Muhammad Younus_ELT_Evening_1st.docx

“SECOND LANGUAGE READING INSTRUCTION IN

CAMBRIDGE SYSTEM SCHOOLS IN A

MATROPOLITAN CITY OF PAKISTAN”

BY

Muhammad Younus

Thesis Submitted in the Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the

Degree of Masters of Arts in English Language Teaching

Supervised by:

Sir Faisal Dada

Department of

English Literature and Linguistics

May 2015

National University of Modern Languages (NUML)

KARACHI CAMPUS

i

APPROVAL CERTIFICATE

Accepted by National University of Modern Languages, Karachi Campus,

in the partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Masters in

English Language Teaching.

_______________________ Date: _________________

Sir Faisal Dada

(Supervisor)

_______________________ Date: __________________

(External Examiner)

ii

STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY

I, Muhammad YounusS/O Muhammad Fareed, candidate of MA ELT

at National University of Modern Languages do herebydeclare that the

thesis “Second Language Reading Instruction in Cambridge system

schools in a Metropolitan city of Pakistan” is my own work and has not

been submitted or published before.

I also solemnly declare that it shall not be submitted by me again for

obtaining any other degree from this or any other university or institution

in Pakistan.

May 2015 _____________________

Signature of the Candidate

Muhammad Younus

iii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

All praises be to Allah Almighty who blessed me with strength and

capacity to successfully complete my research. His blessings and graces

are endless and I find deeply myself humbled.

I would like to express my profound gratitude to my esteemed research

supervisor, Mr. Faisal Dada, whose constant support, valuable guidance

and everlasting encouragement have been the greatest help during my

research. This thesis could not have been possible without his unwavering

patience and perennial kindness most generously extended to me.

A sincere thank goes to Dr Imran Khan, Assistant Professor, Iqra

University, whose work in L2 reading research was a rich source of

inspiration and valuable ideas for my study. I am equally indebted to Mr.

Farhan Mehboob, who kindly helped me with the coding and analysis of

Data during my research.

I am also deeply grateful to my class fellows, Syed Muhammad Mujtaba,

Muhammad Akram and Nisar Ali, who were always there to help me with

my research, whenever I needed them. Finally, I would like to sincerely

thank my family for always being understanding, caring and supportive

during my research.

iv

ABSTRACT

Reading is one of the most important skills to be developed in any second

language classroom. In Pakistan, English is taught as a compulsory subject

from primary level to university education, and developing reading skills

is one of the primary needs of Pakistani students. This study investigated

the reading beliefs and instructional practices of English teachers in

Cambridge System schools in Karachi, Pakistan. A survey was conducted

of 20 English teachers, working in 12 different Cambridge Schools in

Karachi. The questionnaire comprised of two parts; the first explored

reading belief of the teachers through 20 6-point likert scale (Agree -

Disagree) questions, whereas the second part investigated reading

instruction practices of teachers through 10 6-point likert scale (Always -

Never) questions. The results of the survey indicate that majority of

teachers in Cambridge System schools have appropriate beliefs about

reading instruction and their teaching practices are in sync with current

reading instructional practices, empirically proven to be effective through

research.

Table of Content

v

s

Approval Certificate..................................................................................i

Statement of Originality...........................................................................ii

Acknowledgement..................................................................................iii

Abstract...................................................................................................iv

List of Tables.........................................................................................vii

Chapter # 1...................................................................................................1

1.1 Introduction........................................................................................2

1.2 Background of the study....................................................................3

1.3 Purpose of the Research.....................................................................4

1.4 Scope and limitations of the Study....................................................4

1.5 Research Questions............................................................................4

1.6 Justification of the Research..............................................................5

1.7 Definition of the key words...............................................................6

Chapter No 2................................................................................................7

2.1 Introduction........................................................................................8

2.2 Reading Process.................................................................................8

2.3 Reading Beliefs..................................................................................9

2.4 Reading Instructional Practices........................................................10

2.5 Previous Studies...............................................................................11

Chapter No 3..............................................................................................14

Research Design........................................................................................14

vi

3.1 Introduction......................................................................................15

3.2 Population........................................................................................15

3.3 Sample..............................................................................................15

3.4 Tools.................................................................................................17

Chapter 4....................................................................................................20

