| Education reform in Taiwan has advocated a learner-centered learning environment, but the instructional practices in the classroom predominately remain the same according to traditionally teacher-centered form. As an offspring of the learner-centered learning, Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) has received intensive attention in the language learning and teaching field, and it has been embraced in the K-12 education as the instructional guideline in Taiwan. However, in the university or college English language classes, there are no mandatory instructional guidelines. Although faculty members of English education may have been trained in CLT, they may have different perceptions about implementing CLT in their current settings, which raises several important research questions that will inform policy and pedagogy.;This study investigates questions that examine the relationship between university faculty members' perceptions of CLT and their instructional practices in general English courses. In addition, this study aims to understand the resources available to these faculty members to help them implement CLT practices in the classroom. To address the research questions, a mixed method---a sequential explanatory design model---is employed. In the qualitative part of the study, descriptions of nine faculty members from three universities in southern Taiwan provide rich and inspirational insights about these faculty members' perceptions of CLT implementation in their higher education context, their instructional practices in the classroom, and their beliefs about necessary future assistance. The quantitative part of the study statistically presents the attitudinal and behavioral concerns of 65 faculty members from four universities in southern Taiwan about CLT implementation. The descriptive findings show that the faculty members in the sample present a strongly unfavorable attitude toward the CLT approach. Additionally, the multiple regression models indicate that the sample faculty members' part- or full-time positions, gender, teaching obligations, and years of teaching experience all have an impact on their behavioral concerns of CLT implementation. In summary, the sample faculty members in this study generally present grammar translation instruction in practice, which is consistent with their major perceptions of CLT that CLT is not practical in the current higher education context in Taiwan. |
