This part aims to answer the second research question “What are high school EFL teachers’ perceptions about the benefits of teaching students how to learn English?” To find the answers for this question, the researchers designed 20 items to elicit EFL teachers’ perceptions about the benefits of teaching students how to learn English. Table 4.7 is a brief summary of descriptive statistics of the high school EFL teachers’ perceptions in terms of the benefits.
Table 4.7. EFL teachers’ perceptions about the benefits of teaching learning strategies
The benefits of teaching students how to
learn English N Min. Max. Mean SD
1. The teaching of English learning strategies improves student learning efficiency.
40 1 4 3.20 .687
2. The teaching of English learning strategies makes students more interested in learning English.
40 1 4 3.10 .744
3. The teaching of English learning strategies makes students more active in learning English.
40 1 4 3.05 .714
4. The teaching of English learning strategies makes English teaching activities more interesting and engaging.
40 1 4 3.08 .616
5. The teaching of English learning strategies helps to diversify teaching and learning activities (e.g. teaching and learning takes place in the classroom, at home or anywhere, anytime; students can learn with the teacher, with friends or self-study; can teach and learn a variety of skills; can personalize learning, etc.)
40 1 4 3.12 .686
6. Teaching English learning strategies is just as important as using textbooks for students.)
40 1 4 3.02 .733
The benefits of teaching students how to
learn English N Min. Max. Mean SD
7. Teaching English learning strategies creates additional opportunities for students to communicate with their teachers and classmates.
40 1 4 3.05 .749
8. Teaching English learning strategies makes learning activities easier to do.
40 1 4 3.02 .768
9. Teaching English learning strategies caused me to learn harder to have more learning strategies to teach my students.
40 1 4 3.13 .757
10. Teaching English learning strategies makes it easier for teachers to present and convey lesson content.
40 1 4 2.97 .660
11. The teaching of English learning strategies supports student-centered teaching methods.
40 1 4 3.08 .694
12. The teaching of English learning strategies can improve students' understanding of how to learn English.
40 1 4 3.08 .764
13. The teaching of English learning strategies supports students' self-study skills.
40 1 4 3.08 .730
14. The teaching of English learning strategies enhances students' confidence in learning English.
40 1 4 3.10 .672
15. The teaching of English learning strategies makes English learning easier.
40 1 4 3.02 .698
16. The teaching of English learning strategies makes English learning faster.
40 1 4 3.00 .716
17. The teaching of English learning strategies makes English learning more enjoyable.
40 1 4 3.05 .639
18. The teaching of English learning strategies makes English learning more self- directed.
40 1 4 3.10 .545
19. The teaching of learning strategies makes English learning more effective.
40 1 4 3.13 .516
20. The teaching of English learning strategies makes English learning easier to transition to newer situations.
40 1 4 3.08 .616
As demonstrated in Table 4.7, the mean scores for the items about the teachers’ perceptions about the benefits of teaching learning strategies range from 2.97 to 3.20. The participants showed the high agreement with items
number 1, 5 with the mean scores at 3.20, 3.12, whereas item 9 and item 19 with the same mean scores at 3.13. The item number 2 “The teaching of English learning strategies makes students more interested in learning English”, 14 “The teaching of English learning strategies enhances students' confidence in learning English”, and 18 “The teaching of English learning strategies makes English learning more self-directed” have the same mean values. This means that the respondents showed equal agreement with these items. Five items as number 4 “The teaching of English learning strategies makes English teaching activities more interesting and engaging”, 11 “The teaching of English learning strategies supports student-centered teaching methods”, 12 “The teaching of English learning strategies can improve students' understanding of how to learn English”, 13 “The teaching of English learning strategies supports students' self-study skills” and 20 “The teaching of English learning strategies makes English learning easier to transition to newer situations” received the same agreement among the respondents, with 3.08. Similarly, the item number 3 “The teaching of English learning strategies makes students more active in learning English”, 7 “Teaching English learning strategies creates additional opportunities for students to communicate with their teachers and classmates”, and 17 “The teaching of English learning strategies makes English learning more enjoyable” had the average mean values of 3.05. The mean value for items 6, 8, and 15 is 3.02, indicating that the respondents agreed with the benefits of teaching learning strategies as textbooks and simplicity of English activities. The value of item 10 is 2.97, which means that the teachers showed the agreement with this idea. Item 16 also showed the respondents’ agreement with 3.00 when the majority of the teachers stated that the teaching of learning strategies makes English learning faster. The maximum value of nearly all the items is over
teaching learning strategies’ usefulness.
