INVESTIGATING THE IMPACT OF USING THE COMMUNICATIVE APPROACH IN TEACHING ENGLISH LANGUAGE

Abstract

This research aims at evaluating the impact of using the communicative approach to teach English language in Djibouti government intermediate schools. English language is considered as a foreign language, and it’s taught for the last two years of the intermediate level and the three years of the secondary level. Since English language has become very important in Djibouti and its importance increases by playing a crucial role of the daily life of the Djiboutian people due to many factors: the role that the intermediate education plays in the overall development of a young developing nation like Djibouti, and how this role is shaped by the influences such as political expediency and international funding agencies and so on. Because of this new status of English the researcher has decided to study the impact of using the communicative approach in teaching English language in the intermediate level. The methodology of this study is the descriptive method through which the researcher uses a questionnaire and observation for collecting the data. The research population of this study consists of the teachers and pupils of Djibouti Secondary schools.

However, the research covers five chapters, in which the first chapter includes the basic of the research. Chapter two includes the literature review and had three themes. The first theme describes the communicative approach, the second theme includes the system of Djibouti education and the third theme explains the previous studies. Chapter three describes the research methodology of the study, while chapter four handles the data analysis of the pupils’ and teachers’ questionnaire. And finally a summary of the whole thesis together with results, recommendations and main findings constitute chapter five. The most important results of the study can be summarized as follows: 1- The current methods and instruments (syllabus) which are used in Djibouti governmental intermediate schools are effective in teaching English. 2- The intermediate school syllabus helps teachers to enable pupils to use English language as a means of communication. 3- The intermediate school syllabus doesn't teach the pupils the values, the culture, and the real social environment of the Djiboutian people because it is not a special curriculum which has been designed for the Djiboutian pupils' situation, needs and demands. 4- The curriculum of Djibouti governmental intermediate schools in teaching English language for the intermediate level is not properly based on the communicative approach, even though it contains a lot of techniques, and principles which belongs to the communicative approach. 5- The intermediate school pupils have enough classroom activities & materials which enable them to acquire the target language.