The Communicative Approach initially prioritizes communicative competence over accurate grammar. Grammar is hidden within the body of a lesson and highlighted and focused upon once the context has been set.
Let your students communicate first – build on their accuracy after. For example, do not start by frightening your adult students off with “Today we are going to learn about the Present Perfect Simple”, instead authenticate your lesson with “Today we are going to learn how to do a job interview in English”.
It is important to remember that as individuals most of us do not learn a language in order to communicate.
Basic Principles for Teachers | Basic Principles for Learners |
- Teacher’s main role is a facilitator and monitor rather than leading the class. In other words, “the guide by the side” and not “the sage on the stage”.
- Lessons are usually topic or theme based, with the target grammar “hidden” in the context e.g. a job interview (using the Present Perfect tense.)
- Lessons are built round situations/functions practical and authentic in the real world e.g. asking for information, complaining, apologizing, job interviews, telephoning.
- Activities set by the teacher have relevance and purpose to real life situations – students can see the direct benefit of learning
- Dialogues are used that centre around communicative functions, such as socializing, giving directions, making telephone calls
- Emphasis on engaging learners in more useful and authentic language rather than repetitive phrases or grammar patterns
- Emphasis on communication and meaning rather than accuracy. Being understood takes precedence over correct grammar. The fine tuning of grammar comes later.
- Emphasis is put on the “appropriacy” of language. What is the most appropriate language and tone for a particular situation?
- Communicative competence is the desired goal. i.e. being able to survive, converse and be understood in the language.
- Emphasis is put on correct pronunciation and choral (group) and individual drilling is used
- Authentic listening and reading texts are used more often, rather than artificial texts simply produced to feature the target language
- Use of songs and games are encouraged and provide a natural environment to promote language and enhance correct pronunciation
- Feedback and correction is usually given by the teacher after tasks have been completed, rather than at the point of error, thus interrupting the flow
| - Learners are often more motivated with this approach as they have an interesting what is being communicated, as the lesson is topic or theme based.
- Learners are encouraged to speak and communicate from day one, rather than just barking out repetitive phrases
- Learners practice the target language a number of times, slowly building on accuracy
- Language is created by the individual, often through trial and error
- Learners interact with each other in pairs or groups, to encourage a flow of language and maximize the percentage of talking time, rather than just teacher to student and vice versa
- Unless the focus is on the accuracy stage of the lesson, learners are corrected at the end of an activity so as not to interrupt their thought process
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Main features of the Communicative Approach are:
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This method of language teaching is categorized along with others under the rubric of a communicative approach. The method stresses a means of organizing a language syllabus. The emphasis is on breaking down the global concept of language into units of analysis in terms of communicative situations in which they are used. Notions are meaning elements that may be expressed through nouns, pronouns, verbs, prepositions, conjunctions, adjectives or adverbs. The use of particular notions depends on three major factors: a. the functions b. the elements in the situation, and c. the topic being discussed. A situation may affect variations of language such as the use of dialects, the formality or informality of the language and the mode of expression. Situation includes the following elements:  The persons taking part in the speech act The place where the conversation occurs The time the speech act is taking place The topic or activity that is being discussed Exponents are the language utterances or statements that stem from the function, the situation and the topic. Code is the shared language of a community of speakers. Code-switching is a change or switch in code during the speech act, which many theorists believe is purposeful behavior to convey bonding, language prestige or other elements of interpersonal relations between the speakers. |
