| dc.description.abstract | Many Libyan teachers have been sponsored to study abroad to gain
postgraduate degrees. Sponsorship programmes are a form of a professional
development policy to upgrade teachers’ knowledge and to contribute to the
development of English teaching at Libyan universities. The research project
was inspired by my own experience as a Masters’ student in the UK, which
challenged my beliefs and practice about English teaching. This exploratory
study aimed to examine beliefs, attitudes, and intentions of Libyan teachers,
while undertaking postgraduate programmes in applied linguistics and TESOL
at international contexts. My research aims to contribute to the gap in the
literature about understanding the nature of teachers’ experience at
international postgraduate programmes (IPPS) and its influence on Libyan
teachers. My research first explored the local learning and teaching experience
of participants to understand the nature of beliefs and practice participants had,
and then explored the international learning experience, in terms of classroom
practice, learning opportunities and challenges and their influence on
participants’ beliefs and attitudes. I finally examined intentions participants
developed for English teaching, besides their considerations and
recommendations to the Libyan context. This research adopted an interpretivist
paradigm. Data were collected by conducting semi-structured interviews with 21
participants at Masters’ and PhD level in four international contexts (UK, USA,
Canada, and South Africa) before they returned home to Libya. Data were
analysed by thematic analysis and provided answers to the four research
questions.
Findings suggest that the prior learning and teaching experience
constructed more teacher-centred beliefs and attitudes about English teaching
and most participants followed the practice of their lecturers when they started
teaching. During learning abroad, many teachers developed beliefs and
attitudes associated with a more learner-centred approach and they seemed to
develop respective intentions, such as minimising teacher’ role, adopting
interactive activities, utilising technological and authentic resources, and
modifying assessment designs. Between them, participants stressed potential
challenges that may restrict application of their intentions in Libya (originated
from familiarity with the context). These include the perceived unsupportive role
of administration, institution culture, lack of resources, and lack of collegiality, in
addition to lack of learners’ proficiency and their potential resistance to a
different teaching style. Participants suggested several factors that might
support their intentions, such as enhancing the quality of teaching content,
initiate CPD programmes, as well as providing sufficient and updated teaching
resources. This research contributed to fill the gap in knowledge about the
influence of IPPs on teaching beliefs, attitudes, and intentions of Libyan
teachers, and contributed to understanding the nature of classroom practice
teachers intend to implement. My findings strengthened previous research
about the wide-spread of teacher-centredness at university classes and
absence of CLT implementation in the Libyan context. My findings also support
research around a PD programme as a factor in belief change. My work has
implications for the Ministry of Education, decision-makers, teachers, and
stakeholders at English departments in Libya. | en_GB |
