AN EVALUATION OF C L T'S USE IN ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE INSTRUCTION IN INDIA

Abstract

The history of Communicative Language Teaching (CLT), the rationale for its introduction in America and Europe, its philosophy, and its introduction in India are all covered in this article. The factors that contribute to CLT's popularity are examined and assessed critically. The success and failure of CLT implementation in India are examined. There is discussion of ideas for ensuring the success of CLT in India.

The approaches that were popular prior to CLT were the Situational Language Teaching approach, the Audio-Lingual approach, and the Grammar-Translation technique. These techniques required form memorization and practice. Learning a language during World War II was done for practical reasons. Studying literary works and just learning grammatical rules were deemed insignificant. The ability to utilize language for pragmatic purposes became crucial. To put it another way, the capacity to communicate effectively is a prerequisite for learning a foreign language. At this moment, Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) replaced these approaches. The introduction of CLT caused a significant shift in the way that second language instruction was conducted. The primary cause of this shift is that teachers started to understand that the major objective of teaching foreign languages is to help students become more communicative.

A large number of immigrants arrived in Europe in the 1970s, and in order to find work, they had to pick up English fast. The employees were unable to communicate with their bosses using the Grammar-Translation and Audio-Lingual technique drills. According to Jack C. Richards (153), "British applied linguists started to question the theoretical assumption underlying