UNIVERSIDAD TÉCNICA PARTICULAR DE LOJA
La Universidad Católica de Loja
AREA SOCIOHUMANISTICA
TÍTULO DE LICENCIADO EN CIENCIAS DE LA EDUCACIÓN
MENCIÓN INGLES
Factors that affect the English language teaching-learning process in
Ecuadorian public high schools.
TRABAJO DE TITULACIÓN.
AUTOR: Vázquez Ortíz, Wazhington Oswaldo
DIRECTORA: Benítez Correa, Carmen Delia, Dra.
CENTRO UNIVERSITARIO AZOGUES
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ii
APROBACIÓN DEL DIRECTOR DEL TRABAJO DE TITULACIÓN
Doctora.
Carmen Delia Benítez Correa.
DOCENTE DE LA TITULACIÓN
De mi consideración:
El presente trabajo de titulación: Factors that affect the English language
teaching-learning process in Ecuadorian public high schools, realizado por Vázquez
Ortíz Wazhington Oswaldo, ha sido orientado y revisado durante su ejecución, por
cuanto se aprueba la presentación del mismo.
Loja, Noviembredel 2015
iii
DECLARACION DE AUTORIA Y CESIÓN DE DERECHOS
“Yo, Vázquez Ortíz Wazhington Oswaldo declaro ser autor(a) del presente
trabajo de titulación: Factors that affect the English language teaching-learning process
in Ecuadorian public high schools de la Titulación de Ciencias de la Educación mención
Ingles, siendo la Dra. Carmen Delia Benítez Correa director (a) del presente trabajo; y
eximo expresamente a la Universidad Técnica Particular de Loja y a sus representantes
legales de posibles reclamos o acciones legales. Además certifico que las ideas,
conceptos, procedimiento y resultados vertidos en el presente trabajo investigativo, son
de mi exclusiva responsabilidad.
Adicionalmente declaro conocer y aceptar la disposición del Art. 88 del Estatuto
Orgánico de la Universidad Técnica Particular de Loja que en su parte pertinente
textualmente dice: “Forman parte del patrimonio de la Universidad la propiedad
intelectual de investigaciones, trabajos científicos o técnicos y tesis de grado que se
realicen a través, o con el apoyo financiero, académico o institucional (operativo) de la
Universidad”.
f. ...
iv
DEDICATION
I dedicate this research to my parents and specially
to my mother, Dra. Lucrecia Ortíz for her support and knowledge,
to my father , Oswaldo Vázquez S., for his motivation,
v
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The process to complete this investigation was hard and sacrificed, but with the
guidance and support of my teacher advisor, Dr. Carmen Benitez Correa, this research
was finished in the best way. I recognize her work and dedication in order to give me all
the academic assistance needed and make of this research a good source for future
vi CONTENTS
APROBACIÓN DEL DIRECTOR DEL TRABAJO DE TITULACIÓN... ... ... ii
DECLARACION DE AUTORIA Y CESIÓN DE DERECHOS ... iii
DEDICATION ... iv
ACKNOWLEDGMENT ... v
CONTENTS ... vi
ABSTRACT ... 1
RESUMEN ... 2
INTRODUCTION ... 3
METHOD ... 5
DISCUSSION ... 7
Literature Review ... 7
Description, Analysis, and Interpretation of Results... 20
Conclusions ... 49
Recommendations ... 50
REFERENCES ... 51
1
ABSTRACT
This research work intends to explain the factors that affect the English language
teaching-learning process in public high schools in the city of Azogues, Ecuador; the
study was done in five different high schools.
To gather the data, a questionnaire of 20 questions was applied to English
teachers. It contained questions related to the level of education, teaching methods,
types of classroom activities among others. In order to corroborate the data, an
observation format was used for registering class observations; teachers were also
interviewed. Additionally, a student from each class was questioned. Finally, the results
were processed, analyzed, and discussed quantitatively and qualitatively.
After the results were analyzed, it was noticed that one of the factors affecting
the teaching- learning process is the lack of motivation of students, and the low
attraction to the English language learning. The number of students is also another
factor that affects the quality of English in the language teaching learning process.
2
RESUMEN
Este trabajo de investigación está dirigido a explicar los factores que afectan el
proceso de enseñanza-aprendizaje del idioma Inglés en las instituciones secundarias
públicas de la ciudad de Azogues; el estudio se realizó en cinco diferentes instituciones
secundarias.
Para recopilar los datos, se aplicó un cuestionario de 20 preguntas a los
profesores de inglés. Los cuestionarios contienen preguntas relacionadas con el nivel de
educación, métodos de enseñanza, tipos de actividades en el aula, entre otros. Con el fin
de corroborar los datos, se utilizó un formato de observación para registrar la
información de las observaciones de clase. Además se entrevistó a los maestros acerca
de esto. Un estudiante de cada clase también fue entrevistado. Por último, los datos
fueron procesados y luego analizados y discutidos cuantitativa y cualitativamente.
Después de analizados los resultados se observó que uno de los factores que
afecta el proceso de enseñanza-aprendizaje es la falta de motivación y la baja atracción
al aprendizaje del idioma Inglés. El número de estudiantes es otro factor que afecta la
calidad de la enseñanza del Inglés en el proceso de enseñanza-aprendizaje de Idiomas.
3
INTRODUCTION
Nowadays, professionals and students with a high academic level of the English
language are required because English is one of the most spoken languages in the world
and so many of the researches in any subject are conducted in this language. However,
the importance of English has not been taken into a great consideration during the last
century in Ecuador; for this reason the level of English in most students from public
institutions is very low.
Due to its importance, English teaching needs professionals who can contribute
to the correct learning of the language. English teachers need sufficient knowledge to
understand the language and communicate accurately in order to students do not leave
their high schools with little or no English knowledge. This problem was been observed
for many years, to restricting the professional goals of students, because they cannot get
international scholarships, apply for immersion programs, etc., due to their low level of
English.
