A study on the application of communicative language teaching in english classrooms challenges and possible solutions

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

VINH UNIVERSITY
---------------

NGÔ TRUNG HIẾU

A STUDY ON THE APPLICATION OF
COMMUNICATIVE LANGUAGE TEACHING
IN ENGLISH CLASSROOM:
CHALLENGES AND POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS

MASTER’S THESIS IN EDUCATION

NGHỆ AN, 2017

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STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP

I, Ngo Trung Hieu, hereby declare that I am the sole author of this master thesis and that
it has not been submitted for any other purposes before.

Works of others that are used in the thesis are properly cited and acknowledged.

Ngo Trung Hieu

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
My sincere thanks go to the many people who gave me their valuable contributions

for the completion of this research project.
First and foremost, I would like to take this opportunity to express my sincerest
gratitude to my beloved supervisor, Mr. Nguyen Gia Viet, Ph.D. for his dedication,
professional support, encouragement and guidance as well as valuable comments during my
research. His patience and knowledge whilst showing me an academic researcher’s pathway
went beyond the mainstream studies to see the best in me. You have been a constant source
of motivation throughout this thesis. Without his guidance, comment, and suggestions

during all stages of the work, my thesis would still be far from completed.
Secondly, I would also like to express my gratitude to all lecturers of the
Department of Foreign Languages, Vinh University as well as all lectures of other
universities who teach me much valuable knowledge, share best teaching
experiences and methods, and supply me with the good conditions to conduct this
thesis and finish this TESOL M.A cohort.
In addition, my special thanks also go to Department of Postgraduate Studies,
Dong Thap University that give good support and conditions to my K23 class. This
study may not have been completed without this support.
Furthermore, my deep appreciation goes to teachers and students at Bac Lieu
High School. They showed their enthusiasm and good support to help me conduct
my survey. Without their help, this project could not been a success.
Last but not least, my warmest thanks go to my beloved family, my colleagues,
friends for their kindness, helpful supports and useful encouragements.

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ABSTRACT

Because of its international demand and recognition as a world language,
English has always been a part of our education system from Class 3-12. In the
recent years, the use of English language has been increasing in administration,
education and other sectors in Vietnam. This study focusses on the application of
Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) to the 11th graders at Bac Lieu High
school. The study employed questionnaire survey as the principle method of data
collection. Questionnaires were administered to 8 teachers and 168 11th graders, and
then analyzed by means of descriptive statistics. The data of survey was analyzed
qualitatively. The findings of the study indicates that the majority of the teachers
really have not applied CLT in their teaching appropriately while most of students’
responses presented their positive opinions toward the benefits of CLT. The
application of this approach is not popular in this local high school context and there
are some issues in its implementation. Based on the findings, a number of
recommendations have been proposed to make CLT become more and more
practical and effective in teaching and learning
Key words: Communicative Language Teaching (CLT), opinions, 11th
graders, high school.

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LIST OF TABLES
Table 1 General information of the participants .....................................................23
Table 2 General information of the participants .....................................................25
Table 2 Teaching English in classrooms .................................................................32
Table 3 Students experiences of being corrected ....................................................36
Table 5 The Use of the Language............................................................................41
Table 6 Teachers’ feedback in class ........................................................................45
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1: The purpose of learning English .............................................................31

Figure 2: Learning and teaching behavior ..............................................................33
Figure 2.1: Using English in communication .........................................................34
Figure 2.2: The extent of student participant in Pair work and Group work ..........35
Figure 3: General ideas about Communicative Competence .................................37
Figure 4: Teachers’ knowledge and belief about Communicative Competence and
Communicative Language Teaching........................................................................40
Figure 5: The Use of the Language .........................................................................41
Figure 6: Aspects of English Language Teaching ..................................................44
Figure 7: Activities ..................................................................................................46
Figure 8: Teachers’ beliefs about the objective of teaching English at high school
..................................................................................................................................48
Figure 9: The process of teaching ...........................................................................48

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP ......................................................................... 1
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ........................................................................................ 3
LIST OF TABLES .................................................................................................... 5
LIST OF FIGURES .................................................................................................. 5
1.1 Problem Statement ....................................................................................................... 9
1.2 Rationale .................................................................................................................... 10
1.3 Aims of the study....................................................................................................... 11
1.4 Significance of the Study........................................................................................... 11
1.5 Organization of the thesis .......................................................................................... 12

CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW AND THEORETICAL
BACKGROUND ..................................................................................................... 13

2.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................... 14
2.2. Definition of CLT ..................................................................................................... 14
2.2.1. Characteristics of CLT ....................................................................................... 17
2.2.2 Communicative Competence ............................................................................. 21
2.3 CLT application in Vietnam ...................................................................................... 22
2.4 Role of Teacher in Communicative Language Teaching .......................................... 23

CHAPTER THREE ................................................................................................ 25
METHODOLOGY ................................................................................................. 25
3.1. Setting ....................................................................................................................... 26
3.2 Research questions .................................................................................................... 26
3.3 Research participants ................................................................................................. 26
3.3.1 Students ............................................................................................................... 27
3.3.2 Description of participants .................................................................................. 28
3.4 Data collection ........................................................................................................... 29

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3.5 Procedures ................................................................................................................. 29
3.5.1 Designing questionnaire ..................................................................................... 29
3.5.2 Data collection procedures .................................................................................. 30
3.5.3. Data analysis ...................................................................................................... 33

CHAPTER FOUR FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS ......................................... 33
4.1 Results of the Students’ Questionnaire Survey ......................................................... 34
4.1.1 Students’ purpose of learning English ................................................................ 34
4.1.2 Teaching English in classrooms ......................................................................... 35
4.1.3 Learning and teaching behaviour ........................................................................ 36
4.1.4 General ideas about communicative competence ............................................... 41

4.2 Results from the Teachers’ Questionnaire Survey4.2.1 Teachers’ knowledge and
beliefs about Communicative Competence and ............................................................. 43
Communicative Language Teaching ........................................................................... 43
4.2.2 The Use of the Language .................................................................................... 46
4.2.3 Aspects of English language teaching ................................................................ 47
4.2.4 Communicative Competence .............................................................................. 49
4.2.5 Activities ............................................................................................................. 51
4.2.6 Beliefs about aspects of English language teaching ........................................... 52
4.3 Summary.................................................................................................................... 54

CHAPTER FIVE CONCLUSION ........................................................................ 55
5.1 Summary of the study ................................................................................................ 55
5.2 Limitations of the study ............................................................................................. 57
5.3 Recommendations ..................................................................................................... 57
5.4 Further studies ........................................................................................................... 59

REFERENCES ........................................................................................................ 60
APPENDIX A QUESTIONNAIRE FOR STUDENTS ....................................... 63

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APPENDIX B QUESTIONNAIRE FOR TEACHERS ....................................... 65

CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION
The interest in teaching and learning foreign languages has spread throughout
the world. As a result, the digital age and migratory movements underpin the
globalization. There are many reasons for this phenomenon, and among these are
the entry into an enlarged labor market, access to information, increased trade
between countries or the establishment of relations between cultures and societies.

In addition, a wide range of theories has emerged related to the teaching and
learning of foreign languages and various methods and approaches have been
defined. They certainly differ from each other in how to teach and learn a target
language, and the use of one approach or another by foreign language teachers is a
matter of controversy. In any case, it can be corroborated that teachers tend to favor
the use of an eclectic methodology.
Nevertheless, a lot of attention has been paid to how to teach a foreign
language for real and meaningful communication. Grammar-Translation Method
has been proven as an unsuccessful method in teaching the English language.
Although the learners of this method have some knowledge of the target language,
they have failed to use it according to their need. Therefore, the attempt to replace
this method was taken and an Audio-Lingual Method or Army Method - a foreign
language teaching method often abbreviated as ALM was introduced in the United
States in the 50s and 60s of the twentieth century.. It focused on teaching the
structure of the sentence and vocabulary through repetition and exercise. It included
the development of reading and writing skills. He also understood literature and
poetry.
However, this method failed as well, and Communicative Language
Teaching (CLT) was introduced. As a result, various communicative approaches
have emerged, although the nucleus of each of them seems to be the approach to

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communicative language teaching. This study attempts to explore whether the CLT
principles are applied by Vietnamese teachers of English as a foreign language in a
particular school called Bac Lieu High School. This study is carried out to
investigate the application of Communicative Approach of some English teachers
and the students ‘study based on an overview of the CLT theory and the Vietnamese
educational system. From that, the study will suggest some possible solutions. A

description of the school environment and the method used to collect and analyze
the data.

