LANGUAGE IN INDIA

A Study of the Reported Language Skill Development Strategies of the Student Teachers in Pakistan

Aijaz Ahmed Gujjar, Ph.D. Candidate
Bushra Naoreen, Ph.D. Candidate

Abstract

This descriptive study was carried out to study the foreign language skill development of the student teachers of The Islamia University of Bahawalpur (IUB). Two hundred student teachers from IUB were the sample. A forty items questionnaire was administered, the reliability of which was 0.903. No significant difference was found between mean scores gender wise. It was also found that students of B.Ed. class have higher mean score on reading, writing and listening skills but the difference is not significant. Conversely, students of M.Ed. class have higher mean score on speaking skills; however, the difference is not significant.

Key words: Language Learning, Teacher Education, Reading skills, Writing,skills Speaking skills, Listening skills

Introduction

English is the language of power and prestige in most countries of the world and Pakistan is no exception. Learning English affords unending opportunities not only in the realm of careers but also in society in general. However, the way English is learnt might change with change in locale gender and the purpose for which English is learnt. English is the official language in Pakistan and thus enjoys an unparalleled status among dozens of local languages of the country.

The learners of English, consciously or unconsciously, use different strategies to develop their skills in a particular language. A lot has been said about the nature of these strategies. Different authors have come up with their definitions of LLS (Language Learning Strategies). However, "there is no consensus on what constitutes a learning strategy in second language learning or how these differ from other types of learner activities" (O'Malley et al, 1985).

For Rubin, strategies are "the techniques or devices which a learner may use to acquire knowledge" (1975:43). In Weinstein and Mayer's terms, the LLS may be defined as "behaviours and thoughts that a learner engages in during learning" which are presumably "intended to influence the learner's encoding process" (1986:315). Cohen (1998:4) added the important ingredient of choice or consciousness in defining the strategies and thus asserted that "the element of consciousness is what distinguishes strategies from those processes that are not strategic".

A Definition of Strategy

A comprehensive definition is provided by Oxford (2001:166) who believes that the strategies are in fact

'…operations employed by the learner to aid the acquisition, storage, retrieval and use of information; specific actions taken by the learner to make learning easier, faster, more enjoyable, more self-directed, more efficient, and more transferable to new situations'

Many of the researches on LLS suggest that the strategies which the good and successful language learners employ are different from those of the bad learners. In fact the good learners not only employ more strategies but also employ them in a more appropriate manner than the weaker ones (Chamot and Kupper 1989). There has also been a suggestion that there is a positive relationship between Language Learning Strategies and communicative competence (Stern, 1992; Lessard-Clouston, 1997 and Oxford, 1990).

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