English Language Teaching in Libya After Gaddafi

Abstract

This chapter discusses the impact of the political, cultural and social background of Libyan society on the current quality of English education in the country. Libya has witnessed several attempts to reform English education since the 1970s; however, these attempts were based on introducing grammar-based curricula which were designed by non-native speakers of English, few of whom were Libyans. In an effort to reform English education in the country, the Libyan Ministry of Education developed new English curricula in 2000 based on CLT principles to be used in Libyan primary and high schools in place of the previous curricula which aimed mainly to teach grammar and reading. However, Libyan English teachers have not been able to help their students of English to achieve the objectives of the new curricula because the teachers predominantly use the Grammar Translation Method (GTM) and teacher-centred pedagogy. Despite the government’s intentions to innovate with communicative curricula, the teachers do not actually use these curricula in primary and high school classrooms. The quality of English language teacher education in Libya is underdeveloped and this situation can be seen as a result of a greater issue; the Libyan government’s accreditation procedures for universities, programs and courses are not well-developed.