This study explores the environmental aspects or concepts underlying successful English Language Teaching (ELT) as well as the support needed and the challenges that are faced by a group of primary school teachers in the context of a low enrolment school in a rural area in Sabah, Malaysia. This study adopted an exploratory qualitative approach which involved seven English language teachers who have had more than five years of teaching experience. A set of semi-structured interview questions were formulated to elicit data on the concepts and the conditions that could either help or hinder the incorporation of those concepts in ELT. Qualitative analysis of participants’ interview data indicated that exposure to the target language, motivation and goals were the environmental aspects of language teaching practices that affect students’ success in second language acquisition. Support from parents, teachers and school authorities were essential in assimilating these aspects in the teaching practices. It was found that the participants expressed tension between what they believed to be good practices and what they were restricted to do due to contextual barriers. Among the main barriers identified in this study were changes in education policy, insufficient financial support and infrastructure as well as lack of monitoring of the execution of activities in schools. Findings in this study have important implications to policy makers and curriculum developers.
This systematic review focuses on issues and challenges related to pre-service English teachers (PSETs) in Malaysia for the past decade. Even though improving English language teachers’ quality is a primary agenda in the Malaysian Education Blueprint 2013-2025, review studies documenting the recent issues and developments of pre-service teachers who are just joining the teaching profession are still lacking. Combining Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) with published review guidelines, the review utilised seven databases to look for current research. Subsequently, the final search yielded twenty articles for the qualitative synthesis using ATLAS.ti. It has been determined that the PSETs in Malaysia experience issues and challenges in terms of (1) teaching competency; (2) professional development; (3) support; (4) the disparity between theories and classroom practices; (5) classroom management and (6) transition stage in becoming a teacher. This study concludes that future teacher education needs to prepare trainee teachers to be more resilient and adaptable to new environments, challenges and unforeseen circumstances. Finally, several recommendations were highlighted for further studies.
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