WHERE DOES THE COMMUNICATIVE APPROACH LEAVE US?

Abstract

More than half a century since the advent of the Communicative Approach, we still see it as a synonym of success and innovation in language teaching. But its popularity may not necessarily translate into the actual practice of communicative principles in the classroom. This literature review explores current (mis)conceptions of Communicative Language Teaching and reconsiders them in light of all the theoretical input it has received all throughout its development. It also will go over some of the applications these theories have had, along with their shortcomings. This will ultimately lead to an example of what can be done from a methodological perspective if the communicative underpinnings are studied thoroughly, although the question of how (best) to teach language as communication is still open to informed and contextually situated solutions.