49 Ciencia y Tecnología al servicio del pueblo 10(2): 49-65 marzo-agosto 2023
Communicative Language Teaching in rural classrooms:
Students’ and pre-service teachers’ experiences
Carol Aracelly Chango Palate; Katia Masherly Núñez Coello1;
Paulina Alexandra Arias Arroyo; Fanny Mercedes Abata Checa
Carrera de Pedagogía de los Idiomas Nacionales y Extranjeros, Universidad Técnica de Cotopaxi,
Extensión Pujilí-Ecuador
Abstract
e traditional teaching methods have proven to be ineffective, demonstrating a low English level,
especially, in marginalized zones. As a result, Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) has been
proposed to improve student's learning English. e aim of the study was to describe the students'
and pre-service teachers' experiences in implementing the CLT method in rural classrooms. e
participants were twenty-three pre-service teachers from the Pedagogy of National and Foreign
Languages Major at Technical University of Cotopaxi and two hundred fifty students belonging
to parishes and neighborhoods in Cotopaxi, Ecuador. A qualitative-descriptive research design
was employed, and data was collected through teachers’ diaries and students’ exit slips. e
thematic analysis was used to analyze the participants’ excerpts. e results showed that the
application of adequate strategies and attractive didactic material according to students’ levels
and interests enable learners to implement appropriately CLT and develop their communicative
competence .Additionally, the Encounter, Clarify, Remembering, Internalize, and Fluently Use
(ECRIF) lesson planning framework was useful to organize the CLT method in the classroom
since it enhances language skills from the simplest to complex activities to produce the language.
Palabras clave: CLT method, ECRIF, language in context, resources, strategies
Recibido: 29 de mayo del 2023 – revisión aceptada: 25 de julio 2023
1
Correspondiente al autor: katia.nunez6188@utc.edu.ec
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Resumen
Los métodos tradicionales de enseñanza han demostrado ser ineficaces, demostrando un bajo
nivel de inglés, especialmente, en zonas marginadas. En consecuencia, se ha propuesto el método
Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) para mejorar el aprendizaje del inglés de los alumnos.
El objetivo de este estudio era describir las experiencias de los estudiantes y de los profesores
en formación en la aplicación del CLT en las aulas rurales. Los participantes fueron veintitrés
docentes en formación de la carrera de Pedagogía en Lenguas Nacionales y Extranjeras de la
Universidad Técnica de Cotopaxi y doscientos cincuenta estudiantes pertenecientes a parroquias y
barrios de Cotopaxi, Ecuador. Se empleó un diseño de investigación cualitativo-descriptivo, y los
datos fueron recolectados a través de diarios de docentes y hojas de respuestas de los estudiantes.
Se utilizó el análisis temático como método para analizar los extractos de los participantes. Los
resultados mostraron que la aplicación de estrategias adecuadas y materiales atractivos permite
a los alumnos desarrollar su competencia comunicativa y promueve la enseñanza de la lengua
en contexto, mediante actividades de lectura y comprensión oral. Adicionalmente, el marco
de planificación de lecciones Encounter, Clarify, Remembering, Internalize, and Fluently
Use (ECRIF) fue útil para organizar el método CLT en el aula, ya que potencia las destrezas
lingüísticas desde las actividades más sencillas hasta las más complejas para producir la lengua.
Key words: Método CLT, ECRIF, lengua en contexto, recursos, estrategias
Introduction
The Communicative Language Teaching
(CLT) method is one of the most innovative
and practical teaching methods in the current
teaching (Savignon, 2002 as cited in Dos Santos,
2020). is approach creates a meaningful
learning environment by promoting interaction
in real communicative settings, enhancing the
development of communicative competence
through oral production activities (Toro et al.,
2018; Oviedo & Mena, 2021).
e CLT method emerges from the challenges
that English language teaching has faced during
the years due to an inappropriate methodology
used by English as a Foreign Language (EFL)
teachers. Students present limited vocabulary
use, difficulty in concentrating, dullness, and
low speaking skills, while teachers demonstrate
constricted knowledge of teaching methods,
low language proficiency, insufficient
professional development, and inadequate
resources (Songbatumis, 2017). Consequently,
learners do not have enough opportunities to
practice the language, causing disinterest and
low English proficiency levels, especially in rural
areas of Ecuador (Chadán, 2017).