That is the reason why I decided to research on the topic “Factors that affect the
English language teaching-learning process in Ecuadorian public high schools.” with
the objective of determining teachers’ instructional competence, identify the
characteristics of in-service English teachers and find out the classroom conditions in
which English lessons take place
The present research will aim to find the causes that affect the teaching-learning
process. There are some other research’s conducted with the same objective. One of
them is the one interesting research was done by Khamkhien in 2010 which purpose
was to determine how gender, motivation and experience in studying English affect the
4
the pattern of language learning strategy used by Thai and Vietnamese students. This
research presented some limitations like the small group of students taken into
consideration for the study, the different nationalities and the weakness of the technique
used to find language learning strategies.
Another study is the one done by Robertson P., who in 2011 conducted a
research in Japanese and Korean secondary schools which explored teachers’
competence in the target language and in language teaching, cultural and personal traits,
teaching styles, and the classroom atmosphere the teachers establish. This study was
limited because only two schools were analyzed and it does not give enough data to
generalize to other schools.
Finally, Aduwa-Ogiegbaen in 2006, examined the factors responsible for the
poor quality of the teaching of English as a second language in public secondary
schools in Nigeria. The study indicated that a serious disconnection exists between
university training and the needs of the labor market. It has been socially costly to the
country.
This study is a contribution to all the people related to the teaching of English
language in our country. For instance, educational institutions are benefited from this
research because they can correct teaching problems through specific factors identified
like the adequate choice and monitoring of teachers’ performance. It also helps teachers
because they can take advantage of this investigation to correct mistakes in their
5
METHOD
Setting and Participants
For this investigation process, five public high schools of Azogues city were
chosen. The participants were fifteen teachers from three different courses in every high
school. These teachers were surveyed and observed during their classes. Moreover, one
student from each classroom was surveyed to verify the data
Procedures
At the beginning, it was necessary to provide scientific information related to the
researched topic in order to have a background knowledge about what authors have
found about it. Different information from books, journals, electronic books, and
newspapers was selected and then included in the “Literature review”.
The instruments used in the study field were four: the teacher´s questionnaire
which consisted on twenty questions which included questions about factors concerning
students, teachers, classrooms and educational institution; the observation sheets, which
were completed through observation in the classroom in order to confirm the
information given by the teachers; the students` questionnaire which included fourteen
questions, this instrument was completed by one of the students from each observed
classroom. There was also an interview for teachers; this instrument was administered
in order to know the teachers` language proficiency. The methodology used in this
research was quantitative and qualitative.
All data was tabulated and showed into twenty graphs. In factors concerning
teachers (graph 1 to 8), aspects like level of education, language proficiency, teaching
methods and techniques, percentage of the English language used in class, lesson design
and managing learning were considered. In the same way, in factors concerning
6
level. For the factors concerning classrooms (graph 12 to 18) aspects like class size,
classroom space, seating arrangement and, classroom and teaching resources were
considered. For the last factor, concerning educational institution (graph 19 to 20),
aspects like class observation and lesson design monitoring were taken in to
consideration.
Qualitative analysis was also done, it means that all the information was
analyzed, discussed and interpreted. All the analysis was supported with the information
from observation sheets, students´ questionnaires´ responses and teachers´ interviews
7
DISCUSSION
Literature Review
Nowadays English is spoken in every part of the world being an international
language and the most popular and most spoken language in the technology world. We
need to know English in order to study any science subject. English also constitutes the
language of globalization, for instance throughout the world, when people with different
languages come together they commonly use English to communicate. That is why at
the moment the Ecuadorian Government is interested on improving the teaching quality
in our high schools. One of the actions taken in this regard is the offering of
scholarships.
In this theoretical support section, information like the teaching approaches, the
teaching techniques, some studies conducted in other countries, etc. will be developed
which will allow us to understand the research field.
Teaching Methods and Approaches
I start by mentioning the Total Physical Response method, characterized by the
teaching of language through the application of physical activities for a correct learning
of the language. The main goal is to keep students’ amusement when they are learning
(Larsen and Freeman, 2003). Additionally, according to the necessity of learners,
specific instructional objectives will be given (Richard & Rodgers, 2010).
Among the activities given when using this method of following directions
would be reenacting stories, accompanying songs with actions, and drawing pictures in
response to teacher directions (Gordon, 2007).
Another important method is the Audio-lingual which Pla, Vila, Ribé, and Vidal
8
“This method involves the oral practice of the language through
exercises given by the teacher and the repetition of these. The
teacher also rectifies errors made by the student. Consequently the
constancy creates a linguistic habit that facilitates the learning of
the language.” (p.17)
The main characteristic of this method is the introduction of new vocabulary and
grammar in dialogues that are practiced through imitation and repetition (Larsen &
Freeman 2003). In addition to that, the audio-lingual method contains phonetic,
morphological and syntax elements of the language which are developed throughout the
pronunciation of syllables (Rodgers and Richards, 2010).
The next method I would like to explain is Grammar Translation. This method
emphasizes the teaching of grammar and its rules. The purpose is gotten by analyzing
the grammar rules and then applying them to translation exercises. In the various
exercises applied with this method, it takes a lot of importance the accuracy of them
(Geetha Nagaraj, 2005).Additionally, the aim of this method is mainly to be able to read
literature. It is through reading that we get to know the target language grammar.
Therefore reading writing are the major focuses (Larsen & Freeman, 2003).
On the other hand, Grammar Translation Method has an advantage for the
teacher, according to Mukalel, J. (2007, pag 56): “The grammar-translation method
does not expect the teacher to be highly resourceful. Any average teacher can teach
through the grammar-translation method”.
Another important and frequently used approach is Task-Based Language
Teaching. It has theoretical foundations. Long and Doughty, (2011) stated:
Task based language teaching (TBLT) is an approach to
9
theoretical and empirical foundations for good pedagogy with
a focus on tangible learning outcomes in the form of “tasks”,
that is, what learners are able to do with the language. (p.
192)
In Task-Based Language Teaching the empiric is the basis of second language
learning. This means that learning growth consists on different sequences of tasks but
based on practical activities. It is learning by doing rather than in a passive form of
acquisition (Nunan, 2004). In addition to that, activities must involve real
communication because these are essential for language teaching (Richards & Rodgers,
2010).
