Investigating the Effectiveness of National Standards: Teachers' Views

Abstract

Results of national tests highlighted a general deficiency affecting English language education in public schools and in intermediate schools in particular. Such results stressed that there are various difficulties facing students in observing English as a second language. The Ministry of Education and the Quality Assurance Authority (QAA) have introduced various initiatives to improve the field of English as a second language teaching while continuously monitoring outcomes and results. These initiatives focused on key areas such as curriculum design, teaching methods, teaching mediums, session length, teachers' qualifications and other factors. This is a pilot study that attempts to investigate the effectiveness of national standards and programs by doing in-depth interview of 20 teachers and conducting an attitude survey to about 100 teachers. In addition, the study will also highlight concerns of teaching staff from a practical perspective. The findings of the questionnaire and interviews are further analyzed to draw a common conclusion from available sources.