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Journal of Education & Social Sciences - Volume 3, Issue 1 2015
By Mansoor Ali, Imran Khan
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Keywords: English Essay Writing, O level Teachers and Students, Cooperative Learning, Learning Strategies, Peer Review, Composing Processes
The aim of this empirical study is to explore O level English language teachers' perceptions regarding teaching practices and methods used in teaching English essay writing. The population of study comprised O Level English language teachers (N=131) schools of Karachi. Through simple random sampling technique, data were collected from (n=58) participant schools which forms approximately 44% of the targeted population. Total sample size was n=73 (n=22 male and n=51 female) teachers. To carry out the cross sectional survey of the chosen sample, two instruments i.e., Factors Affecting English Essay Writing for Teachers (FAEWT) and teachers' structured interviews were developed to collect the quantitative and qualitative data respectively. Data were tabulated, calculated, analyzed, and interpreted through SPSS Version 20, in the light of objectives of the study, and the research hypotheses. Central tendency i.e. mean and measures of dispersions i.e. Standard Deviation and t-test were used for testing hypotheses. Results revealed that students were lacking in understanding the principles of English grammar, difficulty in word spelling and use of punctuation marks in writing essays. On the basis of these findings, it is recommended that Cambridge-affiliated schools' management should provide Cambridge professional development training to teachers continually and also provide well-furnished library, language laboratory and classrooms so that teachers can provide quality input to develop students' written discourse. This study plays an important role in contributing to researchers, policy makers, curriculum developers, teachers and students to enhance students' skills of writing an essay with no errors and coherently.