Communicative Language Teaching in Senior High School English Education: Applicability, Practical Limitations, and Improvement Strategies

In senior high school English education, Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) plays an important role in developing students' communicative competence. However, its implementation faces challenges arising from the dual demands of core competency development and examination preparation. Based on the National English Curriculum Standards for Senior High Schools (2017 Edition, Revised in 2020), this paper examines the applicability and practical limitations of CLT through a review of relevant literature and an analysis of curriculum requirements and teaching practices. The analysis suggests that CLT is consistent with the development of students' language ability, cultural awareness, thinking quality, and learning ability. Nevertheless, its implementation is constrained by challenges related to grammar instruction, the authenticity of communicative contexts, limited teaching time, evaluation systems, and changing teacher-student roles. To address these challenges, this paper proposes three approaches: integrating CLT with other teaching methods, incorporating technology into communicative activities, and improving teaching evaluation. It concludes that the effective implementation of CLT requires a balance between communicative competence development and examination requirements. These approaches may provide practical references for adapting CLT to senior high school English teaching.