Communicative approach
The communicative approach is activity based, interactive, and learner centred. It encourages learners of a language to use that language as much as possible, for real, purposeful communication, in real life or in other relevant situations, such as role-playing. Learners are expected to become competent communicators in the language, able to convey meaning to others.
The goals of the communicative approach are to enable learners to:
- use language appropriately in a range of social and cultural contexts
- understand and convey meaning through interaction with other speakers of the language.
A foreign language programme with communication as its main goal contains certain features. These features must be carefully planned for, implemented, integrated, and maintained.
In a successful Chinese language programme using the communicative approach:
- the dominant language in the classroom is Chinese
- communication involves using appropriate language for real purposes
- students' conversation in Chinese is a very important part of the programme
- communication will often have some personal importance or meaning for students
- communication will often be unrehearsed and may be unpredictable, especially in conversation
- developing listening skills is recognised as an essential part of language learning
- students learn appropriate grammar when they need it to comprehend or convey messages in Chinese
- classroom organisation encourages interaction, allowing pairing and grouping of students
- when assessing, teachers and students place emphasis on communicative abilities.
Teachers should work within the principles of the communicative approach while taking into consideration the needs, interests, and learning styles of their students. Inside these limits, teachers are free to choose from a range of techniques and strategies which are consistent with research into how students best learn or acquire a language.