COMMUNICATIVE LANGUAGE TEACHING (CLT)ENGLISH TEACHING METHODOLOGY

HISTORYCOMMUNICATIVE LANGUAGE TEACHING

HISTORY

•The origins of CLT are found in the

changes in the British language

teaching tradition, which considered

grammar competence as the

foundation of the language proficiency,

dating from the late 1960s.

HISTORY

•CLT started its rise to prominence

during the 1970s and 80s for these

reasons:

HISTORY

• Increase in demand for language learning in Europe

when the European Common Market opened

• More secondary and high schools started teaching

foreign languages

• In the UK, the appearance of comprehensive schools

gave all high school students the chance of studying

a foreign language.

BACKGROUNDCOMMUNICATIVE LANGUAGE TEACHING

BACKGROUND

•The CLT method based on the purpose of

communicative competence of language

learning.

•Four aspects of communicative competence:

grammatical competence, socio-linguistic

competence, discourse competence, strategic

competence

GOALSCOMMUNICATIVE LANGUAGE TEACHING

GOALS

•CLT aims at providing students with

authentic communication lessons which try

to imitate the natural progression of

language learning

•The authentic communication that imitate

real life situations is supposedly more fun

and more helpful for the students.

FEATURESCOMMUNICATION LANGUAGE TEACHING

FEATURES

•Communicative competence emphasis

•Fluency is emphasized

•Primary function: for interaction and

communication

•Students work in pairs or small groups,

everyone has an opportunity to talk

FEATURES

•Learner-centered, active learners

•Teacher: facilitator, analyst,

counselors, group process manager

•Instructional materials: encouraging

communicative language use

FEATURES

•3 kinds of materials: text-based,

task-based and realia

•Dialogues, if used, center around

communicative functions

•Native language may be accepted.

STRONG POINTSCOMMUNICATIVE LANGUAGE TEACHING

STRONG POINTS

•Teacher – student relationship

improved: interactive, harmonious,

not the type of master-servant

relationship

STRONG POINTS

•Emphasis on learner’s cognitive and

operational abilities: let the students

themselves think about and express

their views, developed in real life the

capability of using language to

communicate.

STRONG POINTS

•Student’s interests enhanced:

students get close to life, act as the

main character and naturally

become interested in the language,

learn the language for recreation

WEAK POINTSCOMMUNICATIVE LANGUAGE TEACHING

WEAK POINT

•Not sufficient concentration on the

accuracy or the correctness of

grammar errors

•Hard to create a real-life

environment in class, difficult to

reproduce authentic language use

WEAK POINT

•Difficult to use in a large class:

problems in monitoring and guiding

students

•Causes troubles for students at low

levels of proficiency, resistance to

involving in class activities

PRINCIPLESCOMMUNICATIVE LANGUAGE TEACHING

PRINCIPLES

•Create a range of different activities that

mimic the use of the English language

outside of the classroom, including: pair

work, group work, role plays, interviews,

games, surveys or learning by teaching,...

PRINCIPLES

•Ensure that students have enough

vocabulary and understanding of the

situation in which they are learning

before carrying out activities