Obstacles in Learning English at Government Girls Higher Secondary Schools: A Case Study of Tehsil Faisalabad City

Abstract

English is taught as a compulsory subject from primary to graduation level in Pakistan. Even then, the failure rate of students in English subject is alarming, and communication skills in English are poor. This study was conducted to analyze the obstacles faced by students in learning English language, and to suggest possible solutions to overcome these obstacles. This study was conducted in girls higher secondary schools of Tehsil Faisalabad City. There were total 36 girls higher secondary schools in District Faisalabad. Nine girls higher secondary schools are in Tehsil Faisalabad City. From these nine schools, three girls' higher secondary schools were selected through simple random sampling. There were 17 English teachers who were teaching in these schools, then all the 17 teachers and 958 students were taken as population. All 17 English Subject teachers were the respondents, whereas the sample size for students was calculated 274 through online software with a confidence level 95% and confidence interval 5%. A proportionate sampling technique was used to select the respondents from students. For collecting data, a well-structured questionnaire was developed. The collected data were analyzed by using descriptive statistics i-e percentages, means and standard deviation through computer software SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences) for interpretation and discussion of results. The results revealed that students are facing many problems in learning of English language (EL). It is suggested that the students should be provided EL learning facilities in schools as well as at houses.