Adopting a CLT Perspective toGrammar Instruction: ATeaching Proposal for theEFL Classroom

Abstract

The emergence of communicative competence has considerably influenced the area of second language (SL) learning. The emphasis on learners’ mastery of language forms has been replaced by the interest in enhancing learners’ communicative competence (Littlewood, 2014). As a reaction towards traditional approaches (e.g. Audiolingualism), a new approach to SL learning emerged: Communicative Language Teaching (CLT). This approach aims to make communication the focal point of language learning (Richards, 2006). According to this communication-oriented approach, creating communicative situations in the classroom facilitates the development of learners’ communication skills (Fithriani, 2018). Nevertheless, this focus on communication has been misinterpreted as a lack of attention to language form (Spada, 2007). Even though the goal of CLT is communication, this approach also involves grammar instruction (López-Rama & Luque-Agulló, 2012). However, grammar is not taught through traditional exercises with isolated sentences but through communicative situations (Larsen-Freeman, 2000). Despite the criticism against traditional grammar practices, SL and foreign language (FL) teachers are still reluctant to teach grammar communicatively (Al-Mekhlafi & Nagaratnam, 2011). For this reason, this master’s thesis dissertation follows the guidelines of modality 6 and presents a teaching proposal which teaches grammar following the CLT principles in an English as a foreign language (EFL) classroom. Based on previous literature, the teaching proposal presented here has carefully considered diverse techniques to teach grammar from this communicationbased perspective. Hence, this teaching proposal enhances learners’ communication skills through grammar teaching.