Quality of phonological input of ESL- and EFL-trained teachers

Abstract

This paper reports on a study designed to measure the quality of phonological input of 20 Saudi Arabian teachers of English as a foreign language. Its purpose is to determine the extent to which their pre-teaching (training) environment and their teaching environment affected the quality of their phonological input in the classroom. Ten of the subjects were trained in an ESL environment and 10 in an EFL environment. Five in each group were subsequently assigned to Saudi Arabian intermediate schools in either a rural or an urban environment. For each subject, two English-teaching classes were audio-taped. The following types of phonological errors are analysed: phoneme addition, phoneme omission, phoneme substitution and incorrect stress. The results of this study indicate (1) that teachers who were trained in an ESL environment showed far fewer incidences and types of phonological error than those trained in an EFL environment, and (2) that those who returned to teach in an environment where there was little opportunity for English reinforcement outside the classroom made the same incidences and types of error as those based in an environment where there was such an opportunity.