Communicative

Language Teaching
(CLT)

By: Jonathan Portada Mendoza

Citlali Lizbeth Flores

Presentations outline
Background
Approach: Theory of Language and Theory of Learning.
Design: Objectives, Syllabus, Types of Learning &
Teaching Activities, Learner & Teacher roles, and The Role
of Instructional Materials.
Procedures
Conclusion

Communicative Language Teaching (CLT)

communicative approach to the teaching of foreign

languages
communicative approach
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.

The aims of CLT?

Make
communicative
competence
the goal of
language
teaching.

Develop
procedures
for the
teaching of
the four
language
skills.

Background
The origins of (CLT) are found in the changes in the
British language teaching tradition in the late 1960s.
Situational Language Teaching (SLT) was the major
approach to teaching English as a FL.
Language was taught by practicing basic structures in
meaningful situation-based activities.
British applied linguists rejected the theoretical
assumptions underlying SLT because the focus on
language teaching was the mastery of structures rather
than on communicative proficiency.

Background
Scholars who advocated this view of language: British functional
linguist Halliday, American sociolinguist Dell Hymes and work in
philosophy J. Austin.
There was a need in Europe to teach adults the major languages
of the European Common market, and in 1971 a group of
experts began to investigate the possibility of developing
language courses, in which learning tasks are broken into units.
In 1972, D. A. Wilkins proposed a functional or communicative
syllabus for language teaching. His contribution was an analysis
of the communicative meanings that a language learner needs
to understand and express.

Background
Wilkins defined two categories of meanings:
1. notional categories (concepts such as time, sequence, quantity,
location, frequency)
2. Categories of communicative function (requests, denials, offers,
complaints). This was the birth of notional syllabuses, which had a
significant impact on CLT.
.The Council of Europe incorporated Wilkins semantic/communicative
analysis into a set of specifications for a first-level communicative
language syllabus.
.The work of the Council of Europe, the writings of Wilkins, Widdowson,
Candlin, Brumfit, Keith Johnson, and other British applied linguists on
the theoretical basis for a communicative or functional approach to
language teaching, the application of these ideas, the acceptance of
these principles by British language specialists came to be referred to
as the Communicative Approach or CLT.

Background
Communicative Approach aims to: make communicative competence
the goal of language teaching, and develop procedures for the teaching
of the four language skills (listening, speaking, reading and writing) that
acknowledge the interdependence of language and communication.
There are two version of the CLT:
1. The weak version stresses the importance of providing learners with
opportunities to use their English for communicative purposes
(learning to use English).
2. The strong version advances the claim that language is acquired
through communication. That is not merely a question of activating an
existing but inert knowledge of language, but of stimulating the
development of the language system itself (using English to learn it).

Approach
Theory Of Language
The Communicative Approach in language teaching
starts from a theory of language as communication.
The goal of language teaching is what Hymes (1972)
referred to as communicative competence. Hymes
coined this term in order to contrast a communicative
view of language and Chomskys theory of competence.
In Hymes view, a person who acquires communicative
competence acquires both knowledge and ability for
language use.

Approach
2)Whether
something is
convenient

1) Whether
something is
formally possible

knowledge and
language use
respond to
3) Whether
something is
appropriate in
relation to a context
in which it is used

4) Whether
something is in fact
done, actually
performed, and what
its doing entails

Approach
Hymes' theory of what knowing a language entails
offers a much more comprehensive view than
Chomskys view of competence, which deals primarily
with abstract grammatical knowledge.
Another linguistic theory of CLT is Hallidays functional
account of language use. Halliday elaborated a powerful
theory of the functions of language. He described seven
basic function that language performs for children
learning their L1:

Approach
1. Instrumental
function: using
language to get
things
2. Regulatory
function:
using language to
control the behavior
of others
3. Interactional
function: using
language to create
interaction with
others

6. Imaginative
function: using
language to create
a world of the
imagination
5. Heuristic
function: using
language to learn
and to discover
4. Personal
Function: using
language to express
personal feelings
and meaning

7.
Representational
function: using
language to
communicate
information

Approach
Learning an L2 was viewed by proponents of CLT as
acquiring the linguistic means to perform different kinds
of functions.
Functions/Topics
Ask questions to
get to know your
classmates
Talk about yourself
Show you have
something in
common

Functions/Topics
Say hello and
good-bye
Introduce yourself
Exchange
personal
information
Spell names
Thank people

Functions/ Topics
Describe the
weather
Leave phone
Messages
Talk about sports
and exercise
Say hoe your
week is going

Approach
Another influential analysis of communicative
competence was found in Canale & Swain (1980), in
which four dimensions of communicative competence
are identified:
Sociolinguistic
Competence

Grammatical
Competence

Communicative
Competence

Discourse
Competence

Strategic
Competence

Approach
Grammatical competence: it is the domain of grammatical
and lexical capacity.

Sociolinguistic competence: an understanding of the social

context in which communication takes place, including role

relationships, the shared information of the participants, and the
communicative purpose of the interaction
Discourse competence : the interpretation of individual
message elements in terms of their interconnectedness and of
how meaning is represented in relationship to the entire discourse
text.
Strategic competence: refers to the coping strategies that
communicators employ to initiate, terminate, maintain, repair,
and redirect communication.

Approach
At the level of language theory, CLT has a rich theoretical
base. Some of the characteristics of this communicative
view of language follow:
language is a system for the expression of meaning
the primary goal of language is to allow interaction and
communication
the structure of language reflects its functional and
communicative uses
the primary units of language are categories of
functional and communicative meaning

Approach
Theory of Learning
Little has been written about learning theory in contrast to the amount of
that has been written about CLT literature.
Elements of an underlying learning theory can be discerned in some CLT
practices as follows:
One element is the communication principle: activities that involve
real communication promote learning.
Another element is the task principle: activities in which language is
used for carrying out meaningful tasks promote learning.
A third element is the meaningfulness principle: language that is
meaningful to the learner supports the learning process.

