Research strategy

This section outlines how the current study utilised the mixed methods research approach. First, the research questions are presented. Second, the purpose of a preliminary study in relation to the main study is explained. Third, the main research goal and the objectives are defined according to the main research question. Finally, the research procedure shows how the main research goal and the objectives were carried out through different stages of the research study.

5.2.1 Research question

The main research question which was tackled in this research was:

1. How do the teachers of English (in Jaffna) perceive various classroom and other related problems (such as socio-economic and political issues which are connected to the teachers’ profession) affected their English teaching efficacy?

Prior to investigating the main research question, a sub-research question was answered through a preliminary study:

2. Are the teachers whose students perform very well in English providing more effective teaching to their students than the teachers whose students underperform in English?

The need for considering the sub-research question is explained in the next section.

5.2.2 Purpose of a preliminary study

The preliminary study in the current research had two aims. The first aim was to establish the operational criteria or definitions to be used in conducting the main study. Operational definitions in a research programme serve two important purposes: (1) They establish the rules and procedures to measure the key variables of the study, and (2) they provide unambiguous meaning to terms used in order to prevent the data from being misinterpreted (Fisher et al., 2002). Teachers of English, principals, resource personnel and retired teachers of English in Jaffna were involved through questionnaires and interviews in achieving this aim. In

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order to establish the operational criteria which were necessary to address the main research question the following two preparatory questions were formed:

1. According to the current teachers of English, what are the various classroom and related socio-economic and political problems associated with the English language teaching (ELT) programme in the secondary schools in the district of Jaffna?

2. According to principals, retired teachers of English and resource personnel of ELT, what are the most needed aspects of effectiveness in teaching English teaching in secondary classrooms in the district of Jaffna?

The second aim of the preliminary study was to answer the sub-research question mentioned above. It was the experience of the researcher (as a former teacher of English in Jaffna) that when teachers were blamed by the educational authorities for their lack of effectiveness in teaching English, they often compared their students’ poor performance with the high performance of the students in some leading schools. Hence, before investigating how various classroom problems affected the English teaching efficacy, the researcher wanted to establish whether the high-performing students in leading schools really received more effective English lessons from their teachers. This second aim was achieved by obtaining information from students through questionnaires and observing their English lessons. It was believed by the researcher that the findings of the sub-research question would help to elicit a better understanding of teachers’ perceptions in the main study.

5.2.3 Purpose of the main study

The purpose of the main study was to deal with the central research question of the study i.e., how the teachers of English (in Jaffna) perceive various classroom and other related problems (such as socio-economic and political issues which are connected to the teachers’ profession) affected their English teaching efficacy. The purpose was achieved by distributing questionnaires to teachers of English and interviewing those who volunteered from those questionnaire participants. The questions for designing the questionnaire and the interview were formulated from the data gathered in the preliminary study. A better understanding of the

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teachers’ perception in the main study was gained by incorporating the findings of the preliminary study in which the other participants such as the students,

principals, resource personnel and retired teachers of English were involved through questionnaires, interviews and lesson observations.

5.2.4 Research goal and objectives

The main research goal of the current study, based on the central research

question, was to achieve an in-depth understanding of teachers’ perceptions as to how various classroom and other related problems affected their English teaching efficacy in schools in Jaffna. In order to achieve this main research goal, two objectives were set up based on the two preparatory questions mentioned in the previous section.

i. Determining various problems frequently faced by teachers in the classroom and in their overall teaching context

ii. Defining the elements of effective teaching of English which were considered to be beneficial to students

These two objectives were set to obtain information necessary to design the research instruments to investigate the main research problem. In other words they were set out to establish the operational definitions necessary to achieve the main research goal in the main study.

5.2.5 Research procedure

Since the two research objectives mentioned above were set to establish the operational definitions to conduct the main study, they were achieved through relevant research instruments (questionnaires to students and teachers, lesson observations and interviews with teachers, resource personnel, principals and retired teachers) in a preliminary study prior to the main study. From the information gathered from the preliminary study, a main study was designed to achieve the main research goal in which the current teachers of English

participated through questionnaires and interviews. Table 3 summarises the details of the research procedure described here.

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Table 3. The research procedure

The Procedure of Research

Research Stages Participants Research Instruments Research Methods Preliminary Study Students Teachers Students & Teachers Principals Resource Personnel Retired Teachers Questionnaire Questionnaire Lesson Observations Interview Quantitative Quantitative Qualitative Qualitative Main Study Teachers Questionnaire Interviews Quantitative Qualitative