PRE-SERVICE TEACHERS’ ATTITUDES TOWARDS COMMUNICATIVE LANGUAGE TEACHING IN ACTIVITIES FOR ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING COURSE

Abstract

The purposes of this study were to 1) investigate pre-service teachers’ attitudes towards CLT and 2) compare attitudes towards CLT between male and female pre-service teachers. Data were collected from 44 fourth-year undergraduate students enrolled in Activities for English Language Teaching course, during semester 1, academic year 2020, at Valaya Alongkorn Rajabhat University under the Royal Patronage, Pathum Thani. Research instruments consisted of 1) attitudes towards CLT questionnaire 2) semi-structure interview questions and 3) participant observation. Quantitative data gained from the sample were analyzed by descriptive statistics including frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation, and independent t-test. Data gathered from interview and observation were analyzed by content analysis technique.
The results of this study indicated that pre-service teachers held favorable attitudes towards the principles of CLT (mean, 79 points). They strongly held favorable attitudes towards the idea that “group work allows students to explore problems for themselves, and thus have some measure of control over their own learning. It is therefore an invaluable means of organizing classroom experiences” at highest level (mean, 4.57). There was no statistically significant difference between males’ attitudes and females’. Based on the findings, pre-service teachers expressed their knowledge of CLT principles and were aware of the implementation in their language classrooms. The research suggestion was given to emphasize pre-service teachers’ perception found in this study in course design and development to enhance their professional competency.