4.1 Introduction......................................................................................21

4.2 Results of the First Part (Beliefs) of the Questionnaire...................21

4.3 Results of the Second Part (Practices) of the Questionnaire............24

Chapter 5....................................................................................................26

5.1 Introduction......................................................................................27

5.2 Findings & Discussion.....................................................................27

5.3 Recommendations for further research............................................30

5.4 Conclusion.......................................................................................30

Appendix................................................................................................31

References..............................................................................................32

vii

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1 Demographic Factors of the Participants…………...…...………… 16

Table 2 Reading Instruction Questionnaire – Part 1 (Beliefs) ...……....…. 18

Table 3 Reading Instruction Questionnaire – Part 2 (Practices) ...…….…. 19

Table 4 Response Analysis of Reading Questionnaire – Part 1 (Beliefs) .…. 22

Table 5 Mean & SD of Reading Questionnaire – Part 1 (Beliefs) ..…..……. 23

Table 6 Response Analysis of Reading Questionnaire – Part 1 (Practices)... 24

Table 7 Mean & SD of Reading Questionnaire – Part 1 (Practices)………... 25

Reading Instruction in Cambridge System Schools in Karachi 1

CHAPTER # 1

INTRODUCTION


1.1 Introduction:

The twenty-first century has witnessed the technological advancement at

an unprecedented pace and English language, which has been the language

of technology, trade, media and higher education, has attained the highest

level of significance as well. It has become imperative for all the citizens

of the world to develop and possess excellent literacy skills and

proficiency in English to succeed in both the spheres of education and

occupation (Grabe & Stoller, 2002). Paris (2005) considers reading to be

the most significant achievement made by students in the childhood as

reading ensures success in their academic careers.

However, the second language reading instruction in Pakistan

generally fails to meet the required standards. Although English is the

official language of Pakistan and the medium of instruction in a significant

number of schools especially in urban areas, the skills and proficiency of

Pakistani students in English leaves much to be desired (Muhammad,

2013). Sub-standard curriculum, inefficient teachers, traditional

pedagogical practices and teacher-centered methodology are the reasons

cited behind the poor proficiency of Pakistani students (Hassan, 2009).

The need to find out what might be lacking in the reading

instruction practices of Pakistani teachers became the reason for my

present study. The study investigates the beliefs which drive the reading


instructional practices of English teachers in Cambridge System schools in

Karachi, Pakistan. It also explores the reading instructional practices of the

teachers to evaluate their effectiveness and appropriateness.

1.2 Background of the study:

English is the official language of Pakistan and it is taught as a

compulsory subject from primary to tertiary levels in Pakistan

(Muhammad, 2013). The situation of English language teaching is

deplored by several Pakistani researchers, and the ill-devised curriculum,

ineffective textbooks, untrained teachers with insufficient English

proficiency, age-old pedagogy out of sync with current research and trends

in the field of ELT and inadequate reading resources are blamed for the

below par English skills of Pakistani students. (Warsi, 2004 & Hassan,

2009). The educational careers of many Pakistani students are geoperdised

as they are unable to develop adequate reading skills to cope with the

challenges of competitive higher studies. (Ahmed-Khurram, 2007).

Shamshad (2006) also believes that there is a pressing need of complete

reformation of the objectives and strategies advocated by our education

system, especially with regard to reading.

There have been very few studies conducted on L2 reading

instruction in Pakistan, despite the fact that possessing good reading skills

is pivotal for attaining higher education in Pakistan (Muhammad, 2013).


The publically available studies have investigated the issues of second

language reading instruction in Pakistan in public sector universities,

colleges and secondary schools teaching national curriculum (Matric

System) in Pakistan. However, reading beliefs and instruction practices of

Cambridge System school English teachers in Pakistan have not been

investigated yet, so this is the part of Pakistani education system which I

will be exploring in my study.

1.3 Purpose of the Research:

The purpose of the research is to explore the reading beliefs of English

teachers in Cambridge System Schools in Karachi. It also aims to

investigate the reading instructional practices of English teachers in

Cambridge System schools.

