PERCEPTIONS OF SELECTED LIBYAN ENGLISH AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHERS REGARDING TEACHING OF ENGLISH IN LIBYA A Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School at the University of Missouri–Columbia In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement for the Degree Doctorate of Philosophy By YOUSSIF ZAGHWANI OMAR Dr. Amy A. Lannin, Dissertation Supervisor Dr. Roy F. Fox, Dissertation Co-Supervisor December 2014 The undersigned, appointed by the dean of Graduate School, have examined the dissertation entitled PERCEPTIONS OF SELECTED LIBYAN TEACHERS OF ENGLISH AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE REGARDING TEACHING OF ENGLISH IN LIBYA Presented by YOUSSIF ZAGHWANI OMAR, a candidate for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, and hereby certify that, in their opinion, it is worthy of acceptance. ______________________________________ Dr. Amy Lannin, Chair _____________________________________ Dr. Roy Fox, Co-Chair ______________________________________ Dr. Carol Gilles ______________________________________ Dr. Matthew Gordon DEDICATION To my main reason of being in this world, my dear MOM and my late DAD . To my partner in life, my beloved WIFE . To my vision to the future, my KIDS . To the soul of my late nephew, MOHAMED . To my great adviser, Dr. AMY LANNIN . To my helpful co-adviser, Dr. ROY FOX . To my committee, Dr. MATTHEW GORDON and Dr. CAROL GILLES . To the dean of College of Education, Dr. JOHN LANNIN . To my family in Libya . To my close friends in the United States, DAVID, LANCE, DENNIS . To my colleagues in English Education Department. I humbly dedicate this work. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am grateful first and foremost to my advisor, Dr. Amy Lannin, whose cooperation in this work was considerable and thankfully appreciated. In fact, I have no enough words to say about Dr. Lannin. I can say that I feel so lucky that I met with her on the first day of study. Her sympathy and encouragement were a good motivation for me to go on and finish my dissertation. During my 6-year work with Dr. Lannin, I have never felt that she behaves with me disrespectfully. She was very patient with me while working in my dissertation. She started with me from the scratch. Thanks to her wise guidance and valuable remarks I could finish this dissertation. I am also grateful to my co-advisor, Dr. Roy Fox, who has deeply influenced my work through his valuable notes and remarks. I knowledge the deeds that Dr. Fox has done with me. His valuable guidelines and advice helped me finish the classes, qualifying exam, comprehensive exam, and my dissertation. Of course, I will never forget his noble and humanitarian sides. His stand with me when my government stopped my scholarship will never be forgettable. He dedicated much of his valuable time to go with me to several places to find solutions to my problems. His support and encouragement were a great motive for me to finish my degree. I really appreciate Dr. Fox academically and humanitarianly. My heartfelt thanks are due to a number of people at the University of Missouri– Columbia, including Dr. Carol Gilles, Dr. Gordon Matthew, Dr. John Lannin, ii colleagues and professors in the Department of Learning, Teaching, & Curriculum for all the moral and financial support they have provided for me. I owe my gratitude to the participants of the study (the 20 Libyan teachers of English). Without their participation, I would never finish this work. I appreciate their generosity of hosting me up while I went to conduct the interviews. I appreciate dedicating part of their time to make the interview. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS……………………………………………………… ii LIST OF FIGURES………..…………………………………………………….. x LIST OF TABLES……………………………………………………………...... xi LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS…………..………………………………………... xii ABSTRACT……………………………………………………………………… xiii Chapter Page 1. INTRODUCTION…………………………………………………………… 1 Rationale…………………………………………………………………... 1 Why Study Methods of Teaching?........................................................ 1 Why Study English in the Globalized World?...................................... 2 Theoretical Background…………………………………………………... 3 Importance of Learning English in the Globalized World…………... 3 Methods of Language Teaching……………………………………... 8 Principles of Language Teaching……………………………………. 11 Second Language Learning………………………………………….. 14 Problems of the Study …………………………………………………… 17 Questions of the Study…………………………………………………… 19 Methodology of the Study……………………………………………….. 20 Participants………………………………………………………….. 21 Limitations………………………………………………………….. 21 Data Analysis……………………………………………………….. 22 Objectives of this Study…………………………………………………. 22 Organization of the Dissertation………………………………………… 24 Conclusion………………………………………………………………. 