Challenges in Implementing the CEFR in English Language Classrooms

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 115-128
Author(s):  
Nur Athirah Mohammed ◽  
Abdul Halim Abdul Raof ◽  
Masdinah Alauyah Md Yusof
Keyword(s):  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Primary Schools ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
English Language ◽  
Language Education ◽  
English Language Proficiency ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Proficiency Level ◽  
Language Classrooms ◽  
English Language Teachers

The adoption of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) in the English Language Education Roadmap 2015-2025 is a reform effort to enhance the standard of our students’ English language proficiency level. While it is a commendable initiative, its implementation in schools has received mixed reactions especially from teachers who are confronted with a number of challenges. Hence, this study was carried out to investigate the nature of challenges encountered by English language teachers in implementing the CEFR in their classrooms. Data for this study were collected from questionnaires gathered from 117 English language teachers in primary schools in Johor Bahru district. The findings revealed the challenges were related to teachers’ English language proficiency level, designing class activities, students’ participation in class, the textbooks used, teachers’ workload, and students’ proficiency level. The challenges were found to be inter-related and could be traced to lack of CEFR-related training, insufficient teaching and learning materials, constraint of time, and the policy which does not allow for students to be streamed based on their proficiency level. All this seemed to make it more difficult for the teachers to implement the CEFR successfully.

scholarly journals Relationship between Teachers’ Competency Level in Teaching English Language and Students’ English Language Proficiency in Secondary Schools in Rwanda

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (7) ◽  
pp. 104-122
Author(s):  
Girimbabazi Serge ◽  
◽  
Mrs Adegoke Oyebimpe ◽  
Dr. Hesbon Opiyo Andala ◽  
◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Secondary Schools ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
English Language ◽  
English Proficiency ◽  
English Language Proficiency ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Teaching English ◽  
Proficiency Level ◽  
English Language Teachers

The improvement of students’ English proficiency depends on the level of teaching English language and the competency of teachers in teaching career. The purpose of this study therefore, was to investigate the relationship between teachers’ competency in English language and students’ English language proficiency within secondary schools of Karongi in Rwanda. The study adopted correlation research design research design. Data collection tools were questionnaire and interview guide. The target population was 1794 people comprised of 1560 students, 14 Sector Education Officers, 20 Head Teachers, 200 teachers. A simple random sampling and purposive sampling techniques were used to get a sample size of 395 respondents. The study findings revealed that majority of the students with a total of 290 (91.2%) agreed that in their school, teachers are not competent enough in English language. Moreover, almost 292 (91.8%) of the respondents agreed that in their school, students English reading, writing, listening and speaking proficiency level is low and 70 (90.9%) of key informants agreed that both in public and private secondary schools of Karongi District, students’ English language proficiency level in reading, writing, speaking and listening is low. The correlation results showed the association between between teachers’ inability to teach in English, teachers’ inability to read classroom interactions in English language, teachers’ incompetency in English language, teachers’ inability to express themselves in English language as well as teachers’ inability to develop English language educational materials) and dependent variables (students’ reading, writing, speaking and listening English language proficiency and students’ English language proficiency (reading, writing, speaking and listening English proficiency) is positive. The study recommended the Ministry of Education through Rwanda Basic Education Board to avail enough English teaching and learning materials, including charts, textbooks and dictionaries which are adequate in enhancing English language proficiency mastery among students at an early age. All stakeholders of the education sector are recommended to support English teaching and learning activities in Rwanda, as it is the only and one shortcut for making Rwandans master the English language. Keywords: Teachers’ competency, English Language, English proficiency, Rwanda

scholarly journals Teachers’ perspectives toward the implementation of bilingual immersion program in Indonesian private schools

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 118
Author(s):  
Haris Ma'ruf ◽  
Huyi Intan Sari
Keyword(s):  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
English Language ◽  
English Language Proficiency ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Immersion Program ◽  
Main Challenge ◽  
Teachers And Students ◽  
English Language Teachers ◽  
Teachers Perspectives

