In this episode I take on the topic of communicative language teaching (CLT). What is it exactly and how do we teach communicatively? [sign up for Talking Points]
Topics:
- CLT is an approach and not a method.
- Difference between an approach and a method?
- Bill VanPatten’s description of CLTR.
- The role of input.
- The role of output.
- The communicative classroom:
- student-centered
- students create with language
- focus is communicating messages
What does this look like in the classroom?
- Performance
- Assessment
What does the teacher do in the communicative language classroom?
“[It is not] because some plants will grow in a desert, [that] watering the ones in your garden is a waste of time. In fact, of course, while the desert may provide the minimum conditions for a plant to grow, watering it may help it grow faster, bigger, and stronger, that is to realize its full potential.” —Larsen-Freeman and Long, 1990
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