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An Investigation into the Relationship
between Teachers' Beliefs and the Use of a
set Coursebook When Teaching Vocabulary
in Kuwaiti Intermediate Schools
Author’s Name: Hasan Mohammad
University of Brighton
British Council ELT Master’s Dissertation Awards: Commendation
125thSeptember2015
AnInvestigationintotheRelationshipbetweenTeachers'BeliefsandtheUseofasetCoursebookWhenTeachingVocabulary
inKuwaitiIntermediateSchools
2015
225thSeptember2015
Abstract
Thisstudyinvestigatestherelationshipbetweenteachers'beliefsandtheuseofaset
coursebook,namelyTargetEnglish,whenteachingvocabularyinKuwaitiintermediate
schools.ThiscoursebookisprescribedbytheKuwaitiMinistryofEducationforintermediate
schoolsandisdesignedtobetaughtusingthecommunicativemethod.Themainaimofthe
studyistoexplorewhatteachers’beliefsarebytriangulatingwhatteacherssayabouttheir
teachingpracticewithwhattheyactuallydoinclass.Aliteraturereviewexplainsthe
theoreticalissuesregardingvocabularyteachingandlearning,andtheissuesthatarise
whenresearchersattempttogainaccesstoteachers’beliefs.Italsosummarisessomekey
findingsfrompreviousempiricalstudies.Themaindatagatheringproceduresconsistsofa
seriesofclassroomobservations,followedbysemi-structuredinterviewswithfivepractising
EFLteachers.Observationnotes,interviewtranscripts,amindmapandcontentanalysisare
usedtointerpretthedata.Tensionbetweenthestatedaimsofthesyllabusandtheactual
pressureofexaminationsisidentifiedasaseriousproblemforteachersandappearstohave
astronglyinhibitingeffectontheenactmentofteacherbeliefsintheclassroom.Thestudy
concludesthatdifferentstakeholdersintheKuwaitischoolsystemarepursuingdifferent
aims.ThewashbackeffectisasignificantissueinKuwait,andthereisagapbetweenthe
teachingapproachthatteacherssaytheybelievein,andthechoicesthattheymakeinclass
whentheyteachvocabulary.Severalfactorsareidentifiedwhichpreventteachersfrom
followingtheirownbeliefs,andfromdeliveringEFLvocabularyteachingusingmodern
communicativeapproachesorwhattheybelieveisbestfortheirstudents.
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Acknowledgments
Tomyfamily,Iwouldliketosaythankyouforyourlast-longingsupporttoachievethis
dream.Beingawayfromyouallthistimewasmoredifficultthanwritinganydissertationor
essay.IloveyouandIhopeImadeyouproud.
Tomyself,youhadadream,youchasedit,andyougotwhatyouwant.Beproudof
yourself,anddreambigger.
Tomycountry,tomyhome,tothelandinwhichIwasbornandraised…toKuwait:this
dissertationisdedicatedtoyou.MymainaimistoworkhardandimprovethefieldofTESOL
inmycountry,andthisdissertationisasmallexampleofit.
Specialthankstoalltheparticipantsofthisstudy.WithoutyouIwouldn’tbeableto
investigatethistopicandreachtoitsconclusions.
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CONTENTS
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background Information…………………………………………………………..6
1.2 Rationale of the Study……………………………………………………………..6
1.3 Aims and Objectives of the Study…………………………………………………8
1.4 Research Questions……………….………………………………………………..9
1.5 Structure……...…………………………………………………………………….10
CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 Introduction to the Literature Review……………………………………………11
2.2 The Importance of Vocabulary Teaching and Learning………………………….11
2.2.1 The Grammar/Translation Method……………………………………..12
2.2.2 The Communicative Approach…………………………………………13
2.2.3 Dictionaries and Flashcards…………………………………………….15
2.2.4 Visuals and the Dual-coding Theory……………………………………16
2.3 The Kuwaiti Context………………………………………...……………………16
2.3.1 The Role of the Target English Coursebook…………………………..17
2.3.1.1 Pre-teaching Vocabulary……………………………………...19
2.3.2 The Relation between Examinations and the Coursebook
(Washback Effect)…………………………………………………………….20
2.3.3 Materials Adaptation and Vocabulary Teaching………………………..22
2.4 Teachers’ Beliefs………………………………………………………………….22
2.4.1 Teachers’ Beliefs about Language Teaching……………………………23
2.4.2 Connection between Teachers’ Beliefs and Teaching Practices ………..25
2.4.3 Relationship between Vocabulary Teaching and Teachers’
Beliefs in Kuwait………………………………………………………………26
2.4.4 Teachers’ Beliefs and Classroom Enactment (Hidden Syllabus)………..27
2.5 Conclusion of the Literature Review………………………………………………28
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CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY
3.1 Introduction to the Methodology…………………………………………………..30
3.2 Research Methodology…………………………………………………………….30
3.3 Methods of Data Collection……………………………………………………….32
3.3.1 Observations……………………………………………………………..32
3.3.2 Semi-structured Interviews……………………………………………...33
3.4 Validity and Reliability……………………………………………………………34
3.5 Participants…………………………………………………………………………35
3.6 Ethical Issues………………………………………………………………………35
3.7 Data Analysis Procedures………………………………………………………….36
3.8 Conclusion to the Methodology……………………………………………………37
CHAPTER FOUR: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION
4.1 Introduction to the Findings and Discussion……………………………………….38
4.2 First Research Question: Teachers’ Beliefs………………………………………..39
4.3 Second Research Question: Teachers’ Use of the Coursebook………………….....43
4.4 Third Research Question: The Effect of Teachers’ Beliefs…………………………51
4.5 Fourth Research Question: Factors Affecting Teachers’ Practice or Approach…….52
4.6 Conclusion: Summary of the Main Findings……………………………………….57
CHAPTER FIVE: RESEARCH CONCLUSION
5.1 Summary and Conclusion…………………………………………………………..58
5.2 Limitations………………………………………………………………………….59
5.3 Suggestions for Further Research…………………………………………………..60
Bibliography……………………………………………………………………………62
Appendices……………………………………………………………………………...73
Appendix 1: Observation Framework…………………………………………….73
Appendix 2: Interview Questions…………………………………………………75
Appendix 3: Informed Consent Form……………………………………………..76
Appendix 4: Interview Transcriptions ……………..……………..…………….....77
Appendix 5: Mind Map ……………………………………...……………………127
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CHAPTERONE:INTRODUCTION
1.1 BackgroundInformation
Studentsbetweentheagesof12and15yearsaretaughtinKuwaitiintermediateschools,
andEnglishasaForeignLanguage(EFL)isacompulsoryelementinthecurriculumatthis
stage.AsinglecoursebookisprescribedbytheKuwaitiMinistryofEducation(MoE)forthis
subject,namely,TargetEnglish(KeddleandHobbs2008).Thiscoursebookpresentsa
numberofnewvocabularyitemswitheachunitoflearningandisbaseduponthe
assumptionthatteacherswilluseacommunicativeapproachtoteachthesenewvocabulary
itemsineachlesson(Al-MutawaandKailani1989).However,thisapproachandindeedthis
particularcoursebookarebothderivedfrompedagogyandresearchwhichoriginatesin
teachingbasedinEuropeanandAmericanschools(Spada2007).Inlinewithmanyother
ArabianGulfcountries,thepedagogictraditionofKuwaitprefersexplicit,teacher-centred
approachesandmemorisationtechniques.Itisnotentirelyclearhowwellteachersdeal
withthisapparenttensionbetweenthecommunicativeapproachandratherrigidtraditions
andassessmentregimes.Theproblemiscomplicatedbymorerecentresearchendorsing
theuseofthefirstlanguage(L1)inthesecondlanguage(L2)classroombecauseitcanspeed
upvocabularygrowth(Nation2001:296-316),buttheKuwaitisystemrecommendsusing
onlyEnglishasmuchaspossible.
1.2RationaleoftheStudy
Thispotentialtensionbetweendifferentteachingapproachesisthestartingpointforthe
presentstudy.Itisimportanttounderstandwhatteachersreallythinkisthebestandmost
effectivemethodforvocabularyinstruction,andtoassesshowthesebeliefsinfluencethe
wayinwhichtheyusetheprescribedcoursebookintheirclassestoteachvocabulary.Thisis
averynecessarytopictostudybecauseKuwait’seducationalsystemisratherrigidandis
tightlymanagedbytheMoE,andonlyoneapproachisprescribedforteachingvocabulary:
usingjustonecoursebook.Thisleavesverylittleroomforindividualteacherstodevelop
theirownteachingideasorexperimentwithdifferentideas.Anotherrelevantfactoristhe
pressureonteachersandlearnerstoachievegoodresultsintheexaminations,againsetby
theMoE.Despitethecommunicativemethodwhichissuggestedbythecoursebook,withan
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emphasisonspeakingandlistening(Harmer2001;Hall2011),thereisastrongpressureto
useexplicitmethodsofteachingvocabularywhich,inturn,encouragesrotelearningand
memorisationtomakesurethelearnersareablemeettherequirementsofthewritten
examination.Intheliterature,thisiscalled“washbackeffect”(Messick1996:241),relevant
tothisstudybecauseitgivesahighvaliditytotraditionalteachingstylesandrunscounterto
theprinciplesofthecommunicativeapproach(AdnanandMahmoud2014:132).
Theseissuesareparticularlyimportantatthepresenttimebecausethereisadebatewithin
theKuwaititeachingprofessionabouttheusefulnessofdifferentteachingmethodsinterms
ofactuallanguagelearning,andthedevelopmentofindependentlearningskillsaswellas
theirefficacyinpassingexaminations(Al-Habib2013).Itseemstheremaybeatension
betweentheshort-termgoalofpassingexaminations,andthelongertermandwidergoals
oflearninghowtolearnindependentlyandlearningtohowcommunicateinEnglishinlife
outsidetheclassroom.ThereisalsoaratherurgentimperativetoexpandandimproveEFL
educationacrossallpartsoftheeducationsystemtomeetthecountry’sobjectiveof
internationalisingtheskillsoftheworkforceandexpandingtheeconomyindiverseways,a
patternthatisrepeatedinmanyrapidlydevelopingcountriesintheworld(Wedell2009:
64).Thegovernment,educators,parentsandlearners,allstakeholdersintheeducation
process,needtobeassuredthechosenapproachisvalidandtheyalsoneedtohave
confidencethatthenationalsystemisbeingfollowedwellandpromotingrealisticand
achievablegoals(GaiesandBowers1990:181).Theremaywellbegapsortensionsbetween
whatteachersbelieve,andwhattheyareexpectedtodo,orwhattheyactuallydowhen
theyteach(Mak2001),potentiallyresultinginsomeserious,negativeresultsintermsof
studentachievement(FarrellandKun2008).Avitalelementtoaddressanysuchpotential
oractualfailuresistostartwithabetterunderstandingoftheconnectionscurrentlyexisting
betweenteachers’actualbeliefsandtheirteachingpractice.
Therehasbeenconsiderablepriorresearchintotheseissuesbothintheoreticaltermsand
inrelationtoempiricalstudiesinmanydifferentsettingsacrosstheworld(Borg2003;Borg
andPhipps2007;KhanalizadehandAllami2012;VanVoorenetal.2012;Hassan2013;
FarrellandLim2005).However,thereisagapintheresearchwhenitcomestotherelation
betweenteachers’beliefsandvocabularyteachingandlearning.Therefore,thepresent
studyaimstobringausefuladditiontothispriorknowledgebysummarisingimportant
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insightsfromexistingresearchintheliteraturereview,andthenapplyingthisknowledgeto
researchingvocabularyteachinginKuwait’sintermediateschools.Ratherthanlookingright
acrossthespectrumofwhatteachersdoinclassandhowthisrelatestotheirbeliefs,
vocabularyisusedasanexemplarofthisrelationship.
1.3 AimsandObjectivesoftheStudy
Theaimofthisdissertationistoexploreteachers’beliefsinKuwaitiintermediateschoolson
vocabularyteachingandlearningingeneral,andfromtheprescribedcoursebook,Target
English(KeddleandHobbs2008).Toachievethisaim,thetaskmustbebrokendowninto
manageableobjectivessuchas:firstly,exploringteachers’beliefsaboutvocabularyteaching
andlearning;secondly,observinghowtheyactuallyteachvocabularywhenusingthe
prescribedcoursebook;thirdly,findingoutwhethertheirteachingpracticewhenteaching
vocabularyfromthecoursebookisaffectedbytheirbeliefs;andfourthly,consideringwhat
preventsthemfromteachinginthewaytheybelieveisbest.
AccordingtoFarrellandLim(2005:1-13),theremaybesomecontextualfactorsatwork
whichcouldaffectthewayteachersteachandapproachtheirlessons.Thesecontextual
factorsincludematterssuchasthetimeallocatedforeachlesson,theexaminations,the
studentlevelandthesyllabussetdownforteacherstofollowintheirparticulareducational
setting(Halliday1999:5).TheremayalsobepressuresfromtheMoEthroughtheschool
inspectionandsupervisionprocesses,orfromtheheadteacherwhomayhaveparticular
localconcerns.Becausethesecontextualvariablesaresoimportantininfluencinghow
teachersteach,thisstudywillaimtoexploretheteachingcontextofKuwaitiintermediate
schoolsandthewaysinwhichtheymightaffectvocabularyteaching.Itisquitenormalfor
teachersbothtofollowtheguidelinessetdownforthemandalsointerpretandapplythese
guidelineswithadditionalideasandmethodsthattheythemselvesthinkarethemost
effective(Bachaetal.2008:281).Ultimately,itishopedthatthisdetailedknowledgewill
helptoassesstheeffectivenessofcurrenteducationalpolicyregardingteachingEnglish
vocabulary,bothintheoryandinpractice,andprovidethebasisforsome
recommendationsforfurtherresearchinthisareatoensurethatthebestpossible
outcomesareachievedforlearnersinKuwait.
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1.4 ResearchQuestions
ToaddressmyprimaryresearchaimIhaveidentifiedfourmainresearchquestions:
1) Whatareteachers’beliefsaboutvocabularyteachingandlearning?
2) Howdoteachersuse/adapttheTargetEnglishcoursebookintheirlessonswhen
teachingthevocabularyitemsinthebook?
3) Towhatextentistheuse/adaptationoftheTargetEnglishcoursebookaffectedby
whatteachersbelieveaboutvocabularyteachingandlearning?
4) Whatfactorsmayhaveinfluencedtheteachers’practiceorapproachnottoteach
thevocabularyitemsintheTargetEnglishcoursebookintermsofwhatthey
believe?
Myprimaryconcernistoactuallyidentifytherelationbetweenbeliefsandpracticein
researchquestion3(RQ3);sothefirsttworesearchquestionsarepreliminariestofinding
outaboutRQ3andareveryrelevanttoit.Itisexpectedtherewillbesomeoverlapinthe
answersofthefirsttworesearchquestionswithRQ3becauseofthecomplexityofthetopic
ofthepresentstudy.AsforRQ4,itsmainaimistoinvestigatethedifferentcontextual
variableswhichmightconstrainteachersfromactingontheirbeliefswhenteaching
vocabularyfromTargetEnglish.
Thesequestionsinvolvesomeextremelycomplexissues,someofwhichteachersmaynot
evenbefullyawareofthemselvesandsomeofwhichmaybeopentointerpretation.In
proceedingwiththisstudy,itisacceptedthattherearenotlikelytobeanysimpleanswers
totheseresearchquestions,thoughitisanticipatedteachersmightrespondbroadlywith
supporteitherforthecommunicative(implicit)approachorthemoretraditional(explicit)
approachinanswertothefirstquestion.TheresponsestoRQ2maywellbemorediverse,
withtheuseofotheraidssuchassound,images,worksheets,videosandthelike.RQs3
and4canbeexploredbycorrelatingtheevidencefromRQs1and2andobservingactual
classroominteractionsandtheimpactofparticularcombinationsofbeliefandpracticeon
studentlearning.Itishopedthatbyexploringthetheorybehindsuchissuesandtheactual
teachingpracticeofteachersinKuwait,somedeeperunderstandingcanbegained,andthat
thiscanbeusedtoreviewcurrentpractice,andformthebasisformakingcontinuous
improvementsinnationaleducationpolicy.
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1.5 Structure
Thisstudyispresentedinafive-partstructure.ThefirstisthisbriefintroductioninwhichI
setoutthescopeandfocusoftheresearch,andthemainresearchquestionswhichare
beinginvestigated.ItisfollowedbyathoroughliteraturereviewinChapterTwo,which
reviewsthemaintheoriesbehindvocabularyteaching,andsometheoriesrelatingto
teachers’beliefsandtheirimpactonhowvocabularyistaught.Thisreviewalsocoverssome
keyaspectsoflanguagepedagogyasitappliestovocabularyteachingandlearning,anda
summaryoftheresearchwhichhasbeendonesofaronthisissuebothinArabianGulf
countriesandinthewiderworld.ChapterThreeintroducestheresearchmethodologyand
explainswhysemi-structuredinterviewsandclassroomobservationswerechosenasthe
maininstrumentsofdatacollection.ThefindingsandanalysisarepresentedinChapter
Four.Thefinalchaptersummarisesthefindings,andmakessomeconclusionsregardingthe
impactofteachers’beliefsonteachingvocabularyinKuwait.Anumberoflimitationsare
alsomentioned,andsomerecommendationsaremadeforthecontinuingimprovementof
vocabularyteachingintheKuwaitiintermediateschoolEnglishclassroomcontext.
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CHAPTERTWO:LITERATUREREVIEW
2.1IntroductiontotheLiteratureReview
Thischapterreviewstheliteratureonvocabularyteachingandlearningandsomeofthe
mainapproachessuggestedinvariouscontextsacrosstheworld.Itcoverskeypedagogical
theoriesandpresentsevidencefromempiricalstudieswhichhaveinvestigatedhow
differentmethodsandmaterialscanbeusedtoteachvocabulary.Theconcludingsections
focusmorenarrowlyontheKuwaiticontextandtheTargetEnglishcoursebook,inwhich
thepreciseresearchgapinthepresentstudyisidentifiedandaddressed.Informationabout
teachers’beliefswillalsobeexploredanddiscussed.Iwillthenexploretherelationship
betweenteachers’beliefsandtheirteachingpracticeswithreferencetotheuseofTarget
EnglishintheKuwaiticontextwhenteachingvocabulary.
2.2TheImportanceofVocabularyTeachingandLearning
Ithasbeennotedsincethelatetwentiethcenturythat“vocabularystudyhasbeen
neglectedbylinguists,appliedlinguistsandlanguageteachers”(Carter2013:1)andthatthis
representsachangefromearlierperiodsofresearch,inwhichvocabularyteachingand
learningwasamajorfocus.ThisisconfirmedbyZimmerman(1997:5),whonotedthat
successivetrendsinthewaythatprofessionallinguistsandeducatorsviewedthe
importanceofvocabularyteachingandlearning.Thereisevidencetoshowthatstudents
needtoacquirealargestoreofvocabularytoreadandcomprehendL2texts,andthatalack
ofvocabularyhindersprogressbecausethereisinsufficientbasisonwhichtobuilda
frameworkforfuturelearning(Schmittetal.2011:26-43).Languagelearningiscumulative,
andthismeansthatlearnersmustbeencouragedbothtoacquirenewvocabularyand
masterpreviousvocabularybecausethisunderpinstheirreadingskills,andallotheraspects
oflanguagelearning(Kuzborska2011:117).Thisrealisationhasledsomeresearchersto
recommendlongitudinalstudieswhichseektoidentifytheamountsandtypesofvocabulary
whichareoptimalfordifferentlevelsofproficiency(Schmitt1998).Programmedesigners
andexaminationboardsarealsokeentoidentifylistsofcorevocabularythatmustbe
coveredbyaparticularsyllabus,andtheydrawuplistswhichcanbeusedasastandardby
whichstudentprogresscanbemeasured(GardnerandDavis2013:305-307).
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Inrecentyears,therehasbeenalivelydebateabouttherelativemeritsofdecontextualized
learningofvocabularyfromlists,andcontextualisedlearningofvocabularyfrominteraction
withtasksandotherpeopleorfromnarrativetexts.AccordingtoNation,itisnotnecessary
torestrictteachersandlearnerstojustoneortheotherapproachessince“deliberate
learninginconjunctionwithopportunitiesforlearningthroughcommunicativeuseisfar
moreeffectivethaneitherofthesetypesoflearningalone”(2014:394).
ThepreviouspointsindicatethatteachingvocabularyisaveryimportantaspectofEFL
pedagogyattheearlyandintermediatelevelsandthatthereareagreatmanydifferent
pedagogicaltheoriesandapproacheswhichhavebeenusedtoenhancetheteachingand
learningofvocabulary.Forthepurposesofthepresentstudy,however,itisnotpossibleto
coverallofthesemultipleapproachesandsothefocusherewillbeonthetwoapproaches
whicharemostfamiliartoteachersandlearnersinKuwait,namely,thetraditional
grammar/translationmethodandthemoremoderncommunicativeapproach.
2.2.1TheGrammar/TranslationMethod
Thegrammar/translationmethodinvolves,asthenamesuggests,anexplicitfocusonthe
structuresoftheL2,andonteachingthemeaningofwordsandphrasesusingtheL1.It
derivesoriginallyfromafocusonthewrittenword,andadesireonthepartofteachersin
thenineteenthandearlytwentiethcenturiestohelptheirstudentsaccessliteraryworks
writtenintheL2(KetabiandShahraki2011).Themainstrategiesofthismethodareformal
presentationofgrammaticalrulesandpre-teachingofanynewvocabularyitems,usually
withthehelpofaspeciallistofnewwordsandphrasesatthebeginningofeachlesson(Hall
2011).Teachersemphasisedrillsandpatternsandencouragelearnerstousememorisation
techniques,oftenaccompaniedbyshortvocabularyteststoensurethatstudentsretainthe
formandmeaningofnewwordsaccurately.
Thetheorybehindthismethodisbasedonateacher-centredviewoflearning,wherebythe
teacherguideslearnersstepbystepthroughapre-setcurriculum(Hall2011;Al-Mutawa
andKailani1989).Ithastheadvantageofbeingrelativelyeasytolinkcoursegoalswith
teachingmaterials,usuallythroughtheprovisionofaprescribedcoursebook.Learnersare
expectedtoengagetheiranalyticalskillsinrecognisinghowandwhentoapplyrulesthey
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havelearnedinadvance.Oneofthemajordisadvantagesofthegrammar/translation
methodisthatitconstantlybringstheL1intothelearner’smind,andthiscanresultinwhat
isknownas“interference”(Ross2000:61),wherebythestructuresandsoundsoftheL1
heavilyinfluencethelearner’soutputintheL2.
2.2.2TheCommunicativeApproach
Thecommunicativeapproachtosecondlanguageteachingandlearningwasfirstproposed
inthelate1970sasawayofimprovingresultsinsecondaryschoolclassroomsinEuropeand
theUSA(Spada2007:271).Ithasbeennotedthat:
althoughtherearedifferentinterpretationsofcommunicativelanguageteaching,thisapproachtoL2interpretationstypicallyfocusesonfunctionsoflanguageuseandamoreauthenticuseoflanguageintheL2classroomorbettertosay,insteadoffocusingonsentencelevels[and]formsitcentersondiscourselevelfunctions.(KetabiandShahraki2011:729)
Thisfocusoncontext,functionandusinglanguagetoaccomplishtaskstakesthefocusof
teachersawayfromexplicitlyteachingvocabulary,andassumesthatlearnerswill
automaticallypickupthenecessaryvocabularyastheyseektocommunicateintheirtasks
(Decarrico2001:285).
Thisisnotsomuchaunifiedteachingmethodasageneralapproachwhichseeksto
introducebothgrammarandvocabularywithinameaningfulcontext.Itrestsontheidea
thatinferringmeaningisthefirststeptolearningawordorphrase(inapassivesense)
beforebeingabletouseitinaproductiveway(BogaardsandLaufer-Dvorkin2004:ix).
Teachersareexpectedtoensurelearningactivitiesareselected“accordingtohowwellthey
engagethelearnerinmeaningfulandauthenticlanguageuse(ratherthanmerely
mechanicalpracticeoflanguagepatterns)”(RichardsandRogers1986:72).Theteacher’s
roleinsuchamethodologyistomodifytheinputthatstudentsreceivetohelpstudents
acquireasmuchvocabularythroughincidentalusageaspossible(EllisandHe1999:285).
Evenroutineinteractionssuchastakingaregisterorclearingbooksfromtablescanbe
madeintoavocabularyacquisitionandconsolidationopportunityifteachersarewillingto
usethesemomentstopractisenaturalEnglishlanguageinstructionsandquestions.Itis
thought,however,thatsomeaspectsofvocabularyacquisition,forexample,phonetics,are
easilyacquiredimplicitlythroughtheuseoftask-basedlearning,andideallyalsofrequent
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exposure,whereasotheraspectssuchasmeaningrequireconsciousawarenessandeffort
onthepartofthelearner(LauferandHulstijn2001:5).
ThecommunicativeapproachisbasedontheorieswhichrelateL2acquisitiontothe
patternsofL1acquisition(CanaleandSwain1980).Ithasevenbeensuggestedthatuseof
thefirstlanguageinasecondlanguageclassroomshouldbebannedtomaximisethe
exposurestudentshavetocomprehensibleinputintheforeignlanguage(Krashen1982:
14).Havingtriedthispurecommunicativeapproach,andfounditdifficulttoimplement,
somesupportersofthecommunicativemethodacceptthereisaplaceforuseofL1in
certaincircumstances,forexample,whengivinginstructionstostudents,orforclassroom
managementpurposessuchaskeepinggooddiscipline(Mitchell1988:29).Therearealso
someresearchersworkinginmorerecentyearswhofullysupportamixeduseofL1andL2
intheEFLclassroomonthegroundsthattheL1canprovidevital“scaffolding”(Spada2007:
280)toassistlearnersinmakingsenseofnewelementsthattheyencounterintheL2.There
isthereforequitearangeofopiniononhowstrictlytoimplementtheidealofmaximumL2
exposureinthecommunicativeapproach,andthisquestionisstillhotlydebatedinmany
EFLcontexts(StorchandWigglesworth2003).
OneadvantageofthecommunicativemethodisthatitencouragesstudentstousetheL2in
interactionswitheachotheraswellaswiththeteacher,forexample,inpairworkorin
groupwork,andthisincreasestheiropportunitiestolearnvocabularythroughspeaking
(Knight1996).Ifclassesandmaterialsarewelldesigned,thismethodcanbuildoral
confidenceaswellasproficiency.
Itmustbenotedthatthegrammar/translationmethodandthecommunicativeapproach
arethetwomostcommonlyusedmethodsinKuwaitiEFLclassrooms,butmostteachersin
Kuwaitandelsewhereusetheweakformofthecommunicativeapproach,andtheyselect
thoseaspectswhichtheyfinduseful,whilerejectingothers,orcombiningthemwith
philosophiesortheoriesdrawnfromotherdisciplineareas(Thornbury2006:143).IntheEFL
fieldgenerally,thereisadistinctmoveawayfromcommitmenttoonesinglemethod,anda
preferenceinsteadforeclecticandflexibleapproachesinvolvingimplicitandexplicit
exercisesbecausestudentsthemselveshavearangeofdifferentneeds(GairnsandRedman
1986).Thismeans,inpractice,teachersoftenswitchfromoneapproachtoanotherinthe
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samelessontoachievemultipleobjectives(Ma2009).WhetherteachersinKuwaitor
anywhereelseusethegrammar/translationmethodorthecommunicativeapproach,there
aresometeachingaidsandmaterialswhichcanbeusedtoprocesstheseapproachesand
fromthispoint,Iwillmovetodiscusssomeofthesedifferentteachingaids,namely,
dictionariesandflashcards,andvisualsinvocabularyteachingandlearningwhicharethe
mostfamiliartoteachersandlearnersinKuwait.
2.2.3DictionariesandFlashcards
Dictionariesareanimportantassetinlanguagelearningbecausetheyprovidedefinitionsfor
learners,eitherintheL1orintheL2,andencouragelearnerstoengageinindependent
learningbylookingupanywordstheydonotknow.Theyvaryconsiderablyintheirnature
fromsimpleglossariestoaccompanycoursebooks(asinTargetEnglish),tomulti-volume
advancedreferenceworks,andevenelectronicdatabaseswithdataonfrequencyand
contextualuse.
Dictionariescanberegardedastoodifficultforlowerandintermediatelevelstudents,orfor
lessablestudents(Knight1994:285).Learnersneedtohavealargevocabularybeforethey
canbenefitfrommonolingualdictionariesintheL2(AtkinsandVarantola1997).
Nevertheless,ithasbeensuggestedthatindividualteachersandlearnersshoulddevelop
deliberatestrategiesforvocabularylearning,accordingtotheirownpreferredstyle,andfor
somepeople,dictionariesareanaturalchoice(Schmitt1997:199).
Atlowerlevelsandwithclasseswhichcontainlessproficientstudents,manyteachersuse
flashcardstohelpstudentsvisualisewordsandmeanings,andtheypractisebyresponding
quicklywhenthecardsareshown.Thisisveryeffectivewithlearnerswhohavea
preferenceforvisuallearning,andsoideallyamixofdifferentwaysofpresentingand
revisingvocabularyismostlikelytomeettheneedsofstudentswhoarelikelytohavea
rangeofindividualdifferencesanddiverselearningpreferencesandstyles(Dörnyeiand
Skehan2003).
2.2.4VisualsandtheDual-codingTheory
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Authenticmaterialsandbitsandpiecesofinformationthatareusuallyreferredtoasrealia
havelongbeenrecommendedforthecommunicativemethodbecausetheyaddvarietyand
interesttolessonswhichdependonasinglecoursebookfortheirmaininput(Al-Mutawa
andKailani1989).ItiscertainlytruethatvisualshelpwithmotivationintheEFLclassroom
buttherearesomeevenmorefundamentalreasonswhyvisualsarerecommendedin
languagelearning.OnerelativelyrecenttheorywhichhasbeenhighlyinfluentialinEFL
vocabularyteachinghasbeenthatof“dualcodingtheory”(Sadoski2005)whichsuggests
theuseofpicturesaswellaswords,forexample,encouragesthebraintousetwodifferent
processesbasedonvisualandverbalcognition.AccordingtoPaivio(2007:167),someinputs
aremuchmoreattractiveandmemorablethanothers,andaddedvisualmodescanbemore
effectivethanjustreadingorjusthearingthewords.Inputmodalitiesarethosesuchas
writtenorprintedlanguageonapage,videos,audiosounds,screentextandsubtitlesand
soon.Empiricalworkwithparallelgroupshasshownthatthechoiceofmodalities
significantlyaffectshowandwhatstudentslearn(Sydorenko2012:70).Manystudieshave
indicatedvisualscanhelplearnerstorecallwordsbetterthanothernon-visualsinput
(AbebeandDavidson2012;Uberman1998;PorterandMargaret1992;Wright1976).The
previouspointshighlightthatvisualscanmakeagreatimpactwhenitcomestoteaching
newunknownwordstothelearners.
Afterdiscussingtheimportanceofvocabularyteachingandlearningandsomeofthe
differentmethodsandteachingaidswhichcanbeusedinteachingvocabulary,Iwillmove
nowtodiscusstheseissuesmorenarrowlyintheKuwaiticontextandintheuseofTarget
English.
2.3TheKuwaitiContext
ThereissomeempiricalresearchonEFLteachinginArabianGulfcountrieswhichhasfound
areluctanceonthepartofbothstudentsandteacherstobefullycommittedtothe
communicativemethodologywhenitcomestoteachingvocabulary.Onerecentstudy
basedinSaudiArabiafoundthatamonguppersecondaryschoolstudents,nolessthan90%
preferredatleastsomeuseofArabicinclassand“Arabicwasdesiredmosttoexplainnew
vocabulary(54.6%)andtoclarifydifficultconcepts(27%)”(Alshammari2011:97-98).
