Learning and Teaching English in Pakistan

English teaching and learning in
Pakistan: The difficulties Urdu-
speaking learners have with English,
and the methods of teaching that can
be used in the classroom.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION..........................................................................................................................1
Background..................................................................................................................................1
Rationale and Significance..........................................................................................................1
CHAPTER 1....................................................................................................................................2
LITERATURE REVIEW................................................................................................................2
1.1 Significance of English learning in Pakistan.........................................................................2
1.2 Issue faced by Urdu-speaking learners while learning English.............................................4
1.3 Different teaching methods for facilitating English learning................................................6
Aim..............................................................................................................................................7
Objectives....................................................................................................................................7
Research Questions......................................................................................................................7
CHAPTER 2....................................................................................................................................8
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY.....................................................................................................8
Research type...............................................................................................................................8
Research Philosophy....................................................................................................................9
Research Design...........................................................................................................................9
Research Approach....................................................................................................................10
Data Collection..........................................................................................................................11
Sampling....................................................................................................................................12
Data Analysis.............................................................................................................................12
Ethical Consideration.................................................................................................................13
CHAPTER 3....................................................................................................................................1
DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS............................................................................................1
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................18
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................21

TITLE: English teaching and learning in Pakistan: The difficulties Urdu-speaking learners
have with English, and the methods of teaching that can be used in the classroom.
INTRODUCTION
Background
English language is the common language and it is used everywhere in the world. Lots of
distance is covered by the students from their school level to university level in order to learn
English language. In Pakistan, lots of problems are faced by Urdu-speaking learners with
English, some problems come from the perspectives of students and some problems come from
the perspective of teachers (Mahboob, 2015). Very common mistakes are done by both teachers
and students which they do not know while speaking English. The common problems which
students have to face while speaking English is lack of fluency and vocabulary which is due to
inability to use right form of verbs in their paragraphs or sentences and lack of understanding of
grammatical patterns, wrong punctuation.
English became an official language of Pakistan after independence, it was the first Prime
Minister of Pakistan Mohammad Ali Jinnah who gave importance to English in his first
educational conference Language in Lahore, Pakistan. English is used in universities,
colleges as well as in schools and even it is the official language of military. While writing
English, there are various mistakes which students do while writing their work like they
face numerous grammatical problems such as surface problems, sentence problems, use of
verbs, content problems, punctuation marks, lack of vocabulary, spelling difficulties, etc.
(Bhatti and Memon, 2016). Urdu is the mother tongue for the people of Pakistan and it is
language which is mostly practised by people within the country and it has made hard for
people to use English as official language. Most of the teachers in the classroom use Urdu
language as a means of communication even being English official language in schools,
colleges and universities. This has resulted in students to getting much more hold on their
Urdu-speaking and writing as compared to English. So, Urdu-speaking learners have not
attained the level of cognitive development which will make them good with English
language (Ahmad, Ahmad, Bukhar and Bukhari., 2011). Also, failure of Urdu-speaking
learners is increasing in the subject of English and failure in this subject means failure in
public examinations. So, it has become a matter of concern for the Urdu-speaking learners
in Pakistan.
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Aim
To analyse the difficulties faced by Urdu-speaking learners with English and the
methods of teaching that can be used in the classroom -A study on Pakistan.
Objectives
 To identify the significance of English learning in Pakistan.
 To analyse the issue faced by Urdu-speaking learners while learning English.
 To evaluate the different teaching methods used in classroom to facilitate English
Learning.
Research Questions
 What is the significance of English learning in Pakistan?
 What are the issues faced by Urdu-speaking learners while speaking English?
 How different teaching methods can facilitate English learning?
Rationale and Significance
This research has significance as in Pakistan Urdu-speaking learners are facing problem
with English language which has decrease the level of English in Pakistan . This research has a
huge significance as this research will provide the proper understanding with the reasons behind
the problem faced by Urdu-speaking learners which can help in providing the solution to such
problems. Also, it can help in making improvements in students and minimising the common
mistakes performed by students with English which can help Pakistani students to explore global
opportunities.