To remedy this situation, there are many CLT
strategies that enhance students’ language
learning. For instance, Toro et al. (2018) and
Oviedo & Mena (2021) pointed out that
modeling, repetition, pair and group work,
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dialogues, and role plays developed students’
speaking skills, which is the main goal of the
CLT method, by promoting the use of the target
language. Another aspect to take into account
in the CLT method is applying resources that
engage students in their learning process, such
as audio-visual material (flashcards, laptop
computers, animated cartoons, multimedia,
tape recorders, chalkboards, objects, posters,
and pictures) (Make & Yonas, 2018) or literary
texts like fairy tales and stories that catch
students’ attention (Carranza & Badilla, 2022).
erefore, it is suggested the implementation
of interactive material for the adequate
development of this method (Tran, 2022).
In addition, employing the Communicative
Language Teaching method in the classroom
involves promoting meaningful input, by
exposing learners to language in context
using reading and listening activities through
adapted material considering students’ reality
(Kırmızı-Ayyıldız & Akkuş-Çakır, 2022).
However, when applying these strategies and
resources in CLT, it is fundamental to think
about students’ needs, levels, and interests
to trigger their motivation, attention, and
participation to improve their language
performance (Hien, 2021). Mahmadun et al.
(2020) and Kustati et al. (2018) concurred
that students with a low English level are not
able to carry out effective activities in the target
language. As a suggestion to support learners
with a low level, Pateşan et al. (2018) and
Matruty & Que (2021) mentioned the use
of visual aids with simplified language such
as flashcards, pictures, and videos. Likewise,
Abdulrahman et al. (2022) advise maintaining
good body language to get students to
understand better what is being taught.
Furthermore, teachers need to organize their
teaching process using the CLT method
through the ECRIF lesson plan framework
since it allows them to design attractive activities
to use the language. As reported by AlSleem
(2018) that ECRIF framework non-traditional
activities allowed students to communicate
their ideas in the target language to achieve the
desired learning outcomes. In order to achieve
the learning goal, which is the development of
productive skills, there could be several activities
at the fluent use stage to evaluate if the goals
were met (Tosuncuoglu, 2018). e activities
to assess students’ learning include role-plays,
dialogues, or conversations that encourage the
student to use the target language and put it into
practice (Dalkıran & Semerci, 2020).
Since ECRIF presents several stages, teachers
should design short activities to avoid
students’ dullness and fatigue to promote
learning the target language (Mahmoud et
al., 2021). A challenge with ECRIF is the
lack of participation because learners are
fearful of making mistakes (Bermello-García
& Vaca-Cárdenas, 2022). To solve these
problems, Caiza et al. (2023) stated that
teachers should consider their students to
supply them with opportunities to practice
the language. Likewise, Tosuncuoglu (2017)
suggested activities where students work in
a cooperative way to help each other in their
learning process.
For these reasons, as a contribution to improve
the English teaching-learning process, the
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present study aims to describe the students’
and pre-service teachers' experiences in
implementing the Communicative Language
Teaching method in rural classrooms to provide
some ideas about this method and its usage.
erefore, this study proposed to answer the
following research question: What are the
students' and pre-service teachers' experiences
in implementing the Communicative Language
Teaching method in rural classrooms?
Communicative Language Teaching Method
(CLT)
The CLT method is a set of techniques
and strategies that highlight teaching the
communicative competence of the English
language, which involves learning how to
produce language properly in real communicative
situations. Its main purpose is to provide
students with opportunities to communicate
effectively, prioritizing meaning and fluency
over accuracy (Richards, 2006). Moreover, the
teaching-learning process is student-centered
since teachers are only facilitators of real-world
tasks and learners play an active role in overseeing
their own learning by working cooperatively with
their peers to participate in the communicative
process (Hakim, 2019).
