AN APPLICATION OF THE COMMUNICATIVE LANGUAGE TEACHING (CLT) APPROACH FOR ENGLISH AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE (EFL) LEARNERS IN THE ARAB CONTEXT
EFL textbooks in countries of the Arab region have introduced the communicative language teaching (CLT) approach as a way to improve learners English fluency. However, Arab EFL teachers face many challenges in implementing this approach. This study was conducted to provide a possible sample of a CLT unit plan to examine: 1) what does a unit plan with the CLT approach look like? 2) How to use CLT activities to promote an interactive EFL learning? The related literature review identified some initiatives to enhance the Arab EFL communication skills, represented by introducing the CLT approach to language teaching methods and to new EFL textbooks. Yet, these contributions have not been fruitful enough to the EFL education in the Arab world. The related literature revealed gaps of implementation, represented by the use of traditional language teaching methods while adopting CLT-based textbooks. The literature review further revealed a lack of EFL teachers' efficiency in implementing the CLT approach. Accordingly, it has become increasingly important to address these common EFL challenges in order to help EFL teachers create an interactive class where learners may develop their communicative abilities. Scholars like Savignon (2002) and Richards and Rodgers (2014) stated that the goal of CLT is to establish a meaningful communication of a language. Therefore, this study designed a unit that integrates the CLT principles and activities to promote a meaningful communication process inside EFL classrooms. The proposed unit is an example for EFL teachers to consider while implementing CLT textbooks. It aims to help Arab EFL teachers nurture their vision of a unit plan mechanism, while simultaneously considering the learners' needs and goals.
EFL education, EFL textbooks, EFL teachers, Communicative language teaching, Interactive activities, Lesson plans
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