Using attitude scales to investigate teachers' attitudes to the communicative approach

Abstract

Despite the widespread adoption of the communicative approach by textbooks and curricula around the world, research suggests that communicative language teaching principles in classrooms are rare, with most teachers professing commitment to the communicative approach but following more structural approaches in their classrooms. The literature on curriculum innovation and implementation suggests that one of the causes of the discrepancy between prescribed theory and classroom practice may be teacher attitudes. In an effort to understand teachers attitudes towards the communicative approach within the context of an EFL innovation in Greek public secondary schools, a Likert-type attitude scale was developed. This article focuses on the development and use of the attitude scale on a sample of fourteen on the development and use of the attitude scale on a sample of fourteen Greek English language teachers whose classroom practices had also been observed. The advantages and disadvantages of using attitude scales to investigate teachers' attitudes are then discussed.

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