Impacts of Teachers’ Perceived Difficulties and Learners’ Anxiety on Implementation of CLT Approach: A Survey of Selected Secondary Schools in Mbeya City-Tanzania

Abstract

This paper sought to assess the impacts of teachers’ perceived difficulties, and learners’ anxiety towards the implementation of the communicative language teaching approach (CLT): a survey of selected secondary schools in Mbeya city. Mainly the study intended to find out whether or not the teachers' perceived difficulties on the one hand and the learners' language learning anxiety on another hand are factors for the failure of the implementation of the CLT approach in the classrooms. The study used an experimental research design. To comply with it a quantitative research approach was used in collecting and analyzing the data. The data was specifically collected by questionnaires: one was designated for EFL teachers (teachers of English as a foreign language) while the other was for EFL learners (learners of English as a foreign language). The collected data were analyzed quantitatively with the aid of an SPSS software version 25 before they were presented. The research concluded that the teacher's perceived difficulties and learners' English language learning anxiety have negative impacts on the implementation of the CLT approach in the classrooms, and lastly, the study recommended that the teachers’ in-service capacity programs should be given extra weight to update them with the knowledge and principles of the CLT. The government to continue building more classes to ease the problem of class overcrowding and to encourage teachers to be removers of learners' English language learning anxiety by motivating learners to be confident and comfortable to participate in all learning activities. The study will help teachers to overcome the notion that the CLT approach is difficult to implement as well as help learners overcome anxiety during classrooms' teaching and learning activities.