Reflective Essay On Communicative Language Teaching

Communication, at its base level, is the act of expression. Whether that involves conveying one’s feelings, opinions, or a myriad of possible emotions, language is the essential tool that makes expression possible. It can be verbal or non-verbal, subtle or complex, and is inherently social in nature. However, the primary function of language, no matter what form it takes, will always be that of expression.

I, like many others no doubt, find myself in the all too familiar position of being a relatively new TESOL practitioner. The result of which, is my unfamiliarity with many of the central theories on the subject in comparison to my more experienced colleagues.

Nevertheless, once I began to research the subject of communicative language teaching (CLT), I came to realise that whilst I may have been initially unaware of the corresponding theory, many of the concepts that underpin CLT are important aspects of my own teaching philosophy.

According to Ahmed (2014), CLT was first introduced in Europe in the early 1970s, and quickly became one of the major tenets of modern TESOL methodology. Savignon (2002) agrees, and expands on this by clarifying CLTs development by the Council of Europe in an

Classroom goals are focused on all of the components on communicative competence and not restricted to grammatical of linguistic competence. 2. Language techniques are designed to engage learners in the pragmatic, authentic, functional use of language for meaningful purposes. Organizational language forms are not the central focus, but rather aspects of language that enable the learner to accomplish those purposes. 3. Fluency and accuracy are seen as complementary principles underlying communicative techniques. At times fluency may have to take on more importance than accuracy in order to keep learners meaningfully engaged in language use. 4. In the communicative classroom, students ultimately have to use the language, productively and receptively, in unrehearsed