1.4 Scope and limitations of the Study:

The scope of the study is confined to 20 English teachers from 12

Cambridge System Schools located in Karachi, Pakistan. It is only limited

to teachers working in urban areas of the country and does not investigate

the beliefs and practices of teachers working in small cities/towns or rural

areas.

1.5 Research Questions:

The study aims to answer the following questions:


1. What are Cambridge System school English teachers’

common beliefs about reading and reading instruction?

2. What are the self-reported classroom instructional practices

of English teachers in Cambridge System schools?

1.6 Justification of the Research:

Reading is one of the most important skills to be taught in the

language classroom. It is particularly essential as all other

subjects in higher education are taught in English as a medium

of instruction in Pakistan.

My research aims to explore the beliefs and practices of

English teachers in Cambridge System schools and I believe

that teachers are the most important factor in developing

reading skills of students. The Cambridge System schools are

one area in the L2 reading research in Pakistan, which has not

been explored yet.

The study will point out whether the teachers have

appropriate beliefs about reading skill. It will also point out

whether their instructional practices of teaching reading are in


sync with the current teaching methodology that has been

empirically proven to be effective. The results of this study will

evaluate the effectiveness of current instructional practices of

Cambridge System English teachers and will highlight the areas

where the improvements are needed.

1.7 Definition of the key words:

Reading Instruction Practices, Sustained-silent reading,

Discourse Structure, Intensive Reading, Extensive Reading,

Pre-reading activities, Reading strategies


CHAPTER NO 2

LITERATURE REVIEW


2.1 Introduction:

2.2 Reading Process:

Even though scholars agree that beliefs are the most valuable

psychological construct to teacher education (Pintrich, 1990), they also

accept that they are difficult to define. For the purpose of this paper

‘Belief’ is defined as– the acceptance of something as true, or thinking

that something could be true (Schwitzgebel, 2011). Bauch (1984) proposes

that a belief system is a type of psychological filter, which renders a

person selective in making discernments in what is attended to, admitted

into and kept out of one’s environs. It embodies a set of preferences to

recognize, feel towards and respond to character involving stimuli and

events Even though scholars agree that beliefs are the most valuable









events


2.3 Reading Beliefs:












accept that they are difficult to define.

For the purpose of this paper ‘Belief’ is defined as– the acceptance

of something as true, or thinking that something could be true

(Schwitzgebel, 2011). Bauch (1984) proposes that a belief system is a type

of psychological filter, which renders a person selective in making

discernments in what is attended to, admitted into and kept out of one’s

environs. It embodies a set of preferences to recognize, feel towards and

respond to character involving stimuli and events


2.4 Reading Instructional Practices:












accept that they are difficult to define.

For the purpose of this paper ‘Belief’ is defined as– the acceptance

of something as true, or thinking that something could be true

(Schwitzgebel, 2011). Bauch (1984) proposes that a belief system is a type

of psychological filter, which renders a person selective in making

discernments in what is attended to, admitted into and kept out of one’s

environs. It embodies a set of preferences to recognize, feel towards and

respond to character involving stimuli and events


2.5 Previous Studies:

There have been very few studies conducted on L2 reading instruction in

Pakistan, despite the fact that possessing good reading skills is pivotal for

attaining higher education in Pakistan (Muhammad, 2013). The publically

available studies have investigated the issues of second language reading

instruction in Pakistan; however, they are not adequate to present a

comprehensive view of second language reading instruction at all three,

i.e. primary, secondary and tertiary levels and in both urban and rural

areas in Pakistan.

Khan and Pandian (2014) have concluded from their study of

reading instruction practices in secondary schools in Karachi that teachers

heavily rely on the traditional lecture method for teaching reading and do

not train their students in the use of any reading strategies. No pre-reading

activities are used in order to activate students’ background knowledge,

nor is the summary writing or extensive reading task given to students.

Sadly, teachers do not show much evidence of properly planning their

lessons and fail to include any reading activities to develop higher order

critical thinking skills.

Memon and Badger (2007) report from their study of new

approach of teaching reading (initiated by one of the researchers) and

traditional reading classes at one of the public sector universities in


Pakistan that Pakistani university students have very poor reading skills.

They point out that traditional reading classrooms still use outdated

reading instruction practices and teachers are ineffective in developing the

reading skills of their students.

