Approaches to language teaching which aim to help learners to develop
communicative competence (i.e. the ability to use the language effectively
for communication). A weak communicative approach includes
overt teaching of language forms and functions in order to help learners
to develop the ability to use them for communication. A strong
communicative approach relies on providing learners with experience
of using language as the main means of learning to use the language.
In such an approach learners, for example, talk to learn rather than
learn to talk.