Teachersbroadlyagreedbuttheirviewwasthat“Arabicwasmostessentialtoclarify
1725thSeptember2015
difficultconceptsandtoexplainnewvocabularywordsandgrammarpoints”(Alshammari
2011:98).Itisnowwidelyacceptedthatmultimediainputbringsbetterresultsthaninput
throughjustonemodality(PlassandJones2005:467).
EnglishlessonsatintermediatelevelinKuwaitaregenerally45minuteslong,arelatively
shorttimeinwhichteachersareexpectedtocoverallofthematerialintheprescribed
coursebook(Al-MutawaandKailani1989).Thisleadstosomepressuretofocusonwhatis
perceivedasessentialitems,andsincethemasteryofvocabularyandkeygrammarrules
aretwoareasthatfeaturehighlyintheexaminations,thereispressureonteacherstomake
verysurelearnersfocusonthesepoints.Teacherstendnottotaketheriskofteachingusing
onlycommunicativemethodsbecauseitislikelythatatleastsomelearnerswillnotpickup
thekeylearningobjectivesofthelessonsimplyfromhearingnewEnglishwordsinaspecific
context.Asnotedbefore,coveringtheprescribedcoursebookanditscontentisthemain
objectiveforteachersinKuwaitandforthisreason,itisimportanttodiscusstheroleof
TargetEnglishintheKuwaiticontext.
2.3.1TheRoleoftheTargetEnglishCoursebook
InsomeEFLcontexts,thesyllabusisdescribedintermsoflearningoutcomes,andteachers
areofferedacertainamountoffreedomintheirchoiceofmaterialsandmethods
(Tomlinson2003).Thismightbedauntingfornewteachers(Johnsonetal.2008);however,
thisisnotthecaseinKuwaitwhereTargetEnglish(KeddleandHobbs2008:i)isineffect
boththesyllabusandtheprescribedteachingmaterial.Thebackcoverofthecoursebook
clearlystatesthat“TargetEnglishfollowstheKuwaitMinistryofEducationsyllabus”(Keddle
andHobbs2008:backcover).ThismeansteachersinKuwaithavetofollowthebookorder,
andstudentsthentakeexaminationsbasedonthecontentofthisbook(Al-Mutawaand
Kailani1989).Thelayoutisdesignedinawaythatthenewlessonswithinthebookare
introducedwithminimalpreparationinadvance.Mostlessonsinthebookrelyonnarratives
andsometimesonpicturestohelplearnersunderstandthemeaningofnewwordsfromthe
context.ItisalsoimportanttonotethatinstructionsinthebookareallinEnglish.
WitheachnewlessoninTargetEnglishthereisasmalliconwhichcontains“Wordsto
remember”(Figure1).Thesearethekeyvocabularyitemswhichteachershavetocoverand
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studentshavetolearnforexaminations.TargetEnglishalsohasanEnglish/Englishglossary
attheendofit,sothatlearnerscanlookupanyofthenewwordstheydonotknow.The
wordsintheglossaryarethesamekeyvocabularyitemsfromthelessonsinthebook
(Figure1),andtheyarelistedalphabeticallyinboldbluetextandaccompaniedbya
definitionofitspartofspeech(adjective,phrasalverbandsoon).
Figure1
AnexampleofthevocabularyitemspresentedwitheachlessoninTargetEnglish(KeddleandHobbs2008:41)
Thisstructuresuggeststhebookisdesignedtoencourageincidentallearning,intendingthat
studentsshouldpickupnewwordsandtheirmeaningfirstofallbyputtingtogetherallthe
visualandverbalinformationprovidedinthecoursebookandintheaccompanyingaudio
tapes.However,thereisnoexplanationofthemeaningwhennewwordsarepresentedin
thecoursebook,andthe“Wordstoremember”partissimplytheretoencouragethe
learnerstothinkaboutthenewwordsandguessorworkouttheirmeaningthemselves
fromthecoursebookreadingorlisteningmaterial,oreventheEnglish/Englishglossaryat
theendofthebook.Thus,teachersinKuwaittendtopre-teachthesenewvocabularyitems
beforegoingtothereadingtextorthelisteningmaterial,andthisiswhattheteacher’s
guideusuallyrecommends,asshowninFigure2.
1925thSeptember2015
Figure2
(Pre-teachingvocabularyisrecommendedintheteacher’sguideofTargetEnglish)
2.3.1.1Pre-teachingVocabulary
Asnotedinsection2.2.1above,thepracticeofpre-teachingvocabularyisakeyelementof
thetraditionalgrammar/translationmethodoflanguageteaching.AccordingtoNation
(2014:394):
studiesontheeffectofpre-teachingvocabularyonreadingcomprehensionindicatethatsuchteachingneedstoberichandreasonablyintensiveifitistohaveapositiveeffectoncomprehension.
Inotherwords,simplyreadingoutandreviewingalistofnewwordsatthestartofalesson
isnotlikelytobeveryeffectiveinhelpingstudentstounderstandtextswhichfollowinthe
lessonandusethesenewvocabularyitems.Studentsneedtonoticeenoughaboutthenew
vocabularyitemstobeabletorecallthem,andthentheprocessofrecallingandrepeatedly
usingthewordwillaidintheretrievalofthenewitemsinfuture(Nation2014:396).Thisis
whytheuseofvisualsorflashcardsmighthelpinsuchsituationsasnotedabove.
TheKuwaitigovernmenthasinvestedheavilyinoneparticularcoursebookandyetasa
majorstakeholderintheoutcomeofthesystem,italsoinsistsonmethodssuchaspre-
teachingandthentestingvocabulary.Thisapproachisbasedonassumptionsthatproperly
belongtothegrammar/translationmethod,mentionedinsection2.2.1above,suchasthe
ideastudentsmustbeexplicitlytaughttheform,soundandmeanings,usingtheL1tomake
suretheydothiscorrectly.ThispracticeiswidespreadinArabianGulfcountriesandinthe
literature,opinionsdifferontheeffectivenessofpre-teachingvocabularybeforepresenting
atext,orpost-teachingvocabularyafterstudentshavehadachancetoreadatextandinfer
themeaningofnewwordsfromthecontext(SonbulandSchmitt2010).
MostteachersusethePPPapproachwhenteachingvocabularyinKuwait,whichmeans
“presentation,practice,production”(Harmer2001:86).Studentsaretaughtthemeaningof
2025thSeptember2015
newwordsfirst;thentheyhavetopronouncethem;andfinally,theyareaskedtousethese
newwordsinvariouswayssuchaswritingsentencesorspeakingshortdialogues.Some
supportforthispracticeisfoundintheliteratureandithasbeenacknowledgedthat
differentmethodscanbeeffectiveindifferentcontexts,aslongasasystematicapproachis
used,ratherthanjustrelyingonincidentallearningalone(Nation2002).
Whatisinterestingaboutthepreviouspointsistheveryclearcontradictionherewhenthe
MoEasksteacherstousethecommunicativeapproachtoteachthenewvocabularyitems
intheprescribedcoursebook,andthenasksthemtopre-teachthesevocabularyitemsas
showninFigure2,awaywhichproperlybelongstothegrammar/translationmethod.Itis
alsonoticeableinFigure2thatthetimeallocatedtoteachtheseitemsisonly10outofthe
45-minutelesson,whichisarguablyashorttimetoteachvocabulary.Thismightbebecause
theMoEasksteacherstocoverallthecontentofthebooksothattheycanexaminethe
studentsandevaluatetheirprogressattheendoftheyear.Alltheseissuescanultimately
createacomplexsituationforEFLteachersinKuwait,andmightleadthemtofocuson
examinationsmorethanauthenticlanguagelearning.Thisphenomenonisreferredtointhe
literatureasthe“washbackeffect”,anditreferstothepoweroftheexaminationsystem
thatdictatestheteachingstyleoflanguageprogrammes(Bailey1999:1).
2.3.2TheRelationbetweenExaminationsandtheCoursebook(WashbackEffect)
ExaminationsareafactoflifeformostEFLteachersandlearnersandtheycanhaveavery
significantinfluenceonthewayteachersapproachtheirlessons(Bailey1999).Insystems
whichhaveahigh-stakesexaminationattheendofthecourse,thereissomepressureon
teachersandstudentstolearnspecificallythoseitemslikelytobetested,andtoskipor
ignoreitemsnotlikelytobetested.Whenthisbecomesastrongpressure,itisknownasthe
“washbackeffect”anditcanaffectallaspectsofteachingincludingorderofmaterials,what
istaught,andhowitistaught(Bailey1999:8).
I-Vocabulary(6M)
A)Froma,b,canddchoosethecorrectanswer:(3×½=1½m)
1. Look at the fireworks over there! What a fantastic …………………………….!.
a. spectacle b. script c. dweller d. waterfall
2. The project is excellent. You are a/an ……………………… worker.
a. blind b. latter c. indigenous d. inventive
2125thSeptember2015
Figure3
(AnexampleofoneoftheexamsIgavetomystudentsin2013)
Asdiscussedin2.3.1,EFLteachersinKuwaithavetofollowthecoursebookinunitbyunit
orderasasyllabus,andteachallthenewvocabularyitemsinthe“Wordstoremember”
partofeachnewlesson.Studentswillthentakeexaminationsandteacherswillevaluatethe
students’progress,basedontheexaminationsresults.Theseexaminationscontainmultiple-
choiceandgap-fillingquestions(seeFigure3).Itseemsthattheroleofthecoursebookas
themainsyllabus,wherebystudentswilltakeexaminationsbasedonitscontent,theMoE
askingteacherstopre-teachvocabularyandatthesametimetousethecommunicative
methodtodothat,ledtothiswashbackeffectintheKuwaiticontext.However,itisseems
unrealistictoexpectthatallteachersteachthenewvocabularyitemsinthecoursebookin
thesameway.InmypersonalexperienceasastudentintheKuwaitisystem,andasanEFL
teacherforthepastthreeyearsinKuwait,almostallteacherspre-teachnewvocabulary,
buttheydoitindifferentways.TheyadapttothesituationinKuwait,andthisiswhatIwill
discussinthefollowingsection.
2.3.3MaterialsAdaptationandVocabularyTeaching
2225thSeptember2015
AccordingtoTomlinson(2012:143),Englishlanguageteaching(ELT)materialsare
“…anythingthatcanbeusedtofacilitatethelearningofalanguage”.WhenEFLteachers
workwithaprescribedcoursebook,theyusuallyadaptthecorematerialsbecauseitcanbe
rathermonotonousbothforteachersandlearnerstoberestrictedtothesamelimited
materialallthetime.TherearemanywaysofadaptingELTmaterials(Tomlinson2010).
Threemainwaystheyareadaptedforpre-teachingvocabularymightbe:a)simplifying,for
example,bybreakingdownthematerialintosmallchunksandgivingexplanationseitherin
EnglishorintheL1,sometimesusingsimpleaidssuchasflashcardsorwhiteboards;b)giving
additionalmaterialsuchasworksheetsorhomeworkexercisesbasedonthemain
coursebook;andc)usingtechnologysuchasoverheadprojectors,videosorcomputersto
expandthematerialandmakethemeaningsclearandpresentvisuals(Tomlinson2010,
2012;McGrath2002;Swan1992).Teachersadaptmaterialstohumanisethecontentand
makeitmorepersonalanddirectlyrelevanttothelearnersandsometimestocensor
culturallyinappropriatecontent(Gray2010:274).
InacomplexcontextualsituationsuchasKuwait,EFLteachersmightneedtoadaptTarget
Englishandaimto“bridgethegapbetween[the]coursebookandstudents’needs”
(McGrath2002:8).Havingsaidthat,thewaytheseteachersadaptthecoursebook,oreven
choosethemethodofvocabularyteaching,isallgovernedbytheirprinciplesandbeliefs
eveniftheydonotnoticethem,oractuponthemsubconsciously(Hall2011;Farrell2007).
Thisiswhyteachers’beliefsarekeyinourrecentstudyandthenextsectionisdedicatedto
discussingthisindetail.
2.4Teachers’Beliefs
AccordingtoPajares(1992:307),theterm“teachers’beliefs”isarathermessyconcept,
sinceithasbeenusedwithdifferentmeaningsandusingdifferentphilosophicaland
psychologicaltheories.Teachers’beliefshavebeendefinedas“unconsciouslyheld
assumptionsaboutstudents,classrooms,andtheacademicmaterialtobetaught”(Kagan
1992:65).Thisdefinitionisusefulbutforthepurposesofthepresentstudy,itisimportant
toincludealsothoseconsciousbeliefswhichteachershaveabouttheirwork.Teachersvary
intheamountofconsciousawarenesstheyhaveabouttheirownbeliefsandinanycase,it
isdifficulttodrawaclearlinebetweenconsciousandunconsciousbeliefs(Hall2011).Some
2325thSeptember2015
empiricalresearchconductedinthisfieldfinds“alanguageteacher’sespousedbeliefsmay
beanunreliableguidetotheiractualclassroompractices”(Farrell2007:29).Otherresearch
hasfoundthatteachers’beliefsaboutwhattheyareteaching,whytheyareteachingthis
subjectmatter,andwhichpedagogicmethodsarelikelytobemostsuccessfulareextremely
influentialinhowtheyconducttheirclasses(KaganandTippins1991:281-291).Thisviewis
endorsedbyHall(2011:61),whoadds:
whethertheydrawupon‘academic’theoriesornot,theapproachteacherspursueintheirclasseswillbeinformedbytheirpersonalhypothesesandbeliefswhetherthesetheoriesareexplicitorremainunconscious.
Thedifficultythatexistsinfindingaproperdefinitionforteachers’beliefsmayexplainwhy
inthepasttherehasbeenafocusonteacherbehaviourintheclassroom(Farrell2007).Itis
mucheasiertoidentifyanddiscussactualbehavioursthantoresearchtheamorphous
conceptofbeliefs,butitwouldbeamistaketoignorepeople’sunderlyingbeliefs.The
possibilitypeopleareactingonunconsciousbeliefsmakesitverydifficultforresearchers
becausesimplyaskingsomeonewhattheybelievewillnotproduceanaccurateanswer.The
onlywaytoresolvethisistoaskquestionsaboutwhatteachersbelieve,andalsoobserve
whatteachersdo,andthenreflectonanygapsemergingbetweenwordsanddeeds.Thisis
whythepresentstudyexaminesbothbeliefsandteachingpractice,andseekstodiscern
connectionsbetweenthetwo.
2.4.1Teachers’BeliefsaboutLanguageTeaching
Inmostcountries,EFLteachersarerequiredtocompletecollegeoruniversitytrainingwith
anelementofteachingpracticeandthisisasourceofconsiderableknowledgeabout
pedagogy.Thiscanunderpinteachers’beliefsaboutlanguageteachingmethodsbutitisnot
theonlyinfluence,sinceallteachershavethemselvesbeenlearnersandhaveobserved
manyotherpeopleteachingdifferentsubjectsthroughouttheirchildhoodandearlyadult
years(Hall2011;Farrell2007).Thesepastexperiencescanconditionateachertohave
certainfirmlyheldbeliefsandthesemaybeinconflictwiththetheoriestaughtinteachers
trainingprogrammes(Freeman2002:1).Anotherissuerelatingtoteacherbeliefsisthat
someteachersarenotaccustomedtothinkingaboutorarticulatingtheirbeliefs,andthis
makesithardforthemtoimprovetheirteaching,sincetheyareunabletomake
2425thSeptember2015
connectionsbetweentheirimplicitbeliefsandtheiractions,eveniftheyarespecifically
invitedtodoso(Borg2011:378).Teachersmightalsoholdbeliefswithvaryingamountsof
certainty,sincesomearecorebeliefs,andothersmoreperipheral(PhippsandBorg2009:
380).
Thecontextinwhichateacherworkscanalsoexertaconsiderableinfluenceonwhata
teacherbelievesaboutteachingandindeed,mosteducationalmanagersarekeentoensure
thatallteachersworkinginthesameorganisationshouldholdanagreedsetoffundamental
beliefssotheycaneasilyworktogetheroncommongoals(Farrell2007).Thesystemsand
processesexistinginaschool,suchasrequirementsforlessonplanningdocumentation,or
themonitoringsystemforformativeandsummativeassessment,ortheinspectionregime
arealldesignedtoremindteacherswhattheyshouldbedoingandallhelptobuildatleast
somecommongroundintermsofbasicbeliefs.However,mostrealworkinschoolsisdone
byasingleteacher,unobserved,inaclassroomfulloflearners.Thisisnotmonitored,and
suchteachersarelikelytoactaccordingtotheirownbeliefs,evenwhenthesearenot100%
alignedwiththeofficialpolicyonpedagogicalmatters(Nation2014:397-398).Even
competentteachersoftendisagreeonthebestwaytoteachaparticularlesson,andthere
aremanysmallandlargedifferencesinthewayteachersdeliveraprescribedcurriculum.
Itisimportanttonoteteachersmaynotnecessarilyholdanystrongbelief,ormayexhibit
someinconsistenciesaboutwhattheysayandwhattheydo.AccordingtoGraves(2008:
147-149),teachersmayfollowthesyllabusandtheprescribedmethodononeoccasion
becausetheyfeelacompulsiontodosointheirteachingenvironmentbutthenonanother
occasion,theymayrelymoreontheirownbeliefswhicharedifferentfromthose
prescribed,meaningtheymightdepartfromthewaytheyaresupposedtoteach.Thisis
whyitisimportanttodiscussthiscomplexrelationbetweenteachers’beliefsandtheir
teachingpractices.
2.4.2ConnectionbetweenTeachers’BeliefsandTeachingPractices
2525thSeptember2015
Inadditiontotheinfluenceoftrainingandpastexperienceonteacherbeliefs,thereisalsoa
connectionbetweenateacher’sownemotionsandpersonalvaluesandhisorherbeliefs
aboutteaching,andthiscanexertconsiderableinfluenceonhowthatteacherbehavesin
class(Zembylas1997:5).Thisexplainswhydifferentteachersworkinginthesameschool
holddifferentbeliefs,andalsoexplainswhythesameteachermightholdinconsistent
beliefs.Theterminologyoftenusedforthisgapbetweenwhatteachersbelieveandsayand
howtheyactuallybehaveinclassis“espousedbeliefs[and]whattheydo(theirtheoriesin
action)”(Farrell2007:29).Researcherswantingtounderstandteachers’beliefsmust
thereforebepreparedtoaskthesamequestionseveraltimestotesthowconsistentlya
teacherespousesaparticularbelief,orcomparewhatteacherssayininterviewswithwhat
theydoinclasstocheckwhetherthesebeliefsaresupportedorcontradictedbyteaching
practice.
Theoriesofhowtouncoverteacherbeliefsstresstheneedforempiricaldataaswellasself-
reportinformationbecauseofthecomplexlinkthatexistsbetweenthinkingandaction
(Breenetal.2001:470).Anempiricalinvestigationintotheeffectsofteacherbeliefswas
madebyKhanalizadehandAllami(2012:334-342),whoexploredIranianEFLteachers’
beliefsaboutwritingcompositionandtheimpactofthesebeliefsontheirteaching,usinga
questionnairemethodology.AsimilarrecentstudywasalsoconductedbyHassan(2013).
Thisquestionnairemethodwasusefulintermsofcategorisingteachers’beliefsabout
writingasanactivitythatisform-based,process-basedorsocial-based,andincorrelating
theseorientationstowritingwithvariablessuchaslevelofeducation,experienceof
teaching,andgender.Howeverthequestionnairemethodisnotsuitableforassessingthe
impactofteachers’beliefsontheirbehavioursinclass,sinceteachersmaynotalwaysbe
fullyawareofhowtheyinteractwithlearners.
VanVoorenetal.(2012:641-648)alsousedaquestionnairemethod,consistingofa
standardquestionnairebasedonBurgessandEtherington(2002:443-458)andthenan
additionalsecondpartcontainingopenquestions,subsequentlyfollowedupwithatestin
thestudents’grammaticalknowledge.Thiscombinedquestionnaireandtestmethodisan
improvementbecauseittakesintoaccounttheimpactofteacherbeliefsonteaching,butit
stillleavesmanyquestionsunanswered.Theauthorsconclude,forexample,that“theeffect
ofthese[teachers’]beliefsongrammarinstructionhasalowimpactseeingassituational
2625thSeptember2015
mattersalsoplayasignificantrole”(VanVoorenetal.2012:647).Asimilarstudyontrainee
teachers’beliefsonlearnerautonomyinOmanfoundarangeofbeliefspresentinthe
cohort,andalsoconsiderablevariationintheamountofconsistencybetweenwhat
teacherssaidtheybelieved,andhowtheyactuallybehavedintheirteachingpractice(Borg
andAl-Busaidi2012:90-91).Thepreviousevidenceindicatesanumberofreasonswhich
canaffectteachingandlearningprocedures,butthatultimatelyitistheteacherwho
influencestheseprocedures(Donnellyetal.2011).
2.4.3RelationshipbetweenVocabularyTeachingandTeachers’BeliefsinKuwait
Formanydecades,theinternationalliteratureonteachers’professionalidentityhas
emphasisedaspectsofprofessionalconductsuchas:
acapacityforautonomousprofessionalself-developmentthroughsystematicself-study,throughthestudyoftheworkofotherteachersandthroughthetestingofideasbyclassroomresearchprocedures.(Stenhouse1975:144)
Suchanapproach,however,mightnotmatchthetop-downmanagementsysteminthe
Kuwaitieducationaldomainverywell.Reasonsforthissystemarepartlyduetothesmall
countrysize,whichlendsitselftonationalmanagementstructures,andpartlyduetothe
historyandcultureofthewholeArabianGulfregion(Al-MutawaandKailani1989).Teachers
cananddoreflectontheirwork,discussissuesamongthemselves,andcomparetheir
teachingapproacheswiththatofothers,buttheydothisinahighlystructuredway,within
ratherstrictboundariessetbytheMoE(Adnan2012).Criticalreflectionisrecommendedas
oneofthebesttheoriestousebybothresearcherswithparticipants,andamongteachers
themselves,asawayofuncoveringandunderstandingunconsciousassumptionsandbeliefs
(Brookfield1995).Researchhasshownthatanimportantdimensionofvocabularyteaching
(andindeedofallL2teaching)istheabilityoftheteachertobeawareofwhatheorsheis
doingandtoreflectcontinuallyonwhathasworkedwell,orwhathasnotworkedsowellin
eachlesson(Farrell2007:41).
InKuwait,bothstudentsandteachersareverymuchjudgedbymanagerialandMoE
supervision,withaviewtoestablishingconformityacrossthesystem,ratherthan
individualityandexperimentation(Adnan2012).Studiesfromothercountrieshaveshown
2725thSeptember2015
thatwhenaskedabouttheirpractice,manyobstaclescanarise.InonestudyinVietnam,
“teachersreferredtoanumberofcontextualfactors[suchasmaterialconstraints,
administration-relatedconstraints]whichroutinelyconstrainedtheirpractice”(Tayjasanant
andBarnard2010:279).MostEFLteachersatintermediatelevelinstateschoolsarenot
nativespeakersofEnglishandthissituationcanresultinatendencytoover-simplifythe
learningprocess,helpingstudentswithL1languageexplanationsandprompts,andfocusing
onlessonbylessoncontentratherthanthewidergoalofproficiencybeyondthecoversof
thetextbook(Medgyes2001:418-420).Thesecontextualfactorsmightaffecttheway
teachersteachandcanultimatelyhavesomesortofanimpactaboutwhattheydoinclass.
Atthesametime,however,teachersmightbeaskedtodosomething,butwhentheyarein
theirclassroomstheydosomethingelse.Forexample,theymightbeaskedtoteach
vocabularybyusingthecommunicativeapproach,butwhentheyareinclass,theyteach
vocabularyusingthegrammar/translationmethodbecauseoftheirbeliefs,orbecausethis
iswhattheythinkisbestfortheirlearners.Thisphenomenonintheliteratureisreferredto
asclassroomenactment,andteachers’beliefsarearguablyoneofthekeystounderstand
thereasonbehindthisphenomenon(Graves2008).
2.4.4Teachers’BeliefsandClassroomEnactment(HiddenSyllabus)
Teachersdifferintheirinterpretationofwhatisrequiredbytheirschoolandintheir
particularsyllabus,implyingthereissometimeswhatisreferredtoasahiddensyllabus
beingtaughtalongsidetheofficiallysanctionedsyllabus(Hall2011).Additionally,thelinked
conceptsofcurriculumenactmentandclassroomenactmentcanbedefinedas“theteaching
andlearningprocessesthathappenintheclassroom”(Graves2008:152).Ifteachersfind
thecoursebookisunhelpful,forexample,theymayproducetheirownsupplementary
materialtoachievegoalstheythinkareimportant(Swan1992:32).
Anexampleofclassroomenactmentisthewayinwhichteachersofficiallyfollowthe
communicativeapproachofthecoursebook,syllabus,ororganisationalpolicybutin
practice,deviatefromtheseguidelineprinciplesbybringinginmaterialsoftheirownto
augmenttherathernarrowprovisionofmaterialthatcomeswiththecoursebook.
Instructionsinacoursebookusingthecommunicativeapproacharedesignedtoencourage
teamworkandmuchinformalcheckingandnegotiationformeaningbetweenpeersinclass
2825thSeptember2015
(FosterandOhta2005:402).However,ifateachersimplytranslateseverythingintoArabic,
thissubvertstheaimsoftheexercises.Studentslearnthattheymustfollowtheteacher
ratherthanthebook.
Learnersareverylikelytonoticeandbeinfluencedbythishiddensyllabusthatteachers
deliver(Hall2011).Ifteachersconsistentlygobeyondtheinstructionsinthecoursebook,for
example,andprovidemanyothertypesoflearningaidsanddifferentexercises,then
learnersmightabsorbanopennesstolearningopportunitiesintheworldoutsidethe
classroom,andtheymightalsobeencouragedtousetheL2withtheirpeers(Swainetal.
2002).If,however,teachersdiscouragesuchexplorationandexperimentation,then
learningEnglishbecomesarathernarrowandformulaicexercise,havingnopurposeother
thanenablingstudentstocompletetheassessmentattheendandpassexaminations.Itis
clearteachingandlearningaresomehowcomplexanddynamicprocesses,andcoursebook
instructionsandrulesareinterpretedandacteduponindifferentwaysbybothteachers
andlearners.Thecurriculumisineffectwhatactuallyhappensinclass,andforvarious
contextualreasons,thismightnotcoincideexactlywithwhatpolicy-makersdictatefrom
above(Graves2008).
2.5ConclusionoftheLiteratureReview
Thisbriefliteraturereviewhasshownmanydifferenttheoriesusedtoexplainvocabulary
teachingandlearning,andarangeofdifferentapproacheshavebeenrecommendedforuse
inEFLclassroomsworldwide.Thereisagloballygeneralacceptanceofthevalueofthe
communicativeapproach,butatthesametime,teachingpracticeinmanyclassrooms
appearstoretainmanyelementsofthetraditionalgrammar/translationmethod,
particularlyintheratherregimentedandexaminationdriveneducationalsystemsofthe
ArabianGulfcountries.Havingsaidthat,itisnotentirelyclearintheliteraturewhatthe
implicationsofthismismatchbetweentheoryandpracticemightbe,andsomequestions
havebeenraisedabouttheeffectivenessofEFLteachinginschoolsinthisregion(Al-
MutawaandKailani1989).Thisisaratherseriousissuebecauseitimpactsupontheability
ofKuwaittotakeadvantageoftheeconomicopportunitiesofglobalisationandequipits
citizensforsuccessfulinternationalcareers.Itappearsthatteacherbeliefsarecentralto
theseissues,andwhythisissueformsthemainfocusofthisstudy.
2925thSeptember2015
Thereisanothergapintheliteraturesofarasitisnotclearwhichsituationalfactorsin
Kuwaitaremostinfluential,andwhetherornotteachersrespondmoretotheirownbelief
aboutthebestapproaches,ormoretotheconstraintsandpossibilitiesofthesetting.Some
veryinterestingresearchontherelationshipbetweenteacherbeliefsandthe
implementationofchangesineducationalgoalsandpolicieshasshownteacherbeliefscan
bethekeytosuccessorfailureinsuchmatters(Richardsetal.2001;Syed2003).Birello
(2012:88)citestheBritisheducationaltheoristSimonBorg’sremarkthat:
…nomatterhowmuchyoutrytoprogramteacherstobehaveincertainways,theywon’t:theyalwayshavetheirownindividualideas,theirindividualwaysofdoingthings,theirpreferences…beneaththebehaviortherearebeliefsandknowledgeandrelatedconstructswhichinfluencewhatteachersdo.
Inotherwords,evidencefromacrosstheworldshowsthat“ifwewanttounderstandwhat
teachersdo,ifwewanttopromotechange,wealsoneedtolookatbeliefs”(Birello2012:
88,interviewingSimonBorg).
Whatisneedednowismoreresearchwhichtakesaccountofallthreefactors:thebeliefsof
theteacher,theinfluenceoftheKuwaitisetting,andtheimpactoftheseonactualteaching,
andwhichidentifiestheconnectionswhichexist(orpotentiallydonotexist)betweenthese
elementsintheteachingandlearningprocess.Thisisaratherambitiousundertaking,butit
isessentialtoresearchtheseissuestoensurethatEFLteachingactuallydeliverswhatitis
intendedtodo,ratherthanotherunplannedoutcomeswhicharisefromgapsand
inconsistenciesbetweenpolicy,teacherbeliefsandcurriculumenactmentintheclassroom.
Therefore,inthenextchapter,Iwillintroducetheresearchdesignofthisdissertation,and
howIplannedtoachievethepreviousmentionedgoalstoinvestigatetheresearch
questions.
CHAPTERTHREE:METHODOLOGY
3.1IntroductiontotheMethodology
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Thischapterpresentstheresearchdesign.Itexplainstherationalebehindthechoiceofa
qualitativeresearchmethodologyandthendescribesthemethodsusedtocollecttwo
differentkindsofdata,namelyclassroomobservationsandsemi-structuredinterviewsin
detail.Issuesofreliabilityandvalidityareexamined,andmattersrelatingtothechoiceof
participantsandimportantethicaldimensionsofthefieldworkarealsoconsidered.Thedata
analysisprocedureisdescribed,includingtheuseofamindmaptoclarifyinter-related
conceptsandtheprocessofcodingtheinterviewtranscriptsforcontentanalysis.
3.2ResearchMethodology
Itiscustomaryinfieldworkresearchtomakeadistinctionbetweenquantitativeand
qualitativeresearchmethodologies.Theformerisconsideredappropriateforthe
explorationofeventswhichcanbemeasuredandcountedasinsomekindsofeducational
research,forexample,whenexaminingtrendsinexaminationresultsorfrequenciesin
variouslinguisticoutcomes(DenzinandLincoln2013).Inthisdissertation,however,since
thefocusisonteachers’beliefs,andtheirimpactonadynamicclassroomenvironment,itis
verydifficulttoarriveatfirmfactsorquantifiableamounts.Teachersareindividualswith
theirownpersonalhistoryanduniqueviewoftheworld.Eachclassroomexistsinitsown
particularsetting,withadistinctgroupoflearners,meaningitisverydifficulttodrawout
exactmeasurementsofcauseandeffect.Manyvariablescanco-occur,andtheyarenot
alwaysvisibletotheobserver,ortotheparticipantsinaparticularinteraction.Thisiswhy
thequalitativemethodologywaschosenforthisstudy,becauseitis:
characterisedbyitsaims,whichrelatetounderstandingsomeaspectofsociallife,anditsmethodswhich(ingeneral)generatewords,ratherthannumbers,asdataforanalysis.(BrikciandGreen2007:2)
Sincetheearlytwentiethcentury,manynewdevelopmentsinthesocialsciencescanbe
summedupas“thescientificstudyofhumanbehaviour”(Punch2005:8).Socialscientists
viewtheworldasbeingconstructedindifferentwaysbydifferentindividuals,andrather
thanapplyingfixedlawstoexplainhumanbehaviourasinthenaturalsciences,researchers
infieldssuchasanthropologyandsociologyseektounderstandtheworldfrommultiple
pointsofview.Thisiswhyqualitativeresearchisoftencalledconstructivistorinterpretivist
sinceresearchersencourageparticipantstousetheirownwordstodescribewhatthey
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experience,andtheninterpretwhatissaidalongsideotherevidencefromobservations,
questionnaires,interviewsandsoon(Al-Busaidi2008).Ithasbeenpointedoutthatthe
choiceofaqualitativemethodisachoiceofepistemologyorinotherwords,itrevealsa
positiononthenatureofknowledgeitselfwhichallowsforinterpersonaldifferencesand
multipleperspectives(Bryman1984:75).