24 2. LITERATURE REVIEW………………………………………………….. 26 iv Rationale………………………………………………………………… 26 General Facts about Libya………………………………………………. 26 School System in Libya…………………………………………….. 28 Objectives of Education Policy in Libya…………………………… 30 History of Teaching English in Libya……………………………… 31 English Textbooks Taught in Libyan Schools……………………... 35 Theories of Language…………………………………………………… 37 Language as a Means for Social Cohesion among Disparate Groups. 42 Language as a Tool for Communication……………………………. 43 Language as a Part of Culture………………………………………. 44 Language as a Social Activity………………………………………. 46 Theories of Acquiring English Language Learning……………………... 49 Social Theory and Language Learning……………………………... 54 Technology and Language Learning………………………………... 56 School and Language Learning……………………………………... 59 Communicative Competence and Language Learning……………… 61 Teaching and Learning English in Other Countries: Selected Approaches. 67 Teaching and Learning EFL in South Korea………………………… 68 Teaching and Learning EFL in Japan………………………………... 70 Teaching and Learning EFL in China………………………………... 74 Teaching and Learning EFL in Saudi Arabia……………………….... 78 Techniques of English Language Teaching……………………………….. 80 Grammar Translation Method (GTM)………………………………... 81 Direct Method (DM)………………………………………………….. 82 Audio Lingual Method (ALM)……………………………………….. 83 Communicative Language Teaching Approach (CLTA)……………... 85 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………. 87 3. METHODOLOGY OF THE STUDY……………………………………….. 89 Rationale…………………………………………………………………... 89 Methodology of the Study………………………………………………… 89 Type of Qualitative Research of the Study…………………………... 90 Paradigm of the Study………………………………………………... 91 Tool for Obtaining Primary Resource Data………………………….. 91 Participants of the Study……………………………………………... 95 Scope of the Study…………………………………………………… 95 Data Collection………………………………………………………. 96 v Data Analysis………………………………………………………… 97 Research Questions……………………………………………………….. 99 Limitations of the Study…………………………………………………... 100 Logic Model of the Study…………………………………………………. 102 Trustworthiness…………………………………………………………… 102 Validity……………………………………………………………….. 103 Reliability…………………………………………………………….. 104 Transferability………………………………………………………... 104 Confirmability………………………………………………………... 105 Credibility……………………………………………………………. 105 Triangulation……………………………………………………………… 106 Consistency…………………………………………………………... 106 Coherence…………………………………………………………….. 107 Neutrality……………………………………………………………… 107 Ethics………………………………………………………………………. 108 4. FINDINGS OF THE STUDY………………………………………………... 110 Rationale…………………………………………………………………… 110 Overview of Methodology and Data Analysis Procedures………………… 110 Research Question 1: What challenges exist within the educational context in Libya?............................................................................................................ 114 Arabic is the dominant language used in teaching and learning English in Libya………………………………………………………………….. 114 Libyan schools lack facilities that aid in teaching and learning English 116 Libyan schools lack visual aids………………………………… 117 Libyan schools lack technology………………………………... 117 Libyan schools lack educational environment that aids in teaching and learning English………………………………………………………. 118 Libyan schools lack classroom environment…………………… 119 Libyan families lack collaboration with schools……………….. 121 Libyan community lacks collaboration with schools…………… 123 English textbooks are provided in incomplete package………………. 124 Ceasing teaching and learning English in Libya affects on Libyan students’ progress of learning English…………………………….. 125 Research Question 2: What challenges do Libyan teachers of English face? 127 Most Libyan teachers of English lack fluency of English……………. 127 Libyan teachers of English lack training programs to teach English… 128 vi Libyan teachers of English find challenges to teach English textbooks 131 Libyan teachers of English lack English language knowledge………. 132 Most Libyan teachers of English lack awareness about the function of English in its culture………………………………………………….. 135 Libyan teachers of English encounter economic problems that negatively affect their teaching………………………………………………….... 136 Libyan teachers of English lack confidence of themselves ………….. 138 Research Question 3: What challenges do Libyan students face in learning English in Libya?.......................................................................................... 139 Educational environment does not enhance students’ integrative and intrinsic motivation…………………………………………………… 140 Libyan students suffer from unequal treatment by their teachers……. 142 Libyan students lack opportunities to practice English inside and outside the classroom……………………………………………………………... 143 Libyan students lack academic relationship with their teachers of English………………………………………………………………..