Approach
As a consequence, learning activities are selected based
on how well they engage the learner in meaningful and
authentic language use (rather than just mechanical
practice of language patterns).
Other accounts of CLT have attempted to describe
theories of language learning processes that are
compatible with CLT. Savignon (1983) surveys L2
acquisition research as a source for learning theories
and considers the role of linguistic, social, cognitive,
and individual variables in language acquisition.

Design
Objectives
The following are levels of objectives in a communicative approach:
An integrative and content level (language as a means of expression)
A linguistic and instrumental level (language as a semiotic system and
an object of learning)
An affective level of interpersonal relationships and conduct (language
as a means of expressing values and judgments about oneself and
others)
A level of individual learning needs (remedial learning based on error
analysis)
A general educational level of extra-linguistic goals (language learning
within school curriculum)

Syllabus
One of the first syllabus models to be proposed was described as a
notional syllabus (Wilkins, 1976), which specified the semanticgrammatical categories and the categories of communicative
function that learners need to express.
The Council of Europe expanded and developed this into a syllabus
that included the following: description of the objectives of FL
courses, situations in which they might typically use an L2
(travel, business), topic they might need to talk about
(education, shopping), functions they needed language for
(requesting information, expressing agreement & disagreement),
the notions made use of in communication (time, frequency,
duration), as well as vocabulary and grammar needed.

Syllabus

Types of learning and teaching

The range of
activities
exercise types and
activities
compatible with a
communicative
approach is
unlimited.

Types of learning and teaching

activities
Exercises enable Ss to attain communicative objectives
of the curriculum, engage Ss in communication, require
the use of communicative processes like information
sharing, negotiation of meaning, and interaction.
Classroom activities are often designed to focus on
completing tasks that are mediated through language
or involve negotiation of information and information
sharing.

Types of learning and teaching

activities
Classroom activities are often designed to focus on
completing tasks that are mediated through language
or involve negotiation of information and information
sharing.

Types of learning and teaching

activities
Littlewood (1981) distinguishes between functional
communication activities and social interaction
activities.

Functional
Communication
Activities
Comparing sets of pictures and
noting similarities and
differences, discovering
missing features in a map or
picture.

Social Interaction
Activities
Conversation and discussion
sessions, dialogues, role
plays, simulations , skits,
imrovisations and debates.

Learner Roles
The learner is a negotiator
(between himself, the learning
process, and the object of
learning). The implication is
that the learner should
contribute as much as he gains,
and learn in an interdependent
way.
Ss are expected to interact
primarily with each other rather
than with the teacher.
Ss give and receive
information.

Needs Analyst

Teachers Role

CLT teacher assumes a

responsibility for determining
and responding to Ss
language needs
CLT teacher administer a
needs assessment
instrument to determine an
individual's motivation for
studying the language

Based on the needs

assessment results, CLT
teacher plan instruction
and activities that
respond to Ss needs

Counselor

The CLT teachercounselor, as in the

Community Language
Learning, is expected
to exemplify an
effective
communicator seeking
to maximize the
speaker intention and
hearer interpretation
through the use of
paraphrase
confirmation and

Group process
manager
CLT procedures
require teachers to
acquire less teachercentered classroom
management skills.
CLT teacher organizes
the classroom for
communication and
communicative
activities

The Role Of Instructional Materials

Text-based materials
There are numerous
textbooks designed
to direct and support
CLT. Their table of
contents suggest a
kind of grading and
sequencing of
language practice.

The Role Of Instructional

Materials
Task-based materials
A variety of games, role
plays, simulations, and
task-based communication
activities have been
prepared to support CLT
classes. They are in the
form of exercise
handbooks, cue cards,
activity cards, and
interaction booklets.

The Role Of Instructional

Materials
Realia
Many proponents of CLThave
advocated the use
ofauthentic, from
lifematerials in class.
Theseinclude: signs,
magazines,advertisements,n
ewspapers,
pictures,symbols.

Procedure

Pre-communicative Activities
Aim:
to give the learners fluent control over linguistic forms,
so the learners will produce language which is
acceptable
Function: to prepare the learner for later
communication.
The teacher may begin the teaching with a
communicative activity
Pre-communicative activities: drills, question-andanswer practice

Communicative activities
Aims:
(a) to provide "whole-task practice"
(b) to improve motivation
(c) to allow natural learning
(d) to create a context which supports learning
Functional communication activities: comparing sets of pictures
and noting similarities and differences, following directions,
discovering missing features in a map or picture
Social interaction activities: conversation and discussion
sessions, dialogues and role plays, simulations, debates

Conclusion
CLT is best considered an approach rather than a
method.
Approach refers to a diverse set of principles that
reflect a communicative view of language and language
learning used to support a variety of classroom
procedures.
CLT has passed through a number of different phases to
apply its principles to different dimensions of the
teaching/learning process.

Conclusion
1. The first phase was the need to develop a syllabus that was
compatible with the notion of communicative competence. This
led to proposals of syllabuses in terms of notions (a context in
which people communicate) and functions (a specific purpose for
a speaker in a given context).
2. The second phase, CLT focused on procedures for identifying
learners needs and this resulted in proposals to make needs
analysis an essential component of communicative methodology.
3. In the third phase, CLT focused on the kinds of classroom
activities that could be used as the basis of a communicative
methodology, such as group work, task-work, and informationgap activities.