Short Research Papers

Communicative Approach: Beliefs,
Perceptions, and Attitudes

Alexander Sheffrin and Eugene Vakhnenko
Osaka Seikei University
This paper examines the beliefs, perceptions, and attitudes towards English learning
among students enrolled in Individual Tutorials at a Japanese university’s inaugural
English Education Center. Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) was the primary
instructional method. Center tutors designed a survey to investigate students’ preferences of
CLT and classroom experiences. Results of the study revealed a considerable match between
students’ preferences and classroom practices, which indicates that CLT may be beneficial
for the development of communicative competence.

With the opening of an English Education Center in 2018, two tutors
implemented non-credit Individual Tutorials for all first-year students in theManagement Department of a Japanese university. Individual Tutorials wereweekly, 90-minute, small group (4-5 students) semester sessions. Knowing that all
students would be traveling to Canada as part of a short-term exchange program,the tutors designed a course based on Communicative Language Teaching (CLT)
for development of the students’ speaking skills. Despite the researchers’ viewof CLT as a best-fitting pedagogical approach, however, it was suspected thatstudents might have different beliefs about language learning developed fromtheir high school language experiences, resulting in a very different view of the
CLT teaching practices sought to be implemented. Therefore, it was importantto get to know the students better, specifically, about their past language
experiences, attitudes, and motivations in order to bridge possible cultural andpedagogical gaps—as it is through understanding of students that teachers canfind ways to achieve greater language proficiency (Yoshida et al., 2012).
The purpose of this paper is to share the findings of a survey designed to54

Communicative Approach, OCJSI 2, pages 54-66

investigate students’ preferences of communicative approaches and classroom
experiences in the Individual Tutorials, in the hope that it may be beneficial toother educators interested in using CLT to improve students’ communicative
ability.

Background

CLT was included into junior and senior high schools in 1989 by the Japanese
Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology (MEXT,
1989). As a demand for good communication skills in English has been steadily
increasing for employment and career advancement (MEXT, 2014), the conceptof CLT was introduced into Japanese higher education through a program called
The Course of Study implemented in 1993 (Yoshida et al., 2012). A number ofstudies appeared since then that looked into the question of beliefs, perceptions,and attitudes towards CLT, with rather disparaging results, on behalf of teachers(Gorsuch, 2000; Nishino, 2008; Taguchi, 2005). These studies reported
dissatisfaction with CLT, which was found “incompatible with the exam-oriented
atmosphere of the Japanese English education system which is not designed toassess communicative ability” (Yoshida et al., 2012, p. 121).
The first study that looked into the question of students’ beliefs, perceptions,and attitudes towards CLT was the study by Savignon and Wang (2003), which
presented survey findings from junior and senior high school students in Taiwan.
The survey was designed to investigate learner attitudes towards communicative
teaching and perceived implementation of traditional form-focused learning ofEnglish. In their conclusions, the researchers reported incongruence between
learners’ strong preference for CLT and their form-focused class practices.
Based on these limitations, Yoshida et al. (2012) updated Sauvignon
and Wang’s (2003) survey for Japanese students and conducted a large-scale
study based on data from five universities in the Kansai region in Japan. The
questionnaire designed by Savignon and Wang (2003) was re-adapted for use
at Japanese universities. Yoshida et al. (2012) found a different pattern andconcluded that all student participants they surveyed saw a good match between
their beliefs and attitudes toward CLT and their perceptions of classroom55

Sheffrin & Vakhnenko

experiences.
The results of the study by Yoshida et al. (2012) were in line with ourunderstanding of the issue, and, therefore, our study appropriates theaforementioned theoretical framework and looks to provide insights into thefollowing questions:
1. In terms of instructional focus, what are learners’ perceptions (what dostudents think) of the classroom practices they have experienced?
2. What are learners’ attitudes (what do students like) toward theseclassroom practices in Individual Tutorials?
3. What are learners’ beliefs (what do students believe) about English
language learning generally?

