Communicative language teaching: unity within diversity Pham Hoa Hiep Recent articles in the ELT Journal offer interesting debates on CLT . On one side, Bax (2003) proposes that CLT should be abandoned since the methodology fails to take into account the context of language teaching. On the other side, Liao (2004) suggests that CLT is best. However, within the broad theoretical position on which CLT is based, different understandings of CLT exist, and it is not clear what version(s) or element(s) of CLT these authors reject or advocate. This article presents what are considered to be the key theoretical tenets of CLT . It then discusses the meanings of CLT theory in classroom practices, showing the dynamics of context that construct these meanings. Drawing on a study of teachers’ beliefs and implementation of CLT in Vietnam, the article argues that inherent in CLT is a view of language, of language learning, and teaching that most teachers aspire to. When CLT theory is put into action in a particular context, a range of issues open up, but these issues do not necessarily negate the potential usefulness of CLT . Communicative language teaching Since its birth in the early 1980s, definitions of CLT and the matter of its appropriateness in certain cultures have constantly been debated. Brown (1994) notes that CLT is based on a broad theoretical position about the nature of language and of language learning and teaching. This broad theory has generated many different ways of understandings, descriptions, and uses of CLT , challenging what it actually means to classroom teachers. This article first identifies the common tenets of CLT as proposed by the main scholars in the field, and discusses the potential meanings of CLT in classroom practice. It then documents how a group of teachers in one context define and appraise CLT , and how they struggle to implement the key aspects of CLT they value. The findings imply that ongoing debate, exchange with peers and students, support from policy makers and from teacher education courses can empower teachers in their aspirations to develop communicative techniques appropriate to their context. The theoretical tenets Current understandings of CLT can be traced back to Hymes (1972), who proposed that knowing a language involved more than knowing a set of grammatical, lexical, and phonological rules. In order to use the language effectively learners need to develop communicative competence—the ELT Journal Volume 61/3 July 2007; doi:10.1093/elt/ccm026 193 ª The Author 2007. Published by Oxford University Press; all rights reserved.