TEFL Chinatown District Of Columbia

english enjoys a high status in Pakistan as the language of education, law, government, science and technology. An educated Pakistani knows that english adopted as a second language has had significant impact both economically and educationally. But still a Pakistani's inadequate grasp of english language is as clear as daylight. Although english is taught as the compulsory subject from grade 1, still an average Pakistani student always remains hesitant in producing even some simple sentences in english language. Following are some of the problems faced by the language learners in Pakistan. - There is nil exposure to english language other than the one hour period in school. Initial learning is mostly in mother tongue. It becomes somewhat difficult for students to learn a regional language, a national language, Arabic language and english language simultaneously. - english language has been discriminated and avoided by a specific group of people mostly in remote areas .In some places study of english language has even been banned by the locals, hence creating problems for language learners. - Untrained teachers in most of the public schools leave english the preserve of the country's elite minority. These teachers do not have adequate tools, visual aids and other modern classroom equipment. - The teaching of english has widely been through the medium of its literature. This means that the students know much about the language, but they don't know the language itself. Most of the curriculum requires the obsolete Grammar Translation method to be implemented. This is the biggest reason why a Pakistani student is perfect at tenses, translation and different voices but he may not be able to converse or write even a small creative essay. - Faulty material and outdated books are used, some of which are even thirty years old. These books lack subject matter and color and are a source of boredom and monotony for the students. - In most of the school, cramming is promoted rather than creativity and students are provided with readymade assignments and notes. The motive of the student remains the passing of the examination and not the acquisition of the language. - The obsolete examination system tests the answers according to its length. It totally ignores the expression and creativity. It fails to check the english language proficiency of the students. - teachers are overburdened and pressurized to finish the course. The teacher, who finishes the course well before hand, is considered to be the most efficient teacher regardless of her performance, achievements and her contribution in student's progress. - Overcrowded classrooms are also a hindrance towards language acquisition. Most of the time the number of students exceeds 50 thus rendering it almost impossible for the teacher to plan activities, to give individual talk time or to give individual attention. Judging from these trends prevailing in Pakistan, it appears that the problems in learning english language are on the increase rather than decrease. Government should bring reforms in the education sector. Syllabus should be revised and updated. teachers should be trained at national and international level. Educators should devise the correct tests and examinations to judge students proficiency. Much needs to be done in this respect, but most importantly government needs to carry out general awareness programs aimed at educating mass public that english language is and should be accepted as a Global medium of communication .