2001LAL

Week 7
Communicative Language Teaching (CLT)
 CLT: Definition

A variety of approaches that focus on helping learners to

communicate meaningfully in a target language.
 Traditional vs. communicative approaches (1)

Traditional Communicative
Focus of learning
Language as a structured system of Focus is on communication
grammatical patters
How are items selected
On linguistic criteria alone On the basis of what the learner needs to
know in order to get things done
How are items sequenced
On linguistic grounds On other grounds, with the emphasis on
content, meaning and interest
 Traditional vs. communicative approaches (2)

Traditional Communicative
Degree of coverage
The aim is to cover ‘the whole picture’ of The aim is to cover, in any particular
language structure by systematic linear phase, only what the learner needs and
progression sees as important
View of language
A language is seen as a unified entity with The variety of language is accepted, and
fixed grammatical patterns and a core of seen as determined by the character of
basic words particular communicative contexts
Type of language used
Tends to be formal and bookish Genuine everyday language is
emphasised
 Traditional vs. communicative approaches (3)

Traditional Communicative
Criterion of success
Students produce formally correct Students communicate effectively and in
sentences. a manner appropriate to the context they
are working in.

Skills emphasised
Reading and writing Spoken interactions are regarded as least
as important as reading and writing.
Teacher/student roles
Tends to be teacher-centred Tends to be student-centred
 Traditional vs. communicative approaches (4)

Traditional Communicative
Attitude to errors

Incorrect utterances are seen as Partially correct and incomplete

deviations from the norms of standard utterances are seen as such rather than
grammar. just ‘wrong’
Similarity/dissimilarity to natural language learning
Reverses the natural language learning Resembles the natural language learning
process by concentrating on the form of process in that the content of the
the utterances rather than on the content utterance is emphasised rather than the
form.

From Nunan, D. (1988) The Learner-Centred Curriculum. Cambridge: Cambridge University

Press
 Background

• Origins in the changes of the British language teaching tradition dating

from late 60s.

• Until then, main British approach for FLT: Situational language teaching

• SLT: Language taught by practicing basic structures in meaningful situation

based activities.

• Problem: Language cannot be predicted on the basis of situational events.

 CLT: Basic features and goals

• An approach, not a method: no single text, authority or model universally

accepted.

• For some, CLT means little more than integrating grammatical and
functional teaching. For others it means using procedures such as pair and
group work in problem solving tasks.

• Goals:
– Communicative competence
– Teaching the 4 macro skills
– Integrating language and communication
 Weak and strong versions of CLT

• Weak version (‘learning to use’ language)

– Stresses the importance of providing learners with opportunities to use
language for communicative purposes

• Strong version (‘using language to learn it’)

– Language is acquired through communication, i.e., it’s not merely a
question of activating the existing knowledge of the language, but of
stimulating the development of the language system itself.
 1) Think of all the methodologies
discussed in class. Which ones are
‘weak’ and which ones are ‘strong’
versions of CLT?
2) How would you classify YOUR
language classes?
 Some common features

• Theory of language teaching that starts from a communicative model of

language and language use.

• Direct rather than delayed practice of communicative acts

• Learner-centred and experience-based view of second language teaching

 ideal curriculum = well-selected experiences based on learners’ needs
manifested by the class.
 Theory of Language

• Focus on language in use

• The primary function of language: interaction and communication 

Learning a language means learning to perform communicative speech acts
with it.

• The structure of language reflects its functional and communicative uses

• The primary units of language are not merely its grammatical and structural
features, but categories of function and communicative meaning as
exemplified in discourse.
 The syllabus

• Curriculum vs. Syllabus

– Curriculum: a broad statement of the philosophy, purposes, design,
and implementation of the entire language teaching program
– Syllabus: a specification and ordering of content of a course. Graves
(1996)

• Ways of structuring courses reflect different underlying approaches to

language learning

 Syllabus: A central topic of discussion

• Criticism of ‘synthetic (=grammatical) syllabuses’ that focus on the

grammatical structure of the language rather than on the
communicative or pragmatic uses of those languages.
 The synthetic approach: Shortcomings

Synthetic, or grammatical approaches, aim to teach new structures by

explaining rules and contextualising new structures in dialogues.
– Failure to prioritize vocabulary relevant to learners'
communicative needs,
– Sequencing and grading. Lexical & grammatical criteria for
selecting and grading language can complement one another or
they can conflict.
– Is language learning complete when the content of a grammatical
syllabus has been mastered?
– Failure to relate form to meaning. There isn't a one-to-one
relationship between form and meaning
Wilkins, D.A. 1976, Notional Syllabuses
 Syllabus: Models and organisational principles
• Structural: grammar and sentence patterns.
• Functional: communicative functions (e.g., requesting, complaining,
apologizing)
• Notional: conceptual categories (e.g. location, time)
• Topical: themes or topics (e.g., health, food, clothing)
• Situational: settings and transactions associated with them (e.g., at
the bank, at the doctor)
• Skills: microskills (e.g., reading for gist)
• Task-based: activities (e.g., planning a trip)
• Learner generated
 Learning and teaching activities

• CLT uses almost any activity that engages learners in authentic

communication and require the use of such communicative processes as
information sharing, negotiation of meaning, and interaction.

