Esl Teachers' And Students' Perceptions Towards Communicative Language .

s responsibility andself-discipline and permitslearners to improve theirpotentials.”148Teachers‟ perceptionsregarding item 18, “Efficiencyof learning language in animplicit over explicit manner.”148Teachers‟ perceptionsregarding item 4, “Studentscannot suggest the lessoncontent as they do not haveenough language knowledge.”149Teachers‟ perceptionsregarding item 20, “Necessityof negotiating and adaptingthe tasks based on thelearners‟ viewpoint.”150Teachers‟ perceptionsregarding item 5, “ It is notuseful to train learner to takeresponsibility regarding theirlearning.”150Teachers‟ perceptionsregarding item11, “It isimpossible in large classes toteach efficiently.”151Teachers‟ level of agreement towards theCLT principles related to the significance ofimplicit grammar instruction in the CLT4.2.4.14.2.4.24.2.4.3152Teachers‟ perceptionsregarding item 12, “It is notenough to only teachknowledge of the languagerules.”153Teachers‟ perceptionsregarding item 3, “Grammarshould be learned by means ofusing it in activities”154Teachers‟ perceptionsregarding item 17, “ It is notenogh for the students tomaster grammatical rules, butthey have to learn grmmar usetoo."154

xiii4.2.4.44.2.4.54.2.5155Teachers perceptionsregarding item 14, “Mucherror correction is waste oftime.”160Teachers‟ perceptionsregarding item 10, “Ignoringthe errors will cause imperfectlearning.”163Teachers‟ perceptionsregarding item 15, “Theoutcome of CLT is inaccuratebut fluent students.”163Teachers‟ perceptions of challengesregarding the CLT implementation in theMalaysian secondary schools165Research question one: Summary of theFindings1694.2.5.4Students‟ perceptions toward CLT4.3.11591594.2.5.34.3Teachers‟ perceptionsregarding item 23, “Directgrammar instruction helpsstudents for perfect Englishcommunication.”Teachers‟ perceptionsregarding item 6, “Impliciterror correction improvescommunicative competence.”4.2.5.24.2.7154Teachers‟ level of agreement towards theCLT principles related to the significance ofimplicit error correction in the CLT and itseffect on learners4.2.5.14.2.6Teachers‟ perceptionsregarding item 1, “Languageperformance of the studentscan be judged by grammaticalcorrectness.”Students‟ level of agreement towards CLTprinciples related to the facilitative, multitasking and resourceful role of the teacher inthe CLT4.3.1.1Students‟ perceptionsregarding item 7, “Notdominant and authority role ofthe teacher in the class.”172174175

xiv4.3.1.24.3.1.34.3.1.44.3.1.54.3.2Students‟ perceptionsregarding item 24, “Necessityof using supplementarymaterials beside textbooks tosupport varying need of thestudents.”175Students‟ perceptionsregarding item 16, “Severalroles of the teacher duringCLT instruction.”176Students‟ perceptionsregarding item 19, “Implicitinstruction of teachers bytransmitting knowledgethrough tasks and activities.”177Students‟ perceptionsregarding the lack of facilitiesin the schools178Students‟ level of agreement towards CLTprinciples related to the significant role andresponsibility of the learners in the CLTinstruction and their s‟ perceptionsregarding item 4, “Studentscannot suggest the lessoncontent as they do not haveenough language knowledge.”180Students‟ perceptions regaringitem 5, “ It is not useful totrain learners to takeresponsibility regarding theirlearning.”181Students‟ perceptionsregarding item 8, “CLTimproves responsibility andself-discipline and permitslearners to improvepotentials.”181Students‟ perceptionsregarding item 11, “It isimpossible in large classes toteach efficiently.”182Students‟ perceptionsregarding item 18, “Efficiencyof learning language in an

