Perceptions on and practices of segregation or integration of skills in ELT

Abstract

The study entitled Perceptions on and Practices of Segregation or Integration of Skills in ELT was conducted to find out the perceptions of secondary level English language teachers on the issue of isolating or integrating skills and to explore the practices of teaching English in Nepal in relation to segregation and integration of skills. The study followed survey research design. The population of the research consisted of secondary level English language teachers teaching in different schools of Kathmandu district.Ten teachers from different ten schools were selected as the sample for the study through convenient sampling strategy. As per the objectives of the study,a set of questionnaire and an observation form were used to collect the required data. The data were analyzed and interpreted descriptively making use of simple statistical tools such as frequency and percentile to derive findings of the study. The study found that teachers had positive perceptions on both of the approaches of teaching language skills. However, there was higher support for skill integration in comparison to skill segregation. Huge majority of the teachers (i.e. 90%) informed that they integrated two or more skills at a time and they integrated the skills by organizing them around a particular task or topic. However, in real practice, teachers were found to be teaching through segregated approach in a great deal. So, a gap was found between the responses of the teachers and their behavior observed in the classroom. Similarly, the gap was found in case of teachers' perceptions and practices of teaching English language skills. This thesis consists of five different chapters. The first chapter consists of background of the study, statement of the problem, objectives of the study,research questions, significance of the study, delimitations of the study and operational definition of the key terms. Similarly, second chapter deals with the review of theoretical as well as empirical literature and its implication for the study; moreover, it includes the conceptual framework. Likewise, the third chapter deals with the methods and procedures of the study including research design and method of the study, population, sample and sampling strategy,research tools, sources of data, data collection procedures, data analysis and interpretation procedures, and ethical considerations. In the same way, the fourth chapter contains the analysis and interpretation of the results. Finally,the fifth chapter incorporates the findings and conclusion of the study followed by some policy related, practice related and further research related recommendation based of the study.