Topic : This week You have learnt about Communicative Language Teaching.

How does CLT change

your perceptions of teaching practices. Give specific examples.

Communicative Language Teaching is currently advocated and practised as a potential effective

appproach to teaching English with the aim of developing learners ability to cmmunicate
(Brown,2014).Otherwise , CLT is an efficient process of language teaching and learning . We, language
teachers, our teaching was mostlly based on the traditional methods . After learning CLT a question
arises, how does CLT change our perceptions of teaching practices ?
In the following lines, we will show how we used to teach and how CLT has changed our perceptions
of teaching practices with specific examples ?

There are many teaching methods and our teaching was practically based on the traditional
methods. For example through Grammar Translation Method (GTM), a grammar lesson was taught by
structures and rules only. For instance, the teacher can give such an exercise :
Exercise : following this structure (s+aux+v+ing+obj), build five correct sentences of your own.
Moreover, we used to ask to the students to learn linguistic items by heart, to translate sentences from
English to French and vice versa. All these methods are proved not to be so communicative.
A new method has come to show us some more practical ways of learning and teaching.
This is Communicative Language Teaching (CLT). CLT as a curricular innovation has changed
our perception of teaching practices. In CLT, language items are taught accorging to function and in
meaningful context involving meaningful interaction between Students-Teacher and Students-
Students. We now teach grammar not only by structures and rules but we also include the function.
CLT encompasses all the skills of teaching processes namely writing ,reading , speaking and
listenning .From one text, we can teach these integrated skills. We can take an illustrative case in form
I (6e ):
Text : Someone’s habits
Grammar lesson : Simple present tense.
Activity : Underline affirmative and negative verbs
Vocabulary lesson
Activity : Explain the words : Breakfast, bathroom, church.
Reading Comprehension lesson
Activity : Read the text and answer the questions.
Listenning comprehension lesson
Activity : Listen carefully to my reading and answer by true or false.
In addition , Formerly , we did not take into account the social context of the student . Now with
CLT we realize that the students’ social environment is an important part of their learning process . In
this case they learn not only to use the language but also to grasp it before .

For example in a given vocabulary lesson we must teach pupils things that can be found in their
surroundings . practically a lesson about food in a rural area , the teacher will focus on millet , rice,
porridge , beans instead of teaching the names of food they don’t know . Thus, the consideration of
the social context makes their learning more practical and relevant.
 Moreover , CLT teaches us that teaching and learning process is a matter of exchange . This includes
activities where the learners are all active participants. They are then trained to be fluent
communicatively . For example the teacher can give various topics to the class he divided into groups.
And each group has to perform a topic . As a topic :Marriage at town hall ; in this activity there are
the mayor , the husband, the wife , and the four witnesses for both husband and wife. This type of
avtivity helps them improve their languistic competance , because learning has become more and
more communicative.

To sum up , Communicative Language Teaching has some merits that can not be denied. It
emphasises on the linguistic competence, the functional dimension, the communicative meaning and
the social meaning of language. Thus, CLT is more practical and more communicative. In this
communicative context, the teacher is a promptor, a motivator, a facilitator, an organiser, a guide. CLT
has increased our creative spirit,our task of adapting and assessing . Is CLT not too demanding ?

NAMES OF THE MEMBERS OF THE GROUP :

ZONO Salif
MARK/ OBSERVATIONS
ZANGO Sophie Rosine

OUEDRAOGO Souleymane

OUEDRAOGO Moussa

PORGO Alhamdou