MODERN PEDAGOGICAL PRACTICES IN ELT CLASSROOM IN PAKISTAN’S SINDH PROVINCE

The current research investigates the use of modern pedagogies in Pakistan. It is intended to address the teaching community's pedagogical problems in Pakistan. Besides, the research also motivates teachers to make use of modern pedagogies and make their teaching effective. Although most teachers use obsolete methods of teaching, this research attempts to investigate and encourage the use of modern pedagogies in Pakistan. Furthermore, modern pedagogies effectively address the learning needs of students. Therefore, this research seeks to investigate which teaching pedagogies are used in teaching English in Pakistan’s Sindh province. Purposive sampling technique and survey questionnaire were used for collecting data from six participants who teach English in government colleges of Pakistan’s Sindh province. The research findings show that the participants are using modern pedagogies when teaching English in their colleges. Additionally, the researchers applied a qualitative method to analyze the data and used a survey questionnaire to collect primary data with the help of purposive sampling. Hence, the current research studies the problem of using modern teaching methodologies in a detailed manner.


1
Introduction The use of modern pedagogies in Pakistan actually demands the immediate attention of applied linguists and education researchers. Teaching is an art and tradition of creating good members of society. With the changes and innovations in the use of information technology, it is becoming necessary to use all the novel technological tools to make teaching effective. Blended learning and flipped classrooms are already becoming accepted pedagogical techniques around the world. Similarly, the use of translanguaging as a pedagogical strategy is widely accepted in classrooms (see Ali, 2021). These pedagogical innovations are being developed in compliance with the dispersion of skills and variety of learning needs that students bring to the class. Unfortunately, the use of modern pedagogies is hardly finding any ground in the context of Pakistan. Most of the teachers still prefer to use the traditional methods of teaching and thereby making their teaching ineffective. The Pakistani teachers will have to realize the importance of modern pedagogies.
Teaching is a timeless tradition and art. Effective teaching creates great members of society who prefer to live by their individual and collective responsibilities. Unfortunately, modern methodologies of language teaching that address the learning needs of students are not still used in Pakistan. Instead, most trainers and teachers tend to use outdated methods that fail to comply with the needs of changing times. As a consequence, Pakistan's educational institutions are not producing well-educated citizens. This is indeed a serious problem in teaching practices used in Pakistan. Hence, the current research attempts to solve the issue by stressing the use of modern pedagogies that effectively cater to the learning needs and timely grooming of students. This research studies modern pedagogies Pakistani teachers use in classrooms and how these impact teaching. Also, it explores why teachers continue to use traditional modes of teaching.
With communicative practices and social relations gaining the ground, the scholars world over are declaring English as a socially formed situational tradition rather than a homogeneous language (Canagarajah, 2014). This revolutionary change in English demands pragmatics not grammar, the social context not cognition to be the vital elements to gain language competence. Thus the language teachers world over need to focus pedagogical practices on procedural knowledge (Canagarajah, 2014).
English is no more the language of the people who live in England but it has now become a global heritage to be inherited by more than a hundred nationalities stretching across the world (Crystal, 2012). With its immense importance as a language of trade, commerce, science and technology, diplomacy, politics, and global communication, it is as Kachru (1994) says English has been localized in South Asia. Mehmood and Rehman (2011) conclude in their research that teachers briefly introduce the topic to be taught and ask questions from students so as to know about their knowledge of the topic. They use multimedia and other tools so that the students may have a full comprehension of the topic being taught. The teachers communicate with the students at such a comprehensible pace that the students find it easy to understand them easily. Teachers ask comprehension questions at the end to recapitulate and evaluate their methodology and students' overall understanding of the topic. It was also found out that the teachers give and check home assignments regularly so as to keep the students in touch with what is being taught. The teachers wherever necessary engage the students in groups and open discussions to enhance their learning and interest level. It was also found out that the teacher's inquiries were not complete and up to the mark. Teachers' body language was in harmony with the contents. They ended the study suggesting that there should be maximum use of audiovisual aids so that their learning outcomes multiply.
Having thus attained the status of global heritage, researchers need to employ various approaches and techniques which enable us to make the most of it by learning it effectively. In order to learn it easily and automatically, we need to choose the methods which facilitate our task to learn it as Sauvignon (2007) suggests us to take its meaning into account rather than its form. Richards (2000) and Rogers (2004) also explained it in the same way that in CLT classes students have to communicate with each other therefore they need to be monitored, guided, and adjusted by the teacher continuously so as to know that learning objectives are being achieved through that process. Continuous monitoring makes both teaching and learning effectively. This is a modern method of teaching students by scaffolding to put them on the right track.
