Communicative Approach To English Language Teaching: An Examination Of Form One English Language Textbook

ABSTRACT

The study intended to examine the realization of Communicative Language Teaching (henceforth CLT) principles in Form One English language textbook issued for Ordinary secondary schools in Tanzania. The study set out three specific objectives which are: To examine how the issued Form One English language textbook reflects Communicative Approach (henceforth CA) principles, to examine communicative activities present in the Form One English language textbook and to assess teachers‟ views on the potentiality of Form One English language textbook in facilitating communicative competence. In doing so, the researcher used conceptual framework as a guide to collect and analyse the data from the issued textbook. A qualitative research approach was used to provide a clear understanding of the research problem. Also, descriptive design was used in this study. The sample size comprised of 12 English language teachers from four public Ordinary secondary schools in Magu District, Mwanza Region. The researcher used purposive and stratified sampling procedures to select respondents in the field. Documentary review and questionnaire were used as methods in data collection. The collected data were analysed thematically. Among others, the findings show that 52.4% of the textbook's activities have included CLT principles. Based on the teachers‟ views and document analysis, the researcher found that there is a significant paradigm shift from content-based to competence-based approach. Also, the findings revealed that teachers have enough knowledge of CLT principles. For the issued textbook, the study found that teachers' views have positive results on the potentiality of the textbook in facilitating communicative competence to students. However, the researcher found some weaknesses in the following areas: lack of English-Kiswahili glossary, length of sentences and grammatical errors. Lastly, the researcher recommends to the government that the textbook should be supplemented with digital versatile disc (henceforth DVD) or Audio compact disc (henceforth CD) for improving listening skills.