EFL Teachers’ Perceptions of the 2014 Curriculum in Cameroon French-medium Secondary Education

Abstract

This paper explores English foreign language teachers’ perceptions of the 2014 English language learning programme in Cameroon French-medium secondary education. It considers aspects such as the quality of the programme of study, the teaching of skills and competencies in the instructional materials selected, the teaching and testing approaches, the challenges encountered, and teachers’ personal and professional growth. Hall and Hord (1987, 2001) theoretical paradigm was chosen to conduct this research and the method of data collection was quantitative in nature. A total number of 80 English foreign language teachers were surveyed and administered a 38-item questionnaire. It came out of the findings that the vast majority of teachers deemed the new curriculum innovative and a developmental tool for bilingualism. Also, the majority of the respondents appreciated the skills and the competencies taught in the textbooks selected as they met with real-life situations. Further, these teachers in their great number claimed that they had a good knowledge of the Competence-Based Approach (CBA) and had grown cognitively and pedagogically while implementing the reforms of the new learning programme. Finally, they wish the implementation of the curriculum continued. Among the pitfalls of the curriculum, the testing approach and the exposure of learners to other learning sources revealed themselves limited. The overcrowded nature of classrooms impeded the unfolding of lessons and personalised pedagogy and above all obstructed the effective and efficient implementation of the Competence-Based Approach. Ultimately, teachers frowned at the filling of pedagogic documents which in their perspective was too bureaucratic. Some recommendations were made at the end of the investigation in order to improve the curriculum.