Contextual Factors Affecting The Implementation of Communicative Language Teaching in Vietnam

Hang Thi Nhu Mai

Abstract


Research has proposed the application of communicative language teaching principles into English classrooms to enhance EFL learner’s communicative competence, but it is also noted that there is no existing one-fits-all approach. Language educators are supposed to consider contextual factors affecting the teaching and learning process to reinterpret and adapt communicative language teaching (CLT) principles to fit the local context. The study aims to explore potential factors affecting the adoption of CLT principles in the Vietnamese context by means of reviewing the literature of the filed. In this paper, the researcher defines CLT, discusses the current status of English language teaching in Vietnam, and finally interprets contextual elements that might have an impact on the CLT implementation. The study revealed three main context-relating factors, including Vietnamese teachers’ and learners’ perspectives on language teaching and learning in practice, distinct features of English environment at the local, and cultural expectations. The study drew an implication that ideas and techniques from whatever sources including CLT should be considered as a common pool on which each teacher can adapt to make it socially and culturally sensitive to their own contexts and meet the target learners’ needs and goals.


Keywords


Communicative language teaching, contextual factors, English language teaching, Vietnam

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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.21462/eflj.v2i2.40

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