Sultana (2007) also explores the L2 reading issues at school and

college level in her study, comprising 38 teachers in two urban areas, and

concludes that teachers are unaware of the significance and the models of

reading instruction. She also observes that students face a lot of difficulties

due to inadequate reading skills in attaining higher education as well as in

their careers.

Similarly, Muhammad (2013) also points out from his study of

reading beliefs and practices of 71 teachers in five public sector

universities in Pakistan that although most teachers have appropriate

reading beliefs, there is a clear discrepancy between their beliefs and

practices. Most teachers still use traditional methods for teaching reading

and the ‘act of reading’ is missing from most classrooms. According to

him, it is quite unlikely that students will develop any reading skills, when

teachers fail to give students a reading task and to complete it by doing

silent reading in the classroom.

The review of available literature reveals that the reading

instructional practices have been explored in public sector universities,


colleges and secondary schools teaching national curriculum (Matric

System) in Pakistan. However, reading beliefs and instruction practices of

Cambridge System school English teachers in Pakistan have not been

investigated yet, so this is the part of Pakistani education system which I

will be exploring in my study.


CHAPTER NO 3

RESEARCH DESIGN


3.1 Introduction:

The design of the research was quantitative in nature. It was conducted

through a questionnaire comprising of 30 close-ended questions, which

required a response on a 6-point likert-scale. The questionnaires were

emailed to the participants and were self-administered. The responses of

the participants were then properly coded and run in SPSS 21 software for

analysis & interpretation.

3.2 Population:

The English language teachers of around 150 registered Cambridge

System Schools in Karachi were the target population of my research. The

teachers who teach Middle level (Grade 6 to 8) and Senior O’level (Grade

9, 10 & 11) classes were specifically focused in the study.

3.3 Sample:

For the selection of the participants, non-random, purposive and

convenience sampling procedures were used. Fifty questionnaires were

emailed to teachers in different Cambridge System schools in Karachi and

responses from 20 teachers from 12 Cambridge System Schools were

received. As table 1 given above shows, 14 respondents were male and 06

were female. Six teachers taught at middle school level (Grade 6 - 8),

while 14 teachers taught Senior O’level (Grade 9 - 11) classes. Thirteen


teachers out of 20 were Masters in English Literature or Linguistics, while

7 were graduate or pursuing their Masters in English. Almost half of the

respondents (9 out of 20) had an experience of 5 – 10 years of teaching

English, whereas 5 teachers had an experience of 11 – 15 years.

Table 1: Demographic Factors of the Participants of the study

Demographics F %

Gender Male

Female

14

06

70

30

Age 20 – 30 years

31 – 40 years

41 – 50 years

07

10

03

35

50

15

Qualifications M.A.

B.A.

13

07

65

35

Experience 1 – 5 years

6 – 10 years

11 – 15 years

16 – 20 years

04

09

05

02

20

45

25

10

Classes Taught Grade 6 – 8 (Cambridge System)

Grade 9, 10 & 11 (Cambridge System)

06

14

30

70

Schools where employed Boys Cambridge School

Girls Cambridge School

Co-educational Cambridge School

07

00

13

35

00

65


3.4 Tools:

I adapted a questionnaire used by Muhammad (2013) to investigate the

reading beliefs and instructional practices of English teachers in the public

sector universities in Pakistan. This particular questionnaire was chosen as

it was devised based on several reading surveys, specifically for Pakistani

context (Muhammad 2013). The questionnaire had two parts: the first part

dealt with important beliefs about reading as a skill and teaching of

reading, whereas the second part comprised of important reading

instruction practices. The first part had 20 close-ended questions while

part two had 10 close-ended questions, as shown in Table 4 and Table 5

respectively. The response was required on 6-point likert scale, as a 5-

point scale usually imposes the mid-point on the participants as a choice,

whereas a 4-point scale forces participants away from the middle point.

(Fink, 2009, as cited in Muhammad 2013). Cronbach’s alpha was

computed in SPSS 21 to ensure the internal reliability of the questionnaire,

which was calculated to be .70. I piloted the questionnaire on 5 teachers

and made some slight changes in the light of the feedback received. My

supervisor’s feedback and guidance was also quite helpful in finalising the

adapted questionnaire.


