DefinePK

Abstract

The school curriculum introduced in 2006 was a major curricular reform in the history of Pakistan as it emphasized on the standards set for students in achieving essential competencies. This study explored teachers‟ practices with respect to the competency-based learning outcomes embedded in the National Curriculum for English Language 2006. In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with a purposive sample comprising of ten elementary English language teachers from public schools in Lahore. The interview guide was based on competencies and standards of English language provided in the National Curriculum for English Language 2006 related to the elementary level. Qualitative content analysis was used to analyse interview data. The analysis of the data revealed that not all five competencies identified by the English language curriculum were the main focus of English language teaching at the elementary level. Moreover, book-based written tasks were dictating most of the teaching-learning processes. Along with other factors, the examination system was identified as the biggest hurdle in teaching competency-based curriculum because the examination system only measured students‟ performances related to written content that was well qualified by students through rote learning. Therefore, the re-structuring of the examination system is suggested. Keywords: Competency, Curriculum, elementary school, policy-practice gap, English