[emile]

Good question. I guess it's a matter of the pendulum swinging

full the other way. Communicative competence and the communicative approach have been big buzz words for quite a while. We may see a shift back.

Obviously somewhere in the middle will be the goal. The problem is the middle keeps shifting as well.

...but what usually happens instead of an approach somewhere in the middle is that someone comes up with a whole new approach that 'has addressed the issue for once and for all'.