More importantly, this finding was also reaffirmed by what the teachers (T1, T3) shared their opinions about the benefits of teaching English learning strategies to students and teachers in the interview as follows.
In terms of teaching learning strategies’ benefits in students' learning, the responses were:
T1 emphasized the benefits of teaching learning strategies in “enabling students to be more active in learning and making English teaching activities more interesting and engaging.” In term of students’ motivation, T1 supplemented “it motivates them positively”. Regarding students’
achievement, she added “it encourages them to improve their language and a result, their achievement could be better."
Additionally, this finding was reconfirmed by what the teachers shared in the interview as follows.
Teaching English learning strategies creates additional opportunities for students to communicate with their teachers and classmates. It is a good chance for my students to feel that they are learning and develop social skill at the same time. Their social interaction when learning may motivate them intrinsic and extrinsic.
(T2) It is an amazing tool that I use and I think it is an engaging and motivating classroom device for teaching English language. As it enhances students’ learning in general, it also has its effectiveness in developing students’ achievement.
(T3) The teachers’ answers were varied. That may be related to the many benefits like, students’ engagement, students’ motivation, students’
achievement, etc. On the other hand, the teachers agree that teaching students how to learn English has many benefits in general.
In terms of teaching learning strategies’ benefits in teachers' teaching, following were the answers and the comments.
According to T1, when stating about the benefits of teaching learning strategies, she agreed that learning strategies support teachers and that is the main reason for teaching it in her class. Sharing the same opinion that teaching learning strategies will benefit teachers’ teaching, T2 commented that "teachers benefit greatly from teaching learning strategies because it develops teachers’ teaching practice."
I think it brings about many benefits on teachers because learning strategies makes it easier for teachers to present and convey lesson content. Moreover, the teaching of English learning strategies helps to diversify teaching and learning activities such as teaching and learning takes place in the classroom, at home or anywhere, anytime; students can learn with the teacher, with friends or self-study; can teach and learn a variety of skills; can personalize learning, etc.
(T3)
The teachers’ replies were varied but benefits may be related to teachers’ activities that teachers use to teach students.
In short, the findings from the questionnaires and interview indicated that the high school EFL teachers positively perceived about the significant benefits of teaching learning strategies in learning and teaching.
4.4 High School EFL Teachers’ Perceptions about difficulties in teaching learning strategies
Despite the beneficial impacts on teaching and learning, teachers still meet certain challenges when teaching learning strategies to their EFL
students. To answer the third research question “What are high school EFL teachers’ perceptions about the difficulties of teaching students how to learn English?” two items in the survey questionnaire is designed to find out the respondents’ perceived difficulties in teaching their students strategies for learning English.
Table 4.8 presents statistics of item 1 about the EFL teachers’
perceptions about difficulties in learning strategy instruction.
Table 4.8. EFL teachers’ perceptions about the difficulties of teaching learning strategies
The difficulties Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent a. I don't know many English
strategies to teach my students. 17 14.4 14.4 14.4
b. I don't have enough time to integrate teaching learning strategies to students in school instruction.
28 23.7 23.7 38.1
c. My school does not fully and timely support teachers in teaching learning strategies to students.
5 4.2 4.2 42.4
d. I have not been trained to teach learning strategies to students.
19 16.1 16.1 58.5
e. Most parents are not aware of the need for teachers to teach learning strategies to students.
12 10.2 10.2 68.6
f. Most students are not aware of the importance of learning and using learning strategies.