The next Approach to be described is Cooperative Language Learning, Richard
and Rodgers (2010) indicate that it is also called Collaborative Learning and it is mainly
based on cooperative activities to learn the target language. Normally, these activities
involve pair and small groups work in the classroom and when students work in pairs,
the student may be placed in the role of both instructor and tutored (Arnold J. 1999).
While some authors state that this approach is very beneficial for all students,
others believe that this approach only benefits the most deficient students (Arnold J.
1999). However, other of the many benefits of Cooperative Language Learning is to
create learning experiences that will develop genuine fluency of the target language
(Norland & Terry, 2006).
The next approach to be presented is The Natural Approach also called “Natural
Way”. According to Richards and Rodgers (2010), The Natural Approach consists two
distinctive ways of learning; the first one is by developing the acquisition naturally
parallel to the native language; the second one is learning by contrast, it is the
10
Coady and Huckin (1997) said: “grammatical structures tend to be naturally
acquired in a somewhat predictable order without artificial sequencing of input” (p. 15).
This has relation with what Nunan (2004) says in the Natural Approach that learning of
vocabulary is crucial no grammar.
Finally, the last approach to be described is Content –Based Instruction.
According to Richards & Rodgers (2010, p. 204) “it refers to an approach to second
language teaching in which teaching is organized around the content or information that
students will acquire, rather than around a linguistic or other type of syllabus”. To
reference about this content or information, Nunan (2004, p. 131) said “content may
come from other subjects on the school curriculum, such as science, history,
environmental studies, or it might be generated from an analysis of students’ interests”.
Then, this approach encourages students not only to learn the target language in class,
but also to motivate the study outside of the classroom. (Stryker and Leaver1997).
Teaching Techniques
Teaching techniques are different activities that the teacher uses to teach the
second language. These can be manipulated by the teacher according to the type of
method used (Mukalel, 1998). Regarding the techniques to be used in class, Claxton
(2008) states the most noted methodologies incorporate techniques such as: Debate-
Discussion, which is an educational form contest of argumentation between two teams
during which one team supports, while the other team opposes a given proposition; Role
play, it is a technique in which the student acts in a scenario taking different roles of
social life for educational purposes; and Simulation, this technique emphasizes the big
picture of experiencing group processes rather than focusing on the playing of an
11
questioning which is used frequently in some approaches. Questioning is a natural
technique that creates an effective interaction (Mukalel, 1998).
Managing Learning
An important component of Managing learning in classroom is the instructions
and language used by the teachers. According to Spratt, Pulverness &Willians (2005),
clear instructions benefits to the adequate students´ task performance; and the language
used by the teachers will depend of the age, proficiency level of students, and level of
formality required.
Another important component in Managing learning is feedback because it helps
clarify the performance of some factors such as goals, criteria, and expected standards.
Feedback also delivers high quality information to students about their learning,
provides information to teachers that can be used to help the teaching, and encourages
positive motivational beliefs (Bryan & Clegg, 2006).
Equally important is managing classroom time to appropriately fulfill the lesson
class. It deals with the time assigned to tasks and their transitions during the lesson. A
teacher needs to know the estimating time each task will take, and be prepared to find
out potential delays and problems of planning is important to the teacher’s success
(Konza, Grainger & Bradshaw, 2001).
Lesson Design
Dionisio and Feliciano (1993) state that the purposes of a lesson plan are two:
First, it should give the teacher a comprehension of the main
objectives which a subject or course of study seeks to realize.
Second, it should furnish a working basis for the specific
12
It is necessary to know that a lesson plan is a detailed guide for teaching a
lesson. It is a step by step guide that outlines the teacher's objectives for what the
students will accomplish that day.
Gower, Phillips & Walters (2005) said that a Lesson Plan is a vital component
of the teaching-learning process because proper classroom planning will keep teachers
organized and on track while teaching, thus allowing them to teach more, helps
students reach objectives more easily and manage less.
Equally, Gower, Phillips & Walters (2005) point out it is necessary to know
the parts in the construction of a lesson plan, these are: preplanning, preparatory study,
diagnostic testing, assessing test results, assembling the lesson plan, implementation
and feedback.
Class Size
In education, one of the most important factors is classroom size which is the
number of students in the classroom. It is necessary to know some benefits of teaching
with small, medium and large groups of students as detailed below.
According to Hayes (2006), common sense shows to be very beneficial for
students to learn in small groups, because teachers have more time to spend on each
group. Also there is higher teacher-pupil interaction and students have more
extracurricular activities and attendance; on the contrary, the same author says that “the
positive effects of small classes diminish if teachers persist in using instructional
methods and formal classroom procedures that are more suited to larger, whole-class
teaching styles”(p. 36).
On the other hand, large classes can be problematic while teaching but it does
not necessarily may affect the quality of the teaching-learning process Byram, (2000).
13
phonics, fluency (Evertson &Veinstein, 2006). Additionally, large classes can present
an opportunity for teachers to improve their skills, and students can learn from each
other (Byram, 2000).
Classroom Space
Frequently the teacher does not decide about classroom space and the number of
students in class therefore it is necessary to organize in the best way all the objects
within the physical space (Savage & Savage, 2010). In certain cases, a small physical
space with regard to the number of students can affect the attitudes and behavior of
students for example increasing dissatisfaction, aggression and decreasing attentiveness.
(Weinstein as cited McLeod, Fisher & Hoover, 2003). In the same way, according to
Williams, (2009), little classroom space with a large number of students can cause stress
if it is not correctly managed; on the other hand, large classroom space with few
students creates many empty spaces and the students does not feel cramped and can
spread out if they feel the need
Seating Arrangement
The arrangement of the student’s desks depends on the type of the classroom. It
should not be permanent (Partin, 2009). In fact, seating arrangement will depend on
class size and the number of students, and it can be determined by students’ attitude to
each other and to the teacher, teacher attitude to them, how students interact, and the
types of activity students can do (Gower, Phillips and Walters, 2005). Below is some
type of seating arrangement for different class-work.
According to Mansuroglua (2009), there are different types of seating
arrangements such as: the standard and most known in the classrooms of educational
institutions where students are placed in rows and focused especially on the front of the
14
when teachers need all the students to be focused on a particular task on the board.
