Professional Knowledge and Practices of Algerian Teachers in Teaching Listening and Speaking Skills in EFL Classrooms

Abstract

By having an interest in teacher cognition and the teachers’ teaching knowledge; and following an interpretive approach, this thesis explores how EFL teachers, specifically Algerian teachers, approach listening and speaking teaching based on their pedagogical skills. Furthermore, using a sociocultural perspective, this study explored teachers’ subject and pedagogical knowledge of teaching listening and speaking skills in the context of a new educational reform: the implementation of learner-centred pedagogy in EFL classrooms to develop learners’ communicative competencies. Data were collected during the third semester of the 2019-2020 academic year using interpretive data collection methods, including classroom observations, face-to-face semi-structured interviews, and focus groups. NVivo software was used for the coding process. The transcribed data was used to analyse classroom interactions and teachers' and students' talks to explore how teachers sought to teach listening and speaking skills using a learner-centred pedagogy and how learners perceived such pedagogies. Findings indicated that listening and speaking skills were not directly taught. The teaching of both skills under a learner-centred pedagogy was challenging for teachers in the classroom context. This results in using both skills as a teaching tool in teaching reading and writing skills. Further findings also revealed that the classroom interactions consisted of limited and short exchanges that were teachers dominated. This proved that the implementation of learner centred, and dialogic practices was challenging for the teachers. The analysis of classroom interactions indicated intrinsically directed and dominant teachers' talk. It also revealed shared classroom discussions demonstrating teachers' attempts to model dialogic teaching, resulting in fewer listening and speaking skills opportunities. The data analysis revealed three ideas. Firstly, teachers made minimal attempts to teach direct listening and speaking skills. Secondly, efforts to implement learner-centred pedagogy were visible during classroom discussions; however, teachers' instructions were not very dialogic in increasing interactional opportunities. Finally, teachers demonstrated classroom awareness, indicating the potential for increased dialogic learning.