How to create foreign language curriculum that fosters communicative competence and performance

In the past, learning a foreign language consisted of perfecting language structures through memorization and mechanical drills. Students who mastered these language structures were viewed as competent in the target language. However, they were not able to perform, or use the target language to communicate. In the 70s and 80s, a new approach to language teaching was developed, which centered on teaching students to use language to communicate. This approach is called Communicative Language Teaching. It is still widely used today. There are several branches to the Communicative Approach including: The Natural Approach, Task-Based Instruction, Content-Based Instruction, and Cooperative Language Learning. Each of these approaches focuses on communication, but vary in their syllabus designs. I designed a series of communicative tasks were developed to teach a unit on travel, integrating elements from The Natural Approach, Task-Based Instruction, Content-Based Instruction, and Cooperative Language Learning