Table 2: Reading Instruction Questionnaire – Part 1 (Beliefs)

No Item

1 Developing the reading skills of students is extremely important.

2 The text should be read aloud by the teacher and explanation of the text should be provided in English only.

3 The text should be read aloud and explanation of the text should be provided both in English and a local language.

4 Reading is not the most important skill while learning a language.5 Intensive and Extensive reading are equally important for the development of

reading skills.6 Students should be taught how to read in order to build all reading skills.

(Skimming, Scanning, Inferring etc.)7 Teachers should help students become fluent readers.8 Grammar Analysis is important for reading skills development.9 Teachers should help students synthesize, evaluate and selectively use information

in the text.10 Students need to understand the content of every paragraph in the text.11 Teachers should tell the students about the goals of the reading tasks they use in

their class.12 Teachers should provide a sentence-by-sentence text analysis to students.13 Reading fluency should be developed only after teaching students how to read.14 Students should be assisted in the use of reading strategies.15 Teaching of reading skills should be integrated into teaching of other skills.16 Repeated reading improves reading rate, comprehension and fluency of the

students.17 Teachers need to have an understanding of the comprehension process.18 Students need to be engaged about the content of the text, before they begin

reading it.19 Teacher should also focus on vocabulary development of the students for

improving reading skills.20 Students should be taught about discourse structure and discourse signalling

features.


Table 3: Reading Instruction Questionnaire – Part 2 (Practices)

No. Item

1 I read the text aloud and explain it only in English.

2 I use the native language of the students, in addition to English, to explain the text.

3 I ask students to read the text silently and give them a purpose for reading.

4 I ask students to read the text orally, and ask them oral questions to monitor their comprehension.

5 I use a pre-reading activity in my reading lessons.

6 I teach students to synthesise, evaluate and selectively use information from the text.

7 I teach students all the important skills required in reading.

8 I make students practice sustained silent reading and timed reading.

9 I train students in multiple reading strategies.

10 I teach students vocabulary and strategies for independent word learning.


CHAPTER 4

DATA ANALYSIS


4.1 Introduction:

My study had aimed to explore the reading beliefs and instructional

practices of Cambridge System School teachers. The first part of the

questionnaire dealt with the beliefs, while the second part explored the

instructional practices of the English teachers. The results of the analysis

of participants’ responses are detailed here in this section.

4.2 Results of the First Part (Reading Beliefs) of the

Questionnaire:

The results of the first part of the questionnaire will be presented first. As

Table 8 given below reveals that teachers have expressed clear agreement

(60% or more – Agree or Strongly Agree) with the 14 reading beliefs in

the questionnaire (BL1, BL5, BL6, BL7, BL9, BL10, BL11, BL14, BL15,

BL16, BL17, BL18, BL19 and BL20). They have shown disagreement

(60% or more) with BL3 and BL4.

The analysis of the means of participants’ responses in table 6

below also indicates their strong agreement with the above given 14

reading beliefs. The means of 11 out of 14 items (BL1, BL5, BL6, BL7,

BL9, BL10, BL11, BL14, BL15, BL16, BL17, BL18, BL19 and BL20)

are between 1.0 to 2.0, whereas the means of BL10 and BL16 are between

2.0 to 3.0. These mean scores reveal that teachers have either strongly


agreed (1.0) or agreed (2.0) to 11 of these beliefs in the questionnaire,

whereas expressed slight agreement with BL10 and BL16.

Table 4: Response Analysis of Reading Instruction Questionnaire – Part 1 (Beliefs)

