Using mentoring to help novice teachers of English as a second language to adults, in a community-based language program in an urban setting in Pakistan, incorporate speaking activities in their classrooms
Date of Award
11-2022
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Master of Education (M. Ed.)
First Supervisor/Advisor
Ms Mirat al Fatima Ahsan
Department
Institute for Educational Development, Karachi
Abstract
Speaking, one of the most important skills in English language teaching and learning, is promoted in English language classrooms in Pakistan the least (Akram, 2017). The fact that assessments in Pakistan focus on testing reading and writing skills, results in teachers making it a priority to teach them (Sultana, 2019). Moreover, teaching speaking is also considered difficult to plan and teach, as most teachers lack skills of planning activities to promote speaking in their language classrooms (Anjum et al., 2019). For novice teachers who do not have sufficient experience and knowledge of teaching, lack competence and confidence this is even more challenging (e.g. Lyon & Ahsan, 2022). Mentoring is one of the ways to help these novice teachers use speaking activities and bring change in their practices.
The role of mentoring in bringing teacher change is an under researched area in Pakistan, therefore, the current study aimed at exploring the role of mentoring to help a novice teacher use speaking activities in a language classroom of adults in an urban setting. An action research design, placed in the paradigm of pragmatism, was used where a novice teacher was selected as a primary participant. The teacher was mentored for three cycles: mentoring discussion, lesson observations, and teacher’s reflections. The change in planning and practice was observed through lesson observations, teacher’s reflections, comparison of teacher’s interview responses at the beginning and end of the study, and a complementary data set from the FGD of the students.
Study findings show that mentoring played a positive role in initiating a change in teacher’s practice leading to plan and conduct speaking activities in the classroom independently and confidently with a purpose in mind. In effect, the study findings provide insight into how the process of mentoring can serve as a driving force in teacher change if its potentials are explored through further research.
Recommended Citation
Muhammad, Z. S. S. (2022). Using mentoring to help novice teachers of English as a second language to adults, in a community-based language program in an urban setting in Pakistan, incorporate speaking activities in their classrooms [M. Ed. Dissertation]. Aga Khan University.