Department Of English, International Islamic University Islamabad.
Learning English as Second Language in a Pakistani Society
Submitted by: Muhammad Arslan Ahmed Awan
1069-FLL/BSENG/F13
Submitted to: Sir Ameer Sultan
Research Paper Muhammad Arslan Ahmed Awan
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Acknowledgements:
I praise to Allah Almighty, The most merciful and the mostBeneficent who granted us wisdom
and knowledge for completing this study.
I wish to express our sincere thanks and gratitude to our research Supervisor Mr.Ameer Sultan,
(Lecturer at International Islamic University Islamabad) for his precious guidance and value able
advices.
I amespecially thankful to the Administration of F.G&The City School for their cooperation
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Title page …………………………………………………………………………......1
Research Paper Muhammad Arslan Ahmed Awan
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Acknowledgement ………………………………………………………………….…2
Table of contents………………………………………………………………………3
Abstract ................................................................................................................…….4
1. Introduction……………………………………………………….…………4
1.1 Hypothesis……………………….……………………………………… 4
1.2 Research objectives.....................................................................................5
1.3 Research questions……………………………………………………….5
1.4 Significance of study……………………………………..........................5
2. Theoretical framework…………………….......................................................5
3. Literature review………………………………………………………………6
4. Methodology………………………………………………………….…………7
4.1 Data analysis…………………………………………………………………8
5. Findings…………………………………………………………………………15
6. Recommendation……………………………………………………………….16
7. Conclusion………………………………………………………………………16
8. References………………………………………………………………………17
Learning English as Second Language in a Pakistani Society
Research Paper Muhammad Arslan Ahmed Awan
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Abstract:
The purpose of this research is to explore the problems of Pakistani Students in learning English
as a Second language. The objective of this study is to highlight the effect of the educational
system in English language learning. This studyfollows the guidelines provided by
StephenKrashen.The target population is Government and Private schools in the city of
Islamabad.We will take Sample of 20 students from primary level. Interviews will beused as a
research tool to conduct data. The datais being analyzed statistically to find out the problems.
The results show that all the difficulties in the learning English language as a second language
are because of our educational system. This researchsuggests that defective educational system is
a threat to learn English language.
Keywords: Problems inlearning English language, Educational system, regional diversity.
Pronunciation.
Introduction:
Great Britain ruled subcontinent for long time. Before British Raj no language was declared as
official language of subcontinent, because subcontinent was a multilingual society. After
acceptingthe rule of Britain over subcontinent, English was declared as official language of
subcontinent. After Independenceof Pakistan in 1947 English language still maintainedit's
position. Gradually peopleof Pakistan started to learn English language because of its status.
Most of them were from different regional backgrounds as a result multilingual society formed.
Due to multilingual background people of Pakistani society face problemsin acquiring English
language.Pakistani peoplemade a lot of efforts to improve the standard of education. Researchers
havedone a lot of work to find out the problems and factors that are proved as a hindrance in
acquiring target language. The main problem is educational system of Pakistan. The
educationalbackground of teachers and their limited knowledge is also a major factor. In this Research Paper Muhammad Arslan Ahmed Awan
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study we will highlight the problems and suggest the solution for the problems of acquiring
English as target language.
Hypothesis:Defective educationalsystem of Pakistani society proves to be a hindrance in learning English as
second language.
Research Objectives:1) To assess the effect of educational system in learning English language.
2) To findout the effect of regional diversity in acquiring target language.
3) To findout the problems of students when they try to speak English language.
Research Questions:1) How educational system plays its role in learning English language?
2) How regional diversity plays its role in learning English?
3) How Pakistanistudents face problems when they try to speak English?
Significance of study:The followingresearch will highlight the problems in learning English language and it will
suggest the solutions to overcome these problems. The educational system of schools, role of
teachers, and different pronunciation of same words by different students from multiple regional
backgrounds compelled researchers to do the analysis of the issues in learning of English
language.
This researchwill help the researchers to find out the problems of students whose aim is to learn
English as second language. It will highlight, what are the shortcomings and hindrances in the
way of learning English as second language.
Theoretical Framework:
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This researchfollows the guide lines of StephenKrashen'stheory of Second Language
Acquisition.He is awell known linguist and researcher. The theoryof Second language is taken
from his book“Principles and Practice in Second Language Acquisition” (Krashen,1985).
