FITRA ANDANA.

A, CLASS A A2B019012

CLT (Communicative Language Teaching)

I. INTRODUCTION

Communicative Language Teaching (CLT), or the communicative approach, is an approach to

language teaching that emphasizes interaction as both the means and the ultimate goal of study.
Language learners in environment utilizing CLT techniques, learn and practice the target
language through the interaction with one another and the instructor, the study of authentic texts
(those written in the target language for the purposes other than language learning) and through
the use of language both in class and outside the classroom. Learners converse about personal
experience with partners, and instructors teach topics outside of the realm of traditional
grammar, in order to promote language skills in all types of situations. This method also claims
to encourage learners to incorporate their personal experiences into their language learning
environment, and to focus on the learning experience in addition to the learning of target
language (Nunan, David (1991-01-01)”Communicative tasks and the language curriculum”.
TESOL Quarterly). According to CLT, the goal of language education is the ability to
communicate in the target language (J. Savignon, Sandra (1997-01-01).This is in contrast to the
previous views in which grammatical competence was commonly given top priority. CLT also
focuses on the teacher being a facilitator, rather than instructor, the approach is a non methodical
system that does not use a textbook series to teach the target language, but rather works on
developing sound oral/verbal skills prior to reading and writing
Background of CLT
 Social Influences
Language teaching was, originally considered a cognitive matter, mainly involving
memorization. It was later thought, instead, to be socio cognitive, meaning that language can be
learned through the process of social interaction. The dominant technique in teaching any
language is Communicative Language Teaching. Actually, the basic conceptual of CLT, was laid
in 1970s by Linguist Michael Haliday who studied how language functions are expressed
through grammar, beside Noam Chomsky’s (1960s) make a theories he is focusing on
competence and performance in language learning that gave rise to communicative Language
Teaching, and Dell Hymes, who introduced the idea of a wider communicative competence
instead Chomsky’s linguistic competence. The rise of CLT in the 1970s and early 1980s was
FITRA ANDANA. A, CLASS A A2B019012

partly in respons to the lack of success with traditional language teaching methods and partly due
to the increase in demand for language learning. Many learners and teachers struggled with the
traditional methods such as grammar translation, which involves the direct translation of
sentence after sentence as a way to learn language. These methods assumed that students were
aiming for mastery of the target language and that students were willing to study for years before
expecting to use the language in real life, however, these assumption were challenged by adult
learners, who were busy with work, some school children, who were less academically and could
not devote years to learning before being able to use the language.
 Academic Influences
The development of CLT was bolstered by new academic ideas. Before the growth of
communicative language teaching, the primary method of language teaching was situational
language teaching. This method was much more clinical in nature and relied less on direct
communication. In Britain, applied linguists began to doubt the efficiency of situational language
teaching. This was partly in response to Chomsky’s insight into the nature of the language.
Chomsky has shown that the structural theories of language prevalent at the time could not
explain in the real communications. In addition, applied Linguists such as Christopher Candlin
and Henry widdowson observed that the current models of language learning was ineffective in
the classrooms, for the students, to develop the communicative skill and functional competence
in addition to mastering language structures.
In the mid 1990s, the Dogme 95 manifesto influenced language teaching through the Dogme
language teaching movement. This proposed that published materials stifle the communicative
approach. The aim of Dogme approach to language teaching is to focus on real conversation
about practical subject. Where communication is the engine of the learning.
This approach is the antithesis of situational language teaching, which emphasizes learning
through text and priority grammar over communication.
CLT teachers use classroom activities based on what they believe is going to be most effective
for students developing communicative abilities in the target language. Oral activities are
popular among CLT teachers, as opposed to grammar drills, reading, and writing activities,
because they include active conversation and creative, unpredicted response from the students.
Activities vary based on the level of the language class they are being used. They promote
FITRA ANDANA. A, CLASS A A2B019012

collaboration, fluency, and comfort in the target language. There are Six activities which are
commonly used in CLT:
1). Role Play
Role Play is an oral activity usually done in pairs, whose main goal is to develop students
communicative abilities in a certain teaching.
2). Interviews is an oral activity done in pairs, whose main goal is to develop students
interpersonal skills in the target language.
3). Group Work
Group work is a collaborative activity whose purpose is to foster communication in the target
language in a larger group setting.
4). Information Gap
Information Gap is a collaborative activity whose purpose is for students to effectively obtain
information that was previously unknown to them.
4). Information Sharing
Information Sharing is a content based activity, whose purpose is to engage students
conversation skills, while taking about something they car about.
5). Scavenger Hunt
Scavenger Hunt is a mingling activity that promotes open interaction between students.
If the activity is not as structured as some of others, it is important for instructors to add
structures. If certain vocabulary should be used by students, then instructors should incorporate
that into the scavenger hunt.

II. DISCUSSIONS

In this chapter, we will discuss about two arguments of articles from two people Ariatna from the
State University Of Medan with its title “The Need for Maintaining CLT in Indonesia” and Eka
Fadilah from Widia Kartika University with its title, “Rethinking the Maintenance of CLT in
Indonesia: A Response to Ariatna’s “The Need for Maintaining CLT in Indonesia”. Ariatna state
that In Indonesia, CLT has become a big problem, this is because of many factors; teacher
expertise, many teachers in Indonesia do not equipped to teach English communicatively and
therefore have limited ability to implement CLT practices, so to increase the teacher skill it is
FITRA ANDANA. A, CLASS A A2B019012

