Abstract:

This paper explores the challenges that come with communicative language teaching (CLT) in Saudi Arabia. Studies conducted on the implementation of CLT in this context from 2010 to 2019 are reviewed using the pedagogic nexus theory of Hufton and Elliott (2000) defined as, “a set of linked, interactive and mutually reinforcing influences on pupils’ motivation to learn with and because of the schooling process” (p. 115). Their focus is on determining best practice in accordance with the schooling process in each unique setting. The pedagogic nexus involves schooling routine, how the teacher and the students interact, when schooling starts, how the students are assessed and how the relations are between students’ home and school. CLT is typically associated with a pedagogic nexus based on the principles of CLT. These principles value all the aspects of communicative competence as significant: fluency and accuracy have the same importance and the language used in CLT classroom has to be meaningful and authentic. In other words, the typical CLT classroom has a particular pedagogic practice. This practice involves the students learning productively rather than predictably, the relations between the teachers and the students are egalitarian, so there is relaxed interaction between them. The CLT classroom practice also aims to assess how the students use their communicative competences. It assesses how the students use the language productively. The traditional Saudi Arabian context has its own pedagogical nexus which shapes its schooling process. This also involves what is considered best practice, the way the students are assessed, the way the students learn, the relations between the students and the teachers and the school routine. This paper finds that there is a clash between the CLT principals and Saudi traditional pedagogic nexus as most of the studies suggest that CLT does not fit the Saudi Arabian traditional pedagogical nexus. CLT curriculum implementation requires different pedagogic practices from those typical to the Saudi Arabian schooling context. This clash may, therefore, cause the teachers and students to be in a discomfort zone.

Keywords:

Communicative language teaching, Saudi Arabia implementation, pedagogic nexus.