Issues in ELT in Transitional Countries
A Presentation by Hornby Scholars from four UK
Universities
Overview
• Large Classes• A Culture of Reading• Curriculum Issues• The Balance between Language
and Teaching Skills in Teacher Education
• English Language Teacher Development and INSET in Countries in Transition
LARGE CLASSES
Number of StudentsNumber of StudentsCountries Institution
Primary/Secondary
Tertiary
SudanEthiopiaMozambiqueAfghanistanMexicoIndonesiaPakistanBrazilChile
45 - 7575-22050-12050-7030 - 405045-503545
30045-75
45-200605045-505020 - 40
Things that teachers think cannot be
in large classes
• Effective and efficient classroom management
• Monitoring individual learners’ progress
• Intensive students’ interaction
• Sufficient oral practice
• Individual presentations
• Giving feedback to individual learners
Things that teachers think can be done in large classes
• Group work• Dynamic
presentations and seminars
• Variety of group production
• Learners help each other in project work
• Variety of students and cultures
• Team competition
Students’ view of large classes
Negative • Lack of
participation• Being left out• Disturbing and
being disturbed by other students
• Frustration
Positive• Feel comfortable
- always someone else to answer questions
• Encouraging students’ group work outside classroom
Teachers’ strategies used
in large classes• Group work,
pair work and large group work
• Cooperative learning
• Project work
• Creative and dynamic teaching
• Peer to peer evaluation
• Process evaluation
Our Concerns
• How can we help teachers be aware of the possible advantages of large classes?
• How can we help teachers cope with the problems of teaching in large classes?
A Culture of Reading
PEOPLE DON'T READ ENOUGH THESE DAYS AND THIS HAS A NEGATIVE IMPACT ON THEIR PROGRESS IN
LEARNING ENGLISH
How Teachers view Reading Habits in L1 and L2 in educational
institutions around the World
OBJECTIVE OF SURVEY • To find out how teachers in
some educational institutions around the world view reading habits of learners in L1 and L2
Reading Habits Private Public
a Ss Reading habits in L1
53% occasionally
76% poorly
Accessibility to Reading materials Private Public
a Availability of reading materials
47% good
56% no access
b Solutions: leave it to institutions
47 % 40 %
Curriculum Issues
Private Public a Time
allotted forsustained silent reading
47% occasionally
44% occasionally
b Existence of a Reading Programme
53% none
68% none
Impact of Reading extensively Private Publica Differences in language
proficiency: SS who read and SS who do not read extensively
53% strongly 48% strongly
b Skills developed:Reading ComprehensionWriting
60% strongly47% occasionally
84% strongly72% strongly
c Other developmentsVocabulary DevelopmentAesthetic appreciation of textsCritical ReadingFluent Reading habits
80% strongly60% occasionally
47% strongly 60% strongly
100% strongly48% occasionally
48% occasionally88% strongly
Factors hindering reading for pleasure
• Exam-focussed institutions pressurize Ss with study load
• Exam-oriented education fosters reading for learning
• Lack of reading habit in L1, doesn’t nurture L2 reading habits
• Addiction to electronic media• Costly L2 reading materials• Absence of a reading programme
Factors promoting reading for pleasure
Ts familiarize students with reading materials
CONCLUSION:
A GENERAL ABSENCE OF CULTURE OF READING
IMPLEMENTATION OF SUSTAINED SILENT READING PROGRAMME IN A SCHOOL IN ANTOFAGASTA,
CHILEResults shown by participants:
• Better attitude towards required texts and textbooks• More interest towards reading: students who previously hadn’t done so• Ss’ experience of reading in a conducive environment motivates them• Ss show more positive attitude towards other classes.• Development of habit of reading.
Reasons for closure of SSR programme in the school• People involved not in favour of it• Lack of interest & dedication displayed by Ts who took part• Very few Ts actually read with their pupils. • Ts didn’t read so Ss didn’t read either.
How can ELT professionals overcome not only resource constraints but also systemic resistance
when promoting reading in countries in transition?
Curriculum Issues
Is there a curriculum that directs current teaching activities to the
achievement of language teaching aims?
higher authority institution developed plan – e.g. Ministry of Education
curriculum drawn by educational institution itself
coursebook is the curriculum
Where do teaching institutions stand?
