English abstract
In recent years , teaching English as a foreign language at primary schools has become a notable global trend in English Language Teaching ( ELT ) as English has spread as an international language around the world . Recent research has revealed , however , that many nations have encountered a number of challenges in implementing imported ELT pedagogies and curriculums ( Butler , 2009 ; Hayes , 2017 ; Nunan , 2003 ; Phan , 2008 ) . Oman , as one of these countries , with a top - down educational system , is implementing English teaching to Omani primary learners from grade 1 through a centralized syllabus created by western and Omani experts at the Ministry of Education . Omani primary English teachers , who are all females , are struggling to implement such a syllabus which sits outside their knowledge , beliefs , identity and agency.
Therefore this study aims to explain how experienced Omani English teachers understand their work with regard to teaching reading at the primary level. It explores the English teachers' knowledge, beliefs, identity and agency related to teaching reading, in the context of using the centralized English For Me (EFM) syllabus in C1 Basic Education schools in Oman. It investigates the relationship between these matters within the experienced teachers Community of Practice (CoP). The ultimate aim is to develop a better understanding of the implications for our general understanding of the relationship between educational system, teachers and context. Data for this qualitative study comes from three data collection tasks conducted with C1 English teachers in Al Batinah North Governorate; an on-line questionnaire with 147 English teachers, semi-structured interviews with 10 English teachers and a focus group discussion with five senior English teachers.
This study reveals contradictions between female primary English teachers' knowledge, beliefs and identity and the centralized EFM syllabus they are implementing. Further, it shows how senior teachers' identity as a professional group differs from that of other English teachers within their CoP. It indicates that these senior teachers were able to exert their agency within their top-down educational system. The study concludes that understanding teachers' knowledge, beliefs and identity in different contexts is necessary if better teaching is to be achieved. Secondly, empowering these teachers to exert agency contributes to better teaching. Involving expert teachers in the process of curriculum reform will ensure high quality teaching, while regulating and controlling teachers through the use of an irrelevant centralized syllabus is likely to negatively affect the quality of teaching.
