Communicative Language Teaching (CLT):

C.L.T. is an approach to language teaching that settles principles focused on meaningful

communication and language use.

The principles on which CLT are based on are:

 Communicative competence is the desire goal.

 Meaning is paramount.

 Emphasizes interaction: Language learning is learning to communicate.

 Authentic, functional use of language focused on “real-world” contexts.

 Fluency and accuracy (complementary principles)

 Teacher roles: Facilitator and guide, offer students appropriate feedback.

 Students’ roles: Active participants (cooperative/collaborative work)

 Autonomy and strategic involvement: Students’ are given opportunities to focus on

their own process/styles of learning (raising awareness).

Weak version of CLT: You learn a language in order to use it, there must be some learning
plus some using. (Provides learners with opportunities to use language with communicative
purposes)

Strong version of CLT: Takes the view that you use a language in order to learn it.
(Learners communicate to acquire language).

In my case, I have never seen an explicit pure strong version of CLT, but I think there's
some kind of overlapping between weak and strong in the classrooms, at least in our
classrooms in which we study different subjects. As I see it, for example, when we study
subjects as grammar and language we are being taught how to use language and we do
activities that give us the opportunity to use that language that was taught to us, but when
we study subjects in English like didactics, epistemology, literature, etc. We are not being
told how to use language but we are using language itself and learning from it. I think this
may be what Douglas Brown was referring to when he motions a conclusion from Dick
Allwright "The most important thing students could do, would be to actually do the kinds
of task that they need to do at the university"

2)

Well, I totally agree with Ariana’s statement. I think teachers have gained the perfect
opportunity to build rapport, by encouraging learners to incorporate their personal
experiences into their language learning is very helpful to influence students, get them
motivated, and giving meaning to their learning. And also, gave teachers the opportunity to
put into practice different teaching techniques, especially those that might have been left
aside by those who taught or believe in a purist approach different from CLT.

3)

As I see it I think it is a well-informed/principled approach. It has always been “avant-

garde” of learning theories, theories which are always being tested again to restructurate
what was proposed in the first place.