What Actually Is a ‘Communicative Approach’ to Language Teaching?

Abstract

The major emphasis of ELT discussion over the last few years has been notional/functional syllabuses and communicative approaches to language teaching. It is interesting to note that even the Kementerian Pelajaran Malaysia’s new journal has as the theme of the first issue ‘Focus on Communicative Methodology’. Let’s look at some of these terms, including the term ‘communicative approach’.