xv4.3.2.64.3.3183Students‟ perceptionsregarding item 20, “Necessityof negotiating and adaptingthe tasks based on thelearners‟ viewpoint.”183Students‟ level of agreement towards CLTprinciples related to the significance ofgroup/pair work activities in the t over explicitmanner.”Students‟ perceptionsregarding item 2, “Necessityof using group/pair work inCLT classes”.185Students‟ perceptionsregarding item 9, “Value ofgroup/pair work in thelearning procedure of thestudents”.186Students‟ perceptionsregarding item 13, “It is notnecessary to conductgroup/pair work activities asthese activities waste classtime.”187Students‟ perceptionsregarding item 21, “It is betterto have a teacher-dominantclass rather than teachingthrough tasks and activities.”187Students‟ perceptionsregarding item 22, “Groupwork activities are not usefulas during the activitiesteachers cannot control classand prevent students fromusing mother tongue.”188Students‟ level of agreement towards CLTprinciples related to significance of implicitgrammar instruction in the CLT4.3.4.1184Students‟ perceptionsregarding item 1, “Languageperformance of the studentscan be judged by grammaticalcorrectness.”188189

4.3.5.44.3.7190Students‟ perceptionsregarding item 12, “It is notenough to only teachknowledge of the languagerules.”190Students‟ perceptionsregarding item 17, “It is notenough for the students tomaster grammatical rules, butthey have to learn grammaruse too.”190Students‟ perceptionsregarding item 23, “Directgrammar instruction helpsstudents for perfect Englishcommunication.”191Students‟ level of agreement towards CLTprinciples related to the significance ofimplicit error correction in the CLT and itseffect on learners4.3.5.14.3.6Students‟ perceptionsregarding item 3, “Grammarshould be learned by means ofusing it in activities.”192Students‟ perceptionsregarding item 6, “Impliciterror correction improvescommunicative competence.”193Students‟ perceptionsregarding item 10, “Ignoringthe errors will cause imperfectlearning.”194Students‟ perceptionsregarding item 14, “Mucherror correction is waste oftime.”195Students‟ perceptionsregarding item 15, “Theoutcome of CLT is inaccuratebut fluent students.”195Students‟ challenges about CLTimplementation in the Malaysian secondaryschools197Research question two: Summary of theFindings198

xvii4.4Results of the third objective of the study: comparisonbetween teachers‟ and students‟ perceptions aboutCLT4.4.14.4.24.4.34.4.44.4.54.4.64.5The comparison betweenstudents‟ and teachers‟perceptions regarding thefacilitative, multi-tasking andresourceful role of the teacherin the CLT204The comparison between students‟ andteachers‟ perceptions regarding thesignificant role and responsibility of thelearners in the CLT instruction and theirneeds206The comparison between students‟ andteachers‟ perceptions regarding thesignificance of implicit grammar instructionin the CLT209The comparison between students‟ andteachers‟ perceptions regarding thesignificance of implicit error correction inthe CLT and its effect on learners211The comparison between students‟ andteachers‟ perceptions regarding thesignificance of group/pair work activities inthe CLT214Research Question Three: Summary of theFindings216Results of the fourth objective of the study:Instructional CLT practices of the Malaysiansecondary school teachers4.5.1201The facilitative, multi-tasking andresourceful role of the teacher in the CLT:the instructional practices of the teachers inreality4.5.1.14.5.1.2217220Instructional practices ofteachers regarding item 9,“Use of idiomatic/everydaylanguage during theinstruction”221Instructional practices ofteachers regarding item 7,“Emphasis on both oral skillsand written skills”222

.24.5.2.2Instructional practices ofteachers regarding item 11,“Emphasis on inferentialquestions”223Instructional practices ofteachers regarding item 12,“Emphasis on meaning”223Instructional practices ofteachers regarding item 15,“The teacher as the facilitator”224Instructional practices of item1, “Focus on language as amedium of communication”224Instructional practices ofteachers regarding item 16,“Focus on all the componentsof al practices ofteachers regarding item 2,“Classroom activitiesmaximizing communication”232Instructional practices ofteachers regarding item 6,“Emphasis on pair-work andgroup-work”232Instructional practices of the teachers relatedto implicit error correction in the CLT and itseffect on learners4.5.3.14.5.4222Instructional practices of the teachers aboutthe significance of group/pair work activitiesin the CLT4.5.2.14.5.3Instructional practices ofteachers regarding item 10,“Use of authentic resources”234Instructional practices ofteachers regarding item 4,“Tolerating students‟ errors”234Instructional practices ofteacher regarding item 14,“Emphasis on both fluencyand accuracy during theinstruction”235Instructional practices of the teachers relatedto implicit grammar instruction in the CLT237