1.1 Problem Statement
Because the impact of globalization has been increasing, the international
communication in English is becoming more widespread. To fulfill the challenges
of this modern trend, most non-English speaking countries around the world are
increasingly receptive to English. The same scenario prevails in most Asian
countries and certainly in Vietnam.
To meet the demand for our literate literates to be in national and
international communication, the desirableness for English communication skills is
increasing at a rapid pace. Most of the countries have adopted the communicative
approach of language teaching to make people proficient in English and Vietnam is
not exceptional.
The CLT aims to focus on four competences (listening, speaking, reading
and writing) as learner-centered activities in the communicative context. This
method makes language learning more relevant, interesting, enjoyable and effective.
But it is a great sadness that after completing the high school program, learners can
not use the English language correctly, especially they are very weak in listening
and speaking.
Although they have completed their high school curriculum under CLT, their
receptive and productive skills show that they have learned in Grammar Translation
Method. These show the ineffectiveness of CLT at the high school program. Some

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researchers have said that CLT is not appropriate for Vietnamese culture because it
requires any ideal - ideal classroom environment, limited students, trained teachers,
and so on.

1.2 Rationale
In the recent years, some schools, especially Bac Lieu High School have applied
CLT in teaching English. Some language teaching facilities such as language
laboratory rooms, audio visual aids are equipped for the sake of improving listening
and speaking skills. In spite of those advantages, the effectiveness from application
of CLT in teaching English in Bac Lieu high school has not been obvious.
Firstly, all students in Bac Lieu high school are almost taught only reading and
writing skills. Teachers often have a tendency towards teaching for final
examination. With about five to six class hours for a unit according to Curriculum
of Ministry of Education and Training, teachers only aim at teaching two main skills
for final examination – reading and writing. The content in this final examination
only focus on reading and reading skills. Because of this, students rarely have an
opportunity to practice their English. The communication of English maybe happen
between teachers and students through some short commands or suggestions.
Secondly, as for geographical location, Bac Lieu province is far from other big
city (over 200 km from Ho Chi Minh City), students do not have more chances to
communicate with foreigners. Moreover, some local small and medium business do
not require English communicative competence as a ultimate condition. Thus
students’ motivation in communication is not stimulated.
As an English teacher, the author is always interested in how to improve all
skills, especially listening and speaking skills through the application of CLT, the
author also found that teachers encounter various challenges and difficulties in
teaching with this approach. As observed subjectively, after many years of its
launch, it was not as successful as expected and learners can not take advantage of
CLT and many teachers are not interested in adapting this approach. The students do

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not learn English in an English speaking environment. Within this background, the
author would like to conduct a study on application of CLT in 11th graded English
classroom at Bac Lieu High school in order to work out current and potential
challenges, examine teachers’ solutions to these difficulties, then suggest
appropriate solutions.
Hopefully, the study will benefit teachers who want to apply CLT in their
English teaching in an effective ways.

1.3 Aims of the study
The aim of this study is to analyze the reasons for the ineffectiveness of the
CLT in teaching Bac Lieu High school students and to find some possible solutions
to make this approach more effective not only in Bac Lieu High school but also in
some other places of the nation . This approach is used to increase the four skills of
learners (reading, writing, writing and speaking) in English by different countries.
There is a fact that Bac Lieu High school’s students are very weak at English and
can not apply English in their practical life successfully , therefore. It was hoped
that CLT would be able to reduce the weakness of English of students. Although
CLT has been introduced and applied in most schools in Vietnam for a long time,
the target has not been reached.

1.4 Significance of the Study
It is important to study the causes behind the ineffectiveness of CLT in
teaching and learning at high school level, especially in the school I have been
teaching. Also it is important to increase the learners’ four skills (listening,
speaking, reading and writing) in English. At the high school curriculum in
Vietnam, English is taught in three years. However, after 12 years of schooling of
English, many students can hardly speak and listen in a fluent way.
Although Ministry of Education and Training has enacted “National Foreign
Language 2020 Project", one of the aims of the project is that English competence

