Teachers Problems in Teaching

English as a 2nd Language

: Presented by
Muhammad Kaseer Khan
Course Coordinator English Language Section

Outline

1. Objectives
2. Video of 2nd language learner
3. English as 2nd language/ Teaching ESL
4. Important Issues
5. How to avoid these issues
6. General problems
7. Linguistic Problems
8. Suggestions
9. Discussion
10. Conclusion

Objectives
To increase understanding of current trends for
learning and teaching English.
(Teaching English in Saudi Arabia, To Whom,
When and How Should English Be Taught?
To highlight linguistic contrasts between English
and Arabic .
To figure out potential learning barriers .
To use effective teaching techniques that can help
ESL learner.
To use effective learning strategies to target
specific learning needs

Foreign Language Learner

Video of a 2nd Language Learner

English as a Second Language

(ESL)

Teaching process and how hard it actually is to teach !!!!!!

You can get an idea from the video you have just watched.
Not Just Classroom Teaching
It soon became clear that, besides concerning myself
with the issues of my actual teaching I needed to
understand and make decisions about many other
issues that surrounded and permeated ESL classroom
instruction.
-Helene Becker .What are those issues
Teachers have to keep in mind all those factors that retards
students learning. e.g.

Important Issues
a) Background knowledge
b) Culture
c) Linguistic challenges
d) Emotional Challenges
e) English, is the Tool, students need to
succeed in all walks of life.

Problems

In past we didnt have good listening aids.

Listening lab & headsets
Textbooks & our Students level
English , only in English classes?

Teacher centered classes vs learner centered

Out dated teaching methodology
Lack of innovation
Heavy teaching load
Large classes
Insufficient credit hours
Carelessness

Linguistic Problems

1. Arabic alphabet and script:

right to left
cursive

Adjectives/ prepositions
Wrong use of
Adjectives due to
mother tongue
influence as in Arabic
Adjectives come
after noun they
modify.

Examples
He is a boy tall.
( Incorrect)
He is a tall boy. ( correct)
Sea red ( Incorrect)
Red Sea ( Correct)
Staff English (incorrect)
English Staff (Correct)

Syntactic errors
In English, items in a
series are separated by
commas, and the
coordinate conjunction
'and' is used just before
the last word.
On the other hand, in
Arabic, each item in a
series is preceded by
the conjunction 'wa'
which is equivalent to
'and

Example
For, them not to hate
me they need to
respect me and realize
how much I love them
and how hard I work
for them. (repetition of
wa)

Capitalization
No concept of capital
letters in Arabic.

afterwards i want to get

a university level
education in the united
states
last but not least, if i was
giving an animal a shot i
have to make sure that i
am giving it in the right
place.

Pronunciation and spelling

Saudi students replace /p/ sound

with /b/
e.g. bebsi instead of pepsi
Blay/ play
2. They pronounce letter (e) even when
it is silent.
Come, people, cycle etc. knowledge,

Verbs
No be verb in Arabic
(e.g. My teacher very smart)
Instead of
My teacher is very smart.
I am go there ( Wrong use of be)
Problem of regular & irregular verbs.
Come, Comed, Comed

Discussion
1. What differences are you aware of
between the Arabic and English language
(vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation,
rhetoric, literacy, script, etc.)?
2. Do they create problems for the target
language learners?
3. How might these differences affect English
language learning of Arabic speakers?
4. What are other factors a teacher must
focus on besides teaching the language?

Suggestions

Suggestions
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

Library & English newspaper

Original books
Access to internet in library ( to serf edu.sites.)
Study trips
Informal meetings of students & teachers.
Separate exam facility
Permission to give listening exam before writing
portion.

Conclusion
In a nutshell, I must say we can
be better teachers and impart
better knowledge to our ESL
learners if we can overcome all
above mentioned problems.