Cebu International EFL Conference

Abstract of paper

Author
Assistant professor Kun-huie Wu
Department of English
Aletheia University
Taiwan

Title
The Dilemma of Communicative Language
Teaching in EFL Context

Abstract
CLT (Communicative Language Teaching) is arguably today’s most popular teaching method in the field of English language teaching (ELT). Although it is extensively practiced in the English as a second language (ESL) setting, it is not so clear that CLT is also widely applied in the English as a foreign language (EFL) setting. English teachers from countries such as China, Greece, South Korea, Japan, and Turkey have made attempts to implement CLT; however, research has shown that English teachers from these countries have faced many constraints that have hindered them from fully adopting this approach (Burnaby and Sun, 1989; Eveyik-Aydin, 2003; Karavas-Doukas, 1996; Li, 1998). 

Some of the more common constraints include large classes, grammar-based examinations, teachers’ low English proficiency and lack of cultural knowledge, lack of communicative teaching materials, and students’ low English proficiency. The results from the above studies affirmed the importance of understanding and taking into account its feasibility when attempting to implement such an approach in EFL context. This paper will explore the advantages and disadvantages of the four domains of CLT--teacher/student roles, pair/group work, peer/teacher correction, and grammar--from linguistic and cultural perspectives.