Hall (1995) states that “most people who learn to communicate fluently in a language
which is not their L1 do so by spending a lot of time in situations where they have to use the
language for some real communicative purpose” (p. 9). Ideally, language-teaching materials should
provide situations that demand the same; situations where learners need to interact with each other
regularly in a manner that reflects the type of interactions they will engage in outside of the
classroom. Hall outlines three conditions he believes are necessary to stimulate real communication:
these are the need to “have something we want to communicate”, “someone to communicate with”,
and, perhaps most importantly, “some interest in the outcome of the communication” (p. 9). Nunan
(1988) refers to this as the “learning by doing philosophy” (p. 8), and suggests procedures such as
information gap and information transfer activities, which can be used to ensure that interaction is
necessary.