Items

Strongly

Agree

F - %

Agree

F - %

Slightly

Agree

F - %

Slightly

Disagree

F - %

Disagree

F - %

Strongly

Disagree

F - %

BL1 20 100 --- --- --- --- ---

BL2 2 10 7 35 3 15 4 20 2 10 2 10

BL3 --- 2 10 6 30 2 10 5 25 5 25

BL4 4 20 --- 1 5 3 15 --- 12 60

BL5 9 45 10 50 1 5 --- --- ---

BL6 17 85 3 15 --- --- --- ---

BL7 14 70 6 30 --- --- --- ---

BL8 2 10 7 35 8 40 1 5 2 10 ---

BL9 9 45 9 45 2 10 --- --- ---

BL10 2 10 5 25 7 35 3 15 3 15 ---

BL11 10 50 7 35 2 10 --- --- ---

BL12 4 20 5 25 5 25 5 25 4 20 2 10

BL13 2 10 7 35 4 20 2 10 3 15 2 10

BL14 9 45 8 40 2 10 1 5 --- ---

BL15 8 40 8 40 3 15 1 5 --- ---

BL16 7 35 9 45 2 10 2 10 --- ---

BL17 13 65 6 30 1 5 --- --- ---

BL18 13 65 4 20 2 10 1 5 --- ---

BL19 11 55 7 35 2 10 --- --- ---

BL20 7 35 8 40 3 15 2 10 --- ---


Table 5: Means and SD of Reading Instruction Questionnaire – Part 1 (Beliefs)

Items Mean Standard

Deviation

BL1 1.00 .00

BL2 3.15 1.53

BL3 4.25 1.40

BL4 4.70 2.02

BL5 1.60 .59

BL6 1.15 .36

BL7 1.30 .47

BL8 2.70 1.08

BL9 1.65 .67

BL10 3.00 1.21

BL11 1.57 .69

BL12 3.75 1.29

BL13 3.15 1.56

BL14 1.75 .85

BL15 1.90 1.02

BL16 2.05 1.19

BL17 1.40 .59

BL18 1.55 .88

BL19 1.75 1.20

BL20 2.00 .97


4.3 Results of the Second Part (Reading Instructional

Practices) of the Questionnaire:

For analyzing the responses to second part of the questionnaire which

explored reading instruction practices, 60% was again set as cut-off

percentage to identify teachers who ‘always or frequently’ engaged in the

relevant practices to the beliefs explored in Part 1 of the questionnaire. As

can be seen in the table below, 60% of teachers always or frequently

engaged in PR3, PR5, PR6, PR7, PR8, PR9 and PR10. However, PR1,

PR2 and PR4 were ‘occasionally, rarely or never practiced’ by 60% or

more teachers.

Table 6: Response Analysis of Reading Instruction Questionnaire – Part 2 (Practices)

Items

Always

F - %

Frequently

F - %

Occasionally

F - %

Rarely

F - %

Very

Rarely

F - %

Never

F - %

PR1 5 25 3 15 3 15 5 25 2 10 2 10

PR2 1 05 1 5 5 25 2 10 5 25 6 30

PR3 5 30 13 65 --- 1 5 --- ---

PR4 3 15 7 35 6 30 1 5 2 10 1 5

PR5 12 60 4 20 2 10 1 5 --- 1 5

PR6 11 55 6 30 1 5 2 10 --- ---

PR7 12 60 6 30 --- 2 10 --- ---

PR8 7 35 9 45 4 20 --- --- ---

PR9 10 50 6 30 4 20 --- --- ---

PR10 9 45 7 35 3 15 1 5 --- ---


The analysis of means of participants’ responses in table 7 below

also indicates their regular engagement with the above mentioned 7

reading instructional practices (PR3, PR5, PR6, PR7, PR8, PR9 and

PR10). The means for these 07 items are between 1.0 to 2.0, which shows

that the teachers either always (1.0) or frequently (2.0) engaged in these

reading instructional practices.

Table 7: Means and SD of Reading Instruction Questionnaire – Part 2 (Practices)

Items Mean Standard

Deviation

PR1 3.10 1.68

PR2 4.35 1.53

PR3 1.80 0.69

PR4 2.75 1.73

PR5 1.80 1.32

PR6 1.70 0.97

PR7 1.80 0.94

PR8 1.85 0.74

PR9 1.70 0.80

PR10 1.80 0.89


CHAPTER 5

FINDINGS & DISCUSSION


5.1 Introduction:

This section details the findings and discussion of my study. It also

presents the recommendations based on the results of the study

undertaken.