Principles in Communicative Language
Teaching. According to Nunan (1991)
there are five features of CLT:
1. An emphasis on learning to
communicate through interaction
in the target language
2. e introduction of authentic texts
into the learning situation
3. The provision of opportunities
for learners to focus not only on
language but also on the learning
process itself
4. An enhancement of the learner’s
own personal experiences as
important contributing elements
to classroom learning
5. An attempt to link classroom language
learning with language activities
outside the classroom (p. 279)
Accuracy and Fluency in CLT.
Accuracy and fluency contribute to language
production since both play an essential role
in the communicative process. As Oviedo
& Mena (2021) mentioned, accuracy refers
to the ability to produce the target language
with appropriate grammatical structures
whereas fluency deals with using the language
with ease and smoothness (Krstinić, 2020).
However, in a CLT classroom teachers should
promote activities where accuracy and fluency
are correlated in order to develop speaking,
listening, reading and writing skills and
subskills such as pronunciation, vocabulary,
and interaction (Beltrán, 2018).
Strategies in Communicative Language
Teaching.
Games. e use of games in teaching
English can liven up the classroom and make
learning more enjoyable while motivating
students to communicate effectively in the
target language. Among some communicative
games are competition, spelling/vocabulary
games, picture games, guessing games,
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memory games, board games, jumbled
sentences, and computer games (Wang, 2010).
Songs. is strategy provides learners
with new vocabulary in meaningful contexts.
e teacher can use it to provide meaning
to words, teaching specific grammatical
structures, indicating cultural aspects and to
make the class more interesting (Tovmasyan
& Ghazaryan, 2021).
Brainstorming. It is a strategy used to
elicit student’s opinions through images, pictures
or phrases (Paulus & Kenworthy, 2019).
Videos. Videos help teachers because
besides being eye-catching, they allow the
learner to have access to the content, context,
and language as well as enable the learner to
understand the target language and be able to
use it (Feruza et al., 2020).
Collaborative Work. Collaborative
work allows students to interact with each
other, allowing them to get to know their
partners’ opinions in order to practice the
language while learning mutually (Webb,
2009; Teh, 2021).
Dialogues and Role-plays. Role-plays
and dialogues help students to put into practice
what they have learned, so this type of activity
can normally be carried out at the end of the
class. (Jarvis et al., 2002).
Encounter, Clarify, Remember,
Internalize, and Fluently Use (ECRIF)
Framework
ECRIF aims to guide teachers to plan their
lessons according to students’ perspectives
as they are learning the language, providing
them with real communicative tasks. So, it
includes five stages which are encounter,
clarify, remember, internalize, and fluency,
which occur during the development of a
lesson (AlSaleem, 2018).
Encounter Stage. In this stage,
the students will be introduced to a
new language by matching activities,
brainstorming, answering concept-checking
questions, and describing pictures to active
students`knowledge
Clarify Stage. The learner starts to
clarify the input in its form, meaning, or use,
so teachers provide drilling exercises, gap-fill
information, gap searches, scrambled words,
guessing games, matching, and reading scripts
to help students understand.
Remember Stage. Here, students begin
to grasp the knowledge and store it in their
long-term memory by practicing grammar
and vocabulary with activities such as guessing
games, information gaps, storytelling, short
answer activities, bingos, and matching.
Internalize Stage. It permits students to
practice speaking on how to use the language
in real contexts by guessing games, fluency
lines, peer teaching, correcting sentences,
information gaps, and discussions.
Fluently Use Stage. Finally, teachers
must provide students with opportunities to
use the language as much as possible freely
in real-life settings. e appropriate activities
are debates, role plays, retelling stories,
discussions, and dialogues.
