Headteachers’ Perspectives About the English Language Teaching at Lower Secondary Level in Shaheed Benazirabad, Pakistan

Naseem Hyder Rajput ,Rafique Nawaz Bhutto ,Zahid Hussain Kanhio ,Muhammad Tufail Chandio

doi:10.7176/jlll/71-04

Abstract

English is a global language that enjoys a unique status of lingua franca all over the world. English is the compulsory part of the curriculum up to graduation level in Pakistan. Yet the quality of the English language is very poor in Pakistan. This study described the perspectives of male headteachers of public lower secondary schools about Methods of English language teaching and expertise of English language teachers. A qualitative descriptive approach was used to describe these perspectives. The population consisted of 25 male headteachers of the public sector lower secondary schools of Taluka Sakrand. The Study reached out to 20 headteachers through purposive sampling. The data were collected using semi-structured interviews. The collected data were analyzed using thematic analysis. The results of the study suggest that methods of teaching used are defective as they do not improve the listening and speaking skills of the students. The teachers are inexperienced in second language pedagogy as neither they hold an academic degree in English nor they are trained in second language pedagogy. It is recommended that English language teachers should be given pieces of training in second language pedagogy so that they can apply modern methods for teaching English. Keywords: English Language, Headteachers, Perspectives, Lower secondary Level DOI: 10.7176/JLLL/71-04 Publication date: August 31 st 2020

Highlights

In Pakistan, people involved in imparting education are not satisfied with present state of English language teaching (Hussain, 2011); English teaching is neither satisfactory nor favorable for learning of the language (Warsi, 2004)
This study has been undertaken to fill this gap by describing headteachers’ perspectives about methods of teaching used for teaching English language and expertise of English language teachers in the teaching of English language in Taluka Sakrand of Shaheed Benazirabad
Theoretical explanations of the problems of English language teaching can help in the understanding of various factors that lead to poor conditions of the English language teaching

Summary

Introduction

In Pakistan, people involved in imparting education are not satisfied with present state of English language teaching (Hussain, 2011); English teaching is neither satisfactory nor favorable for learning of the language (Warsi, 2004). My argument is that people involved in English language teaching, directly or indirectly, like educators, researchers of second language acquisition & the teachers of the English language must treat it from the perception of usage. They should try to improve the conditions under which English is being taught in both urban and rural regions of Sindh. There are many theoretical perspectives about how the second language is learned: Behaviorism; Structuralism; Interactionism; Constructivism, Learning Motivation; Comprehension Hypothesis; Basic Interpersonal Communicative Skills and Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency; English Textbooks in Use for Language Learners; Caring, Supportive Teachers that Matter; Testing and Assessment that Play a Role in Students’ Academic Success (Rao, 2018). What are the headteachers’ perspectives about the expertise of English language teachers in teaching the English language?

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Results

Conclusion