This research was to find out teachers’ perspectives of the immersion program. For the mathematics, science and social subject teachers, it could ascertain how teachers cope with new challenges because using English to teach was a professional development experience and also could establish baseline approaches for implementing the immersion program. This study provided a picture of non-English teachers’ perception on implementing an immersion program at SMA Islam Sultan Agung 1 Semarang. The data was obtained from questionnaires and observation. The main challenge facing non-English language teachers was teaching and learning Mathematics, Sciences (Physics, Chemist, and Biology) and Social Subjects (Sociology, Economics, and Geography) in English. The study also showed that there were specific situations when teachers felt frustrated teaching an immersion class. This frustration always relates to lack of English language proficiency. In conclusion, this study shows the lack of English language proficiency is the main challenge faced by non-English language teachers and students in immersion classes at SMA Islam Sultan Agung 1 Semarang.

scholarly journals Factors that Affect the implementation of Teaching Writing Skills: Focus on Second Cycle Primary Schools in North Shoa

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (6) ◽  
pp. 22-30
Author(s):  
Seid Mohammed ◽  
Gessese Nigusse ◽  
Zenawi Nigussie ◽  
Belihu Zenebe
Keyword(s):  
Primary Schools ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
English Language ◽  
Writing Skills ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Writing Performance ◽  
English Classes ◽  
English Language Teachers ◽  
Language Instructors ◽  
Instruction And Learning

The purpose of this study was to determine the variables affecting the implementation of writing skills instruction and learning in grades 7 and 8 in North Shoa Zone Second Cycle Primary schools. The study's primary purpose was to determine the difficulties encountered by English language instructors and students while teaching and learning to write in English classes. The research included the participation of 25 English language instructors and 1484 pupils from 14 Second Cycle Primary Schools. A questionnaire and an interview were used to obtain the required data. Questionnaires were completed by instructors and students, and English language teachers were interviewed. The questionnaire data was tallied and examined statistically in terms of frequency and percentage. Similarly, interview data were categorized and qualitatively characterized. The investigation revealed that the majority of instructors and students struggle with teaching and learning writing skills. Additionally, although both English instructors and students believe they are engaging in writing activities in the classroom, the students' writing performance is not as promising as shown by open-ended questions and comments from English language teachers interviewed. Several key suggestions are made in light of the results of this research in order to mitigate the issues that impede the efficient implementation of writing instruction and learning in second cycle primary schools. The primary recommendation is to offer enough training for English language instructors on how to teach writing skills, which will then be conveyed to students in order for them to enhance their writing performance.

scholarly journals Criteria of Ideal English Language Teachers as Perceived by Secondary and Tertiary Indonesian Students

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nur Salam ◽  
◽  
Aulia Nourma Putri ◽  
Tundung Subali Patima ◽  
Azmi Abdul Latiff ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Language Proficiency ◽  
English Language ◽  
English Education ◽  
Classroom Interaction ◽  
English Teachers ◽  
English Language Proficiency ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Research Technology ◽  
English Language Teachers ◽  
The Republic

This study presents English teachers' professional, personality, social, leadership, and classroom interaction attributes which senior high school and university students expect from their English teachers. By knowing those attributes, English teachers are expected to be able to help their students attain better English language proficiency. For the investigation, five sets of questions were distributed in order to find out the respondents’ favourite English teachers attributes. The respondents consisted of senior students of three high schools and undergraduates of three universities who had high, mediocre and low English language proficiency. The results show that the students' levels of education and English language proficiency influence the students' perceptions on their English teachers' attributes. This study suggests that English teachers recognize the attributes that their students highly expect from them. It is suggested that English teacher training institutions should conduct more professional English language and language teaching trainings that help teachers to develop the attributes. It is also suggested that the Ministry of Research, Technology and Higher Education of the Republic of Indonesia to monitor and evaluate universities and institutions which establish English Education Departments.

scholarly journals Code-switching in English Language Education: Voices from Vietnam

