An ethnographic study of female teachers' communication skills in the ESL teaching context

• Main Author: Mohd Yusof, Fahainis
• Format: Conference or Workshop Item
• Language: English
• Published: 2013
• Subjects: LB Theory and practice of education; PE English
• Online Access: http://repo.uum.edu.my/18512/1/ICAW%202013%201-17.pdf; http://repo.uum.edu.my/18512/; http://iknowpolitics.org/en/2013/10/international-conference-asean-women-empowerment-issues-and-challenges

The current study adopted an ethnographic design to find out the type and purpose of communication skills and communication strategies (CSs) used by female English teachers to communicate with students and overcome their communication difficulties when teaching in ESL secondary classrooms and their perceptions of communication skills and CSs.The study involved two excellent English language female teachers in secondary schools located in the northern regions of Malaysia.Data were collected from classroom observations and interviews.The ensuing self developed taxonomy becomes an instrument drawn from Bowers (1980), Bleach (2000) and Williams, Inscoe, & Taskers’(1997) and was used to analyse communication skills and CSs of teachers’ classroom transcription data.In the study, the key findings revealed that communication skills and communication strategies were employed by the teachers.The findings provided new empirical evidence that communication skills were related to and intertwined with communication strategies in both female language teachers.The observed lessons and interviews appeared to have increased teachers’ awareness, self-efficacy and self-confidence in using communication skills and communication strategies.These results may also be used for teacher preparation programmes at the college or university level.