Communicative approach as an English language teaching method: Van Atatürk Anatolian High School sample

Abstract

This study tries to find out how effective Communicative Approach is as a widely practiced English teaching method in Turkish Secondary Schools. The study covers the 10th, 11th and 12th grade students of Van Atatürk Anatolian High School. At the initial stage of the study, a sample level test was given in order to evaluate the available English level of the students. At the end of the study, it was found out that there was a discrepancy between the principal target benefits of Secondary Schools English Teaching Program, which is principally based on CLT and the results obtained. The majority of the language learners could only utter daily or structural expressions mostly studied beforehand or often practiced but could not reproduce those never experienced or those depending on creativity. Furthermore, the possible reasons for these negative results were discussed and questioned whether or how much they were associated with CLT. Finally, some suggestions were put forth in the light of other studies and views on this field. This study suggests that CLT is not efficient enough in achieving the language targets set for the second language (L2) learners in Van Atatürk Anatolian High School.