The Role of Discourse-Based Approaches in English Language Teaching in Algeria

In many EGP (English for General Purposes) and ESP ( English for Specific Purposes) educational institutions in Algeria, English is still taught with the traditional approach which focuses on teaching grammar, the four language skills, etc, and which does not enable students to produce contextualised sentences contrary to discourse-based approaches which focus on discourse rather than the sentence. Discourse-based approaches have had a great impact on the teaching outcomes since they enable learners to become competent users of language. The aim of this paper is to shed some light on the role and implementation of discourse-based approaches in English language teaching, focusing on the importance of discourse analysis, pragmatics, background knowledge and context.