خلاصة:
Although Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) has been widely advocated by a considerable number of applied linguists and English language teachers, its implementation in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) contexts has encountered a number of difficulties. Reviewing the literature suggests that one of the reasons for unsuccessful implementation of CLT may be neglect of learners' beliefs in the process of learning. Using a Likert-type scale, the current study was undertaken to explore 242 Iranian EFL learners' beliefs towards six core tenets of the CLT approach: namely, the importance of grammar; the use of group work and pair work; the role and contribution of the learners; the role of the teachers in the classroom; the quality and quantity of error correction and assessment; and the role of the learners' native language in EFL classes. Analysis of the data revealed that although in some cases learners had viewpoints that opposed CLT principles, a considerable percentage of the respondents appreciated and had a high perception of CLT principles, indicating a welcoming atmosphere toward the implementation of CLT in Iran.
ملخص الجهاز:
In spite of the evidence that learners’ perspectives on classroom pedagogy frequently differ from those of teachers (Horowitz, 1990; Jarvis & Atsilarat, 2004; Mangubhai, Marland, Dashwood, Son, 2005; Matsuura, Chiba, & Hilderbrandt, 2001; Ngoc & Iwashita, 2012; Sarfraz, Mansoor, & Tariq, 2015; Schulz, 1996), there have been few if any studies probing Iranian EFL learners' beliefs in this area.
In an attempt to let learners’ voices be heard, this study shed light on Iranian learners' beliefs towards six core elements of CLT: the importance of grammar; the use of group work and pair work; the role and contribution of the learners; the role of the teachers in the classroom; the quality and quantity of error correction and assessment; and the role of the learners' native language in EFL classes.
It included six major principles of communicative language teaching: namely, the role of the learner, the role of the teacher, group/pair work, quality and quantity of error correction and evaluation, the place and importance of grammar, and the role of the learners' native language in EFL settings.
Discussion The current study examined Iranian EFL learners' beliefs toward six main principles of communicative language teaching approach.
At the end, it should, however, be admitted that some other constraints may also contribute to explaining the unsuccessful implementation of CLT in the EFL context of Iran, such as large class size, limited class hours, the paucity of materials for communicative activities and lack of congruence between educational policies and realities of the teaching context (Anani Sarab, Monfared, & Safarzadeh, 2016).