ALLAMA IQBAL OPEN UNIVERSITY

STATUS OF ENGLISH LANGUGE IN PAKISTAN AND PROBLEMS OF LEARNERS

DIPLOMA IN TEACHING ENGLISH AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE (TEFL)
Semester Spring 2012

PSYCHOLINGUISTICS AND LANGUAGE TEACHING METHODOLOGY(5655)

Assignment 2

Presented By: Tasneem Sheikh

INTRODUCTION

In Pakistan, with its 63 years history and a colonial past, the role of English has been a controversial one. Today English remains a second language in Pakistan, even after so many efforts done to colonize it. For e.g., the constitution and the law is codified in English. The medium of instruction in most of Pakistani Government schools is Urdu. English, however, is taught as a compulsory language from class VI to the BA Graduate level in Pakistani schools and colleges. The Provincial Government of Punjab, made English a compulsory subject from class one in early 1994. In January 1995 the Sindh provincial government also announced its policy of introducing English as a compulsory subject from class one.

It is to be noted that English is taught by immersion in private schools in Pakistan, which cater to a small percentage of the school going populations of the county. The teaching of English in Pakistan has been text based since the beginning. In spite of such importance, English is still strange for most of the population of Pakistan. It is not an easily understandable language for our people. Not only for adults but also for students who learn English from primary level to higher levels. In the light of above references, school going students seem to be the most suffering class with respect to English learning.

Since English is taught from school level, those are the students who are under much pressure to learn the language and to memorize its basics. It is commonly seen that they are hard done by trying to learn it and most of them develop anxiety and give up trying and eventually lose interest in studies. The problems predicted by the researcher are: Lack of support by the family Teachers do not use English in English classes Influence of the mother tongue Feeling that English is a new language which is difficult to learn

GAPS IN LITERATURE
The literature review revealed that although there were some researches conducted on secondary level students, a variety of problems was not addressed in any. The studies that did propose some problems, were not conducted with respect to this particular group of students. Moreover, no such kind of study was conducted in Karachi. Furthermore, students of a deprived area were never addressed or their problems identified.

METHODOLOGY

STUDY DESIGN: Qualitative Descriptive Observational Study

SETTING: Public School Karachi West.

DURATION: 3 days SAMPLING TECHNIQUE: Non-probability Purposive Sampling SAMPLE SIZE: 20 students of secondary level ranging from classes
6th 9th.

INCLUSION CRITERIA:
Secondary level students only.
Students studying at a Government school only.

EXCLUSION CRITERIA:
Primary level students

DATA COLLECTION PROCEDURE:

A questionnaire based on the questions addressing various possible problems faced by the students in learning English was prepared by the researcher. The researcher herself went into each of the four classes and explained the questionnaire to the students to provide ease and any possible assistance in completing the questionnaires. The principal of the school was informed beforehand and a written consent was taken. The results were then compiled and answers were analyzed to calculate the ratios of the predicted problems. Those problems were then listed with respect to the majority of answers.

EXAMPLES OF QUESTIONS ASKED

Q1. What is your mother tongue? a. Urdu b. English c. Sindhi d. Any other Q3. Which of the following members of your family can speak English fluently? a. One of the parents b. Both the parents c. Elder siblings d. None of these

Q4. If answer of Q3 is a, b or c then answer this question: Do they speak English with you at home? a. Yes, mostly b. Yes, sometimes c. They speak mix d. Not at all Q10. Your teachers teach in which language (except Urdu & Islamiat)? a. Pure English b. Pure Urdu c. Urdu- English mix d. Any other language with Urdu- English

Q11. Which language do you use mostly at school for conversation? a. English b. Urdu c. Both d. Any other Q12. When do you speak English with your class fellows? a. Always b. Mostly c. Sometimes d. Never

Q13. If the answer of Q12 is d, then answer this: Why you never speak English with your class fellows? a. Class fellows laugh at you b. You cannot speak correct English c. Your friends cannot understand English d. Your tongue and brain are not familiar with English

FINDINGS
Following results are found after the study of questionnaire: Almost all of the students, with the exception of two or three, had studied in English medium schools since pre-primary and primary. Their current school system is also based on English medium, the teachers of English subjects (English, Social Studies, Science, Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics) speak mixed languages, i.e. Urdu and English in each sentence. They do not use English with their friends or family members. Seven students reported that either their elder siblings or one of the parents could speak English fluently, but negated the option of its usage with them.

If they tried to speak English at home or with friends, they were ridiculed and were told to shut up. Most students were revealed not to have an access to the Internet. Those who had, they watched movies and songs. Only one student reported that he browses English learning sites to find meanings of difficult words. They do not watch English channels, they reported that they couldnt understand English. Eleven students could understand some English, and the rest of the nine could not understand English at all. The reason they told that English will be useless for them in future.

RESULT
From the above findings, it can be safely concluded that the most Halting problem faced by the secondary level students are: lack of support by the family. Use of local language by the teachers in English classes

POSSIBLE REMEDIES

Teacher training courses must be arranged so that the teacher may get familiar with the idea of delivering the whole lecture in English during English classes. Workshops for English teachers should be planned and the teachers made to attend them. It will help in keeping them up-to-date with the new and modern teaching strategies. A check and balance must be maintained by the school principal to check whether the English teacher is really using English in the class. Award and punishment systems can be applied here.

Students should be encouraged to speak in English with each other inside and outside the classrooms. Award and punishment systems can also prove beneficial. Parents should be educated so that they may use English with their child sometimes, if they are fluent. If they are not, atleast they must refrain from making fun of the child as it depresses him/her. Workshops for parents must be arranged and parents made to attend them, so that they may understand the importance of English in this countrys systems.

REFERENCES
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The status and teaching of English in Pakistan by Muhammad Akram and Anser Mehmood. Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Syed_Ali_Waqas The status of English language teaching in Pakistan by Waqas Ahmed, Tarun Patel. Source: http://www.eltweekly.com Effects of socioeconomic status on students achievement by Dr. Saifullah Safi, Assistant Professor University of Gujrat; Tariq Mehmood, Principal, Government Centennial Model High School Turbela Township Haripur Action research to improve the English creative writing at primary level by Misbah Muzaffar, Fatima Jinnah Women University Rawalpindi, Education Department. A university level linguistic course classroom research: vocabulary retention and use of L1 and L2 by Levent Uzun, Uludag university, Faculty of education, ELT department, Basra/Turkey Socioeconomic status factors effecting the students achievement: A predictive study by Zarina Akhtar, Department of Education, International Islamic university Islamabad, Pakistan. Teachers teaching styles at English language institutes in Iran by Laleh Fakhraee Farauji, Islamic Azad university, Shehr-e-Qods branch, Tehran, Iran. Influence of regional languages on second language learning at secondary level Bahawalpur (Pakistan) by Masood Ahmed, subject specialist GCET Bahawalpur and Doctorate scholar, department of education, the Islamia university Bahawalpur, Pakistan.