MethodThe survey respondents (N = 51, M = 9, F = 41) were freshmen undergraduates
studying in the International Tourism and International Career programs of theManagement Department at a Japanese university with various backgrounds ofEnglish learning. Twenty-four percent said they had started learning English
before they were seven years old, 33% between the ages of 7 and 11, 42% between
12 and 15, and 2% at 16 or later.
The questionnaire, which was adapted from Yoshida et al. (2012), wastranslated into Japanese by the researchers. The questionnaire was thenadministered in a bilingual paper format in the students’ tutorials mid-way
through the autumn semester with each question written in English thenfollowed by its translation (Appendix A, B, C). As in Yoshida et al. (2012), allresponses were placed onto a Likert scale from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly
agree) and grouped into the three response categories of Disagree (1-3), Neutral(4), and Agree (5-7) to more easily compare results.
Results for Research Question 1
Students agreed with questions that asked about the use of communicationbased learning (Questions 6-10) and use of correction (Question 11) in theirEnglish tutorials. According to Figure 1, students perceived that communicationbased learning and correction methods were implemented widely in their56

Communicative Approach, OCJSI 2, pages 54-66

Figure 1. An overview and summary of the results from Part I of the survey about learnerperceptions of classroom practice. The original data and results for each item are included inAppendix A.

English tutorials. The results from students regarding grammar-based learning(Questions 1-5) showed that students did not perceive it to be frequent intheir English tutorials. In terms of instructional focus, student perceptions of
their classroom practices showed that they perceived their English tutorials to
be a communication-based learning environment with copious correction andfeedback but where grammar-based learning was not a primary feature.
Results for Research Question 2
Student attitudes displayed a high level of enthusiasm towards communicationbased learning (Questions 6-10) as a perceived classroom practice (Figure 2).
This is followed by positive student attitudes towards correction (Question 11).
Many students displayed attitudes that were disinclined towards grammar-basedlearning as a perceived classroom practice. Only a third of students agreed withquestions that asked about their attitudes towards grammar-based learning as aperceived classroom practice (Questions 1-5).

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Sheffrin & Vakhnenko

Figure 2. An overview and summary of the results from Part II of the survey about learnerattitudes towards perceived classroom practices. The original data and results for each item isincluded in Appendix B.

Results for Research Question 3
The strongest responses about beliefs about language learning among students(Figure 3) were to questions that asked about the importance of English to society(Questions 24-25 and Question 28) and the desire to speak English like native
speakers (Question 29). However, student beliefs varied with grammar-basedlearning (Questions 1-5 and Questions 12-16), and pronunciation (Questions
22-23). Although a slight majority of students believed in the importance ofgrammar, nearly half of students either disagreed or were neutral. It was foundthat student beliefs about English learning were supportive of its importancewith a desire to speak like natives but with mixed feelings about the importanceof grammar-based learning and pronunciation.

Discussion

A discussion of the results first warrants mention of the decision of theresearchers to combine the Likert scale data into categories of 1-3, 4, and 5-7
for easy comparison of the results with Yoshida et al. (2012). An overview of the58Communicative Approach, OCJSI 2, pages 54-66

Figure 3. An overview and summary of the results from Part III of the survey about learner beliefs
about language learning. The original data and results for each item is included in Appendix C.

results suggests that a majority of students held beliefs valuing the importance ofEnglish and communication-based learning strategies over the use of grammarbased learning. Although student beliefs showed less agreement towards theimportance of pronunciation, while agreeing with the desire to sound likenative English speakers, this can be partly explained as a result of students likely
believing in the importance of communication over the need for accuracy ingrammar and pronunciation. In terms of instructional focus, learner perceptionsof classroom practices and their attitudes towards said practices showed thatstudents perceived their Individual Tutorials to feature frequent communicativelearning and correction rather than grammar-based activities, with their attitudes
towards said practices showing agreement. CLT may thus be beneficial for thedevelopment of communicative competence.
In the editorial process, for survey items A2 (3, 9, 10) and A3 (13, 18, 22,26) English and corresponding Japanese translations were pointed out not tobe parallel. Also, A3 (10, 27 and 29) have grammatical errors. This might haveresulted in learner miscomprehension, and thus, general statements cannot bemade with these items. The authors recognize this to be a data limitation.
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Sheffrin & Vakhnenko

Conclusion

A majority of students revealed that their beliefs, perceptions and attitudes
towards practices in the Individual Tutorials matched their needs for CLT. This
was also shown to be true in Yoshida et al. (2012). Although the researchers hada smaller and limited pool of study respondents (N = 51) compared to Yoshida
et al.‘s (2012) study (N = 299), the use of CLT was shown to be supportive ofstudent needs for CLT at the English Education Center, and the optimal form of
instruction matched students’ beliefs about language learning, their perceptionsof classroom practices, and their attitudes towards these classroom practices.