The maintenet of this theory is based on two principles that are people have two different ways
of learning second language, Acquisition and learning. Acquisition is a subconscious process one
is that language can be acquired unconsciously. It means that people learn language by following
natural process. The otherpoint is that language can be learned through conscious process by
following systematic structure of language.
Literature Review: Critical reviewabout the learning of English language in a multilingual Pakistani society like
Pakistan shows that Pakistan is facing problems in learning English language. In Pakistan two
languages are used for educational purposes that are Urdu and English. Teachers continuously
switch between these two languages due to which students face a lot of problems. This study will
highlight the factors that affect the second language learning. Main problemis the educational
system of Pakistani schools. There lies a lot of difference between the scheme of education in
private sector school and the government schools. Students of private schools are highly
facilitated as compared to government schools. Although in government schools teachers are
highly paid but they don't pay attention to students their only aim is to collect money and spend
their time in gossiping.
In educational system, qualification and competence of teachers played a vital role in the career
of students. If the teacher is not competent enough to teach the pupil at basic level then students
have to face many problems in their future career. "British Council Regional Director for South
Asian Region Stephen Roman said that English proficiency level amongst teachers in Pak was
quite poor while 90pc teachers in Punjab were not equipped to teach different subjects in English
medium”. (English-more than a subject, 2014)
The biggest challenge that people face in learning English as second language is due to their
diverse cultural background diversity specially effect their pronunciation. They can't pronounce
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proper words. "As with most teachers of language arts, English teachers face growing pressures
to meet the needs of increasingly diverse learners, both in terms of ethnicity and language but
also in terms of economic and social circumstances" (Colarruso.2010)
Another problem is that our society is based on class difference i.e. upper class, lower or middle
class. This social strata society divided educational system as well lower class students cannot
access higher educational institutions. Pakistani government schools have worst conditions.
They don't have even a proper furniture and teacher for students. "LAHORE: The teaching of
the English language in Pakistan is class-based as the country’s education system is programmed
to provide different levels of English teaching to people belonging to different economic status”.
(English — more than a subject.2014)
"Those who afford go to elite private schools and access better learning material, authentic
environments and well-trained teachers whereas the poor and low-income families miss out on
the opportunity to learn English up to the standards assumed by society."(English — more than a
subject.2014)
One of the factors that influence language learning is highlighted here in report is that teachers
communicate with students in their mother language. Students cannot develop communication
skills. "English language in Pakistan today: Class, the workplace and the shift in language use,”
conducted by the British Council. "It is said that English was not being taught as a language but
rather as a subject, confined to the 40-minute class sessions. It said there was a wide urban-rural
divide in the standard of English teaching as people in urban settings had much more choice and
better quality of teaching and learning facilities available compared to the rural areas".(English
— more than a subject , 2014).
Methodology:The current research is purely quantitative. We will take the sample based on two groups of
students. Each group contained ten students of Islamabad city. In this research our target is City
school from private sector and Federal Government school from government sector. The level of
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students is primary. We analyzed the problems of acquiring second language by conducting
interview.
Interview is being conducted on the basis of 10 questions. All questions were open ended. The
interview is designed according to research questions and research objectives. Students were free
to express their opinions. During interview we focused on their pronunciation, their way of
communication and level of confidence in each student. Interview is being recorded and data is
collected by analyzing the recordings of students’ answers. This analysis differentiated the
language learning of students of private schools and government schools.
Primary level is considered as a basic level of developing skills of reading, writing, listening and
speaking. From kindergarten level to the primary level students learn the basics of their
education. These skills help them in their career. If the base of education is limited and their
skills are poor at this level then they will face hurdles regarding speaking and writing. In short
students couldn't develop communicative skills as well as writing skills.
The interview is being analyzed in the light of our frame work based on Krashen's theory. The
basic tenet of this framework is that people can learn or acquire target language based on their
initial proficiency level. Either they learn through unconscious process. Acquiring language
through following natural process or conscious process that is by learning and practicing
structures of grammar or a person learn language through the process of listening, speaking
reading and writing.
The main focus of our research is that although every school flow the basic systematic structure
of teaching target language but why students cannot properly learn target language. If they
understand the basic structure they couldn't properly communicate or write it.
We focused on the scheme of learning second language in government schools. What are the
faults in their scheme due to which students cannot acquire target language? Then we compared
educational system of private schools and their scheme of study in learning target language to
government schools.
Data Analysis:
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Students participated in this study were 20 in number. 10 of them were from private sector and
10 were from Government sector. The age of students was between 9 to 11 years. In order to
collect data we conducted an interview. We analyzed our gathered data statistically and it is
shown in tables and charts. Each factor is discussed according to their respective category.