Therearebothadvantagesanddisadvantagesinusingqualitativeresearchinthefieldof
education.Onthepositiveside,theopen-endednatureofinterviewsandobservationscan
capturedatathatmayberelevanttotheissueinhand,includingfactorswhichmaynot
haveoccurredtotheresearcher(McDonoughandMcDonough2014:183).Suchresearch
canprovidearichanddeepunderstandingofcomplexphenomena,includingthosewhich
onlyarisethroughtheinteractionofpeople(Robson2011:24).Onthenegativeside,
qualitativeresearchisusuallyverycontext-specific,sincetheresearchercapturesthe
uniquequalitiesofpeopleandplaces(Patton2002).Thismeansqualitativeresearchresults
canusuallynotbegeneralisedtoothersituations.However,otherresearcherscanapplythe
samemethodinothercontextsandfindsimilarornewresultswhichcanultimatelybe
beneficialtothefieldofstudytheyareworkingon(Al-Busaidi2008).
Theroleoftheresearcherinqualitativeresearchisalsoacomplicatingfactor,sincethe
researcherisnecessarilypresentandparticipatesatsomelevelintheinformationgathering
andinformationanalysingprocesses.Thiscanintroducebias,sincetheresearcherhashisor
herownpreviousassumptionsandbeliefswhichmightinfluencetheparticipants,orthe
analysisofthedata(BrikciandGreen2007).Thereisnowaytoeliminatethishuman
dimensionfromqualitativeresearch,sincepeopleissuesareattheverycoreoftheissues
beingexplored.Theimplicationofthisisthatitisessentialforeachqualitativeresearch
projecttoclearlydescribealloftheconditionssurroundingtheresearch,andthemethods
usedtogatherandanalysedata(McDonoughandMcDonough2014).Thiscareful
descriptionallowsotherresearcherstomakecomparisonsbetweenthisandotherunique
situationsandmethods.Bybuildingupacomplexpictureofsimilarcontexts,itisthen
possibletoreachsomegeneralconclusions,whilestillbeingawareofthedifferences
betweencontexts(Al-Busaidi2008).
3.3MethodsofDataCollection
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Inqualitativeresearch,twomethodsofdatacollectionarebetterthanonebecausethey
allowtheresearchertoengageintriangulation(Denscombe2010:62),whichentails
comparingfindingsfromdifferentdatasourcesandlookingforareasofconsensusandareas
oftension.Inthisresearch,classroomobservationsarethefirstmethodofdatacollection,
andsemi-structuredinterviewsarethesecond.Itisentirelytobeexpectedthatthefindings
willnotoverlapexactly,andthisisbecausehumanbeingsarenotalwaysconsistentintheir
beliefsandactions,andtherecanbemanyfactorswhichinfluencewhattheydoandsay.By
gatheringobservationdataandcorrelatingthemwithmorein-depthinterviews,itis
possibletogainanoverviewoftherangeofexperiencesthatoccurinthechosensetting(Li
andWalsh2011:39).
3.3.1ClassroomObservations
Classroomobservationisatriedandtestedmeansofcarryingouteducationalresearch.This
methodaimstocapturethe“setting,systems,peopleandbehavior”(McKay2006:84)
throughthecarefulrecordingofdescriptivedetails.Forthisstudy,Iconductedclassroom
observationsandthemainfieldnoteswerewrittenasobjectivelyaspossible(Appendix1),
andanythoughtsandfeelingsonthedatawererecordedseparately.Dörnyei(2007:185)
mentions“themainmeritofobservationaldataisthatitallowsresearcherstoseedirectly
whatpeopledowithouthavingtorelyonwhattheysayanddo”.However,takentogether,
thedescriptiveandreflectivedatacanhelpmeunderstandthemeaningsbehindpeople’s
wordsandbehaviours.Caremustbetakenwiththismethod,however,becauseobservation
“hasmostpotentialforcreatingdiscomfortamongteachers”(Borg2015:247).
Inthiscase,astructuredobservationframeworkwasusedasaprompttoensurekeydetails
werecapturedforallclassesforthepurposesofanalysisandcomparison(Appendix1).This
isasystematicratherthancasualobservationtechniquethathelpstofocusattentionon
specificissues(McDonoughandMcDonough2014:102)which,inthiscase,isteaching
vocabulary.Observationswerecarriedoutbeforetheinterviewstopreventanydiscussion
pointsfrominfluencingtheusualteachingpracticeoftheteachers(McKay2006).
3.3.2Semi-structuredInterviews
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Alltheinterviewsweresemi-structuredface-to-faceinterviews,andwereaudio-recorded
because“thisprovidesuswithin-depthperceptionsoftheintervieweeswhichcanneverbe
capturedbynote-takingduringtheinterviews”(Basit2010:114).Thesemi-structured
interviewquestionswereselectedonthebasisofmyownexperienceasanEFLteacherin
Kuwaitforthepastthreeyears,andatthesametime,fromfollowingtheexamplesetinan
empiricalstudyonthelinkbetweenteachers’beliefsandclassroompracticesbyFarrelland
Lim(2005).Thismethodisusefulbecausetheopen-endedquestionsitcontainssuchas
“Whatisthemethodthatyoufollow?”invitetheparticipanttoframeanswersinhisorher
ownway,andthenfollow-upquestionssuchas“Canyouexplain?”or“Why?”canbeused
toseekexpansionandclarificationofimportantordifficultpoints(Kumar2005).Semi-
structuredinterviewsstartwithacoresetofquestions,butallowalsosomedeviationto
followtheleadoftheparticipantifthediscussionisrelevant(Farrell2007).Thisisbetter
thanafreeconversationwhichcouldeasilydriftawayfromthemainissuesoftheresearch.
Itisalsobetterthanaquestionnaireoratightlyscriptedinterview,bothofwhichare
comparativelyinflexible,andanswerstoquestionnairestendtoberathersuperficial(Kagan
1990:420-422).Semi-structuredinterviewsalsoencourageparticipantsandinterviewerto
reflecttogetheronkeyissues,andthisisagoodwayofbuildingupajointunderstandingof
complexissuessuchasteachers’beliefs(Farrell2007).Therearesomedrawbackswith
semi-structuredinterviews,however,beingrelativelytime-consumingtocarryoutand
analyse,andrequiringahighlevelofskillonthepartoftheresearcheriftheyaretobe
effectiveinsolicitinggoodqualitydata(Kumar2005).
Interviewsinthisstudywere30minutes,andtookplaceinaseparateroomineachschool.
Myroleasaninterviewerwasfirsttoestablishagoodrapport,andthenasksomesimple
initialquestionsthathelpedtheparticipanttofeelatease(ParkerandTritter2006).Asthe
interviewprogressed,Iencouragedtheintervieweetospeak.Eachinterviewwasaudio-
recordedonanIPhone,withtheparticipants’permission,andtranscribedlater.This
ensuredIpaidfullattentiontotheintervieweeduringtheshorttimeavailableforspeaking.
AllinterviewswereconductedinEnglish,exceptoneastheparticipantpreferredtospeakin
Arabic.ThisparticularinterviewwastranslatedintoEnglishandthentranscribedasthe
otherinterviews.Notesfromtheobservationsandinterviewsaredesignedtobeanalysed
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togethertoachievearoundedviewofeachteacher’sbeliefsandteachingpractices.The
interviewquestionscanbeseeninAppendix2.
3.4ValidityandReliability
Validityandreliabilityarescientifictermswhichhavetheirrootsinquantitativeresearch
andthepositivistparadigm,butwhichneverthelesshavebeenappliedwithaslightly
differentdefinitiontoqualitativemethods(Golafshani2003).Validityinqualitativeresearch
attachestonarrativesandthemeaningswhichpeopleattachtothem,andsoitismorea
matterofconfidencethancertainty(Cohenetal.2011).Animportantelementinqualitative
researchisthereforearequirementforresearcherstoacknowledgetheroletheyplayinthe
research,andtosituatethetopicwiththeselfinthesocio-historicalcontext(Neuman2013:
20).Inthiscase,IamaqualifiedEFLteacherwhoknowstheKuwaitischoolenvironment
verywell.Thisinsiderstatusallowsjudgementstobemadeonthebasisofknowledgeof
thatsettingandgivesassurancethattheassessmentofclassroomactivitiesisvalid(Bryman
2001).Itwouldbemuchmoredifficultforanoutsidertogainthetrustofparticipantsand
interpretthestatementstheymakeaboutthesysteminwhichtheywork.Itis
acknowledgedthattheinterviewdatainparticulararelikelytobesubjective,andbecause
ofthenarrativeformofthedata,theremaybeinconsistenciesorunclearconclusions
(CresswellandMiller2000).Theseimperfections,however,donotinvalidatetheresearch,
butmerelyreflectthecomplexityanddisjointednessofhumanexperienceandprovide
materialforreflectionandfurtherresearch(Wolcott2001:36).
Reliabilityinqualitativeresearchisamatterofdemonstratingtheauthenticityofthedata
usedandthefairnessofconclusionsdrawnfromthesedata,ratherthananynotionof
repeatabilityinothercontexts(Coe2012:48).Inthiscase,ameticulousrecordingofall
data,andadetaileddescriptionofthemethodsusedarefeaturedwhichenhancethe
reliabilityofthework.Furthermore,inthisproject,theresearcherisateacherwhoknows
thecontextoftheparticipantsverywell,andwhocansympathisewiththedailypressures
onteachersinKuwait.Althoughsomemightarguethatthisbringsbiastotheproject,the
advantagehereisthatitmakesitpossiblefortheresearchertoidentifyandtakeaccountof
thepossibilityof“sociallydesirableresponding”(Paulhus2002:49)orotherkindsofbias.
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Oneconsequenceofsociallydesirablerespondingisthatthedatacollectedmaynotbean
absolutelyaccuratereflectionofaperson’struebelief.Onewayofdealingwiththisissueis
torelynotjustupononesinglemethodofdatacollection,suchastheinterview,buttouse
othermethodssuchasclassroomobservation,andtocorrelatetheinformationreceivedin
bothmethodswitheachother(Paulhus2002).Ifthereareanytensionsorcontradictions
betweenthetwosourcesofdata,thenthismayindicateareaswheretheparticipantisnot
awareofinnerbeliefs,orisperhapsdisguisinghisorherbeliefstoappearprofessionaland
competent,ortopleasetheresearcher(Melketo2012).
3.5Participants
Theselectionofparticipantswasdoneusingapurposivemethodofsamplingbecausethis
methodfocuses“onparticularcharacteristicsofapopulationthatareofinterest,whichwill
bestenable[me]toanswer[my]researchquestions”(Laerd2014:online).Fivepractising
EFLteacherswereselectedfromfivestateintermediateschoolsinKuwait.Theyareallmale,
whichreflectsthegendersegregationthatiscustomaryintheKuwaitinationaleducation
systemandtheyallhadatleast5years’experienceteachingEFLatintermediatelevelin
Kuwait.TheywereeducatedindifferentMiddleEasterncountriesandallspokeArabicas
theirfirstlanguage.
3.6EthicalIssues
Inlinewiththeuniversityregulations,theprincipleofinformedconsentwasadheredtoin
theobservationandinterviewfieldwork(Appendix3).Allteacherswhowereobservedand
participatedintheinterviewscompletedandsignedaconsentform,asrecommendedby
BurtonandBartlett(2009).Participantswereinformedaboutthefocusoftheresearchand
theywereassuredthattheiranonymitywouldbepreservedthroughtheuseof
pseudonyms.Thisopennessaboutthetopiccanaffectthequalityofthedata,inboth
positiveandnegativeways(Crowetal.2006).Inthiscase,itwasjudgednecessarytobe
honestandcleartoobtainhonestyandclarityfromtheteachersinreturn.
Permissiontocarryoutthisresearchwasobtainedfromtheheadteacherofeachschool
andanonymityoftheschoolwasalsoassured.Astherewasnodirectcontactwithlearners,
onlyobservationoftheteacher’sapproachandteachingstyleinanormalclassroomcontext
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whenteachingvocabulary,itwasnotnecessarytoobtaininformedconsentfromthe
students.Theresearcherdidnotinteractdirectlywithlearnersbutmerelyobservedtheir
lessonsfromaseatedpositionatthebackoftheclassandinthepresenceoftheEFL
teacher.
Documentationrelatingtothisresearchiskeptinapasswordprotectedlaptopandhard
copiesstoredinalockedfilingcabinet.Afterthecompletionoftheassessmentprocessfor
thiswork,thedatawillbedestroyed.Thesemeasuresaredesignedtoensurenoharmcan
cometoanyparticipantthroughtheresearchitself,orthroughthereleaseofinformation
relatingtothatperson’sworkinglifeorhisviewsonpedagogicandmanagerialissues
(Bryman2001).
3.7DataAnalysisProcedures
Inviewofthecomplexnatureoflivedexperience,thisstudyusesthetechniquesofthe
mindmapandcontentanalysistoanalysetheobservationsessionsandtheinterview
transcripts(DenzinandLincoln1998).AccordingtoSeidel(1998),theprocessofanalysing
qualitativedataconsistsofnoticing,collectingandthinkingaboutthings.Afterfinishing
transcribingtheinterviews(Appendix4)andpreparingthedataforanalysis,Ireadthe
interviewtranscriptsandhighlightedtherelevantconceptsandideasmentionedbythe
participants.Ithenbeganputtingtheseideasintocategoriesandanalysedthedatathrough
coding(Creswell2009).Thisallowedmetounderstandthebeliefsoftheparticipantsand
thenatureoftheKuwaiticontextmoredeeply,whicheventuallyledmetoa“distilled
summaryoftherespondents’viewsorexperiences”(RitchieandSpencer1994:182).ThenI
startedcreatingamindmap,startingwiththefourresearchquestionswhichformthebasis
ofthisresearchandcreatingavisuallinkagebetweenthesequestionsandtheparticipants’
interviewstatementsandtheirnoticedactionsintheclassroomobservations.Categories
werethendevisedwhichhelpedinencapsulatingrelevantconceptswhichoccurredinthe
interviews.Theadvantageofthismethodisthatitavoidsanover-simplisticorlinear
narrativeandpresentsthedifferentdimensionsoftheproblemasperceivedbyparticipants
(RitchieandSpencer1994).Furthermore,itwasveryusefulwhensummarisingand
analysingthedataandhelpedmetoconnectandbringideastogether(Appendix5).
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Itisalsoimportanttonotethatcontentanalysisstartswiththeverywordsofthe
participantsthemselvesandseekstoidentifythematiclinksandcorrelations(Creswell
2009).Againusingthefourinitialresearchquestionsasastartingpoint,theinterview
transcriptswerecodedandthenlinkedideasdrawntogetherfordiscussion.Thismethod
hastheconvenientadvantageof“simplifyingandreducinglargeamountsofdatainto
organizedsegments”(Marvasti2004:91).Largerexamplesofcontentanalysiscounting
frequenciesoftermscouldhavebeenused;however,inthepresentstudythesampleistoo
smalltomakesuchaprocedurevalid(Silverman2006:168).Theemphasishereisondepth
ofunderstandinginafewcasesratherthanafulloverview.
3.8ConclusiontotheMethodology
Inthischapter,Idiscussedthestepstakentogatherandanalysethedataandthe
methodologiesthatunderpinthisprocessindetail.Thecombinationofsemi-structured
interviewsandsystematicclassroomobservationsisdesignedtoproviderichanddeep
informationfromtwodifferentsourcesonteachers’beliefsandtheiractualclassroom
practiceinrelationtoteachingvocabulary.Bothmethodsareratherlabourintensivein
termsofdatagatheringandanalysis,andthisnecessarilylimitsthenumberofparticipants
andsessions,butthisdetailisnecessarytounderstandcomplexissueswithintheirproper
context.Ittakestimetogainthetrustofparticipantsandtounderstandthesignificanceof
theirwords,andthisiswhythesetwoparticularmethodswereselected.Inthefollowing
chapter,Iwilldiscussthefindingsandresultsofthedataanalysis.
CHAPTERFOUR:FINDINGSANDDISCUSSION
4.1IntroductiontotheFindingsandDiscussion
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Inthischapter,Iwillpresenttheanalyseddataanddiscusstheresearchfindings.Thedata
collectedforthisstudytaketheformof:a)observationnotes;andb)interviewtranscripts.
TheobservationnoteswerecollectedaccordingtheframeworkinAppendix1,andconsist
oftickandcrossnotationsforthepresenceorabsenceofparticularfeatures,respectively,
andsomecomments,descriptionsandbriefsummariesinwrittennoteform.Theinterview
transcriptsfollowthecoresetofquestionsgiveninAppendix2andweresubsequently
codedaccordingtothemindmapgiveninAppendix5.Fullinterviewtranscriptsare
presentedinAppendix4.Referencetotheinterviewcontentwillbemadeinthischapter
usingitalicsandpseudonymsfortheinterviewees.Asdiscussedinsection1.4,thereare
fourmainresearchquestions:
1) Whatareteachers’beliefsaboutvocabularyteachingandlearning?
2) Howdoteachersuse/adapttheTargetEnglishcoursebookintheirlessonswhen
teachingthevocabularyitemsinthebook?
3) Towhatextentistheuse/adaptationoftheTargetEnglishcoursebookaffectedby
whatteachersbelieveaboutvocabularyteachingandlearning?
4) Whatfactorsmayhaveinfluencedtheteachers’practiceorapproachnottoteach
thevocabularyitemsintheTargetEnglishcoursebookintermsofwhatthey
believe?
Myprimaryconcernistoidentifytherelationbetweenbeliefsandpracticeandthisisthe
focusofRQ3.Theanswertothisquestionwillnaturallyoverlapwiththeanswersofthefirst
tworesearchquestionsbecauseofthecomplexityofthisstudy.AsforRQ4,itsmainaimis
toinvestigatethedifferentcontextualvariableswhichmightconstrainteachersfromacting
ontheirbeliefswhenteachingvocabularyfromTargetEnglish.
Theapproachtakentopresenttheresultsistobasetheanalysisprimarilyontheinterviews,
usingthethematiccategorieswhicharepresentinthemindmap.Thesethematicunitsare
thesamefourmainresearchquestionsofthepresentstudy.Eachresearchquestionwillbe
discussedseparately,andthestatementsmadebytheintervieweesarefromtimetotime
triangulatedwiththeobservationdatatohighlightareasofcongruenceandincongruence
betweenstatedbeliefsandactualteachingpractice(Graves2000).Analyticaldiscussionof
eachsetofdataiscompletedsectionbysectionandthensummarisedattheendofthe
chapter.
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4.2FirstResearchQuestion:Teachers’BeliefsaboutVocabularyTeachingandLearning
RQ1asks“Whatareteachers’beliefsaboutvocabularyteachingandlearning?”Thestarting
pointforanalysingteachers’beliefsaboutteachingvocabularyisthestatementsthatthey
makethemselves,althoughasnotedinChapterTwo,itisnecessarytobearinmindthisis
bynomeanstheonlysourceofinformation,andisoftennotthemostreliablesource,
whichiswhytriangulationwiththeobservationsisnecessary(Denscombe2010).
Allfiveintervieweesexpressedanawarenessofthecommunicativemethodinteaching
vocabulary.Evidenceforthisisfoundinthelargenumberofstatementsinthetranscripts,
includingthefollowingrathertypicalexamples:
Itrytointroducethewordsthroughthecommunicativeapproach.(Abdualziz)
ItrytousetheEnglishlanguageallthetime,andIaskmystudentstousetheEnglish
languageallthetime.(Abdualziz)
TheMinistryofEducationwantsustofollowthecommunicativemethod.(Alaa)
TheroleofteachingEnglishistouseEnglish.WeareheretoteachhowtouseEnglish
outsidetheschool...anywhere.(Esam)
[Thecommunicativeapproachis]theapproachusedhereinKuwaitinteaching.
(Tareq)
Oneintervieweeimmediatelyconfesses,however,thatthisistheidealbutnottherealityin
histeaching:
Theoreticallyspeaking,I’mrequiredtomakethestudentsunderstandthenew
vocabularyitemsandusethemintheirdailylife.But…Tobehonestwithyou,Idon’t
dothat.(Alaa)
Itseems,then,atleastinsomecases,thereisacleargapbetweentheoreticalbeliefinthe
communicativewayofteachingvocabularythroughimplicitmeansandtheactualchoices
madeintermsofpractice(Farrell2007).
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Teachersgenerallyalsoexpressabelief,theoreticallyatleast,intheeffectivenessofthe
communicativemethod:
It'sbetter.It'sbettertomaximizeEnglishasaforeignlanguage.It'sbettertousethe
Englishlanguageallthetime.(Abdualziz)
Sometimesitisveryinformativetoconsiderthemetaphorsandanalogiesteachersmake
whentheydescribetheirbeliefs,orvariousfactorswhichtheyencounterintheirwork
becausethesecanrevealdeeplyheldbeliefsthatteachersmaynotfeelabletoexpressin
concreteterms(Andrews2003;Hall2011).Oneteacherjokesabouthisstudents’desireto
havealltheanswersgiventothemandacceptsthe“spoon-feeding”analogy,suggestinghe
seeshimselfasbeingforcedtoactintheroleofaparentfeedingasmallchildfromabowl:
A: Yes,theywillunderstandit[whengivingthemeaninginArabic].ButIdon'taddanythingnewtotheEnglishlanguage.
H: Mm-hmm!Itisinteresting.
A: WhenIgivethemthemeaning,that'swhyItellthemopenyourmouth...
[Laughter]
H:Yeah!
A: …openyourmouth!It’sdelicious!
[Laughter]
H: Yeah!
A: It’sdelicious!
H: Spoon-feeding!
A: Yes,somethinglikethis.SoI’mnotintroducinganythingtotheEnglishlanguage.
H: Uh-huh!(Abdualziz)
Itisquitedifficulttointerprettheteacher’struebeliefsinthisportionoftheinterview
becauseheisusingthisexaggeratedmetaphoroffeedingthestudentsdeliciousmorselsin
Arabicinanironicandhumorousway.Theironyconveystwodifferentmeaningsatthe
sametime:firstly,thatthestudentslikethiskindofteaching,andsecondly,thatitisnot
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approvedofbytheauthoritiesbecauseofthepolicyofusingEnglishintheclassroom.The
humourshowsthattheteacherisgentlymockingthesystemthatproducesstudentswho
onlywanteasyanswers.
Itwasreassuringinthisinterviewtoseetheparticipantrelaxingandtalkingopenlyandwith
somehumourabouthisviews,andthisshowsthatforatleastsomeofthetimethis
interviewachievedwhatO’Reillymaintainsasagoodgoalinresearchinethnographic
research;thatistosay:gainingaccesstoratherintimateinformationby:
explainingaboutourresearchbutthensettlingintoasemi-overtrole,whereparticipantsknowwhatwearedoingbutdonotalwayshaveitintheforefrontoftheirminds.(2010:8)
Thepresentstudywasnotfullyethnographicbecauseitwasableonlytocompleteone
roundofobservationsandoneroundofinterviews,andthisismuchtooshorttoallowthe
researchertobecomefullyimmersedinthesetting,butitdoesusesomeelementsofthe
ethnographicapproach,sincethediscussionswithparticipantsbuilduponshared
experienceintheKuwaitieducationsystem(O’Reilly2010).
Thecontentanalysismethodallowedmeaglimpseofattitudesandbeliefspresentinthe
culturewhichsurroundstheteachingactivity.Evenwhenteachersmakestatementswhich
denyaparticularposition,theirchoiceofimageryandmetaphorcanrevealdominant
thinkingintheorganisation.Thisdominantthinkingisboundtohavesomeeffectontheir
beliefsandbehaviour(TayjasanantandBarnard2010).Thefeedingmetaphorforteaching,
forexample,conceivesthisasamechanicalprocessinwhichtheteachermakesallthe
effort,whilethelearnerisinapassiverole,simplyreceivingthematerialinbite-size
mouthfulswithoutanyneedtobecloselyinvolvedintheprocess.Anothermetaphoristhat
ofproblemsandcrime:
Ifyoufeelthatyouneedmoreclarification,thenit'snotaproblem,Ithinkit'snota
problemtousethemothertongue.Sometimeswordscan'tbeunderstoodeasilyby
students,soIgiveittostudentsinArabic.It’snotacrime.It’snotabigproblem.
Studentswillthankyouforthat.[Jokingly](Salah)
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Thissomewhatextremechoiceofwordsechoestherhetoricofthegovernmentwhich
stipulatesjustone,monolingualapproachwhichrepresentsaratherstrongversionofthe
communicativemethod.Negativewordssuchasproblemandcrimeshowtheteacher
resiststhisdominantview,andassertsaneedtodeviatefromit.
Anotherveryrevealingmetaphoristhatofthecoursebookasa“holybook”whichisused
bymorethanoneteacher:
Yes,theteachershouldbeflexibleinsidethelesson,shouldbeflexibleinsidethe
course.Ishouldn'tsticktothebook.Itisn'taholybook.(Abdualziz)
ItrytomakesurethatmystudentsunderstandandIdon'tcareabouttheway.Even
ifIdon'ttacklecertainexercisesinthebook.It’snotaholybook.Iusemyownway.
(Salah)
ThismetaphorderivesfromthelargelyIslamicworldviewoftheArabianGulfregionandit
suggeststhatconservativeviews(Hall2011)whichoftencomefromtheauthoritiesinthese
countries,inthiscaseregardinghowtolearn,tendtobeimposedfromabove,andthis
inhibitsthepopulationfromenjoyingthebenefitsofmoremodernmethods.Thisisa
criticismofthewayinwhichideasfromtheauthoritiesaretransferredtoeducation,often
inwayswhichconflictwithotherpolicydirections.Kuwaithasmadeaconsciousdecisionto
moderniseandprofessionalisetheEFLcurriculum,butitisverydifficulttodothisifthe
toolsandapproachesofmodernteachingarenotavailable.
Theexaminationisdescribedalsoinreligiousterms:
H: Whydoyoudoitthiswaytohelpyourstudentsunderstand…?
S: …Tohelpthemunderstandandtopreparethemfortheexamwhichisaholygoalforsome...
[Laughter]
S: …peoplehereandthere.(Salah)
Thiscommenttopeoplehereandthererefersobliquelytotheauthorityfiguresinthe
schoolandfromthegovernmentwhoareconcernedaboutexaminationresultsaboveall
othergoals(GaiesandBowers1990).
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Anotherrevealingmetaphor,thistimedrawnfromthetechnologicalage,echoesateacher’s
dissatisfactionwithrigiddehumanisingworkconditions:
Wearen'tdealingwithholybooksandwearen'trobots.Everyteachershoulddeal
withthenewwordsaccordingtothelevelofthestudents(Abdualziz)
Theironictoneofvoiceinsuchcommentsrevealsthattheparticipantsarenotinfavourof
thisover-emphasisonthecoursebookandexamination,andtheuseofonesinglemethod
toteachvocabulary.Theuseofmetaphorsandtheindirectmentionoftheauthorities
amountstoanacknowledgementoftheirinfluence,andanunwillingnesstoconfrontthem
openlyaboutproblemswhichmightoccurintheworkplaceortheoreticaldebatewhichlie
attheheartoftheteachingprofession.Thesystemseemssimilartoaviciouscircle,as
describedbyTareq:
Thesystem...It'saviciouscircle.Thesystemoftheexamsposessomethingonthe
teacher.Theteacherfollowsacertainwaytocoverthecoursebook,soheistraining
studentsfortheexam.Studentsbecamelikethis.Theyliketogeteverythingready-
madebecausetheyareusedtothisnow.Afteryearsofthesamesystemofthe
exams,thisistheresult.(Tareq)
Thus,itisimportantforthepurposeofthisstudytoinvestigatethenatureofthissystem
andthewaythecoursebookisusedinsideEFLclassroomsinKuwait.
4.3SecondResearchQuestion:Teachers’UseoftheCoursebookwhenTeaching
Vocabulary
RQ2asks“Howdoteachersuse/adapttheTargetEnglishcoursebookintheirlessonswhen
teachingthevocabularyitemsinthebook?”Itisclearthatallinterviewparticipants
followedthecoursebookclosely,butatthesametimetheyalsoadaptedthecoursebookin
somewaywhenteachingthenewvocabulary.Theliteraturesuggeststhatteachersadd
materialsformanyreasons,includingtheneedtoaddsomehumaninterest,ortosimplify
thecontent,ormeettheneedsorrequestsofindividualstudents,orchangeelementsnot
appropriatetothelearnercontext(McGrath2013:129).
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Someteachersnotedthattherewastheoreticallysomefreedomtoaddadditionalmaterial,
includingnewvocabularyordifferenttypesofactivitytotheirteaching,beyondthecontent
ofthecoursebook:
T: Ifyouhavetime,youcandoit[teachvocabularyfromoutsidethebook].Butyoushouldabidetothebook.Youshouldfinishthebookfirstthenyoucandowhateveryoulikeifyouhavetime.
H: Ifyouhavetime?
T: Yes,ifyouhavetime.Soyoucanjustadaptthelessonaccordingtoyourtime,butfirstyoushould,oryoumustfinishthecoursebook.(Tareq)
Howevertherewasnoevidenceofthisintheobservations,andintheinterviewsitwas
clearthatextraworkbeyondthecoursebookwasverymuchtheexceptionratherthanthe
rule.Thereisstrongmanagerialpressuretostickexactlytothecoursebookandavoid
addingothermaterialthatisnotgoingtobepartoftheexamination(Bailey1999).Itis
clear,then,thatintheKuwaitiintermediateschoolcontext,theproblemismuchmorea
questionoftryingtocoveralltherequiredmaterialthanlookingtoaddmore.
Onestrategyusedtosavetimeandhelpstudentsprogressquicklythroughthecourse,
acquiringasmuchvocabularyaspossible,isthatofflashcards:
Atthebeginningofthenextperiod,I’mgoingtointroduce…notintroduce…I’m
goingtorevisethewordsasquicklyasIcanusingflashcardsinordertoconnect
whatIexplainedtodaywithwhatI’mgoingtoexplaintomorrow.(Abdualziz)
Usingflashcardsatthebeginningandendofalessonisawayofanchoringstudent
attentiontocertainvocabularyitems,ineffectmakingthemnoticenewwordsmore,and
thisenhancestheapproachusedinthecoursebookofhighlightingkeyterms(Dörnyeiand
Skehan2003).
Inspiteofthispressuretostickonlytothecoursebook,thereismuchevidencethat
teachersuseadditionalmaterialthatusesthesamevocabularyasthetextbook,andis
designedtogivestudentsextrapractice.Thesetaketheformofworksheets,orsometimes
homeworkexercises,designedtoencouragethestudentstodevoteextratimetoreviewing
andrecyclingthevocabularypresentedinclass:
4525thSeptember2015
Yes,worksheets.Weprinthandoutsforthestudentsandgivethemtostudents.They
candothemathome.It’shomework.(Tareq)
Extraexercises.Theyarenotinthecoursebook.Imadethem,preparedthemformy
studentsbecauseIthinktheyaregoodtoconsolidatetheirunderstanding.(Salah)
Thisteacher,Salah,alsoopenlystatesheispreparedtoskipsomematerialorspeedup
whendealingwithsometasks:
IthinktherearelotsofexercisesthatIthink…theyarenotofmystudents'interests,
soIdon'tgivethemalongtime.Itrynottoconsumethetime...(Salah)
Inaveryrevealingstatementaboutthegapbetweentheteacher’sownbeliefsandthe
practicesheiskeentoshowtosupervisorsandtheheadofdepartment,itisevidentthe
teacherdeliberatelyconcealshiseverydaypracticetoappeartobefollowingtheguidelines
issuedtohim:
Whenasupervisorortheheadofdepartmentcomestoyourclass,youhavetoshow
himwhathewantstosee.Frankly,I’mtalkinghonestly.(Salah)
Thisshowsthattheteacherfulfilsthedemandsofthesysteminasuperficialway:
WhenIaminmyclasswithmystudentsandnobodyfromoutsideishere,Itryto
makesurethatmystudentsunderstandandIdon'tcareabouttheway.EvenifI
don'ttacklecertainexercisesinthebook.It’snotaholybook.Iusemyownway.The
exercisesthatIfindnecessaryandhelpmystudentstounderstand.(Salah)
Thisstatementshows,however,thattheteacherfollowshisownbeliefswhenheknowsno
authorityfiguresarewatching.Thisisinterestingbecausestudentswillundoubtedlybe
receivingahiddencurriculuminthiscase(Hall2011),intheformofnegativemessages
aboutthecoursebookandthesystem.Theteacherhereisclearlydoingwhatisreferredto
asclassroomenchantment,discussedinsection2.4.4(Graves2008).
