An Analytical Study of the Factors Influencing the English Speaking Proficiency of Prospective English Medium Teachers

Abstract

National Colleges of Education (NCOEs) conduct Pre-service Teacher Education courses in English medium to cater to the demand of English medium teachers to implement bilingual / bi-medium education in government schools. Although English speaking proficiency is very important to English medium teachers, it has been revealed that the majority of the prospective teachers who follow the Information Communication Technology (ICT) course in NCOEs do not have the required level of English speaking proficiency. This paper discusses the nature of the English speaking deficiencies of prospective English medium teachers of ICT and the major factors that affect their English speaking proficiency. This analysis was done as part of an ongoing study conducted using the Mixed Methods approach. Quantitative and qualitative data was gathered through questionnaires, interviews and documentary analysis from a sample of prospective teachers of ICT, English medium lecturers who teach in the ICT course in three NCOES, Directors of Education at the Ministry of Education and Senior Lecturers at the National Institute of Education. Findings revealed that the prospective English medium teachers’ English speaking proficiency is lower than that of the other language skills due to several psychological, linguistic and socio-cultural factors. Therefore, effective strategies should be introduced to improve the Teacher Education Programme of the NCOEs to enhance the development of English speaking proficiency of prospective English medium teachers.