Another is the semi-circle, which is beneficial for different activities such as audiovisual
exercises or particular tasks; it is less teacher-centered, so it provides lots of student
interaction. Lastly, the circle is composed of groups of three or more students, and helps
a lot to students with fear of making mistakes; it is beneficial because group work is a
cooperative learning experience where students learn from another.
Classroom and Teaching Resources
There are some teaching resources that facilitate the learning of language. For
Hyland, (2006) teaching resources are predominantly paper-based, but these can also
include audio and visual aids, computer-mediated resources, real objects or
performance. These kinds of resources can be classified for example, in visual aids
including real objects, pictures, photographs, and the over-head projector; audio aids
including cassette recorders; and audio-visuals like videos and the computer (Gower,
Phillips and Walters, 2005). In addition, paper-based resources may include a
dictionary, a textbook, etc. (Woodward, 2001).
Classroom Observation
Frequently, educative institution must be monitoring the work performed by
teachers and students, which is activities like the fulfillment of the curriculum,
pedagogy, and materials or equipment used. This monitoring will assist in the
learning-teaching process and will improve the quality of education in each institution; hence
classroom observation is a tool used to it (Mayer, Mullens & Moore, 2010).
Some specific aspects are analyzed in classroom observation like the language a
teacher uses to ask questions, how the teacher monitors learning and how people
interact in a lesson (Wajnryb, 1992). Nowadays classroom observation also includes the
15
On the other hand, classroom observation has disadvantages as well, for example
the presence of an observer will affect the normal behavior of the teacher in classroom
through increasing caution or nervous (Campbell, 2004).
Students’ Motivation
First of all it is necessary to recognize that teachers are interested in a particular
kind of motivation, which is the student’s motivation to learn. In 1992, Inga and Jara
define motivation as the set of forces that propel individuals to achieve a goal,
determining their behavior and conduct; likewise, it responds a vital need of people (p.
63). Motivation may be intrinsic, when the students like to study and know the benefits
of learning a second language; extrinsic, when the student only studies to get a reward
for example a professional title (Richards & Renandya, 2002).To conclude Lightbown
and Spada, (2006) said that it is important for the student to stay motivated because he
or she will get adequate learning and an adequate academic level. Teachers must
contribute to students' motivation by planning interesting and amusing classes.
Learning Styles
Each student possess specific talents and skills for learning, so it is necessary to
know the different learning styles. In 2001, Gass & Selinker defined the term learning
style as: “the preferences that an individual has of obtaining, processing, and retaining
information” (p. 432). This means that people have different leaning styles that work
best for them when they are learning the second language.
Once learning styles have been defined, it is necessary to refer to the types of
learning styles. According to Taylor, 2003 learning styles may be classified into the
following groups: cognitive, affective and physiological. Cognitive style refers to an
16
refers to how students’ personality affects their learning; and the physiological style
refers to the interaction between the senses and the environment.
Specific details about these three groups are given by Candlin & Mercer, 2001. Within
cognitive learning there are field independent and field dependent learners: these refer
to whether an individual tends to separate details from the general background or to see
things more holistically correspondingly.” (p. 35) Physiological style students are the
students that need to add an action for an adequate learning process, these are called
kinesthetic learners; they learn better when they are totally involved in an activity.
Finally, affective style is based on the individual´s temperament or personality
characteristics such as motivation, curiosity, persistence, anxiety, risk taking, and
personal interests.
Students Intelligence or Aptitude to Learn English
It is necessary to make a difference between intelligence and aptitude.
Intelligence establishes for instance that a student that can be successful in tests such as
grammar, vocabulary, reading, but not necessarily in speech. Aptitude constitutes the
quickly learning of the target language. Students can also have success in learning the
target language through perseverance. (Lightbown & Spada, 2006).
Aptitude for learning a language is also called "gift for language" which may
depend on various factors such as students’ intelligence, motivation to master the
language, as well as tools and scientific methods of study (Rosenthal, 1996).
Additionally, Carroll and Stanley (as cited in Littlewood, 1984) said that there are some
abilities which form part of language aptitude; these are the ability to identify and
remember sounds, to memorize words, to recognize how words function grammatically
17
gift is helpful to acquire a new language but it is not always necessarily relevant
(Rosenthal, 1996).
It is important to examine the results of studies done in different countries about
the factors that affect the quality of the teaching and learning of the English language.
Some of these are put below.
The first study selected was conducted in 2007 by NaZ. The goal was to
determine the level of anxiety in high school English learning students’ in Chinese EFL
(English as a Foreign Language) classrooms. This study surveyed and analyzed 115
students from a high school in Shandong Province, China. It was found that most
students experienced anxiety in classrooms, especially the fear of negative evaluation,
and that this anxiety affects the level in language learning, especially anxiety about tests
and English classes which means that the students weren’t comfortable with the
teacher’s methodology.
Another research was carried out by Khamkhien, (2010) whose purpose was to
determine how gender, motivation and experience in studying English affect the choices
of language learning strategies and also to compare the roles of these factors and the
pattern of language learning strategy used in Thai and Vietnamese students. This study
was conducted in two public universities in Thailand and Vietnam. The participants
were 84 Thai EFL and 52 Vietnamese students. Two groups of university students were
chosen from two public universities in Thailand and Vietnam. They had to fulfill four
main criteria to be qualified for the study. The analysis revealed that amongst these
three factors, motivation is the most significant factor affecting the choice of the
strategies, followed by experience in studying English, and gender, respectively
In 2012, Vala and Bamba conducted a research to determine factors affecting
18
This study analyzed 100 teachers in five districts in India, and the main instrument used
for this study was a teachers’ opinionnaire about the education system, methods of
teaching used by them and socio-cultural factors affecting the teaching learning
environment. The study found out that the low level of English reading ability in
Haryana is due to lack of English-speaking and listening environment, frequent change
of government policy in education, lack of language labs and lack of scientific approach
in teaching English.