Anotherissuethatwascriticisedisthatthechoiceofvocabularyinthecoursebookhasno
relevancetotheKuwaiticontext:
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Like...let'ssay...Awordliketoday,Ithinkitwas"monkfish".Theydon'tusethisword
inthestreet.Whymonkfish?Thisstrangetypeoffish?Idon'tknow.Canyouuseitin
thestreet?Monkfish?HereinKuwait?Youcan't.Atleasttheyshouldbringatypeof
fishthatisknowninKuwait.(Sarcastically)butnotastrange,bottomdwellingfishin
theocean.Idon'tknowinwhichcountry.Why?(Tareq)
Finally,animportantconsiderationisalsothatstudentsinthesameclasshavedifferent
levelsofabilityandcommitmentandthisisseenasanobstacletothedeliveryofthe
coursebookinthemannerprescribedbythegovernment:
Students'attitudesandlevels.Somestudentshavepositiveattitudeandothershave
negativeattitude.Theydon'twanttowork.Theyhaveotherinterests.Theyaren't
interestedinthecoursebook.(Salah)
Manyanswersontheissueofhowthecoursebookwasbeingusedbytheteacherswere
rathervagueandthisisperhapsunderstandablebecausethecoursebookissuchabigpart
ofthewholeteachingprocess.Ineffect,thebookwasthesyllabusitself(Cunningsworth
1995),andtherewasafeelingitwouldnotberighttoskipelementsofitbecauseofthe
needtoensurethatstudentswerepreparedforthedetailedvocabularytestingelementsof
theexamination.However,whentheevidencefromtheclassroomobservationsistaken
intoaccountalongsidetheteachers’comments,thesituationbecamemuchclearer.Itis
possibletoseeexactlyhowcloselytheteacherstickstothecoursebookcontentineach
observedlesson.
Thereissomeevidencethatteachersunderstandverywellwhatthecoursebook’sintended
purposeisbutneverthelesschoosetotakeadifferentapproach.Whenteachersaddorskip
material,theyusetheirskillstotailorthecoursebooktofitwhattheyperceiveasstudent
needsintheirparticularsetting.ThisisanexampleofwhatThornbury(2013:204)calls
“resisting”thecoursebook,anditisbynomeansalwaysanegativeorharmfulactivity.
Goodteachersmaketheirlessonssuitablefortheneedsoftheirlearners,andthismeans
theymodifyandchangeiftheyknowthesechangeswillhelptheirstudentsachievesome
importantgoal.
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AnothernotablefeatureoftheobservationsisthefrequencywithwhichtheL1Arabicwas
used.AlthoughthecoursebookwaswrittenfortheKuwaiticontext,Arabicisnotpresentin
thecoursebook,andvocabularyisintroducedthroughthetextsanddialogues.Ineachunit,
therearesmallicons(theWordstoremembersection),asshowninFigure1,Chapter2
Section2.3.1.
Theseiconsaredottedthroughoutthecoursebook,andnotpreciselysituatedinfrontof
newtextualcontent,butratherlocatedincidentallyatoneorothersideofthepage,
interspersedwithexercises.Bothteachersandstudentsusethem,however,asformal
learninglistswiththeimplicationtheyhavetobememorisedinanexplicitway.Inoticed
thatteachershadtofollowthebookandteachthevocabularyitemsinthe“Wordsto
remember”sectionbecausethisisthevocabularythatstudentswillbeaskedaboutinthe
examination.Thiscanultimatelyleadtothewashbackeffectonteachingvocabulary,
especiallyasthesestepsaredonethroughoutthewholeyearbyfollowingtheprescribed
coursebook(Bailey1999;Messick1996).
AtnopointisthereanymentionofArabicmeanings,butthereisamonolingualglossaryat
theend,organisedalphabetically,whichprovidesashortexplanationforstudents,defining
forexamplethewordvaluableas:“valuable(adjective):extremelyuseful,expensiveor
important”(KeddleandHobbs2008:109).ThisshowstheuseofArabicfallsoutsidethe
syllabus,asprescribedbytheMoE.OneteacherwasveryfirminhisrejectionoftheL1:
A: …SoI’mnotintroducinganythingtotheEnglishlanguage.
H: Uh-huh!
A: Itrytoavoidthis….It'sforbiddeninmyclasstowritethewordinArabic,and[Iaskthelearners]towritethewordinEnglishandtogivetheirmeaning.(Abdualziz)
Thisstatementsuggeststhattheteacherisanadvocateofthestrongversionofthe
communicativeapproach,thoughwhenthisistriangulatedwiththeobservationofhis
teaching,itisclearhedoesallowArabic,sinceIobservedthatafterfinishinghisexplanation
ofnewwordsinEnglish,studentsthenguessedandgavethemeaninginArabicuntilthey
gotitright.HedidnotwriteArabiconthewhiteboardbuthedidacceptoralanswersin
Arabictocheckthatstudentsunderstoodthemeaningofnewvocabulary.
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AsimilarstrategywasdisplayedbySalahintheobservedlesson.Henoticedastudentdid
notunderstandthemeaningoftheword“element”andexplainedthisbymeansofan
example,“waterhastwoelements,OxygenandHydrogen”,sothatthestudentguessedthe
meaningcorrectlyandgavethewordinArabic.Thisisgoodpracticeusingthe
communicativeapproachbecauseitusesEnglishtohelpstudentsaccessknowledgefrom
anothersubjectarea(chemistry)andfromanauthenticsituationwithintheclassroomto
helpthemworkoutthemeaningwithoutbeingtoldanyArabicterms (Harmer2001).The
linkageismadefirstfromEnglishwordtoEnglishword,andtheArabiccomesinonlyasa
backuptocheckthestudent’sguessiscorrect.Itmustbenoted,however,thisteacher
somewhatunderminedthecommunicativeapproachbyaskingstudentstoreviseArabic
meaningsofthewordsorally.Itisasifhestartedoutwithacommunicativeapproach,but
onlytookitasfarasestablishingmeaningviatranslation.Hedidnottaketheapproachright
totheendtotheproductionphasebecausetherewasnoopportunityforstudentsto
demonstratetheirgraspofthefunctionofthesewordsinactualconversationwiththe
teacherorwitheachother.
Interestingly,Abdualzizprovidedthepartsofspeechsuchasnoun,verb,adjective,which
suggestsanodtogrammar/translationmethodologysincethisallowsstudentstocategorise
wordsaccordingtotheirgrammaticalrole.Thismirrorstheapproachofthetextbook,which
alwaysliststhepartsofspeechafternewwordsintheglossary.Therefore,inpractice,this
syllabususesaweakerversionofthecommunicativemethodwhichallowssomeplacefor
consciouslearningoftheL2,eventhoughitdoesnotgoasfarasallowingtheL1tointrude
inlearningthevocabulary(Thornbury2006).
Anotherteacherexplainstherearesomeoccasionswhenhejudgesitnecessarytouse
Arabic:
SometimesweneedtouseArabicinintroducingnewvocabularyespeciallyin
abstractwords.(Esam)
ThissameteacheralsosuggeststhatusingtheL2fornewwordsdoesnotalwayswork,and
usesArabicasalastresort:
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SomewordsyouneedtosaytheminArabicattheend.Aftermanytimes.Aftermany
tries,youneedtosaytheminArabic[sostudentscangetthemeaning].(Esam,)
ThisviewisalsosupportedbySalah,whoexplainsthatsomestudentsneedtheextrahelp
thattheL1provides:
…youareateacher.Youknowifyourstudentsunderstoodthewordornot.Ifyou
feelthatyouneedmoreclarification,thenit'snotaproblem,Ithinkit'snota
problemtousethemothertongue.Sometimeswordscan'tbeunderstoodeasilyby
students,soIgiveittostudentsinArabic.It’snotacrime.It’snotabigproblem.
Studentswillthankyouforthat.[Jokingly](Salah)
This,too,isevidenceofageneralbeliefonthepartoftheteachersinthecommunicative
methodinitsweakerversion,sincetheteacherbelievesthatsomeabstractwordsaretoo
difficulttoteachusingonlytheL1byaskingstudentstolearnthemeaningimplicitlyfrom
picturesorcontextinthecoursebook.Arathermoreextremepositionwasdemonstrated
whenteacherAlaaactuallywroteArabicmeaningsalongsidetheEnglishvocabularyitems
onthewhiteboard.Thisisnotinaccordancewiththecommunicativemethod.Inshort,a
verywiderangeofadditions,reductionsandamendmentstothecoursebookwasdescribed
bytheteachersanddemonstratedinthelessonsobserved.Thesechangesdidnotdeviate
muchfromthevocabularycontentinthecoursebook,buttheydiddifferrathersignificantly
intermsofpedagogicalapproach.Thisisanimportantfindingbecauseitshowsexactly
whichperceiveddeficienciesinthecoursebookarebeingidentifiedandrectifiedby
teachers:
A: UsingonlyL2isrequiredfromusasteachershere.ButthecircumstanceshereenforceustouseL1.So,myanswerisyes.IuseL1whenIteachthenewvocabularyitems,butwearen'tallowedtodothat.
H: Whyisthat?Whydoyoudothat?
A: Itoldyou.Becausestudentslackthemotivationinlearning.Theywanttopasstheexam.AndIhelpthemtopasstheexam.SoIfollowtheeasiestwaytodothatlikegivingthemthemeaningofthenewvocabularyitemsinArabic.(Alaa)
Again,theexaminationseemstobekeyinthewayteachersapproachtheirlessonsand
teachvocabulary.Itisalsoworthnotingthatmanyoftheteachers,suchasTareq,Salahand
5025thSeptember2015
Esam,usedpicturesandvisualswhenpresentingthevocabularyitemsfromthecoursebook
usingPowerPointsoftware.Asdiscussed(section2.2.4),visualscanhelplearnerstorecall
wordsbetterthanothernon-visualinput(AbebeandDavidson2012;Uberman1998;Porter
andMargaret1992;Wright1976).ThisisalsosupportedbyPaivio’s“dual-coding”theory
(2007:167).Itseemsthatsometeachersareawareoftheadvantagesofusingvisualsand
thisishowtheyadaptedthecoursebook:
IusuallyusemoderntechnologylikemakingPowerPointpresentationsaboutthe
newwords.Iputsomepictures,definitions,andexamplesinaninteractiveway.
Studentscanseethepresentationandgetthenewwords.ThisishowIadaptmy
vocabularylessonfromthebook.(Tareq)
Thepictures,thePowerPoint,theyareattractingstudents.Theycanhavefun.They
aremotivatedtoparticipate.Visualsaregood.Theymotivatestudents'thinking
aboutthewords.Theyaregoodforthememory.Whentheyseethepicture,theycan
rememberthewordforalongtimeandmaybeforever.[Jokingly](Tareq)
Ithinkusingvisualsmakesstudentsunderstandthewordsbetter(Salah)
Furthermore,thesecommentsindicatethatvisualsarenotonlyhelpfulforrecallingwords,
buttheyalsomotivatestudentsinsidetheclassroomandcreateavividclassenvironment
forcommunicativetasksandinteraction (Goldstein2008).Oneteacher,Esam,claimedthis
isthemainreasonheusesvisualswhenadaptingTargetEnglish:
H: Areyouusingvisualsjustformotivation?
E: Yes,motivation,tomakestudentsactiveintheclassroom.Tomakethemwithmealways.H: Soyourmaingoalforusingvisualsisjustformotivationnothingelse?Youdon'tthinkvisualscanaddsomethingelseotherthanmotivation?
E: It'smotivation.(Esam)
Followingthisdiscussionofteachers’beliefsaboutvocabularyteachingandlearningin
section4.2,andhowtheyuse/adaptTargetEnglishinthissection,thenextsectionnow
answerstheprimaryresearchquestionmoredirectly.
5125thSeptember2015
4.4ThirdResearchQuestion:TheEffectofTeachers’Beliefs
RQ3asks“Towhatextentistheuse/adaptationoftheTargetEnglishcoursebookaffected
bywhatteachersbelieveaboutvocabularyteachingandlearning?”Asstatedinthe
introductiontothischapter,theanswertothisquestionwasdiscussedindirectlyinthetwo
previoussections,4.2and4.3.Inthecaseofvisuals,forexample,animportantaspectof
teacherbeliefsaboutteachingvocabulary,theteachersexpressedmixedviewsaboutthe
valueofvisualsintheirlessons.Theserangefromhighlevelsofenthusiasmand
demonstrationofvisualsusingPowerPoint(Salah,EsamandTareq)tooutrightrejectionon
thegroundstheydonotincreasetheeffectivenessofthelesson(Alaa).
MostoftheteacherstoleratedArabicasameansofensuringthestudentshadgraspedthe
meaningofnewvocabularyitems,andtheypromotetheuseoftranslation,eventhough
thisisnotstrictlypartofthecommunicativeapproach(Hall2011).Thereisafocuson
accuracyandwriting,whenonemighthaveexpectedmoreemphasisonfluencyandfree
speakingfromaprogrammebasedontheTargetEnglishcoursebook.Thisdichotomy
supportsthefindingsofotherresearchers,notablyAndrews(1994:44)whomaintainsthat
publicexaminationshaveaverystrongwashbackeffect,andthatoneofthemain
consequencesofthiswashbackeffectisthatitinhibitsinnovation.Teachersmaywellhold
thebeliefitisbesttoteachnewvocabularyimplicitly,asindeedisrecommendedinKuwait,
butduetothepressuresintheirownparticularorganisation,theyareafraidthiswill
jeopardisetheirstudents’examinationperformance,andinsodoing,preventtheirstudents
fromattainingfutureeducationalandlifetimegoals(Bailey1999).Itisclearfromthe
interviewsthatteachersaredeeplycommittedtothecurrentandfuturewelfareoftheir
students:
H: WhenitcomestotheuseofL1,you[saidyou]believethatit'snecessarysometimes.Evenifit'snotallowed,butwhenyouareinsidetheclass,youuseL1whenyouthinkit's...
S: …Ifit'snecessary,Iuseit,andIdon'thesitate.I’lldo...
[Laughter]
S: …anythingintheinterestformystudents.
H: DoyouthinkthatyourstudentsexpectyoutouseL1intheclassroom?
5225thSeptember2015
S: Well,mystudents'goalistounderstandandtocopewithmeintheclass.‘Itdoesn'tmatterwhatwaymyteacherusestomakemeunderstand’.Theydon'tmind.TheyjustwanttounderstandsoItrymybesttomakethemunderstand….(Salah)
Despitetheverystrongfocusonaccuracyinpreparationforpublicexaminations,some
teachersstillretainabeliefinteachingforlongertermlifetimegoals:
A: Myaims…myaimsarehowtohelpstudentstopronouncethewordsinagoodway.Myaimsaretohelpstudentstospeakaboutthemselves,touseEnglishintheirdailylife,touseEnglishathome,touseEnglisheverywhere,touseEnglisheverydayandsoon.
H: So?
A: Toexpresstheirideas,theirbeliefs.I…myaimsaretohelpthemspeakatanytimeandanywhereandsoon….
A: ….Itrytofocusonfluencymorethanaccuracy.(Abdualziz)
Thistensionbetweenthestatedaimsofthesyllabusandtheactualpressureof
examinationsappearstohaveastronglyinhibitingeffectontheenactmentofteacher
beliefsinclass(Graves2008).Theydonotteachvocabularyinthewaytheythinkisbest,
buttheyjustifythiswithmanyreasons.Itseemsthatthereareacombinationofverystrong
influencingfactorswhichmightpreventteachersfromactingontheirbeliefs.Moredetails
onwhatthesepressuresandbarriersare,howexactlytheyinhibitteacherpractice,and
whatreasonsteachersusedtojustifytheirpracticearediscussedinthenextsection.
4.5FourthResearchQuestion:FactorsAffectingTeachers’PracticeorApproach
RQ4asked“Whatfactorsmayhaveinfluencedtheteachers’practiceorapproachnotto
teachthevocabularyitemsintheTargetEnglishcoursebookintermsofwhattheybelieve?”
Thecommunicativeapproachappliesafunctionalemphasis,andthereisaconsequent
implicationthatvocabularyshouldbelearnedimplicitly,asexplainedbyDecarrico(2001).
TheteachersinterviewedclearlyunderstandthisdoesnotmatchwiththeKuwaitisystem’s
emphasisontestingindividualvocabularyitemsthroughexercisessuchasgap-fillingor
multiple-choice.Thispresentstheteacherswithaseriousdilemmabecausetheyarein
effectbeingaskedtodotwooppositeandcontradictorythings.Itisarguablyimpossibleto
adheretotheprincipleofimplicitandtask-basedlearning,whileatthesametimeforcing
5325thSeptember2015
learnerstouseexplicitmethodstonotice,practiseandmemoriseindividualvocabulary
itemsinanticipationoftheseitemsbeingtestedlater(Tomlinson2003).
Itisveryinterestingtoseehowtheindividualteachersdealwiththiscontradictorydemand.
Wehavenotedabovethatmostteachersappeartomakeaconsiderableefforttostickto
thecommunicativeapproach,anddealwithvocabularyacquisitionprimarilyusingEnglish,
andwithreferencetothetextsandexercisesinthecoursebook.Inonecase,however,
thereisaveryclearandhonestadmissionthattheteacherseestheproblembutoptsto
sacrificetheprinciplesoftheimplicit,communicativeapproachinfavouroftheexplicit,
grammar/translationmethod:
H: Whatisthemethodofteachingyoufollow?Doyoufollowthecommunicativemethod?Or...
A: TheMinistryofEducationwantsustofollowthecommunicativemethod.However,becauseofthefactthatwehavetosticktothecoursebook,Iusethegrammar/translationmethod.Ifinditmoreeffectiveinpreparingmystudentsfortheexams.(Alaa).
Thisteacheridentifiestwostrongconstraintsonhisteachingpractice:first,thecoursebook
andsecond,theneedtopreparestudentsforexaminations.Itiscleartheteacher
experiencesasenseofurgencyaboutthedemandsofthecoursebook:
A: Ihavetoteachthenewvocabularyitemsfromthecoursebook…
H: Justfromthecoursebook?Youcan’tteachnewwordsfromoutsidethebook?
A: Justfromthecoursebook.Ihavetosticktothecoursebook.Ihavetofinishit.It’sagreatproblemifIdon’tfinishit.SoItrytofinishitwhateverhappens.(Alaa).
Thissituationobviouslypresentssomethingofadilemmaforthisteacher,sincethe
prescribedmethodiscommunicative,buttheneedtocoverallthevocabularyinthe
coursebookintimefortheexaminationsforcesadifferentapproach.Thisparticularteacher
resolvesthisconflictasfollows:
Becausestudentswanttopasstheexam,theywanttogeteverythingready-made.
SoIadaptedmyteachingstyletofittheirneeds.Ileftmybeliefsbehindme.(Alaa)
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InthecaseofAlaa,thereisaconsciousanddeliberatedistancingfromhisrealbeliefsanda
resignationtothecontrarybeliefsonwhichthesysteminKuwaitisbased(Farrell2007).
Thisisahighlyrationalandconsistentposition,butitcouldbearguedthatmostofthis
teacher’stalentsandskillsasalanguageteacherarenotusedtotheirfullextent.Hecould
theoreticallyfulfilthecommunicativegoalsofthecurriculumbuthehascometobelievethe
contextmakesthisimpossibleandsohehasjustgivenuptrying.Onthesurface,this
teacherdeliversexactlywhatmoststakeholdersinthesystemactuallywant:clearteaching
towardstheexamination,goodexaminationresultsandnocomplaintsfromthestudents.
Thereisarealquestion,however,howvaluablethisteachingisintermsofpedagogical
outcomes.Studentscanaccomplishmechanistictaskssuchasfillinggapswithitemsof
vocabularybuttheyarenotlikelytolearntouseEnglishforanyusefulpurposeoutsidethe
schoolsetting.Thiswillnotservethemwellwhentheyadvancetohigherlevelsofstudy
becausetheyhavenotacquiredtheskillsofexperimentationandguessingthattheywill
requirewhentheyencounteradvancedtextsbeyondthecoversoftheirprescribed
coursebook.Thehiddencurriculumbeingdeliveredinthiscaseencouragesdependenceon
theteacherforeverything,andanextremelynarrowviewofwhatitmeanstolearnEnglish:
Thesystemofexamshere.Thetimeallocatedtoteachingvocabularyitemsisnotenough.Thecoursebook.Whenyouareaskedtosticktothebook,youlosemanythings.Youlosethefreedomtochoosewhatsuitsthelevelofyourstudents.TherearemanydifficultiesbutthesearethemostprominentdifficultiesthatIfaceandwhichpreventmefromactingonmybeliefs.IdeallyIwouldusethecommunicativeapproach,butIcan’tfollowitineachlessonbecauseofthissystem.(Alaa)
Itisclearfromthisteachers’statementsthattherealconstraintsonactingaccordingtohis
ownbeliefsaboutteachingvocabularyarethecoursebook,theexaminationsystemandthe
timeallocatedtoteachvocabulary,andhecapitulatestowhathefeelsisratherextreme
pressure,whilerationalisinghisdecisionwithamentionoftheneedsandwishesofhis
students.Thestudentsalongwiththeteacherarecaughtinasystemwhichdemands
accuracyandtheyaddtothepressureontheteachertomakeapragmaticdecision,rather
thanfollowhisinnerconvictionaboutthebestwaytoteachasecondlanguage.Itisan
uneasypositionfortheteacher,anditclearlyshowshowdifficultitisforthisteacherto
meetalloftheconflictingdemandsofthesetting.Hisownbeliefsaresacrificedandthe
5525thSeptember2015
teacherhasgivenupanyattemptatreflectionandinnovation.Thisteacher’sresignationisa
sadandobviousconsequenceofunsolvabledilemmasintheworkplace.Thesefindingsare
inlinewithFarrellandLim(2005)andTayjasanantandBarnard(2010)inthesenseofthe
contextualconstraintsthatstopteachersfromactingontheirbeliefs.
TheotherfourteachersdonotgoasfarasAlaaincompletelyrejectingthecommunicative
method,buttheydodemonstrateinwordsandinpracticethattheyfeelthesame
pressures.Consequently,theyusetheweakformofthecommunicativeapproach.Thereis
evidencefromthefastpaceofteachinginallthelessonsobservedtosupportAlaa’sclaims
abouttheoppressiveeffectofthesystem’sfocusoncompletingthewholecoursebookatall
costs.Itwasnoticeableinallthelessonsthatthepaceofdeliveryofmaterialwasveryfast.
Intheliterature,itisoftenstatedittakestimetoteachnewvocabularyusingthe
communicativemethod,andeventhoughjudicioususeoftheL1canhelptoshortenthis
time(Nation2001),therestillappearstobeverylittletimeintheclassesobservedwhich
wassolelydevotedtovocabularylearning,amountingtoaroundoneminutepernewword
atthemost.
Theotherfourteachers,Abdualziz,Esam,SalahandTareq,clearlytrytousethe
communicativemethoddespitetheheavypressuretocoverallthecoursebookmaterialina
shorttimeandtheytakeshortcutswhenevertheycan.Theirstrategyistotryandfusethe
twooppositedemandsinamixedapproach,althoughtheteachersacknowledgethisisnot
veryeffective.TheredoesseemtobeaprobleminusingTargetEnglishtoteachvocabulary.
Thesefourteachersdonotcapitulatecompletelytothepressuresofthesystemorthe
environment,buttheydoexpresssomedifficultyinmatchingtheirbeliefswiththe
conditionsoftheworkplacesetting.
Oneteacherdisplaysabeliefinthevalueofvisuals,forexample,butaninabilitytoputthis
beliefintopracticebecauseoftherestrictionsplaceduponhiminrelationtothe
coursebook:
…inthecoursebook.Youarefollowingthesesteps.Youcan'tgooutsidethem.You
don'thavethefreedomtomaneuverorusedifferentmaterial.Youhavethebookso
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sticktothebook.Don’tgooutsidethisbook.Theywantyoutofinishthebook,justto
finishthebookandgetstudentspreparedtobeexamined.(Salah)
Thisproblemechoessomefindingsintheliteraturerelatingtothetendencyofsome
languagecoursebookstoemphasiseshortdialoguesintheinterestsofauthenticity,rather
thanlongerreadingpassages,withtheresultthatstudentsdonotgainanyrealgraspofthe
frequencyofwordsandstructures(Milton2009:240).Studentstakegreatpainstolearn
itemsoflittleuse,andyetareunabletodealwithverycommonvocabulary(Nemati2009:
98).
Otherteachersstateitwouldbechallengingtousevisualsbecauseofthelackof
technologicalequipmentintheirschools:
…Wehavejustoneroomfordatashow.JustonesciencelabforEnglishlanguage.
ButwhatIsay…ifeveryclassisprovidedwiththeprojector,everyclassisprovided
withthesmartboard,everyclassisprovidedwithdatashow,it'sbetterforthe
teachertogowithoutortodowithoutthewhiteboard.(Abdualziz)
Irarelyusevisualaidsespeciallybecausetheyaren’tavailableatourschool.Thereis
onlyoneShowRoomatthisschoolsoyouhavetowaitforalongtimetouseit.
(Alaa)
Itappearsthereasonwhyteachersmakeverylittleuseofvisualsisnottodowiththeir
beliefabouttheirvalue,butratherisconnectedwiththemnothavingaccesstothe
equipmentthatwouldmakethispossible.Byimplication,thelackofavailableequipment
discouragesthemfromgatheringorpreparingsuchvisualsforuseinclassandsoineffect,
thephysicalconstraintsofthesettingforcethembacktothecoursebookwithoutadditional
visuals.
Itseemsfromthepreviouscommentsandmyobservations,themaindifficultiesandfactors
whichmightconstrainEFLteachersfromactingontheirbeliefswhenteachingvocabularyin
Kuwaitare:theroleofTargetEnglishasthemainsourcematerial;thetimeallocatedto
teachvocabulary;theexaminationsystemandthewashbackeffect;thephysicalconstraints
ofthesetting;andfinally,thattheyareaskedbytheMoEtoteachthelanguage,and
5725thSeptember2015
vocabulary,byfollowingthecommunicativeapproachonlyinarigidexaminationsystem.
Thisseemstobecreatingaseriousdilemmabecausetheyareineffectbeingaskedtodo
twooppositeandcontradictorythings.
4.6Conclusion:SummaryoftheMainFindings
Inthischapter,Ihavediscussedthefindingsofboththeinterviewsandtheclassroom
observationsIconducted.Thefindingswerediscussedinawaytoanswerthefourmain
researchquestions.Thesefindingshaveconfirmedthatteachersgenerallybelieveinusing
thecommunicativeapproachwhenteachingvocabulary;however,theyarepreventedfrom
actingonthesebeliefsbyacombinationofverystronginfluencingfactors,inshort,the
coursebook,theexaminationsystem,thetimeallocatedforeachlesson,thephysical
constraintsofthesettingandtheMinistryregulations.Therefore,teacherstrytoadaptand
usewhatisbestfortheirstudents’needsinthatsystem,whichisarguablytofocuson
preparingstudentsforwrittenexaminationsratherthanteachingvocabularyimplicitly.
CHAPTERFIVE:RESEARCHCONCLUSION
5.1SummaryandConclusion
Themainconclusionofthisstudyisthatthereisaconsiderablegapbetweenwhatteachers
saytheybelieveinintermsofhowtheyshouldteachvocabularyand,forthereasons
discussedabove,theactualteachingpracticesandproceduresthattheyemployinthe
classroom.Theteachersareverykeentofollowthecoursebookbuttheyalsowantthe
freedomandflexibilitytoadaptitfromtimetotimeinlinewiththeirprofessional
5825thSeptember2015
judgement.Theyonlydeviatefromthecorematerialbecauseofadesiretoimprovethe
learningexperiencefortheirstudents,accordingtotheirviewofwhatismostimportant.
Whenadditionalmaterialisused,itiscloselyrelatedtothecoursebook,andisdesigned
specificallytoencourageconsolidationofthecorevocabularyforthepurposesofbetter
recallintheexaminations.
Intermsoftheiractualbeliefsaboutteachingvocabulary,mostteachersvaluetheoral
proficiencyandmotivationofstudentsmorehighlythantheletteroftherulesonteaching
materialsandmethods,perhapsbecausetheydonotagreewiththeMoE’spriorities,or
becausetheythinktheyknowabetterwaytoteachtheirparticulargroupoflearners.They
wouldclearlylikemorefreedomtoadaptthecoursebookandtouseothermaterialsthat
suittheirstudents’needsmoreclosely.Onerathersurprisingfindinghasbeenthe
considerabledifferencesthatexistedbetweentheteachersinthewaytheyusedthe
coursebookintheirclasses.
Insummary,theteachersexhibitaratherstrongbeliefinthecommunicativemethod,but
theyespouseaweakerversionofthisintheiractualteaching,andinonecase(Alaa)the
teacherrejectsthecommunicativemethodaltogetherinpracticeforpragmaticreasons.The
gapbetweenbeliefandpracticevariesconsiderablyatdifferentpointsineachlesson,and
teachersthemselvesexhibitsomeambivalenceaboutthefeasibilityofapplyingtheirbeliefs
inaconsistentway.Whatthismeansisthatmostofthetimetheyholdbackfromusing
whattheybelievein,andinsteadtheysimplyfollowprocedurestheybelievearenotlikely
tobeeffective.Thisisevidentlyanunsatisfactorysituation,andthisambivalenceonthe
partoftheteachersisboundtobecommunicatedtostudentsandtobecomepartofthe
hiddencurriculumdeliveredinKuwaitiintermediateschools.
Inconclusion,itmustbeacceptedthatnoEFLteachingsituationisideal,andthereare
alwayscompromisesandsacrificesthatteachershavetomakewhentheycomewiththeir
ownbeliefstotherealityofworkingtoaprescribedsyllabuswithinanenvironmentthathas
resourceconstraintsandaparticularteachingandlearningculture.Whatisclear,however,
isthatinthecontextoftheKuwaitinationalintermediateEFLsystem,therearesomevery
realcontradictionswhichpreventteachersfromimplementingtheirownbeliefsaboutthe
valueofthecommunicativemethod.ThereisgreatironyintheteachersandtheMoE
fundamentallyagreeingthatthecommunicativemethodisanexcellentmethodfor
5925thSeptember2015
teaching,butsomehowconditionsinschoolspreventstudentsandteachersfromgaining
themanybenefitsofthisapproach.Theteachingofvocabularyinvolvesfrequentuseof
Arabic,notjustasasecondarymeansofclarificationandsupport,butasaprimaryvehicle
ofinstruction,whichisnotinlinewiththeprofessedcommitmenttothecommunicative
method.Thispracticeunderminesthewholeapproach,andcanbetracedbacktothe
government’sarguablycontradictoryfocusonaccuracyinwrittenexaminationsratherthan
thefunctionalandconversationalgoalsthatcharacterisethecommunicativeapproachin
othernon-Arabcountries.OnesuggestionisthattheMoEcanimprovethesystemby
formallyallowingteacherstousewhatisbestfortheirstudents,whetheritisthe
communicativemethod,thegrammar/translationmethod,acombinationofthese,oreven
anyothermethod.Inthiscase,teacherswouldhavethefreedomtochooseanyappropriate
methodfortheirlearnerstoachievetheMinistry’sgoals.