54 Ciencia y Tecnología al servicio del pueblo
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Methodology
Design and method
A qualitative descriptive study was held to obtain
insights about the experiences that pre-service
teachers and students had during a training
course with the application of the CLT method.
is type of design was chosen as it aims to
generate data that describes from a subjective
point of view the “who, what, and where of events
or experiences” (Kim et al., 2016, p. 23).
Research context and participants
is research was conducted based on the results
of five previous educational projects that included
twenty-three pre-service teachers from the sixth
level of the Pedagogy of National and Foreign
Languages Major of the Technical University of
Cotopaxi. e projects were held through the
support of the “Vinculacion” department within a
four-week course where two hundred fifty children
and adolescents were participants. e students'
ages ranged from seven to sixteen years old who
belong to the Cotopaxi province (Ecuador).
Research instruments
e data collection instruments applied were
pre-service teachers' journals with the aim to
know how their experiences were throughout
the lesson by describing the positive and
negative aspects of the class as well as action
plans, and reflections on the application of the
CLT method. In addition, another instrument
was an “exit slip” applied to students at the
end of the class, containing simple questions
that allowed students to express their
understanding, interests and reflections about
the implementation of the CLT method.
Data analysis
To answer the research question, the study
followed the thematic analysis in order to
analyze the data. is analysis seeks to detect
and select the most important themes that
were attained in the qualitative data to guide
the research (Maguire & Delahunt, 2017).
To carry out this method of analysis, the
researchers followed the six steps suggested by
Braun & Clarke (2006): before starting with
the data analysis, the first step was to become
familiar with the teachers' and students'
statements by organizing the information.
Next, the generation of initial codes was
made with information that was relevant to
address the research question. en, with
these codes, the preliminary themes with
similar ideas were identified. In the same way,
the repetitive excerpts were removed. After
that, the themes were modified according
to the data that supported them which were
color-coded. en, subthemes were created if
it was necessary. In addition, the final themes
and subthemes were defined to provide a
logical sequence; and finally, these themes were
considered for the discussion.
Ethical considerations
In order to obtain the necessary data, an
informed consent form was used to get
participants' approval for the use of the
corresponding information. e participants
were contacted by telephone to explain to
them the scope of the study and its objectives.
Afterwards, they were informed that the
document would be sent to their e-mails,
which they had to read, fill out, sign, and
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send back. Finally, with the receipt of the
documents back, the researchers proceeded
to follow the corresponding steps and to make
use of the data.
Results and discussion
In order to answer the research question,
the researchers analyzed the extracts with
the information of teachers' and students'
comments. As a result, three main themes
were found (See Table 1).
This section consists of two sub-themes:
strategies and resources. ey involve the
results with regard to the application of
the teaching method, revealing pre-service
teachers' and students' points of view.
Subtheme A.1. Strategies. Pre-service
teachers mentioned that they applied
different strategies such as games, songs,
answering questions, brainstorming, videos,
collaborative work, and dialogues which
promoted students' motivation and attention
to develop the English language.
“We perform a role-playing game where they
actively practice with their peers; he presented
a song, and it caught their attention, and they
came out to sing very loudly.” (Get1)
Themes
Subthemes
Communicative Language Teaching
method
Strategies
Resources
Teaching language in context
ECRIF framework
Lesson plan
development
Assessment
eme A . Communicative Language Teaching
Table 1. emes and subthemes
“Games strategy was integrated and the
children participate a lot when it comes to
playing and doing dynamic activities.” (Get5)
“Cooperative learning and matching exercises
work on this course. It was also evident that
most of the students are visual, that is, that
images facilitate their learning.” (Gat1)
“e brainstorming activity at the beginning
helped them to remember the basic numbers.”
(Gat2)
“e video allowed them to better understand
the activities and for this reason they were not
complicated.” (Get6)
In the same way, according to the students’
comments, they considered that games,
videos, and collaborative work were interesting
and eye-catching.
