The field of English as a second language has gone through a number of changes in the last decades and has seen extreme adjustments throughout the methods of teaching and curriculum planning. This article finds the relevance of the old methods to the new methods. After providing the background it becomes apparent that almost all the older methods…

A notional-functional syllabus is a set of materials to be learned by students of a second language. While learning to perform communicative activities, students practice language structures that refer to certain situations and ideas (notions). The language structures are organized to express different interactions (functions) that are possible…

The author traces the development of speech act theory from Wittgenstein and Austin through Searle to Grice and shows how their work led to the notional functional approach to language teaching, which is based on the learner and his/her communicative needs. (CFM)

Discusses five directions for integrating the notion of communicative competence in foreign-language instruction: functional orientation, focus on semantic notions, cyclical progression, inclusion of rhetorical device and discursive authenticity, and systematic treatment of language variation. (EKN)

Suggests use of a functional/notional syllabus as a means of communicative teaching of second languages. Concept contains propositional and model components and a communicative function. Grammar must also be taught. (BK)

Discusses one approach to teaching French grammar in a university second year communicative-oriented course. (EKN)

Questions the relevance of the traditional structural/grammatical approach to Russian course design. Suggests instead a functional notional approach and provides an overview of its rationale and principles. (EKN)

The evolution of the idea of "civilization" applied to language teaching is viewed as tied to different conceptions of language underlying the last 50 years' instruction. Three questions are addressed: What are the traits of each? How do language and civilization respond to these notions? Where does this concept stand today? (MSE)

Both the theoretical basis of functional-notionalism and its practical classroom applications are discussed in this text. The major characteristic of the functional-notional approach to language teaching is a sensitivity to the individual needs of students. Based on the idea that the ability to use real, appropriate language to communicate with…

The notional-functional or communicative approach to foreign language teaching as practiced in East Germany is described. The purpose of communicative foreign language teaching is to prepare the learner to communicate in real-life situations. Classroom and real-life situations differ in several respects, most notably in communicative intention.…

Discusses methodological implications of a proficiency orientation focused on speaking, placing proficiency in the context of grammar, communicative competence, and functions/notions. Discusses repercussions in foreign language teaching of the varying emphases on these contexts. Asserts that a proficiency orientation allows tailoring of teaching…

Exemplifies and presents the rationale for notional writing materials. The basic assumption of these materials is that effective writing demands a clear sense of why something is being written and for whom it is being written. The materials provide a great variety of writing voices and related particular function to particular grammatical points.…

In recent years a variety of conceptions of the meaning of "communicative" in language teaching materials has arisen. One study defines a communicative exercise as one that has a student use a form rather than merely practice it. Another, applicable only to intermediate or advanced level students, asserts that natural language use involves an…

Looks at the problems that non-native speaker teachers face in teaching communication in an impoverished educational environment and what happens when attempts are made to change from the structural to the functional syllabus. Defines "minimal communicative methodology" and suggests ways to activate the inert materials in textbooks to…

Discusses how to fulfill the goals of communicative language teaching in a first-year German course while at the same time teaching grammar. Illustrates one aspect of "functional grammar" as it can be taught in the first six weeks of a first-year course in German at the university level. (SED)