TEACHING SPOKEN ENGLISH IN PAKISTAN: AN OVERVIEW OF RESEARCH FINDINGS

Abstract

This paper presents an overview of spoken English in Pakistan. Teaching, learning, and assessment of Spoken English have been a subject of debate among linguists, curriculum planners, and the Ministry of Education and language policy. This research aims to investigate the phenomenon of teaching English regarding spoken proficiency. It discussed both theoretical and practical perspectives in the Pakistani multilingual context through a follow-up of research papers and reports published in the past decade (2010-2020). The researcher observed the findings of 10 research papers in light of Coleman's report (2010). The researcher used the Creswell model of a mixed method for this analysis. Findings of research papers and reports were analyzed in terms of the frequency of the discussion of common problems in the past decade. A revisiting of previously published research shows a consistent warning of low proficiency levels due to the problems discussed earlier in Coleman's report (2010). Data was consistent throughout and no change was observed in the situations highlighted by Coleman in 2011. Finally, the researcher used a mixed method (Creswell 2011) to conduct an in-depth analysis of research findings and draw the attention of language policymakers and course designers toward practical aspects of the phenomenon. All findings were gathered, analyzed, and compared with current trends. It was observed that all paper confirms the findings of Coleman's report (2010) and no progress has been observed since then. English Proficiency Index EF 2019 of Pakistan shows a decrease in 2019.