Another study was conducted by Masataka (2011), it explored Secondary EFL
Students’ Perceptions of Native and Nonnative English-Speaking Teachers in Japan and
Korea, concerning their competence in the target language and in language teaching,
cultural and personal traits, teaching styles, and the classroom atmosphere the teachers
establish. The study examined 268 eighth and ninth graders in two middle schools, one
in Japan and the other in Korea. For the present study, it was developed a student
questionnaire to examine their perceptions of NESTs and NNESTs, concerning each
group‘s strengths and weaknesses, with multiple choices. The research represents a
collective case study and therefore can only suggest trends through comparing and
contrasting student responses.
Some anomalies were found when it came to personal aspects and competence
in teaching language skills. It is presented that students' perceptions about NESTs and
NNESTs are situational, and contextual particularities and strengths and/or weaknesses
of all teachers need to be understood on an individual basis rather than assumed as
characteristic of any group of teachers.
Finally, the last study carried out by Ogiegbaen A. (2012) examined the factors
responsible for the poor quality of the teaching and learning of English secondary
19
students through the six geopolitical zones. The main instruments used for this study
were questionnaires and observation sheets. Questionnaires were designed which
solicited students responses on teaching strategies, instructional resources media used
by the teachers and the teaching learning environment. Results revealed that
secondary schools in Nigeria should be provided with adequate and a variety of
instructional media. If teachers in public secondary schools in Nigeria assumed new
roles and used new technology –supported instructional tools, they would become
familiar with a variety of instructional delivery methods rather than relying on
20
Description, Analysis, and Interpretation of Results
In order to know the classroom conditions in which English lessons take place,
the characteristics of in-service English teachers and the teachers’ instructional
competence, some graphs are presented bellow to show quantitative results of the four
variables collected during this study. The results are analyzed and discussed and further
support is given, using information from observation formats, students’ questionnaire
and notes.
Quantitative Analysis
Factors Concerning Teachers
Which level of Education do teachers have?
Author: Vazquez Oswaldo
Source: Teachers of Public High School in Azogues City.
For this question we have that 46% of 100% teachers who were surveyed have a
Master´s Degree in English, 27% have obtained an English Bachelor´s Degree, 7% of
them possess a High School Diploma and the other 20% have Diplomas in other fields.
7%
27%
46% 20%
Graph 1
High school diploma
English Bachelor´s Degree
English Master´s Degree
21
The data given above confirms that most of the teachers have a good knowledge
of English to facilitate or guide students to learn English as a foreign language and to
reach their students’ goals. Teachers holding a Master Degree in English and Education
have the advantage of having a wider knowledge in education in EFL teaching. The
results gathered through this research are satisfactory because most of the participants in
this educational and training paradigm are well prepared and have the right tools to
successfully meet students’ needs, thus effectively leading students into today’s world
of English in several relevant fields such as education, politics, science, technology and
medicine.
During the interview teachers who have not gotten a master degree yet, said that
they are very enthusiastic about reaching the next level of academic study as soon as
possible despite of the chaotic economic situation and the lack of time. In short, the
level of our English teachers has been improving every single day through their effort
and several English teachers programs that have been offered by many different
institutions such as: Embassies, Ministry of Education and Foreigner Universities,
whose main goal is to provide to the Ecuadorian English Teachers with the best
methods, techniques and extra class materials in order to improve their teaching.
On the other hand, some of the teachers who have received a High school
diploma or other degree that have nothing to do with teaching English, feel that having
a Master in English is worthless because some of them are elderly and they are about to
retire.
Finally, the rest of teachers who have a diploma in other fields such as:
engineering, architecture, accountant think that getting a Master in their major will give
them better opportunities in other areas than being English teachers; as a result they are
22
techniques. In brief, during my observation it was easy for me to see the great difference
among the classes led by someone who learned to be a teacher than the ones who did
not learn to be teachers. For instance, a well-managed and organized class full of
activities was always led by one of the teachers who did study to become an English
teacher; on the contrary, a boring and bossy class was most of the time led by one of the
teachers who did not study to be an English teacher.
Which of the following methods was used in this class?
Author: Vazquez Oswaldo
Source: Teachers of High School in Azogues City.
For this second question we have that 46, 67% of the teachers interviewed use
Communicative Language Teaching in their classes. A 33.33% say they use the
Grammar Translation method. Then in a small percentage, 13, 33 % of teacher use Total
Physical Response and 6, 67% of the teachers use Content-Based Language Teaching.
The other methods are not used by the teachers at all.
According to the surveys, teachers say they use Communicative Language
Teaching to teachEnglish since its techniques are designed to engage learners in the
13,33% 0% 33,33% 6,67% 46,67% 0,00 0,00
0,00 0,00
Graph 2
Communicative Language Teaching
The Natural Approach
Cooperative Language Learning
Content- Based Instruction
Task-Based Language Teaching
Cognitive Academic Language Learning
Total Physical Response
Whole Language Approach
Grammar Translation Method
23
pragmatic, authentic, functional use of language for meaningful purposes. They also
explained that this method permits them to do activities that involve real
communication to promote learning. Teachers know that with the use of this method
they guide the student’s acquisition of the English language while students are
communicators. They try to understand themselves and their classmates.
Following the principles of CLT and in order to create an authentic language in
the classroom, teachers use activities such as: role play, scramble sentences, pictures
strip story, dialogues and games.
Taking into account the results gathered through this research CLT is one of the
methods that is said to be used although the real content of the class is in Spanish,
which contradicts a little bit the results.
The next method reviewed was Grammar Translation, in which the grammatical
rules are explained and translated to the native language, as it has been observed in the
practice Grammar provides the rules for putting words together, and instruction often
focuses on the form and inflection of words by the using of readings and grammatical
explanation. Teachers are aware that this method gives students the opportunity to learn
a lot of vocabulary in the form of lists of isolated words.
Another method chosen by the teachers was the Total Physical Response.
According to Dr. James Asher (1977), people are biologically programmed for language
acquisition in a particular sequence: “a reasonable hypothesis is that the brain and
nervous system are biologically programmed to acquire language, either the first or
second, in a particular sequence and in a particular mode. The sequence is listening
before speaking and the mode is to synchronize language with the individual’s body.
It is clear that this method begins by giving students commands to do an activity.
