THE IMPLEMENTATION OF COMMUNICATIVE LANGUAGE TEACHING (CLT) IN AN EFL CONTEXT: A CASE STUDY OF LEARNERS' ATTITUDES AND PERCEPTIONS

Abstract

This research study investigates the place of communicative language teaching in one of the capital Balkan cities in Sarajevo, in Bosnia by exploring attitudes and perceptions of Bosnian EFL students. A questionnaire survey was conducted to collect data from the target EFL learner groups. The findings of the survey revealed that Bosnian learners have positive views and attitudes toward communicative language teaching. According to Hymes (1972), the goal of language teaching is to improve the communicative competence of learners. That is why, educators should focus on the communication skills of learners rather than their grammar-based knowledge and being able to communicate effectively in the target language is the most important of all skills. However, some external factors, like exam system, high number of students in the classes, can be barriers to implement CLT effectively in different EFL contexts and they force teachers to use traditional methods in language teaching but this presumption is lower or almost unlikely in private education institutions thanks to the amenities. Supporting the view above, the results of survey also reported that EFL learners have favourable beliefs for the use of CLT in their classrooms and they believe that as a foreign language English learning is very important in their country and for their future careers. Key words: EFL (English as a Foreign Language), learner beliefs, communicative competence, CLT (communicative language teaching), English language teaching.