II-The Algerian Educational System and approaches to
English Teaching
4-4-CBA in the Algerian Educational Context
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In the late of the 20century, the concept of autonomy in
learning became a matter of a great importance and the notion of `student
power' was current in education (Cockburn and Blackburn, 1969), and radically
student-centered educational reforms were proposed by Freire (1970), Illich
(1971), Rogers (1969) and others. Hence, the previous approaches were
substituted by a new teaching method adopting the CBA principles. The real
potential of this approach is the way it changes learners to become autonomous
in their learning process; it is mainly based on the shift from
teacher-centeredness to learner-centeredness. The Algerian education system was
not far from this shift. Thus, the CBA is the approach currently used in ELT in
Algeria.
According to the official document Programmes de la
Deuxième Année Moyenne, the main aim behind implementing the
CBA in Algerian middle schools is to equip learner with some competencies that
enable them to reach an acceptable level of performance in EFL. These
competencies can be summarized as follow:
- Oral interaction; learners
interact with each other or with their teacher in order to be involved in
spoken communications in English.
- Oral or written interpretation;
learners display their comprehension through oral reformulation of authentic
oral or written documents.
- Oral or written production;
learners produce simple oral or written messages.
Moreover, the CBA seeks to make learners behave as active
users of the target language in real- world context through the establishment
of: «A know-how-to-do, and a know-how-to-be in learners.» (Teacher's
Handbook, 2004:43)
In fact, the competency-based approach is predominately
adopted in the Algerian educational system in order to attain a level that
makes learners rely on themselves and compete with other people around the
world either in the field of work or in other situations. However, this
alternative approach is actually applied in middle education, but we cannot
assert that its objectives have been achieved, though the approach has been
implemented for more than a decade.
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II-The Algerian Educational System and approaches to
English Teaching
4-5-The actual situation of the CBA approach
Since the independence, the Algerian schools experienced
different teaching methods and approaches, but unfortunately they failed to
produce a generation of self-reliant individuals capable to solve their problem
situations in real-life. Consequently, the CBA has been adopted as an attempt
to match between the school life and real life. Thus, the syllabus is centered
on the learner and on the construction of a functional knowledge which fits his
needs in school and beyond it. With regard to the Algerian educational context,
the competency-based approach focuses on mobilizing the learners' values,
knowledge, attitudes and behaviours in a personal way to address the challenges
successfully. In this context, Chellei (2010) sees that the adoption of the CBA
in Algerian schools seeks to enable young people to reach an international
level in terms of required competencies which allow them to integrate in the
globalized world. Besides, she views that this approach has been implemented in
the Algerian educational system due to its positive implications such as:
-Making the school acquisition viable and sustainable.
-Developing the thinking process of the learner.
-Presenting learning contexts in relation to the needs of the
learner.
-Putting an end to disciplinary barriers.
-Choosing a personalized pedagogy. (Chellei,
2010:30)
Actually, there is an apparent dissatisfaction about the
learners' level in English in Algerian schools. This reality is obviously
reflected in the quality of English language learning and teaching as well.
Therefore, educationalists consider that the only way of updating the content
of education is the orientation of the training programs towards the CBA. In
addition, it is scientifically proved that if learners transform their
knowledge, skills and habits into competencies, they will acquire them quickly.
(Chellei, 2010).
4-6-Learner's role in the CBA
The CBA refers to learner-centered approach. That is to say,
it considers the learner as the pillar of the learning process and the
cornerstone of the classroom on which both learning and teaching are based.
Thus, within this approach, the learner is no more a passive receiver of
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