22 18.6 18.6 87.3
g. Most teachers are not aware of the need of teaching learning strategies to students.
5 4.2 4.2 91.5
h. Teaching learning strategies to students is not mandatory for teachers at my school.
9 7.6 7.6 99.2
i. Other reasons 1 .8 .8 100.0
Total 118 100.0 100.0
It can be observed from the above table that, 23.7% of the participants reported that they did not have enough time to integrate teaching learning strategies to students at school. It could be inferred that this is the most common difficulty. According to the high school EFL teachers (18.6%), most students are not aware of the importance of learning and using learning strategies and it is also one of the difficulties. Five out of 40 respondents chose the option c “My school does not fully and timely support teachers in teaching learning strategies to students.” and g “Most teachers are not aware of the need of teaching learning strategies to students.” accounting for 4.2%.
Only 1 teacher (T1) gave other reasons for this question. The difficulty mentioned by T1 was that the ability level of students in a class was varied, and some students did not find it useful to use learning strategies.
Regarding the answers to the open-ended question in item 2 “Do you have any suggestions to motivate teachers to teach English learning strategies to students?”, T1 and T2 answered as follows. T1 showed that limited time allowance indeed challenged teachers “I do not have enough time to teach learning strategies in my teaching. The content of each lesson often takes quite a lot of time, so teachers may not have more time for teaching learning strategies.”
Another teacher stated,
“Regarding my knowledge of learning strategies, I am not good at choosing suitable learning strategies to teach my students. I just know very basic strategies, we still need training but there is no special training for this.” (T2)
Based on the explanation by T1 and T2, it can be said that teachers at high schools should be trained to teach learning strategies to students. They should also be given more time to integrate teaching learning strategies to students in school instruction.
face challenges and difficulties in teaching English learning strategies to their students at school. The challenges and difficulties relate to lack of time, lack of training, and lack of proficiency in using learning strategies. These obstacles would probably prevent teachers from teaching learning strategies in the class.
Talking about some suggestions to motivate teachers to teach English learning strategies to students at school, an interviewee said,
First of all, we should raise high school EFL teachers’ awareness of the importance of teaching learning strategies to their EFL students. This work has to be done carefully and continuously to help high school EFL teachers have a thorough understanding about the necessity, the importance, and the effectiveness of learning strategies in their teaching practice. Moreover, students’ awareness of this issue should also be raised so that there will be a collaboration and support between teachers and students to realize teaching learning strategies effectively in schools.
(T1)
Another teacher said,
Teachers need to be trained to be able to teach learning strategies to their EFL students. As we all may know, training plays an important role in education. Thanks to the help of training, teachers will be equipped with adequate techniques and suitable leaning strategies. In that way, teachers find it easier to apply learning strategies in teaching.
(T2)
There are different suggestions given by the participants. The former stated that teachers’ and students’ awareness of the importance of teaching learning strategies should be raised to carry outto motivate teachers to teach
English learning strategies to students at school. The latter claimed that teachers should be trained to teach and manage learning strategies effectively and appropriately.
As a teacher, one participant shared the opinion to promote the motivation of high school EFL teachers of teaching learning strategies; one teacher (T3) said that “Teachers need to have more time to teach learning strategies.” And she added:
The time amount for English in the curriculum is only 3 periods of English lessons per week and the time given is usually not enough for teachers to cover everything. Teachers normally try to complete all their lessons. As a result, there is no time to teach students learning strategies and prepare them for teaching despite teachers’ preference of teaching them to their students.
(T3)
The interviewees raised another useful suggestion for motivating high school EFL teachers to teach learning strategies. That is to say, EFL teachers should be given more time to integrate teaching learning strategies to students during the class.
In conclusion, from the results in the questionnaire and interview, the researcher can draw a conclusion that the teachers face many difficulties in teaching learning strategies. Some of the most common challenges perceived by teachers were the lack of time, lack of proficiency in using learning strategies, lack of training, lack of support, and negative attitudes to teaching learning strategies.