5.2 Findings & Discussion:

The results of the study have sown that majority of teachers working in

Cambridge System schools in Karachi have appropriate beliefs about

teaching reading skills. Sixty percent or more teachers have shown clear

agreement with 14 important beliefs about reading skills and reading

instruction. It means that they consider the teaching of reading skills to be

most significant and intensive and extensive types of reading to be equally

beneficial for developing reading skills of students. According to teachers,

students should be taught how to read (skimming, scanning etc) and they

should be helped to become fluent readers. They believe that students

Teachers also believe that students should be trained in the use of reading

strategies and should be engaged through pre-reading activities. Moreover,

vocabulary development activities should be done in the reading lesson

and students should be told about the purpose of a reading task, whenever

they are asked to read. Teachers have shown their agreement to the idea of

teaching students about discourse structure and markers and integrating

the reading skills with other language skills.


Majority of teachers have shown their disagreement with the use of

native language for explanation of the reading passage, and believe that

reading instruction should be done completely in the target language. They

also disagree with the idea of providing line-by-line explanation of the text

to students, which shows that they are more supportive of top-down model

of reading.

The findings of the present study also indicate that majority of

English teachers in Cambridge schools also use suitable and effective

reading instructional practices in the reading classroom. Majority of the

teachers have reported that they always or frequently engage in 7 out of 10

effective reading instructional practices given in the questionnaire. These

results indicate that teachers always or frequently ask students to do silent

reading of the text and assign them a purpose for reading. They also use

pre-reading activities in the classroom and teach students to synthesise,

evaluate and selectively use information from a given text. Cambridge

System school teachers train students in the use of reading strategies,

include vocabulary development activities in their lessons and teach

students independent word learning activities. Sustained silent reading and

timed reading activities are also utilized by majority of the Cambridge

System school teachers in their classrooms.


On the other hand, majority of teachers rarely or never utilise 3 out

of 10 reading instructional practices. This means that they do not approve

of the teacher’s reading aloud of the text for explanation and they also

shun the use of native language of the students to explain vocabulary

during the lesson. They also do not indulge in asking students to read the

text orally and asking them questions to monitor their comprehension. As

the target population of the survey was secondary level (Class 6 - 11)

teachers, they mostly use silent reading activities with their students,

rather than loud reading ones.

My study has found that majority of teachers in Cambridge System

schools have appropriate reading beliefs and their reading instructional

practices are also in sync with the recommended reading instruction

principles and practices. Moreover, the reading beliefs and practices of

Cambridge system school teachers also exhibit congruence, and hence,

prove that pedagogical beliefs have a strong influence on teachers’

instructional practices.

The findings of my study contrast with the findings of the previous

studies in L2 reading instruction practice in Pakistan. All previous studies

which investigated the reading instruction practice in State-run schools,

colleges and universities reported that the reading instruction in these

institution was far from satisfactory. However, my study has found out


that the reading instruction in Cambridge System schools in Karachi is at

par with the required standard.

5.3 Recommendations for further research:

My study has investigated the beliefs and practices of Cambridge school

teachers in the urban areas and in the metropolitan city of Karachi. I

recommend that beliefs and practices of Cambridge system school

teachers in small cities/towns and rural areas should also be investigated to

compare the reading instruction in urban and rural area schools.

Furthermore, my research investigated the reading instructional

practices through a self-reported questionnaire and the participants’

responses need to be validated through observation of teachers in the class

through further research.

5.4 Conclusion

To conclude, my study aimed to explore the reading beliefs and classroom

instructional practices of the English teachers working in Cambridge

System schools in Karachi. The findings of my study are that majority of

English teachers in Cambridge System schools have appropriate reading

beliefs about reading as a skill and teaching of reading in a foreign

language. Their classroom instructional practices have also been found to

be in sync with the effective reading principles and practices,

recommended by the researchers and ELT experts. It is imperative that


state run schools (Matric system) should also follow the example and

improve the standard of reading instruction in their classrooms.


References:

Ahmed-Khurram, B. (2007). Maximizing Reading Comprehension. Spelt

Quarterly. 22(4). 30-34

Dilshad, S. (2006) Teaching Reading. The predicament of Pakistani

Students. Spelt Quarterly. 21(2). 1-12

Grabe, W., & Stoller, F. L. (2002). Teaching and researching reading.

New York: Longman.

Hassan, S. A. (2009, October 26). English language teaching in Pakistan

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