24
what they have to do. So, during an observation class as the other ones for the different
methods, the students had to show the meaning of these two words STAND UP and SIT
DOWN to the class.
The last method was Content-Based Language which was observed through
topics explained in class such as: technology. James Brewster (1999) affirms that
Content- based language teaching is a version of bilingual education and
subject-teaching which simultaneously teaches the language required for school learning and
promotes thinking skills. For this reason, I can say that this method makes the
teaching-learning process more interesting and useful, because students want to and like to
practice their English in a better way.
The teachers also mentioned that they use other techniques and activities which
aim their students to acquire or improve their English language. They said that their
students learn better when they see a movie or listen to an English song. Learners are
encouraged to use the language through the new words or phrases that they learn from
movies and songs. Teachers also organize discussion groups about an interesting topic
for students and make group and pair work. During the observation, I could notice that
students practice reading, one of the students or from a certain group reads a paragraph
while the rest listening they finish reading they all discuss the topic in order to answer
the given question, Teachers’ mainly purpose was to allow students to support, help,
25
Do you use whole-group activities to teach your lesson?
Author: Vazquez Oswaldo
Source: Teachers of High School in Azogues City.
For this particular question we have that the 100% of the teachers said they use
whole group activities. Teachers and students talk over the subject of the lesson as
health, sports, foods, etc. In fact, when whole- group activities are used in class,
students will be allowed not only to learn or to create their knowledge as a whole group,
but also students will be allowed to share ideas, opinions, and feelings. Consequently,
students’ previous knowledge will be triggered, hence helping them to take decisions or
to do a work as a group.
Something importantobserved in the classes was that the teachers also did whole
class activities when they reminded last class contents. They used questions and
comments for all the students, which is important because recent researches have shown
that Whole Class activities, especially the ones that involve dialogues, link spoken
language with learning and cognitive development, (Richards & Rodgers, 2010).
Through using language and hearing how others use it, students become able to describe
the world, make sense of life’s experiences and get things by themselves. 100%
0%
Graph 3
Yes
26
In fact, it is relevant to say that whole-group interaction activities used during
these observation classes are the most appropriate option if you as a teacher want that
the use of Task-Based Language Teaching method to be successful as pointed out by
Richards & Rodgers, 2010.
Do you use individual activities to teach your lessons?
Author: Vazquez Oswaldo
Source: Teachers of High School in Azogues City.
According to the results, there are 11 teachers, which represent 73.33% of the
sample who say they use individual activities. On the other hand, 26.67% responded
negatively to this question.
The previous graph shows that 100% of the teachers used whole group activities;
nonetheless, graph 4 shows us that individual activities are also used in the
teaching-learning process.
Some of these activities include tasks in which the students practice grammar and
writing. It is important to mention that some of these classroom tasks are already
programmed in the books and the students have to do them individually.
Indeed, I think whether using whole group activities or individual activities it will
always depend of identifying the student`s needs, determine adjustments that need to be
73,33% 26,67%
Graph 4
Yes
27
made to the curriculum, the monitoring and evaluation. Thus, lesson plans are crucial in
order to give or provide students individual or group activities because every single
student is a unique person with his own desires, feelings, emotions, and goals. In fact,
this is one of the main reasons why multiple intelligences have to be taken into account
when individual activities are planned because students learn different things in
different ways. On the other hand, if you have a large number of students, it is important
use different kind of individual activities being one of this the called realia, as said in
the journal Zoni English System (2009) which suggest the practice of this because
teachers have closer contact with the students.
Do you use group work activities to teach your lessons?
Author: Vazquez Oswaldo
Source: Teachers of Public High School in Azogues City
According to the results shown in graph 5, teachers use different group activities
for their English classes and prepare individual activities, they include group work
activities for a better teaching – learning process, 100% of the teachers responded
positively to the use of group work activities in class. In fact, different class activities
100% 0%
Graph 5
Yes
28
are picked out based not only on the type of activities teachers want their students to do,
but also in the kind of task and evaluation in which the students are working on.
The use of group work activities is a good strategy if these are used at the right
time in the right way. Some of the good reasons for the usage of group work activities
are: students would have more speaking time, improve their speaking skills, cut down
on embarrassment, have fun, error correction, improve their fluency, and get to know
each other better, among others.
Do you use English most of the time in your classes?
Author: Vazquez Oswaldo
Source: Teachers of Public High School in Azogues City
An 80% of the teachers answered that they speak English most of the time in their
classrooms, while a 20% of them accepted they do not use it during the whole class.
These teachers manifested that they use English and Spanish in their classes in order to
make easier for students to understand and grab new words or information. They also
explained that the usage of English in their classrooms depends on several factors such
as: students’ level, lessons, tasks, and so on.
Using English in class is worthy if it can be done successfully and without too
much difficulty; nonetheless, there are some times when using the students’ own
80% 20%
Graph 6
Yes
29
language is the best option because an explanation in English could easily confuse our
students, especially when the word or phrase is unfamiliar to them.
According to Gower, Phillips& Walters, (2005) L2 learners, must first learn to
comprehend the spoken language they hear. Listening is regarded as a receptive skill, in
what the listener is receiving messages from the speaker. Additionally, they also said
the main resources receive by students come from the teacher who may use English as a
communicating skill for instructions. Hence, from the perspectives of language learning
and communicating in real language situation, it benefits students in learning English.
In brief, if spoken English is used most of the time in classes, it will give students more
practice in listening and responding in the target language, thus helping students pick up
words and expressions beyond the language of the book.
Do you plan your lessons?
Author: Vazquez Oswaldo
Source: Teachers of Public High School in Azogues City
For this question, a100% of the teachers said they plan organized lessons for their
classes. This was clearly noticed during the observation. They affirmed that
well-planned and done class plan was followed by them to guide students in their teaching –
learning process since a lesson plan allows the teachers to visualize every step of the
100% 0%
Graph 7
Yes
30
teaching process in advance. It is important to mention that the presentation of the
teachers of the classes that I observed, were well done. Teachers used different and
interesting activities to practice what they had explained. To sum up, when a lesson is
planned, teachers do not only have an order to follow, present, develop, and finish the
class, but also they make it more interesting and useful for the students. However, some
teachers do not write a plan; they come to classes without a lesson plan. They explained
that lesson plans demand much time and sometimes their lessons plans are not fulfilled
as they would want since there are other educational events that interrupt their classes.
