PRINCIPLES OF

COMMUNICATIVE
LANGUAGE TEACHING AND
TASK-BASED INSTRUCTION
Intended learning Outcomes
◦ You will understand:

1. The background Principles and goals of

Communicative Language Teaching
2. The advantages and disadvantages of the CLT
approach
◦ You will be able to:

3. Integrate your knowledge of CLT to evaluate texts

 THE BACKGROUND PRINCIPLES AND
GOALS OF COMMUNICATIVE LANGUAGE
TEACHING
“An approach to language teaching
methodology that emphasizes
authenticity, interaction, student-
centered learning, task-based
activities, and communication for
the real world, meaningful
purposes.”

Brown (2007)

What CLT means?

  It refers to speaker’s
knowledge both of the
grammatical rules of a
“communicative
language and of the rules
competence” for appropriate use in social
contexts.

 Ability to converse with a

native speaker of the target
G0al of CLT ? language in a real-life
situation.
Communicative Strategies (CSs)
Useful way to overcome
communication difficulties.
Supply students with the “a major trait of
tools necessary to fill 2nd successful speakers is
language gaps while they are that they use strategies
communicating with partners, to keep the
either native speakers or non- conversation going”.
native speakers and allow
them to continue speaking.

Cohen
(1990)
An example of a CLT Listening Exercise

 The following instructions are given to students for an exercise called

“Eavesdropping”:
 Listen to a conversation in a public place and be prepared to answer, in the target
language, some general questions about what was said.
1. Who was talking?
2. About how old were they?
3. Where were they when you eavesdropped?
4. What were they talking about?
5. What did they say?
6. Did they become aware that you were listening to them?
Teacher and Student Roles

Richards and Rodgers, 1986

 learner-centered
 The students do much of the speaking, and often work in
pairs or groups.
 In CLT, it is not the teacher’s job to prevent and correct all
errors, but to act as a counselor who models effective
communication.
The Basic Principles of the Communicative
Language Teaching
1. Teach 1. Give priority to
communicative 1. Make sure there are fluency over
competence: genuine needs, accuracy
grammatical genuine partners
competence plus and information 2. Adopt a learner-
the ability to use gaps in the centered attitude
grammar classroom
appropriately

2. Practice functions
and forms in
context-rich
environments
Whereas grammatical competence
implies the ability to use the
 Definition:
linguistic items correctly,
Appropriateness is the
communicative competence in
ability to use language
addition involves the appropriate
that is suitable for the
use of grammar.
particular situation.

1. Teach communicative competence: grammatical

competence plus the ability to use grammar
appropriately.
 What is “function” and “form”?
 Function is the purpose for which a  Meaning is expressed
language utterance is used in speech or through functions
writing. and manifests itself
 Form is the means by which a language in forms.
utterance is used in speech or writing.

2. Practice functions and forms in context-rich

environments.

“Any individual sentence can be used to perform any

function in the language and consequently any function may
take a variety of form”

 According to CLT,
communication is elicited
by needs, partners and
information gaps.
What is information gap?
An information gap occurs in a
situation where information is
known by only some of the
interlocutors.

3. Make sure there are genuine needs, genuine partners

and information gaps in the classroom.

What is “accuracy” and
“fluency”?
 Accuracy is the ability to
use the language correctly.
 Fluency is the ability to use
the language spontaneously
and effectively.
4. Give priority to fluency over accuracy.
 As opposed to traditional
methods, CLT regards
fluency as the basis aim of
language teaching, and thus
fluency practice should
precede accuracy practice.
 During fluency practice
errors should be left
uncorrected, as a rule.

