Abstract:
The main objective of this study was to investigate teachers’ perceptions, their actual
classroom practices, and implementation challenges of Communicative Language Teaching
in English Classrooms. The study was conducted in a teachers' training college in Jigjiga,
Somali Region. All English teachers in the college were participants of the study recruited
using the availability sampling technique. The necessary data was collected using three data
gathering instruments, such as Questionnaires, Semi-structured Interviews, and Classroom
observations. Both quantitative and qualitative research methods have been used for the
study. The data gathered through questionnaires and observations were analyzed
quantitatively using frequency, percentage, and mean. On the other hand, the data obtained
using interviews was analyzed qualitatively in words. The findings revealed that the teachers
are aware of CLT principles and have positive attitudes towards CLT. However, it was
observed that they face many challenges to implement it in a well-organized manner based
on the current trends of language teaching methodologies and language learning principles.
Among the challenges arise by teachers so far were students’ background knowledge of the
spoken language, fear, lack of confidence, and so forth. In addition, large class sizes, lack
of sufficient facilities, and less motivation from the teachers were also mentioned as
challenges that hinder for good implementation of CLT in English classrooms. Based on the
findings, some recommendation for foreign language teachers to practice Communicative
language teaching in foreign language classroom was made. This recommendation focuses
on ways of dealing with foreign language teaching communicatively and suggestions to
practice accordingly.