Can we all participate in a
discussion?
CURRICULUM holds the overarching organising principles and goals as well as “all the aspects of the planning, implementation and evaluation of an educational program, the why, how and how well together with the what of the learning-teaching process.” (Richards and Renandya, 2002)
CURRICULUM Framework
Organisation of contentand order of what is to be taught
Direction towards achievement of aims
SURVEY
Objective
To look at how teachers in some countries regard the existence of a curriculum in their respective institutions that gives direction to their teaching activities.
RationaleTo look at what is occurring at the onset of the language teaching-learning process in
some institutions in some countries because some teachers feel there isn’t a
curriculum at all.
Format of the surveyFormat of the survey
Name of Country Private institution
Public institution
Situation A developed its own curriculum
best available teachers were hired
continuous in-service training
resources required for quality instruction were provided
coursebook was chosen according to the needs of the programme or written specifically for the programme.
Situation B
Ministry of Education program for English or any other higher institutional program coursebook is the immediate direction for teaching English limited knowledge of development of curriculum or involvement of teachers in the process best available teachers were hired continuous in-service training resources were provided for quality instruction
Situation C
• coursebook is the only direction for teaching English
• limited resources for quality instruction and achieving the best results and success in language learning
• teachers have limited power to make changes.
• there is no continuous in-service training and teacher development.
Summary of respondentsSummary of respondents
Argentina, Bangladesh, Brazil, Chile, China, Colombia, England, Ethiopia, Greece, India, Indonesia, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Korea, Kuwait, Malaysia, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan Spain, Sudan, Sultanate of Oman, Swaziland, Taiwan, Turkey and Zambia.
Private or Public
institutionSituation A Situation
BSituation
CPubli
c36 13 17 6
Private
14 7 5 2
Total : 50
20 22 8
50
• Respondents in Situation A added or took away more features• teachers were not involved in the process of curriculum development
• students’ needs are not taken into consideration
• teachers do not have the power to make changes
• lack of teacher training, in service training does not respond to teachers´ needs
• teachers have to make up for lack of resources
• coursebooks imposed by a higher body
• coursebooks written for other contextsCan we all participate in a curriculum issue discussion?
Balance between Language and Teaching
Skills
Brazil, Colombia and Ethiopia
Can you help me?
“I wish I could attend to a course or programme that would help me to develop my English language proficiency and my teaching skills at the same time. Unfortunately, most of the programmes focus on only one of the two areas.”
Maria, English teacher in Amazonas, Brazil
Balance between Language and Teaching
Skills
Actions taken in…
Ethiopia
ELIP
Colombia
ICELT
BrazilParana and Tocantins ELT Project
Commonalities in the programmes
• English as a Foreign Language• Designed for in-service trainers • Language improvement moving
towards development of teaching skills
• British Council involvement
Development Cycle for Teachers of English
Language Improvement
Teaching skills improvement
Our concerns…
• None of those programmes focus on pre-service teachers. How can we offer similar opportunities to pre-service teachers?
• How can we sustain these programmes?• What level of English should a practising
teacher of English have?• What can teachers of English do to
improve their level of English in a FL environment?
English Language Teacher Development and INSET
in Countries in Transition
The aim of this short presentation is:
• to confirm and raise awareness about the fact that INSET and teacher development is still a big challenge in many of the countries in transition (where ‘interestingly’, the situations are really similar)
• to stimulate discussion on the needs of teachers of English in these countries and actions that should be taken to provide the support needed
• teachers have had very few opportunities to widen their experience and to keep themselves abreast of changesin ELT
• Teacher development is not a ‘serious’ priority in some countries and many other issues (socio-economic, cultural and political) affect teachers’ development
The Background:
Challenges and obstacles to teacher development have included the
following:
• Lack of resources • Absence of motivation and
incentive for teachers• Inadequate organisation and co-
ordination of teacher training/development programmes
• Insufficient training sessions• Lack of continuity
What are the ways in which we
can make INSET/teacher development programmes more effective in countries in transition considering the contextual constraints?