English language teaching in Algerian Higher Education: lecturers' perspectives and practices

The Algerian educational system has undergone numerous reforms since the 1970s. However, in the context of foreign language teaching, only one major reform has been adopted: the introduction of the communicative approach (CA) in 1999 which aimed to promote an interactive and learner-centered approach to teaching English as a foreign language (EFL) at the secondary level (Benmati 2008; Slimani 2016). However, due to difficulties in implementation, the CA was replaced by the Competency Based Approach (CBA) in 2003 (Benmoussat and Benmoussat 2018, p.63-64; Khelalfa and Kellil 2023, p.3). In the field of Algerian higher education, however, language policies (LP) for teaching English remain ambiguous, as no official document explicitly outlines a specific approach for English language instruction. Although there is no official policy for teaching EFL at the tertiary level, the LMD system, the latest general reform in Algerian higher education introduced in 2004, emphasises learner-centeredness as a guiding principle. Furthermore, according to Shohamy (2008, p.119), when policies are not explicitly stated they can often be inferred through examining existing practices. Within this context, this thesis aims to explore the preferred teaching practices of lecturers within the English departments of three Algerian universities, specifically focusing on those who have taught or are currently teaching language classes. It also examines Algerian lecturers’ understanding of the CA and seeks to identify the main obstacles to effective language instruction in the chosen context. To achieve these objectives, data was collected over a period of 6 months using questionnaires, semi-structured interviews, and non-participant classroom observations. The findings show that while Algerian lecturers aim to balance a variety of methodologies, their preferred teaching practices align closely with the principles of the CA. The findings also indicate that Algerian English lecturers primarily understand the CA through the lens of its strong version. Indeed, their interpretation of the CA emphasises fluency over accuracy and prioritizes meaning over form. In addition, several major challenges to ELT in the chosen context were identified, most of which have systemic roots. These challenges include large class sizes, time constraints, lack of resources, as well as students’ low English proficiency and lack of motivation, and lecturers’ lack of appropriate training. The presence of these barriers significantly impacts the effectiveness of communicative approaches and contributes to the disconnect between policy expectations and actual classroom practices.