Lecturer perceptions of pre-service teachers' English oral proficiency during instructional communication

Abstract

English is frequently used as the medium of instruction in South African schools. However, only 9.6% of South Africans are home language speakers of English. This suggests that many South African pre-service teachers are conversationally proficient in English but do not necessarily have the prerequisite proficiency to interpret and transfer the curriculum successfully to meet educational objectives. National policy documents provide minimal guidelines regarding the language performance expected of teachers. This study aimed to establish the perceptions that lecturers have of pre-service teachers’ ability to use English effectively when teaching. Existing literature indicates that teachers’ inadequate oral proficiency in the language of instruction could have a detrimental effect on learning. Moreover, there is a dearth of research that specifically examines the oral proficiency of South African teachers who utilise English to teach. Existing research on this topic also lacks the inclusion of perspectives from teacher educators who mentor and guide pre-service teachers. This case study had a two-pronged qualitative data-generation process. Data were generated from semi-structured interviews with ten lecturers working at South African institutions of higher learning. These data were transcribed verbatim and then a data analysis strategy that involved grouping responses from the ten participants together, manually coding the data, and categorising the codes was employed. From these categories, themes were identified relating to the lecturers’ perceptions regarding the oral proficiency of pre-service teachers who use English to teach and the possible assessment thereof. Transcription data suggested that pre-service teachers lack the necessary oral proficiency when using English in the classroom. The findings were that the primary dimensions of communicative adequacy appeared to be accuracy (grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation), fluency that included properties of performance such as pace and pausing, and complexity of expression. Using existing assessment protocols and the themes that emerged from the data, criteria were also identified to create a tool to assist pre-service students and their mentors in identifying areas for improving their oral proficiency within an instructional context. Apart from the proposed tool, this study contributes – from the perspectives of lecturers – to our understanding of the challenges faced by speakers of other languages who are required to teach using English.