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of students graduating from high school must be equivalent to level Bl belonging to
the Common European Framework. They cannot speak fluently and naturally. They
cannot comprehend the spoken discourses. They do not have ability to express their
feeling and thought because they are habituated to memorize the notes given by
their private tutors. As a result, they learn only some parts of four skills (listening,
speaking, reading and writing) in English. They pass examination but actually they
are unable to use the language.
Learning a language does not mean to get pass marks but to learn to use the
language practically. It is found that almost 10 years of learning English appears as
a useless matter. If the teachers read this research, they will be conscious about
selecting materials, teaching techniques, methods, their role in the classroom etc. to
increase their students’ competence in English. If the syllabus designers read it,
they will be conscious about adding communicative activities in high school
syllabus. If the teacher trainers read it, they will be interested to teach the teachers
how to apply Communicative Language Teaching Approach in classroom.
Language policy makers will be conscious in constructing language policy if
they read it. It is not possible for us to finish our higher studies, spread business,
and maintain relationship with the world etc. without learning English properly.
For this reason, the researcher is interested to make the readers conscious about
this approach to get maximum result in English in final exam and later in
professional life.

1.5 Organization of the thesis
This thesis consists of five chapters. Chapter One, Introduction, includes problem
statements, the aims, rationale for the study, research questions, significance of the
study as well as design of the study. Chapter Two comes the second, presenting a
Literature review and theoretical background. There are some main points such as

definition of CLT, principles of CLT, communicative competences, and CLT
application in Vietnam. Chapter Three, the study comes next with the

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responsibility for specifying the factors for the researcher to collect and process the
study data. This chapter also consists of findings and discussion, in which the data
is described in many specific tables and figures and discussed. Chapter Four comes
last. A conclusion of the study, the limitations of the study, and suggestion for
further research are also mentioned in the last chapter.

CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW AND THEORETICAL
BACKGROUND
This chapter will provide an operational definition and principles of CLT
relevant to the study. Then it will continue to present communicative competence as

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well as CLT application in Viet Nam. Finally, it presents some roles of teacher in
CLT.

2.1 Introduction
In the late 1960s, some British linguists questioned the traditional language
teaching approaches implemented up to now. These new approaches placed
importance on grammatical competence as a basis for second language teaching but
they also began to introduce the importance of language communication contrary to
the predominance of grammatical translation.
The rise of Communicative Language Teaching in the 1970s and early 1980s

in Great Britain was partly in response to the lack of success with traditional
language teaching methods and partly due to the increase in demand for language
learning. Communicative Language Teaching replace the previous structural
method, called language teaching as Situational Language Teaching. This was partly
in response to Chomsky's criticisms of the structural theories of language and partly
on the theories of British functional language. Communicative Language Teaching
is accepted as a preeminent approach to the teaching of languages by different
countries of the world.

2.2. Definition of CLT
The origin of "Communicative language teaching – CLT" was discovered in
the process of changing the language teaching methods of the British tradition in the
late 60s. Omaggio-Hadley (2001) showed that CLT is results from the study of
English, the language is received by linguists, typically such as Willkis,
Widdowson, Candlin, Keith Johnson, and many other American educators as
Savignon, etc.
Answering to the question “What is CLT?” There have been many linguists
offering different definitions. Wikipedia defined as follows:

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“Communicative language teaching (CLT), or the communicative
approach, is an approach to language teaching that emphasizes
interaction as both the means and ultimate goal of study”
It is also referred to as “communicative approach to the teaching of
foreign language” or simply the “Communicative Approach”. With the
definition of CLT from Wikipedia, language learner’s objective is to practice
their target language through communication not only in class with partners or
teachers but also in real life.

According to Littlewood (1981) one of the most important characteristic
features of CLT is that it emphasizes functional as well as structural aspects of
language, combining these into a more fully communicative view.
Hymes (1972: 281) argues that the requirement for a person with
communication skills is to have the knowledge and language proficiency involved
in:
*

It is likely to be formal (and to what extent).

*

It is appropriate for the effect of effective means available (and to what

extent).
*

It predominates in relation to the context in which the language is

identified and used (and to what extent).
*

Whether it is realistic and mandatory (and to what extent).

