The Role of CLT in Innovating the Intensive Reading Course for Second-Year English Majors in China

Sep 4, 2026

Communicative language teaching (CLT) has been widely established as the dominant model in English language teaching since the 1970s, yet it still encounters resistance in highly constrained courses. This paper examines the feasibility of applying CLT to China’s Intensive Reading Course (IRC) and identifies potential changes. It reviews CLT theoretically, analyzes social and linguistic foundations, and discusses key models of communicative competence, major principles, and theoretical issues before proposing innovations to IRC.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages9

Reading Time23 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Index terms—communicative language teaching (clt); communicative competence; english language teaching (elt); intensive reading course (irc)

The Role of Clt in Innovating the Intensive Reading Course for Second-Year English Majors in China

Introduction

A Theoretical Review of CLT

i. Social and linguistic underpinnings

ii. Models of communicative competence

2 a. Canale and Swain model

Global Journals LATEX JournalKaleidoscope™ Artificial Intelligence formulated this projection for compatibility purposes from the original article published at Global Journals. However, this technology is currently in beta. Therefore, kindly ignore odd layouts, missed formulae, text, tables, or figures . 1 The Role of Clt in Innovating the Intensive Reading Course for 2 Second-Year English Majors in China 3 Dayan Liu 1 4 1 Chongqing Jiaotong University 5 Received: 13 December 2016 Accepted: 5 January 2017 Published: 15 January 2017 6 ~~ ~~ 7 Abstract 8 Since its initiation in the 1970s, communicative language teaching (CLT) has so far been well 9 established as the dominant ELT model. Despite its great advantages and huge popularity in 10 language teaching arena, it still meets with some resistance in certain highly-regarded yet 11 tightly-constrained courses. This paper intends to explore the possibility of applying CLT in 12 such a course in the Chinese context, i.e. the Intensive Reading Course (IRC), and the 13 potential to initiate some changes in the course. The paper starts by probing CLT 14 theoretically, analyzing its social and linguistic underpinnings, some key models of 15 communicative competence, the major principles and features of CLT, as well as some 16 theoretical problems and issues. It then discusses the innovation of IRC in a CLT framework, 17 in such areas as reading materials, learner-centredness, communicative activities and teacher 18 training, with a view to pushing for possible reforms in the teaching syllabus and assessment 19 for the course. 20 ~~ ~~ 21 Index terms—communicative language teaching (clt); communicative competence; english language teaching 22 (elt); intensive reading course (irc) 23 The Role of Clt in Innovating the Intensive Reading Course for Second-Year English Majors in China 24 Introduction ver since the 1970s, communicative language teaching (CLT) has gained momentum and now ”is 25 well established as the dominant theoretical model in ELT [English language teaching]”??Thompson, 1996: 9) . 26 The popularity of CLT can be explained in part by the perception of the main function of language, which is, as 27 Richards and Rodgers (2001: 161) point out, ”interaction and communication”. Communication and the role of 28 language in it are thus given greater prominence in language teaching. 29 CLT was also introduced to remedy the deficiencies found in previous rule-or structure-based methods, such as 30 grammar-translation method, audiolingual method, the direct method, etc. (Bax, 2003), which were discredited 31 for ”their inability to prepare learners for the interpretation, expression, and negotiation of meaning”??Savignon, 32 2013: 138) . CLT, in contrast, is given credit because its key concept of communicative competence ”revolutionized 33 language teaching by redefining its goals and the methods to achieve them”??Littlewood, 2011: 545) . 34 Originating in Europe and the United States, CLT, as ”a more functional and practical approach to language 35 education”, is now gaining worldwide recognition from educators ??Duff, 2014: 20) . However, its application in 36 some Asian countries (see Littlewood, 2007) has met with problems, especially in face of the fact that traditional 37 grammar-based approaches still have a strong hold and there are practical constraints in specific teaching contexts. 38 This study explores the possibility of applying CLT in a Chinese context for a specific course, i.e. the Intensive 39 Reading Course (IRC), which is viewed to have the most constraints and is thus the hardest to initiate changes. 40 The paper first reviews CLT theoretically. It then outlines IRC and raises some issues of applying CLT in the 41 course. Last, the paper discusses what innovations towards a more communicative approach can be introduced 42 to the course, in an attempt to push for deeper refor

FAQs

What is the main purpose of applying CLT to the Intensive Reading Course (IRC) in China?

The paper explores the possibility of applying CLT to IRC and initiating changes within a highly constrained course context.

How does the paper present CLT before discussing IRC innovations?

It reviews CLT theoretically, including its social and linguistic foundations, models of communicative competence, major principles and features, and related theoretical issues.

Which areas of IRC are targeted for innovation under a CLT framework?

The paper discusses innovations in reading materials, learner-centredness, communicative activities, and teacher training, aiming to support reforms in syllabus and assessment.

Sep 4, 2026

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