In order to have access to classical antiquity and treasures, people used the translation method to learn both Latin and Greek thus this method also came to be known as the classical method (Idris, 2019). This method was a teacher-centered method that revolved around the teacher as the center of all learning. Unfortunately, we have been applying this method in our schools and colleges and even up to graduation level preparing parrots not dynamic and creative learners. The teacher is the center of learning with all learning activities revolving around him which are later on to be crammed and reproduced to pass an examination (Idris, 2019). (Durrani (2008) in her research comparing the effectiveness of the Grammar Translation Method. with communicative language teaching says GTM is an easier and more acceptable way for undergraduates to learn English than CLT. Similarly, Khatmah (2020) sees the most conspicuous and important characteristics of language teaching missing in a traditional ELT class i.e: reading, writing, speaking, and listening, and urges them to be given preference.
Despite writing being the most important aspect of learning, teachers give very negligible importance or time to it (Graham & Hebert, 2011). Donovan, et al (2006 reiterates the same fact that instead of teaching how to teach writing essays the students are given expected essays to cram and reproduce in exams. The same is the situation with reading in our private or public sector schools and colleges the teacher reads the contents from any unit, asks questions, and writes new words on the board, and the students are asked to read them loudly (Vazir & Ismail, 2009).
There are teachers who can teach in a systematic way as Khan (2011) says by teaching students appropriate writing skills following pre-writing discussion making outlines and providing requisite vocabulary but they do not do so just because of the scarcity of time, curricular reservations, and low standard of learners. The systematic way of teaching as discussed by Khan (2011) also falls into the categories of modern pedagogies. Thus, the emphasis on modern pedagogies is rampant among researchers as well as teachers.
In contrast to Khan's findings (2011), Fareed, Jawed, & Awan (2018 conclude in their joint research that teaching practices at the SSC level in Pakistan are embarrassingly annoying and damaging. They still focus on teachers reading lessons aloud with translation in native languages and writing has never been given any importance as the students have to cram selected essays to pass exams. In the same way, another researcher Nawab (2012) concludes by saying that English, in Chitral as it is the case everywhere in Pakistan, is taught as a subject. GTM is in vogue thus students scarcely have any chance to exercise and implement language skills in the class.
Ali (2021b) also employed translanguaging as an effective tool of language teaching in Sindh's context. Though the scope of his qualitative research is limited, its findings and suggestive tone might be effective in contextualizing language teaching to a local context. Furthermore, Ali (2021a) recommends proactiveness in Language teaching which might be helpful in developing post method techniques in Sindh and Pakistan's context.
The above review of the literature clearly stands by the fact that modern methodologies of teaching are rarely practiced in Pakistan. However, some teachers prefer to use GTM, yet in most cases, no sophisticated techniques are employed in teaching; thus, the aim of this research paper is to emphasize the need of using modern pedagogies, such as communicative approach and contentbased learning by highlighting ground realities.

Methodology
The current research is qualitative and empirical in its form and contents. The researchers made use of semi-structured interviews to collect data. Furthermore, the researchers addressed a practical problem of modern pedagogies and their use in Pakistan.
The researchers sent a survey questionnaire containing nine questions asking about the way English and its skills were being taught. The researchers sent that questionnaire through Whatsapp and emails just because of the lockdown imposed in the wake of COVID-19. The questionnaires were sent to five practicing young lecturers of government colleges teaching in different districts of Pakistan's Sindh province, such as Badin, Umerkot, and Sanghar. The average was of the participants was around 42. The participants were male lecturers of the English language. They were chosen because they used different teaching methodologies and exploring such teaching methodologies is the aim of this research. The nine questions asked from the participants are given here.
Q # 1 : How do you plan your lesson? Q # 2 : How do you teach the students reading? (intensive and extensive) Q # 3 : Which latest methods do you use to teach them? Q # 4 : How do you enhance their listening skills? Q # 5 : What is the course of conversation during class? Q # 6 : What approaches and techniques do you use to enhance their speaking skills? Q # 7 : What materials do you provide them to enhance their speaking skills? Q # 8 : What techniques do you use to teach them writing? Q # 9 : How do you use teaching strategies to make teaching lessons effective?
The researchers employed purposive sampling to include expert teachers as participants who provided primary data through a survey questionnaire. Besides, the researchers conducted five interviews with each no longer than five minutes.
In this research paper, the researchers have coded themes based upon the nine questions sent to the participants. Data collected was processed further to take out relevant excerpts and qualitatively analyze these.

