Podejście komunikacyjne i zakres jego realizacji w nauczaniu języków obcych.

The purpose of this article is to present selected aspects of the theoretical background of the communicative approach as well as the reflection on how and to what extent its assumptions are applied in foreign language teaching in Poland based on the example of German classes in middle schools in Poland. Communicative approach has been presented in the article as a very broad method, not thoroughly defined and constantly evolving, which due to its “longevity”, among others, is both criticised by some and highly valued by others. The approach is understood here as a concept within which new solutions are still being proposed; however, they are not sufficiently comprehensive and innovative to replace CLT. The article considers student empowerment as one of the key assumptions of the communicative approach. It also tries to define the teacher’s role, demythologising the opinion that this role has been reduced by CLT. Moreover, it discusses the attitude to social forms, work techniques, and types of tasks preferred by CLT supporters. The second part of the article provides some reflection on the manner and scope of CLT application in the school practice. It is based on the observations of the German classes in the middle schools of Lower Silesia, Poland. The conclusions are not optimistic, i.e. in general, little do the German teachers observed in the study implement the assumptions of CLT in their teaching practice. It has been accounted for by the difficulty in transferring practically useful knowledge (formulated by methodology experts) to the school environment, which in turn is the result of the lack of in-service education tradition in Poland for foreign language teachers. The article constitutes contribution to the study of the current situation of teaching German as a second language as well as an appeal to take up serious discussion on in-service education for foreign language teachers in Poland.