Communicative Language Teaching Results Summary

Communicative Language Teaching Results Summary

Unfortunately in Libya, there are issues where there are little resources to provide sufficient training in regards to the CLT Approach. In order to better understand the current context, a mixed methods approach was taken and this current research examined 24 Libyan EFL teachers to evaluate their understanding and capabilities within the use of CLT. For the questionnaire, a 5-point Likert scale was used and then analyzed using SPSS methods. Interviews were then used as a follow-up in the Misurata region of Libya. These interviews asked teachers their thoughts on the effectiveness of CLT approach strategies in EFL classrooms, especially in regards to the combination of stuffy of linguistic forms and communicative functions.

Results

Teachers with an Education Background

The first category that was differentiated by the research was that of teachers with an education background. 18 of the 24 respondents had a B.A. In English Education / Linguistics, making up 75% of the participants that responded. These teachers had greater knowledge of how to implement a greater spectrum of educational strategies.

Examining the questionnaire for this group shows a clear trend. Essentially, grammar played a much larger role in terms of importance for larger educational strategies. Question 1 asked whether grammatical correctness is the most important criterion by which language performance should be judged. Respondents in this category averaged this score to be about 3.46, meaning that it was slightly undecided. More participants had responded higher on the Likert scale than those who had a Literature degree and background, who mostly disagreed with the statement. Statement 3 suggested that grammar should be taught only as a means to an end and not as an end in itself. The score for teachers with educational backgrounds showed that the average was 4.13, meaning that they agree. These participants also agreed that the knowledge of the rules of a language does not guarantee ability to use the language, with an average response of 4. Participants in this category also agreed that through mastering grammar, students would be able to communicate effectively with a native speaker and the idea that language is acquired most efficiently when it is used as a vehicle for doing something else rather than studied as a primary end itself (Statement 18). Overall, it was clear that teachers with an educational background assert the importance of grammar in the capability to communicate effectively within that language. These participants believed that grammar was important, but not the only crucial element, based on their tendency to answer in agreement but without a strong agreement with responses of 5. The clear message is that grammar is important, but it is not the main element that makes a language. These participants still asserted that grammatical knowledge could not make a student be able to use the language efficiently. However, they still show a clear belief that grammar can only augment study of English, and cannot be relied entirely on its own. Additionally, the questionnaire showed a clear increase of teachers with education backgrounds to take a more democratic, or learner-centered approach to teaching language. Essentially, the language lessons taught become more flexible.

Moreover, the research explored how phonics, interaction with others, and repetition were the most important elements to language teaching (Kinney, Kinney, & Kinney, 2010). Interview showed clearly that these were believed to be the elements that impacted the students' ability to learn the tenants of English. Teachers with an education background tended to show a strong belief that English should be the only language spoken in front of students, even from the very beginning. This forces them to have to understand and interact in English, imitating the structures they are learning within the lessons. These teachers have more exposure to how to implement methodologies using body language, gestures, drawings, and more as vehicles to augment the English being spoken. This is based on their educational training, rather than their emphasis on literature.

Classroom observations of teachers with education backgrounds help provided a clear image of their abilities to better implement CLT practices. Essentially, this group was much closer to following CLT practices than teachers without education backgrounds. Most of the teachers within this category already touch upon major CLT curriculum elements, and as such would only need light training that helped improve their overall adherence.

Teachers without an Education Background

In addition to those participants with a degree in Education, there were six individuals with a B.A. In Literature. Thus, 25% of the participants within the study did not have an academic background in education, and had focused on literary structure and analysis rather than education as a major staple in their own training. These teachers had more of a critical evaluation background in comparison to teaching methodologies. Having a Literature background has been shown to impact the teaching methodologies and strategies implemented in language learning, especially with teachers that are non-native speaking themselves (Braine, 1999).

The questionnaire showed that overall, teachers with a literature background actually thought much differently in regards to the importance of grammar. These participants averaged a response of 1.15 in regards to the importance of grammar being the crucial element to judge understanding and competence of a language. This shows that these participants believed there were other more important criteria that would show language competency. Moreover, these participants highly disagreed with the idea that grammar should be taught as a means to an end. The average score here was 0.78, showing a clear belief that grammar should be taught independently of other ideas associated with language. Again, there was an average of strong disagreement in regards to the concept of knowledge of structures guaranteeing a strong capability to speak in English and the idea that grammar has to be mastered in order to communicate fluently with other English speakers. Not only did these teachers view grammar as less important in language capabilities, but the asserted that the study of language is best done independently, and not as a vehicle for doing something else. Thus, this shows a very clear and distinct contrast to the opinions of teachers with education background, who placed a stronger importance on grammar and knowledge of the linguistic structures in language acquisition. In opposition of teachers with more educational backgrounds, teachers with Literature degrees tend to take less of a democratic approach to the teaching of language, with more strict guidelines for learning concepts. Essentially, this is because of an increased belief that language learners, early on, should not be responsible for deciding how the language is taught to them.

The interview process also revealed a lot about teacher perceptions. Teachers with education backgrounds, like the other categories of teachers, tended to show strong belief in the importance of both listening and speaking because it helped students get used to the sound of the language being learned. This then took a higher importance to writing and reading in the language, as was also repeated in all categories of teachers. Essentially, listening helps speakers imitate the necessary sounds and phrases present within the language being learned (Adank, Hagoort, & Bekkering, 2010). It turns out that 100% of participants with a Literature background believed that students should have been exposed to only English from the very beginning of their training. Teachers with education backgrounds were much more inclined to place less importance on starting English learners with English from the very beginning.