چکیده:
Recent research has indicated that the adoption of CLT in an EFL
contexts will create certain challenges. Using Engeström’s (1999)
human activity system model, the present study investigated the
implementation of CLT-based curriculum which was initiated in 2013
in Iranian public schools. Four groups of participants including 23
language teachers, 17 teacher directors, 23 students, and 20 parents
took part in the study. Semi-structured interviews, observation of
participating teachers’ classes, and analysis of relevant documents
were used as data collection tools. Grounded theory analysis of the
data revealed three main categories explaining the difficulty of CLT
implementation in an EFL context like Iran. From an activity theory
perspective, these categories indicated that the four layers of
contradictions emerged in Iranian English Education as the activity
system. The results suggest that not only language teachers as the
subjects of the current activity system, but also other components of
the activity system, and even other activity systems like teachers’
colleges and in-service programs need to work in tandem in order to
overcome the challenges of implementation.
خلاصه ماشینی:
The results suggest that not only language teachers as the subjects of the current activity system, but also other components of the activity system, and even other activity systems like teachers’ colleges and in-service programs need to work in tandem in order to overcome the challenges of implementation .
In the current study, Engeström’s (1987, 1999) human activity system is used as a theoretical framework to understand and examine teacher perceptions and practices within the particular social and institutional context of English Education in Iran.
Implementation of CLT-based Curriculum in an EFL Context Previous research has indicated that the adoption of curricular innovations and reforms which had been originally developed for ESL setting would bring its own problems in the EFL context (Berns, 1990; Kramsch & Sullivan, 1996).
More specifically, the main factors affecting teachers’ instructional practices included resource support as provided by second level administrators, teaching methods as formulated by the curricular innovation and as perceived by teachers, teaching experiences, teachers’ language proficiency, and their professional development needs.
In contrast to other researchers (Careless, 2001; Hu, 2002; Markee, 1994) who attributed unsuccessful implementation of CLT- based reforms to language teachers’ negative attitudes, the results of this study indicated that Iranian teachers held positive attitudes towards the new curriculum.
Conclusions Using socio-cultural theory and more specifically activity theory as the theoretical lens, this study examined English education in Iranian secondary schools as the activity system with a central focus placed on language teachers as the ultimate implementers of the new curriculum.