An Evaluation of the Communicative Approach to Language Acquisition and Language Education (Published)
This article evaluates the communicative approach adopted in the teaching of language in Nigerian Secondary Schools. This study analyses the communicative language teaching approach in line with the language difficulty situation of the Nigerian students. The Stephen Krashen theory on language learning was adopted for the study. A critical review of literature, interviews and classroom observation reveal that unless conscious and deliberate steps are taken to arrest the current traditional method of teaching language in Nigeria by teachers and language policy makers the success of this approach will remain a mirage. The study suggests that teachers of the English language need to be more proactive and less non-challant in their use of the communicative approach. They also need to implement appropriate communicative activities consciously to meet the learning styles and needs of their students in the Nigerian context.
Keywords: Communicative Approach, Language Learning, Language Teaching