Is the communicative approach effective?

Question

What do you think about the com.app.? Do you think it is really effective?

Bulent · Accepted Answer

What a question!It is the only approach that makes learners speak English!You can help your learners speak as long as you use the techniques of this approach effectively.
Cheers!

Guest · Answer

Hi All,

I also believe that CLT really works best to help students improve their English. However, when a group of homogeneous students are presented, it seems really tough to get them to talk to one another in the target language. What do we do them?

Pat

Magic79 · Answer

I am definitely in favor of the communicative approach. However, I have seen very competent teachers who don't follow it. For example, they teach grammar the old-fashioned way by giving example sentences and explaining the meaning of the structure, formation rules, etc. They use colors and examples from the students' lives, and eventually they have some drilling exercises.

The teacher's personality and effectiveness plays a central role in the method's success. Nevertheless, I think the communicative approach is a theoretically sound but that doesn't mean the traditional grammar drilling exercises are not effective especailly if used after a communicative activity in which students might be later directed to an important structure that they should have used or did not use correctly. Many ESL/EFL authors argue for a mixture of focus on grammar and also focus on communication.

A predominantly communicative activities produce fluency but not accuracy. And a predominantly grammar course produces accruacy but no fluency. Therefore, a peaceful merge produces the best results.

Is the communicative approach effective?

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