Students regularly work in groups or pairs to transfer and negotiate meaning in situations where one person has information that the others lack.

Conversation is centered around topical dialogues with a great deal of drilling activities and emphasis on pronunciation.

Classroom materials and activities are often authentic to reflect real-life situations and demands.

Skills are integrated from the very beginning; a given activity might involve reading, speaking, listening and writing.

It is assumed that the content of a language course will include semantic notions and social functions as well as linguistic structures.