DefinePK

Abstract

 
This study has investigated English Language Teaching (ELT) in Pakistan from the perspective of English as a Foreign Language (EFL). The study has looked into the teachers’ perceptions of ELT, learners’ perceptions of English language learning, nature of gender-based ELT and teacher-learner interaction thereof, and impediments encountered by teachers and learners during EFL teaching-learning process at 4-year BS English program of public and private sector universities of Pakistan. A structured interview proforma was used to collect the responses from ELT experts who were selected by employing the convenient sampling technique. Meanwhile, the interview responses were analyzed qualitatively. The results indicated that EFL learners perceived the Grammar Translation Method best for English language learning process whereas EFL teachers considered the Activity-based Interactive Method best for English language pedagogic process. The learners preferred good pronunciation and learning the use of grammatical rules unlike the teachers who preferred communicative competence as the most important outcome of English language pedagogic process. The learners considered that the male EFL teachers teach more effectively than the female EFL teachers being conceptually clearer and better at imparting knowledge. The results of the male and female learners showed a significant difference between the male and female teachers towards teacher-learner interaction xix whereas the results of the male and female teachers did not show any significant difference between their genders towards teacher-learner interaction in EFL classroom settings. Based on the findings of the study, it has been recommended that policy reforms in English language curricula, pedagogical practices and assessment techniques should be introduced to synchronize the perceptions about ELT and gender-based teacher-learner interaction in Pakistan.