Richard and Rorger (1986: 66) defined CLT:
“CLT is an approach that aims to make communicative
competence the goal of language teaching of four language skills
that acknowledge the interdependence of language and
communication”
Thus this approach emphasizes the ability to communicate "Communicative

Competence" of learners. In view of Canale and Swain (1980), the communication
abilities of learners includes:

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*

Grammatical Competence is the language ability, the ability of

vocabulary and grammar.
*

Social Linguistic Competence is the ability to understand the social

context in which communication takes place including the establishment of relations
to exchange information among members for the purpose of communication.
*

Discourse Competence is the self-explanation of elements wanted to

convey information or communication with others with the extent of meaning
expressed in the whole discourse or text.
*

Strategic Competence is handling strategies that individual uses to

begin, complete, maintain, modify and conduce communication.
Based on the implications of Canale and Swain's definition of communicative
competence, developed for more than the a decade, Savignon (1991,

2002) stated that CLT emphasizes the learner: “Learner communicative needs
provide a framework for elaborating program goals in terms of functional
competence” (1991, 266).
To support CLT's theoretical and practical foundation, Sauvignon identified
and described the following five components of a communicative training program:
(1)

language arts (consisting of the factors which the teacher do best and

can be all they have learned to do) include exercises used in native language
programs to draw attention to formal precision.
(2)

language for a purpose is the use of language for authentic

communication goals.
(3)

personal English language use relates to the emerging identity of

learners in English.
(4)

theatre arts provide learners with the skills they do need to perform in

a new language, such as by interpreting and expressing.
(5)

beyond the classroom refers to preparing language learners to use the

language they learn as a mean of communication outside the classroom.

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From the foregoing definitions, the main tenet of CLT is to develop the
learner’s four skills (listening, speaking, reading and writing) that allow their
independence of language and communication. Furthermore, CLT’s aim advocates
go beyond teaching grammatical rules of the target language, and recommend that,
by using the target language in a meaningful way, learners will develop
communicative competence.
Language is used for communication and true communication is impossible
without interaction. The communicative approach in language learning and learning
considers that the main objective of language learning is to develop a
communicative competence and use authentic texts into the learning situation. For
example, newspaper, magazine, etc. are authentic texts. In a nutshell, the ultimate
purpose of language teaching is to develop communication skills for learners. This
is an important purpose in teaching and learning foreign languages as well as second
language.

2.2.1. Characteristics of CLT
Many researchers of linguistic methods such as Noam Chomsky, Firth,
Hymes, and Widdowson have shown that the CLT is opposed to the Audio-lingual
method and is an extension and development of the notional-functional syllabus. If
the Audio-lingual method emphasizes repetition of modeling and habits of language
learning; the notional-functional syllabus focuses on notions and functions, CLT
emphasizes communication ability. That is, CLT emphasizes on not only enabling
students to use language for their own purposes in different contexts, but also
learning the language.
The basic purpose of this approach is to help students create meaning rather

than help them develop perfect grammatical structure as well as pronunciation of
indigenous people.
CLT is generally recognized as a teaching approach rather than a teaching
method with a clear definition of how to organize classroom practice.

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According to Nunan (1991) and Richard and Rorger (1986) CLT has the
following characteristics:
*

Emphasizing on learning to communicate through interactive

relationships in the target language.
*

Introducing authentic materials into case studies.

*

Creating opportunities for learners to concentrate on not only language

but also self-learning.
*

Increasing personal experience for learners is extremely important in

building the elements that meet the classroom’ demand.
*

Trying to associate language learning with classroom activities beyond

the classroom.
*

Language is the system of expressing meaning.

*
The main function of the language is both interaction and
communication.
*
The structure of language reflects the use of function and
communication.
*

The basic element of language is not only grammatical features but

also structure classification and communication.
The above features of the CLT show that this approach focuses on the needs
and desires of the language learner as well as the relationship between language in
the classroom and the language beyond the classroom. Thus, learning English
through the use of effective communication language is more than just grammar or
mechanical training. The activities that language is used in are related to the actual
communication process in order to provide meaningful tasks to control student
learning. The selected learning activity depends on how engaging students use
meaningful and authentic language.

2.2.2. Principles of CLT
The purpose of CLT is aimed at providing learners with not only language

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skills but also more importantly, listening, speaking, reading and writing skills to
develop learners' ability to communicate. Highlighting the relationship between
language and communication enables students to communicate. In order to
communicate, it is necessary to be able to use sensible language in each specific
social context and to have knowledge of the form, meaning and function of the
language.
Based on that purpose, Freeman (1986; p.128-130) has outlined the
principles of CLT as follows:
*

Students must recognize the intention of the speaker and writer in the

communication process.
*

Target language serves as a means of communication in the classroom.