What is a “learner-centered
attitude”?
A leaner-centered attitude means
that the teacher regards her
students as partners.
5. Adopt a learner-centered attitude
The teacher’s role changes in the
three stages of the language
teaching operation.
 In the presentation stage, she
acts as an informant;
 In the practice stage, she acts as
a conductor;
 In the production stage, she is
rather a guide and a co-
communicator.
In CLT, we concentrate on the following:

A. Teacher- Student interaction

B. Activities

C. Materials
A. Teacher-Student Interaction:

 Since communicative competence is our aim, it is essential that students be given

every opportunity to practice communication. In the communicative classroom
teacher talking time (TTT) must be kept to a minimum.
 The classroom should be learner-centered.
 The teacher’s role is to facilitate student communication which is done through
careful selection of materials and activities relevant to the aims of the lesson in
which they are used.
A model for a communicative lesson
 B. Activities:
 Classroom activities should, as far as
is possible, be carried out in the
target language (English).
 Yet, there many sometimes be
occasions where allowing the
students to briefly discuss a point in
their native tongue can promote
greater understanding and
assimilation of new information. This
is controversial issue and should not
usually be permitted.
C. CLL Materials:
◦ Materials fall into three broad categories:
 Text-based
 Task-based
 Realia
◦ They can be used as the basis for classroom activities. Once again
not only must the activity be appropriate to the level of the
students but the materials used must be appropriate too.
 Text-based materials Task-based materials
For example: These include:
 Practice exercises,  Game boards,
 Reading passages,  Roleplay cards,
 Gap fills  Materials for drilling,
 Recordings, etc. can be found in almost any  Pair work tasks, etc.
course book as well as in books containing  They might be used to support “real life” tasks
supplementary materials. They form an essential such as role playing booking into a hotel, or a
part of most lessons. job interview.

Realia:
 Many proponents of CLT have advocated the use of “authentic”, “from-life” materials in the classroom.
 These might include language-based realia, such as: signs, magazines, advertisements, and newspapers,
or graphic and visual sources around which communicative activities can be built, such as: maps,
pictures, symbols, graphs, and charts.
 Different kinds of objects can be used to support communicative exercises, such as a plastic models.
Teaching the Communicative Language Skills
•  Communicative abilities can be classified as receptive and productive skills. The former
includes listening and reading, while the latter comprises speaking and writing.
• Although they will be treated separately, they are interdependent. Thus, one may listen
and speak or write, or read and speak or write, and so on. This interrelationship is
illustrated in the following diagram:

• One or more of these communicative

skills are sometimes more
emphasized than others. This
depends on:
1. the objectives of the language course,
2. the method of teaching and on
3. the needs of the learners.
Teaching Listening Comprehension
What is “aural comprehension”?
 Aural comprehension is the skill of listening, understanding and responding in an
appropriate way.
 Listening should receive primary attention in the early stage of ESL instruction.

What should teachers do to reinforce listening comprehension?

 Effective language instructors should:
1. show students how they can adjust their listening behavior to deal with a variety of
situations, type of input, and listening purposes.
2. They should help students develop a set of listening strategies and match appropriate
strategies to each listening situation.
 Listening Strategies:

What are the listening strategies?

Are techniques or activities that contribute directly to the comprehension and recall of
listening input.

Listening strategies can be classified by how the listener processes the input:
1. Top-down strategies: They are listener based; the listener taps into background
knowledge of the topic, the situation or context, the type of text, and the language.
Top-down strategies include:
1. Listening for the main idea
2. Predicting
3. Drawing inferences
4. Summarizing
2. Bottom-up strategies: They are text based; the listener relies on the language in the
message, that is, the combination of sounds, words, and grammar that creates meaning.
Bottom-up strategies include:
1. Listening for specific details
2. Recognizing cognates
3. Recognizing word-order patterns

3.Metacognitive strategies:
◦They are strategies to plan, monitor, and evaluate listening.

◦Strategic listeners use these strategies to:

1. Plan by deciding which listening strategies will serve best in a particular
situation.
2. Monitor their comprehension and the effectiveness of the selected strategies.
 Model activities for teaching Listening:

 The following model activities are sequenced to meet different levels of learning or language
proficiency:
1. listening for stress, rhythm and intonation
2. games and competitions
3. identification of key words
4. Dictation
5. listening for drawing
6. listening to short interview
7. Telling a story and asking learners some questions about it.
8. Reading a poem, a passage or a short play and asking learners to state specific points.
9. Simulating telephone conversations
10. ATTENDING LECTURES OR Seminars and reporting to the class the main points or ideas.
11. Problem-solving about topics of general interest.
12. Listening to news bulletins on the radio or watching television programs and recounting
headlines.
Teaching Speaking
Stages of Speaking Practice:

1. Mechanical oral practice: The first step 2. Meaningful oral work:

in teaching speaking is to train learners • This stage introduces the learners to social
in: formulas:
a. Sound discrimination, a. Greetings
b. Oral vocabulary
b. introductions,
c. Verb forms and
c. Complaints
d. Grammatical patterns.
d. asking for information, etc.
• It also gives them expressions with which
to express their ideas creatively.
 3. Free oral production:
The teacher also has to prepare the material adequately as free discussions are
likely to fail if she/he hasn’t planned them carefully in advance. In fact, the
success of free conversation depends on four elements:
a. Careful preparation by the teacher and the learners;
b. The silence of the teacher during the activity;
c. The availability of interesting topics that stimulate learners to participate; and
d. Confidence in their ability to communicate.

◦ Speaking Interaction Activities:

(1) Dialogues
(2) Interviews
(3) Role-playing
(4) Problem-solving
(5) Debates
 Teaching Reading

What is reading?
 Reading is the ability to decode meaning from graphic symbols.
 Reading involves a whole series of points:
1) The recognition of the alphabetic system,
2) The correlation of the graphic symbols with formal linguistic elements,
3) Intellectual comprehension and mechanical eye movement.
 Types of Reading:
Reading falls into two major categories:
1. Intensive:
It is mainly concerned with texts and
involves focusing upon new words,
structures, expressions, functions,
pronunciation and cultural insights. It is
carefully guided so that thorough
understanding of the content may be
achieved.
2. Extensive:
extensive reading, on the other hand, is
usually done at home for pleasure, or to
acquire general information. The material is
usually taking the form of short stories,
novels, plays, poems, texts, magazines and
journals. Common aspects of it include
survey reading, superficial reading and
skimming.
 Reading Stages:
1. Word Level: At the word level, the
connection is with the association of form
and sound symbol, spelling and sound-
regular or irregular.
2. Sentence Level: At this level, the teacher
gives learners practice in patterns of high
frequency.
3. Paragraph Level: At this stage learners
are introduced to simple narrative or
conversational material.
4. Reading Longer Selections: As learners
progress in learning the language, they
should read longer selections in addition to
guided reading passages.
5. Individualized Reading: This is the advanced stage
of reading. Students are given the freedom to select
from a list of available material what they wish to
read.
• Successful reading is a process of active inquiry.
Good readers approach a text with questions and
develop new questions as they read, for example:
• “What is this story about?”
• “What does the main character want?”
• “Will she get it?” “If so, how?”
• Even after reading, engaged readers still ask
questions:
• “What is the meaning of what I have read?”
• “Why did the author end the paragraph (or
chapter, or book) in this way?”
• “What was the author’s purpose in writing
this?”
Teaching Writing:

What is writing?

Writing is an active means of communicating ideas. Functionally, it is

equated with speech since both are productive skills and concerned with
conveying information.
Stages of Writing:

For pedagogical purposes the writing program will be divided into three main
stages:
1) Controlled writing: The first stage of the writing skills includes handwriting,
copying (or transcription), dictation and spelling.
2) Guided writing. The principle of these aspects of composition writing is to
provide graded guidance in vocabulary and structures so that learners will
not make many mistakes.
3) Free writing: This stage involves free composition. Learners having
practiced controlled and guided composition, are now able to manipulate
language with some originality of thought and freedom from common errors.
 Teaching Critical Thinking:

What is Critical Thinking?

Critical thinking is the intellectually disciplined process of actively and skillfully

conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and/or generated by, observation,
experience, reflection, reasoning, or communication, as a guide to belief and action.
 Why Teach Critical Thinking?
 The information explosion is likely to
continue in the future.
 Students need a guide to weed through
the information and not just passively
accept it.
 Students need to “develop and
effectively apply critical thinking skills
to their academic studies, to the complex
problems that they will face, and to the
critical choices they will be forced to
make as a result of the information
explosion and other rapid technological
changes.
Teaching Strategies to Help
Promote Critical Thinking:
1. CATS (Classroom Assessment Techniques)
2. Cooperative Learning Strategies
3. Case Study/Discussion Method: here the
teacher presents a case (or story) to the
class without a conclusion and ask the
students to construct a conclusion for the
case.
4. Using Questions
5. Using Writing Assignments
6. Using dialogues
THE ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF CLT
APPROACH
 There are some advantages of CLT, there are:
1. The interaction between students and teachers.
2. To inform the basic knowledge and ability to skillfully combine the
development.
3. Greatly improved the student’s interest.