Nevertheless, setting goals for each class and sharing them with the students will
provide a roadmap for them because when learning aims are clear for students, it makes
easy to distinguish among different types of knowledge, emphasis on important details,
balance their individuality learning with teachers’ guidance; as a result of it, students
will increase their ability to guide their own learning.
The information given in the former paragraphs totally agree with the advice
written by Woodward, (2001) who talks about the importance of having a correct and
accurate lesson plan considering the real situation of each teacher and the attitudes of
students in order to succeed in the teaching-learning process. This means that teachers
31
Do you consider aspects such as discipline, timing, feedback, and instruction to teach
your lessons?
Author: Vazquez Oswaldo
Source: Teachers of Public High School in Azogues City
Aspects such as: discipline, timing, feedback, and instructions are carefully
considered when teaching a lesson. This graph shows that the 100% of teachers
answered they consider the aspects mentioned above to teach their lessons. It was
noticeably observed because there was no sign of indiscipline by the students in spite of
the number of students that sometimes exceeded 30,in contrast, all of them were paying
attention to the teachers and to the classes. Gower, Phillips & Walters (2005) mention
the importance of keeping discipline by establishing rapport among motivating students,
giving feedback, trying to find areas of improvement in individual students´ work and
using proper timing during classes.
Most of the classes started by presenting the topic, then teachers make students to
practice, review the activities, and provide feedback. Time was well managed by most
of the teachers. However, some teachers did not have a good control of the time because
of their little experience in the teaching-learning process. With regards to the teachers’
100% 0%
Graph 8
Yes
32
instructions, they were clear and all the students’ doubts and questions were explained
again and again. In brief, when teachers consider aspects such as: discipline, timing,
feedback, and instructions, they make their classes more interesting and understandable
for the students. They create a good environment to facilitate the learning process to be
successful.
Factors Concerning Students
Do you consider students´ needs to teach English successfully?
Author: Vazquez Oswaldo
Source: Teachers of Public High School in Azogues City
For this particular question, we have that an 87% of the fifteen teachers consider
students´ needs when they teach English and only 2 of them, being the 13% do not see it
as an important factor.
During most of the observation time, it was easy to see how students’ needs
were carefully collected and analyzed in order to know which method or strategy would
work better for the lesson to be achieved successfully. In fact, teachers do their best in
order to teach the second language efficiently. When a new topic was about to be
taught, they spoke clearly and slowly to make it more understandable with the final
87% 13%
Graph 9
Yes
33
objective of making it useful to the students according to their needs. Indeed, teachers
used extra materials such as: flash cards, posters, gestures, miming, and so on.
Actually, motivating students to study English is perhaps the most difficult
challenge that a tutor faces in the teaching-learning process. Not all students in the
classroom are going to be motivated to study English because most of the time they
don’t feel like being in a classroom for many reasons. Some of the students think
English is not necessary. They also think English is a very difficult language to be
learned, or simply students do not want to learn it. Consequently, before thinking on
teaching, teachers have to meet student’s previous knowledge to see where and how to
start. In other words, meeting our student’s needs is crucial for our classes to be more
connected to what field or purpose English could be used not only in their present but
future life.
All the information above matches with what Candlin C., Mercer N., (2001) said
about the students’ styles that highlight the necessity of knowing each student’s
preferences.
Do you consider Students´ level to teach English successfully?
Author: Vazquez Oswaldo
Source: Teachers of Public High School in Azogues City
66,67% 33,33%
Graph 10
Yes
34
As shown in graph 10, 66.67% of the teachers said they consider students´ level
of English for teaching their class. However, a 33.33% of them did not consider
students’ level important for their classes. In other words, graph 10 shows that for some
teachers, students’ English level is significantly considered to teach English. What is
more, during the observation classes, most of the teachers lower their English level to
deliver what they want to teach to their students and they also make their students
practice their English. But there were some teachers who did not care about it. They just
taught what they had to teach in order to stick with the syllabus. It does not matter if
their students learn or not. That was the result, teachers spent too much time talking and
talking without letting students use English by creating a nice discussion about the
topic.
The key for a successful teaching and learning are: know ability levels;
backgrounds; interest levels; attention spans; ability to work together in groups; prior
knowledge; and learning experience. These are crucial in order to develop a plan that is
designed to meet the students’ needs and that is framed according to what is considered
the best practice in teaching and learning.
Even though teachers perform tests to measure continuously the students
learning, it is not so important to them because teachers have to fulfill with an annual
curriculum. Consequently, for some teachers it is not important the English level in the
students to teach them successfully. Additionally, some teachers said that students give
little importance to the English subject.
Some teachers also said that problems arose because of the variety of students’
level especially in the eighth year of basic education due to the primary schools where
they come from and in many cases they don’t have English in their class schedules.
35
The majority of the aspects discussed in the former paragraphs are taken into
consideration in the book written by Woodward, (2001), where there is important
information about evaluating students before starting a process so teachers can find the
different levels and weaknesses of each student.
Which is the level of your students?
Author: Vazquez Oswaldo
Source: Teachers of Public High School in Azogues City
According to the results for this question there is an 86.67% of teachers who
said that students have basic level of English and only 13.33% of the rest pointed out
that students have intermediate level.
This graph clearly shows that teachers recognize the low level of English
existing in the public high schools in Azogues city. It was identified through of the
observation made by the activities assigned to all the students in class such as: the use
of the present and past simple in their classroom tasks.
The new view of the language teaching and planning together with the new
English material given to the student for free, I think will help the students to improve
36
their level of English in the future. It is important also to read books like the one written
by Woodward T., (2001), which gives us advice on how to identify and work on
specific students’levels. On the other hand, some factors have affected students’
perceptions and thus their motivation to study the language, so without will and desire
to learn, it is difficult to achieve effective and fruitful learning.
Knowing students’ level is fundamental in order to fruitfully teach a language.
