Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) also known as Communicative Approach emerged as a dominant paradigm in Western ELT in the late twentieth century. The communicative approach is based on the theory of language as communication. It underlies the idea that when learners are involved in real communication, their natural strategies for language acquisition will be used, and this will allow them to learn to use the language. The CLT emphasizes meaning and genuine communication in the classroom with an objective to develop communicative competence. CLT has been exported and promoted around the world in a variety of cultural and educational contexts with greater or lesser degree of success. Although there has been widespread support for CLT across the world, its adoption in non-Western context is problematic. CLT is not considered appropriate for all cultures and contexts. Key Words: Communicative Competence, linguistic competence, functional-notional, CLT, paradigm