Results
In this section, researchers embark upon analyzing the responses received from the lecturers' aforementioned questions by keeping their collective and individual responses into mind.

Answer to question # 1:
Except for one participant all participants responded that they planned a lesson plan and the way they planned it including the activities and methodology showed that they used communicative Language Teaching. A participant said that he did not need to plan a lesson as he had been teaching the same class every year therefore he had a mind map of what and how he had to go about teaching students. His inclusion of activities also showed that he employed CLT to teach the students. When teaching reading to their intermediate students, four of the participants planned to carry on loud reading using Grammar And Translation Method.

Answer to Question # 2 :
In their responses to question number two, all participants said that they preferred extensive reading so as to know students' pronunciation, accent and boost their confidence level. The teachers also read aloud so as to be modeled by students. This is one of the Grammar and Translation Method techniques. All followed comprehension questions during and at the end of the text being read. One participant also added that he used both intensive and extensive reading letting the students read the passage and deduce its meaning-making a smart guess from the context. He said: " I begin with the topic, ask questions regarding the topic and ask students to try to suggest what the topic could be about.... Students read the passage, I translate it for them and give meaning of unfamiliar words... While reading I do ask questions to check their comprehension." The rest of the teachers said that taught the students all reading techniques so that the students should give a target-oriented reading.

Answer to Question # 3:
All the participants excluding one said that they used smartboards containing graphics and videos related to their syllabus, projectors, graphic illustrations Android Apps to teach their students which is a fine amalgamation of communicative and blended learning approaches. The use of these modern methods and aids at public sector colleges is no doubt an effort worth appreciating. It shows teachers' seriousness and interest which will certainly yield fruitful outcomes. A participant said: " I mostly use mixed methods....sometimes I use translation method....while teaching grammar. I do use communicative method to muster students confidence and initiate interaction among them."

Answer to Question# 4:
Replying to question number 3 the participants said that they used ICT resources, audio, and video clips to enhance students' listening skills which is a combination of both audio-lingual and communicative approaches. They also spoke with the students in English and asked frequent comprehension questions so as to know to what extent the students had been successful in making sense of what their teachers were speaking. This made students listen to their teachers intently. Listening to the target language is the most important and natural technique which can certainly help students comprehend and communicate reciprocally in the target language. The more students are exposed to listening, the better will there be their speaking skills.

Answer to Question # 5:
All participants except one who did not respond to this question replied that they used content-based conversation. They did not wholly speak in English. They rarely spoke on general topics. They spoke about the content thus they exercised communicative teaching to talk to students about the familiar topics and engage the students in them. Unless a teacher speaks in the target language the students will not have the opportunity to listen to the target language and acquire comprehension, vocabulary, pronunciation, and practical usage of grammar rules to speak correctly.

Answer to Question # 6 :
The teachers replying to this question said that they used a variety of interactive techniques to enrich their speaking skills. Some teachers arranged debates and group discussions. They made them deliver speeches and conducted mock interviews so as to boost their confidence and enhance their interpersonal communication skills. Some teachers made them perform a role-play activity that is: a conversation between a customer and a shopkeeper and so on. One of the participants revealing the ground realities said: " While teaching grammar I make different groups and give them activities to interact ....sometimes class is so large that students can't get chance to speak.....most of the times students show reluctance in speaking due to their weak language skills...".
All these activities reflected that they used communicative approaches to groom students' speaking skills. With the induction of an increased number of teachers on a merit basis, a lot of talented teachers have made their successful way to obtain government jobs which have proved to be a good omen for students at public sector schools and colleges.

