Academic Roles of English Language Teachers: A Study of the Perceptions of Pakistani Teachers and Students

Abstract

Academic Roles of English Language Teachers: A Study of the Perceptions of Pakistani Teachers and Students Farhana Yasmin, Muhammad Islam Resume The roles of English language teachers in Pakistan have been a critical issue since its foundation. This case study explores perceptions of Pakistani English teachers and students regarding the academic roles of English language teachers in classrooms. It is an effort to identify the gaps between the perceptions and the practices to be bridged to make ESL a living language for students. This case study is exploratory and it falls in qualitative paradigm. The sampling is purposive as the participants of the study are English language teachers and students of an army public school and college in Cantonment area Lahore. The tools of the study are interviews from teachers and students of the school. The data is analysed by applying grounded theory as a research method. The themes emerged as a result of open, axial and selective coding are employed to develop a core category. As a result, a model of versatile English teacher emerged as a core category. The roles of English language teachers as instructors, facilitators, helpers, guides are explored besides the prerequisites as command on subject, teaching practices, teaching experience, examiner and teaching training which may prove the turning points in their students‟ performance in English towards a better direction. In this perspective, some recommendations are forwarded for English teachers in Pakistan to be versatile to make their students proficient in English. In future, a comparative study to explore the perceptions of English language teachers and students of suburban or rural areas public and private schools regarding roles of English teachers needs to be conducted in Pakistan to explore the gap between perceptions and practices. Full Text: PDF DOI: 10.15640/jflcc.v6n1a2