Teaching of Remedial English and the Problems of the Students: A Case of University of Sindh, Jamshoro, Sindh, Pakistan

Abstract

The research paper is designed to explore the achievement of the aims and objectives of teaching remedial English. It also aims to know the importance of the course and the problems of the students regarding the teaching of remedial English at university level in Pakistan with special reference to university of Sindh, Jamshoro. In this regard many efforts were taken by the tutors, lecturers, assistant professors, professors and the administration of the university to enhance the capabilities and efficiencies of the students of undergraduate level. All students of undergraduate level and the teachers who take remedial English classes are constituted as the Population of the study. Five (n=5) teachers who teach remedial classes and forty (n=40) students from different departments were recruited as the sample of the study through purposive and random sampling techniques. Interviews were conducted from students and tutors who attend and teach remedial English course respectively. 90% students found unsatisfied from the administration of the classes and they stressed that the classes should be conducted separately at department level and they demanded for the basic needed facilities during the classes such as the facility of language laboratory, availability of computers, multimedia, audio and video resources in order to accelerate and enhance the teaching learning process to improve English language skills. Keywords: teaching; remedial English; problems of students IntroductionLanguage is a way of communication of thoughts and feelings through a system of arbitrary signals, such as voice sounds, gestures, postures and written symbols. It includes its rules for combining its components, such as words, sentences, etc. Language may be the most suitable distinguishing characteristicness by which to arrange systematically in classes of humans with in the system of nature, even more on the basis of rationality (Homo sapiens) or technology. It is not because of the language is more expressive than rationality and more natural than technology. In a sense Homo Loquens generously cover all other terms, since the very deed of (exact meaning) definition is itself runs with in language. The language which is first learned is called the native of the children or the mother tongue. Both of these language terms mother and second / non-mother tongue are Metaphorical in which the knowledge of any particular language is gained through behaviour not inherited. Almost from 20 th century on wards linguistics have displayed keen interest in knowing about the theory that no one is born with a predisposition towards any language, but contrary all human beings are genetically/biologically endowed with the ability to learn and use language in general and proper way. Noam Chomsky the inventor of the theory of Transformal/Generative grammar English as an International LanguageEnglish language belongs to the Germanic languages branch of the Indo-European language family, widely spoken in six continents. It's a primary language of the U....

Fail Forward: Students' Mistakes as Teachable Moments

“…Bombarding new vocabulary each day in the remedial classes, teaching grammar rules and asking students to cram them, not providing detailed feedback about the errors made by students, and not giving them enough language practicing opportunities result in no improvement in language acquisition. A study conducted by Sahito et al, [8] at the University of Sindh explored that 90% of the students were not satisfied with the administration of remedial classes and demanded better facilities like multi-media, language laboratory, computers, and better audio, video resources to facilitate fast and better acquisition of language. Remedial classes according to Al Othman and Shuqair [1] are in fact "a quest in vain" to improve the language skills of the students.…”

An Investigation of Undergraduate Students’ Perception About Functional English Taught at Mehran University of Engineering and Technology

“…The common issues identified in the study include low skilled language teachers and inadequate wages lack of material support. Flawed policies are also the apparent cause of inadequate language skills (Sahito, Siddiqui, Khawaja, Shaheen, Saeed, & Laghari, 2017).…”

Remedial Teaching Program for Low-Achievers: An Efl Teacher’s Perception

“…However, whether or not remedial teaching program could really help low-achievers reach the learning objectives still becomes a topic to debate among scholars. Ndebele (2014) , Othman and Shuqair (2013), and Sahito's et al (2017), for instance, believed that the remedial teaching was proven to be ineffective and only a few students benefitted from the program. The ineffectiveness of the program was due to several factors such as the inadequate teaching material and poorly trained teachers to conduct remedial teaching combined with the poor supervision and monitoring from the stakeholders (Ndebele, 2014), students' negative attitude toward the program and the use of inappropriate teaching methods which kept being used by the lectures (Othman & Shuqair, 2013), not to mention the time limitation and lack of logistical structure (Alghamdi & Siddiqui, 2016).…”

“…However, although remedial teaching program is seen crucial in dealing with low-achievers, the attention on remedial teaching program particularly in the context of Indonesian is still limited in numbers. Besides, some studies such as the ones by Alghamdi and Siddiqui (2016); Boatman and Long (2017); Cheng (2014); Jadal (2012); Othman and Shuqair (2013); Ndebele (2014); Sahito's et al (2017); and Selvarajan and Vasanthagumar (2012) focused only on the effectiveness of remedial program from students' perspectives and seem unable to bring a deep and comprehensive exploration regarding EFL teachers' perception toward remedial teaching program which is arguably essential before conducting any programs to students. This study, on the other hand, would try to deeply investigate how an EFL teacher perceived remedial teaching as well as to find out what problems she encountered in designing and conducting the program.…”