ELTWeekly Vol. 3 Issue#100 | October 10 | ISSN 0975-3036
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GM Zulfiquer Haider works with the Department of Applied Linguistics and ELT, Eastern University.
This research tried to investigate both teacher and student perceptions of the reasons for not attaining proficiency in oracy skills of English from the point of view of a teacher. The study focussed on teachers’ perceptions of their classroom practices, their students, the existing national curriculum and the system of both school and national examination. The subjects employed were 10 part – time ESL teachers from MENTORS’, the largest private English language school of Bangladesh (4 from Renowned Private Schools, Dhaka + 3 from Renowned Boys’ Private Colleges, Dhaka + 3 from Renowned Girls’ Private Colleges, Dhaka). Data were collected by administering attitudes towards different skills questionnaires and interviews. It researched ways of helping them deal with the situation so that they could raise their students’ performance on the development of oracy skills. Based on the findings, conclusions and recommendations were made. Hopefully, insights from this research can assist in more successful adoption of learner-centered, communicative competence-focused teaching approaches suitable within our native language learning contexts while also focusing on the needs of teachers and teacher training in our higher secondary education settings.
Introduction
The issue of English language in schools has been one of the hottest topics in the country lately. Our society is constantly regaled with opinions about the falling standards of English but falling where and in what way, is seldom mentioned. Nevertheless, the declining standard of English in terms of oracy skills development among school children and the younger citizens in general has undoubtedly worried many quarters, so much so that the Ministry of Education has taken some drastic measures to train the primary and secondary level English teachers to provide them with updated teaching tools and techniques as well to reform the national curriculum to help students master all sorts of skills whenever it comes to English as an Second Language.
When addressing the deteriorating standards of English, it is important for us to study the contributing variables to this issue. Perhaps, one of the reasons is our teaching and another one is the existing national curriculum with the examination. The last salient factor in our classroom practice is the examination-oriented lesson. It is common for teachers to focus entirely on the examination especially for learners who are sitting for national examinations such as the HSC and SSC. One of the main reasons given is that at the end of the day, the school, parents and learners want good grades. Everybody and all schools compete for better grades each year. Even if there is a change in teachers’ attitude and they accept any changes in the curriculum employed, they are still compelled by the examination and will teach according to what will be tested. Not much emphasis is given to oracy skills — listening and speaking in both classroom teaching and national examinations rather they focus mainly on literacy skills – writing and reading with major focus is on grammar. Apart from this, self-disclosure and oral presentations are important components of oracy skills development, which requires a proactive learning style. However, certain perceptual learning preferences, such as non-disclosure and authority-centeredness, make it difficult for Bangladeshi secondary and higher secondary students to engage in class discussions, oral presentations, and oral argumentation, which are essential elements of oracy skills development. That’s why, oracy skills development in Bangladeshi schools is a challenge as many students are reluctant to talk or say anything due to shyness or cultural background.
Problem Statement
Overview
Many ESL/EFL students received low or failing grades in complete English proficiency test as a core subject for different purposes e.g. foreign admission, job interview, university admission etc., because they performed poorly on the listening comprehension and oral interview parts of the tests. They did much better on writing and reading comprehension.
The problem was that high school students while learning English as a second or foreign language in their high school days lacked the skills to cope with the learning and application of oracy skills. Students did not have the tools to achieve high performance in listening or speaking tests. They did not have effective listening strategies to guide them on their listening comprehension tests nor on any oral interviews.
This research investigated the ESL teachers point of view on the lack of oracy skills of secondary and higher secondary students under the the existing national curriculum, national examination system and the traditional classroom teaching practice of the teachers that aren’t at all favouring the learners.
Research Question/Hypothesis
This present study contributed to the relatively limited research concerning the low oracy proficiency of english among Bangladeshi secondary and higher secondary school learners. The study outlined the following research questions:
- What are the attitudes of ESL teachers to oracy skills?
- What are the perceptions of ESL teachers of their classroom practices regarding oracy skills development?
- Is there any significant relationship between existing education system and oracy skills development?
- Do teachers regard the existing syllabus as effective in developing learners’ oracy skills?
- What are the teachers’ perceptions of the national examination regarding the assessment of the oracy skills of examinees?
Purpose AND Significance
Purpose
The purpose of this study was to determine the causes of this problem and provide a workable teaching program for students in high schools on the skills they lacked and improve student scores on listening comprehension tests and interviews within the high school setting. ESL/EFL learners found listening for information easy in their first language but more difficult in a second or foreign language. Listening comprehension tests caused anxiety and a sense of failure for students who did not have the skills to cope with the tests. And speaking in a second language was not easy but facing oral interviews made it even more difficult. The goal of this research was to discover
ü The present situation of teaching-learning oracy skills in ESL/EFL classes at our high schools.
ü The reasons of lacking of oracy skills among secondary and higher secondary ESL/EFL students.