xix4.5.4.14.5.4.24.5.54.5.5.24.65Instructional practices ofteachers regarding item 13,“Use of variety of languagestructures”238242Instructional practices ofteachers regarding item 3,“Pupil-oriented instruction”243Instructional practices ofteachers regarding item 5,“Rehearsal of real-lifesituation and for real-lifecommunication amonglearners”243Research question four: Summary of theFindingsResults of the fifth objective of the study: comparisonbetween teachers‟ perceptions and instructionalpractices of CLT4.6.14.7238Instructional practices of the teachers aboutsignificant role and responsibility of thelearners in the CLT instruction and theirneeds4.5.5.14.5.6Instructional practices ofteacher regarding item 8,“Teaching grammar but notsystematically”Research question five: Summary of theFindingsConclusion245245250254SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION2585.1Introduction2585.2Implications of the Study2605.3Recommendations for Future Studies2655.4Limitations of the study2685.5Conclusion269REFERENCESAppendix A-G272314-326

xxLIST OF TABLESTABLE NO.2.1TITLEA brief summarycommunicative tasksofchallengesPAGEassociatedwith503.1KMO and Bartlett's Test for OP Measures1063.2The EFA analysis of the five CLT items1073.3Results of Reliability Tests upon the Feedback from 30Respondents1083.4Interview codes identifed by the inter-coders1233.5Observation codes identifed by the inter-coders1243.6Research Questions and Related Instruments1253.7Kappa-Coefficientinterview codinganalysisKappa-Coefficientinterview codinganalysis3.8of inter-codersregarding127of inter-codersregarding1294.1Questionnaire items on the five principles of CLT1314.2Teachers‟ perceptions on the five principles of CLT1324.3Teachers‟ responses about the CLT principles related to thefacilitative, multi-tasking and resourceful role of the teacherin the CLT134Teachers‟ responses about the CLT principles related to thesignificance of group/pair work activities in the CLT142Teachers‟ responses about the CLT principles related to thesignificant role and responsibility of the learners in the CLTinstruction and their needs147Teachers‟ responses about the CLT principles related to thesignificance of implicit grammar instruction in the CLT153Teachers‟ responses about the CLT principles related to theimplicit error correction in the CLT and its effect onlearners159Students‟ perceptions on the five principles of CLT1724.44.54.64.74.8

4.214.224.234.24Students‟ responses about the facilitative, multi-tasking andresourceful role of the teacher in the CLT174Students‟ responses about CLT principles related to thesignificant role and responsibility of the learners in the CLTinstruction and their needs180Students‟ responses about CLT principles related to thesignificance of group/pair work activities in the CLT185Students‟ responses about CLT principles related to thesignificance of implicit grammar instruction method in theCLT189Students‟ responses about CLT principles related to theimplicit error correction in the CLT and its effect onlearners193Mean Index comparison between students‟ and teachers‟perceptions toward CLT202A comparison between students‟ and teachers‟ perceptionsregarding CLT principles202Mean Index comparison between students and teachers‟perceptions regarding the facilitative, multi-tasking andresourceful role of the teacher204A comparison between students‟ and teachers‟ perceptionsregarding the facilitative, multi-tasking and resourceful roleof the teacher in the CLT205Mean Index comparison between students‟ and teachers‟perceptions toward the significant role and responsibility ofthe learners in the CLT instruction and their needs207A comparison between students‟ and teachers‟ perceptionsregarding the significant role and responsibility of thelearners in the CLT instruction and their needs207Mean Index comparison between students‟ and teachers‟perceptions toward the significance of implicit grammarinstruction in the CLT209comparison between students‟ and teachers‟ perceptionsregarding the significance of implicit grammar instructionin the CLT209Mean Index comparison between students‟ and teachers‟perceptions toward the significance of implicit errorcorrection in the CLT and its effect on learners211A comparison between students‟ and teachers‟ perceptionsregarding the significance of implicit error correction in theCLT and its effect on learners213Mean Index comparison between students‟ and teachers‟regarding the significance of group/pair work activities inthe CLT215