Scope of study
This study has got a huge scope as findings of this research can be used by Government
of Pakistan to solve this issue. Also, it will help teachers and students in Pakistan to enhance
their learning which will solve problems or issues faced by Urdu-speaking learners with English
as it is the common problems face by the students in Pakistan. This research can also be used as
secondary source of data for the researcher who want to counduct the research on the same topic.
CHAPTER 1
LITERATURE REVIEW
1.1 Significance of English learning in Pakistan
As per the views of Yasmin and Sohail, (2018) English has become an international
language all over the world as has become an important part of life and in the educational
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institutes in Pakistan. English is considered as first language in the developing countries and
Pakistan is developing country so this language has a great significance in Pakistan. Since the
independence of Pakistan, English has continued to be the main source of communication in both
public and private sectors and this country has been in continuous contact with other countries in
terms of trade, education, etc English is the language in which they have to communicate.
Nowadays in Pakistan trend of English speaking and learning has grown to such extent that elite
people of country use English as a medium of communicating with their friends, family, offices
colleges, schools, etc. Also, young generation of Pakistan feel inferior or insulted if they are not
able to communicate in English. It was opined by Hyland and Wong, (2017) due to high
significance of English in the country, majority of population prefer the British Education system
and public schools within the country, which is mainly filled by the people of lower income in
Pakistan which are unable to afford expensive private education. For the people of Pakistan
learning English has become very important as it is used in every field of life (English in
Pakistan, 2019). Also, English Skills help students in achieving high quality education and job
within the country and outside the country. For a student to get a good job in the future should be
able to speak and understand English as, private companies Pakistan hire the employees only if
they have good English skills. In other terms it can be said that a student who knows English
very well have high chance of success in the future (Government Of Pakistan, 2017). A student
with good English skills can make use of information from the foreign books, journals, websites
etc also he/she can prepare assignments and complete the tasks in a professional manner with the
help of information gathered. Also, in Pakistan many quality jobs are related to international
communication as well as worldwide data sharing. Nowadays for the Urdu-speaking learners,
English has become more important to pursue their academic career as this subject has become
mandatory for the students to pass and have a good hold in it. As English help the students to
crack he competitive exams which are based on English vocabulary and grammar. So, English
holds an important position in the academic career of the student in Pakistan.
It has been illustrated by Khan and et.al., (2016) English is the important language in
Pakistan as it is used as medium of communication in educational institutions and is also the
main language for their technology sector and for their international businesses. English is a
foreign language and is considered as international language, basically in Pakistan there are four
languages as per their geographic distributions but their national language is Urdu and official
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language is English. In order to get in the international level Pakistan need to create a greater
know how with the English language. Pakistan can not neglect the English language as it is an
international language and it is particularly spoken and understood all over the world. So, in
order to grow and advance on the international level, Pakistan has to improve the standards and
skills of English in young generations for which academic fields play an important role. Also,
media of Pakistan has now adopted English as their official language and there has been increase
in the English speakers and listeners. Few years age English was only a optional subject in
Pakistan but due to importance of English in international level, this subject had made
compulsory in all education systems in Pakistan. This decision was taken by the government of
Pakistan due to increase in competition at the international level and in order to be part of this
competition it is important for people of this country to learn and speak English language. Also,
the constitution of this country is written in English language, so at the international and national
level English is main language for communication (Yıldırım, and Yıldırım, 2016). Due to
increase in popularity in English language within the in societies of Pakistan, parents in higher
middle and lower income level aspire to enrol their children in English medium schools. Also,
people are demanding for better English medium schooling which has led to the exponential
growth of low fee or low cost schools over the last 20 years. Present generation of the country
have realized the importance of English language which have made them to focus on improving
their English skills in order to pursue success academic and professional careers. This has force
the schools, colleges and universities of the country to improve their level and standard of
English in the educational institutions. Now there various methods and tools are used in
educational institutions in order to improve effective English learning to Urdu-speaking students
across the country.
