Communicative language teaching

Communicative language teaching (CLT), or the communicative approach (CA), is an approach to language teaching that emphasizes interaction as both the means and the ultimate goal of study. Within CLT, the goal is the ability to communicate in the target language. This is in contrast to previous views in which grammatical competence was commonly given top priority. Learners in settings which utilise CLT learn and practice the target language through the following activities: communicating with one another and the instructor in the target language; studying "authentic texts" (those written in the target language for purposes other than language learning); and using the language both in class and outside of class. To promote language skills in all types of situations, learners converse about personal experiences with partners, and instructors teach topics outside of the realm of traditional grammar. CLT also claims to encourage learners to incorporate their personal experiences into their language learning environment and to focus on the learning experience, in addition to learning the target language. CLT also positions the teacher as a facilitator, rather than an instructor. The approach is a non-methodical system that does not use a textbook series to teach the target language but works on developing sound oral and verbal skills prior to reading and writing.