xxiiA comparison between students‟ and teachers‟ perceptionsregarding the significance of group/pair work activities inthe CLT2154.26Observation scheme items on the five principles of CLT2184.27Mean Index of the teachers‟ instructional practices of theCLT principles219Instructional practices of the Malaysian secondary schoolteachers regarding the facilitative, multi-tasking andresourceful role of the teacher in the CLT221Instructional practices of the Malaysian secondary schoolteachers regarding the significance of group/pair workactivities in the CLT231Instructional practices of the Malaysian secondary schoolteachers regarding the significance of implicit errorcorrection in the CLT and its effect on learners234Instructional practices of the Malaysian secondary schoolteachers regarding significance of implicit grammarinstruction in the CLT237Instructional practices of the Malaysian secondary schoolteachers regarding the significant role and responsibility ofthe learners in the CLT instruction and their needs243Mean Index of the teachers‟ perceptions and theirinstructional practices246A comparison between teachers‟ perceptions andinstructional practices regarding CLT application inMalaysia2464.254.284.294.304.314.324.334.34

xxiiiLIST OF FIGURESFIGURE NO.TITLEPAGE1.1Social constructivisim factors151.2Conceptual frame work193.1Research Procedure1173.2Basic 'Triangulation' Research Model120

xxivLIST OF ABBREVIATIONSALM-Audio Lingual MethodCLT-Communicative Language TeachingEFL-English as a Foreign LanguageESL-English as a second languageGTM-Grammar Translation MethodIPA-International Phonetics AssociationKBSM-Kurikulum Bersepadu Sekolah MenengahLSP-Language for Specific PurposesMELTA-Malaysian Language Teaching AssociationSEDC-State Education Development CommissionSLA-Second Language AcquisitionTBLT-Task Based Language TeachingTESL-Teaching English as Second LanguageTESOL-Teachers of English to Speakers of Other LanguagesEFA-Exploratory Factor AnalysisCFA-Confirmatory Factor AnalysisKMO-Kaiser Meyer Olkin

xxvLIST OF ation Scheme315CInterview Sample (Teachers)316DInterview Sample (Students)320EObservation of a form 3 class321FDemographic information of the participants (Teachers)323GDemographic information of the participants (Students)324HList of Publications325

CHAPTER 111.1INTRODUCTIONIntroductionAccording to Littlewood (2007) some methods of language teaching likeGrammar Translation Method (GTM), and Audio Lingual Method (ALM) could notencourage ESL learners to communicate with each other in English well. Dam(2001) emphasized that GTM is considered an effective language teaching forfocusing on grammatical forms, but this approach is criticized for its mainshortcoming in that it turns students to passive recipients of the grammatical rules,and it ignores the importance of using the target language in the English classes.According to Rao (1996) after several years of language learning, most students whowere trained by old language teaching approaches may have good grammaticalcompetence, and they can easily translate from a target language to their mothertongue, but they cannot speak the target language fluently. Those students cannotunderstand exactly what native speakers say, and they cannot communicate withthem easily. GTM and other old language teaching methods mainly focus on readingand writing, and they do not focus on the speaking and listening skills.Consequently, fluency based approaches seem essential for the Englishlearners, especially for those who are studying English for immigration purposes, andpeople who want to immigrate for studying and living abroad. Larsen-Freeman(2011) believed that in Communicative Language Teaching (CLT), communicativecompetence of the students can be improved by using authentic materials and tasks.Savingson (2001) declared that CLT can improve English competence of the learners

2over authentic interactions. Littlewood (2007) was of the idea that CLT is recognizedas an effective language teaching method in which ESL learners can communicatewith each other, and this method of language teaching is much more effectivecompared to the pre-CLT methods. Brown (2000) stated some guidelines for theCLT instruction namely that CLT instruction mainly focuses on communicativecompetence, and not linguistic competence. According to his idea, this approach wasdesigned to force students to use the target language to improve their communicativecompetence in an authentic, real life situation. According to the CLT principles,fluency has priority over accuracy to push students communicating in a real lifesituation. In the communicative classes, students are engaged to use the languageproductively and receptively in a stress-free condition.Since 1970s, English teachers, especially teachers of English as a secondlanguage (ESL) were a

2.4.15 Conceptualization of Communicative approach 43 2.4.16 Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) implementation 47 2.4.17 Application of CLT around the World 53 2.4.18 Educational reforms in Asian countries 60 2.4.19 Adapting communicative approach for Asian countries 64 2.5 Teachers‟ perceptions of Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) in .