Linguistic and Communicative Competencies in the English for Libya Program: Curriculum Goals and Classroom Practices

Abstract

         Garnet’s 21^st Century English for Libya (2024-2025) adopts a communicative approach, whose main objective is to develop learners’ linguistic and communicative competencies. The content materials of the course books integrate grammar lessons with various language skills. However, it is noted that there is a mismatch between the program goals and classroom implementation. Classroom practices put extra emphasis on developing learners’ linguistic competence with no corresponding emphasis on linking it to their communicative competence. This study examines the integration between these two competencies in the EFL secondary Textbooks and their implementation in the Libyan EFL classroom in public schools in Tripoli. The study adopts a mixed-method approach, employing document analysis and a questionnaire as data collection instruments. The study’s findings highlight a bias towards implementing the grammar sections, while neglecting the corresponding communicative practices in the classroom. This gap is attributed to classrooms that lack learners’ interaction and motivation to communicate in English, overreliance on the mother tongue, and the negative effect of invalid school examinations, which overlook testing the learner’s communicative skills. The findings have important implications for teacher training and curriculum development in Libya.