There are some advantages of CLT, there are:

1. It is felt that there is not enough emphasis on the correction of pronunciation and grammar error. It is
because too much focus on meaning at the expense of form.

2. CLT approach focuses on fluency but not accuracy in grammar and pronunciation.

3. The CLT approach is great for intermediate student and advanced students, but for Beginners some
controlled practice is needed.

4. The monitoring ability of the teacher must be very good

5. Grammar Teaching Practices make application of this approach difficult.

 How has CLT changed the face of language teaching?

Jacobs and Farrell (2003) propose the following eight major changes in language teaching approaches as a
result of CLT:
1. Increased learner autonomy (learners help choose content, self-assessment, group work etc.).
2. Recognition of the social nature of language learning and the need for interaction.
3. Integration of the curriculum, so English is linked to other subjects and issues outside the classroom.

4. Focus on meaning through content-based teaching.

5. Recognizing diversity in learners’ strengths and learning styles, and developing learning strategies.
6. Development of creative and critical thinking skills that can be used outside the classroom.
7. Using alternative and multiple forms of assessment to get complete picture of learners’ abilities.
8. Teachers are co-learners, or facilitators, who learn through doing.
 A Summary of CLT Techniques

Jack Richards identifies the following techniques that are incorporated into communicative
classroom activities:
o Grammar is not taught in isolation, but as needed to accomplish communicative tasks
o Activities such as problem-solving, information gaps and role plays create the need for communication
and negotiation of meaning
o Both inductive and deductive grammar learning are incorporated
o Contents is relevant to students’ lives and interests
o Opportunities are provided for learners to personalize material by applying it to their lives
o Authentic texts
o Meaning and Authenticity
o Communication According to Ability
o A Focus on Accuracy as well as Fluency
o Motivation
o Some argue that an “authentic” activity done within the confines of the classroom is
neither natural nor realistic.
o Learner backgrounds and expectations differ, and reception of a communicative context
may be uncomfortable and even unwelcoming.
o Some students may be demotivated by the pressure to” perform”.
o Attitudes to group work vary- some students will be less than enthusiastic at the
prospect of working with peers.
o Some may see repeated practice exercises as a waste of time.
III.
III.Assessment
Assessment
Activity 1- Asking and Giving Direction
 B. While-speaking stage:

B.1. Look at the map below. There are buildings that are not marked on your map, but they are marked on
your friend’s map. You are at “X”. Ask your friend how to get there and mark the ten buildings on your
map. What questions will you ask? What phrases will you use to answer the questions?

MAP 1/STUDENT A
MAP 2/STUDENT B
B.2. Simulation Activity: ‘Lost in London’: How to get to…?
1. You are a group of friends visiting London as tourists and you’ve just visited the British Museum.

2. At the moment, you feel lost and need somebody’s help to continue your sightseeing.
Fortunately, you’ve got three maps of central London. To save time, you decide to be
divided into 3 groups to ask directions for three main London sights: a. The Houses of
Parliament, b. The Buckingham Palace and c. The Tower of London.

3. In your groups study the map of central London and prepare a dialogue about asking
and giving directions for one of the three different sights.

4. Two members of your group act out the dialogue to the class.
 C. Post-speaking stage:

C.1. Work in your groups again and write a paragraph to summarize the directions for the
London sight you were assigned to “find” using appropriate linking expressions. Then a
representative of each group reports back to the class and the other groups listen carefully to
circle the destination “tracing” the way on your maps.

C.2. SELF-ASSESSMENT QUESTIONNAIRE

Tick check (/) what’s true for you
Now I can Tick (/)
1 Ask directions for a place  

2 Give directions to a place  

3 Act out a dialogue about directions  

4 Take notes while listening to directions  

5 Take turns while acting out a dialogue  
6 Use a map to get a place  
7 Use imperatives to give directions  
8 Use prepositions of place  
9 Write a paragraph about directions  
10 Work well with my classmates