First of all most important thing to be highlighted is the regional diversity of students of both the
sectors. The ratio of regional diversity is shown in the following graph.It is noted during the
interview that thestudents from different regional background have problems of pronunciation.
For example we provided them with a word “Thank you”. The pronunciation of Punjabi students
was different then the Pashto speaking students. So at the primary level In a class when there are
students from different regional background it is not easy to teach them a second language
effectively.
Regional diversity
s
Table 1. Medium of teaching in classroom
Private sector:
English language 90%
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Urdu language 10%
Government sector:
English language 10%
Urdu language 90%
Privstr sectorGovernment sector
Figure 1 . (Medium of teaching in classroom).
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When students were asked about what is their medium of communication in classroom. Students
from government sector informed us that teachers usually communicate with us in Urdu. In
English class, teacher read the story or the lesson in English and then translates the whole story
in Urdu to explain it. Teachers usually don't even ask Students to read the lesson. From this we
have observed that if the teacher doesn’t communicate with students in English in order to teach
English language how they could learn language. They don’t even know how to read a simple
sentence. This observation answers to our research question that defective educational system is
the main hindrance in acquiring target language. On the other hand students from private sectors
tell us that their medium of communication in classroom is English. Teacher also taught them in
English. Teachers of private sectors not only communicate in English language in class room but
they also motivate them to use English language outside the classroom. This strategy helps the
students in learning English language as well as builds strong communication skills.
Table 2.English language: like or dislike:
Private Sector
English language 80%
Urdu language 20%
Government sector:
English language 70%
Urdu language 30%Research Paper Muhammad Arslan Ahmed Awan
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English language
Urdu language0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
Privstr sector Government sector
Figure 2 English language: like or dislike
In response of this question most of the students from government sector said that they are
interested to learn English language but we see that most of them were not even able to answer
the questions in English language. When we asked them question in English. The students
requested to translate the whole question in Urdu. Before interview they were very confident but
we have clearly seen that they lose their confidence level during the interview. On the other hand
most of the students of private sector do not face problems while answering the same questions.
When we try to confuse one of the students and asked him 'should I translate the question in
Urdu for you? He replied with full confidence that there is no need to translate the question for
me in Urdu. This shows once again that students want to learn English language but due to their
defective educational system they can't fulfill their dream of learning.
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Table.3 Teacher’s behavior in classroom:
Private sector:
English language
80%
Urdu language 20%
Government sector:
English language 30%
Urdu language 70%
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English language
Urdu language0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%Privstr sector Government sector
Figure 3 Teacher friendly or unfriendly
When we ask a simple question about the behavior of teacher in classroom to, 8 out of
10students of private sector said that the behavior of teacher is friendly. Moreover teacher
motivates us to learn English language. While teachers in government sector are not friendly.
There is distance between students and teachers. At this point the problematic educational system
of Pakistan can also be blamed. The administration of the government schools do not focus on
the results and competence of their students. Administration and the staff of school only try to
get job in government schools because of the facilities and pay provided by government of
Pakistan is higher than those of private sector schools. Staff of the school and the administrators
very clearly knows that whatever they teach their students in class room no one is going to
question them. They also know that their monthly pays are also permanent. Not all the teachers
of government sector are same but majority of the teachers follows the same tradition.
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Table 4. Passage reading:
Pronunciation
Government sector 10%
Private sector
90%
Reading skills
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Government sector 20%
Private sector 80%
Pronunciationreading skills
Figure 4.pronunciation and reading skills
When we provide a simple passage on a daily routine and asked to the private sector’s students
to read it aloud. They read the whole passage very confidently and clearly. They read it without
skipping the words and without mumbling. On the other hand when the same passage is given to
the government sector’s students 9 out of 10 try to read it but not even a single word was
pronounced correctly. Even one student refused to read the passage due to lack of reading skills.
The students were not a loud and clear in their reading. They took pauses while reading and
continuously skipped the difficult words. Sometimes they started mumbling. They were not
confident in their reading skills.
Findings: The results of our present study shown that the learners of English language are facing many
problems in Pakistan. The present study explores the two well known schools of Pakistan. These
schools are “F.G school I/10-1 Islamabad” and “The City school Islamabad”. We find out that
the basic problem is with our educational system. As Students of government school told us that.
