ENGLISH TEACHERS’ PERCEPTIONS TOWARD THE EFFECTIVENESS OF USING COMMUNICATIVE LANGUAGE TEACHING (CLT) IN TEACHING GRAMMAR AT AL AIN PUBLIC SCHOOLS
Abstract
This study investigates English teachers' perceptions toward the effectiveness of using Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) in teaching grammar at Al Ain public schools. This study was conducted using a questionnaire to collect the required data from the participants (n=180) regarding their perceptions toward the effectiveness of using CLT in teaching grammar. The results of this study revealed that English teachers at Al Ain public schools perceived CLT as an effective approach in teaching grammar (m= 3.83). The results have also shown that the participants prefer using communicative activities in teaching grammar when using CLT (m=3.69). As for the challenges, the teachers indicated that students' low English proficiency especially in grammar, large classes, and heavy teaching load are among the most common challenges that they face. These results provide schools and other education authorities with the required information that they need about the effectiveness of CLT in teaching grammar in terms of three key areas: teachers' perceptions toward the effectiveness of this approach in teaching grammar, the activities that English teachers prefer to use, and the challenges that they face in CLT implementation. Finally, this study was conducted at Al Ain public schools, United Arab Emirates; however, more studies are still required in other contexts to further investigate this approach and its effectiveness from different perspectives.