Communicative Language Teaching

Introduction

● Vocabulary and structure are important, but not enough for communication

● Communicative competence (Hymes, 1971): knowing when and how to say what to whom.

● In reaction to Chomsky’s linguistic competence. Linguistic competence doesn’t justify social and functional rules of the language.

● To enable students to communicate in the target language

Principles

● Authentic language in real context:sports columns from a recent newspaper.

● Language: a vehicle for communication, not the object of study (language for communication).

● Language use at higher levels (supra sentential, text or discourse level).

● Opportunities for self expression

Principles

Errors as natural outcome of development of communication skills. Establishment of situations to promote communication.Cooperation and team work as a chance to negotiate meaning.

Principles

● Role play as an example of social context (language for communication)

● Language forms with respect to social communicative norms (talking to your boss vs. talking to your colleague)

● A choice about what to say (linguistic competence) and how to say (communicative one).

Principles

● Grammar and vocabulary from functions, situational context and roles.

Communicative Activities

Three features (Johnson and Morrow, 1981)● Information gap● Choice● Feedback

Techniques

● Authentic materials● Scrambled sentences● Language games● Picture strip Story● Role-play

Questions for Discussion

● Do the principles of CLT make sense to you?● Should authentic language materials be

used in the classroom?● What are your concerns when applying CLT

in your teaching?