1.2 Issue faced by Urdu-speaking learners while learning English
As per the views of Mahmood and Ahmad, (2015) there are various issue which are faced
by Urdu-speaking learners with the English language and it is important to overcome these issue
in order improve the English skill of Urdu-speaking learners. Within the education system of
Pakistan there are various subjects which is studied in English language as it is used in schools
colleges as well as in universities. Even being an official language of Pakistan, there are various
issues faced by the Urdu-speaking learners in learning English. One major issue which are faced
by Urdu-speaking learner is the English is not a mother tongue of students but is a second
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language for students (Najeeb, 2013). So in the classrooms instead of using English language
teachers and students communicate in their mother tongue. Besides Urdu-speaking learners are
the type of students which learn and speak Urdu and there is no scope of English language in
their learning. Another problem which is faced by Urdu-speaking learners is lack of educational
eligibility in the teachers of English language. Also, teachers who teach English language are not
much educated which is required for teaching English. So, in Pakistan, the only problem which is
faced by Urdu-speaking learners in learning English is that English is not their mother language
and most of their learning takes place in Urdu. On the other hand it has been viewed by Ansari
and et.al., (2016) the major issue which is faced by Urdu-speaking learning with English is lack
of confidence in speaking English. Urdu-speaking students feel shy and feel insulted if they do
any mistake while speaking English in classrooms. It is one of major problem which has
restricted their growth in English language. Also, Urdu-speaking learners have taken English
subject for passing their exams and students have not taken this subject seriously as their focus
has been only Urdu (Muhamad, 2018). Most of the students pursue English subject only way of
passing their exams. Though English is taught as a mandatory subject in the schools of Pakistan
but its outcomes are not satisfactory as per the academic view. Urdu-speaking learners are not
able to demonstrate their proficiency in using English language skills. There are various skills
which are ignored by the teachers like speaking and listening skills (Balla., 2018). Also, the
methodology of teaching English has not been up to the mark, teachers also lack the skills and
knowledge of teaching English in classrooms. Teachers lack the knowledge of grammar,
vocabulary, presentation skills which restrict the students for gaining proper skills and
knowledge to Urdu-speaking learners as same type of knowledge and skills is transferred from
teachers to students.
As illustrated by Khan, (2019) teachers in Pakistan has been inclined to traditional
practises of English teaching, they still use outdated grammar, old translation methods in the
schools of the country. This is also one of the major issue faced by the Urdu-speaking learning
students with English. In low quality of English language teaching comes imparting of English
language skills within the teachers, poorly trained English language teachers, overcrowded
classrooms, lack of interest from students in classroom, obsolete grammar and text books, etc.
These are the reasons due to which Urdu-speaking learners face lots of difficulties in acquisition
of English. Another issue which is faced by students is different cultural perceptions of the
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students and teachers in the classroom which restricts the English learning among the students.
Differences in cultures impact the communication style as well as the preferences which have an
impact on the student's attitude and ability to learn English.
As opined by López-Gopar, (2018)in government educational institutions there lack the
facilities which can generate interests among the students in the classroom and there is lack of
English skills among the teachers. In order to better education to students, school period is very
important for the growth of study, so lack of English skills among the primary school teachers is
another issue and problem for Urdu-speaking learners. Primary schooling from the base of a
students in influencing their learning in classroom and lack of teaching methods among the
teachers is also another issue of Urdu-speaking learners. Teachers in Pakistan still make use of
traditional grammar and translation methods in order to teach English subject in schools
(Nadeem and Rahman, 2013). There are basic errors which prevails in the teaching method like
teachers are not able to improve their methods like introduction of modern technology of
teaching in order to keep students interested in classroom. Also, there is lack of teaching strategy
in order to improve students mental growth as language plays an important role in improving the
English language (Allsup, 2016). Also, there is lack of proper learning materials provided to
students which decrease their learning capabilities and also lack of teaching material which
causes difficulties for Urdu-speaking learners. Also, lack of proper connection between the
secondary school text books and college teaching materials which acts as a barrier for the
English learners.
Also, the teaching materials which are provided at primary and middle school, college
and at university level there exits repetitive contents within the syllabus at each level of
education. In Pakistan different emphasis is given on different stages of teaching for example in
primary and secondary schools, English learning is mainly based on few text books with main
focus on teaching of grammar which results in poor vocabulary and this also results in poor
application of English language. On the other hand in colleges, English is focused to grasp
proper vocabulary and expressions but not on grammar which systematically decreases the Urdu-
speaking learner's ability to learn English with in the country. So poor methods of teaching is
also the major issue faced by the Urdu-speaking learners and it is important to minimise these
issue for improving the quality of English language among the students.
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