References

Gorsuch, G. J. (2000). EFL educational policies and educational cultures:
Influences on teachers’ approval of communicative activities. TESOL
Quarterly, 34(4), 675–709.
MEXT (The Ministry of Education, Science, and Culture). (1989). The courseof study for secondary school. https://www.mext.go.jp/a_menu/shotou/oldcs/index.htm
MEXT (The Ministry of Education, Science, and Culture). (2014). English
Education Reform Plan corresponding to Globalization. https://warp.
da.ndl.go.jp/info:ndljp/pid/11402417/www.mext.go.jp/en/news/topics/
detail/__icsFiles/afieldfile/2014/01/23/1343591_1.pdf
Nishino, T. (2008). Japanese secondary school teachers’ beliefs and practices
regarding communicative language teaching: An exploratory survey. JALT
Journal, 30(1), 27–50.
Savignon, S., & Wang, C. (2003). Communicative language teaching in EFL
contexts: Learner attitudes and perceptions. International Review of Applied
Linguistics in Language Teaching, 41(3), 223–249.
Taguchi, N. (2005). The communicative approach in Japanese secondary
schools: Teachers’ perceptions and practice. The Language Teacher, 29(3),
3–12.
Yoshida, K., Aliponga, J., Koshiyama, Y., Gamble, C., Wilkins, M., & Ando,
S. (2012). Communicative language teaching in tertiary EFL contexts in60

Communicative Approach, OCJSI 2, pages 54-66

Japan: Examining learner beliefs, perceptions and attitudes. In A. Stewart &N. Sonoda (Eds.), JALT2011 Conference Proceedings. JALT.

Author bios

Alexander Sheffrin is an English Education Center instructor at Osaka Seikei
University. He has taught ESL/EFL in both the United States and Japan.
His research interests include teaching methods, materials development, andbilingualism. <alexander-s@osaka-seikei.ac.jp>
Eugene (Yevheniy) Vakhnenko is an English Education Center instructor at Osaka
Seikei University. He has taught ESL/EFL at language schools and universities in
Canada and Japan. His research interests include CLIL, CALL, and self-directed
learning. <vakhnenko@osaka-seikei.ac.jp>
Received: October 20, 2019
Accepted: September 9, 202061

Sheffrin & Vakhnenko

Appendix A
Student Survey, Part I, English Practice
What is your opinion about each item below? （下記の質問に対してあなたの意見は？）Strongly disagree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Strongly agree
Disagreen (%)

English item ( Japanese item)

Neutral
n (%)

Agree
n (%)

1. English teaching in the English Education Center isgrammar-focused.（英語教育センターの教え方が文法中心である。）

14 (27%) 17 (33%) 20 (39%)

2. My English teachers often ask us to do sentence drilling
and repeat sentences after them.（英語の先生たちは私たち

4 (8%)

3 (6%)

44 (86%)34 (67%) 10 (20%)

7 (14%)によく反復練習をしたり、あとについて復唱したりするよう指導する。）

3. The language used by my teachers is mostly Japanese.（先生たちの指導は主に日本語で行なっている。）

4. English teaching in the English Education Center ismainly explaining and practicing grammar rules.（英語教育

20 (39%) 10 (20%) 21 (41%)

センターでは主に文法の説明と練習である。）

5. I seldom need to open my mouth in the classroom.（私は49 (96%)

1 (2%)

1 (2%)

2 (4%)

5 (10%)

44 (86%)2 (4%)

2 (4%)

47 (92%)2 (4%)

6 (12%)

43 (84%)

3 (6%)

4 (8%)

43 (86%)

10. My English teachers often create an atmosphere for us to
use English.（先生たちはよく英語を使える雰囲気を作る。）

4 (8%)

0 (0%)

47 (92%)

11. My English teachers often correct my errors in speaking
in class..（先生たちは個別指導のクラスで間ちがいを直して4 (8%)

0 (0%)

47 (92%)

個別指導のクラスの中で話す必要がない。）

6. English teaching in the English Education Center iscommunication-based.（英語教育センターの教え方はコミュ
ニケーションを基本とする手法である。）

7. My teachers often design activities to have us interact inEnglish with peers.（先生はよくクラスメイトと一緒に英語が使うアクティビティを紹介する。）

8. Our focus in class is communication, but the teacher
would explain grammar when necessary.（生徒の主眼はミュニケーションだが、先生は必要に応じて文法を説明する。）

9. English teachers in the English Education Center allow
us trial-and-error attempts to communicate in English. （英語教育センターの先生たちは、失敗してもやってみる方法で英会話をさせる。）

くれる。）

Note. All items had 51 respondents except for Item 9 (N = 50).

