Also available in electronic format.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Introduction

Chapter 1 USAGE AND USE 1.1 Correctness and appropriacy -- 1.2 Usage and use as aspects performance -- 1.3 Usage and use in classroom presentation -- 1.4 Aspects of meaning: signification and value -- 1.5 Usage and use in the design of language teaching materials -- 1.6 Selecting areas of use for teaching language -- 1.7 Summary and conclusion -- Notes and references

Chapter 2 DISCOURSE
2.1 Sentence, proposition and illocutionary act -- 2.2 Cohesion and propositional development -- 2.3 Coherence and illocutionary development -- 2.4 The relationship between propositional and illocutionary development -- 2.5 Procedures of interpretation -- 2.6 Deriving discourse from sentences: an example -- 2.6.1 Propositional development: achieving cohesion -- 2.6.2 Illocutionary development: achieving coherence -- 2.7 Conventions of coherence -- 2.8 Deriving discourse by arrangements: another example -- 2.9 Summary and conclusion -- Notes and references

Chapter 3 LINGUISTIC SKILLS AND COMMUNICATIVE ABILITIES
3.1 The four skills -- 3.2 Activities associated with spoken language -- 3.3 Activities associated with written language -- 3.4 Reciprocal and non-reciprocal activities -- 3.5 Linguistic skills and communicative abilities -- 3.6 Retrospective and prospective interpretation -- 3.7 Assimilation and discrimination -- 3.8 Non-verbal communication -- 3.9 Summary and conclusion -- Notes and references

Chapter 4 COMPREHENDING AND READING
4.1 Preview -- 4.2 The reading passage as dependent exemplification -- 4.3 The reading passage as independent "comprehension piece" -- 4.3.1 Extracts: the problem of authenticity -- 4.3.2 Extracts: the comprehending problem -- 4.3.2.1 Priming glossaries -- 4.3.2.2 Prompting glossaries -- 4.3.3 Simplified versions -- 4.3.4 Simple accounts -- 4.4 Gradual approximation -- 4.5 Comprehension questions; forms and functions -- 4.5.1 Types of question by reference to form -- 4.5.2 Types of question by reference to function -- 4.5.2.1 Usage reference -- 4.5.2.2 Use of inference -- 4.6 Other reading exercises -- Notes and references

Chapter 5 COMPOSING AND WRITING
5.1 Preview -- 5.2 Types of grammar exercise -- 5.3 Exercises in usage and use -- 5.3.1 Composition sentences in passages -- 5.3.2 Using the contexts of the reading passage -- 5.4 Preparation exercises -- 5.5 Exploitation exercises -- 5.5.1 Gradual approximation: sentence to discourse units -- 5.5.2 Gradual approximation: act to discourse units -- 5.5.2.1 Focus on single illocutionary acts -- 5.5.2.2 Relationships between pairs of acts -- 5.5.2.3 Extension to larger discourse units -- 5.5.3 Rhetorical transformation of discourse units -- 5.5.4 Information transfer -- 5.6 Summary and conclusion -- Notes and references

Chapter 6 TOWARDS AN INTEGRATED APPROACH
6.1 Preview: the need for integration -- 6.2 The discourse to discourse scheme -- 6.3 Types of procedure -- 6.3.1 Demonstration: rhetorical transformation by gradual approximation -- 6.3.2 Demonstration: rhetorical transformation by illocutionary change -- 6.6.3 Demonstration: information transfer -- 6.4 Principles of approach -- 6.4.1 Rational appeal: the use of translation -- 6.4.2 Integration and control -- 6.5 Summary and conclusion -- Notes and references

"H. G. Widdowson has played an important and pioneering role in the development of communicative language teaching theory. This book develops a rational approach to the teaching of language as communication based on a careful consideration of the nature of language and of the language user's activities. It provides a lucid guide through a subject which is often confused and misrepresented, while providing a stimulus to all language teachers to investigate the ideas that informs their own practices." (Back Cover).