Communicative Language Teaching and Learner Participation: A case study of selected secondary schools in Blantyre

Abstract

This study investigated learner participation in the language classroom in four secondary schools in Blantyre district two years after the implementation of the CLT syllabus. The data revealed that the interaction patterns in these classes were still dominated by teacher talk. Although the new syllabus emphasized learner involvement through pair and group discussion, among the prescribed textbooks there was only one textbook—Senior Secondary Integrated English Book 3 which would have promoted such interaction if used effectively. However, most of the teachers were using the other prescribed text, Step Ahead: New Secondary English Book 3 which in effect promoted teacher talk. Those who used Integrated English Book 3 were selective in their choice of the activities. In addition, there was no enough time for the learners to participate interactively. The pressure to finish the syllabus in order to prepare the learners for the national examination led to the dominance of lecturing. During the lessons, the teachers mostly asked closed questions, which drew short responses but when the teachers asked open—ended questions, the discussions either ran out of time or resulted in a lot of noise. The teachers and the learners agreed that the approach was affected by a number of problems, including less participation, noise, poor English and time constraints. Despite these shortfalls, effective learner participation in the language classroom could be achieved if the teachers were qualified enough to adopt the flexibility in the teaching required in this approach. The time for the language teaching has to be increased too to meet the demands of the activities.