Medium of teaching in their class is Urdu throughout, even in English class. It is also observed
that "Most Pakistanis want their children to learn English. Private schools offer all instruction in
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English while government schools offer instruction in either Urdu or the local provincial
language” (Abid,2010).
Teachers usually don't even ask students to read the lesson. From this we observed that if the
teacher doesn’t communicate with students in English in order to teach English language how
they could learn. They do not even know how to read a simple sentence. This observation
answers to our research question that defective educational system is the main hindrance in
acquiring target language. Quality of education and condition of government schools is
diminishing day by day. In private schools the syllabus is up-to-date. Mostly people prefer
private schools instead of government schools. Even nowadays people from lower class also
send their children to get good quality education from private schools. "Thousands of ghost
teachers have been drawing salaries from the education departments of the four provinces".
(Abid,2010).
There is no one who can question the teachers of government schools that, why they don't have
any concern with the educational career of their students. "They simply show up to collect their
salaries on the appointed day”. (Difference between Private and Govt,2010)
Another difference between government and private schools is that there is larger number of
students enrolled in each class. Single teacher taught large number of students due to large
number of students he/she can't pay full attention to each student. On the other hand in private
schools students are fifteen to twenty in number. It's convenient for teacher to teach small
number of students with good concentration. So we anyone can relate the idea that defective
educational system is a biggest problem in acquiring language learning.
This study also observed that Regional diversity plays its role in language learning. Students
from different regions obviously speak different mother languages. They have different
background. When they move towards schools for learning they face many problems specially in
speaking Urdu and English. When Students of different background are provided with the similar
environment they face many challenges while learning. Students of the local area do not accept
them or they have different mother languages. Moreover, other students tease them because of
their accent or pronunciation. For example in our research we conducted interview from students
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of different regional background. We observed that they were very confident while answering in
English language but their pronunciation was different. It was interesting to explore their accent.
The accent of Pashto speaking students was different while they speak in English. Each student
red a passage in a loud voice but they pronounced the word 'th' with less stress. Another
hindrance that we observed is the socio-economic status of a child. This is also a big problem in
acquiring English language. How? Because when a student has lower family status his parents
could not afford his school's expenses. They would definitely send him to the government
school. We have already discussed that government schools are the main hindrance in the way of
learning target language. During this research project we observed that children from lower class
or lower middle class were enrolled in government schools. Most of them have the same socio
economic status. If one out of ten students have the better social status and still studying in the
government school this is due to their parents’ negligence.
Recommendations: This research illustrates defected educational system of Pakistani society as well as hindrance in
learning English as second language. First of all it is recommended that to review educational
system of government sector. Keeping in view the problems of learning English language, and
classroom environment, it is recommended that to bridge the gap between the private and
government sectors. Moreover, trained teachers are also required for teaching English language.
It is also strongly recommended that further researches should be conducted on the role of
teacher in learning a second language.
Conclusion:We came to the conclusion that learning English language is possible when the environment is
appropriate and useful. The basic problem with our educational system is that it is divided into
two sectors, private and government sectors. There is a huge difference in the environment of
private and government schools. In government schools, factors are not helpful for the learning
of students. Teacher’s attitude towards use of English language in private sectors and
government sectors is different. All such factors had bad impact on the learning of students. If
the learners are from the private schools they have suitable environment for learning English
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language. English language is used as a medium of teaching and students have many useful
factors for learning English language.
The structured interview with students highlights the lacks of students of government schools
and mastery of private schools’ students over English language. To fill this gap of learning
English language it is necessary to bridge the gap between private and government schools.
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References:
1) Colarrusso,Dana M. (2010) Teaching English in a Multicultural Society:Three Models of
Reform.Canadian Journal of Education, Volume 33,No.2,Language, Identity, and Educational
Policies.pp.432-458.
2) Krashen,S.(1985). Principles and Practices in Second Language Acquisition.Cambridge
University Press.
3) Arfa, Shahid. (n.d.).Private schools vs Public schools in Pakistan [Blogger]Received from
http://www.pkhopecom/private-schoolsvspublic-schools.
4) Abid.(2010,February). Difference between Private and Govt.Retrieved from
http://educationsystem-abid.blogspot.com/2010/02/difference-between-private-govt.html
5) English-more than a subject. (2014,March 27).Retrieved from
http://www.dawn.com/news/1095878
6) Colarusso, O'Rourke.(2010)."Special Eductaion for ALL Teachers"Kendall Hunt Publishing
Co.
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