provided choice, have you also provided criteria for
making a choice? (e.g., if you give “also”, “in addition to”, “beside”,
“furthermore” and “moreover”, will students have a guide for figuring
out which to choose?)
 CHECKLIST FOR ENSURING LESSONS ARE COMMUNICATIVE

16. Does language practice move from more controlled activities (for
mastery) to freer, more communicative practice (so students can use
the language skill/feature in naturalistic practice that solves real-world
problems).

17. Is there attention paid to recursiveness (both within the lesson and
in relation to other lessons—past and future?)

18. In content lessons, have you done a mini-discourse analysis to

look at the language features that are particularly useful for
participating in that lesson?
--have you created activities to help learners notice them?
--are your activities structured to allow learners to practice that
language in an obvious way while they’re succeeding in the lesson
 Differences between ALM &CA
ALM CA
1. Attends to structure and ■ Meaning is paramount
form more than meaning
2. Demands memorisation ■ Dialogues, if used, center
of structure-based around communicative
dialogues functions and are not
normally memorised
3. Language items are not ■ Contextualisation is a
necessarily basic premise
contextualised
 Differences between ALM &CA
ALM CA
4. Language learning is ■ Language learning is
learning structures, learning to communicate
sounds, or words
5. Mastery, or ■ Effective communication
‘over-learning” is sought is sought
6. Drilling is a central ■ Drilling may occur, but
technique less attention is given
7. Native-speaker-like ■ Comprehensible
pronunciation is sought pronunciation is sought
 Differences between ALM &CA
ALM CA
8. Grammatical explanation ■ Any device which helps
is avoided the learners is accepted –
varying according to their
age, interest, etc.
9. Communicative activities ■ Attempts to communicate
only come after a long may be encouraged from
process of rigid drills and the very beginning
exercises
10. The use of the student’s ■ The use of native
native language is language is accepted, but
forbidden less attention is given
 Differences between ALM &CA
ALM CA
11. Translation is forbidden ■ Translation may be used
at early levels where students need or
benefit from it
12. Reading and writing are ■ Reading and writing can
deferred till speech is start from the first day, if
mastered desired
13. The target linguistic ■ The target linguistic
system will be learned system will be learned
through the overt best through the process
teaching of the patterns of struggling to
of the system communicate
 Differences between ALM &CA
ALM CA
14. Linguistic competence ■ Communicative
is the desired goal competence is the
desired goal
15. Varieties of language ■ Linguistic variation is a
are recognised but not central concept in
emphasised materials and
methodology