“Lo que más me gustó de la clase de hoy fue
ver videos y practicar conversaciones.” (Gbs2)
“Me gustó hacer los juegos en clase.” (Gbs3)
On the other hand, the pre-service
teachers mentioned that there were a few
unfavorable points after the application of
the Communicative Language Teaching,
such as not considering the students’ English
level and age for the activities, causing a
lack of participation and engagement in the
classroom.
“More practice is needed in dialogues and
speaking skills in class.” (Gbt4)
“Some students get bored quickly and, in this
case, the worksheets do not help to catch their
attention.” (Get5)
“I think that some of the activities were not
suitable for all students because they did not
capture the interest of the children to learn
English.” (Get9)
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“Some students were not fully engaged in the
activities of today’s class as the activities were
not according to students’ level.” (Gbt2)
In addition, many students considered that
the pre-service teachers could implement more
interactive activities.
“Que ponga ejemplos, que cuando estudiemos
un tema haga con dinámicas.” (Gas3)
“Que utilice más juegos interactivos.” (Ges16)
“Hacer cosas para nuestra edad; que nos haga
hacer grupos para una actividad.” (Gbs2)
Furthermore, some pre-service teachers
reflected on what future actions could improve
the effectiveness of CLT in the classroom.
“Implementing more oral interaction
exercises.” (Gat1)
“e students are very active but I need to
integrate more activities to work in class and
pay attention to everyone so that they can
learn.” (Get7)
“It is necessary to apply different strategies in
classes according to the needs of the students.”
(Get16)
The findings showed that the strategies
that were applied by pre-service teachers,
such as games, songs, answering questions,
brainstorming, videos, collaborative work,
and dialogues based on the CLT method,
allowed students to participate actively in class;
similarly, Toro et al. (2018) demonstrated that
modeling, repetition, pair and group work,
videos, and audiovisual strategies enhanced
students’ communicative competencies and
motivated them to learn the target language,
thus fostering meaningful learning to develop
oral skills. In the same way, Oviedo & Mena
(2021) showed that the use of dialogues and
role plays improved students’speaking skills.
Therefore, to make effective use of these
strategies, pre-service teachers report that it
is necessary to take into account the students’
levels, interests, and needs to promote positive
attitudes toward learning the language and
avoid discouragement. The activities and
strategies applied in class must be in accordance
with the level and needs of the students since
their participation and motivation depend
on it (Hien, 2021). Although implementing
these strategies was successful, they could be
improved by integrating interactive activities
so students can engage in the classroom
as pre-service teachers mentioned in their
reflections (Tran, 2022).
Subtheme A.2. Resources. Most
pre-service teachers agreed that the resources
implemented should be striking, colorful,
assorted, eye-catching, and not complex to
help students grasp what is being taught and
achieve the desired learning, such as flashcards,
videos, pictures, and worksheets.
“The materials used in the lesson are
worksheets. I believe that for some students
it helps them to understand better.” (Get5)
“Also, when I presented the flashcards, students
seemed to like them a lot because they were very
striking and colorful images.” (Get1)
“We tried to find a simple but at the same time
attractive material for the student facilitating
the understanding to acquire the desired
learning.” (Gbt4)
Similarly, students concurred that the visual
material enables them to take an interest in
the class.
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“Me gusta los dibujos que muestran en la
clase.” (Gds1)
However, some students suggested that the
pre-service teachers could use more interesting
material such as tales.
“Que traiga cosas interesantes como cuentos.”
(Gas4)
As a result, pre-service teachers considered that
the material must be in accordance with the
activity presented in their future lessons.
