An investigation of teachers’ perceptions and practices of CLT with regard to learners’ interaction and participation in classrooms

【Abstract】This research investigates Chinese teachers’ teaching practice as well as their understanding and attitudes towards communicative language teaching (CLT) especially with regard to students’ interaction and participation in communicative activities in English classrooms in secondary level in China. Teachers selected in this study come from a secondary school located in a small inland city in China. This study aims to find out how teachers from less developed areas of China understand CLT as well as teacher and student’s role within it and what factors prevent students’ participation in communicative activities. Some implications and suggestions are provided at the end of the study that may help improve the ELT in vast less developed areas in China and help students to learn in a more enjoyable and effective way

【Key words】perceptions; CLT; interaction and participation; in classrooms

【作者簡介】沈谦，中南财经政法大学。

1. Introduction

Between 1986 and 1987 a large-scale survey was conducted by the State Education Commission to test the general ELT level in China. The finding of this survey reflected that most students only had a fragmentary knowledge of English and could not communicate in most simple English despite 900-hours’ worth English lessons (Hu, 2005a). Due to this survey, State Education Commission decided that a new wave of educational reform and the introduction of the communicative approach in ELT were urged and necessary (Anderson, 2001).

However, since then many researchers and teachers have noticed the big gap between what is promoted by the policy makers and what really happens in classrooms (Jin & Cortazzi, 1998; Cortazzi & Jin, 1996; Penner, 1995; Rao, 1996; Yu, 2001). Furthermore, with the promotion of CLT, the long existed problem of regional disparity become more distinct as the implement of CLT required more from schools, teachers as well as students. Many schools in remote areas can only meet the basic educational need to provide an English teacher who can speak some English, let alone adopting the latest ELT approach (Yu, 2001).

Therefore, the present study will investigate teachers’ views and attitudes towards CLT especially with a focus on students’ interaction and participation in communicative activities. Specifically, this study will address six aspects: (a)teaching training (b)teachers’ understanding about CLT (c)teachers’ attitudes about CLT (d)teachers’ teaching practice in classrooms (e)factors that prevent students’ participation and interaction in communicative activities (f)solutions and improvement to the current situation.

2.Research Methodology

Questionnaires were first designed and distributed among all English teachers from Jingzhou Secondary School which locates in an inland small city. After that semi-structured interviews were conducted with teachers who had completed the questionnaire and were willing to continue to participate. Both the questionnaire and the interview were divided into six sections and each section was designed to answer one research question. Some of the questions in the interview were based on the answers the teacher gave me in the questionnaire in order to help me get more detailed information.

3.Findings and discussion

3.1 Teaching training

Based on the data collected from the questionnaire, the majority of teachers have pre-service teaching training. And most of the teaching training includes both the development of teachers’ language proficiency and professional preparation although the former is more emphasized than the latter. And these teachers also expressed that they feel they don’t have the ability to communicate successfully with English-speaking people. This gives us another implication for pre-service teaching training that when helping student teachers improve their language proficiency, more focus needs to be put on developing their communicative competence.

Then how about the in-service training courses help teachers in their teaching practice? The only training programme that teachers in Jingzhou Secondary School have now is organized by Hubei Provincial Department of Education which is an organization committed to the educational development in Hubei Province. In each summer, about 30 teachers in Hubei Province will get the chances to study in UK or Australia for three weeks. But with a population of 57.58 million and about 400 senior secondary schools, the number of teachers in each school that have chances to attend this training programme is very limited. According to teachers in the interview, every year usually 1 to 3 teachers who have at least 5 years teaching experience in Jingzhou Secondary School have the chance to go.

3.2 understanding about CLT as well as teacher and student’s role

Data from questionnaire indicates that generally most teachers have a correct understanding about CLT. However, some misunderstanding occurs with regard to mistakes and errors in communicative activities. Based on the data collected from the questionnaire and interviews, students’ communicative competence was highly valued by most teachers. And during the interview, all the teachers attached great importance to student’ centre role in classroom activities and understood that the most important role for teachers in CLT was to organize various interesting classroom activities that could enable students to communicate freely.

Although great importance was attached to communicative competence, when teachers were asked about the purpose for students to learn English as well as teacher and student’s role in classrooms, most teachers marked statements related to the preparation for College Entrance Examination as ‘the most important’ while statements of learn English for communication and creating chances for students to communicate in classrooms just as ‘important’.

Teachers are often found in a dilemma. On the one hand, teachers realize the great need to cultivate students’ ability to communicate. On the other hand, the great pressure from College Entrance Examination that can decide students’ educational future makes teachers have to spend most of the class time preparing students for this structure-based examination which do not test communicative competence (Littlewood, 2006; Zheng & Adamson, 2003).

