Interview Data

5.15.1 Students views about their English learning after completing Course

N=15 students who took part in interview-1, participated in interview-2 to have further insights on the questionnaire-2. The students were asked how they felt about their overall English learning at university when they entered the course to now when they have finished the English course. The majority of the students felt that they have improved and learned English language at university. They students felt that before taking English course at university they felt that English learning is difficult but now it is easier for them to learn it. This is due to the fact that the English language subjects in school and college are based on literature where students have to give central idea of the poetry or explain verses or answer questions based on prose lessons. In addition the students have to translate sentence from L1 to L2 and vice versa. The students said,

S8: ‘there are two different experiences my past which was very boring and not useful

and now at the university. Here at the university the teachers are very competent and they wish that students should cooperate with them….This course was very beneficial for us we have tried a lot...but we haven’t got full benefit of it. Teacher was very cooperative and she was already very happy to help us and we were lazy.. there are very major improvement present in us....in every class there was new thing for us to improve our English’.

S9: ‘when I entered the university I thought my English was not good but now I feel I have improved I can write letter paragraph précis in proper way many more things about English before this...Before university I didn’t have language power’

One of the students was of the opinion that English was very difficult subject before attending English course at university but later he realized that it easier for him to understand and learn it.

S12: ‘ actually I had some views about learning English that it was very difficult language but now when I have finished my course I thought that it is not difficult it has become easier for me to understand and learn it and I have learned more in comparison when I entered’

The students also told what problems they had in English before entering the university course

S13: ‘well when first time when I came to university I had many problems regarding English I lacked vocab and lack of confidence speaking and writing but I took my English course I got confidence and regarding grammar vocab pronunciation, reading writing and everything was helpful’

Two of the students, who came from the private school and learned English from kindergarten to college, felt that they have not made any progress. In the private schools such as Beaconhouse or City School, English courses are based on Oxford or Cambridge systems which help students to learn English effectively. These students had exposure to the English courses offered at the university in school and college. This is why they probably did not find the course useful or made no progress.

S4 ‘sir I can’t find any progress in language I haven’t made any progress I won’t say it is good or bad… I think I belong to private background and it is government background other students are from government that’s why I think I don’t think there is any progress’

S2 ‘ for me it is the same experience as I was as I am. No change’.

5.15.2 Change in Students’ views about English learning

The students were asked whether they found any change in their views about English learning after attending the English course at university. The majority of students felt that their views about learning English have changed due to the fact they have made progress after attending the English language course.

The students felt,

S3: ‘Yes I found some of changes I have improved myself I have built confidence now I

am crazy after learning English before I used to think ok I have to learn English..I feel good to speak English’.

S5: ‘Yes sir..Things are changing..it is most important..sir after this course I have

come to realize that English is the most important.’

S8 ‘my views about my past learning are the same but now the way mam Rosy has taken our classes I don’t know about other teachers but my views are completely

changed because of this course. Our speaking our writing and letters application have been improved and it has offered positive change.’

S9 ‘Yes sir I have changed myself although first of all my vocabulary was not good so I

improved…Sir my views changed because before taking this course I thought that English was not necessary and it is just a paper that we need to pass but now I think it is something beyond that something we are going to need in sphere of life.

S13 ‘Yes of course I thought that English looks like difficult language to learn but then

teacher made it very comfortable for us and it became easy..yes it is not difficult at all .Regarding English when you come across people speaking looks difficult but by practicing with English folks or friends it becomes easy...this change has taken place and I speak confidently’.

S10 ‘Changes were that I thought the English should be in all eight semesters and it is

language of engineers and it is only present in one semester and it is vast subject and we whatever we do but still we need to learn’.

The students’ views changed after taking English language course. At the start of the English language course they thought that English is difficult to learn. After taking English language course they are of view that English is easy to learn. Because of this they want to have more English classes during their undergraduate studies. This is because they felt that the tasks in class are useful for them. The role of teacher was very vital. The students felt that the teachers made tasks easier and useful for everybody.

5.16 Summary

The questionnaires and interview tools used in this study attempted to measure students’ responses on 07 motivational factors (1) Instrumental Motivation (2) Integrative Motivation (3) Parental Encouragement (4) English course motivational components (5) English Teacher specific motivational components (6) English class and use anxiety and (7) Identity and English learning. In addition, the interview data have been linked to have further illustrative insights on the questionnaire data. The comparison of responses of the students in both questionnaires 1 and 2 and interviews 1 and 2 seemed to show high consistency in responses in both questionarie-1 and questionnaire-2. The students who strongly agreed with the items in

questionnaire-1 strongly agreed in questionnaire-2 and the ones strongly disagreed in questionnaire-1 strongly disagreed in questsionnaire-2.

It appears that the students’ motivation for learning English is both instrumental and integrative. The instrumental purposes for learning English are related to acquiring scientific knowledge and becoming a successful engineer. The integrative motions are related to becoming part of Pakistani engineering community or indigenous Pakistani community who speaks English. The parents, teachers and English course are also other sources for students’ motivation for learning English. The comparison of mean scores of questionnaire-1 and 2 suggest that students’ motivation change over the period of the English course.

The changes which have emerged because of the English language suggest that the English course has been source of motivation for the engineering university students to learn English. The Process model of motivation claims that motivation changes over the period of time. These changes occur when the students came to university. They had high expectations of the English language course and their choice of action was that they are prepared for the English language course. This confidence in the English language course helped them to adopt a more positive approach towards the process of learning. They were aware what are their weaknesses and how are they progressing. They sustained their efforts and continued which helped them to progress well in the English language.

Students’ learning experience was fun and interesting because the tasks in the English course were quite relevant and helped them to use English in their daily life. This interest, according to Dörnyei and Ottó (1998), depends on many factors including quality of learning experience, peers’ influence and goal structure (cooperative, individualistic). The English course provided students with tasks that encouraged them to do work in pairs and groups. This positive nature of learning experience seems to be the motivating force to sustain the effort of learning English until the end of course.

The next chapter discusses and evaluates the results presented in chapter 5 in relation to the research questions (RQs) and the literature review in chapter 3.

Chapter 6