Subject Teachers and Enhancement of Students’ English Proficiency in Selected Senior Six Classrooms in Rwanda

Abstract

This study was conducted in Sixth Form schools in Huye District in Rwanda. The researchers’ concern was that most secondary school leavers enter university with low proficiency in English, the medium of instruction. The researchers focused on subject teachers because subject-related courses are allotted more hours than English. The study aimed to explore whether subject teachers offered any assistance in boosting students’ English proficiency. The research drew on Language across the Curriculum (LAC) and Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) approaches. LAC stipulates that all teachers are language teachers, that subject teachers and language teachers should work jointly, and that language should be taught across the curriculum. CLIL recommends that content be learnt through a second language and that the subject and the language be taught at the same time. For validity and reliability purposes, the current study made use of both qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis methods. Findings revealed that only some of the subject teachers used strategies that could help promote their students’ English proficiency. Findings also indicated that content and English language teachers did not collaborate and that the students were not proficient in English. In accordance with these findings, recommendations were made.