Language study: ‘Delay English medium till after grade 5’

Most teachers find teaching science and maths in English from grade 1 problematic.

LAHORE:

The introduction of English as the medium of instruction in all subjects in public schools in the province should be delayed till after the primary level, a new study has recommended.

Seventy per cent of teachers find teaching science and mathematics in English from grade 1 to be problematic, according to the ‘Policy and practice: teaching and learning in English in Punjab schools’ report.

Incidentally, the same percentage of parents approve of the Punjab government’s decision to make English the medium of instruction in all public schools in the province, says the report. Most parents believe that this will improve their children’s prospects.



The study, conducted by the Society for the Advancement of Education (SAHE) and the Campaign for Quality Education (CQE) with the support of the Open Society Foundation (OSF), looks at the use of English in primary classrooms spanning over 126 lessons in subjects including maths, science and English. The study was conducted in Sahiwal, Okara, Chakwal, Lahore, Multan and Muzaffargarh districts and covered 21 schools, 1,700 students, 21 head teachers, 38 teachers and 152 parents.

SAHE Chairman Abbas Rashid said the imposition of English as the medium of instruction in classrooms would have far-reaching implications. “This policy will affect student learning in both maths and science,” he said.

Since teachers are not as comfortable with English, there is inadequate explanation of concepts in the classroom, he said. This, the study finds, leads to a “safe talk mode”, where teacher-student communication is restricted to routine directives from teachers and simple affirmative responses by students.

Talk in the classroom

The study looks at what teachers say and in what language in 42 classrooms for each subject (English, maths and science). Not surprisingly, teacher utterances in English are most common in English classes, at 36%. In science and maths, these drop to 28% and 23%, respectively.

Mixed-language utterances are more common in all subjects, at 41% in English classrooms, 62% in maths and 53% in science. Urdu-only utterances, the report find, account for almost 15% of total utterances in maths, 19% in science and 23% in English classes.

Student utterances were also assessed. In English classes, about 59% of total student communication was in the form of English sentences read from textbooks. Full utterances by students in English were just 8%, while Urdu utterances amounted to 20% and mixed utterances to 13%. In maths classes, only 5% of student utterances were in English, while 13% were short responses (yes or no). Almost 35% of student utterances in maths classes were in mathematical terms, and 45% were mixed. In Science classes, English constituted almost 22% of all student utterances and Urdu almost 20%. Short responses, scientific terms and mixed utterances constituted 29%, 7% and 15% of all student utterances, respectively.

The report states that Urdu is over-used in English classes and emphasis on communication skills in English is inadequate. In maths and science classrooms, it says there is inadequate explanation of concepts and incorrect use of specialised vocabulary.

Rashid said that English language teaching largely focussed on reading from textbooks and writing, rather than listening and speaking, both of which, he said, were better learning tools.

He said learning shortcomings also existed prior to the introduction of English as the medium of instruction, but the decision had not addressed these problems.

The report concludes that at primary (grades 1-5) level, English should be taught as a subject rather than used as the sole medium of instruction. It recommends that English be introduced as the medium of instruction no sooner than grade 5. It also suggests that teachers equipped with training and qualification to teach English as a second or foreign language be assigned the task of teaching English in classrooms.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 1^st, 2013.