Answer to Question# 7:
In their response to this question, all teachers were of the view that they provided real, authentic, and comprehensible language material to enhance their speaking skills. Mostly they provided audio and video clips to watch and listen to them. In some districts of Sindh, the government has provided the schools and colleges with smart boards which have videos and audios related to their syllabus thus there the teachers provide them hands-on access to that material as well. This technique is jointly used in both audio-lingual and communicative methods. Some teachers provided some reading material such as stories, passages, articles and so on to be read and discussed in the class. Some teachers share websites or links to watch material from them and enhance their speaking skills. A participant showing the other side of everything green says: "7... Owing to large classes I can't provide them with any kind of material...but I do play audio videos to give them exposure to the language..."

Answer to question # 8:
One participant replying to this question said:" I use following writing techniques for their writing development: Brain storming, mind mapping, outlining, clustering , drafting, sharing, editing, revising etc." He taught students following the procedural steps whereas the rest of the teachers could not clearly mention their strategies to teach students writing skills. They also employed communicative techniques to make the students write on day-to-day issues using three simple tenses: present, past, and future. Another participant said: " I teach them from scratch. Words, sentence, paragraph, writing types and all about writing. I provide them a starter pack that is good to go. I teach them all types & techniques. What helps me most is providing them with feedback. Written corrective feedback is what has done miracles for my students. I post their writings in my office board or read them aloud in class or ask students to give them to other teachers to appreciate them (I already have a motivational setting with those teachers not to get my students demotivated).
Some teachers said they made them write freely without taking care of grammar mistakes so that they could get fluency first and accuracy afterward step by step once they gained confidence. Overall they all were applying communicative techniques to teach them writing which was a welcome sign for the students.

Answer to Question # 9:
In his replies to this question, a participant said that he used cooperative learning strategies in his pre-service training programs with activities such as pair work, group work, jigsaw presentations, role plays, etc. Whereas the rest of the teachers used communicative teaching techniques and their students' used audio-visual aids, group discussions interactive practices, and so on. On the contrary, another participant stated: "Unfortunately, due to lack of proper language classroom aids....large classes, varied levels of students in the classroom, their irregularity and obsolete syllabus I am unable to use modern methodologies to teach them" This response clearly indicates his adopting Grammar and Translation Method which is generally in vogue in most of the colleges.

Discussion
The above research showed that the majority of young and talented teachers appointed on a merit basis are full of fervor and have an intrinsic motivation to teach. They are aware of their responsibility to teach using modern methods and techniques but they are halted by a variety of challenges and constraints to achieve their dream.
The participants' responses demonstrated how they used modern methods and techniques of teaching. Earlier researchers (Ali, 2021a;Khan, 2011) discussed how different techniques can be used to enhance and improve the process of second language learning, but our research discusses how different teachers used many techniques and teaching methods in some colleges in Sindh. Our research adds to the understanding of the phenomenon that teaching practices and pedagogies when used appropriately, though without combining such techniques can also enhance learning language.
Our research also contributes to encouraging teachers to use different methods and techniques combined or separately, this can have positive effects on learning a language. Teachers of English can also assess the impacts of different strategies, methods, and techniques and choose the one that works well in their context.
We suggest the following points to be considered by teachers:  They should be provided with the latest audiovisual aids and equipment to teach their students using the latest methodologies.  They should be given a class having ideal strength so that they should be able to teach their students through communicative and other modern approaches ideally.  The existing curriculum should be completely changed so that it fulfills the needs of studentslanguage competence.  Newly-appointed lecturers should be trained to teach their respective subjects as there is no training mechanism at colleges or higher secondary levels in Sindh.  The assessment system should completely be changed to make it test students' skills, abilities, creativity, and critical thinking making them use their observation and understanding of society and its issues.

Conclusion
From the above-mentioned analysis, one could easily conclude that there is a hotchpotch of different methodologies being used keeping the demand of the class in mind. We witness both Grammar and Translation Methods and Communicative Language Teaching being practiced in the class accompanied by Audio-Lingual, Blended Teaching, Cooperative approaches, and electives methods. Reading skills were generally found to be taught using Grammar-and Translation Method. Whereas speaking and writing were taught using communicative and a variety of methods. Young teachers (as all participants are) are infused with enthusiasm and vigor to teach differently using modern techniques to teach their students. Whereas an unsupportive environment and lack of resources seem to be a hurdle in their way.