5.2Limitations
Therearesomelimitationstothisstudywhichmustbetakenintoaccountwhenusingitto
reflectonthemattersraisedinthefieldwork.Firstofall,thesamplesizeoffiveteachersis
toosmalltopresentafullpictureofthewholeKuwaitisystem.Thequalitativemethodof
enquiryalsoinvolvesafocusonthedetailratherthangeneralprinciples,anditbringsa
certainsubjectivebias.Thismeansthefindingscannotbegeneralisedacrosseveryschool
andeveryteacherinKuwait.Thus,thediversityofbeliefsandteachingpracticeinthissmall
samplesuggeststhatthepicturenation-widemightbeconsiderablymoremixedthanone
mightassumefromtheratherrigidsystemofoversightandcontrol.Furthermore,whenI
gatheredandanalysedthedata,Ididnothavethechancetomeetwithanotherresearcher
tocross-checkthedata,whichmightpreventsubjectivityduringtheinterviews(Cohenetal.
2011).
5.3SuggestionsforFurtherResearch
Thissmallscalestudyhasraisedsomeimportantquestionsandithasprovidedsomelimited
evidencetosuggestthatallisnotwellintheteachingofEFLinKuwaitiintermediate
schools.Thereisevidencethatthesystemworkswellintermsofproducinggood
examinationoutcomes,andthatthisnodoubtpleasesstudents,teachers,parentsand
administratorsintheshortterm.Inthelongertermandatthelevelofreallanguage
6025thSeptember2015
learningachievement,however,thepictureisverydifferent.Moreresearchisneededinto
themismatchbetweenthestatedaimsandprescribedmethodsofthecurriculum,which
arebasedonthecommunicativeapproach,andthesevereconstraintsatworkintheform
ofexaminationswhichfocusonfeaturesassociatedwiththegrammar/translationmethod
suchasaccuracyandmemorisation.Thisisamatterforpolicy-makersatgovernmentlevel
andintheeducationaltraininginstitutions.Thismismatchcouldalsobeexploredwithother
languageskillssuchasteachingreadingorwriting,orevenothersubjectsintheKuwaiti
nationalintermediateEFLsystemsincethesystemispushingteacherstofocusonpreparing
studentsforwrittenexaminations.Itisworthinvestigatingtheseissueswiththeothermain
subjectsintheKuwaitiintermediateschoolsystemsuchasmathematicsorArabictoseeif
thesedilemmasintheworkplaceandthemismatchbetweenbeliefsandpracticeduetothe
systemoccurornot.
Thereshouldalsobemoreresearchintothewaythatteachers’beliefsemerge,areapplied,
anddevelopoverthecourseofateachingcareer.Thiswouldentailalongitudinalstudy
startingattrainingcollegeandfollowingteachersintotheworkplacetotrackhowtheir
beliefschangeovertime.Demographicfactorsinthelivesofteacherssuchasplaceand
typeofeducationandpreviousexperiencemightalsoprovidesomeilluminatingdataon
howteacherbeliefsdevelop.Thiswouldallowapropercorrelationtobemadebetween
differentsupportingandconstrainingfactorsovertime.
Thisstudyhasindicatedthatteachersthemselveshaveaverygoodunderstandingofthese
complexissues,andalthoughtheymaynotagreeonthebestwaytomeetthechallenges
theyface,theycertainlyhavethecapacitytoanalysetheproblemstheyface,andapply
theirbeliefsinfruitfulwaysifthesettingallowsthemtodoso.Asamatterofurgency,more
practitioner-ledresearchisneededtocapturetheexperiencesandinsightsofprofessional
teachers,andenablethemtolinkupwithinternationalresearchersandbuildimprovements
fromwithintheKuwaitieducationalsystem.Afewusefulsuggestionshavebeenmadein
thissmallstudy,butthetimehascometoactivelyseekoutandlistentowhatteachers
reallybelieve,andintegratetheirknowledgeintothefutureofKuwaitiintermediateEFL
education.Irecommendthatthereshouldbemoreconsiderationoftheviewsofteachers
andlearnersintheon-goingMinisterialreviewsofteachingEFLinKuwait.Theviewsof
teachersontheactualpracticeofusingthecoursebookshouldbetakenintoaccount.Now
6125thSeptember2015
thattherehasbeenaperiodofseveralyearsofusingthiscoursebook,itwouldbeusefulto
gatherteacherexperiencesandreflectionsandmakesuggestionsforfuturerevisionsor
entirelynewcoursedesignswhichbetterreflecttheexperienceofKuwait’sEFLteachers.
Thiswillnothappenwithoutsolidresearchevidence,whichiswhyinitiativeswhichgather
empiricaldataaresuchagoodidea.
WordCount:20098(including2000wordsofqualitativedata)
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Appendices
Appendix1:ObservationFrameworkandNotes
a- ObservationFramework:
UsingGesture
GivingDefinitions
UseofL1
Translationoftheword
Useofvisuals
UseoftheWhiteboard
Useoftechnology(Computer/IPad)
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UsingRealia
UsingDictionary/Glossary
Askstudentstoguessfromthecontext
Usage:Spoken/Written(inasentence)(Teacher)
Usage:Spoken/Written(inasentence)(Students)
FocusontheaccuracyofPronunciation
Drills(Pronunciation)
Spelling
Revisingthenewlylearnedwordswithstudents
Revisingoldvocabularyitemswithstudents
Vocabularyexercises(multiplechoice,gapfilling...etc.)
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b- AnExampleofMyObservationNotes:
ObservationNotes(Salah):
Thelessonfromthecoursebookwasabout“Happiness”.Theteacherstartedhislessonbyawarm-upexercise.HeshowedsomeimagesonPowerPointanddiscussedwithstudentswhatmakesthemhappy.HethenintroducednewvocabularyitemsbyusingvisualsinPowerPoint.Heaskedthestudentstolookatthevisuals,guessthemeaning,andthendrillthepronunciationoftheword.Afterthatheaskedindividualstudentstorepeatthewordafterhim.WhenheaskedstudentstogivethemeaningtheyweregivingtheArabicmeaningandhewashappywiththat.Healsogavethemsomesentenceexamples,buthedidn’taskthemtoputthenewlylearnedwordinasentenceoftheirown.
Imageshelpedlearnerstoknowthemeaningofwordseasilyandguessthemeaningespeciallywhencomparingbetween“twins”and“identical”.Theyweremotivatedexcited.Therewasnofocusonthepartofspeechofthenewwords.TheteacherwasalsoaskingstudentstoguessthewordinArabicafterpresentingthevisualsandgivingthedefinition/meaninginEnglish“Ok,sonowwhatdoesthiswordmeaninArabic?”.SometimeshewasusingreferringtotheEnglish/Englishglossaryattheendofthebookfordefinitions.
Theteacherwascheckingstudents’understandingwhenexplainingthenewvocabularywordbyword.StudentswerewritingthenewvocabularyitemsandtheirmeaningofArabicintheirnotebook.However,therewasnofocusonspelling.Ittookhim15minutestoexplainalmost14wordsandheseemstobeobligedtocoverthemall,sohispacewasfast.
Hethenaskedstudentstoreadthetextinthecoursebookafterexplainingthenewvocabularyitems.Astudentdidn’tknowwhatisthemeaningoftheword“elements”whilereadingthetext(andthiswordisn’tpartofthenewvocabularyitemsinthecoursebook),sotheteachergavehimanexample“waterhastwoelementsOxygenandHydrogen”sothestudentsguessedthemeaningandsaiditinArabicandtheteachertoldhimthatheisright.
Afterthestudentsread,anddiscussedcomprehensionquestionsofthelessoninthecoursebook,theteachergavethemavocabularygap-fillingexercisetochecktheirunderstandingofthenewlearnedvocabulary,butbeforesolvingthisexercisewiththemheaskedoneofthestudentstoreviseallthemeaningofnewwordsinArabicorally(Twinsmeans=Arabictranslation,Identicalmeans=ArabicTranslation…etc.).Theteacherusedthewhiteboardforwritingtheexerciseandstudentscopiedthatintheirnotebook.Thisexercisewasn’tpartofthecoursebookbuttheteacheraddedittocheckstudents’understandings.WhenstudentswerestrugglingwithsomewordshegavethemsomeequivalentsinEnglishuntiltheyguessedtherightmeaninginArabic.Thiswasinteresting.Theteacherwasclearlyfollowingtheweakformofthecommunicativeapproachinhisteaching,andhedidallowtheuseofArabictocheckstudents’understanding.
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Appendix2:InterviewQuestions
1. Whatisyourbackground?(Howlonghaveyoubeenteaching?Whatareyourqualifications?)
2. HowdoyouseeyourroleasanEnglishlanguageteacherinaKuwaitiintermediateschool?
3. Whatareyourequiredtodowhenyouteachvocabularyinyourschool?
4. DoyouthinkthatstudentsexpectyoutouseL1intheclassroom?Doyouthinkthatitwillhelpthestudentstounderstandwordsbetter?
5. HowdoestheuseoftheTargetEnglishcoursebookaffect/influenceyourteachingofvocabulary?
6. Whatdoyouthinkaboutthevocabularyitemspresentedinthecoursebook?
7. Whatdoyouusuallydowhenyouteachthesevocabularyitemsinthebook?Whydoyoudoitthisway?(adaptation)
8. Howlongwillittakeyoutoteachthesevocabularyitems?
9. Doyourevisethesevocabularyitemswiththestudents?How?
10. Doyouthinkthatyourteachingbeliefsregardinglanguageteachinginfluencethewayyouteachnewvocabulary?
11. Whatareyouraimswhenyouteachvocabularyitems?(spelling,pronunciation,meaning)
12. Ifyoucameacrossawordthatisuntaught,whatwouldyoudo?
13. Ifyouhadthefreedomtoteachvocabularyitemswithoutthecoursebook,whatwouldyoudo?Why?
14. Doesthelevelofthestudentsorthenatureofthelessonaffecthowyouteachvocabulary?
15. ArethereanydifficultiesyouusuallyfaceinsidetheKuwaiticlassroomintermsofvocabularyteaching?Howdoyouovercomethesedifficulties?
16. IsthereisanythingthatstopsyoufromactingonyourbeliefsintheKuwaitcontext?Whatarethesefactors?(time/students’level/examinations/thesyllabus)
17. Therehasbeenalotofdiscussionabouttheuseofvisualsinvocabularyteachingintermsofmultimodality,motivationandmemory;aretheseimportanttoyou?Dotheyinfluencethewayyouteachvocabulary?
18. DoyouthinkthattheexamsysteminKuwaitreflectsthestudents’understandingofthesevocabularyitems?Why?Whynot?
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Appendix3:InformedConsentForm
Informedconsent
MynameisXXXXXXXXXandIamapostgraduatestudentontheTeachingEnglishtoSpeakersofOtherLanguages(TESOL)programmeinXXXXXXXXX.Thisresearchisformydissertation(XXXXX)module).
YourparticipationinthisstudywillprovidemewiththedataIneedtoinvestigate“theimpactofteachers’beliefsovertheirteachingpracticesinreferencetotheuseoftheTargetEnglishcoursebookintheKuwaiticontextwhenteachingvocabulary”.Iwouldliketoobserveyourwayofusingoradaptingthecoursebookinoneofyourlessonswhenteachingvocabulary,andtheninterviewyouaboutthistopicfacetoface.
Youwillnotbeidentifiedinanywayinthisresearch.WhenIreportthedata,youwillbegivenapseudonymandyourschoolwillnotbenamed.Ifyouwanttowithdrawfromtheresearch,youmaydosoatanytime;inthatcase,theinformationgatheredfromtheobservationandtheinterviewwillbedeleted.
Oncetheresearchiscompletedon22ndSeptember2015,Iwillbehappytoprovideyouwithacopybye-mail.
Ifyouhaveanyquestionsaboutthisstudy,youcancontactmebyphoneXXXXXXorviaemailXXXXXX.Ifyouhaveanyfurtherconcernsaboutthestudy,youcouldalsocontactmysupervisor,Doctor,viae-mail:XXXXXXX.
Pleasereadeachstatementbelowandsignatthebottomifyouagreeandwishtoparticipate.
1.IconfirmthatIhavereadandunderstoodtheinformationsheetfortheaboveprojectandhavehadtheopportunitytoaskquestions.
2.IunderstandthatmyparticipationisvoluntaryandthatIamfreetowithdrawatanytime,withoutgivingareason.
3.Iagreetotakepartintheaboveresearch.
4.Iagreetotheanonymiseduseofquotationsinanyreport.
Nameof Participant Date Signature
NameofHead ofSchool DateSignature
Nameof ResearchDateSignature
Mysincerethanks.
BestRegards,
------------- ------------- -------------
------------- ------------- -------------
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Appendix4:InterviewTranscriptions
1- Tareq:
H: Firstofall,thankyouforparticipatinginthisstudy.Ireallyappreciatethis.
T: Youaremostwelcome.
H: Let'sstartwiththisquestion.Whatisyourbackground?Howlonghaveyoubeenteaching?Whatareyourqualifications?
T: IhaveadegreefromDamascusUniversity,FacultyofArts.IhavebeenhereinKuwaitteachingforaboutsixyears.Thisismysixthyear.
H: HowdoyouseeyourroleasanEnglishlanguageteacherinKuwaitsinceyouhavesaidyouhavebeenteachingforsixyears?
T: Ithinkmyrolehereisjusttopreparestudentsfortheexams.Becausetheyjustworryabouttheexamresultshere.Youareaskedtofinishthecoursebooknomatterwhathappens.Justfinishthecoursebooks.Theseareourordersasteachershere.Wedon'thavethefreedomtoadaptortochangeanythinginthecoursebook.Justfinishthemfromthecovertothecover.Yourstudentsshouldhavethehighestmarks.Thisishowthey...let'ssay,howtheyscaleyouorputyouonascale...yourperformance.Whentheywanttojudgeyouortoassessmyperformance,theylookatmystudents'results.SoI'mworriedtolosemyjobsoIdowhattheywantmetodo;preparemystudentsfortheexamstogethighmarks.
H: OK.Butyousaidyoudon'thavethefreedomtoadaptthecoursebook.ButtobehonestwithyouwhenIsawyouinyourlesson,Isawthatyouadaptedthecoursebooks.YouusedVisuals.Youusedexercisesthataren'tpartofthebook.Soyouadaptedit.
T: Wecandothisjustwhenweteachthenewwordsbecauseasyouknowusingvisualsmakesthingseasierforyouasateacherandforthestudentstogetthenewwords,tointernalizethem,andtolearnthenewwords.That’sit.Wedoitjustwiththenewwords.
H: Butyouknow,eventheexercises...becauseyougavestudentsexercises,gapfilling,thesearen'tpartofthecoursebook.
T: Iknow,Iknow.Wedothisjustwiththevocabulary.That’sit.
H: So,youdon'tgivestudents…exerciseis…aboutgrammar?About,youknow,readingcomprehension?
T: It'sapractice!Ifyouhavetime,youcandoit.Butyoushouldabidetothebook.Youshouldfinishthebookfirstthenyoucandowhateveryoulikeifyouhavetime.
H: Ifyouhavetime?
T: Yes,ifyouhavetime.Soyoucanjustadaptthelessonaccordingtoyourtime,butfirstyoushould,oryoumustfinishthecoursebook.
H: Now,whatareyourequiredtodowhenyouteachnewvocabularyitems?Whatdotheyaskyoutodo?
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T: Ithinktheywantstudentstolearnsomenewwordsrelatedtosomedifferenttopicsinthecoursebook.SoIamaskedtocoverthesenewwords,andtomakesurethatstudentsknowhowtousethem,andknowtheirmeaning,andknowtheirpronunciation.Everythingabouttheword,partofspeech.Sothat'smyrole,Ithink,toletstudentsknowthesethingsaboutthenewwords.
H: Andwhatdoyouthinkaboutthesewordsthatarepresentedinthebook?Doyouthinkthattheyareuseful?Ordoyouthinktheyarejustputtheirrandomly?
T: No,theyarejustusefultothetopicinthebook.Theyarerelatedtothetopiccoveredinthebook.Butsomewordsarestrange.Theycan'tusethemoutsidetheclassroomintheireverydaylife,topractisethem.Somewords…Wejustusethemacademicallyspeaking.Wecan'tusethemoutside.Evenyouasateacher…Youdon'tusethisword.Evennativespeakers,theydon'tusesuchwordsinthestreetintheirdailylife.
H: Canyougivemeoneexample?
T: Like...let'ssay...Awordliketoday,Ithinkitwas"monkfish".Theydon'tusethiswordinthestreet.Whymonkfish?Thisstrangetypeoffish?Idon'tknow.Canyouuseitinthestreet?Monkfish?HereinKuwait?Youcan't.AtleasttheyshouldbringatypeoffishthatisknowninKuwait.(Sarcastically)butnotastrange,bottomdwellingfishintheocean.Idon'tknowinwhichcountry.Why?
H: Interesting.Nowbecauseyouaretalkingaboutthecoursebook,howdoyou...Imean...Doestheuseofthiscoursebookaffectorinfluenceyourvocabularyteaching?
T: IthinkitjustrestrictsmeorIcan'tchoosemywords.ThewordsthatIseetheyareusefultomystudents.That’sit.Justarestriction.Arestrainttomyperformance.
H: AreyourequiredtouseL2onlywhenyouteachvocabularyitems?Thecommunicativeapproachinotherwords.
T: Yes,that'stheapproachusedhereinKuwaitinteaching.Butwhenweteachvocabulary,it'sallowedtousethetranslationmethodifthereisnowaythatstudentscanlearnthewordsexceptforit,thetranslation.SoIcantellthemthemeaningdirectlyinArabic.Ifit'sastrangeword,Ican'tusevisualaidsorsomething,soIcantellthemthemeaninginL1.
H: Soit'sallowedtouseL1?
T: Yes,butthisisamethodusedtoteachvocabulary.Onetime,Iwasinameetingandthefirst...letussay,supervisorsaidthat.Theinspectorsaidthatwecouldusetranslationbutletitbeyourlastresort.
H: Interesting!BecauseIthoughtthisisnotaccepted.
T: No,it'susedhere.
H: OK.HowoftendoyouuseL1whenyouteachvocabulary?Andwhydoyouuseit?
T: Iuseit...IsometimesuseL1becausemystudentsinsistonknowingthewordinArabic.
H: Uh-ha!
T: Theyalwaysaskmeabout...Aftertheyknow...
[Laughter]
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T: …TheysawthepictureofthemonkfishandtheyaskyouwhatisitinArabic?Sosometimes,IgetangryandtellthemthemeaninginArabic.Justtokeepthemquiet.Becausetheymaymakeaproblem.TheywanttowritethemeaninginArabicbecausetheyareworriedabouttheexam.TheywanttomemorisethemeaninginArabicbecausetheywanttousethewordsintheexam.
H: StudentssometimesexpectyoutouseL1intheclassroom?
T: Because…IthinkthisissomethingcommonhereinourArabworld.Teachers,IbelievethattheyuseL1alot.Sowhenstudentscometoanewteacher,theyexpecthimtodothesameastheoldone.Sothat'swhytheyaskforArabicmeaningandtheyuseit.
H: Andbecause...Youknow...OthersubjectsareallinArabic...
T: Yes,ofcourse.BecausetheylearnMathsinArabic,Religion,Geography,everysubjectatschoolistaughtinArabicexceptforEnglishandFrench.
H: AnddoyouthinkwhenyouuseArabicthatthiswillhelpthestudentstolearnbetter?
T: Tolearnbetterfortheexam.Notfortheirgood.
H: Uh-ha.Interesting!Doyouthinkthatthelevelofthestudentsaffectshowyouteachvocabulary?Imean,sometimesyouhavestudents...
T: …Lowachievers?
H: Yeah!SometimesyouuseL1withsomestudentsandsometimesbecausethestudentsaregoodenoughyoudon'tuseL1...I’mnotsureaboutthis.Doyouthinkthatthelevelofthestudentsorthenatureofthelessonevenaffecthowyouteachvocabulary?
T: Ofcourse.Becausewithlowachievers,theyhavespecialwaystoteachthemandtodealwiththem.Soweareallowedto...Justtoexplainthings...Tosimplifythingsforthemandmakethemverysimple.WecanuseL1withthem.Notonlyinvocabularybutalsoineverything,ingrammar,infunctions,inwriting,inreading.WecanjustuseL1.It'sdifferentwithlowachievers.
H: Butyouhaveamixofstudents…Andwhenyouareteachingvocabulary...Imeannotalltheclassesarethesame,asyouknow.
T: Ofcourse.
H: Sodoyouteachvocabulary...Youknow,ifyougotothisclassortheotherclass,doyouteachvocabularydifferentlybecauseoftheir...?
T: Idon'tchangemywayofteachingbecauseoflowachievers,because,intheclassroom,therearesomestudentswhocansaythewordinArabicaloud.Sotheycangettheword.
H: Yeah!Inoticedtodaythatoneofthestudentswhileyouwereexplainingthemeaningoftheword;hegaveyouthemeaninginArabic...
T: …Withoutanyoneaskinghim.HejustsaidthewordinArabic.
H: “Doesthiswordmeansomething?”Andhesaidyes.
T: Yes,that'sit.
H: Whenyouteachvocabulary,anynewword,whatarethestepsthatyouusuallyfollow?
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T: Iusuallystartbypresentingthe...themainthingispresenting,andthenaskingstudentstoproducesentences.
H: Presentingthenwhat?
T: Presentingthewordsthroughpictures,examples,definitions,situations,discussion.Iusesomewordsinone...let'ssaydiscussion.Iputfourorfivewordscreatingasituation...
[Phoneringing]
T: ...Sorry.That'sit.SoIstartbypresentingtheword,thenpracticeandproduction.Iaskmystudentstoproduce...tousetheminmeaningfulsentences,tofillinthegaps,toassesstheirunderstandingofthenewwords.That’sit!Easy!Presenting,practising,andproduction.Studentsproducesentencesusingthewordsorfilltheminthegaps.
H: Whydoyoudoitthisway?BecauseIalsonoticedthatyoupreteachvocabulary,right?
T: Mm.
H: Whydoyoupreteachvocabulary?Whydoyoufollowthesesteps?
T: Thisishowweareaskedtodointhecoursebook.Yourequiredtocovertheactivewords.Theycallthemtheactivewordsinthecoursebook.Sobeforeyougotothetasksinthecoursebook,youhavesomecertainactivewordsweshouldpresentthembeforewestartanytaskinthelesson.
H: So,youareaskedtopreteachvocabulary?
T: Yes.Inthebeginning,ifthereisvocabulary,it'sinthebeginningofthelesson.
H: Intermsofthesteps,youarealsoaskedtofollowthesesteps?Orisityourownwayofdoingthings?
T: No!ThisishowI...thisismy...Frommyexperience,Ithinkthisiswhatsuitsmystudentshere.
H: Allofthem?
T: Yes.Thisisaftersixyears.Ireachedthis...
H: Decision?
T: Yes.
H: Whenyouteachtheseitems,howlongwillittakeyouusually?
T: Accordingtomytime,notmorethanfifteenminutes.
H: Doyouthinkthatthisisenoughtoteachvocabulary?
T: Idon't...No!Weneedmorepractice;moreactivitiestocheckstudents'understanding,butyoushouldcoverthebook.
H: Soagain,it'saboutthebook.Aboutcoveringthebook.
T: Yes!Thebookandthecoursebook,youshouldfinishthembeforetheexams.
H: Doyourevisethevocabularyitemswithyourstudents?
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T: Nottoomuch.BecauseIdon'thaveenoughtime.Wecangivethemsomehandoutsandtheypractiseathome…
H: …Youmeanworksheets?
T: Yeah,worksheets,andtheyshowmetheirjobathome.
H: Byhomework?
T: Yes,homework.
H: OK.NowarethereanydifficultiesthatyoufaceinsidetheKuwaiticlassroomintermsofvocabularyteaching?
T: Justthelowachieversandthosewhousethefirstlanguageeverytimeeveniftheyareexcellentintheclassroomandatschool,theykeepusingL1.It’sintheirnature.Youcan'tpreventit.Yousaytothemdon'tuseArabic,don'tuseArabic,buttheykeepusingitallthetime.Sotheyspoilthelesson.
H: Andhowdoyouovercomethis?
T: Itrytousevisualaidsandreallifeobjects…
H: …Realia?
T: Yes,realiatomakethingseasierforthem.ButtheykeepusingL1…
[Laughter]
T: …Evenwhentheysawthecarandyouputthewordcar,theysaidSayara[carinArabic]
[Laughter]
H: SoIthinkthatstudentsreallyexpectyoutouseL1here.
T: Yes.
H: WhenyouteachnewvocabularyitemshereinKuwait,whatareyouraims?
T: Theyaren'tmyaims.It'soneaim.Makestudentspasstheexam.That’sit.Ifyouwantmetobehonest,that'sit.Justtomakemystudentspasstheexam.Idon'twanttolosemyjob.Ifmystudentsfailtheexams,Imaylosemyjob.Sotopasstheexamandgethighmarks.That’smyaim.
H: Ok.
T: It'snotmine.It’swhatthesituationenforcesmetodo.
H: Let'ssaythatthestudentswerereadingatextinthecoursebookandthereisawordthatisnotpartoftheseactivewords.
T: Yes.
H: Andoneofthestudentsasksyou,"Whatdoesthiswordmean?"Whatwillyoudo?
T: SimplyItellthemthemeaninginArabic,becauseit'snotintheactivewords.ButsometimesIpreparesomelistofthedifficultwordsinthetextandpreparesomeexamples.Idon'tusuallyusepicturesorvisualaidsto...becauseIdon'thavetime.I’menoughwiththeactivewords.Therearemanyactivewords.Youmayteachtwentywordsinfifteenminutes.How?
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H: Yeah.Itwilltakealotoftime.
T: Yes.
H: Let'sforgetaboutthecoursebook.ImaginethatthesituationinKuwaitisdifferentfromwhatit'srightnow.Youenteredtheclassroom.Youdon'thaveacoursebook.Youareallowedtousewhateverwanttouse.Howwillyouteachvocabulary?Ifyouhavethefreedomto...
T: Icanchooseinterestingtopicsrelatedtostudents'interests.Icanchooseactivewordsfromthistopic.Forexample,Icanbringasongwithsomenewwordsandteachthemthroughthissong.Theylistentothesongandlearnsomenewwordsandexpressionsusedinthissong.Thiswillbemorefun.Ithinkstudentscanbeinterestedbecauseit'snot...AndItellthemnottoworryabouttheexam.Theexamsystem.Ifthereisnoexamsystem,thingswillbebetter.
H: Yeah.Again...Youknow...Yousaidthatyouwoulduse...forexampleasong.Whatisyouraimhere?Without...youknowthereisnoexamhere.Theexamsarenotasit'srightnowhere.
T: Byteachingvocabularyhere,myaimistomakemystudentshaveagoodrepertoireofwordssotheycanusetheminreallife.
H: OK.
T: Intheirlife,inthestreet,atrestaurants,attheairport,whenplayingvideogames.Sotheycanjustusethelanguageoutsidetheclassroom.
H: Soyourmainfocusisonusageoftheword.
T: Yes.
H: Whenitcomestoyourbeliefsandthisisthemainthingthatwearetalkingabouthere.Doyouthinkthatyourteachingbeliefsregardinglanguageteachinginfluencethewayyouteachnewvocabularyitems?
T: Tosomeextent.
H: EvenintheKuwaiticontext?
T: Yes,tosomeextent.
H: Canyouexplainplease?
T: Mybeliefs,let'ssaythat…Iwantanidealclassroom.Itrymybesttoteachvocabularyaccordingtomybeliefs.
H: Whatareyourbeliefsaboutvocabularyteaching?
T: Ibelievethatvocabularyisthemainbricksoflearninganewlanguage.Youcanknowthegrammar,knowthefunctions,butwithoutwords,youcan'tbuildasentence.Soit'sthemostimportantthingaboutlanguage.Havingagoodrepertoireofwordsthatyoucanusetobuildsentences.Thencomesthegrammar.Butunlessyouhavethewords,youcan'tbuildasentence.
H: Soagain,youbelievethatusageis...
T: …Yes!
H: Nowyousaidthatyoubelieveinusage.Youbelievethatyoushouldteachthestudentsthemeaning...Doesthat...CanyouseethiswhenyouteachvocabularyitemsinKuwait?Doyousee
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yourselfdoingthissometimes?Whenyouteachvocabulary,doyouthinkthatyouaretryingtoletthestudentsusethewordsnotjuststudythemfortheexam?
T: Sometimesifthetopicisrelatedtotheirreallife,wecandoit.Forexample,ifit'saboutvideogames,wecanadaptthelessonaccordingtostudents.
H: Yes…Yousaidthatyoubelieveinusingvisuals.Youbelieveinusage.Whenyouwereteachingyouwereusingthem.Isawyouusingvisuals.Despitethefactthatthisisnotarequirementfromyoutodobutyouusedvisuals.Andwhenyoutaughtanynewwordyouwereaskingstudentstoputthewordinasentence.
T: Yes,touseit.
H: Soyouwerefocusingtosomeextentonusage?
T: Yes.That'smybelief.Iwantthemtousethewordsnotjusttoknowtheirmeaning.ThisiswhyIfollowthecommunicativeapproach.
H: IsthereanythingthatstopsyoufromactingyourbeliefsinKuwait?
T: Justthesystemhere.Theexams,thecoursebook,thetime.Youdon'thaveenoughtime.Forexample,fifteenminutesforteachingvocabularyisnotenough.Twentywordsinfifteenminutesisnotenoughtopractise,topresent,toproducesentences,andtochecktheirunderstanding.Youdon'thavethetime.
H: Nowyouusevisuals.Inoticedthatyourschoolprovidedyouwithsomecomputersand...
T: …Interactiveboards.[Datashow]
H: Yeah.Nowlet'ssaythatyourschooldon'thavethesethingswillyoustillusevisuals?
T: No,Ican't.HowcanIusevisuals?
H: Why?
T: Ifthereisnoprojectors,datashow,ortheequipment,Iwillgobacktotheoldschool,thewhiteboardandthemarker.Icanbringsomepictures,someobjects,butIcan'tusethecomputerortheiPadorPowerPoint.
H: Doyouthinkthatvisualsareimportantwhenitcomestovocabularyteaching?
T: Yes!Theymakethingseasyfortheteacherandthestudents.Theyarealsogoodfortimemanagement.Theygiveyouextratimetopractiseandproducesentences.Youdon'twasteyourtimeexplainingandusing...let’ssaytryingtoexplainthewordbydefinitions.Justshowthemapicture,avideo,andstudentswillknowtheword.Thenyougotopractice.
H: Therehavebeenalotofdiscussionaboutusingvisuals.Doyouthinktheyinfluencethewayyouteachvocabulary?
T: Yes,becauseItriedthetwomethodsusingthevisualsandnotusingthem.StudentsweremoreactivewhenIusedthevisuals.
H: Sowhatisthedifference?
T: Theyattractstudents.Thepictures,thePowerPoint,theyareattractingstudents.Theycanhavefun.Theyaremotivatedtoparticipate.Visualsaregood.Theymotivatestudents'thinking
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aboutthewords.Theyaregoodforthememory.Whentheyseethepicture,theycanrememberthewordforalongtimeandmaybeforever.[Jokingly]Likethe"monkfish"
[Laughter]
H: Yousaidthatstudentsrespondbetterwhenyouusevisuals.Doyoubelievethatwhenyouusevisualsthiswillaffectthelearners'achievement?Why?Whynot?
T: Yes,[Firmly]ofcourse.Visualsmaketeachingmorefunandeasierfortheteacherandthestudents.
H: I'mtalkingabouttheachievementofstudentsintheexams.
T: Tosomeextent.It’snotthatbigdifferenceusingthevisuals.Becausestudentshavetomemoriseeverythingwhetheryouusevisualsornot.It’stheexam.Theresultsarebetterbutnottoagreatextent.Someclasses...mycolleaguesdon'tusevisualsandtheresultsofmyclassandtheirsarealmostthesame.Idon'tknowwhy.Maybetheyteachfortheexam.That’sit.
