Abstract:
The purpose of this study was to assess English language teachers’ perception and practice on active learning in teaching speaking skill in three selected secondary schools. The study was conducted by employing qualitative and quantitative research approaches. The subjects of the study were twelve EFL teachers and sixty students from three secondary schools. Data were collected through questionnaire, observation, Interview and focus group discussion. The collected data were analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively through interpretive analysis. The findings of the study disclosed that almost all the teachers perceived active learning positively. That is, they have some awareness of its importance and prefer it to teachercentered approach to teach their students speaking skill. However, the assessment of the EFL teachers’ implementation of AL in teaching speaking skill revealed that the students’ involvement in the speaking activities was limited to a few students in each of the classrooms, and the teachers were frequently employing specific AL strategies and student grouping systems. Thus, the implementation of active learning in their EFL classrooms was not as good as their perceptions due to various factors. The study disclosed that the main factors impeding effective implementation of active learning in the EFL teachers’ classrooms include teachers’ lack of interest in employing active learning strategies, lack of students’ experience in active learning, teachers’ inadequate preparation to employ active learning strategies, lack of teaching materials and class size. Finally, it was recommended that EFL teachers should get in-service training and adequate instructional materials on how to employ AL in their classrooms, and create conducive environment in which they could involve their students actively by employing various active learning strategies to improve their implementation of AL in teaching speaking skill.