*

A language function must be expressed in many different forms and

languages.
*

It provides an opportunity for students to express ideas as well as his

thoughts.
*

Error should be viewed as a natural result of the development of

communication skills.
*

Ability to express fluently more important than accurately.

*

Creating situations to control the communication process is one of the

duties of a teacher.
*

The teacher acts as the

communication process's supervisor, the

students' instructor, who manage classroom activities and give comments. Students
are individuals who communicate, actively receive .
*

Activities of communication must satisfy three conditions, namely:

gaps of information, choices and responses.
*

Materials and syllabus serving the teaching and learning must be

designed from the first step to learn and must be suitable for the level of students.

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Therefore, in class according to CLT the teacher acts as a facilitator of the
student's communication process, as a facilitator, observer, analyst, and contributor.
Students are individuals who are active in the communication process; plays a
dominant role and correlates with other members (Breen & Candlin, 1980: 110).
The document must bear the basic principles of using the communicative
language in the direction of progress. There are currently three commonly used
documents in the CLT that are text-based materials, task-based materials, and
authentic materials.
Most of the materials used in CLT classrooms are authentic materials. These
documents include authentic language documents such as logos, magazines,
advertisements, newspapers, graphs, and visual sources where interactions can be
made, such as maps, pictures, photos, charts, and tables.
Since then, Finocchiaro and Brumfit (1983: 107-8) have produced some of
the commonly used strategies for CLT as follow:
*

Before teacher provides materials for students, teacher should discuss

in advance the functions and situations, the rules, the setting, the topics, the
information, and the types of languages that the case function requires.
*

Teachers should ask students to rearrange sentences in conversations or

paragraphs.
*

Students play games or role-plays which are related to language.

*

Team work in classroom.

*

Teachers give instructions in target language.

*

Problem solving tasks should be used and exploited massively as a

communication tactic.
*

Question and answer come in two forms: based on available materials

or related to the learners' personal experiences.
CLT is considered a approach rather than a method. Learning language with
CLT will develop all four skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing, with the
primary purpose of improving communication. Students are the center of initiative

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in all activities, and the teacher is just a instuctor, observers make appropriate
suggestions to promote the creativity of the learner. In addition, teachers must create
motivation to motivate learners to achieve the purpose of teaching.

2.2.2 Communicative Competence
Canale and Swain (1980) consider communicative competence as the
interaction between grammatical competencies or knowledge of the rules of
grammar and of sociolinguistic competence or knowledge of rules of use. They
identified grammatical, sociolinguistic and discursive competence in the context of
communicative competence.
Sociolinguistic competence is the ability of learners to use the language
correctly in different social contexts. This competency shows the ability of learners
to go beyond the literal meaning of the statement and to recognize whether it is the
intent of such utterances in particular social situations.
Sociolinguistic competence is crucial for interpreting utterances for their
"social significance". Discursive competence refers to the ability of learners to
combine grammatical forms and meaning in an appropriate order for speech needs.
Discursive competence emphasizes that learners must also be aware of the speech
patterns of the language they learn (Canale, 1983).
The four components of communicative competence are functional linguistic
competence, expression, interaction and meaning negotiation involving the
interaction of two or more persons belonging to the same vocal community or to
others (Savignon, 1997).
Savignon (1997), cited by Aleixo (2003), characterizes communicative
competence as having the following elements:
*

Communicative competence is a dynamic concept rather than a static

concept. It depends on the negotiation of meaning between two or more people who
share the same symbolic system.

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*

Communicative competence applies to both written and spoken

language, as well as to many other symbolic systems.
*

Communicative competence is context specific. Communication takes

place in infinity of situations and success in a particular role depends on
understanding the context and previous experience of a similar genre.
*

Communicative competence is relative, not absolute, and depends on

the cooperation of all participants.
*

There is a difference between having the knowledge to produce the

sentence of a language and applying that knowledge. It is a difference between what
a person knows, which is his or her linguistic skill and how he uses that knowledge
in the actual production of speech and understanding, which is his linguistic
performance. Communicative Language Teaching always gives importance on good

performance.

