Coping with stress: Exploring the lived experiences of English teachers who persist in Malaysian rural schools

Abstract

Teaching English as a second language is a long and complex undertaking, particularly when it is done in multilingual rural areas where English serves a limited purpose. The purpose of this phenomenological case study was to shed light and describe the lived experiences of ten English teachers who persist in rural schools in Sabah, Malaysia. Data gleaned from in-depth interviews and observations and were thematically analyzed. The research questions captured teachers' perceptions of the existing teaching and learning environment, sources of stress and coping strategies through interviews and observations. The findings depicted that rural schools do not benefit from a conducive environment to support English teaching and learning due to the limited English environment, shortage of teaching resources and poor physical environment. The findings also revealed that dealing with low English proficiency (LEP) students was their main stressor in teaching English in rural schools, followed by students' disruptive behaviours, excessive workload and lack of support. To cope with the stress, teachers first evaluate and assess possible solutions through a stress appraisal process. The present study identified that the personal, social, professional, and institutional coping strategies were used by teachers to cope with stress faced. The findings have implications for the teaching of English in rural schools and could offer recommendations for changes in educational practices in which the authorities, school administrators and teachers could collaborate in improving English education in rural schools and thus students' learning, achievement, and school reputation.

Investigating Cascade Training of CEFR-Aligned Standards-Based English Language Curriculum (SBELC) in Rural Malaysia

“…These findings are consistent with Du Plessis and Mestry ( 2019), Hamzah andParamasivan (2017), andHandal et al (2013), which described rural teachers as facing difficulties to access training due to funding issues, geographical distance, and transportation. The finding of school administration keeping teachers in school is also consistent with the results of Altinyelken (2010) and Aziz et al (2019).…”

“…These rural schools tend to rely heavily on young, inexperienced, and often overworked teachers, which affects the teaching quality (Nur, 2015). These schools also suffer from low accessibility, resulting in a less (Aziz et al, 2019).…”

“…Many reasons have been discovered, such as teachers' lack of training and understanding of the curriculum, failure of the training structure to function fully, and a lack of resources to ensure a smooth implementation. Rural schools especially were found to be susceptible to the latter (Aziz et al, 2019).…”

A Systematic Review of Teaching English in Rural Settings: Challenges and Solutions

“…Many English textbooks or printed books are the old editions which are not related to the current English curriculum (Febriana et al, 2018). The lack of supports from schools and administrators in providing necessary teaching resources has also significantly slacken English Language teachers' motivation in teaching English and affected the efficiency and efficacy of English Language education in rural settings (Aziz et al, 2019).…”

“…Moreover, rural students are also found to have problems in pronouncing and memorizing English vocabularies (Martiana, 2019). Based on a study done by Aziz, Swanto & Azhar (2019), it is stated that the strong first language interference among rural students are liable for students' appalling behaviour towards English Language which results in their lack of interest and motivation in learning English.…”