ü Existing ESL / EFL teachers’ perceptions towards the oracy skills development of students in terms of classroom practice, curriculum and examination system – constraints and positive catalysts.
Major indicators relevant to the purpose of the research are to see:
a) If social status of learners affects the development of oracy skills
b) If financial status of learners have any effect on the attitude of oracy skills development
c) Whether teacher’s social background affects the teaching-learning process of oracy skills.
d) Whether the teacher’s education and ties with modern approaches have any kind of effect on the development of oracy skills of his/her students
e) Whether type of teaching approach affects the oracy skills development
Significance of the Study
This research tried to dig into the inner problems those impede our students to develop in oracy skills of English as a second / foreign language. The finding of the problems expected to be of great aid to our education policy makers, curriculum developers, teacher trainers in macro level and to be of great help to micro level stakeholders as well e.g. EFL / ESL teachers etc. Answers to these problems have to some extent been discovered and some ways also have come out to help the students those are trailed behind in oracy skills.
Description of Work Setting
The research project took place at a high profile language school located in the central community of the capital city. The student population of the school consisted of approximately 1500 students per half year, most of whom were recent high school graduates. The cultural make-up of the school’s students was approximately 60% of non-capital origin, 20% of newly migrated to the capital origin, and 20% of capital origin.
The school divided classes into 3 levels of ESL/EFL proficiency requirement. Firstly, the basic communication skills for social communication; secondly, basic grammar and writing with speaking for academic purposes and thirdly, international English proficiency tests preparation for foreign admission. And students received ESL/EFL instruction according to their need.
10 ESL/EFL teachers (directly) and students (indirectly) participated in the research project. Parents provided background information on their children’s reading habits and test taking preparations. The teachers revealed their attitude towards English and express how they felt when they discovered their students’ weakness in oracy skills.
BACKGROUND
Literature Review
There have been several studies carried out relating to the deteriorating standard of ESL in Bangladesh. Enamul Hoque (2010) carried out a study to assess the attitudes of ESL secondary and higher secondary school teachers in Bangladesh towards the different aspects of the outcome of their classroom teaching as per existing national curriculum. His results indicated that 40 % teachers suggest that their students are weak in listening, while, 30% teachers, the second highest number, consider their students very weak. On speaking skill, 50% teachers, which is the highest percentage, reveal that students are very weak in speaking English, whereas 42% teachers evaluate the students as weak in speaking.
Research design and methods
Population and Study Sample
ESL / EFL teachers, who have been working around the country for various institutions including the capital city, Dhaka were taken as main target population.
Sample Size and Selection of Sample
The subjects for the study were 10 ESL teachers. All these teachers were from private schools/colleges/universities rather than fully public institutions. This is because most ESL teachers in language centers come from English medium schools, private schools/colleges; they therefore, represent a sample of the target population. The majority of the subjects were male teachers (7 male and 3 female). Most of them were experienced, i.e. there were 6 teachers who have been teaching ESL for more than ten years and only 4 teachers who have less than 4 years of teaching experience. From this sample, 4 teachers were randomly selected for the oral interview conducted.
Instrument
The study used two instruments: a questionnaire and a semi-structured interview. The questionnaire aimed at gauging teachers’ perceptions of the following:
1. Their classroom practice (for example, tasks employed and the development of different language skills)
2. The national syllabus
3. Teacher-prepared school assessment
4. The national examination
The questionnaire was generated from a review of related literature and insights from informal discussions with fellow teachers. It employed the 5-point Likert scale from “strongly agree” to “strongly disagree”. The questionnaire was piloted among graduate teachers studying at Eastern University and revisions were made as necessary. In order to probe teachers’ perceptions further, an interview was carried out. The interview was semi-structured so that a better insight into the issues at hand could be gained. The main focuses of the interview questions were on asking the participants to describe their teaching approaches, their evaluation of the reasons behind the learners’ weakness in oracy skills of English.
Sources of Data
Primary data: Structured questionnaire was prepared to collect information from respondents.to A semi-structured interview chart was also provided to collect some more in-depth information from the teachers.
Secondary data: Secondary information was collected reviewing Web sites, journals, brochures, publications, newspapers and other relevant Documents.
Data Collection
Data were collected by the researcher within the period of a month from 20 July to 28 August. The structured questionnaire was given to the respondants and some of them were randomly selected and were interviewed in person by the researcher.
Data Analysis
30% of the teachers only responded with a student centered approach and the rest 70% came up with a traditional teacher centered ones. Only 20% of the teachers mentioned of their preparation to deal with students weakness of oracy skills inside the class. And whenever it came to the pros and cons of the national curriculum, almost 100% came up with negative answers and regarding any change to it, the addition of listening and oral testing was mentioned also. As many as 80% of them agreed to the issue that oracy skills testing is getting regularly avoided or to heavy extent overlooked and hence, is not being covered.Finally, almost all of the respondants came up with heavy criticism and said that it totally overlooked the oracy skills so far and said in the same manner that the main drawback is the exclusion of listening and speaking test in regards to ESL/EFL.
