The Communicative approach

The Cornmunicative approach - or Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) - is the name which was given to a set
of beliefs which included not only a re-examination of what aspects of language to teach, but also a shift in emphasis
in how to teach.

The 'what to teach' aspect of the Communicative approach stressed the significance of language functions (see
Chapter 2, E2) rather than focusing solely on grammar and vocabulary. A guiding principle was to train students to use
these language forms appropriately in a variety of contexts and for a variety of purposes.

The 'how to teach aspect' of the Communicative approach is closely related to the
idea that hat 'language learning will take care of itself' (see Chapter 5B), and that
plentiful exposure to language in use and plenty of opportunities to use it are vitally
important for a student's development of knowledge and skill. Activities in CLT typically involve students in real or
realistic communication, where the accuracy
~ " -:..~" language they use is les s important than successful achievement of the
,: ::~j1Unicative task they are performing. Thus role-play and simulation (see
-- .::.;'ter 19, B6) have become very popular in CLT, where students simulate a ~::~"~,"sion programme or a scene
at an airport - or they might put together the '_-::-~":':'ated front page of a newspaper. Sometimes they have to
solve a puzzle and
,..=..:- .. :·nly do so by sharing information. Sometimes they have to write a poem or
, : :-~5:::uct a story together.
~ <-:at matters in these activities is that students should have a desire to
,. =_-=-unicate something. They should have a purpose for communicating (e.g. to ~..=:.::" a point, to buy an airline
ticket, or write a letter to a newspaper). They should >= : :cused on the content of what they are saying or writing
rather than on a -.=.:-::c~.Jar language formo They should use a variety oflanguage rather than just one ~~~ ;:¿ge
structure. The teacher will not intervene to stop the activity; and the
- : :::::-:als he or she relies on will not dictate what specific language forms the
'L_ ::::-~ lS use either. In other words such activities should attempt to replicate
-::i- ey:nmunication. AlI this is se en as being in marked contrast to the kind of

-~:"':"::'g and learning we saw in Al and A2 above. They are at opposite ends of a
__ =.=unication continuum' (see Figure 14).
'~''';'I}n-communicative activities
Communicative activities
•::',' ,communicative desire
•:_:' ,communicative purpose
•~::m not content
•: :_::: language item only
•:::.::.cn:::r intervention
•~.=.,"rials control
•a desire to communicate
•a communicative purpose
•content not form
•variety of language
•no teacher intervention
•no materials control
FIGURE 14: The communication continuum
". -'-- .=.:2,ities occur at either extreme of the continuum, however. Some may
:t' :-.=-~-:,,: towards the communicative end, whereas some may be more non;:er::= ..:.:icative. An activity in which
students have to go round the class asking ~-;:.: =-_5 '.\ith a communicative purpose, but with some language
restriction, may }I'::~": u'le right-hand end of the continuum, whereas a game which forces the
L-": ~ - : :-~-.~ one structure (with the teacher intervening occasionally), will come near !1iC :.: :.-:,,:>mmunicative end.
"~ ,=~ e!) :he enhancement of communicative purpose and the desire to
..::r:::.:: ":':"':Cdte is the information gap. A traditional classroom exchange in which one ;:::,c:c~: .::.s:':5 \\ 'here's the
library? and another student answers It's on Green Street,
-o' ->:~ :1¡mkwhen they can both see it and both knowthe answer, is not much