2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (7) ◽  
pp. 1333 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nhan Trong Nguyen ◽  
Peter Grainger ◽  
Michael Carey
Keyword(s):  
Group Dynamics ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
English Language ◽  
Language Education ◽  
Code Switching ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
English Only ◽  
Teachers And Students ◽  
Language Classrooms ◽  
English Competence

Why do bilingual language teachers and students switch between the two languages in their language classrooms? On the evidence of current research findings in relation to English-Vietnamese code-switching in the educational contexts of Vietnam, this article identifies that classroom code-switching between the second language and the first language has its own pedagogic functions and it can be a valuable language classroom resource to both teachers and learners. In Vietnam, the implementation of the monolingual approach of teaching English-through-English-only faces many challenges such as inadequate classroom resources, students’ low levels of English competence, motivation and autonomy, teachers’ limited English abilities, and inappropriate teaching methods. Many Vietnamese teachers of English support code-switching in the classroom and they teach English through the bilingual approach. English-Vietnamese code-switching is reported not to be a restriction on the acquisition of English; rather, it can facilitate the teaching and learning of general English in Vietnam. This practice of code-switching is not just due to a lack of sufficient proficiency to maintain a conversation in English; rather, it serves a number of pedagogic functions such as explaining new words and grammatical rules, giving feedback, checking comprehension, making comparison between English and Vietnamese, establishing good rapport between teachers and students, creating a friendly classroom atmosphere and supporting group dynamics.

scholarly journals Professional subjectivities in ELT & the dichotomy inclusion-exclusion

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennyfer Paola Casas Trujillo
Keyword(s):  
Short Story ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
English Language ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Language Education ◽  
School Experiences ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Narrative Perspective ◽  
English Language Teachers

AbstractMost Education systems propose policies in pro of the benefit of society. However, successful application of these is unknown in consequence considering teachers voices is needed to understand the situations in the classroom. This study analyzes some English language teachers’ stories that served the purpose to construct themselves as professionals of language education facing the dichotomy of inclusion and exclusion placed by the mandates of the Colombian education system. The theme of Language Teacher Subjectivities, in this article, is conceptualized and discussed as the alternative’s teachers have within their reach to use their own theories regarding language teaching and learning. Reflecting retrospectively and prospectively on meaningful school experiences related to the language teaching activity to tackle the dichotomy, the research question that guided this study was: What do language teachers’ narratives portray about their professional subjectivities in relation to inclusion? From a narrative perspective, narrative interviews and a professional life history timeline was analyzed using short story analysis focusing on when, when and who as meaningful in the data and finding that the participants comply with the multidimensional view of the subject. The narratives depicted that the corporal dimension, social-affective dimension, cognitive dimension, and ethic-moral dimension are part of the teachers’ professional subjectivities in the frame of Colombian inclusion policy.

An Analysis of Language Teachers’ Beliefs in Their Teaching Learning Process

2015 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 18-30
Author(s):  
Dini Handiani
Keyword(s):  
Learning Process ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
English Language ◽  
Language Education ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Self Reflection ◽  
Language Pedagogy ◽  
Knowledge And Beliefs ◽  
English Language Teachers ◽  
Teaching Learning

Language teachers play a very important part in language education and learning. What they do in classroom is a reflection of what they know and believe about issues related to their professional practices. Their knowledge and beliefs provide them with the underlying framework guiding their teaching learning process related to the content, approach, and evaluation of teaching and learning. The objective of this paper, therefore, was to examine the beliefs of language techers in teaching learning process. Based on the discussions and conclusions, it is recommended that the English language teachers  need to have clear  beliefs about their teaching learning process, and be very much willing to improve the language pedagogy through self-reflection/self-study. Key words: teaching learning process, beliefs

scholarly journals The Effect of English Language Proficiency Level on Undergraduate Libyan Students’ Use of Subject Verb Agreement

2021 ◽  
pp. 79-98
Author(s):  
Eman A. Elmejie Elmejie ◽  
Fatima M. Elzawawi ◽  
Amel M. Msimeer
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
English Language ◽  
Teaching Practice ◽  
English Language Proficiency ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Verb Agreement ◽  
Proficiency Level ◽  
Third Person

