The communicative approach to teaching English in Nigerian secondary schools

Language is learned for communicative purposes. When communication is not achieved, then language is not learned. The objective of this paper is to discuss the usefulness of communicative language teaching approach in language learning. Topics include teaching language as communication, the concept and components of the communicative approach, needs of the learners, the methods of communicative approach, communicative activities, and roles of a language teacher. Recommendations for communicative language teaching include that teaching of English in secondary schools should be considered as teaching communication, teachers should present authentic materials and activities for classroom interactions, language textbooks should only serve as guides to teachers and learners, and teachers should make language learning become natural for learners inside or outside the classroom.