Omani English Teachers’ Perspectives on Implementing Communicative Language Teaching in Post-Basic Schools: A Case Study

EFL Teachers’ Perception of Communicative Language Teaching Practices in Improving Students’ Intercultural Competences

English language teaching in Ethiopia increasingly emphasizes communicative competence, yet classroom implementation often remains teacher-centred and provides limited opportunities for intercultural learning. This study examines how Ethiopian EFL teachers perceive Communicative Language Teaching (CLT), how their perceptions appear in classroom practice, and how CLT supports students’ intercultural competence. A qualitative multiple-case study involves 12 secondary-school English teachers selected purposively from Ethiopian schools. Data are collected through semi-structured interviews, classroom observations, field notes, and demographic forms. The data are analysed thematically through familiarization, coding, categorization, within-case analysis, cross-case comparison, and theme development. The findings show that most teachers view CLT positively and associate it with participation, speaking practice, pair work, group discussion, role-play, and confidence building. However, their classroom practices only partly reflect these beliefs because many activities remain teacher-controlled, textbook-dependent, and focused on accuracy. Teachers also recognize the relationship between language and culture, although several interpret intercultural learning mainly as knowledge of customs and cultural facts. CLT contributes moderately to students’ intercultural competence when tasks include authentic interaction, cultural comparison, perspective-taking, negotiation of meaning, and reflective discussion. Its effectiveness depends on teacher mediation, task design, scaffolding, authentic materials, feedback, assessment alignment, professional development, class size, instructional time, learner proficiency, and institutional support. The study concludes that positive perceptions alone do not ensure effective intercultural CLT. Context-sensitive training, reflective communicative tasks, suitable materials, and assessment of intercultural outcomes are necessary to strengthen classroom implementation. These findings connect teacher cognition, classroom interaction, and intercultural learning within the realities of Ethiopian secondary education.

Integrating communicative language teaching into elementary English curriculum: A framework for multidimensional competency development

This study examines the implementation of Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) in elementary school contexts to enhance students’ communicative competence. The study addresses the gap between theoretical assumptions of CLT and its practical application in classrooms, particularly within the Indonesian educational setting. The objective of this research is to analyze how CLT strategies are applied and to evaluate their impact on students’ speaking skills and classroom interaction. A qualitative research design was employed, involving classroom observations, interviews with teachers, and document analysis. The findings indicate that the use of communicative activities such as role play, group discussions, and interactive tasks significantly improves students’ confidence and ability to communicate in English. However, several challenges were identified, including limited teacher proficiency, lack of instructional resources, and constraints related to traditional teaching practices. The study concludes that CLT is an effective approach for promoting active learning and communicative competence in elementary education. Its successful implementation requires adequate teacher training and contextual adaptation. These findings contribute to the development of more effective language teaching practices in primary education. Keywords: communicative competence; communicative language teaching; elementary education; speaking skills

Exploring teacher ’s roles in communicative language teaching: A qualitative study in an informal English basic course

Early-Career Teachers’ Self-Reported Challenges in Implementing Content and Language Integrated Learning in Indonesian Elementary Schools

Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) is a pedagogical approach that aims to increase students’ subject knowledge and English proficiency simultaneously through meaningful classroom interaction. However, despite its increasing popularity in Indonesia, early-career teachers frequently encounter linguistic and pedagogical challenges that affect the quality of CLIL teaching. This study explored the self-reported experiences of 19 early-career teachers in applying CLIL in Indonesian elementary schools. All participants had completed a Medium of Instruction (EMI) elementary teacher education program at a private university in Indonesia, which provides a unique context to study how prior English exposure influences classroom practices. Data were collected using an open-ended questionnaire and were analyzed thematically with a descriptive qualitative approach. The findings suggest that although participants had adequate general English language skills and were confident in daily communication, they still struggled to use subject-specific academic vocabulary and to cope with English-language classroom instructional discourse. The teachers also found it difficult to deal with students with varying levels of English proficiency. Therefore, they used adaptive strategies, such as repetition, reformulation, and first-language (L1) use, to maintain classroom interaction and students' understanding. These findings suggest that successful CLIL implementation depends not only on general English proficiency but also on teachers’ ability to use disciplinary teaching discourse and to flexibly adapt their language to meet students’ needs. The study concludes that pre-service teacher education should go beyond developing general English fluency and provide explicit preparation in CLIL-oriented classroom discourse, subject-specific academic language, and adaptive pedagogical strategies. These findings illuminate the linguistic and pedagogical preparation that is needed by early-career teachers in CLIL classrooms and have implications for the design of teacher education programs in similar EMI and bilingual contexts. Keywords: Content-Language Integrated Learning (CLIL), Early-career Elementary Teachers, Disciplinary Academic Language, English-Medium Instruction, Teacher Preparation

Teaching Materials and Classroom Assessment in English Language Teaching: Teachers’ Practices and Challenges

Teaching materials and classroom assessment are two interdependent components of effective English language teaching (ELT) but the implementation of these components in Nepalese classrooms is still shaped by traditional pedagogical practices and an examination-oriented system. In this context, the study explored English teachers’ conceptual understanding and classroom use of teaching materials and examined the prevailing assessment practices and challenges affecting their implementation in Nepalese secondary ELT classrooms. The study employed a qualitative interpretive research design. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with six purposively selected English language teachers at secondary level from schools in the Kathmandu Valley, Nepal and analysed using thematic analysis. The findings showed that although teachers recognised the significance of authentic teaching materials, learner-centred pedagogy and formative assessment, their classroom practices were still restricted by textbook dependency, examination-oriented assessment culture, large class sizes, limited assessment literacy, inadequate technological and instructional resources, curriculum–assessment misalignment, institutional pressure for examination results and limited professional development opportunities. Teachers also displayed a high degree of professional agency by modifying the teaching materials and using formative assessment whenever the classroom situation allowed. The study suggests a reconsideration of teaching materials and assessment as an integral and complementary part of language pedagogy rather than as separate instructional processes. It contributes to the field of English language education by providing context-specific insights into teachers’ practices and challenges, and offers pedagogical and policy recommendations for strengthening learner-centred instruction, assessment literacy and sustainable professional development in Nepalese ELT.

Examining the Difficulties of English Language Teaching in Japan: Implications for Future Assistant Language Teachers

English language education has been a central focus of educational reform in Japan as the country seeks to strengthen students’ communicative competence in a globalized world. Despite these reforms, many Japanese learners continue to face challenges in developing effective English communication skills. This qualitative study examines the difficulties encountered in English language teaching (ELT) in secondary schools in Kobe, Japan, and explores the implications of these challenges for future Assistant Language Teachers (ALTs). The study employed a qualitative research design using semi-structured interviews with twenty English teachers from three public secondary schools in Kobe. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis to identify recurring patterns and key instructional challenges. To strengthen the analysis, frequency counts and participant quotations were incorporated. The findings reveal that examination-oriented teaching practices continue to shape classroom instruction, with teachers prioritizing grammar and reading skills. Other challenges include limited class time, large class sizes, and varying levels of teacher confidence in conducting communicative lessons. Despite these constraints, collaboration with Assistant Language Teachers and the use of interactive strategies were identified as potential solutions. The study concludes that strengthening teacher training, integrating communicative approaches, and providing institutional support are essential to improving English language learning outcomes.