English Language Teachers' Readiness in Teaching English: A Narrative Inquiry.

Abstract

The research study entitled “English Language Teachers’ Readiness in Teaching English: A Narrative Inquiry” aims to explore the way for the readiness of English language teachers to teach English. It locates their unpreparedness and struggles in teaching English in rural public secondary schools. The study utilizes a qualitative research approach with narrative inquiry following interpretivism. The study area was four public secondary schools in the Siraha district of Nepal. Three secondary and one lower-secondary level English language teachers were participants in the study. The data was collected using the in-depth interview guidelines with open-ended questions. After data collection, I analyzed the data and presented thematically to meet the objectives of the study. The study indicates the unwillingness of English language teachers in under resourced rural schools in Nepal. In secondary schools (public), English language teachers teach English using a teacher-centered method. They are accustomed to teaching according to their previous knowledge about the subject matter. They feel that they need training in modern ELT skills and knowledge. There is a lack of modern ELT materials and new technologies in most schools of the Siraha district. So, English language teachers in this region are not ready to teach English properly. Lack of appropriate technological knowledge, new ELT knowledge and skills, and their habit or culture of teaching according to their previously learned knowledge about the subject matter are prominent reasons for unpreparedness for teaching English. Many schools lack modern technical devices such as laptops, smartphones, projectors, and audio-visual devices, so English language teachers are unprepared to teach English well. Hence, the study underscores the need for targeted interventions to address the unpreparedness of English language teachers in teaching English, provide adequate teaching resources, emphasize modern ELT approaches, entrepreneurship knowledge (innovative and experiential knowledge), Bandura's (1989) Triadic Reciprocal Determinism and Self-Regulated Capabilities, and Vygotsky's (1978) Dialectical process, External and Internal factors and Zone of proximal development under Socio-Cultural Theory and implicate positive relationship with educational stakeholders, implement local curriculum and training for professional growth as well as education policy for English language teachers' readiness in teaching English.