Communicative language teaching approach in the teaching of english language: a comprehensive study

Teaching is a noble profession by which children are trained at primary level as well as secondary level and students are trained in colleges and universities at higher level. This training helps children grow mentally and morally. Learning is a process by which we learn so many things and there are learning techniques which help us learn in a systematic way.. Teachers use various methods, approaches and strategies to teach their students in a systematic way. When it comes to teach a second or a foreign language, particularly English, there are methods, approaches and techniques followed by teachers. In fact, linguists and language specialists tried to improve the quality of language teaching in the late nineteenth century by proposing different theories and methods. In language learning, we have various methods which reflect a theory of language learning. These theories account for the cognitive, personal, interpersonal and social processes and learners make use of them in second language or foreign language learning. The objectives of a method are attained through the instructional process and through the organized and directed interaction of teachers, learners and materials in the classroom. Differences among methods at the level of approach manifest themselves in the choice of different kinds of learning and teaching activities in the classroom.

Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) is an approach to the teaching second and foreign languages and it emphasizes interaction as both the means and the ultimate goal of learning a 1language. Audio-lingual method and Situational language teaching method were questioned by prominent linguists like Chomsky in 1960s and at the same time, CLT approach gained popularity. This research paper explores the advantages of CLT, despite a few disadvantages, in the learning of English as a second or a foreign language as well as teaching that language and also the popularity of this approach in ELT in this modern world is also discussed.