2.3 CLT application in Vietnam
Over the last twenty years, the demand for communication between people of
different cultures has pushed English to its recent status as a popular world
language. English has become an official language in Singarpore, the Philipines,
Hongkong and a popular foreign language in most Asian countries for economic and
political reasons.
The teaching profession of English in the region, therefore, receives more
concerns for teachers, educators and linguists. In integration with current trends in
the teaching of the world's language, the teaching of English in Vietnam has also
been inspired by a more effective alternative. A communicative approach that have
had a great impact on the English language learning and teaching for a long time.
Teachers were encouraged to use CLT in their English classrooms to improve the
skills of their students.
Several studies conducted with the aim of improving the quality of teaching
and learning English in Vietnam show that “traditional pedagogy, emphasizing the

22


acquisition of grammar and vocabulary rather than communicative competence”
(Pham, 2005) is one of the causes of the problem.
Since the early 1990s, therefore, CLT has quickly become popular in Vietnam
(Pham, 2005). Along with the popularity of CLT in the country, it seems that the
only use of English in ELT is widely supported.
Unlike traditional methods used for a long time in Vietnam, CLT has been
considered as the most dominant and effective method to meet the Vietnamese
students’ needs of communication in English and is the best method in Asian area
(Liao, 2004).

According to the requirements from the scheme "Teaching and learning of
foreign languages in the national education system stage in 2020”, the students’
English competence, especially the high school students ‘English competence must
be equivalent as B1 based on Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR).
To get this level, students must master four skills: Listening, Speaking, Reading,
and Writing. With these requirements, the approach of CLT must be better and more
effective than the traditional pedagogy.
However, many other educators and researchers have also shown that it is not
much easy for the teachers specially the EFL teachers to apply CLT as an asset to
reach the final goal of language teaching in their context with their students.
Based on a study that assessed the attitudes of Hong Kong educators toward
using CLT in the local context, Chau and Chung (1987) stated that CLT was used
only sparingly by teachers because it required too much preparation time. In a study
conducted in Vietnam, Ellis (1994) identified class size, grammar-based
examination, and lack of exposure to authentic language as constraints on using
CLT.

2.4 Role of Teacher in Communicative Language Teaching
According to Zaman (2008), in communicative language teaching a teacher has
two main roles:

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*

The first is to facilitate the communication process between all

participants in the classroom and between these participants and the various
activities and text.

*

The second role is to act as an independent participant within the

learning teaching group.
According to Breen (1985), it is important to consider different environments
when a teacher adopts CLT for his students. According to Bari (2011), the teachers
and the parents force the learners to get good result. They compel the learners to
read always. The students cannot learn any thing spontaneously and consider
education as boundary. For this reason, they read only to get good result and
acquisition of the language skills are neglected.
According to Littlewood (1981), many teachers correct errors that they observe
so that the students give more attention to form rather than the contents and it
hampers their spontaneous use of target language. The teachers can give clues to the
students which will help them to correct their errors.
According to Littlewood (1981), the concept of the teacher as `instructor’ is
thus inadequate to describe his overall function. He is a facilitator of learning and
performs in a variety of specific roles, separately or simultaneously. These include
the following:
*

As general observer of his students’ learning, he must aim to

coordinate the activities so that they form a coherent progression, leading towards
greater communicative ability.
*

As classroom manager, he is responsible for grouping activities into

`lessons’ and for ensuring that these are satisfactorily organized at the practical

level. This includes deciding his role within each activity.
*
instructor:

In many activities, he may perform the familiar role of language

he will present new language, exercise direct control over the learners’ performance,
evaluate and correct it and so on.

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*

In others, he will not intervene after initiating the proceedings, but will

let learning take place through independent activities. This will frequently be
communicative activity, but may also be pre-communicative.
*

While such independent activity is in progress, he may act as

consultant or adviser, helping where necessary. He may also move about the
classroom in order to monitor the strengths and weaknesses of the learners, as a
basis for planning future learning activities.
*

Sometimes he will wish to participate in an activity as ‘co-

communicator’ with the learners.

CHAPTER THREE
METHODOLOGY
This research seeks to know the application of CLT to the 11th graders at Bac
Lieu High school in Bac Lieu city. CLT is a sophisticated and effective approach to
help students learn English in relation to the real-life situation.

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