The Implementation of Competency-Based Language Teaching: An Analysis of Some Teachers’ Beliefs and Classroom Practices in the English Language Classroom in Tizi-Ouzou

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Date

2015

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

Mouloud Mammeri University of Tizi-Ouzou

Abstract

Teachers’ beliefs about education are under investigated prior to educational reforms all over the world, including the Algerian one. Teacher education and training main focus is on teachers’ quality in terms of skills and competencies overlooking the importance of their beliefs for an effective implementation of any educational reform, more specifically the implementation of Competency-Based Language Teaching. The dissertation aims at investigating the impact of teachers’ educational beliefs on the implementation of Competency-Based to the study of English as a foreign language, taking into consideration teachers’ classroom practices and the role teacher education and training play in changing teachers’ prior beliefs about education. The research methods used to reach the overall aim of the dissertation include the relevant literature review, questionnaires, semi-structured interviews and a series of classroom observations. The research work has ended with a number of results: it has revealed that most of the participants’ beliefs are compatible with the objectives of the educational reform grounded in Competency-Based Language Teaching, while the minority of the teachers concerned still hold the traditional view of teaching and learning. Nevertheless, Competency-Based Language Teaching is not practical for the majority of teachers holding positive beliefs, as its implementation depends on learners’ level and the availability of the required conditions. The role of teacher education and training in altering teachers’ beliefs and thus enhancing teachers’ performance and the implementation of Competency-Based Language Teaching, proves to be inefficient. Teachers’ positive beliefs about Competency-Based Language Teaching are not reflected in their classroom practices because of learners’ weak level and the lack of the appropriate conditions in the classroom. Teachers with traditional view of teaching fail to transmit the message as the majority of pupils are not motivated by both the teaching subject and the lesson. As a conclusion, the way of teaching for the majority of participants is mainly shaped by the school context in which these participants are involved. The study proffers a set of recommendations to bridge the gap between what teacher education and training provide teachers with and what they are actually faced with in the practical field such as the lack of materials and learners’ weak level.

Description

84p.;30cm.(+cd)

Keywords

Citation

Applied Linguistics and Social Semiotics