What is CLT?

Communicative language teaching (CLT) is also referred to as the communicative approach,

which entails teaching language through communication. This approach to teaching language frames
communication as both a goal and a method for English language learners (ELLs) whose first language is
not English.

Communicative language teaching (CLT) is also referred to as the communicative approach, which
entails teaching language through communication. This approach to teaching language frames
communication as both a goal and a method for English language learners (ELLs) whose first language is
not English.

Communicative language teaching prioritizes developing students' communication and interaction skills.
This ensures that students can communicate effectively and confidently in real-life situations through
student-to-student interaction and student-to-teacher interaction. CLT essentially aims to have students
learn a new language by actually using the language to communicate with those around them.

The success of developing communicative competence in teaching speaking is inseparable with the
materials or tasks given to the students. The speaking teachers should really pay attention to tasks given
that are more focused on oral communicative ones. The tendency of relying on studentcentered
communicative task is strongly expected to achieve the target of communicative competence
development. Absolutely, the oral communicative tasks will activate the students’ interest to
communicate their ideas in oral form naturally. They will enjoy their communication process created
without much interference of teacher. Negotiation of meaning and management of interaction in their
speaking activities will automatically occur well.

ttps://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/the-importance-of-oral-communicative-tasks-in-developing-
communicative-competence

Interest in new foreign language teaching methods is currently on the increase. The definition of the
communicative approach in language teaching is considered in the article. Communicative competence
is one of the main components of teaching. The characteristics, strategies and basic principles of
communicative competence are identified. It is also emphasized the role of communicative grammar in
foreign language teaching is also emphasized. Teaching grammar is an effective way of developing
communicative competence in foreign language teaching.

A single model of CommunicativeLanguage Teaching that can be put in an implementation in all settings
has not evolved yet. However, a number of different language teaching approaches have emerged
implementing the issues identified above. A language syllabus today must include systematic coverage
of the many different components of communicative competence, including language skills, content,
grammar, vocabulary, and functions. Communicative orientation to language teaching provides to
different syllabus with routes to develop communicative competence. In this investigation we will deal
with one of the different approaches that are currently in use around the world and which can be
viewed as falling within the general framework of communicative language teaching.

https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/current-trends-in-communicative-language-teaching
ntroduction

The language teaching methodologies have been going through a number of transformations over the
years. Unquestionably, these changes have led to new pedagogical approaches that have strengthened
the efficacy of language teaching. Communicative language teaching(CLT) is one such pedagogical
approach that has enhanced the way language is taught and learned. Communicative language teaching
as a teaching methodology fosters active learning as students will be actively involved in the learning
process.

What is Communicative Language Teaching?

Communicative Language Teaching is a methodology by which learners learn language through

interaction. The interaction can be with teachers or their peers. The primary objective of CLT is to enable
learners to communicate effectively in that second language or foreign language that they are trying to
learn.

In CLT, generally, teachers and students do not follow textbook theories for acquiring language skills.
However, it focused on building the language skills of students through active learning activities and
thus, improving the communication skills in that language. In the past, language teaching and learning
were all about grammar rules and learning those rules. Its effectiveness was very low compared to the
modern methodologies as they focus on improving the communication skills of the learner in that
particular language.

In Communicative language teaching, teachers act as facilitators rather than instructors or lecturers as
they will be guiding learners in such a way that they will be able to use the language in a real
environment. Now, let us look at the history of CLT to understand, how the language pedagogical
approaches have evolved and reached CLT.

History of CLT

The inception of this teaching methodology is believed to have started in the 1960s. It was Noam
Chomsky, the American linguistic theorist who has given rise to the communicative language teaching
methodology. His theories have accelerated the shift from situational language teaching to CLT. Unlike,
communicative language teaching, situational language teaching did not give importance to direct
communication. The traditional language teaching approaches did not have much impact as the learners
failed to master foreign languages in their true sense or rather failed to communicate effectively.

In the 1970s, when people started traveling from one country to the other for better prospects, second
language learning became essential. A lot of people around the world started migrating to Europe in the
hope of better life. Expats had to master foreign languages in order to thrive in their careers. Prior to
this, the opportunity to learn a second language in school was only available to members of the elite
classes, making it a sign of privilege. However, migration made it a necessity for all people to learn
foreign languages as the need for communication became inevitable. Hence, people started learning
different languages.

In addition, the Council of Europe played a vital role in fostering the development of CLT as they realized
the inefficacy of situational language teaching. They focused on developing syllabi tailored to meet the
requirements of European immigrants. It facilitated the growth of CLT, which later became the main
approach for language teaching.

Noam Chomsky pointed out that structural language theories cannot cover the varieties that the spoken
language would have. Moreover, linguists like Christopher Candlin and Henry Widdowson emphasized
the ineffectiveness of situational language teaching methodologies. Subsequently, the concept of
communicative competence gained popularity, and language learning shifted towards approaches that
accentuated the importance of functional competence and communication skills.

Classroom Activities to Promote CLT

According to the CLT approaches, learning a language requires effective communication with others.
Writing abilities are subordinate to it. As long as a person does not practice speaking in the language
they wish to learn, they will not be able to do so fluently. Teachers can set up circumstances in which
students can practice their language skills, point out their errors, and offer assistance in fixing them.
There are a variety of activities you may run to help language learners improve their language abilities.

As mentioned above, teachers serve as a facilitator in CLT by being available to respond to the students'
questions. Additionally, they offer the students feedback based on their performance, assisting them in
improving their learning.

Speak, Speak and Speak

Teachers can motivate students to converse in the language they are trying to learn or the target
language. Teachers can correct their mistakes when made, and rectify them. In this way, they are
improving their language skills and learning how to communicate well in that language. Teachers can
also deliver their lectures in the target language to ensure exposure to the language.

Group Activities

Group activities are the best way to make the students interact with each other. The facilitators can
ensure that the students are communicating with each other in the foreign language. When they are
given situations to talk with each other in the language, they start thinking in that language and try their
best to formulate sentences on their own. Moreover, students will correct each other and will have the
scope to learn from each other.

Extempore

Instructors can give students a topic to talk about for a few minutes. Also, they can give students some
time to prepare for that particular topic. When they talk about the topic, the teacher can make a note of
the error that the student makes and after the completion of the task, can give them feedback. It gives
students a chance to get an idea about the errors they are making while articulating something in that
language and hence they try to overcome them.

Information-Gap Activities

For information gap activities, students will have to communicate well with each other to connect the
dots. Hence, they will try harder to speak well and understand well. This improves their communication
skills and comprehension power. Hence, students will try hard to succeed in the competition through
meaningful intelligible communication.

Conclusion

The intention of the article was to give you an overview of what communicative language teaching is all
about. It is an effective teaching methodology that demands active participation from the students. This
approach has positive results as students will become proficient in the language and will learn to
communicate well. This model places more emphasis on the students' communication abilities. This
method concentrates more on the practical components of language learning than on the theoretical
ones.

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