“For the next lesson where role-play activities
are required, I will use didactic material more
appropriate to the students’ level by including
videos to make the class more enjoyable and to be
able to interact more with the students.” (Gct1)
Based on the experiences of pre-service
teachers, they indicated that colorful and
interactive material such as flashcards, pictures,
videos, and worksheets stimulated students
to engage in the class, allowing them to
comprehend better and learn from it to develop
communicative skills. ese results are in line
with Make & Yonas (2018) who found that
audio-visual material motivates and increases
the students’ attention to develop speaking
skills. Furthermore, students suggested that
the use of resources such as tales could be
appealing to them to improve their learning.
Similarly, Carranza & Badilla’s (2022) findings
revealed that the use of literary texts like fairy
tales and stories in English are useful to engage
students’ language learning.
Complementary to this, pre-service teachers
concurred that the elaboration of the material
should be considering students’ real contexts,
levels, and needs where they can also have access
to the language in context to motivate them
towards learning (Hien, 2021). Moreover,
Kırmızı-Ayyıldız & Akkuş-Çakır (2022)
assert that the implementation of adapted
material promotes meaningful learning in
the target language since students can relate
to the content presented. So, it is suggested
that the wrong choice of materials could affect
the effectiveness of CLT implementation.
eme B. Teaching Language in Context
Pre-service teachers indicated that students
were able to be familiar with the use of target
language in real-life settings.
“ey practice listening and speaking in a real
context; students enjoy the reading activity
because the activities were carried out with
comprehensible input.” (Gat1)
“e students liked that the activity was in
a real context; students can adapt easily to
activities where they can use the language in
context.” (Gbt5)
Nevertheless, some of the pre-service teachers
mentioned that a few students showed
frustration since the class was entirely in
English without any translations into the
mother tongue, and consequently, they did
not fully understand what was being conveyed.
“Frustration at the time of applying the
teaching method, since the CLT method only
allows the use of the target language, and this
did not allow a good management and control
of the interaction with the students.” (Gct3)
“e students do not understand the English
language, so it is necessary to explain in the
Spanish language. is happens because the
English language in rural areas is not taught
as it is in urban areas, the level of English is
poor.” (Gat5)
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Likewise, students concurred that they felt a
bit conflicted that the teacher explained only
in the target language and did not speak much
in Spanish.
“Que cuando hable en inglés diga también el
español.” (Gas1)
“El teacher habla muy poco Español.” (Gds3)
Consequently, according to these reflections,
the pre-service teachers commented that
for the following lessons, they would
implement better body language, flashcards
or illustrations, and short videos with
simplified language to enhance the students'
understanding.
“When I started explaining the class, I
realized that most of the students did not
understand the target language so I decided
to use flashcards and more body language to
make them understand better.” (Get15)
“I will also use images referring to the words
that they do not understand to make it easier
for them to understand. “(Gct2)
“Present short videos with simple words.” (Gdt3)
Pre-service teachers stated that learners were
pleased to find that adapted material used
for listening and reading activities were set
in real-life situations, providing them with
opportunities to familiarize with vocabulary
and structures to use the target language. is is
supported by Kırmızı-Ayyıldız & Akkuş-Çakır
(2022) who manifested that adapted material
used in reading and listening activities
reinforces the students’ willingness to learn
how language is used in everyday interactions.
Despite this, some pre-service teachers noticed
frustration in students’ understanding at
the moment of developing the activities.
us, pre-service teachers found themselves
translating everything they presented in the
class into students’ mother tongue, in this
case Spanish, because their proficiency level
was very low. Likewise, Mahmadun et al.
(2020) and Kustati et al. (2018) reported that
a constraint of applying CLT in rural areas was
the students’ low English level, preventing the
activities in the foreign language from being
properly carried out, getting teachers to use
the native language instead.
For these reasons, pre-service teachers
suggested adding visual cues such as flashcards,
pictures, and videos with simplified language to
engage students' attention and understanding.
Similarly, Pateşan et al. (2018) and Matruty &
Que (2021) mentioned that visual aids with
simplified language such as flashcards, pictures,
and videos help students to focus on the
activities and improve their comprehension.
