What Is The Communicative Approach?

The Communicative Approach is an idea that to learn English successfully, you have to
communicate in the language, in meaningful situations, in order to see the value of your work.
The communicative approach is a tried and test method for helping a student to acquire
valuable communicative English skills, which they see true value in.

When a student is involved with real life communication, which is also meaningful to them,
they see value in their work. This can help a student to develop a natural approach to language
learning and vocabulary acquisition moving forward, outside of the classroom.

The communicative approach is not just limited to real life verbal communication. It is an
approach to language learning in general. For example, a class utilizing the communicative
approach could also include the study of “authentic texts” – texts written in the target
language for a purpose other than your language studies. By adopting the communicative
approach in your English studies, you will be able to improve on your fluency, enabling you to
be more confident when interacting in English.

The communicative approach is based on the idea that learning language successfully comes
through having to communicate real meaning. When learners are involved in real
communication, their natural strategies for language acquisition will be used, and this will
allow them to learn to use the language.

Example
Practicing question forms by asking learners to find out personal information about their
colleagues is an example of the communicative approach, as it involves meaningful
communication.

In the classroom
Classroom activities guided by the communicative approach are characterized by trying to
produce meaningful and real communication, at all levels. As a result there may be more
emphasis on skills than systems, lessons are more learner-centred, and there may be use of
authentic materials.

How To Improve Your English Communication

Skills
Think Before You Speak
Practice With Others
Don’t Just Learn Words, Learn Your Sentences Too
Focus On Fluency
Don’t Rush When You Speak