EFL Teachers’ Perceptions of Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT), Classroom Roles, and Implementation Challenges in Kuwaiti Higher Education

Abstract

While there is a growing body of literature on communicative language teaching, many students who enter the higher education in Kuwait seem to have poor command of the English language, necessitating teaching and learning methods that facilitate meaningful language use for communication. Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT) has often been widely recognized as effective in fostering tasks of communicative competence and interaction for learning, but little is understood about the perceptions of Kuwaiti higher education teachers towards its application. This mixed-methods study investigated Kuwaiti EFL teachers’ perceptions of TBLT and the barriers they encountered during its implementation. Results suggested that most teachers found TBLT to be beneficial for supporting communicative competence, collaboration and interaction in class; however, some of these positive perceptions were offset by concerns about its practicability in the context of examinations and institutional constraints. The main barriers reported by teachers were mismatch between assessment practices and TBLT principles, rigid curriculum, large class sizes, and student resistance to learner-centered approaches. This paper reveals how Kuwaiti teachers struggle with applying TBLT in an institutional context of conflicting pedagogical ideals.