H: Butwhenyouteachvocabulary,youarenotjustfocusingontheexam?Areyoualsotryingtoactonyourbeliefs?
T: Yeah!Itrytobesatisfiedwithbeingateachernotanexamtrainer.Idon'ttrainmystudentsfortheexam.I'mateacher.Buthereit'strainingmorethanteaching.
H: Interesting.Doyouthinkthattheexamsreflectstudents'understandingofthenewwordsorjustmemorising?
T: It'smemorisingonly.Ifyoudon'tknowthewordinArabic.
H: InArabic?
T: ThemeaningofthewordinArabic,theycan'tuseit.Becausetheytesttheirmemorynottheirunderstanding.
H: Butyoualsohavethewritingthing?
T: Thisistheexam.Thereisasectionforthevocabularyquestions.
H: Thevocabularyisonly...
T: …Itismemorising.Theydon'thavetousethewordsinsentences.Justgapfillingandmultiple-choicequestions.Ithinkitismemorising.Itislessaboutunderstanding.It’smoreaboutmemory.Testingtheirmemoryaboutthenewwords.
H: Whenitcomestowritingaccordingtosomeoftheteachershere,theysaidthatthewritingquestionisalsobasedonthecoursebookandthenewwordsthatareinthecoursebook.Imeanthat...todayyoualsogavestudentsataskwheretheyhavetowrite.
T: Yes,towrite.
H: Sodoyouthinkthatthisisagoodthingorabadthingwhenitcomestowritingbecause...
T: …No!Theycanusethenewwordsinwriting.Myanswerwasaboutthequestionaboutthevocabularyintheexam.Itwasonlyabouttestingtheirmemories.Buttheystillcanusethewordsinwritingandreadingcomprehension.Evenifthereisalanguagefunctionquestion,theycanusethenewwordstoanswerthatquestion.
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H: OK.BasedonwhatIhaveobservedInoticedthatyoudidn'tfocusonpronunciation.Youdidn'tgivepronunciationdrills.Doyoubelievethatthisisnotreallyimportant?
T: Iusedtopractisemystudentsonpronunciationbuttheydidn'twantthismethod.Theyfeelsillyrepeatingthewordaftertheteachertogether.Theydon'tlikeit.SoIstoppedusingthismethod.Theythinktheyareoldenoughandtheydon'tlikeit.Theythinkit'ssilly.Theytoldmetheydidn'twantthismethod.
H: Whenyouteachvocabulary,doyoufocusonpronunciation?
T: Itrytosaythewordmorethanonetime.
H: Youarefocusingonfluencymorethanaccuracy?
T: Yes.Fluencyandusage.Iwantthemtousetheword.
H: Ifthereisanoralexamandyouarerequiredtoteachthepronunciation,willyoudothat?
T: I'llfollowthat.Ihaveto.
H: Doyouthinkthatisimportant?
T: No.Theycanjustlistentothewordmorethanonetime.Andwhentheyuseitinsentences,theycanpractisepronunciation.Theydon'tliketorepeatthewordaftertheteacher.
H: IalsonoticedthatteachersinKuwait,includingyou,don'tusedictionaries.Why?
T: Studentsdon'twanttousethem.Theywanteverythingready-made.Theydon'twantto...it'sthenatureofthestudentshere.Yourarelyfindastudentwhowantsworkwithyouandexertefforttolearn.Theywanteverythingready-made.Evenifyouanswerthequestionsfortheminthecoursebook,theywantthemwritten.Istruggletomakethemworkandfinishthetasksthemselves.Sometimestheyaskfortheanswer.
H: Whyisthat?
T: Ithinkit'sintheirnaturebecauseofthesystem.Theyareusedtothis.Idon'tknowwhy.Ithinkitisintheirnature.
H: Isitrelatedtotheexams?
T: Maybe.Thesystem...It'saviciouscircle.Thesystemoftheexamsposessomethingontheteacher.Theteacherfollowsacertainwaytocoverthecoursebook,soheistrainingstudentsfortheexam.Studentsbecamelikethis.Theyliketogeteverythingready-madebecausetheyareusedtothisnow.Afteryearsofthesamesystemoftheexams,thisistheresult.
H: Myfinalquestionishowdoyouadaptthecoursebookwhenyouteach?Whatdoyouusuallydo?
T: IusuallyusemoderntechnologylikemakingPPTpresentationsaboutthenewwords.Iputsomepictures,definitions,andexamplesinaninteractiveway.Studentscanseethepresentationandgetthenewwords.ThisishowIadaptmyvocabularylessonfromthebook.Icanjustbringextraexercisesandgivethemsomeworksheetsaboutthenewwordsandtheyanswerthemashomework.
H: Inoticedthatyouhavethiscollectionofworksheetsinthenotebook.
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T: Yes,worksheets.Weprinthandoutsforthestudentsandgivethemtostudents.Theycandothemathome.It’shomework.Wecan'tfinishitatschoolbecausewedon'thaveenoughtime.Theyfinishitathomeandwecheckatschool.
H: Soevenwhenyouadaptthecoursebookit'salsorelatedtotheexam.
T: Yes!Thehandoutisapracticeaboutthetypesofquestionsthatcomeintheexam.It’sthesame.Evenwhenwegiveanexerciseaboutthenewwords,it'srelatedtotheexam.Ifit'saboutgrammar,it'sabouthowitcomesintheexam.Readingcomprehension,howitcomesintheexam.That’sit
H: Thankyouverymuch.Itwasreallyappreciatedtalkingtoyou.
T: Youaremostwelcome.
H: Thankyouagainforparticipatinginthisstudy.
T: Youarewelcome.
2- Esam:
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H: Firstofall,I’dliketothankyouforparticipatinginthisstudy.
E: ThankyouMr.Hassan.Youarewelcomeinourschool.
H: Thankyouverymuch.SothefirstthingI’dliketoaskyouisaboutyourbackground.Howlonghaveyoubeenteaching?Whatareyourqualifications?
E: Ihavebeenteachingfortwenty-twoyearsinKuwait.
H: Twenty-twoyears!
E: Twenty-twoyears.IgraduatedfromtheFacultyofArts,EnglishdepartmentinMinyaUniversity.
H: Itwasthecollegeofartnoteducationbutthenyoudecidedtobecomeateacher?
E: IhavedecidedtobecomeateacherbecauseIliketeaching.
H: HowdoyouseeyourroleasEnglishlanguageteacherintheKuwaitiintermediateschoolssinceyousaidyouhavebeenteachingfortwenty-twoyears?Whatisyourrole?Doyouthinkitisthesameroleorithasbeenchangedbytime?
E: TheroleofteachingEnglishistouseEnglish.WeareheretoteachhowtouseEnglishoutsidetheschool...anywhere.
H: Sodoyouseeyourroleaswhat?DoyouthinkthatyouarelikeateacherofEnglishorjustpreparingstudentsforexamsor...?
E: SometimesIpreparestudentsforexams.Butwhatisimportanttoteachthelanguage.
H: Soyouthinkyourroleisateacheroflanguage?
E: Yes.ButyouhavetoputinyourmindtheexamsespeciallyhereinKuwait.StudentsinKuwaitconcentrateonexams.
H: Wewilltalkaboutthislater.Ithinkthatit'saveryimportantpointthatyouraisehere.EspeciallyIthinkthatKuwaitisfacingthiswash-backeffect.
E: Yes,that'sright.
H: Whenyouteachanewvocabularyitem,whatareyourequiredtoteach?Whataretherequirements?Whatareyouaskedtodowhenyouteachthesevocabularyitems?
E: Iteachthemhowtopronouncetheword.Howtousetheword.Andfinallythespellingoftheword.
H: AreyourequiredtouseL2onlyinyourlessons?
E: Sorry?
H: AreyourequiredtouseL2?
E: Sayitagain,please.
H: L2standsforthesecondlanguage.
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E: SecondLanguage!
H: SoareyourequiredtouseEnglishonlywithoutArabic?Asarequirement.Maybeyoudosomethingelse.
E: SometimesweneedtouseArabicinintroducingnewvocabulary,especiallyinabstractwords.WeneedtouseArabic.
H: BecausetheMinistryofEducationsaysthattheyfollowthecommunicativeapproach.InoticedthatinyourlessonyouusedL1.WhichIunderstandwhyyouuseL1.Butdoyouthinkthatit'sveryimportantsometimestouseit?
E: SometimesweneedtouseArabicbutnotalways.Especiallyforabstractwordslike...Remindmeofone…
[Laughter]
H: …Likethe...
E: …SomewordsyouneedtosaytheminArabicattheend.Aftermanytimes.Aftermanytries,youneedtosaytheminArabic.
H: Ijustnoticedthatyousaidthatyouarerequiredtoteachthestudentshowtospelltheword.InyoulessonInoticedthatyoufocusedonpronunciation.Inoticedthatyoufocusedonmeaning.Butwhenitcomestospelling,theydidn'twriteanything.
E: Becausetheyoldenough.Youteachspellingforprimarystage.
H: Primarystage?Sointheintermediatestageyouthink...
E: …Intheintermediate,especiallyeightclassandnineclass,theydon'tneedthespellingbecausetheyalreadyknowtheletters.
H: YouareteachingfromthebookoftheTargetEnglish.Itiswhatyoufollow,right?
E: Yes.
H: I'dliketoaskyoutwoquestionsaboutthis.Whatdoyouthinkaboutthevocabularyinthebooks?Doyouthinkitisusefulforthestudentsto…?Doyouthinkthattheseitemsareuseful?
E: Yes,it'suseful.Theycanusethesewordsoutsidetheschool.Inthesecondarystage,someitemsofthevocabularyarenotused.Buthereintheintermediatestagemostofthewordscanbeusedoutsidetheschool.Thesewordshelpthemtoread.Tounderstandiftheywatchmovies.
H: Soyouthinkthattheyareusingthesewords.Thesewordscanhelpthestudentsnotjustinsidetheschoolforexample.
E: Yeah,Yeah.Outsidetheschool.Right.
H: That'sgoodnews.Againaboutthebook.Howdoestheuseofthecoursebookaffectorinfluenceyourteachingofvocabulary?
E: Sorry.Ididn'tunderstand.
H: Imeanhowthisbookcanaffectyourvocabularyteaching.Isit...becauseinKuwaityouonlyhavethisbook.Youteachthevocabularyfromthebook.Youdon'tteachitfromoutsideit.Sodoesitaffectyourvocabularyteaching?Imeanthatyoucan'tteachanythingexceptfromthebook.
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E: Yes!Ifstudentsaskaboutanythingoutsidethebooks,Ican...I’mreadytoteachit.
H: Butwhenitcomestovocabularyitems?
E: Becausesometimesinthetext...inthebook...inthetarget...inthetextitselfyoucanfindsomewordsthatarenotnewvocabulary.Theyneedtobeteaching...
H: …Theyneedtobeunderstood.
E: Yes.Theyneedtobeunderstoodby...Ithinktheyneedtobetaughtbystudents.Manystudentsaskaboutwordsnotinthenewvocabulary.
H: SoyouthinkthattheTargetEnglishcoursebookaffectsyourteachingbecauseit's...
E: Yes.
H: It'sthesyllabus,right?
E: Yes,it's.Itaffectsme.
H: Now,whenyouseetheseitemsinthebookwhatwillyouusuallydowhenyouteachthem?Thenewvocabularyitemsinthebookwhenyouwanttoteachthem.Inoticedthatyouusedvisuals.Sowhatdoyouusuallydowhenyouteachtheseitems?
E: Toteachnewitems...ortointroduceanewvocabularyitemtherearesomestepsyouhavetofollow.First,listening.Thefirstthingtodoislistencarefully.Thenshowthemapictureorarealobjecttoknowwhatitis.Toguessthemeaning.Thenreadtheword.Andaskthestudentsiftheycanusethewordinasentencefromtheirown.
H: Sothisiswhatyouusuallydowhenyouintroducenewvocabularyitems?
E: Yeah.
H: Whydoyoudoitthisway?
E: Itmakesstudentsunderstandthemeaningquickly.Studentsneedtosee,needtolistenfirstandneedtosee.
H: Sotheyareusingalltheirsensestogetthemeaning?
E: Yes.Theycanusethemtogether.
H: Doesthelevelofthestudentsaffectthewayyouteachvocabulary?
E: Ofcourse!
H: Canyoutalkaboutthismore,please?Howcanthisaffectyou?Canyougivesomeexamples?
E: Iftheclassisgood,ithelpsyoutointroducethewordsinaverysimplewayandquickly.Sometimessomestudentshaveknownthemeaningalready.
H: ThismayhelpyounottouseL1maybe.
E: Yeah.
H: Yousaidthatyouadaptthecoursebookbyusingvisuals,byusingallthesethings.
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E: Yeah.
H: Myquestionishowlongwillittakeyoutoteachtheseitems?Inoticedthatittakesfourteenminutes…maybe?
E: Ittookfourteenminutes?
H: Yeah.Doesitusuallytakethesametime?
E: Becausetheywereabout...Howmanywords?Eachwordaboutoneandahalfminute.
H: Yeah.Doyouthinkthatthistimeisenoughtoteachthesevocabularyitems?
E: It'senoughbuttheymustberevised.ThenextperiodIwillrevisethem.
H: Soyourevisethem.
E: Yeah.BeforeintroducingnewitemsforthenextlessonIshouldemphasizethestudentsunderstandtheprevioustaughtwords.
H: Butmyquestionisaboutthevocabularyitemsthatareinthebook.Imeantheyaskyoutoteachdifferentvocabularyitemsineverynewlesson.Andasyouknow,vocabularyisn'teasytoteach.Youtaughttheminaveryshorttime…don'tyouthinkthatthebookandthesystemisn'tgoodenoughbecausetheygivevocabularyitemsjustashorttimeofthelesson?Sometimesyoufeel…
E: …Mm.No,no.It'snotashorttimeMr.Hassan.It’snotashorttime.Thestudentsmaybe...thesewordsarejustusedinthenextlesson.Youcanfindsomeofthesewordsinthenextlessonsorinthenextunit.It’snotashorttime.
H: Right.That'sagoodnews.Youalreadyansweredthisquestionaboutrevising.Doyourevisevocabularyitems?
[Laughter]
E: Yeah.
H: Youtoldmehowtorevisethem.Yourevisethembygivingthemthe...
E: …Sentences.Choosethecorrectword.TodayIaskedmystudentstodoanexerciseathome.Asahomeworkconcentratingonwhattheystudied,especiallythenewvocabulary.
H: Yeah.Right…Ifyoucameacrossawordthatisuntaughtandyouthoughtthatthestudentsneedtoknowthemeaningofthatwordwhatdoyouusuallydoandwhyyoudoitthisway?
E: Untaught?
H: Likeyouarereadingatextandthenthereisawordthat[isn’tpartofthenewvocabularyitems]
E: Yeah.Iintroducethem.
H: Yougivethemthemeaning?
E: Igivethemthemeaning.Itrytoexplainthemeaning.
H: DoyouusuallyuseL1or…?
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E: Notusually.Sometimes.
H: ArethereanydifficultiesthatyouusuallyfaceinsidetheKuwaiticlassroomwhenyouteachvocabulary?
E: [Laughing]Yousee.
H: It'snotaboutme.It’saboutyou.
E: Littlestudentsask,"WhatdoesitmeaninArabic,Sir?"Afterexplainingmanytimes.Thepictureisclearforthem.
H: Thestudentswantthat?
E: Yes.Forexample,theword"handle".Someoneasked,"Whatdoesitmean?"Ishowedyou!It’sahandle.(Foreignlanguage)thisisthemostimportantprobleminourclasseshereinKuwait.ThestudentswanttosayeverythinginArabic.ButasanEnglishteacher,ItrytouseEnglish.ItrytomakestudentsaccustomedtouseEnglish.TounderstandbyusingEnglish.
H: That'syourbelief.
E: Yes.That'smybelief.
H:DoyouthinkthatthestudentsexpectyoutouseL1?Imeanbecausetheyalready...YousaidmanystudentsaskyouaboutL1.Dotheyexpecttheteachertouseit?
E: Asateacher,youhavetoinsistonusingEnglishinsidetheclass.
H: OK.
E: Youhavetoinsist.Tellyourstudentsbeusualwiththelanguage.Onetwothreetime,theywillalwaysask...andnevergetboredfromasking,"WhatdoesitmeaninArabic?"AndyouhavetoinsistonusingEnglish.Attheend,theymuststopaskingaboutthemeaninginArabic.I'msure.Itriedit.
H: Anditworked?
E: Yes.Ididit.
H: Great.Ithinkthisisaverygoodpointbecauseyouhavealreadysaidhowtoovercomethisdifficulty.Nowyourpersonalaims.Let'sforgetaboutthecoursebook.Whatareyouraimswhenyouteachnewvocabulary?Justforgetaboutthecoursebook.Asateacher,youwanttoteachvocabularyitems;what'syouraim?
E: Ialwaystellmystudents,evenmychildren,youneedtouseEnglishoutside.Inrestaurants,whenyoutravelabroad,youhavetouseEnglish.YouneedtouseEnglish.Thisismyaim.
H: Soyouareconcentratingontheusage?
E: Yes,theusageofthelanguage.
H: Anddoyouthinkthatthisthemaingoal.
E: WhenIteachlanguage,thisisforme,Iforgetallaboutthetestsorexams.Iteachlanguageforlanguage.
H: That'sagoodthingforyou!
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E: Thisismybelief.
H: Thisisyourbelief.BecausehereinKuwaitsometimesit'sdifficultfor...
E: InKuwait,inEgypt,inSyria,inLebanonweteachlanguageforlanguage.Nothingelse.
H: Ifyouhavethefreedomtoteachvocabularyitemswithoutthecoursebook,withouttheTargetEnglish…
E: WithouttheTargetEnglish?
H: Yeah!Whatwillyoudo?
E: Thesamesteps.Whenyouteachlanguageorwhenyouteachnewvocabulary,youhavetofollowthesamesteps;listening,reading,watchingandreading.
H: Butwillyoupreteachvocabularybeforegoingtothetext.BecauseintheTargetEnglishcoursebook...
E: Yeah!Sometimeswordswillbedifficultfromthetextitself.SometimesIaskstudentstoreadthetextandtrytoguessthemeaningofthewords.
H: I'msorry.Imaybewasn'tclearenough.Butrightnow,youdon'thaveabook.Theytellyougoandteachalessonaboutvocabularyandyoudon'thavethislistofwordstoremember.Whatwillyoudointhatcase?Willyouhaveyourown...willyoudesignyourownwordstorememberbooks?
E: Ofcourse,Iwilldesignmyownwords.Ipreparethelessonathome.Ireadthetextandelicitsomedifficultwords.IfIseewordsaredifficultformystudents...
H: Andthenyoupreteachthembeforereading?
E: Yes.Itrytoteachthemortopreteachthemasyousaid.Andwedothisincomprehensiontexts.It'sunseenpassage.Asateacher,youreaditathomeandelicitdifficultwordsthenyoucanpreteachthem.
H: Anddoyouusuallypreteachthenewwords?
E: Yeah.
H: Doyouthinkthatyourteachingbeliefsregardinglanguageteachinginfluencethewayyouteachnewvocabulary?
E: Yes,ofcourse.ItreflectsmybeliefsinusingvisualsandL2only.
H: IsthereanythingthatstopsyouhereinKuwaitfromactingyourbeliefs?Sometimesyouwanttodothisbutyoucan'tdoitforacertainreason.
E: Ialwaystellmystudentstoforgetaboutthetests.LearnEnglishforEnglish.
H: Butdothey...?
E: …Buttheyinsistonstudyingfortheexams.Andaftertheexam,theyforgeteverything.Thisisabigmistake.Butitisnotourproblemthatstudentsinsistonthat.
H: Don'tyouthinkthatit'salsofromthesystem?
E: No,no.it'snotfromthesystem.
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H: It'sallabouttheexams.
E: Butwehavetotestthem.Whatcanwedo?Wehavetoteststudents.
H: DoyouthinkthattheexamsystemhereinKuwaitreflectstudents'understandingnotmemorisation?
E: Notunderstanding.
H: Sothereisaproblemhere.
[Laughter]
E: Notunderstanding.
H: Memorisation?
E: Yeah!
H: Sodoyouhaveanycommentaboutthat?
E: No!
[Laughter]
H: OK.YousaidthatyousometimesuseL1.Ireallylikedthewayyouusevisualsbecausethereisalotofdiscussionintheliteratureabouttheuseofvisualsintermsofmemory,modality,andmotivation.Arethesethingsimportantforyou?
E: Yes,theyareveryimportantforme.
H: Dotheyinfluencethewayyouteachnewvocabulary?
E: Thevisuals?
H: Yeah.
E: Thevisuals,realia?Yes.
H: Whatisthedifferencebetweenalessonyouusevisualsandalessonyoudon'tusevisuals?
E: Itwouldbeamonotonous,boringone.
H: Areyouusingvisualsjustformotivation?
E: Yes,motivation,tomakestudentsactiveintheclassroom.Tomakethemwithmealways.
H: Soyourmaingoalforusingvisualsisjustformotivationnothingelse?Youdon'tthinkvisualscanaddsomethingelseotherthanmotivation?
E: It'smotivation.
H: Whenyouusevisuals,doyouusethemformotivationonly?That’sit?
E: Motivation,teaching,andlearning.
H: Sohowcanthesevisualsbemoreeffectivethanthewhiteboard?
E: Becausetherearedifferentlevelsofstudents.Somestudentsneedtorememberthewordbywatchingit.Anotheronebyhearingit.Youneedtouseallthesethings.
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H: Doyouthinkthatstudentsrespondbetterwhenyouusevisuals?
E: Yes,Ithinkso.Allofthem.
H: Allofthem?[Laughing]That'sgood!Doyoubelievethatusingvisualsaffectthelearners'achievements?
E: Thelearners'achievements.Yes.Butshouldberecycled.
H: How?
E: Ithelpsthemrememberthewords.It’saboutthememory.It’seasytoremembertheword.
H: Soyouareusingvisualsnotjustformotivationbutalsoyouwantstudentstomemorise.
E: Sure.Bothofthem.Motivationandmemorisation.
H: ThelastquestionI’dliketoaskyouhereisabouttheexaminationsystemhereinKuwait.Everythingis...youareteachingfromthebookthenyougototheexams.Andyouthinkthattheexamsaregoodenough.Butatthesametime,yousaidthattheydon'treflectstudents'understanding.I'mnotsurehowcantheybegoodenoughbuttheydon'treflectstudents’understanding.Canyouexplainthisalittlebit?
E: Idon'tunderstandyou.Sorry,Mr.Hassan.Againplease.
H: Intermsoftheexams.
E: Exams.
H: Yousaidtheyaregoodbutatthesametime,yousaidtheydon'treflectstudents'understanding.
E: Yes.Itdependsonmemorisation.
H: Buthowaretheygoodthen?Becauseyousaidtheexamsaregood!
E: Idon'tsaytheyaregood.
H: YoumentionedthisearlierwhenIaskedyouabout...
E: Isaid...IsaidtheexamsinKuwaitaretoomanyexams.Toomanyexams.
H: Andyouthinkthatthisiswrong?
E: Yes.Ithinkthisiswrong.
H: Becausestudentsalwaysfocusonthem?
E: Yes.
H: Thankyouverymuch.Ireallyappreciatethis.Thankyouforparticipatinginthisstudy.
E: I'dliketoseeyouagain.
H: Hopefully.Thankyouverymuch.
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3- Salah:
H: Firstofall,Iwouldliketothankyouforparticipatinginthisstudy.
S: Youaremostwelcome.
H: Ireallyappreciatethat.ThefirstquestionIwanttoaskyouisaboutyourbackground.What’syourbackground?HowlonghaveyoubeenteachinghereinKuwait?Whatareyourqualifications?
S: Well,it’sbeenalongtimeforme,aboutfiveyears;thisismyfifthyearinKuwait.IstudiedinSyriaaboutfouryearsintheEnglishdepartment.IstudiedEnglishliterature[Laughing]there.It’sgoodjobthattoteachEnglishlanguage.Itwasagoodopportunitytowork…It’sagoodjob.WorkinginKuwaitgivesyoutheabilitytodocertainthings.It’sbetterthanworkinginmyhomecountry.WearetalkingaboutworkinginKuwait.ItriedtocometoKuwaitandhavethisjob.I’minterestedinit.Ienjoyteachingverymuch.Ilovemystudentssomuch.It’sagoodwaytolive…
H: That’sgoodtohear.InKuwait,youhavebeenteachingforfiveyears.HowdoyouseeyourroleasanEnglishlanguageteacherinKuwaitiintermediateschools?
S: Well…Itrymybesttoteachmystudentstospeakthelanguageasmuchastheycan,tousetheEnglishlanguageineverydaysituations.Whenevertheygooutwiththeirfriends…theygotorestaurants…theygotocinemas.Iencouragethemtousethelanguage.Wesometimesdoanopendiscussionintheclass.ItrytoencouragethemtousethelanguageIwant.Myaimistomakemystudentsmasterthelanguage;makethemabletoexpressthemselves.Ithinkthisisthemainroleforteacher,tochangehisstudents’attitudetowardsthelanguage.Lotsofstudentsdon’twanttospeakthelanguage.Someofthemareshy.Someofthemthinkthattheycan’t;theywillnevermasterthelanguage.Theydonoteventry.Somyroleasateacheristoencouragethem,togivethemtheinstructions,togivethemthehelpandtheaidtheyneed.Thisistheteacher’sroleasIseeit.
H: Youseeyourrole…Youseeyourselfdoingthis?
S: Iamdoingthis.I’mdoingmyjob.I’mdoingwellasIseeit.Mystudentsareimprovinginusingthelanguageinagoodwayespeciallytheeighthgradeandtheninthgrade.Theyaredoingwell.Theyareusingthelanguageproperly.IthinkIchangedsomethinginthem.ThisiswhatIliketosee.I’mdoingsomething.
H: That’sagoodthing.IreallylikewhatIhearaboutthis.Whenyouteachvocabulary,whatareyourequiredtodohereinKuwait?
S: Well,whenyouteachvocabulary,youwantyourstudentstounderstandthemeaningofthenewwordandtoknowhowtouseitineverydaylanguage.Whenhewantstousethisword,howcanheputitinsentences?Yourroleasateacheristoseeortoknowthenatureofyourstudents.Howcantheyunderstandthisword?InwhichwayIcanpresentthisword.Somewordsareeasy;justgivethemanexample,asimplesentence;yourstudentswillunderstanditimmediately.Otherwordssometimesyouneedtogivemoreexamples.Youneedtouseapicture.Youneedtousevisualsandvideos,realiasometimes.Butyoucan’tusealltheseaidsbecausetherearedifferentcircumstancesaroundus.Youarenotfreewhileyouareworkinghere.Sometimesyouareforcedtouseorobligedtouseortogivejustexamples.Touseasmuchexamplesaswecantomakesurethatourstudentsunderstandtheword.Afterunderstandingthewordormakingsurethatmystudentsunderstoodthisword,Iaskthemtogivesentences.Theyshouldusethewordinacorrectway.This
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ishowIseeteachingvocabulary.ButIhavetoomanyhoursworkinghere.Idon'thaveenoughtimetoprepareteachingaidsandvisualseveryday.Sosometimes,whenIseethatthelessonneedsvisuals,Iexertmoreeffort.ItrytopreparewhatthelessonrequiressothatImakesurethenewwordsarecleartomystudents.Whenthelessoniseasyandthewordsarenotthatdifficult,Ithinkit'senoughtogiveexamplesandtoaskstudentstoputthewordsinsentences.Thentochecktheirunderstanding.Ifanyonehasaquestion,Itrytomakeitclearer.
H: I’mjustgoingtogobacktothispoint.IwasaskingaboutwhatyouarerequiredfromtheMinistryofEducationhere.Whenyouteachvocabulary,whatdotheyaskyoutodo?
S: Theyaskmetolookatthisgroupofwords…
H: …inthecoursebook…
S: …inthecoursebook.Youarefollowingthesesteps.Youcan'tgooutsidethem.Youdon'thavethefreedomtomanoeuvreorusedifferentmaterial.Youhavethebook,sosticktothebook.Don’tgooutsidethisbook.Theywantyoutofinishthebook,justtofinishthebookandgetstudentspreparedtobeexamined.
H: Thebookhereislikeasyllabus?
S: It'sasyllabusyouhavetofollow.Youhavetofinish.Andifyoudon'tfinishthisbook,I’msorrytosaythisword,it'sjustlikeacrime,you'llbesentenced,andyou’llbejudged.Youarenotagoodteacherifyoudon'tfinishthesyllabus.Theydon'tlookatthewayyoufinishthesyllabus.Justfinishit.OK.Asateacher,IfindmyselfresponsiblenottomoveaheadinthesyllabusunlessImakesurethatmystudentsmasteredwhattheyhadgonethrough.TheyshouldunderstandeverythingIteachthem.ThenImovetonextsteps.
H: Interesting.Basedonthecommentyoumentioned,yousaidthatyouraimistoletstudentstomasterthelanguageandtousethelanguageinreallife.Inoticedinthelessonwhenyouwereteachingvocabulary,youweren'taskingstudentstoputthewordsinsentencesfromtheirown.
S: Attheendofthelesson,Iaskedthemtodosomeexercise.Thisisnotall.Everydaywerecyclenewvocabulary.Everydayweaskstudentstodoexercisesreferringtothesenewwords.Wedon'tjusttakethenewwordstodaythenforgetaboutthem.Werecyclenewvocabularyeveryday.Inanychanceyougetyouhavetogothroughthewordsagain.Askthemtodomoreexercisesandaskthemtogivenewsentencesassimpleaspossible.
H: Again,thesevocabularyitemsarerelatedtothecoursebook?
S: Theyarefromthecoursebook.Youcan'tteachnewvocabularyunlessastudentasksyouaboutawordhecameacrossanddidn'tunderstandit.Asateacher,Itrytobalancethings.Ihavethesewordsinthebook.Ifinishthem.Iteachthemtomystudents.Imakesuretheyunderstandthem.Ifanyoneofmystudentsaskmeaboutadifferentword,anewwordtohimandit'snotinthecoursebook,Idon'thaveaproblem.Itryto...
H: …Howdoyoudealwiththisifsomeoneasksyouaboutawordthatisnotfromthenewwords?DoyougivethemthemeaninginArabic?OrdoyougivethemthemeaninginEnglish?
S: ItrynottouseArabicbecauseweareaskednottouseit.
H: Doyoubelievethatthisisright?
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S: Idon'tthinkso.Forexample,makeyourstudentsunderstandawordthroughexamples,throughanyteachingaidyouhave.Ifyoufeel,youareateacher.Youknowifyourstudentsunderstoodthewordornot.Ifyoufeelthatyouneedmoreclarification,thenit'snotaproblem.Ithinkit'snotaproblemtousethemothertongue.Sometimeswordscan'tbeunderstoodeasilybystudents,soIgiveittostudentsinArabic.It’snotacrime.It’snotabigproblem.Studentswillthankyouforthat.[Jokingly]
[Laughter]
H: Fromwhatyousay,IthinkthattheTargetEnglishcoursebooktrulyaffectsandinfluencesyourvocabularyteachingbecauseit'sthesyllabus,right?
S: It'sthesyllabus.Youhavetofollow
H: WhenitcomestotheuseofL1,youbelievethatit'snecessarysometimes.Evenifit'snotallowed,butwhenyouareinsidetheclass,youuseL1whenyouthinkit's...
S: …Ifit'snecessary,Iuseit,andIdon'thesitate.I’lldo...
[Laughter]
S: …anythingintheinterestformystudents.
H: DoyouthinkthatyourstudentsexpectyoutouseL1intheclassroom?
S: Well,mystudents'goalistounderstandandtocopewithmeintheclass.‘Itdoesn'tmatterwhatwaymyteacherusestomakemeunderstand’.Theydon'tmind.Theyjustwanttounderstand,soItrymybesttomakethemunderstandthroughtheaids,thevisuals,theexamples,realia,etc.iftheydon't...it'snotaproblem,neitherformenorforthem.Theyexpectitandacceptit.
