EFL Teachers' Perceptions of Key Tenets of Communicative Language Teaching in High School English Textbooks of Afghanistan, Iran & Iraq

The communicative approach to teaching English as a foreign language may be traced back to the introduction of a theoretical perspective which has advocated the motto of language as communication. Predicated on this point of view, large bodies of textbooks have been published in past decades which have increasingly been claimed to be based on the tenets of communicative language teaching (CLT). In order to further investigate the claim, this study aimed at delving into 11th grade textbook currently taught in high schools in Iran, Vision 2, and probed the extent which the tenets of CLT are implemented in comparison to the textbooks of the same level in neighbor countries, Afghanistan and Iraq. In order to achieve the purpose of the study a quan-qual design was adopted. Fifty high school teachers holding BA or PhD in teaching English took part in this study. A reliable checklist was used to collect their perceptions. Having analyzed the quantitative data, the researcher interviewed nine participants. The data from the checklist paved the way for quantitative comparison of the textbooks using chi-square the results of which indicated that English for Iraq features CLT principles better than Vision and English for Afghanistan in terms of group work, learner-contentedness and caring for teacher roles. A further qualitative analysis showed that these textbooks, contrary to the claims, inherit behavioristic legacy as reflected in their formulaic content which is infertile in terms adaptation and personalization as well as meaningfulness.