1. COMMUNICATIVE
PRINCIPLES AND ACTIVITIES
By : Ola Mohammed Ahmed

2. Goal of Foreign Language
to enable the learners to use the foreign language in work
or life
Therefore, we should teach that part of the language that
will be used; in the way that is used in the real world.

3. Gaps between the use of language in real life and the traditional
foreign language teaching pedagogy
In real life: Language is used to perform certain
communicative functions.
The traditional pedagogy: focuses on forms rather than on
functions.
The consequence: The learners have learned a lot of
sentences or patterns, but they are unable to use them
appropriately in real social situations.

4. In real life: We use all skills, including the receptive skills and the
productive skills.
The traditional pedagogy tends to focus on one or two language
skills and ignore the others.
The consequence: The learners cannot use the language in an
integrated way

5. In real life: Language is always used in a certain context.
The traditional pedagogy tends to isolate language from its
context. e.g. the passive
The consequence:The students are puzzled about how to use
the language in a particular context.

6. Fostering communicative competence
The goal of CLT is to develop students communicative competence.
Communicative Competence vs. Linguistic Competence
Linguistic Competence = grammatical knowledge or knowledge about
the language form
Communicative Competence =Knowledge & ability for:
rules of form/grammar + rules of use

7. According to Hymes (1979), communicative
competence includes four aspects:
• knowing whether or not something is formally possible
(grammaticality: grammatically acceptable
• knowing whether something is understandable to human
beings (feasibility
• knowing whether something is in line with social norms
(appropriateness in a social context
• knowing whether or not something is in fact done (what
the language performance entails).

8. • Communicative Competence includes
knowledge/awareness of:
1. when to say
2. where to say
3. to whom to say
4. what to say
5. how to say

9. Features of CLT
CLT stresses the need to allow students opportunities for
authentic and creative use of the language;
CLT focuses on meaning rather than on form;
CLT suggests that learning should be relevant to the needs
of the students;
CLT advocates task-based language teaching (TBLT);
CLT emphasizes a functional approach to language learning
and culture awareness of the target language.

10. The implementation of language skills
• The translation of communicative competence in language
teaching practice is to develop the learners’ skills, namely,
listening, speaking, reading and writing.
• In traditional pedagogy, listening and speaking were
treated as skills different from what takes place in reality.
• Therefore, listening and speaking skills need to be redefined in
terms of the real communicative use.
• Students should have the chance to listen to and produce what
is meaningful, authentic, unpredictable, and creative if ever
possible.

11. Functional communicative activities
e.g. Identifying pictures
Pictures Pictures for
for
Student B
Student
A

12. language for the activity:
• What colour …?
• How many …?
• Where …?

13. Social interactional activities
e.g. Role-playing through cued dialogues
Learner A Learner B
You meet B in the street. You meet A in the street.
A: Greet B. A:
B: B: Greet A.
A: Ask B where he is going. A:
B: B: Say you are going for a walk.
A: Suggest somewhere to go A:
together. B: Reject A’s suggestion. Make a
B: different suggestion.
A: Accept B’s suggestion. A:
B: B: Express pleasure.

14. Reading and writing are also communicative skills
which are worth no less attention than listening and
speaking
Rod Ellis’ (1990) six criteria for
communicative activities
1. Communicative purpose; (information gap)
2. Communicative desire; (real need)
3. (Focus on ) Content, not form; (message)
4. Variety of language; (not just one language form, free to
improvise/create)
5. No teacher intervention; (done by Ss; no
correcting/evaluating how Ss do it; assessment is
based on the ‘product’ or on communicative purpose
rather than on the language.)
6. No material control.