An Investigation Into Implementation Of Communicative Language Teaching In College English Teaching For Non-English Majors

Since Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) appeared in China in the early 1980s, it has been accepted by many researchers and teachers. It has been regarded as a valid and innovative teaching method for English teaching. In fact, the ultimate goal of CLT is to enhance students'communicative competence by meaningful communicative activities. However, English teachers in China find it difficult to completely implement it in English classroom, as they have met many obstacles and constraints.This study investigates teachers'and students'perceptions of CLT in college English teaching for non-English majors. Fifteen English teachers and 189 students from East China Jiaotong University and Nanchang Institute of Technology were selected for this survey. They were asked to finish a questionnaire and take part in a semi-structured interview. After the data were collected and analyzed, this survey revealed the obstacles and difficulties teachers and students met in the implementation of CLT in English classroom. After that, this study indicated some similarities and differences between teachers'perceptions and students'perceptions of CLT on some items in the questionnaires. At the same time, this study tries to explore how to apply CLT efficiently to improve students'communicative competence in China.The findings of this study show that: (1) the teachers have affirmative attitudes towards CLT and approve of communicative principles in theory; (2) the students have favorable attitudes towards CLT, but they are more accustomed to integration of communicative and non-communicative activities; (3) there are similarities and differences between teachers'perceptions and students'perceptions. They have achieved great consensus on some items, such as fluency, group work, roles of teachers and students and grammar explanation but they also have different opinion on error correction; (4) although teachers and students hold positive attitudes towards CLT, they also meet many constraints that hinder the successful implementation of CLT.Based on the findings, the study has offered the following suggestions for English teaching and learning in Chinese colleges. It is suggested that: (1) current examination system should be modified; (2) authentic materials should be made available for English teachers and students; (3) teachers should be provided with more practical and effective in-service trainings on how to apply CLT in English classes; (4) class size should be reduced and more opportunities for real English practice should be created; (5) CLT should be integrated with traditional methods in order to promote English teaching and students'communicative competence.