This study aims to examine the proficiency level of Libyan EFL (English as a Foreign Language) undergraduate students in terms of the types of subject-verb agreement errors they commit. It also attempts to identify, analyze and categorize the frequency errors related to subject-verb agreement into three categories. These errors are statically analyzed and classified into: subject-verb agreement (SVA) errors with third person singular subjects (TPSS), with third person plural subjects (TPPS), with compound subjects (CS). The participants of this study were 40 intermediate and advanced students whose major is English at the Faculty of Arts in Misurata University, Libya. They were chosen based on their level of English language proficiency during the current study. The data of this study were collected through a written test consisting of six short passages. The results showed that the percentage of errors made by both groups was below 30% which refers to non-significant differences among the two groups with respect to the SVA errors made by them. Consequently, it can be concluded that language proficiency has little effect on the participants' use of the SVA rule. It was also found that subject-verb agreement errors with (TPPS) were the least frequent, and the most common errors committed were (CS) and (TPSS). This study is important for EFL teachers to be aware of the subject verb agreement errors that their target learners commonly produce. The implications for SLA research and classroom teaching practice are given for foreign language teachers and researchers.

scholarly journals Exploring ESL Teachers’ Insights on Corrective Oral Feedback in a Malaysian Secondary Education Context

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (9) ◽  
pp. 504-512
Author(s):  
Izzuddin Mohd Fadzil ◽  
Nur Ehsan Mohd Said
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
English Language ◽  
Case Study Research ◽  
English Teachers ◽  
Structured Interview ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Oral Feedback ◽  
English Language Teachers

Feedback is one of the most significant elements in the process of teaching and learning. It serves as a tool to enhance students’ second language proficiency. Thus, the purpose of this study is to investigate how oral feedback is viewed and how it has been maneuvered to assist second language learner’s linguistic competence from the viewpoint of English teachers. Teachers’ perception of feedback is very important because it will determine the amount of feedback used in the process of teaching and learning. This is a qualitative study employing case study research design. It was conducted to 10 English language teachers from secondary schools in Malaysia The instrument used in this study was a semi-structured interview. Data collected from the interview were analyzed using thematic analysis. Several themes have been found during data analysis such as feedback as tool for motivation, oral feedback and learning from mistakes, students’ acceptance of teachers’ oral feedback and feedback as a medium to develop language proficiency. The result indicated that English teachers in Malaysia generally showed positive perception of oral feedback. Furthermore, teachers also reported to have noticed improvement in students’ language competence by listening to teachers’ feedback. Therefore, appropriate measure should be taken to ensure that teachers can provide effective oral feedback during teaching and learning.

scholarly journals The use of reflective practice towards achieving effective English language teaching at primary schools

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 364
Author(s):  
Siti Noor Aneeis Hashim ◽  
Nurahimah Mohd Yusoff
Keyword(s):  
Reflective Practice ◽  
Learning Process ◽  
Primary Schools ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
English Language ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
English Language Teachers

<span>The purpose of this study was to explore the use of reflective practice by English language teachers in providing effective English language teaching in primary school classrooms. This qualitative case study involving six in-service English language teachers who were selected based on purposive sampling. The data in this study were collected using teachers’ reflection logs and a series of semi-structured interviews with the English language teachers. Thematic analysis was used to identify emerging themes based on the codes gathered from the interviews and teachers’ reflections logs. The results showed that the English language teachers used reflective practice erstwhile in preparing and providing effective English language teaching for the students. They reviewed what has been accomplished and identify constructive guidelines to follow to succeed in the future teaching. They have also been doing variations of changes in teaching based on reflecting on the quality of instruction, levels of instruction, using incentive to motivate the students and managing time equally in teaching and learning process to help the children in learning English language. Since there is no clear guideline for teachers who use reflective practice in their classes, this study provided some insights on the preparations and the use of reflective practice as part of their teaching and learning process.</span>

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