Applying the Communicative Approach in Teaching English Language: Impediments and challenges, Taza and Taounante Regions as a Case Study

The present study is an attempt to investigate the impediments that stand against implementing the communicative approach among high school students. The study focuses on 2ndyear baccalaureate students: their prospective year of graduation, taking two regions as case studies Taza and Taounante cities. This paper tends to tackle the approaches that English language teachers tend to apply, the reasons that prevent English language teachers from implementing the Communicative Language Approach (CLA) and the measures that can be applied to enable teachers so as to execute the CLA. The review of literature is inclusive and refers to English theories that first introduced the communicative approach to learning. The field work is conducted through distributing a representative number of questionnaires and interviews. Questionnaires were distributed for both second baccalaureate students and English teachers and conducted interviews with them. This research paper argues that overcrowded classes, time constraints, lack of appropriate materials and the students’ low level of English are the main reasons that make English teachers abstain from implementing the CLA.  Additionally, based on the findings, the study argues that having limited number of students, maintaining in-service trainings for the teachers and the availability of appropriate materials are the measures that should be met to implement the communicative approach in teaching.