In addition, pre-service teachers expressed
that enhancing their body language at the
moment of speaking could facilitate students’
performance. Abdulrahman et al. (2022) agree
that teachers with good non-verbal language
help get the message across to students.
eme C. ECRIF Framework
This section comprises two sub-themes
concerning the findings on the application of
the ECRIF lesson planning framework: lesson
plan development, and assessment.
Subtheme C.1. Lesson Plan
Development. Concerning the development
of the lesson plan based on ECRIF, some
pre-service teachers stated that with this
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format, the classes are appealing to the students
because of its wide variety of adaptable
activities that engage learners in the learning
process.
“e lesson plan was adaptable and attractive
for my students where there was an interest in
participating in the entire class.” (Get1)
“Although there were several activities
developed during the lesson plan, they showed
good predisposition and commitment to
comply with each one of them, making their
best effort.” (Gbt4)
Nonetheless, in some instances, the pre-service
teachers perceived students’ attrition resulting
from the activities' long duration as they
exceeded the planned time, causing a lack of
interest in the learners. Likewise, they pointed
out that while planning, the activities should
be well thought out to promote attention.
“Sometimes the students felt a little tired
because of the length of the activities; some
activities took longer than planned. The
planned time was not adequate for the number
of students.” (Gbt1)
In this regard, the pre-service teachers provided
ideas for improving the teaching-learning
process in future classes through ECRIF, such
as selecting suitable teaching materials and
ensuring that the activities meet some features:
being in line with the ECRIF stages, being
short and not time-consuming, and suited to
the level of proficiency and age of the learners.
“For the next speaking lesson, I am going to
use more didactic material and even make the
class more fun so that I can interact more with
the students. I will also use activities based on
the ECRIF framework to help me achieve the
learning objective.” (Gat3)
“I have to select activities that are short in
order to manage the time better, and achieve
the learning outcome; plan activities that are
according to the student's level of proficiency
and age.” (Gbt2)
“I should have planned activities that catch
students’ attention and interest.” (Gbt2)
“I learned that it is necessary to be prepared
for any situation regarding the materials for
our class, to make the students enjoy learning
in a fun and active way.” (Get1)
Likewise, students indicated that they needed
more time for the activities, claiming that the
planning process could be better.
“Más tiempo para jugar con las tarjetas.” (Gds1)
e results based on the implementation of
the CLT method through the ECRIF activities
in the lesson plan, demonstrated that the class
was attractive to students due to the diversified
and compelling activities presented. Hence,
students showed a predisposition to engage in
their learning process. is result is in line with
AlSleem (2018); he reported that ECRIF made
students concentrate on how to communicate
their ideas since the activities were not boring
and traditional, achieving the learning desired
outcomes. However, some teachers expressed
that students were exhausted from completing
the large amount of activities during a lesson
and suggested designing short and not
time-consuming tasks and organizing teaching
materials according to each ECRIF stage.
By the same token, Mahmoud et al. (2021)
indicated that as ECRIF requires students
to do many tasks in specific periods of time
according to each stage, the lesson planning
process should be organized.
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Moreover, pre-service teachers considered
the flexibility of ECRIF and manifested that
the activities should be adapted to the level
of competence and age of the learners to
increase and develop students’ language skills.
is concurs with the findings of Dalkiran &
Semerci (2020) where students improved
academically as ECRIF meets students’
needs, enhancing their learning. Likewise,
Caiza et al. (2023) stated that teachers should
consider their students to supply them with
opportunities to practice the language to foster
engaging learning.
Subtheme C.2. Assessment. The
assessment part is quite significant in the
development of the ECRIF framework in such
a way that two groups of pre-service teachers
agreed that evaluative activities such as role
plays and fluency exercises allow the students
to put into practice what they have learned.
“Students completed the assessment activity
as they understood the instruction and put
in practice what they have learned.” (Gbt2)
“All students participated actively in the
fluently used stage.” (Gbt5)
“On this occasion, an assessment was
integrated to evaluate the performance of each
student in the class through role-plays.” (Get7)
Complementary to this, some students
indicated that they felt motivated to do
dialogue activities as an evaluation.
