1. LG600/LANG6099-
Advanced Academic English
Writing Skills
Oral Presentation-
Research Essay

2. Research Essay
The ways in which teachers develop and
implement effective classroom strategies and
practices for the teaching of English at a
secondary school in Jamaica.

3.  Teaching of English is challenging in Jamaica.
 Language situation – English is the official
language, yet not the native language
 Students enter educational institutions with
varieties of languages that resemble the
standard English
 Teachers must find methods to bridge this gap
between the native and standard language.

4.  Research was done to see which methods are
used and how they are used.
 Approach used most:
 Student-centre
 Others include:
 Information Technology
Bilingual language teaching

5. Background to the Research
The study was conducted at a traditional boys’
school .
The average pass in English is 65%.
For CSEC 68% 0f the cohort attain grades I-III
School’s objective is to have 100% passes in
CSEC English by 2016

6. • Kachru ( 2006) Teachers need text and methodologies to
teach English.
• Jamaica is a Creole –speaking environment.
• Language resembles English but not standard variety.
• CXC Subject Report (2013) shows that in region on
average 58% of candidates pass English .
• School not reaching the 100% target.

7. Research Questions
What are the challenges that teachers of
English in a Jamaican high school face in
teaching English?
What strategies have they implemented to
combat these challenges?
To what extent have these strategies proved
successful?

8. Literature Review- Challenges
Teaching of English in Jamaica demands
appropriate methodology, syllabus and material
that will be effective.
It is difficult to make the transition from Creole
to Standard English.

9. Literature Review- Strategies
Researchers recommend the following strategies:
i. Communicative language teaching
ii. Bilingual language teaching
iii. Immersion
iv. Student-centred approach
• Use these methods to:
teach vocabulary, comprehension, literacy, persuasive writing,
advertisement, summary writing , extended writing

10. Literature Review- Benefits of
Strategies
• Improve higher order skills, grammar,
comprehension , vocabulary
• Make students more responsible
• Improve grasp of second language.

11. FINDINGS:
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8 7
5
2 2
Challenges to teaching
English
2
3
6
1
6
Scaffolding
Student-
Centred
Approach
Bilingual
Langauge
Teaching
Use of
Technology
Strategies used

12. 0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
Strategies • Lack of interest on the
part of students was the
main challenge the
teachers faced
• The student-centred
approach is the most
popular and most
effective method.
• Despite the language
situation few respondents
used bilingual language
teaching
Findings Cont’d

13. Recommendations
Teachers must incorporate different
strategies.
Know all aspects of strategy/strategies
used.
More implementation of bilingual language
teaching to meet the problem of Creole
interference.
Have workshops so expose each other to
best practices.

14. Conclusion
Teaching English in Jamaica challenging due to
the language situation
Teachers have used multiple approaches to
teach aspects of the syllabus with some
success.
Teachers should investigate other strategies
and/or best practices in order to attain goal of
100% pass in English language.

15. Reference
• Kachru, Y. (2006). World Englishes and language education In
S. Nero (Ed.), Dialects, Englishes, Creoles and
education (pp. 19-38). London: Lawrence Erlbaum
Associates.
• CXC School report (2013)
(http://www.cxc.org/SiteAssets/2013School
Reports/CSEC_MayJune2013_EnglishA_S
R.pdf