Our view of teaching and of the use of language has been dominated by:

1.      The importance of forms, the structural rules (grammar)

2.      With the big contribution of Chomsky these things have been severely criticized.

Chomsky’s review of Skinner’s verbal behaviour

-         We don’t learn like animals.

He brought his theories of competence. But even though his contribution was revolutionary, Chomsky left out all social parameters: language as interpersonal interaction. 

Chomsky (1965): “Linguistic theory is concerned primarily with an ideal speaker, listener in a completely homogeneous community who knows his language perfectly and is unaffected by such grammatically irrelevant condition as memory limitations, distractions, shifts of attention and errors in applying his knowledge of the language in actual performance.” 

These views have more or less been abandoned è if we want to equip our learner to cope with the real demands of communication in a given community and to fulfil his communicative needs then we must help him to develop a communicative competence.

The Communicative Approach

Communicative language teaching began in Britain in the 1960s. It was partly in response to Chomsky's criticisms of structural theories of language and partly based on the theories of British functional linguists, such as Firth and Halliday, as well as American sociolinguists, such as Hymes, Gumperz and Labov and the writings of Austin and Searle on speech acts.

This method is learner-centred and emphasises communication and real-life situations.

Learner-Centred:

The role of the instructor in CLT is quite different from traditional teaching methods. In the traditional classroom, the teacher is in charge and "controls" the learning. In CLT the teacher serves as more of a facilitator, allowing students to be in charge of their own learning.

The teacher still sets up exercises and gives direction to the class, but the students do much more speaking than in a traditional classroom. This responsibility to participate can often lead to an increased sense of confidence in using the language. Putting the teacher in charge of everything in the traditional classroom has been compared to the Atlas Complex. CLT relieves Atlas of his "burden."

Communication:

Language is used for communication. For this reason, CLT makes use of communication to teach languages. Whereas traditional language teaching places a lot of emphasis on grammar rules and verb conjugations, CLT emphasizes real-life situations and communication in context. While grammar is still important in the CLT classroom, the emphasis is on communicating a message.

In CLT, students practice real-life situations, for example, buying food at the market or asking someone for directions.

In these exercises, the goal is for the student to communicate his or her needs and thoughts, without worrying about having perfect grammar.

 Social Context:

CLT also stresses social and situational contexts of communication. For example, in many languages, the form of "you" changes depending on the age and status of the two speakers. Addressing a person in the proper way can make a big difference in having a successful exchange, even if the verb tenses aren't right.

Theory of language:

The functional view of language is the primary one behind the communicative method.[1]

Theory of learning:

The learning theory behind the communicative approaches may be summarized in some principles:

-         Activities that involve real communication promote learning; learners learn a language through using it to communicate.

-         Activities in which language is used for carrying out meaningful tasks promote learning

-         Language that is meaningful to the learner promotes learning; authentic and meaningful communication should be the goal of classroom activities. 

-         Fluency is an important dimension of communication.

-         Communication involves the integration of different language skills.

-         Learning is a process of creative construction and involves trial and error.

Objectives:

Here are some of the objectives of Communicative Language Teaching:

-         students will learn to use language as a means of expression

-         students will use language as a means of expressing values and judgments

-         students will learn to express the functions that best meet their own communication needs

The Syllabus:

Communicative language teaching often uses a functional-notional syllabus.[2]

Types of learning techniques and activities:

Communicative language teaching uses almost any activity that engages learners in authentic communication. Littlewood; however, has distinguished two major activity types:

-         functional communication activities: ones aimed at developing certain language skills and functions, but which involve communication, and

-         social interaction activities, such as conversation and discussion sessions, dialogues and role plays.

 Communicative Competence:

Language teaching is based on the idea that the goal of language acquisition is communicative competence: the ability to use the language correctly and appropriately to accomplish communication goals. The desired outcome of the language learning process is the ability to communicate competently, not the ability to use the language exactly as a native speaker does.

Communicative competence is made up of four competence areas: linguistic, sociolinguistic, discourse, and strategic.

• Linguistic competence is knowing how to use the grammar, syntax, and vocabulary of a language. Linguistic competence asks: What words do I use? How do I put them into phrases and sentences?
• Sociolinguistic competence is knowing how to use and respond to language appropriately, given the setting, the topic, and the relationships among the people communicating. Sociolinguistic competence asks: Which words and phrases fit this setting and this topic? How can I express a specific attitude (courtesy, authority, friendliness, respect) when I need to? How do I know what attitude another person is expressing?
• Discourse competence is knowing how to interpret the larger context and how to construct longer stretches of language so that the parts make up a coherent whole. Discourse competence asks: How are words, phrases and sentences put together to create conversations, speeches, email messages, newspaper articles?
• Strategic competence is knowing how to recognize and repair communication breakdowns, how to work around gaps in one’s knowledge of the language, and how to learn more about the language and the context. Strategic competence asks: How do I know when I’ve misunderstood or when someone has misunderstood me? What do I say then? How can I express my ideas if I don’t know the name of something or the right verb form to use?

In the early stages of language learning, instructors and students may want to keep in mind the goal of communicative efficiency: That learners should be able to make themselves understood, using their current proficiency to the fullest. They should try to avoid confusion in the message (due to faulty pronunciation, grammar, or vocabulary); to avoid offending communication partners (due to socially inappropriate style); and to use strategies for recognizing and managing communication breakdowns.