Secondary School Teachers’ Conception of Communicative Language Teaching: A Case for Masvingo District – Zimbabwe

Abstract

This study focused on how Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) is conceptualized by secondary school teachers in Zimbabwe, using Masvingo District as a case study. The inquiry employed a qualitative research design in which data were collected through in-depth interviews with twenty-four (24) purposively sampled secondary school teachers. The study established that while all the teachers claim to be aware of this approach to language teaching and indeed demonstrate a degree of understanding of what the approach entails, the teachers hold eleven (11) glaring misconceptions about CLT. The paper recommends that the Ministry of Education, Sport, Art and Culture not only monitor the implementation of CLT in the schools as explicitly advocated by the syllabus, but also hold regular workshops with teachers so that ideas are shared on the approach and how best to implement it.