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Appendix B
Student Survey, Part II, Attitude Toward Instructional Practice
What is your opinion about each item below? （下記の質問に対してあなたの意見は？）Strongly disagree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Strongly agree
English item ( Japanese item)
1. I like grammar-focused English teaching in the English
Education Center.（英語教育センターの文法中心の英語教

Disagreen (%)

Neutral
n (%)

Agree
n (%)

9 (18%

9 (18%)

33 (65%)7 (14%)

12 (24%) 32 (63%)

育が好き。）

2. I like sentence drilling and repeating sentences after myteachers.（反復練習や、あとについて復唱するのが好き。）
3. I like the language used in the classroom by myEnglish teachers to be mostly Japanese（先生たちの指38 (75%) 10 (20%)

3 (6%)

導は日本語で行なってほしい。）

4. I like much of the time in the classroom to be spent in
17 (33%) 17 (33%) 17 (33%)
explaining and practicing grammar rules.（英語教育センターの教え方が文法ルールの説明や、そのルールの練習に時間を使ってほしい。）

5. I like an English class in which I do not need to open my 43 (84%)
mouth.（個別指導のときに口を開ける必要がないのが好き。）

6 (12%)

2 (4%)

6. I like communication-based English teaching.（英語教育

3 (6%)

2 (4%)

46 (91%)

3 (6%)

2 (4%)

46 (91%)

3 (6%)3 (6%

45 (88%)3 (6%)

7 (14%)

41 (80%)4 (8%)

2 (4%)

45 (88%)6 (12%)

6 (12%)

39 (76%)

センターのコミュニケーションを基本とする手法が好き。）

7. I like communicative activities so that we could interact
in English with peers.（クラスメイトと一緒に英語が使うアクテ
ィビティが好き。）

8. I like my English class to be focused on communication,with grammar explained when necessary.（指導の主な焦点
はコミュニケーションで、必要に応じて文法を説明してもらうのが好き。）

9. I like English teachers to allow us to make trial-and-error
attempts to communicate in English.（先生たちはよく試行錯
誤によって英会話をさせたりするのが好き。）

10. I like my English teachers to create an atmosphere thatencourages us to use English in class.（先生たちは英語を使う
雰囲気を作るが好き。）

11. I like my errors in speaking to be corrected by myteachers.（先生たちに会話のときの間違いを言い直してほしい。）

Note. All items had 51 respondents except for Item 9 (N = 50).

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Sheffrin & Vakhnenko

Appendix C
Student Survey, Part III, Beliefs About Learning English
What is your opinion about each item below? （下記の質問に対してあなたの意見は？）Disagreen (%)

English item ( Japanese item)
1. Learning English is learning its grammar rules.（英語学習

Neutral
n (%)

Agree
n (%)

13 (25%) 14 (27%) 24 (47%)とは、英文法を学ぶことである。）

2. English learning through sentence drilling is effective.（反4 (8%)

3 (6%)

44 (86%)29 (57%) 13 (25%)

9 (18%)

7 (14%)

8 (16%)

36 (70%)44 (86%)3 (6%)

4 (8%)

1 (2%)

9 (18%)

41 (80%)5 (10%)

9 (18%)

37 (73%)

4 (8%)

8 (16%)

39 (76%)3 (6%)

5 (10%)

43 (84%)6 (12%)

8 (16%)

37 (73%)

1 (2%)

9 (18%)

41 (80%)

復練習することが効果的である。）

3. I believe Japanese should be frequently used in myEnglish class for my better understanding of the lessons.（授業の内容がよりよく理解できるよう、個別指導で日本語が頻繁に使用されるべきと考えている。）

4. I believe the more grammar rules one memorizes, thebetter he/she is at using English.（文法を覚えると、英語がよりよく使えるようになると考えている。）

5. Opening one’s mouth to practice speaking in theclassroom is not essential for English learning.（個別指導で英語を口にすることは、英語学習に必要ではないと考えている。）

6. A language classroom should be communication-focused.
（語学学習のレッスンは、コミュニケーションに重点を置くべきと考えている。）

7. It is important to practice English in real-life or real-life
like situations.（英語の練習が実際の活動で、あるいはリアルなシチュエーション場面で実践すべきと考えている。）

8. Languages are learned mainly through communication,with grammar rules explained when necessary.（言語はコミュ
ニケーションを通じて学ばれ、必要に応じて文法規則を説明すべきと考えている。）

9. I believe making trial-and-error attempts to communicate
in English helps me to learn English.（試行錯誤によって英会話することは、英語学習に役立つと考えている。）

