Challenges in the implementation of communicative language teaching in secondary school classrooms in Pakistan: a reflection

Language acquisition is one of the most spectacular and intriguing aspects of human development and the changing face of underlying principles of language project that language is a source for the creation of meaning rather than a set of rules. Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) has its beginnings in such principium. With its widespread implementation over the years, CLT across the world has undoubtedly facilitated the process of language acquisition particularly amongst the nonnative populace, however the issue of acceptance of Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) as a Western assumption in EFL (English as a Foreign Language) contexts, the proffering of age-old Grammar-Translation method by various EFL/ESL countries’ didactic systems and the general misconceptions about the approach notably act as major barriers to its effective implementation.

The aim of this paper is to review the literature and reflect upon the plausibility of the implementation of Communicative Language Teaching in the context of Pakistan essentially identifying the issues that could inhibit the successful application of the approach in English Language Classes.