An Evaluation of the Implementation of the Current Elt Syllabus for Grade 9 In Terms of The Communicative Language Teaching Methodology
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Date
1999-06
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
This study was carried out to investigate the appropriateness of the methodology which the
English language teachers of grade 9 use in implementing the current ELT syllabus which
was designed with the purpose of developing the communicative abilities of the learners.
To this end, the criteria related to the communicative language teaching approach were set.
These include cognitive vs mechanical activities, use vs usage performances, analytic vs
synthetic, and inductive vs deductive approaches plus the strategies related to reading
comprehension. Besides, the application of pair and small group modes of instruction was
also used as a supplementary yardstick.
For the study, five secondary schools of Addis Ababa were chosen. Then, 16 grade 9
English classes were observed for forty minutes (a period) each. The forty minute period
was divided into eight 5-minute sessions and the dominantly occurring activity or
procedure was coded in five minutes against the criteria stated above. Moreover, responses
given by 48 teachers of the said grade to the questiOlmaire were considered for the study.
The result of the study, then, revealed that 74.94% of the mean time was spent on
mechanical activities. This means only 25 .06% was used for cognitive ones. Even the
cognitive element of this percentage was not the result of fluency activities, but it was the
result of time spent on explicit teaching of linguistic rules. Similarly, the mean percentage
of time spent on usage was 80.21 %. It was only 19.79% that was devoted to use.
In the case of language presentation, the result of the study also showed that the mean
percentage of time spent on synthetic approach was 77.18%. It was only the rest, that
is, 22.82%, that accounted for the analytic one. At the same time, whereas deductive
approach took 75.9% of the mean time, the inductive one consumed 24.1 %.
As for as the reading strategies are concerned, the findings of the study also indicated that
the l<u"ger portion of time was spent on loud reading by the students and explanation given
by the teachers on the passage. 66.66% of the teachers were found to have spent 25 to
37.5% of the time on engaging the students in loud reading. Similarly, all teachers spent
25% 10 50% of the time on giving explanation on the content of the text. Though they
spent such a lot of time on explanation, they did talk almost nothing on how to read and
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understand the messages in the text. Only 33.33% of the teachers were found to apply
silent reading and scanning/skinuning. The rest, i.e, 66.66%, never used the technique.
In general, though some of the teachers revealed that they were teaching language use, the
overall result showed that the classroom methodology was dominated by the teaching of
language usage. The classes were characterised by teacher's dominance and learners'
passivity. Thus, it was concluded that the classroom methodology was incongruent with
the objective of the syllabus.
Based on the result of the study, it was reconunended that the teachers be given awarenessraising
orientations, and teacher's self-development courses on the principles and theories
of the communicative language teaching methodology.
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Keywords
Current Elt Syllabus