Understanding and Implementtng the Clt (Communicative Language Teaching) Paradigm

The call to change seems to be a constant in education. In second language education, a constellation of changes have been proposed and, to some ex tent, implemented. This constellation of interconnected changes can perhaps best be termed a paradigm shift, with this paradigm fitting under the general umbrella of Communicative Language Teaching (CLT). The concept of para digm shift usefully offers one means of making such connections between the changes linked to CLT. The article attempts to put the CLT paradigm shift into perspective as an element of larger shifts from positivism to post- positivism and from behaviorism to cognitivism. This article describes eight changes that fit with the CLT paradigm shift in second language education. These eight changes are: learner autonomy, the social nature of learning, curricular integration, focus on meaning, diversity, thinking skills, alternative assessment, and teachers as co-learners. The authors argue that in second language education, although the CLT paradigm shift was initiated many years ago, it still has been only partially implemented. Two reasons for this partial implementation are: (1) by trying to understand each change sepa rately, second language educators have weakened their understanding by missing the larger picture; and (2) by trying to implement each change separately, second language educators have made the difficult task of change even more challenging.