important to understand how professional development should be best delivered. Drawing on the
work of some professional development specialists, CLT teachers should be school-based and
collaborative, based on local teaching situation school based, collaborative, we can put them into
many forms such as study group (collections of teachers examining student performance data),
lesson study (observation and revision of actual situation), and mentoring (modelling
support for and feedback to a colleague), the second problem is Student Participation, The
second challenge of CLT implementation in Indonesia is the problem of low student
participation. In Asian EFL countries where CLT is adopted as the national goal of English
language education, students’ lack of interest in collaborative and communicative activities has
become a major concern. One reason for the resistance to class participation is the result of
differences in cultural values and beliefs toward second language learning and teaching, but it is
frequently asserted that learners’ low motivation for communicative competence might stem
from teaching practices that fail to interest and engage learners in a communicative classroom
(Butler, 2005). The third problem in CLT in Indonesia is Class Size and Teaching Time,
Grammar-Based Syllabus and Exam, In addition, for teachers who are accustomed to grammar–
translation methods or have less communicatively competent students in their classroom, CLT
ideas can be introduced through a five-step framework (Littlewood, 2007). These five
pedagogical steps range along a continuum from non communicative activities (e.g., grammar
exercises, substitution drills), through pre communicative activities (e.g., question-answer
practice, structured role plays), to real communicative activities (e.g., discussion, problem
solving). Although this framework provides teachers with room for innovation and expansion, it
puts students in a secure and valued position because they are given proper time and guidance to
internalize and practice what they have learned. This is consistent with what Murphy (2013)
observed in his case study, in which he portrayed the communicative benefits of moving
gradually from structure-based textbooks to discussion based texts, Ariatna also suggest that, the
implementation of CLT in Indonesia can be accepted if the Indonesian government specially the
Ministry of Education change the English Language Regulation from English as Foreign
Language (EFL) status to English as a second language (ESL), like in Malaysia and the other
country who use English as a second language, her reasons: First, language has the important
role in developing the teaching and learning of foreign language in particular country (Haliday,
as cited in Kam & Wong, 2004), the language is required to all the local people, students where
FITRA ANDANA. A, CLASS A A2B019012

they can acquire the second language socially and economically, this is why in our neighbor
country like, Malaysia, Singapore, and Brunei, English has become the second language (ESL),
second, ESL provides a good atmosphere to the local students to communicate in English in
direct connection than what they have studied in the classroom and the experience in the real life,
and actually Indonesian students need English as a second language to function effectively in English.
Beside, Eka Fadilah argued that from the four macro level constraints the fundamental the CLT
in Indonesia: Societal Classroom, Ariatna argued that teacher expertise and teaching time
impede the adoption of CLT in Indonesia, and he misses the substance of the problem,
Socioeconomic, local beliefs and culture are strongly influenced by students areas and English
resources that be put with the material written or recorded in English aspects, cultural constraint,
Almost students feel insecure when they have to speak on topics about which they have little or no
knowledge. Teachers can provide topics that students are interested in, Ideological Constraints, In this
one, Eka Fadilah was really not agree with Ariatna that he said, the implementation of CLT would be
successful if the Indonesian government changed of English as foreign Language (EFL) to (ESL) or
English as a second Language, So what we should do is to adopt English without devaluing Indonesia’s
national language and local languages.
In my thought, I agree with Eka Fadilah argumentations, we can not change English as Foreign language
(EFL) become English as a second Language (ESL), if government do this, the mother tongue language
will disappear and all the side of life especially in interaction become weird, and Ariatna does not look
CLT from the others side like economic, social, cultural, ideological context of English-language
education in Indonesia beside our English curriculum has eight revisions and the teaching methods: the
grammar translation method, direct method, audio-lingual method, CLT, and the genre-based approach.

III. CONCLUSIONS

We must think first if we want to change the English status in Indonesia, because we can not
look at only from side but we must take a look to all of the side such as, the social of Indonesian
people, the variety of nation, the vary of mother tongue language or we can say “Bhinneka
Tunggal Ika”, I can imagine if English in Indonesia from as a foreign Language (EFL) then
become a second Language (ESL), it can make the variety of Indonesia will disappear, in the
other side, the subjecting teachers to professional training of school based and extracting from
them a promise to adhere the CLT approach will not always translate to CLT practices in the
FITRA ANDANA. A, CLASS A A2B019012

classroom, and the teacher sure, it derive from professional training which may odds with their
classroom.
.

REFERENCES

Ariatna. (2016). The need for maintaining CLT in Indonesia. TESOL Journal, 7, 800–822.
https://doi.org/10.1002/tesj.246

Lie, A. (2007). Education policy and EFL curriculum in Indonesia: Between the commitment to
competence and the quest for higher test scores. TEFLIN Journal, 18(1), 1–14. https://doi.org/
10.15639/teflinjournal.v18i1/1-15

Thompson, G. (1996). Some misconceptions about communicative language teaching. ELT Journal, 50,
9–15. doi:10.1093/elt/50.1.9

Janseem, Ancalee. (2019). Teaching Practices and knowledge base of EFL Teachers Communicative
Language Teaching Implementation. International Education Studies

K, Murphy. (2013). Rigour in qualitative case-study research. Publication NCBI

Fadilah, Eka. (2017). Rethinking the Maintenance of CLT in Indonesia: A Response to Ariatna’s
“The Need for Maintaining CLT in Indonesia”, TESOL Journal 9.1, March 2018, TESOL
International Association

Littlewood, W. (2007). Communicative Language Teaching. Wordpress

Halliday, M.A.K. (1970). Language Structure and Language Function. In Lyons, J., Ed., New
Horizons in Linguistics, Penguin, Harmondsworth, 140-165.

Wei, H. (2010). Communicative language teaching in the Chinese environment. US-China Education
Review, 7(6), 78–82.
FITRA ANDANA. A, CLASS A A2B019012

Littlewood, W. (2007). Communicative and task-based language teaching in East Asian classrooms.
Language Teaching, 40.