• Examples:
– Showing out-of-focus slides which the students have to identify
– Providing incomplete plans or diagrams which students have to
complete (information-gap activities)
– Placing a screen between students and having one student placing
objects in a certain pattern that has to be described to others
– Jig-saw listening
 Characteristics of good communicative activities

• Open-ended (there is no one right answer).

• An exchange of ideas occurs.
• There is a feeling of real conversation.
• Personal (self or one’s knowledge of the world)
• There is a task to accomplish.
• There is a LOT of exposure to key language.
• Fun and humour whenever possible.
 When lesson planning ask:

• How can I personalise this?

• What visuals can I use?
• Can I TPR-it?
• How can I recycle previous vocabulary?
• How can I improve their knowledge of
– Message  acquisition based activities
– Form  learning based activities
 Going shopping
Look at Mary’s shopping list. Then look at the list of items in Abdullah’s store.

Mary’s shopping list

1 oranges 2 flour 3 biscuits 4 eggs 5 powdered milk 6 jam

Abdullah’s store
1 bread 2 Coca Cola 3 curry powder 4 salt 5 flour 6 biscuits
7 apples 8 flour 9 powdered milk 10 tins of fish 11 sugar 12 dried beans

Work with a partner. One person be Mary and the other person be Abdullah. Make
conversations like this:

Mary: Good morning. Do you have any flour?

Abdullah: Yes, I do.
or
Mary: Good morning. Do you have any jam?
Abdullah: No, I’m sorry, I don’t have any.
 The same or different?
Work with a partner. Take it in turn
to describe your pictures. Does your
partner have the same picture as you
or a different one? Ask your partner
questions about his/her picture if
you are not sure
 More examples

1. Four students – each has one picture and describes it to the rest of the
class.
2. Students from the rest of the class ask the four students questions
about their pictures.
3. One student from the class tries to tell the story.
4. If necessary Steps 2 and 3 are repeated
 Examples of real-life activities

Look at the e-mail message below.

Listen to Mr. Pointer’s instructions on the tape.
Make notes if you want to.
Then write a suitable reply to Lesieur.

Dear Mr. Pointer

Please send flight number, date and time of arrival
and I will arrange for someone to meet you at the
airport.
Lesieur.
You are the owner of a private language school and have advertised for a new
English teacher. Below are summaries of the CVs of four applicants. Discuss
each applicant and then decide which one to offer the job to.
JOCK, aged 30
B.A. in social studies.
Has spent a year working his way round the world.
Has spent six years teaching economics in state school.
Has written a highly successful novel about teachers.
Has lived in a back-to-nature commune for two years.
Has been married twice - now divorced. Two children.
Has been running local youth group for three years.
BETTY, aged 45
Has been married for 24 years, three children.
Has not worked most of that time.
Has done evening courses in youth guidance.
Has spent the last year teaching pupils privately for state – with good results.
Has been constantly active in local government - has been elected to local
council twice.
 Communicative activities and the four macro skills

• A common misunderstanding of CLT is that it necessarily involves oral

interaction.

• But activities can be designed to develop any of the four language skills
(listening, speaking, reading and writing).

• Many activities are ‘integrative’ (i.e. involve more than one skill).
 Learner and teacher roles

• Learner: negotiator; “interdependent” learner

• Teacher:
1. Facilitator
2. Organiser of resources and resource
3. Researcher and learner
4. Needs analyst
5. Counsellor
6. Group process manager
 Materials

Primary role: promoting communicative language use

– Text-based materials
– Task-based materials
– Realia
 Caveats

Brown (1997:78-80) warns against:

(1) Paying "lip service" to the principles of CLT

(2) Overdoing certain CLT features, for example engaging in real-life authentic
language to the exclusion of helpful devices such as controlled practice, or
vice versa.

(3) The numerous interpretations of what CLT actually "is". CLT is often a
catch call term, intended as an "umbrella" term covering a variety of
methods.
 The role of grammar

• Early approaches downplayed the importance of grammar, some even

advocating abandoning any focus on form.

• More recent approaches acknowledge the centrality of grammar and try

to integrate grammar and communication.

[To be discussed next week]

 Homework for next week

1. Make a list of the pros and cons of strong and weak approaches to
syllabus design.
2. Evaluate the materials or textbook(s) you are currently using in terms of
the syllabi discussed in class. (If you are not currently learning a language
find a language textbook and analyse it)
3. Review the goals in your course outline. How comprehensive are these?
Where do they place the focus of instruction?
4. Few syllabi can be totally learner-centred. However, even in institutions in
which teachers and learners have minimal input into the curriculum
development process it is possible to introduce elements of learner-
centred instruction. Think about your own language studies, and list ways
in which it could be made more learner-centred.