3.3 Teachers’ teaching practice in classrooms

Data from questionnaire shows that in most classrooms, traditional teaching methods such as explicit explanation of grammar rules, practice of grammar exercise and rote memorization still dominant the class. And the preparation for College Entrance Examination takes most of class time. Teachers’ responses in the interview indicate that teachers’ desire to adopt instructional practice related to CLT and develop students’ communicative competence is largely constrained by the College Entrance Examination. At the same time, teachers feel that there are too much to cover in the textbooks and the examination that the time is limited. Therefore, ‘in order to save time’, direct explanation and rote memorization turn out to be the best way and it is also the most familiar way that teachers are confident with.

Data from the questionnaire also indicates that most teachers in Jingzhou Secondary School dominant the classrooms. Teachers from the interview expressed that they understood students’ central role in classrooms and hoped that they could make it happen in their teaching practice. However, as mentioned earlier, constrain by many factors, teachers did not know how to achieve it and English classrooms in Jingzhou Secondary School were still largely teacher-centred.

3.4 Factors that prevent participation in communicative activities

The factor that was greatly emphasised in the questionnaire and mostly talked about by teachers in the interview that prevented students’ participation in communicative activities was the College Entrance Examination. However, at the same time, many teachers felt that it was difficult or even impossible to change the current examination system or set speaking as a compulsory part of the exam regarding the large number of students in China. And some teachers also suggested that it would be unfair for students in less developed areas.

Another factor that expressed by some teachers is the deficiency of teaching training they had and hoped that governments could provide more support in teaching training. Many teachers in this study expressed their desire to learn and equip themselves with better language proficiency, the ability to communicate with English-speaking people as well as the updated teaching methods. But the opportunities given to them are too limited.

And the conflict with traditional culture of learning turns to be the third factor. But teachers’ attitudes varied in how students expected English to be taught in classrooms. The majority of teachers think that most students prefer to learn in a teacher-dominant classroom which promotes rote memorization and grammar exercise practice. Only very few teachers think that students do not like this way of learning. Just like one of the teachers said in the interview, traditional Chinese culture of learning had enjoyed a long history in China and therefore would not be easy to change.

Based on teachers’ responses, secondary classrooms with a large number of students was another big factor that hindered students to have enough opportunities to participate. And most teachers in this research hoped that classrooms could become smaller. However, at the same time, they thought that it was not practical or possible to have small classrooms in secondary level education in China.

4. Conclusion and implications

4.1 conclusion

Results of this study show that traditional instructional practice such as explicit explanation of language knowledge, rote memorisation and teacher-centred instruction still predominant largely in English classrooms in Jingzhou Secondary School. Most of the class time and activities are devoted to prepare for the knowledge-based College Entrance Examination. Communicative activities can often be found in classroom practice but only take a small amount of the class time and are sometimes largely controlled with the practice of language forms and structures.

Most teachers attach great importance to students’ communicative competence which they think is the most important competence that students need to develop. However, with the great pressure from the exam which will have an influential effect on students’ educational future, the preparation for this exam becomes teachers and students’ primary role in English teaching and learning.

Therefore, the preparation for College Entrance Examination becomes the biggest resistance with the implementation of CLT. Many teachers in this research express their hope that this exam can be changed. But they also feel that it is difficult or not practical to change the current examination system or set speaking as a compulsory part of the College Entrance Examination due to the large number of secondary students right now and the serious problem with regional disparity which can be very unfair for less developed areas.

Most teachers think that students in Jingzhou Secondary School prefer traditional instructional practice, like to learn through rote memorization and expect teachers to talk for the most of the class time. However, teachers from the interview think that students are happy to participate in communicative activities especially when they are well organised and feel that they can communicative effectively in English.

Classroom size is another resistance that teachers think hinder students’ interaction and participation in communicative activities in classrooms. With 50 to 70 students in one class, it is difficult for teachers to provide individual students with enough attention or allow for individual participation. Teachers think that it can be much better to facilitate communicative activities with smaller number of students in one class but it is not practical to find enough classrooms or qualified teachers at a short period of time.

4.2 Implications

Based on the finding of this study, there are several resistances and constraints that prevent students’ interaction and actively participation in communicative activities in classroom in Jingzhou Secondary School. However, not all these resistances are easy to be changed at least by now. Therefore, the implications here are suggestions that are more practical to change that may help improve the current situation: Teaching training programme needs to balance the focus on the improvement of teachers’ language proficiency with the development of teachers’ professional preparation (Sharpe and Ning, 1998). And when preparing student teachers for their language proficiency in training course, more attentions need to be placed on the development of their communicative competence rather than just language knowledge. The government needs to pay more attention and give more support to the vast less developed areas and provide teachers there with more chances to study (Hu, 2005a). Knowledge-based College Entrance Examination needs to be changed and attach more importance to test students’ communicative competence (Li, 1984).

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