CLT

The CLT approach has called my attention as it could be one of those approaches that cover many points of view. Wilkins (1976) said that we need to look at the notions that language expresses and what kind of communicative functions people can perform with language; I think language is for sharing the view that we have about the world.

From what I see, CLT is focused on content and how meaningful can be the tasks that a learner is asked to do In order to make these resemble realistic situations that a person can face in  real environments of the target language. Thus, one of the advantages that CLT has presented is linked to that idea of it can integrate many approaches conforming what is taught in something more complete and structured than other approaches do.

The learner that is exposed to the right kind of activities interacting with others should learn grammar of the L2 incidentally. Those kind of activities should be communicative and full of meaning, it can help to develop an indirect knowledge about the structures of the L2 generating in the student knowledge that would be acquired somehow as he did it in his mother tongue, unconsciously (Long, 1988).

Personally, I agree with this approach as it seems to model a more realistic way of acquiring a L2 and at the same time avoids focusing on forms that sometimes students find quite boring. The important thing here, it is to think about the contexts and tools which teachers have to take into account in order to get more significant spaces for this kind of learning and if their learners are prepared to deal with the kinds of activities that CLT asks them to perform.

Finally, I think education continues in a constant searching about those approaches that better fill the students’ needs. Meanwhile, CLT will continue to be one the most important and applicable in L2 learning nowadays.

Javier Rodríguez.

Notes:

·         Wilkins, D. (1976). Notional Syllabuses. Oxford University Press.

·         Long, M. H. (1988). Instructed Interlanguage Development I (ed). Issues in Second Language Acquisition: Multiple Perspectives. Newbury House.