Problems Facing Teachers in Implementing the Competency-Based Approach in Teaching Writing

Abstract

The Competency-Based Approach is a new approach which was adopted by the Algerian Educational system in 2003. It aims to enhance the learners' competencies in order to use them in their real lives. Despites its importance, some Algerian secondary school teachers fail to absorb the real implementation of this new approach especially in teaching writing since it is the most difficult skill for both teachers and foreign learners. Hence, Why are teachers unable to adopt this approach in their written courses? The present study aims at investigating and analyzing the main problems that face EFL Secondary school teachers in teaching writing under the Competency-Based Approach. We hypothesized in this study that if Algerian teachers of secondary schools knew how to apply the Competency-Based Approach; they would promote students’ writing proficiency. The method of this research work is descriptive. To achieve the above aim, a questionnaire was administrated to twenty teachers of English in four Secondary Schools in Batna. The questionnaire aims to know how to implement this new approach in order to enhance students' competencies to use it in their real life. The data analysis showed that the time devoted to teaching writing is not sufficient. In addition, most classes are overcrowded and lack of technological equipments, and the students' low level at writing are the main problem that hinder teaching writing under the Competency- Based Approach.