Communicative language teaching implementation in Iran: The case of Junior high school Iranian state English teachers

Using an open-ended questionnaire to illicit the Iranian EFL state school teachers’ experiences and perceptions about teaching in communicative language teaching (CLT) and teacher interviews as qualitative research procedures, the present study sought to examine how effective CLT approach might be in the critical years of the major curriculum innovation in Iran. To this end, we first asked ۲۶ junior high school Iranian teachers to express their perceptions and teaching experiences in CLT. We then conducted semi-structured interviews with ۱۲ of the teachers. The in-depth analyses of the survey and interview participants’ perspectives towards and teaching experiences in CLT identified both macro and micro structural difficulties. Moreover, the study brought to attention, interalia, the need to provide teachers with constant teacher training support, to equip schools with instructional resources required by the particular curriculum innovation, to systematically seek the teachers’ viewpoints in developing new textbooks embodying the new curriculum reform.

Keywords:

Iranian state schools , communicative language teaching , Curriculum Innovation , macro and micro structural difficulties