10. A teacher should create an atmosphere in the classroom
to encourage interaction as a class or in groups.（先生がクラスの内、あるいはグループ内での相互活動を進める雰囲気を作り出すべきと考えている。）

11. It is important for the teacher to correct students’
speaking errors in class.（先生が生徒の会話に出る間違いを直すべきと考えている。）

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Communicative Approach, OCJSI 2, pages 54-66

English item ( Japanese item)
12. The formal study of grammar is essential to eventual
mastery of English.（英語をマスターするためには、文法を正Disagreen (%)

Neutral
n (%)

Agree
n (%)

6 (12%)

10 (20%) 35 (69%)

8 (16%)

15 (29%) 28 (55%)

式に学ぶことが必要と考えている。）

13. I believe my English improves most quickly if I study
and practice the grammar.（英語能力は、文法を学び、文法練習したりすると、急速に改善すると考えている。）

14. There should be more formal study of grammar in
English class.（個別指導では、正式な英文法学習がもっと増

16 (31%) 16 (31%) 19 (37%)

やすべきと考えている。）

15. It is more important to study and practice grammatical 25 (49%) 12 (24%) 14 (27%)
patterns than to practice English in an interactive way in theclassroom.（個別指導では、対話より文法を学び、文法練習したりする方が重要である。）

16. Grammar rules should be explicitly explained in class.（

21 (41%) 15 (29%) 15 (29%)

個別指導では、文法規則を明確的に説明すべきと考えている。）

17. Learning English is learning to use the language.（英語学

6 (12%)

12 (24%) 33 (65%)

3 (6%)

4 (8%)

44 (86%)3 (6%)

7 (14%)

40 (80%)20. I believe it is important to avoid making errors in the37 (73%)process of learning English.（英語学習においては、間違いを

3 (6%)

11 (22%)6 (12%)

8 (16%)

37 (73%)10 (20%)9 (18%)

31 (62%)

習とは英語を実践的に訓練で学ぶことだと考えている。）

18. Learning English by practicing the language incommunicative activities is essential to eventual mastery of aforeign language.（コミュニケーション活動をしながら訓練する
ことは、英語学習に大事だと考えている。）

19. A communication-focused language program often
meets the learner’s needs.（コミュニケーションに焦点をあてた英語学習プログラムは、学習者の必要を満たすと考えている。）

しないことが重要だと考えている。）

21. Teachers should correct students’ pronunciation orgrammatical errors in class.（先生たちが個別指導で生徒の発音や文法の間違いを直すべきと考えている。）

22. A good language learner usually pronounces beautifully.
（優秀な言語学習者が普段発音も美しいものである。）

23. A person’s good pronunciation usually indicates good
English.（発音の良い方が英語も上手なことを示す。）

12 (24%) 14 (27%) 25 (49%)

24. Learning English is important for people in Japan.（英語

5 (10%)

学習は日本人にとって重要である。）

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0 (0%)

46 (91%)

Sheffrin & Vakhnenko

English item ( Japanese item)

Disagreen (%)

Neutral
n (%)

Agree
n (%)

25. English is useful in getting a good job.（良い仕事に就く

4 (8%)

1 (2%)

46(91%)

7 (14%)

6 (12%)

38 (75%)21 (41%)9 (18%)

21 (41%)5 (10%)

3 (6%)

42 (84%)4 (8%)

0 (0%)

47 (92%)

ために英語は役に立つ。）

26. Good language learners are intelligent.（優秀な言語学習
者は賢いと考えている。）

27. Students who have good grades in other subjects arelikely to be good language learners（他の科目において良い成績を収める生徒たちが、語学学習者としても優れている。）

28. English education should begin in elementary school.（
英語学習は小学校で開始するべきである。）

29. I wish to speak like English native speakers.（ネイティブス
ピーカーのように英語を話せたい。）

Note. All items had 51 respondents except for Items 19 (N = 50), 22 (N = 50), 28 (N = 50)

English item ( Japanese item)
30. If you agree with theabove statement, what
English would you like tolearn to use?（上記の質問にAustralianEnglishOthers, please
specify

American CanadianEnglishEnglishBritishEnglish

アメリカ
英語

カナダ英
語

イギリス
英語

他の地域の英
オーストラ 語、具体的に教リア英語
えてください36 (64%)10 (18%)9 (16%)

0 (0%)

1 (2%)

同意いただければ、どの英語を学んで使えるようになりたいですか?）

Note. N = 56 (some respondents selected more than one answer). No region or variety of English
was specified in the “Others, please specify” item.

66