Application Of Communicative Language Teaching In The Teaching Of IELTS Listening

Communicative Language Teaching is a teaching method, which not only fosters learners’ linguistic competence but also cultivates their communicative competence. CLT is a widely used teaching method throughout the world. Many domestic and foreign scholars have made researches and given their opinions on it. However, for art students who are at low English listening level and low learning motivation, but still need to take the IELTS test, whether this teaching method can take effects or not is still an unknown answer. The purpose of doing this research is to explore whether the Communicative Language Teaching can improve art students’ grade in IELTS listening and raise students’ interest in IELTS listening class.In this research, the author chooses2classes (67freshmen of Sino-English classes) from the Art Design College of the Guangxi Art Institute as subjects. The Section1and The Section2of IELTS listening test are chosen to be the research range.In the experimental class, the author teaches IELTS listening under the guidance of the Communicative Language Teaching; while in the controlled class, the author teaches listening in the traditional model. Both quantitative and qualitative studies are used in this research.In the research, the author puts a questionnaire, interviews, class observations and exams into use. Data from the questionnaire and the exams are collected and analyzed through Excel; the contents of interview and class observations are also recorded and analyzed.The thesis contains5chapters. The first chapter is introduction. The second chapter focuses on literature review. The third chapter describes the methodology. The forth chapter is data analysis and discussion toward the research results. The last chapter is conclusion and suggestions.The findings of this research show that1) The learning enthusiasm of the experimental class is higher than that of the controlled class.2) The experimental class is doing better than the controlled class when it comes to IELTS listening tests and the final exam.3) More time should be spent in the IELTS listening class for art students who are at low English level, and it is also more demanding for the teacher.