Comments And Evaluation On The Application Of CLT Abroad And In China

At the end of 1980s and beginning of the 1970s, the rise of sociolinguistics, pragmatics, discourse analysis, the theory of communicative approach, etc, started a revolution in the field of linguistics. Many linguists began to view language not only in terms of structures, but also the communicative functions that it performs. The shift of emphasis in the aim of linguistics study has exerted a great influence on language teaching, and finally it leads to a new approach in language teaching the CA, namely Communicative Language Teaching or Functional Approach or Functional -notional Approach, its teaching goal is to train and develop the students' linguistic competence, but also their communicative competence.What are then the characteristic features of the new approach? Will all the past problems in language teaching be solved with its energy?This dissertation deals with the theoretical background of the Communicative Approach, with an emphasis on studying its enlightment on us English teachers; its characteristics of teaching activities and its teaching principles. In the thesis, the writer proposed some practical methods of implementing the Communicative Approach in foreign language teaching in China.The thesis points out that Communicative Approach is fundamental in that it opens a wider perspective on language and on language learning. However, severalproblems remain unsolved in the Communicative Approach. The dissertation also tries to explore the feasibilities of the Communicative Approach in China and the new trends in language teaching. Finally a communicative proficiency oriented approach is proposedThe essay consists of six parts. Part One deals with the theoretical background of the emergence of the CA. Part Two illustrates some controversies of concepts in CLT which consequently lead to controversies in CLT practice. Part Three studies the characteristics of communicative teaching activities and the teaching principles embodied in the CA Part Four probes the feasibility and operational methods of combining the CA with English language teaching in China Part Five introduces some recent teaching methods innovated abroad which are proficiency-based, communicative-based or interactive-based. The conclusion serves as a summary of the thesis.The characteristics of the essay can be summarized as follows: The materials are in the trend, not out of date. The writer tries to catch up with the development of CLT research abroad and the main theories of contemporary linguists. Secondly, the essay is comprehensive, not isolated. The writer includes a full-sided survey of CLT so as to be unbiased and avoid ambiguity in understanding. Also what the writer has stated is dynamic, not static. They are open to criticism and reshape because there is no end in ESL research and practice since our world and society will develop forever. Finally the essay is practical instead of being theoretical It follows the principle of "combine theory with practice". In explaining the theoretical principles and application of CA, the author raises many concrete examples and narrated her own teaching experiences.