In oral interview, 70% of the interviewees came up with the answer that the main problems with the oracy skill development are the tendency of getting good marks, the national curriculum, the national examination and their reluctancy to the teaching of oracy skill. But 30% of the interviewees also mentioned, in addition to those, their traditional understanding of old teaching methods e.g. GT method, their lack of proper certification/training in ELT/TESOL/TEFL. Responding to the causes, almost 80% of them included the lack of proper teaching pattern, the root of students, inappropriate curriculum, inappropriate examination system, lack of modern training equipments. 20% mentioned about the lack of proper ESL/EFL teaching training in them. About after effects, all of them agreed to the issue that our students are facing impediments while appearing for jobs or higher education due to lack of proper oracy skills capability. Regarding solutions the interviewees came up with various options; some said that the curriculum and the examination format need to be changed only and some said that the teachers need to be oriented with modern day ESL/EFL teaching techniques. Only 20% mentioned that the traditional belief of ESL/EFL teaching needs to be changed among the teachers.
Strengths and Weaknesses of the Study
Limitations
Resource Constraints: Efforts were made to accomplish the study according to the objectives. But as the research team consisted of only one member, it was difficult to cover in details.
Time limitation: Due to time limitations many aspects weren’t discussed in the present study.
Accessibility: Difficulty arose in getting access to respondents.
Small sample size: Due to time constraints, the sample size was limited to 10.
Confidential information: Confidentiality of data was another important barrier that was faced during the conduct of the study. Every organization has their own secrecy that is not revealed to others.
Scarcity of secondary data: Necessary records, publication was not available. This constraint may narrow the scope of the study.
Unavailability of Respondents: Respondents were busy with work pressure or may be somewhere else. Therefore, they were not contacted properly always.
Delimitations
Exclusion of structured interview: Structured interviews were not used in order to minimize obtrusiveness and influence on the sample subjects.
Recommendation
Secondary and higher secondary students need greater awareness concerning the role and impact of effective oracy at university as well as in the real world. Oracy skills should therefore be embedded in various high school subjects as a graduate attribute that helps students realize not only their intellectual potential, but also their career goals.
Oracy skills development should include communicative activities that capture student interest and create a real need for communication. They should require students to elaborate rather than providing brief responses. To foster higher level thinking skills, students should apply synthesis and evaluation in their oral presentation; for instance, after analyzing and taking a stance on a controversial issue, they should provide practical recommendations. To foster positive attitudes toward oracy, lecturers themselves should use English themselves on campus. Teacher enthusiasm creates a sense of urgency that has a contagion effect on students. Local teachers may not possess that much-aspired native accent, yet their own oracy skills flourish while helping their students sharpen theirs. In short, the best way for Bangladeshi students to enhance their oracy skills is striving to communicate in English on a consistent and regular basis.
To prevent students from reverting to their own mother tongue, lecturers should provide student-centered resources and support needed to complete all oracy tasks. Some students may initially use their native language as an emotional support, translating word for word, but as their confidence grows, their native language dependence diminishes. Other ways to prevent language reversion include walking around the classroom to ensure that students remain focused. As facilitators, teachers should provide after-class consultation to promote English communication and reduce language reversion. While some students need moral support and positive reinforcement, others need to change groups, problem solving techniques, and in most cases, attitudes.
Conclusions
Oracy skills development eases secondary and higher secondary students’ transition into the discourse community of the high school. To encourage active listening and speaking, linguistic and cultural differences should be respected. Level-appropriate and well-paced activities should be used to increase student interest and enliven the classroom. In brief, oracy skills development should be an enjoyable and enriching experience.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Ayers, W. (1995) `Joining the Ranks’ in AYERS, W. ed. To Become a Teacher. Making a Difference in Children’s Lives. New York: Teachers College Press.
Cook, V. (1991) Second Language Learning and Language Teaching. London: Edward Arnold.
Kayi, H. (2006). Teaching speaking: Activities to promote speaking in a second language. University of Nevada, http://unr.edu/homepage/hayriyak.
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Richards, J. C. & Rodgers, T. S. (1986). Approaches and methods in language teaching: A description and analysis. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, London, UK
Hoque, S. (1999). ELT issues in Bangladesh: An overview. In T. Hunter (Ed.), National and regional issues in English language teaching: International perspectives (ELTIP Bangladesh 1999 Conference papers, pp. 93-100). Dhaka: NCTB and British Council.
Maniruzzaman, M. 1998. ‘The SL/FL classroom and the individual learner ‘. Harvest: Jahangirnagar Studies in Literature, 14: 87-102.
Maniruzzaman, M. 2003. ‘The use of the mother tongue in the EFL classroom: learners’ reaction ‘. Harvest: Jahangirnagar Studies in Literature, 18: 43-58.
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