Chinese EFL teachers' perceptions of implementation of communicative language teaching at tertiary level

Communicative language teaching (CLT) has been extensively discussed and researched, especially in an English as a second language (ESL) context. Some literature has also explored the adaptation of CLT in English as a foreign language (EFL) environments, such as in Asian countries like China. No research, however, has been conducted with consideration given to a specific group of teachers who teach non-English major students at the tertiary level in China. The present study was designed to investigate Chinese university teachers' perception of the implementation of CLT in non-English major programs in China.This study first differentiates ESL and EFL environments, and then distinguishes the characteristics of CLT and of the traditional Chinese teaching methodology. Second, this study examines how the implementation of CLT is perceived by the university teachers of non-English major programs and whether there exist some constraints that impede the implementation of CLT at the tertiary level in China.The results show that the adaptation of CLT to the Chinese context is welcomed by university teachers of non-English major programs. However, in the implementation of CLT in the teaching of non-English major students, there are difficulties arising from four directions, namely, the educational system, the EFL context, the cultural tradition, and the students. The results suggest that only by overcoming the difficulties from those four sources and by creating more favorable conditions for the implementation of CLT can teachers of non-English major programs in China implement CLT in their daily teaching practice