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 Students Countries Institution Primary/ Secondary Tertiary Sudan Ethiopia Mozambique Afghanistan Mexico Indonesia Pakistan Brazil Chile 45 - 75 75-220 50-120 50-70 30 - 40 50 45-50 35 45 300 45-75 45-200 60 20 - 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 Creative and dynamic teaching Peer to peer evaluation Process evaluation Group work, pair work and large group work Cooperative learning Project work

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 for sustained silent reading 47% occasionally 44% occasionally b Existence of a Reading Programme 53% none 68% none

Reading Comprehension Writing 60% strongly 47% occasionally Impact of Reading extensively Private Public a Differences in language proficiency: SS who read and SS who do not read extensively 53% strongly 48% strongly b Skills developed: Reading Comprehension Writing 60% strongly 47% occasionally 84% strongly 72% strongly c Other developments Vocabulary Development Aesthetic appreciation of texts Critical Reading Fluent Reading habits 80% strongly 60% occasionally 47% strongly 60% strongly 100% strongly 48% occasionally 48% occasionally 88% 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, CHILE Results 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

curriculum drawn by educational institution itself 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) Organisation of content and order of what is to be taught Framework CURRICULUM Direction towards achievement of aims

SURVEY Objective Rationale 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. Rationale To 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 survey Public institution Private institution Name of Country Private 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 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.   50 Private or Public institution Situation A Situation B Situation C Public 36 13 17 6 Private 14 7 5 2 Total : 50 20 22 8

Can we all participate in a curriculum issue discussion? 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 contexts Can 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

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

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

The Background: teachers have had very few opportunities to widen their experience and to keep themselves abreast of changes in ELT Teacher development is not a ‘serious’ priority in some countries and many other issues (socio-economic, cultural and political) affect teachers’ development

Absence of motivation and incentive for teachers 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?