Exploring the relationship between the beliefs and practices of an English teacher in reading instruction in a private school in Karachi, Pakistan

Date of Award

8-2015

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Master of Education (M. Ed.)

Department

Professional Development Centre, Karachi

Abstract

Reading is a skill that is much in focus in the academia in today's world. It provides the base for the development of other language skills through the provision of vocabulary, command over grammar, the accuracy and fluency led by comprehension that aims at developing critical thinking abilities among readers to enable them to look at the world with a different perspective. Thus, the ultimate goal of reading can only be achieved if the students are provided with a reading friendly culture within the schools and the home environment. This cannot be possible without the teachers and teacher educators, who hold the responsibility of nurturing the young minds by putting deliberate efforts through their teaching practices. Thus, it is important to explore the teachers' own views about reading in order to see its impact on students by developing good reading skills. The purpose of this study was to explore the beliefs of an English language teacher to see its relationship with the classroom practices in an English medium secondary school in Karachi, Pakistan. The participant selected for this study was an ELT faculty currently teaching English language at secondary level. The research design was qualitative in nature. The interviews, classroom observations, field notes, document analysis and informal discussions were used as main modes of data collection. The data analysis was done through making codes and then developing themes and sub-themes which were further analyzed in depth. The findings of the data reveal that the beliefs of the teacher about reading are the main source that guides her classroom practices and decisions. Since she believes that the development of critical thinking abilities is the ultimate purpose of reading, she employs diverse teaching reading strategies to make it possible. Her reading friendly classroom environment is the mirror of her beliefs about providing a reading friendly culture to the readers. This shows the consistency between beliefs and practices of the EL T in this particular case. Thus, the study suggests that by conducting professional development sessions for the teachers, they can be helped to explore their beliefs that guide their actions. Moreover, there is a need for conducting further researches in this area with maximum teachers to explore the relationship between diverse dimensions of beliefs and practice.

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