The Role of So-Called English Medium Schools in Teaching of English in Karachi, Pakistan

Nadia Saeed,Muhammad Ali Shaikh,Zahid Ali Sahito,Mahboob Dehraj,Stephen John

doi:10.5539/ijel.v10n4p105

Abstract

The purpose of this research study was to investigate the role of so-called English Medium schools in the teaching of English. In Pakistan, English is considered a gateway to success, a person having command on the language is offered a job while the other one having command on the subject matter is rejected, therefore it is a common trend in Pakistan that people belonging to all walks of life prefer to send their children to privately managed English medium schools. To measure the role schools in teaching English, both quantitative and qualitative approaches were adopted, and by using a purposive random sampling procedure one hundred and twenty heads of so-called English medium schools were selected. A questionnaire having close-ended and open-ended items were used to getting the opinions of schools&rsquo; heads regarding the role of school in teaching English. The quantitative responses were analyzed using SPSS while qualitative responses were sorted, labeled, and quantified. The data analysis reveals that privately managed schools are so-called English medium schools. They have neither qualified staff nor facilities which are required for the teaching of English.

Highlights

Pakistan is a part of those third world countries where 24.3% of the whole population is living below the poverty line and at the end of two years of the present government 18 million more people may slip into abject poverty due to low economic growth and double-digit food inflation (Tribune 3 March 2020)
Even the poor people want their children to hold a top bureaucratic position which can be achieved by passing CSS (Civil Superior Services) examination and several good or creative brains having innovative ideas are unable to pass this exam because this exam is more or less is testing of English language skills and due to poor English language skills those creative/innovative ideas holders do not dare to participate and if participate are unable to pass, eventually, the top positions go into the basket of those who have a grip on this colonist language
The English medium schools working in slump areas can be named so-called English medium schools because such schools have neither essential facilities nor qualified staff to teach using the medium of English

Summary

Introduction

Pakistan is a part of those third world countries where 24.3% of the whole population is living below the poverty line and at the end of two years of the present government 18 million more people may slip into abject poverty due to low economic growth and double-digit food inflation (Tribune 3 March 2020). It is a part of the sub-continent that remains the part of the British colony for years and being the colonist the Britishers injected their religion, and culture in the colonized. Keeping in view the importance of English, even poor people do not like to send their children to government or Urdu medium schools, they try to send their children to those schools where the English language is the medium of instruction

Objectives

Methods

Results