Woodward T., (2001) states that Language Aptitude refers to the capacity students have
for learning languages. This ability can be assessed by using formal aptitude tests,
which will help teachers predict the degree of success the student has with a new
language; what is more, the information gathered through them will place students in
the right level.
Factors Concerning Classrooms
How many students do you have in this class?
Author: Vazquez Oswaldo
Source: Teachers of Public High School in Azogues City
37
An 80% of the teachers reported having more than 31 students in their
classrooms, 13% having from 26 to 30 students, and only 7% having 16 to 25 students.
This shows another problem that affects teachers and students’ success.
This was clearly evident in the observation. Teachers have from 30 to 50
students in a classroom. Generally, public high schools have more than 31 students in
one classroom.
Large classes couldaffect the teacher’s work because they cannot manage all the
students’ needs, levels, and learning problems. However, large classes can also give the
chance to encourage cooperative learning and group work which depends on how the
teacher organizes the groups according to each student’s strengths and weaknesses. This
is pointed out by Byram (2000) who said that the quality of learning does not depend on
the number of students but on the teachers and students attitudes as well as on the
correct methodology and techniques used by the teacher.
Do you feel comfortable working with this number of students?
Author: Vazquez Oswaldo
Source: Teachers of Public High School in Azogues City
20%
80%
Graph 13
Yes
38
For this question an 80% of the fifteen interviewed teachers pointed out that they
do not feel comfortable working with a large number of students. Only 20% of them
reported they feel good with such amount of students. Teachers prefer working with
manageablegroups rather than with too large ones.
Teachers said that large classes turn into an uncomfortable environment, thus the
teacher has to face some difficulties to teach the language. They argued that it is not
easy at all to have a total control of the whole class, because while teachers are guiding
some students the rest are playing, making noise, or simply doing nothing. That is why
having a small number of students has its advantages. For example, it will be much
easier to guide the students in a better way to acquire the language by having all of them
participate actively and eagerly.
Some believe that it is so uncomfortable and difficult to teach to large number of
students because it is more difficult to control attention, discipline and homework
checking. In fact, it is crucial to take into account the number of students because it
does affect how well teachers can teach and how students can learn. Byram, (2000) said
that the notion of large is relative and mentions that in China for example there are 50 or
60 students in a classroom, for this reason, the teacher needs to be skilled and deal with
39
Do you have enough space to work with this group of students?
Author: Vazquez Oswaldo
Source: Teachers of Public High School in Azogues City
For this question, 14, 53.33% of the teachers said that there is insufficient space
in the classroom to work with their students, and 46.67% that there is enough space to
perform their activities.
Crowded classrooms are visible problems due to the amount of time students
spend in school. There are a lot of students in Public High Schools, especially in those
found in the central area of the city. Teachers must manage them because the institution
matriculates students without taking this problem into consideration. Most teachers say
that there is not enough space for work.
Likewise, we can determine that the large number of existing students causes
lack of space to work in different tasks, especially in groups. Space has also to do with
keeping discipline and evaluation. We can notice that when the students are too fitted, it
is more difficult to control whispering and talking. Moreover, when testing the students
in a small classroom space can easily encourage cheating.
On the contrary, 46.67% of teachers said that there is enough space in
classrooms; this problem cannot be easily solved, so the teachers should look for the
46,67%
53,33%
Graph 14
Yes
40
best solutions and methodologies in order to take advantage of the negative aspects.
Savage & Savage, (2010) said that teachers have to organize the space and setting to
encourage student motivation rather than discomforting them.
Do you arrange students´ seats in relation to the activities planned for your classes?
Author: Vazquez Oswaldo
Source: Teachers of Public High School in Azogues City
An 80% of teachers stated that they arrange the seating position in relation to the
activities they want to perform when they are teaching English. Twenty percent of the
surveyed teachers think that this is not necessary to arrange seating position during
different activities in class. This means that the teachers try to find correct seat positions
in order to fulfill certain activities.
In general, classrooms observed in High Schools of this City have the typical
classroom arrangement with students' desks lined up in neat rows. It is difficult to get
another seating arrangement in some High Schools. The space then is the reason why
some teachers cannot make changes in the arrangement of seats.
80% 20%
Graph 15
Yes
41
In activities like games and group works many teachers prefer to modify the
position of the seats in order to perform activities successfully as said by Partin, (2009)
that mentions the constant changing of desks arrangement in order to create the best
environment for learning.
How many students do you think is the appropriate number to teach English?
Author: Vazquez Oswaldo
Source: Teachers of Public High School in Azogues City
As shown in graph 16, the most appropriate number of students must be
constituted from 10 to 15 for 40% of teachers surveyed, from 16 to 25 for the other 40%
of teachers and only 20% of teachers think that the classroom should have an average of
25 to 30 students. However, the reality in public schools is opposite to the teachers’
ideal.
The teachers believe that it would be more didactic and successful to have small
classes because here they can concentrate better on each student’s weaknesses and
strengths. Conversely, there is overpopulation in the classrooms from public institutions
which difficult the teacher’s labor greatly. Here, it is pertinent to mention that The
42
Organization for Economic-Operation and Development (2011) gives us some
guidelines of class size and expresses that the number of students per class is calculated
from a number of different elements such as the ratio of students to teachers and
classrooms.
As we have seen in the graphs above the number of students is another decisive
factor that teachers consider affect the development of a productive teaching-learning
process. One of the interviewed teachers said “As we know thousands of public schools
across the country are seeing their class size swell because of budget cuts and teacher
layoff, undermining a decade-long push not only by parents but administrator and
policy makers to shirk classes’ size”. In fact, how the numbers of students in classes
have risen across the country has been directly affecting the teaching-learning process.
Do you use teaching resources (TV, tape/cd recorder, computer(s), projector (s), smart
board, and supplementary materials)?
Author: Vazquez Oswaldo
Source: Teachers of Public High School in Azogues City
For this question, the 100% of teachers say they use teaching resources such as:
tv, tape, cd players, computers, projectors, smart board, smart phones, and others kinds
of materials. Teachers estimate that these are useful and interesting tools that help
100% 0%
Graph 17
Yes