“Me gustó el diálogo.” (Gbs2)
“Me gustó el examen.” (Gbs4)
Despite this, some pre-service teachers pointed
out that difficulties may arise at this stage,
such as the students’ fear of speaking and the
interference of the mother tongue.
“e assessment was about speaking; some
students don't like to speak in class.” (Get11)
“Students began to speak in Spanish since the
role-play activity was complicated when it was
developed with the class topic.” (Gct1)
“At the assessment stage the students showed
their learning, however, the fluency at the time of
solving the activity was not as expected.” (Gbt4)
Notwithstanding, pre-service teachers
suggested that this stage could be improved
by carrying out assessment activities in
groups or pairs and using real communicative
situations that would allow them to become
more involved in the activity.
“I believe that these students who make
mistakes in the assessment work better in a
group, they do not like individual activities
such as assessment very much.” (Get7)
“Look for activities where students can show
what they have learned in real communicative
situations.” (Gbt4)
e data analysis showed that the pre-service
teachers consider the assessment to be
significant in the ECRIF framework as it
allows students to put into practice what they
have learned and to identify their current level.
is coincides with Tosuncuoglu (2018) who
indicates that this process is fundamental since
it allows teachers to know the level at which
the students are and to know if the desired
objective was met. Within this framework, by
focusing on the development of productive
skills, the assessment process usually arises
in the fluently use stage where dynamic and
interactive activities centered on the students
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and their needs can be used, such as role-plays,
dialogues, or conversations that motivate the
student to use the target language and put it
into practice. As Dalkıran & Semerci (2020)
found, role-plays, dialogues, or conversations
help students practice the language.
However, developing the assessment can be
interrupted by different factors such as fear of
speaking or mother tongue interference, causing
problems in the use of the language. Bermello-
García & Vaca-Cárdenas (2022) found that
several students were afraid to participate for fear
of making mistakes. Despite this, pre-services
teachers considered that to address this problem,
it is necessary to promote assessment activities
that take into account the student's real context
to create meaningful learning, as reported
by Dalkıran & Semerci (2020). In addition,
pre-service teachers further suggest that such
activities should be worked in a cooperative way
so that students help each other and are able to
identify their mistakes (Tosuncuoglu, 2017).
Conclusions
As a conclusion, teachers and students
had positive and negative experiences in
implementing Communicative Language
Teaching. Teachers believed that the
application of games, songs, answering
questions, brainstorming, videos, collaborative
work, dialogues, and attractive supplies
such as flashcards, pictures, and worksheets
fostered students’ motivation, attention, and
comprehension to develop their communicative
competence in the target language.
Nevertheless, considering students’ insights,
it was determined that teachers need to take
into account their age, level and interests when
selecting the strategies and didactic materials
to make more effective the implementation on
CLT. In addition, the employment of reading
and listening activities to teach English,
enables the student to be exposed to real-life
situations, so they become familiar with the
use of the target language.However, the total
exposure to English had a disadvantage when
students had a low level of English, because they
did not understand everything in class and it
made students unmotivated. So, it is essential
teachers use a lot of body language, short and
clear instructions to help understanding in
English and not translating to their mother
tongue. Regarding the ECRIF framework as
a lesson plan, it could be useful since it allows
the development of diversified and attractive
activities for students to learn from the simplest
to complex activities. It is also significant the use
of dialogues and role plays to assess the students.
It avoids the fear of speaking in front of students
and makes them feel more comfortable to use
the language. is study can serve as a guide for
pre-service teachers, teachers in service to learn
a new methodology such as CLT and be ready
to apply it effectively and make sure students
learn the language easily and entertainingly. In
the same way, it may help future researchers who
try to solve English educational problems in
classrooms of urban and rural areas of Ecuador,
by applying non-conventional methodologies
and frameworks.
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