Despite the diversity in syllabus design and teaching methodologies for English as a second language, and for second language instruction in general, communicative proficiency is the underlying common goal. Some of the most influential ideas supporting this trend come from the fields of sociolinguistics, second language acquisition, and second language instruction. Communicative language teaching (CLT) has developed along two distinct lines. One is in the area of syllabus design, led by creation of the semantic or functional syllabus. This type of syllabus is characterized by more situational information about language use; classroom use of problem-solving, role-playing, community-based activities, and games; assignment of communicative tasks outside the classroom; formal comments about the style, appropriateness, and attitudes conveyed by utterances; and development of materials addressing the needs of special language-learning groups, such as scientists. The other development is in language teaching methodology, with a central concept that language teaching should be task-oriented. This approach also uses the principles that information transfer is important in CLT exercises, that an information gap exists and must be filled, and that assessment must address the question of whether or not the content has been correctly conveyed. (MSE)