H: Aboutthevocabularythatispresentedinthecoursebook,doyouthinkthatitisusefulorjusttheyareputthererandomly?
S: Ithinkit'snotrandom.Thevarietyisthere.Thewordsareusedeveryday.Theyarecommonwords.Theyarenotstrangeorold-fashioned.Ithinktheyaregoodwords.Theyareputwithpreviousstudy.
H: Whenyouteachthesevocabularyitemsinthecoursebook,andyouhavetofollowthisbookandthesyllabusasyousaidbefore,youneedtoadaptthisbookbecause…Certainly,noteveryteacherusesthebookinthesameway.Yousaidthatyouusevisuals.Sohowdoyouadaptthiscoursebook?Andmostimportantly,whydoyouadaptitthisway?
S: IthinktherearelotsofexercisesthatIthink…theyarenotofmystudents'interests,soIdon'tgivethemalongtime.Itrynottoconsumethetime...
H: …Sorry,butthisisrelatedtovocabularyteaching...
S: …Wearetalkingaboutvocabulary?
H: Whenyouadaptthecoursebook,youknow,sometimesthereareexercisesinthebookaboutvocabularythatyoudon'tuse.Howdoyouadaptthecoursebookwhenyouteachvocabulary?
S: Youknow…
[Laughter]
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S: Whenasupervisorortheheadofdepartmentcomestoyourclass,youhavetoshowhimwhathewantstosee.Frankly,I’mtalkinghonestly.
H: Whichis?
S: Whichisfollowingtheinstructionsgivenbythem.Sticktothecoursebookevenifitconsumesthetime.Studentsarenotfullymotivated.Theyunderstandeverythingfully.WhenIaminmyclasswithmystudentsandnobodyfromoutsideishere,ItrytomakesurethatmystudentsunderstandandIdon'tcareabouttheway.EvenifIdon'ttacklecertainexercisesinthebook.It’snotaholybook.Iusemyownway.TheexercisesthatIfindnecessaryandhelpmystudentstounderstand.
H: BecauseInoticedthatafteryouexplainedthenewwords,youaddedsomeotherexercises…
S: …Extraexercises.Theyarenotinthecoursebook.Imadethem,preparedthemformystudentsbecauseIthinktheyaregoodtoconsolidatetheirunderstanding.
H: Whydoyoudoitthiswaytohelpyourstudentsunderstand…?
S: …Tohelpthemunderstandandtopreparethemfortheexamwhichisaholygoalforsome...
[Laughter]
S: ….peoplehereandthere.
H: Again!Theexam?
S: Theexams!Whydoyoutalkabouttheexam?[Sarcastically]
H: Let'sjustfocusonthevocabulary.Thisisaveryimportantpoint.Whenitcomes...Ithinkyoualreadyansweredthisquestion,whichis,doesthelevelofthestudentsorthenatureofthelessonaffectthewayyouteachvocabulary…?
S: Ofcourse!
H: …andyousaidthatsometimesyouusevisuals…?
S: Somestudentsunderstandawordjustbyhearingtheexamplefromthefirsttime.Eachindividualhashisownabilities.Someweakstudentsthinkofsomethingelse.Theirlevelsaredifferent,soateachershouldpayattentionforeveryoneintheclass.Thelowachievers,youshouldpayattentiontothemandgivethemtheinformationyouwantandthenewwordsexplainedindifferentwaystomakesurethatheunderstooditinagoodway.
H: Howlongwillyoutaketoteachthesevocabularyitems?BecauseInoticedthatyoutookabouttwelveminutestoteachtheseitems…maybeeventenminutes,sorry.
S: Tenminutes.
H: Doyouthinkthatthisisenough?Ordoyouhavetoteachthemintenminutesbecauseyouhavetogotothecoursebookanddo...
S: ItoldyouMr.Hassan,Ican'tgivevocabularyallthetimeofthelesson.Thereisatimelimit.ItoldyouthatIhavetofinishthesyllabus.Itrytofocusstudents'attentioninthisshorttimetonewvocabulary.ItrytouseasmanywaysasIcantohelpthemunderstandthenmovingtonextsteps.Readingcomprehensionisimportant.Finally,lotofstudents,evenmystudentsthinkoftheexam.
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Theyalwaysaskmeabouttheexam.Readingcomprehensionisimportant.Vocabularyisimportantbutitshouldn'ttakeallthetimeoftheclassorevenhalfofthetimeoftheclass.Whatshouldateacherdointhiscase?Ithinkheshouldusedifferentwaysandgiveasmuchexamplesashecan.Hecanusedefinitionsandaskstudentstousewordsinsentencestohelpthem.It’ssaidthatapictureworthathousandword.Usepictures.Ifyouuseapicture,studentswon'tforgetthiswordandtheycanuseit.Wecomebacktoourproblem,whichisthecoursebookandfinishingit.
H: Finishingit!Sodoyouthinkthatthisisreallyaproblem?
S: …Abigproblem.
H: Thisismaybeoneofthedifficultiesthatyouface.Yousaidthatexams,coursebook,andsometimesstudentslevel...
S: Students'attitudesandlevels.Somestudentshavepositiveattitudeandothershavenegativeattitude.Theydon'twanttowork.Theyhaveotherinterests.Theyaren'tinterestedinthecoursebook.
H: Howdoyouovercomethesedifficulties?
S: Ithinkthecoursebookandstickingtothecoursebooksmakestudentslessmotivated,lessinterestedtostudy.Ateachershouldadapthiswaytomotivatehisstudentsandtomakethesubjectinteresting.Sowhenyoucomeinsidetheclass,your`studentswillbehappytoreceiveyouandthewillworkwithyou.Theywillhelpyouintheclass.Theywillunderstandbetter.Teachersshouldn'tsticktothecoursebook.Theyshouldusetheirownway.Theyshouldusethegoodthingsinthecoursebook.Ifyouseethatthisexerciseorthatexercisearen'tnecessary,justignorethem.
H: Maybesometimesthetopics,right?
S: Topicssometimesaren'tinteresting.Theyarenotevenacceptedculturally.
H: InKuwait?
S: InKuwait,yes.
H: Forexample?
S: Sometimeswetalkabout...
H: …BecausethiscoursebookwasmadefortheKuwaiticontext.
S: Itwasmade,buttherearesomethingshereandtherethataren'tacceptedbysomestudents.
H: Canyougivemeoneexample?
S: Ithinkitwasputbymistake.Forexample,Fahadwenttoseehisfriendandagirl[?].Studentswouldnotacceptthat.AgirlfriendinKuwaitisabigproblem.
[Laughter]
H: Ifyouhadthefreedomtoteachvocabularyitemswithoutthecoursebook.Forgetaboutthecoursebook,OK?Whatwillyoudo?Andwhywillyoudoitthisway?
S: Youmeanthewayor…?
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H: Rightnow,youdon'thavethecoursebook.You’regoingtoaclassinKuwaitandyouwanttoteachvocabulary,whatwillyoudo?
S: Ithinktherearesomedictionariesandsomebooksthatweremadedependingondeepstudiesaboutthemostcommonwordsusedeveryday.IthinkIwouldgothereandchoosesomewordsthatareusedineverydaylanguage.Ipresentthemtomystudents.Verbs,nouns,adverbs...
H: Willyoupreteachthemalsobeforeyougoto...Becauseyoufollowthecoursebook,youpreteachvocabularythenmovetothetasks.Willyoupreteachthemalsousingthesamewayordothisinadifferentway?
S: Ithinkit'sthenormalwayIwilluse.Iwoulduseitinmyclass.Ichoosetheword...
H: Preteachthemthengotothereadingtext?
S: OK.
H: Whywillyoudothis?Whywillyoufollowthisway?Topreteachvocabulary?Whydoyoupreteachthevocabulary?Whydoyouteachvocabularyitemsbeforeyougothereadingtext?
S: Whenastudentgothroughthereadingcomprehensiontext,hefacesthesewords.Hewillencounternewvocabulary.Ourstudentswillforgetaboutreading.Theywillforgetaboutthecomprehensionofthistext.Theywillaskaboutthemeaningofthesewords.Wetryourbesttoencourageourstudentstoreadmoreandmoreandtrytofigureoutthemeaningofthewordthroughthecontext.IthinkitwasdifficulttoconvincemystudentstodoitthiswaysoItrytoreadatextbefore.Ichoosethedifficultwords.Itrytoexplainthembeforehand.Whenmystudentsreadthetext,theyreadtounderstandnottotranslate.
H: Doyouthinkthatyourteachingbeliefsregardinglanguageteachinginfluencethewayyouteachvocabulary?
S: Weareaskedtoteachincertainways.Don'tuseArabic.NeveruseArabic.Followcertainsteps.Youhavetomakeallstudentsrepeat...Ithinkit'smyway,mybeliefssoIadaptit.Iapplyitintheclassnomatterwhatanyoneelsesays.Iknowmystudents.Iknowwhattheyneed.
H: Doyouthinktheyneedthis?
S: IfIbelievetheyneedthis,I’lldoit.Idon'tcare.I’minterestedinusinganywayevenifitisnotworkingby...
H: …TheMinistry?
S: …Oursupervisors.Iuseit.
H: Again,whatareyouraims?Nowyouwanttoteachthosewords,doyoufocusonpronunciation?Doyoufocusonspelling?Doyoufocusonreading?
S: Ithinkalltheseareimportant.
H: Allofthem?
S: Forexample,whenIpresentanewword,firstofallIhavemystudentspronounceitwell.Theypronounceitwell.Theyrepeatit,allofthem.Theycanpronouncethiswordwell.Afterthat,Itrytogivethemexamples,pictures.Itrytomakethemunderstandthemeaning.Afterthat,Ishowthewordtoletmystudentsknowthatthiswordisspelledlikethis.
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H: Buthowcanyoumakesurethattheyarewritingitbyjustshowingthemapicture?
S: Thiscomesafterwards.Sotheypronounceitwell.Whentheycomeacrossthiswordinreading,theyreaditwell.Theyunderstandthemeaningthroughtheteachingaidswetalkedaboutvideos,visuals,realia,examples,etc.Afterthat,theyareabletouseitinsentences.Theyknowifit'sanoun.We’retalkingaboutthegenrehere;adjective,adverb,etc.Afterthat,inexamsorintheclasswhenwewriteatopic,theyaregiventhesewordsormostofthesewordsareusedintopics.Writeaboutsomethingandusethesewords.Whenyougivethemthisexercise,youcancheckormakesurethatyourstudentisabletowriteitcorrectly.
H: Whentheywritethe...
S: …Whentheyarepractisingwriting.
H: Soyourstepsforpronunciationandforspelling.Aftertheywrite,yourfocusisonspelling,pronunciation,andmeaning?That’syouraim?
S: Firstofall,pronunciation.Thentheyshouldgetthemeaning.Afterthat,practiseusingitinsentences.Finally,Ithinkit'snotthatimportant,thespelling.Evenifmystudentswriteitwithwrongspelling,it'snotabigdeal.It’snotaproblem.
H: IsthereanythingthatstopsyoufromactingyourbeliefsinKuwait?
S: Sometimesthetime.Thenumberofhours.Youknow,ateachershouldteachfourhoursaday.Ithinkitmakesmyjobmoredifficult.
H: Therehasbeenalotofdiscussionabouttheuseofvisualsinteaching.Iknowthatyouusevisualsinteachingyourlessons.Doyoualwaysusevisualsorjustsometimes?
S: Youknow...Beforeyougoinsidetheclass,youshouldbeprepared.Inotedownthenewvocabulary...thenewwordsinthelesson.IfIthinkthatthesewordsneedsomevisualstomakethemeasierformystudent,thenIusethem.IfIthinkthatthewordsaresimpleandmystudentsaregoingtounderstandthemwithoutvideos,withoutpictures,withoutthevisuals,soIjustuseexamples,Ijust...Igivemystudentsexamplesandputthenewwordindifferentcontexttomakemystudentsguessthemeaning.I'mnotusingthiswayineveryclass.SometimeswhenIthinkthatthesewords,therearealotofdifficultwords.Theyneedvideos,pictures;Igoaheadandusethem.
H: It'salsoawayofadaptingthecoursebook.
S: Ofcourse.
H: [Laughing]whatisthedifferencebetweenalessonthatyouusevisualswithandalessonthatyoudon'tusevisualswith?Becauseyousaidthatyousometimesusevisualsandsometimesyoudon'tusevisuals.
S: Ithinkusingvisualsmakesstudentsunderstandthewordsbetter.Butyouarenot...youdon'talwayshavethetime.Youdon'talways...youknow,freetousethem.Whenyouhavealotofworkinghours,youcan'tmovearoundtheschoolcarryingallyourstuffandpreparingtoshowstudentsthevideosorvisuals.Soteacherssufferfromthisproblem.
H: Soherecomesbacktheclassroomenvironment…Thatclassroomsherearenotprovidedwiththecomputersor...
S: Allright.Youhavetobringeverythingwithyou...
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H: Oh!
S: ...Getthemsetintheclassbeforehand.Youneedatleastfifteenminutestogeteverythingsetandprepared.
H: Fifteenminutes?
S: Ofcourse!
H: Andthelessonisonlyforty...
S: Forty-fiveminutes.
H: Sofifteenminutesjustfor...
S: Forpreparingyourcomputer,yourdatashowprojector,etc.Soiftherewereprojectorsandcomputersinclasses,ourworkwouldbemucheasier.Justbringyourflashmemorywithyou.Everythingwaspreparedbefore.Itwouldsaveourtime.
H: Imean...let'ssaythatthisroomwasprovidedwithdatashow?Willyouusevisualseveryday?
S: Definitely.Absolutely.Becauseaswesaidbefore,apictureworthathousandword.
H: Doyouthinkthatstudentsrespondbetterwhenyouusevisuals?
S: Ofcourse.Whentheyseepictures,videos,theyareencouraged.Theyaremotivated.Theyrespondinagreatway.
H: Doesthathelpthemintheirachievements?
S: Ofcourse.
H: Intermsnottotheexams,allreallanguageuse?
S: Ofcourse.Iagreewithyou.Whentheyaretaughtinamotivatingway,theyunderstandbetter.Theydon'tforgetthewordseasily.SometimeswhenIteachtheminthenormalwaybygivingexamplesentences,theyalwaysneedrecyclingandrevising.Butwhenyouteachthemawordusingvisuals,Ibelievethatit'slearnt.Theydon'tforgetiteasily.
H: Let'stalkaboutthelastthing,whichistheexam.Becauseyousaid,wearegoingtotalkaboutthislateron.
[Laughter]
H: Firstofall,doyouthinkthevocabularyquestionsintheexamreflectstudents'understandingofthelanguageormemorisation?
S: Itdepends.Theyarenotthatdifficultsentences.Theanswerisrightthere.Becausesomeofourcolleagues,whentheyprepareexams,theydon'tmakethemdifficultenoughforstudents.Ifyouwanttomakesurethatstudentsfullyunderstandtheword,youhavetotrytotrickthem.Butourexams,Ithink,theyaresometimestooeasyconcerningvocabulary.Becauseyouuse...itdependsonmemorising.Justmemorisethemeaningoftheword.IfyoumemoriseitinArabic,it'senough.Youwillbeabletoanswerallthequestionseasily.Becausethey...theotherwords...well,wetalkaboutthemultiplechoice,forexample.Ihavefourchoices.Threechoicesareirrelevantinanyway;they
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arefarawayfromthissentence.Sostudents,evenlowachievers,knowthatthisisthesuitableword.
H: Ithink...I’mnotsure...IhadthatinKuwaitwhentheygivetheexams.Allthechoicesinthemultiplechoiceshouldbefromthenewvocabulary.
S: Fromthecoursebook,fromthenewvocabularyofthe...
H: Sothatwillmakeitevenmoredifficultbecause...
S: Ofcourse!Youcan'tuse...asateacher,whenyouputanexamforyourstudents,youcan'tchooseawordfromoutsidethebook.
[Laughter]
S: Youhavetosticktotheholybook.[Sarcastically]
H: Evenif...
S: I'msorrytocallitaholybook.
[Laughter]
H: No.it'sOK.Youaresayingthatit'snotjustabouttherightanswer.Eventhewronganswersshouldbefromthecoursebook?
S: Ofcourse.
H: [Laughing]Oh!That'ssillybutit'sthewayitis.
S: Ithinkitshouldbereconsidered.
H: Butyoualsosaidthatthereisthiswritingcomprehensionthing.Doyouthinkthatthisisalsorelatedtovocabulary?
S: Ithinkthisisabigproblem.
H: Abigproblem?
S: Ourstudentsdon'thavethefreedomtowriteaboutsomethingfromoutsidethebook.Thebook,youknow,forexample,whenwetalkedtodayabouthappiness.Ithinknextexamthewritingtopicwouldbeabouthappiness.Nextlessonwillbeaboutfriendship…
H: …Andthevocabularyitems...
S: …Theywouldbeusedinwritingasguidewords.
H: Asguidewords?
S: Yes.
H: Vocabularycanalso...Eventhevocabularyitemsaren'tjustforthevocabularyquestion...
S: …Theexamsdependonthebook.Onthecoursebook.Youcan'tuseanythingfromoutsidethebook.Youwilltestyourstudentswithtwovocabularyquestionsgapfillingandmultiple-choice.Youwillaskyourstudentstousethesamevocabularyorwordstoanswerthecomprehensionquestions.FromtheSetbook.WecallthemSetbook…Setbookquestions.Fromourcoursebook.Fromthesyllabus.Thentheyaregoingtouselotsofthesewordsthattheystudiedfromthe
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coursebookinwritingatopic.Atopiccan'tbechosenfromoutsidethebook.Most...orninety...atleastninety-fivepercentofthetopicsaretackledthroughthetextbook.
H: Butdon'tyouthinkthatit'sbeneficialforstudentstowriteaboutsomethingthattheyhavelearntabout...
S: …Ithinkinearlystagesyes.Butweareintheintermediatestage.Ithinkthatstudentsshouldwritefreelyaboutdifferenttopics.Eveniftheyaren'tmentionedorstudiedorpreparedbefore.Thisismypointofview.
H: Yourbeliefabout...
S: …Ibelievethat,yes.
H: Thiswasinteresting.Doyouwanttoaddanythingmoreaboutthestepsofvocabularyteaching?Ithinkthatinthisschoolyouhavethisworksheet...
S: …Thepamphlet.It’spreparedtoreviseasItoldyou.Whenweteachnewvocabulary,werevisethemwheneverwehavethechance.Sowegoahead,printsomeexercise,distributethemtostudents,andtellthemtomemoriseagain.It’sawaytohelpthemunderstandandtogetthempreparedfortheexam.
H: Soyouaretryingtodoistobalancebetweenyourbeliefs?
S: That’swhatI’mtryingtodo...
H: ThankyouforyourtimeIreallyappreciatethis.
S: Mypleasure.
H: Thankyouverymuch.
S: Youaremostwelcome.
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4- Abdualziz:
H: Firstofall,I'dliketothankyouforagreeingtoparticipateinthisstudy.
A: Youarewelcome,Mr.Hassan.
H: Iappreciatethat.SothefirstquestionI'dliketoaskyouisaboutyourbackground.Now,howlonghaveyoubeenteachinghereinKuwaitandwhatareyouqualifications?
A: IhavebeenteachinghereinKuwaitfor10years.IgraduatedfromtheFacultyofArts,DepartmentofEnglishinCairoUniversity.
H: Now…aboutyourrolehereinintermediateschoolsinKuwait.HowdoyouseeyourroleasanEnglishlanguageteacherhereinKuwait?
A: AsateacherofEnglish,Itriedtofacilitatethelanguagetohelpstudentstouseitintheirdailylife.I'dliketochecktheirpronunciation,tellthemtospeak,tohelpthemexpresstheirideas,tohelpthemexpressthemselves,tobeconfidentwhentheyusetheEnglishlanguage.
H: Oh!That'sinteresting!WhenyouareteachingvocabularyhereinKuwait,whatareyourequiredtodo?WhatistheMinistryofEducationaskingyoutodo?Whatareyourequiredtodohere?
A: AsateacherofEnglish,Itrytofollowthefourskills…teachinglistening,reading,speakingandwriting.Itrytointroducethewordsthroughthecommunicativeapproachsothestudents,asyouknow,firsttheylistentothewordafterthattheyrepeatitthentheyreaditandthelastpointorsteptheywriteit.
H: SothisiswhattheMinistryofEducationisaskingyoutodo?
A: Yes,andIalsotrytoapplythisinmyclass.Itrytoapplybecause,asyouknow,whenthestudentsorwhenanybodyhere…hehastheabilitytopronouncesothebestwayforproducingsoundsistolistentosounds,sowhenhelistenshecanspeakorpronounce…
H: Sowhenyouteachvocabularyyoufocusalotonpronunciationmorethananythingelse?
A: Itryto...It'sthebestway.Whenastudentlistenscarefully,hecanproducesoundscarefully.
H: Yes,interesting!BecauseInoticeherethatyouusedalotofdrillsinyoulesson.WhenIobservedyou,youuseddrillsyouknow…
A: …Yes,it'sbetterforthestudentstomake...Istartwiththecleversmartstudents.Andattheendweendwithstudentswhoselevelsorwhosestandardsarelow.
H: Oh!Soyouthinkthat...youknow...thestudents...becauseyousaiddifferentstudentshavedifferentlevels,sodoyouthinkthatthelevelofthestudentsaffectthewayyouteachvocabulary?
A: Yes,certainly.Thelevelofthestudentsaffectmywayofteaching.BecauseIhavecleverstudents,Icanusedifferentways.Icanuseflashcards.Icanuseaprojector.Icanusedatashow.Icanuseeverythingbecauseofstudentswhoareclever.There'sactionandinteractionbetweenthestudentsand...betweentheteacherandthestudents.Ifthestandardofthestudentsissohigh,it'seasytointroducethelessonindifferentwaysandusingdifferentmethodsandusingdifferent
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techniques.Andthiswillbemoremotivatingforthestudentsthemselves.Therewillbeanactionandinteractionbetweentheteacherandthestudents.
H: Byclever,youmeanhard-workingstudents,right?
A: Studentswhoareclever…whoare...whoalwaysgetshighmarks...whoarehard-workingstudents.Cleverstudents.Smartstudents…
H: …Andifyouhavealotofyouknow...
A: …Lowachievers?
H: Yeah.
A: IfIhavealotoflowachievers,Ihavetofollowdifferentways.I'lltrytoapplythesameways,thesamemethods,orthesametechniques.ButI'lltrytousedifferentwaysaccordingtotheirlevel.
H: Mm-hmm.Canyougivemejustoneexample?Like…Whatwillyoudoifyouhave...?
A: Ithinkit'sbetterforthemtousevisualaidsfrequentlytousedatashowfrequentlytouse...
H: …lowachievers?
A: Yes.I'lltryto…I'lltrytomakethemconnectorjoinor…Mm-hmm,trytomakethemconnectthepictureswiththeworditself.Itrytoencouragethemtopronounce,tosee,tofeel…Mm-hmm,trytocreatearealclassforthem,helpthemtounderstand,helpthemtopronounce,helpthemtosee...
H: …Tomakeitmorepersonal?Youmean.
A: Yeah!Helpthemtogettheidea,togettheword…
H: Butdoyouthinkthatvisualsareonlygoodforlowachievers?
A: No,forallthestudents.ButitisbetterforlowachieversbecauseitenhanceswhatI'dliketosay.
H: Oh!OK,interesting.That’sreallyinterestingbecausewe'regoingtotalkaboutthevisuals.NowinKuwait,here,whenyouteachvocabulary,areyourequiredtouseL2only?AndbyL2,Imeanthesecondlanguage.
A: L2meansinEnglish?
H: Yeah!
A: It'sbetter.It'sbettertomaximizeEnglishasaforeignlanguage.It'sbettertousetheEnglishlanguageallthetime,butsometimeswehavesomecomplicatedwords,somedifficultwords,someabstractwords.Theycan'tbe...thestudentscan’tgetthemeaningofit.SoIhavetousetheArabiclanguageinordertoclarifythemeaningofsomewords,butmostofthelessonmustbeinEnglish.ImustmaximizetheuseofEnglishlanguageallthetime.IshouldaskmystudentstouseonlytheEnglishlanguage,ascanIaspossible,ok?
H: Andthisisyourbelief?
A: It'smybeliefs.ItrytousetheEnglishlanguageallthetime,andIaskmystudentstousetheEnglishlanguageallthetime.Butifthere'ssomethingdifficultabstractnouns,somethingthatcan'tbeclarified,sothisisthetimefortheArabiclanguagehere.
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H: Uh-huh!AnddoyouthinkthatstudentssometimesexpecttheteachertouseL1intheclass?
A: No,inmyclasstheydon'texpectmetousetheEnglishlanguage.
H: No,L1notL2,Imean.
A: YouspeakaboutArabic?
H: Yeah!DotheyexpectyoutouseArabic?
A: No,justtoclarifythemeaningofsomewords...
H: …YeahI'mtalkingabout...becauseyouknowInoticedthatsomestudentswhentheywerewritingthewords,theywereaskingaboutthemeaninginArabic.
A: Theytrytogivethemeaningoftheword.
H: Yeah!SoIthinkthestudentshere...
A: Someofthem…mostofthestudentsorsomeofthestudentswhoareaskingaboutthemeaningofthewords,theyarelowachievers.Andtheycan'tgetthemeaningortheequivalentEnglishdefinition.Theycan'tgetthemeaningofthewordortheycan'tunderstandtheEnglishdefinition.Sothat'swhytheyaskedmoretimesaboutthemeaningofthisword,"whatthemeaningofthisword?"andsoon.CanwetellitusinArabic?Butthecleverstudentsorstudentswhohavehighlevels,theygetthemeaningfromthebeginning.That'swhytheydon't...theyaren'tasking.
H: Yeah!IfyougivethemeaninginArabic,doyouthinkthatstudentswillunderstandthewordsinabetterway?Inyouropinion?
A: Yes,theywillunderstandit.ButIdon'taddanythingnewtotheEnglishlanguage.
H: Mm-hmm!Itisinteresting.
A: WhenIgivethemthemeaning,that'swhyItellthemopenyourmouth...
[Laughter]
H:Yeah!
A: …Openyourmouth!It’sdelicious!
[Laughter]
H: Yeah!
A: It’sdelicious!
H: Spoon-feeding!
A: Yes,somethinglikethis.SoI’mnotintroducinganythingtotheEnglishlanguage.
H: Uh-huh!
A: Itrytoavoidthis.
H: That'syourbelief.Yeah.
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A: It'sforbiddeninmyclasstowritethewordinArabic,andtowritethewordinEnglishandtogivetheirmeaning.
H: Whenyousaidforbidden,youmeanthatwhatyoubelieveinnot…
A: Yes,yes.It’sagoodwayforteachingEnglish.
H: OK.Now,let’stalkaboutthebook.
A: Yes.
H: Becauseifyouhavetofollowthebook,thereisnoway…it'sthesyllabus.Nowfirstofall,whatdoyouthinkaboutthevocabularyitemsinthecoursebook?Doyouthinktheyareusefulorjustrandomlyputthere?
A: Frommypointofview,Ithinkthatthevocabularyinthecoursebookorsyllabusissousefulbecauseit…here…itconnectsdifferenttopicsthat…fromdifferenttopics.Someofthemfromgeographicaltopics,someofthemfromscientifictopics,someofthemfromhistoricaltopics,especiallyingradeeight.Hereyoucanfinddifferenttopicsthattalkaboutdifferent...youcanfinddifferentlessonsthattalkaboutdifferenttopicsfromgeography,fromhistory,fromscience,frommathpuzzles.Thatiswhyitisanintegratedcourse.
H: Uh-huh!
A: Itisanintegratedcourse.Itisfullofdifferentvocabularyfromdifferentfields,andthat'swhyithelpsstudentstohavedifferentbackground…orgreatbackground….orwidebackgroundabouthisknowledge…hisculture…hisschoolsubjects.
H: Yeah!Interesting.Now,howdoestheuseoftheTargetEnglishcoursebookaffectorinfluenceyourteachingvocabulary?Imean…
A: Excuseme!Canyourepeatitagain?
H: Yeah!HowdoestheuseoftheTargetEnglishcoursebookaffectorinfluenceyourvocabularyteaching?Becauseyouknow,it'sthebookthatyoufollowsowhenyouteachvocabularyyoucan't...Youteachvocabularyfrom…
A: …Fromthecoursebook.
H: …SoIsupposeit's…Itinfluencesyourteachingofvocabularyinaverygoodorbadway.
A: Yes,ofcourse.Ithinkthecoursebookisfullofdifferentvocabulary…differentwordsthatenforcemetosearch,tousedictionaries,togetdifferentwordsdifferentmeanings.
H: Imeandoyouhavethefreedomtoteachstudentswordsthatareoutsidethecoursebook?
A: Again.
H: Doyouhavethefreedomtoteachstudentswordsthatareoutsidethecoursebook?
A: Wordsfromoutsidethecoursebook?
H: Yes,asnewvocabulary.
A: Franklyspeaking,Idon'tapprovewiththisideabecausewehavelimitedtime.Wehavetimelimited.Wehaveacoursebook,whenwefinishthecoursebookandIhaveextratimeorextraactivities,Icanintroducethenewwords.ButItrytosticktothewords…
11125thSeptember2015
H: …Tothesyllabus.
A: ….Vocabularythatareinthesyllabus.BecauseifIhavetime,ifIhaveextratime,ifIhavefreetime,ifIhavetimeforactivities,Icanprovidethemwiththenewvocabulary.
H: Soagain,Ithink…Becausetheanswerforthisquestionisyes.BecauseyousaidtheTargetEnglishcoursebookinfluencesyourvocabularyteaching…becauseitisthesyllabusyoucan'tgoout…
A: Yes.
H: Mm-hmm.Nowbecausethisisabookandyouhavetofollowthebook…
A: Yes.
H: Itotallyunderstandthat.Butatthesametime,it'sabsurdtothinkthatalltheteachersusethisbookinthesameway.Teachers,youknow,havedifferentopinions,differentbeliefs,anddifferentwaysofusingthiscoursebook.
A: Yes.
H: Now,howdoyouadaptthiscoursebook?Forexample,someteachersaddthings,someteachersdeletethings,someteachersusetechnologieswithittoadaptthecoursebook.Whenyouteachvocabulary,howdoyouadaptthecoursebook?
A: Asyouknow,orasweknowdifferentteachersdealwithvocabularyindifferentways,accordingtotheirtalents,accordingtotheirbeliefs,accordingtotheirideas,accordingtotheirpointsofview,accordingtotheiropinions.Everyonedealswiththewordsorthevocabularyaccordingtohisownbeliefsandhisownopinions.Forme,I’dliketousetechnology.I’lltrytoimprovemyself;I’lltrytoknowmore;I’lltrytousedictionary,tousedata-showandtechnologyinthenextyearsbecauseI’dliketotrytochangethewaysIfollow.AndIputthisinfrontofmyeyes;I’mgoingtochangefrom...Inordertohelpstudentstolearnmore.
H: Imeaninintermsof...Iknowbecauseyouusedthewhiteboardthismightbethewayyouadaptthe...but...Imean,doyouputinexercises?Imean,whenyouopenthecoursebookandteachvocabulary…Iknowthatinthisschoolyouhavethisworksheet...
A: Remedialexercises?
H: Yeah!Soyouarenotjustteachingfromthecoursebook.Youarealsoaddingthingsthatareoutofthecoursebook,right?
A: Yes,someextraexercise.
H: Yes.
A: Someextraexerciselikeremedialexerciseorreading,writingparagraphsorcreating...
H: Yeah!Likewhatyoudidattheendofthelesson.
A: Attheendofthat,I’dliketoknowifmystudentsunderstandwhatweexplained.Iftheygottheidea…iftheygottheideaofthelessonornot.SoI’dliketomakesomethingcalledwrapup…
H: Wrapupstage?
