| Structural Approach | Communicative Approach |
| Role of the Teacher |
| The students too are active here, but their activity is not spontaneous or free. Their activity is directed and controlled by the teacher. They play as reactive role. | The students are actively involved in the teaching-learning process. They are often engaged in pair or group activity. In their activities they are allowed much freedom. They are free to initiate interaction among themselves or with the teacher. |
| They say and do what they are asked for. Their activity is repetitive and much mechanical. The students interact with chain drilling or while playing roles in dialogues and that, too, is done only at the instruction of the teacher. They are never allowed to initiate interaction as it may lead to mistakes which will stand in the way of correct learning habit. | The students are actively involved in the teaching-learning process. They are often engaged in pair or group activity. In their activities they are allowed much freedom. They are free to initiate interaction among themselves or with the teacher.of Grammar |
| Teaching of Grammar |
| In this approach there is no provision for teaching grammar separately. Grammar is embedded in the structures themselves. At the initial stage the students just repeat the structures and form a habit of using them properly without being conscious about grammar. In the higher Classes, however, there is a place for functional grammar. So no separate grammar class or grammar textbook is necessary. The teacher often makes a constrictive study of the grammatical structures in the 1st and 2nd language, but grammatical explanation is kept to the minimum. | The students become habituated to the use of different grammatical items through the linguistic materials. Here, too, the students need no extra grammar class or grammar textbook, as this approach provides for tasks or activities to make the students practice the different grammatical rules. So it is through Constant use of the language that the students learn the correct and fluent use of grammatical rules. However the teacher feels that any grammatical item needs to be clarified to the students, he/she is free to do that. |
| Role of Teacher |
| In this approach the teacher plays the key role. It is he who controls all the classroom activities-provides mat- ter, creates situations, makes the pupils active, correct their mistakes. | This approach is learner centered. In fact, the teacher plays varied roles-that of a classroom manager, a supervisor, language instructor, an adviser a participant with the students and an assessor. |
