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Investigating the Perspectives of TEFLers About Distance Learning: A Case Study
Muhammad Safdar Bhatti, Mahwish Shamim & Rafi Mukhtar
Abstract:
English, being the lingua franca, has become a dire need of our age to succeed academically and professionally. To fulfill this need, many higher education institutions are offering teaching courses to equip teachers with new methods of teaching. TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language), among many others, is also a teacher training program for English language teachers to improve and enhance their teaching and communication skills. TEFL, emphasizes the development of appropriate and modern teaching methodologies. The study is about the perceptions of a distance education program (DEP) TEFL students henceforward mentioned as TEFLers’. Most of the students consider improvement in vocabulary and better pronunciation as the learning outcomes of TEFL but a mismatch occurs between the objectives of the program and the students’ perspectives. The study is a case study of Allama Iqbal Open University. A survey was conducted for the TEFLers of Bahawalpur region. A questionnaire was prepared to check their perspectives about distance learning. The study is quantitative and the result has been presented through the use of tables and graphs. The study proved that the students of distance learning do not have proper and authentic knowledge about program objectives. They develop their own perspective which may not be aligned with the set objectives of the program. The findings supported the hypothesis of the study. The researchers conclude with suggestions and recommendations.
Keywords:
Distance education, Perspectives, Allama Iqbal Open University, TEFLers, Distance learning
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