11225thSeptember2015
A: …Wrapupstage.Nowtheylisten...theyreadthelesson,theyweretaughtthenewvocabulary,andnowit'stheirturntoproduce.It'stheirtimetotellmewhattheyunderstand.
H: Sowhenyouadaptthecoursebook,youusuallyaddthingstomakethelearners...
A: Yes,theteachershouldbeflexibleinsidethelesson,shouldbeflexibleinsidethecourse.Ishouldn'tsticktothebook.Itisn'taholybook.It’syourstyle,beliefstoaddtouchtothebook.Wearen'tdealingwithholybooksandwearen'trobots.Everyteachershoulddealwiththenewwordsaccordingtothelevelofthestudents,accordingtothenewwaysoftechnologythatappear...usingrealia,usingrealobjects,usingdatashow,usingvisualaids,usingflashcards,usingwordcharts;soImayuseorsometimesIuse…SometimesIusemy…SometimesIusewhiteboard,otherteachersuseddatashoworuseflashcards,othersusewordcharts,sodifferentways,differentstyle,differentbeliefs.Everyoneputhistouchonthelesson.
H: Don'tyousee?Becauseyousaidthatmybeliefistousethewhiteboardrightnowatthismoment.Whydoyouthinkthewhiteboardisimportant?Orlet'ssay,whydoyouthinkthewhiteboardisagoodwaytoteachvocabulary?Whatdoesitadd?
A: Ithinktodaymostoftheschoolisusingdatashowprojectorsandsmartboard.Nowaftertwoorthreeyears,Ithinkthewhiteboardwillbedeletedorcancelledorwon'tbeatschools.SoItrytofollowthetechnology.That'swhy,buthereeveryclasshasawhiteboard.AndIsometimesusethedatashowwithmebutnotineverylesson.
H: Let'sassumethatatthisschool,theyprovideyouwithcomputeranddatashowineveryclass.Willyouusevisualsinallthelessons?
A: Yes.
H: Nowhiteboard.Becauseyouthinkthat…
A: Nowhiteboard.
H: Whyisthat?
A: Now,allwhatIneedistoactivatemystudentstohaveaninteractioninsidetheclass…tohelpthemtospeak,tohelpthemtousethelanguage.So…andtohelpthemtoseethepictureofthenewword.Ithinkthiswillfacilitatetheideaoflearningnewlanguage…helpthemtospeak,helpthemtoexpresstheirbeliefsandtheirideas.
H: Uh-ha.
A: IfIhavein…myclassroomisprovidedwithdatashowandcomputerandsmartboard,Iwillnotusetheboardagain.
H: Thewhiteboard?
A: Thewhiteboardagain
H: Yes.Now…becauseyouhavetofollowthebook
A: Yes.
H: Youusually…whenyouteachvocabularyitemsyou,forexample,todayittookyoutenminutestoteachthevocabularyitems
A: Yes.
11325thSeptember2015
H: Doyouthinkthisisenough?Ordoyouthinkthatbecauseyouhavetofollowthebook?
A: No,Ithink…Ithinkthatnewwordsinsidethelessonshouldtaketenminutesbecausewehavealotoftechniquesinsidethelesson.Wehavealotoftechniquesforexample,wehavereadingaloud,readingsilently.Wehavetofollowsometechniqueslikescanning,skimming…
H: …Butdoyouthinkthatallthesethingsinonelessonforfortyfiveminutesistoomuch?
A: …sowehavetodividethelesson,tenminutesforvocabulary,tenminutesfor…fiveminutesforreading,fiveminutesforskimming,askingquestions,fiveminutesforreadingaloud,andfiveminutesforaskingthestudentstoreadtheexerciseandanswerthequestions.
H: Butfromyourtalking,Ithinkthatthisisalsorelatedtothecoursebookbecauseyouhavetofollowthecoursebookyouaredoingthisway.
A: Yes,yes.Ihavetofollowsometechniquesinsidethe…insidethe…sometechniques…
H: Yeah.Butnowlet'ssaythatyoudon'thavethecoursebook…
A: Uh-ha
H: …Willyouteachvocabularyitemsjustfor10minutes?Becauseyouknow,whatyouaresayingisinterestingbecauseItotally…
A: DoyouthinkthatalotoftimeorItakeshorttime?Fromyourpointofview.
H: Ican'ttalkaboutmypointofview.
A: Yes,fromyourpointofviewasateacherisashorttimeorlongtime?
H: WhatIthinkisthatit'stoomuchtofocusonreading,scanning,andvocabularyinonelessonthattakesforty-fiveminutes.Itusuallytakesinordertoteachvocabulary,youneedto…youknow...I’mnotgoingtotalkaboutmybeliefs.
A: Yes.
H: Ithinkitwilltakeyou…youmayneedfortyminutesjusttoteachvocabularytomakesurethatthestudentsunderstandtointegrate…
A: Twentyminutes?
H: Maybemore.
A: Ijust…Ithink…
H: …Ifwewereteaching…
A: …Theyaretenwords…
H: No,no.Butifyouareteachingvocabularywithoutthecoursebooklet'ssay.YouknowwhatImean.
A: Yes.
H: Becauserightnowyouhavetofollowthecoursebook.
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A: Asyouknow,wehavecomprehension,wehavethepassage,andit'smyjobtointroduce…it'smytasktointroducethewords.Thewordsherenoteverything,thewordsherejusttofacilitatethelesson.Justtofacilitatemytaskinsidethelesson.
H: Uh-ha
A: Thelessonisacomprehensionlesson,that'sall.Sostudentsaregoingtoread.It’sthejob…orthetaskofthestudentsistoreadinsidetheclass.Iintroducethewordstofacilitatethereadingtaskonly.I'mnotteaching…mylessonwasn'tteachingvocabularyorteachingwords.Whatmylessoniscomprehensionlesson.SoIintroducedthewords.TheywereaboutIthinktenwordsandtheytooktenminutesoreightminutes.OK.Ithinkthat'senoughinordertohavethechancetofocusonthemaintask,whichisreading.
H: OK.Doyourevisetheseitemswiththestudentsusually?Thewords…Imeanthenewwords.Doyourevisethem?
A: Yes,atthebeginningofthenextyear…thebeginningofthenextlesson
[Laughter]
A: Thelessonisstillconnected.
H: Yeah.
A: Thelessonisstillconnected;justIintroducetheexercisenumberone,two,andthree.Wehaveexercisefour,fiveandsix.Thelessonisstillconnectedandthelessonistakenintwoperiods.
H: Uh-ha,OK.
A: Atthebeginningofthenextperiod,I’mgoingtointroduce…notintroduce…I’mgoingtorevisethewordsasquicklyasIcanusingflashcardsinordertoconnectwhatIexplainedtodaywithwhatI’mgoingtoexplaintomorrow.
H: Ok.NowdoyoufacesomedifficultieswhenyouteachvocabularyinKuwait?Whatarethedifficultiesyouusuallyfaceandhowdoyoutrytoovercomethem?
A: Ithinkit'ssolittle,butsometimesifthewordissoabstractorcomplicatedorthestudentscan'tgetitsmeaninginArabicthat'swhyItrytofacilitateit.Ifthestudentscan'tgetthemeaninginEnglish…can'tthedefinition,can'tgettheequivalentwordforit,OK,I'lltrytotellthemthemeaninginArabic.
H: Hmm-mm.
A: Ifitabstractnounortheycan'tget…
H: Yeah!Inoticedthatyouusuallyinyourlessonsay,youdon'ttalkinArabic,yougavethemthemeaninginEnglish,yougavethemsomeexampleandsay:OK,sowhatdoesthiswordmean?AndthenoneofthestudentswouldsaythewordinArabicandyousay…
A: Yes.
H: …Yes,that'sright.
A: Hmm-mm.
H: So?
11525thSeptember2015
A: Itrytoelicittheideasfromtheirminds.
H: Yes.SowhentheysaythewordinArabicdoyouacceptthat?IsitOKforyou?
A: Now…now…
H: BecauseIthinkwhatyouaredoingisgood,I’mnot…
A: Inthisway,IbecomesurethattheygotthemeaninginArabic,intheirownlanguage.SowhentheyunderstandwhatIsayEnglishandtranslateitinArabic,thismeantheygottheidea,theygotthemeaningoftheword.
H: Butdoesn'tthat…don'tyouthinkthatthisreflectswhatyoubelievein?BecauseyousaidthatItrytoforbidtheArabicinmyclass.
A: Howcanunderstandthat?HowcanIunderstandthattheygotthemeaningofthewordinEnglish?
H: Uh-ha
A: Or…or…sure,IshouldaskthemtousethewordinanotherequivalentinEnglish.
H: Orinanothersentence.
A: Orinanothersentence.Yes,it'sagoodsuggestion.
H: Hmm-mm.
A: I'm…nexttimeIshouldaskthemtoputthesame,theword,inanothersentence.
H: Yeah.
A: Tomake…yes,it'sagoodsuggestion.I’llputitinmyconsideration.
[Laughter]
[Silence]
H: Whatareyouraimswhenyouteachvocabulary?Let’sforgetaboutthecoursebook.
A: Hmm-mm.
H: Just,justforgetaboutKuwait.
A: Myaims…myaimsarehowtohelpstudentstopronouncethewordsinagoodway.Myaimsaretohelpstudentstospeakaboutthemselves,tousetheEnglishintheirdailylife,tousetheEnglishathome,tousetheEnglisheverywhere,touseEnglisheverydayandsoon.
H: So?
A: Toexpresstheirideas,theirbeliefs.I…myaimsaretohelpthemspeakatanytimeandanywhereandsoon.
H: You'refocusingonpronunciationmorethanmeaning.
A: Yes.Itrytofocusonfluencymorethanaccuracy.
H: Ok!Good,good.That’sagoodthingtohearbutyouknowifyouarefocusingonfluency…
11625thSeptember2015
A: Yes.
H: …Youshouldfocusonmeaningmaybemorethanpronunciation.Because…Imeanalotoftopicsrightnowaboutpronunciationthatdifferentpeoplepronouncethewordsindifferentwaysandit'sacceptablerightnow.
A: Hmm-mm.
H: Butdon'tyouthinkthatyoushouldfocusonmeaningmorethanpronunciation?
A: Ithinkthatpronunciationshouldbeputinconsideration…
H: Uh-ha
A: …Becausewehave,asyouknow,wehavedifferentwordswhichcanbepronouncedonthesamewayandgivedifferentmeanings.
H: Hmm-mm.
A: Sometimesgiveawfulmeanings.
H: Yeah,sure.
A: Sostudentsdon'tunderstandwhatyouaregoingtosay.Soifyou…
H: Sodoyouthinkthatpronunciationaffectthemeaning?Andthat'swhyyoufocusonit.
A: Yes,pronunciationaffectsthemeaning.
H: Yeah
A: That's…That's…
H: OK.Now,ifyoucameacrossawordthat'suntaught.
A: Awordthat'suntaught?
H: Yeah,ifastudentasksyouaboutawordthatisn'tfromthenewvocabularyitems.
A: Yes
H: Whatwillyouusuallydo?YougivethemthemeaninginArabicor…?
A: No,ineverylessonwemeetsomenewwords…
[Schoolbellringing]
A: ….whichtheydon'tunderstand.Fromthebeginningofthelesson,Iaskstudentstounderlinethewordstheydon'tknow,‘trytounderlinethewordsyoudon'tknow’.AndItrytoclarifythemeaningortoputthewordsinatexttohelpthemgetthemeaning.
H: InEnglish?
A: InEnglish.Itry,atfirst,tobeinEnglish.
H: Now,ifyouhavethefreedomtoteachvocabularyitemswithouttheuseofthecoursebook.
A: Yes.
H: WithoutTargetEnglish.
11725thSeptember2015
A: Yes.
H: Whatwillyoudo?
A: AsIsaid,I’llfollowthefourstepsorthefourskills.Atfirstspeaking,listening,reading,andwriting.Becauseifapersonlistenscarefully,hewillspeakcarefully.Solisteningandspeakingareconnectedwitheachother.
H: OK.Nowwehavejustfourmorequestions,numberone,ifyou...doyouthinkthatyourteachingbeliefsaboutlanguageteachingandvocabularyteaching,youknow,arereflectedinyourattitudewhenyouteachvocabulary?SoiswhatyoubelieveinisdonehereinKuwait?Yousaidyoubelieveinmanythings…
A: Yes.
H: Arethesebeliefsreflectedinyourteachingpractice?
A: Yes,ItrytoapplywhatIbelieve;ItrytoapplywhatIbelieve.Yes,mybeliefistousethelanguageasmuchasIcan,istohelpmystudentstounderstand,tospeak,to...speciallytospeakfreely,OK.AndItrytomaximizemyuseoftheEnglishlanguageinsidetheclassandtohelpmystudentstoexpresstheirideasandtheirbeliefs.
H: OK.DoyouthinkthatinKuwaittherearethingsthatarestoppingyoufromactingonyourbeliefs?
A: Franklyspeaking,Idon'tfindanythinglikethishere...Idon'tfindanythingthatpreventsmeorhindersmetoteachthewordsortoteachthenewvocabularyor…
H: Butyouknow,yousaidforexamplethatIwanttoteach,usevisualsbuthereinKuwaittheydon'thave…orinthisschooltheydon'thavePowerPoint,sothisismaybeoneofthethingsthatarestoppingyoufrom…
A: Asyouknowhere,theEnglishlabisavailable.Englishlabisavailable.DataShow,computer,andoverheadprojectorisavailablebutsometimestheteacherisn'treadytohaveready-madematerialstouse.Soheresortstothewhitboard.Buteverythingisavailableasyousee.TheEnglishlab,datashow,computer,overheadprojector,everythingisavailablefortheteachersbutsometimeswetakeiteasyandtrytousethewhiteboardbecausewedon'thavethematerialswhichisreallyprepared.Sometimesifthematerialsareprepared.
H: Preparedbywho?
A: Byme.
H: Yeah,OK!
A: Byme.Twoweeksago,Ipreparedalesson.ItwasademolessonandIusedtheprojector.Iusedthedatashow.Iusedthelanguagelab.Somethinglikethis.BecauseIpreparedmyselfforusingit.
H: Yousaidthatvisualsaregoodandcanhelpthelearners.
A: Yes.
11825thSeptember2015
H: Butyourarelyusethem.WhenItalkedtoyouaboutthis,yousaidbecausetheydon'tprovideuswithprojectorshereintheschool.Nowyousaidthatyouusedtheprojectorlasttime.I'malittlebitconfused.
A: No,no,no.Isaidtheyareavailable.Theyareavailable.Butnotasmartboardineachclass.Theyareavailable.Wehavejustoneroomfordatashow.JustonesciencelabforEnglishlanguage.ButwhatIsayifeveryclassisprovidedwiththeprojector,everyclassisprovidedwiththesmartboard,everyclassisprovidedwithdatashow,it'sbetterfortheteachertogowithoutortodowithoutthewhiteboard.
H: OK.
A: Everything.It’savailablebutthenumberissolow.
H: Sothisiswhatyou…
A: Ihavetouseitonceaweek,onceeverytwoweeksandsoon.
H: Sothismightbeoneofthethingsthatarestoppingyoufromactingonyourbeliefs.Becauseoneofthethingsaremaybethetimeofthelessonsometimes…
A: Yes,yes.
H: Now…OK.WhydoItalktoyouaboutthis?Becauseyousaidyouusedvisualsandyouused…
A: Yes.
H: Now,therearealotofdiscussionsaboutvisualsandvideosintermsofmemoryandhowcanthey...dothesethingsinfluenceyourvocabularyteaching?
A: Again,please.
H: Therearealotofdiscussion.
A: Yes
H: About,youknow…
A: Visualaids
H: Visualaidsand…youknow…and…thatifyouusevisualaids,itwillhelpstudentstomemorisethewordsinabetterway.
A: Ofcourse.
H: Doyouthinkthattheuseofthesethingscanbegoodinyourlesson?
A: Yes,theyareveryhelpful.Theyareveryhelpful.Onepicture…onepictureisbetterthanonehundredwords.
H: Yeah!
A: Onepictureisbetterthanonehundredwords.Whenthestudentsseethepicture,sohecangetthewordwithoutspeaking…withouttellinghimanything.
H: Ok.Nowbecauseyousaidthatyoutaughtalotoflessonswithoutvisualsandtaughtsomelessonswithvisuals.What'sthedifferencebetweenthelessonwithvisualsandthelessonwithoutvisuals?
11925thSeptember2015
A: Ithinkusingvisualaidshelpsstudentstointeractinsidetheclass.Itmotivatesthemtoparticipate.Itenhancestheirlanguage;facilitatethelearningprocess,OK?Ithinkthereisanactionandinteractioninsidetheclass.Allthesevisualaidsorusingtechnologyhelpsstudentstobemotivating…ortohelpstudentstobemotivated,sorry.
H: Sothestudentsrespondbetterwhenyou…
A: Respondbetter.Speakfreely.Feelrelaxed.Manythings.Createlovelyteachingatmosphere.Thestudentsfeelcomfortable.Manythings,manygoodthings.
H: Ok.Nowdoyouthinkthattheuseofvisualaidsaffectthestudentsachievementintheexam?Ornotjustintheexam,eveninreallifewhentheytalk…
A: Ofcourse,thewaythestudentsseesomething,hecan'tforgetit.Hecanforgetwords;hecanforgetwhatIsaid.Icanteachhimamorallessonfromavideo.Icanteachhimamorallessonfromavideo.ButifIspeakforonehour,hecan'tgetwhatIwanttosay.Butavideo…
H: Sorry.Hecan'tgetwhat?
A: Astudentcanlearnamorallessonfromavideowhoseperiodisabouttwominutes.
H: Twominutes,yeah.
A: ButIcanspeakforabouttenminutesortwentyminutesoronehourandthestudentscan'tgetanything.
H: Yeah!Sure.
A: That'swhyIsayweshouldsticktotechnology.
H: Let'stalkaboutthelastpointherewhichisaboutexams.DoyouthinkthatthevocabularyexamshereinKuwaitor…becauseintheexamyouhavevocabularyandyouhavethewriting…
A: Yes.
H: Allofthesethingscantestvocabulary.Doyouthinkthattheseexamsreflectstudents'understandingofthelanguageinKuwait?Doyouthinkthatwhenastudentgetstheexamandanswerthevocabularyitems,doyouthinkthatthismeansheunderstoodwhatyoutaughtorwillheusethewordinthefuture?
A: Now,thestudentisdealingwithpaper.Heisdealingwithpaper.It’sawrittentest.
[Loudnoiseinthebackground]
H: Continuetalking.
A: Wehavetopreparestudentsortoaskstudentstomemorisethewordsinordertopreparethemfortheexam.ButIthinkweshouldhavetwokindsoftests.Ithinkweshouldhavetwokindsoftests.Thefirstoneiswrittentestandthesecondoneisoraltest.Writtentesttoaskstudentstomemorisethewordstopreparethemfortheexamandchecktheirunderstanding.OK?Andtheotheroraltesttocheckthestudents'pronunciation,tocheckstudents'understandingofthewords.Askingthemtoputthewordsinsentencesfromtheirown.Somethinglikethis.OK?Ithinkweareteachingtopreparestudentstospeakoutsideandinsideschool,preparestudentstospeakintheirreallife,toexpresstheirideas.Andintheexams,weaskthemtodealwithpaper.
H: Hmm-mm.Sothereisacontradictionhere.
12025thSeptember2015
A: Thereisagap.
H: Butyouhavethepresentation.Doyouthinkthatisnotenough?
A: Presentation.We...justtwostudentseachlessoncomeatthebeginningofthelessonandheintroducejustoneeverymonth.Justonepresentationeverymonth.
H: Eventhispresentation.
A: It'snotenough.
H: Cannotevenbememorised.
A: Yes
H: Sometimesitisnoticedthatsomestudentsjustmemorisethingsand…
A: Andthepresentationororalfluencyshouldn'tberelatedtothewords,shouldn'tberelatedtothecoursebook.Hecanchooseanytopicfromanyplaceandtalkaboutit.It’snotfacilitatingthevocabularyofthesyllabus.
H: Yeah!
A: Soweshouldhavetwokindsoftests.Thefirstshouldbewrittenandtheothershouldbeoral.Numberone...writtentodealwith...toaskstudentstodealwiththewordsthattheymemorised,totesttheirunderstanding.Andanotheronetopreparethemfortheirfuture
A: andfortheirdailylife.
H: Thankyouverymuch.Ireallyappreciatethis.Thankyouforyourtime.Ireallyappreciatethis.Thankyou.
A: Thankyou.
12125thSeptember2015
5- Alaa:(ThisinterviewwastranslatedfromArabictoEnglish)
H: Firstofall,thankyouforparticipatinginthisstudy.Ireallyappreciatethis.
A: Youarewelcome.
H: Let’s start with the first question. What is your background? How long have you beenteaching?Whatareyourqualifications?
A: Iholdauniversitydegree inEnglishLiterature. Ibecamea teacherofEnglish in2007. I’vebeenteachingsincethen.
H: SoyougraduatedfromtheFacultyofArts.
A: Yes.
H: Andyoudecidedtobecomeateacher.
A: Yes.
H: That’s good. Ok. How do you see your role as an English language teacher in Kuwaitiintermediateschools?
A: IthinkthatmyrolehereistoteachEnglishtostudentstomakethemmasterthelanguage.However,Ihardlydothatbecausewhatmattershereistheresultoftheexam.
H: Sowhatdoyoudo?
A: You can say that I prepare students or… I make my students able to pass the examsuccessfullywiththehighestmarks.
H: Thatsoundsinteresting.Now…Let’stalkaboutteachingvocabulary.Whatareyourequiredtodowhenyouteachvocabulary?
A: Theoretically speaking, I’m required tomake the studentsunderstand thenewvocabularyitemsandusethemintheirdailylife.But…tobehonestwithyou,Idon’tdothat.
H: Canyoutellmewhy?
A: Aftermanyyearsofteachingunderthissystemofexamshere inKuwait,studentsbecameinterested in passing the exams only. So they want everything ready-made. They worryabouttheirresults.SoIdecidedtoofferthemwhattheyneed.
H: Whichis…?
A: Gettingthemreadytopass theexams.So Igivethemthe informationneededtopass theexamintheeasiestways.
H: Sowhenyouteachthenewvocabularyitems,howdoyouteachthem?
A: IpresentthenewwordsandgivethemeaninginArabic.
H: Interesting!YouareallowedtouseL1?
12225thSeptember2015
A: UsingonlyL2isrequiredfromusasteachershere.ButthecircumstanceshereenforceustouseL1.So,myanswerisyes.IuseL1whenIteachthenewvocabularyitems,butwearen'tallowedtodothat.
H: Whyisthat?Whydoyoudothat?
A: I told you.Because students lack themotivation in learning. Theywant topass theexam.AndIhelpthemtopasstheexam.SoIfollowtheeasiestwaytodothatlikegivingthemthemeaningofthenewvocabularyitemsinArabic.
H: Ok.Letmeaskyouaboutthevocabularyitemspresentedinthebook.Whatdothinkaboutthem?Aretheyuseful?Oraretheyputinthererandomly?
A: I thinktheyare…Notallofthemareuseful.Someofthemareuseless. Ibelievetherearesomewordschosenrandomly.
H: Canyougiveanexample?
A: Some abstract words can’t be used or… like rudder or wind-up. We don’t use themfrequently.Theyarerarelyusedevenbynativespeakers.
H: OK.Whatdoyouusuallydowhenyouteachthesevocabularyitems?
A: As I toldyoubefore, I try toprepare someexamples toexplain them tomy students.Butfinally,theyaskaboutthemeaninginArabicevenaftertheyknowitinEnglish…But…Whatcanwedo?
H: Sodoyouusevisualaidswhenteachingthenewvocabularyitems?
A: [Laughing]Ohmydear!ItriedtousethemmorethanoncebutstudentskeptaskingaboutthemeaninginArabic…
H: Really?
A: Ofcourse!SincethenIdecidednottousethemagain.
H: That’ssosad.
A: Iknow.It’sfrustrating.
H: Andyoudidn’ttrytodoanythingtochangestudents’attitudestowardslearningEnglish?
A: Youcan’tchangeit.It’sintheirbloodnow.
[Laughter]
H: Hmm-mm!
A: Theyalwaysaskmeabout themeaning inArabic. Sometimes I think that I’ma teacherofArabic.
[Laughter]
H: Howlongdoesittakeyoutopresentthenewvocabularyitemsduringalesson?
A: Betweententofifteenminutes.Itdependsonhowmanywordsyouaregoingtopresent.
H: Doyouthinkthat’senough?
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A: No.It’snot.
H: DostudentssometimesexpectyoutouseL1intheclassroom?
A: TheyalwaysexpectmetouseArabic.
H: Hmm-mm!Why?
A: They are used to that. Most teachers here use L1 when they teach English. This is thesituationhere.
H: Really?
A: When the teacher is alonewith his students in the classroom, he follows his ownway toteachthestudentstheEnglishlanguage.
H: And?
A: Andwhensomevisitorscometohisclass,hefollowstheprocedurestheywant.
H: YoumeantheMinistry?
A: Yes,whichistoteachbyusingthecommunicativeapproachwithoutusingArabicatall.
H: That sounds strange. So, let’s talk about the coursebook. How does the use of thecoursebookaffectyourteachingofvocabulary?
A: Ihavetoteachthenewvocabularyitemsfromthecoursebook…
H: Justfromthecoursebook?Youcan’tteachnewwordsfromoutsidethebook?
A: Just fromthecoursebook. Ihavetostick to thecoursebook. Ihaveto finish it. It’sagreatproblemifIdon’tfinishit.SoItrytofinishitwhateverhappens.
H: Uh-ha. Interesting! Do you think that the level of the students affects how you teachvocabulary?
A: Ofcourse.Thestudentsaretheoneswhomademefollowthisway inteaching,especiallythenewwords.
H: Whatisthemethodofteachingyoufollow?Doyoufollowthecommunicativemethod?Or...
A: Mmmm… The Ministry of Education wants us to follow the communicative method.However,becauseofthefactthatwehavetosticktothecoursebook, Iusethegrammar-translationmethod.Ifinditmoreeffectiveinpreparingmystudentsfortheexams.
H: Canyouexplain?
A: Of course. Because students want to pass the exam, they want to get everything ready-made.SoIadaptedmyteachingstyletofittheirneeds.Ileftmybeliefsbehindme.
H: Yourbeliefs?That'sinteresting.Whatareyourbeliefsaboutlanguageteaching?
A: Mybeliefs.[Sadly]Ibelievethatteachingalanguage,especiallythenewwords,issomethingimportantandshouldbedonefollowingthecommunicativeapproach.
H: Hmm-mm.
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A: ButIcan’tdothat.
H: Why?Whatarethedifficultiesthatstopyoufromactingonyourbeliefs?
A: Yes. Hmm-mm. I told you. The system of exams here. The time allocated to teachingvocabularyitemsisnotenough.Thecoursebook.Whenyouareaskedtosticktothebook,youlosemanythings.Youlosethefreedomtochoosewhatsuitsthelevelofyourstudents.There are many difficulties but these are the most prominent difficulties that I face andwhich prevent me from acting on my beliefs. Ideally, I would use the communicativeapproach,butIcan’tfollowitineachlessonbecauseofthissystem.
H: Yousaidthatthecoursebookisoneproblem.
A: Sure.
H: So, ifyouhavethefreedomtoteachvocabulary itemsfromoutsidethecoursebook,whatwillyoudo?
A: IthinkIwillchoosethemostfrequentwordsusedineverydayEnglish…
H: Ok.
A: ThenIpresentthemtomystudentsmakingsuretheyunderstandtheirmeaning…
H: InEnglish?
A: [Laughing]Yes,butwithdifferentstudentsunderdifferentcircumstances.
H: Aha!
A: ThenImayusevisualaidstofacilitatethepresentationofthenewvocabularyitems.
H: Doyouthinkthatvisualaidsaffectthewayyouteachvocabularyitems?
A: Irarelyusevisualaids,especiallybecausetheyaren’tavailableatourschool.There isonlyoneShowRoomatthisschoolsoyouhavetowaitforalongtimetouseit.
H: Hmm-mm!
A: However,IthinkthatvisualaidscanbehelpfulinteachingEnglishLanguage,especiallythenewvocabularyitems.
H: How?
A: Theysaveyourtimeandeffort.Theyhelpyoutodeliverthelessonsmoothlyandeasily.
H: Butyoudon’tusethem.
A: Itoldyouthattheyaren’tavailableatourschool.
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H: So,ifyourschoolprovideyouwiththeneededequipment,willyouusethem?
A: Ofcourse,Iwill.
H: Sodoyouthinkthatvisualaidswillinfluencethewayyouteachvocabularyitems?
A: Nottoagreatextent.Studentshere,asItoldyou,keepaskingaboutthemeaninginArabiceveniftheyknowitinEnglish.So,IwilltellthemthemeaninginArabic.
H: HowoftendoyouuseL1inteachingvocabulary?
A: Everynowandthen.Almostineverylesson.
H: Why?
A: Becausestudentswantthat.Becauseoftheexamsystem.
[Laughter]
H: Ok.Let’sgobacktotalkaboutvisualaids.
A: OK.
H: There has been a lot of discussions about the use of visual aids in vocabulary teaching interms ofmultimodality,motivation, andmemory. Are these things important to you? Dotheyinfluencethewayyouteachvocabulary?
A: Ibelievethatallthethingsyoumentionedareveryimportant.
H: OK.
A: IfIusevisualaidswhenteachingnewvocabulary,itwillbemorefun.Itwillbemotivationaltostudents…
H: Doyouthinkthatstudentsrespondbetterwhenyouusevisuals?Andhow?
A: When I used visuals before to teach the new vocabulary, students were motivated toparticipateinthelesson.ButtheykeptusingArabic.Visualaidsdidn’tstopthemfromusingArabic.Itmadenodifference.
H: Soyoudon’tthinkthatusingvisualsaffectyourstudent’sachievement?
A: No.
H: Why?
A; Becauseoftheexamsystem.
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H: Hmm-mm.
A: Underthissystem,youcan’tmakeanychange.
H: Youmean that there isnodifferencebetween lessonswithvisualaidswith thosewithoutvisualaids?
A: It’snotthatbigdifference.Visualsmakethelessonmorefunbutthestudents’achievementisthesame.Theystudyfortheexam.
H: Didn’tyoutrytoovercomethedifficultiesthatstopyoufromactingonyourbeliefs?
A: Itriedbut…
H: Youcouldn’t?
A: Ifailed.
H: Hmm-mm.
A: I’mnotreallysatisfiedwiththecurrentsituationbutwhatcanIdo?
H: Isee.Thelastquestionforyou.
A: Great!
[Laughter]
H: It’sabouttheexamsystem.
A: Ok.
H: DoyouthinkthattheexamsysteminKuwaitreflectsthestudents’understandingofthesevocabularyitems?
A: No.Idon’tthinktheyareabouttheirunderstanding.
H: Why?
A: I think the typesof thequestionsaboutvocabulary items in theexamtest thememoryofthestudentsnottheirunderstanding.
H: Butthereisthewritingquestion…
A: Thewritingquestion?
H: Can’tthestudentsusethenewwordsinthewritingtopic?
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A: Itdependsonthetopic.Theymayusethemornot.
H: Hmm-mm.
A: Look…Imeanthevocabularyquestionsintheexamaretheretotestthestudents’memoriesonly.
H: Ok.Thankyouverymuchforyourtime.Ireallyappreciateit
A: Youarewelcome.
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Appendix5:MindMap
Mind Map
Issues around the main research questions were identified and visualised as follows:
Follow coursebook
Translate (Arabic) Pre-teach vocabulary
Add visuals Add worksheets
Implicit (communicative)
Consistent
Explicit (grammar translation) Inconsistent
School context Classroom environment Examinations (washback effect)
Time factor Level of students
Coursebook design
RQ1:Teachers’beliefsaboutvocabulary
teaching
RQ2:HowteachersuseTargetEnglishtoteach
vocabulary
RQ3:HowbeliefsaffecttheuseofTargetEnglish
RQ4:Factorsinfluencingteachersnottoteach
vocabularyintermsofwhattheybelieve
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