RESEARCH PROPOSAL

Difficulties Faced by Urdu Medium Students

During Graduation while Learning English
Submitted To:
Ms. Nagina Kamwal
Submitted By:
Muhammad Tafzeel Zahid (BBA-F14-11)
Gulfam Haider (BBa-F14-24)

Department of Business
Administration
University of the Punjab
Jhelum Campus

Table of Contents
Introduction..............................................................................................
...............1
Statement of
Problems........................................................................................1.1
Research
Questions.............................................................................................1.
2
Objectives................................................................................................
............1.3
Significance of the
Study......................................................................................1.4

Research
Methodology............................................................................................
2
Research
Design...................................................................................................2.
1
Population................................................................................................
............2.2
Sample.....................................................................................................
.............2.3
Research
Tools......................................................................................................2.
4
Data Collection &
Analysis....................................................................................2.5
Conclusion................................................................................................
...............3
References...............................................................................................
................4

1. Introduction
At school level, the education system of Pakistan is divided into three
categories on the basis of medium of instruction.
1. The government vernacular-medium schools which use Urdu and the
regional languages as Sindhi, Balochi, Punjabi, Pashto, etc as their medium of
instruction for teaching almost all the subjects.

2. English medium schools (private, state influenced public schools and

cadet colleges) which teach all subjects in English except Islamic and Urdu
compulsory.
3. Religious seminaries (madreassas of the two major sects of Islam Sunni
and Shia) which mostly uses vernaculars for teaching(1)
However at higher education level (colleges and universities), there is only
one medium of instruction: that Is English. Thus there are two streams of
students entering from the schools into our higher education institutions:
a. Students from Urdu or vernacular medium background.
b. Students from English medium background.(2)
As far as English medium students are concerned, they do not feel much
difficulty in coping with the environment as well as the advance study; whereas,
the vernacular medium students face a lot of problems in competing them:
1. These students cannot comprehend the lectures and books which are
mostly in English.
2. They have to face so many hurdles in explaining their point of view due
to the lack of
Verbal competency.
3. Their academic results suffer a lot as they usually secure low grades due
ti their inability
to write proper English sentences.
4. Their difficulties in English language result in their failure in the particular
subject. And
Since English is a compulsory subject, failure in English means failure in
the entire
University examination.(3)
5. Due to poor academic results and failure, these students suffer from
financial and
economical problems as they cannot get reasonable jobs.
6. Along with the academic and financial problems, these learners face a
lot of
psychological pressures and anxieties. It has been noted that such
learners start assuming
The People who are fluent in English as more intelligent and capable and
thus start
undermining their own potential.
The causes of these problems seem to lie deep-noted as English is not at all
a new language ti these vernacular-medium learners. In almost all of the
institutions, it is taught up to the graduation level as a compulsory subject.
However, it has been noted that usually Grammar-Translation Method (GTM) is
adopted to teach it. By utilizing the mother-tongue, national and the regional
languages, the grammatical rules as well as from and into English translations
are taught to the students hoping that the already acquired language will support
the target language and by comparing the two languages the students will be in
a better position to understand the English structures.
But many researchers and linguists blame this GTM approach as the
flawed pedagogy along with the faulty material design responsible for these
problems of the learners. They argue that GTM usually proves beneficial in the

beginning as the students find it easy to learn by relating to some previous

knowledge. But it should not be the only medium used because in this manner,
the mother tongue of the learners seems to interfere a lot, and the learners
always appear pre-occupied in comparing the two languages to form English
sentences which usually results in blunders.
One obvious reason for these difficulties seems to be the unavailability of
the encouraging environment for the use of English in vernacular-medium
instruction. In a country where the literacy rate is just 54%. It is very difficult for
a learner to practice a foreign language in his daily communication. Englishmedium learners have the advantage over vernacular-medium learners in this
case. They can practice in the classroom and develop their confidence and skill;
whereas the vernacular-medium learners lack these opportunities. Moreover,
social factors also cause shyness and hesitation among the learners. English is
still regarded as a symbol of Western culture in Pakistan and the people seems to
be in a fear of being alienated in their society.
Thus there are so many social-psychological problems and difficulties that
hinder the efficient and proficient learning of English language. These difficulties
hinder the proficient written expression and verbal communication causing so
many other economical and career problems.
As Pakistan is a multilingual country where hundreds of vernaculars are
spoken, it would be very difficult to analyze the effects of each and every
vernacular. Therefore, for the sake of convenience and to resolve the ambiguity,
the researcher is going to consider only the students belonging to Urdu-medium
background.
1.1. Statement of Problem
The English language learners belonging to the Urdu-medium instructions
face hurdles in the way of efficient and proficient linguistic activity(written and
verbal communication), after reaching a higher level of education in graduation.
1.2. Research Questions
What are the difficulties faced by English language learner belonging to the
Urdu-medium instructions?
What specially-designed pedagogical strategies can be applied?
1.3. Objectives
The researcher wants to:

Analyze various social, psychological and pedagogical factors responsible

for the
difficulties in the proficient English language communication.

Make the language teachers aware of the important role they have to
perform in such a situation.

Suggest some effective remedial pedagogical strategies to cater the

needs of such students.
1.4. Significance of the Study

As only a small number of institutions are using English as medium of

instructions, most of the learners of English language belong to Urdu and
regional medium instructions. This research will provide an overview of the
difficulties faced by most of the students of English from such backgrounds. The
results of the research may help the teachers to be aware of these problems and
adopt certain suitable strategies to remedy them. The research can be applied to
a wide range of the learners even above the graduation level and in fields other
than arts.
2. Research Methodology
The researcher is foreseeing to adopt an experimental methodology so that
to find out the practical solutions of the problems.
2.1. Research Design
The researcher will use a combination of qualitative and quantitative
paradigm of research.
2.2. Population
The population of this research will be the students of the University of the
Punjab Jhelum Campus.
2.3. Sample
The sample of this research will be 42 students of English class from the
same university who will be selected on the basis of their Urdu-medium
educational background.
2.4. Research Tools
The researcher is going to use the following research tools:
A. Survey Tools
get statistical

The researcher will use a Questionnaire (having 12 questions) to

data from the students.

B. Field-Study Tools
changes in the
teachers.

The researcher will use observation sheets to note down various

results of pre and post tests of the students after meeting with

2.5. Data Collection & Analysis

The data will be collected through questionnaires, interviews and
observation sheets as well as pre and post tests. The presentation will be in the
form of tabular charts and graphs, and the analysis will be done in the form of
the comparison of the percentages of the two groups of the students.

2.5. Data Presentation & Analysis

For the presentation of data, tabular charts will be used. For
example, the
questionnaire data will be presented and analyzed in the following
manners:
Key
Question
Question
Question
Question
Question

1
2
3
4
5

Strongly
Agree
%
%
%
%
%

Agree

Uncertain

Disagree

%
%
%
%
%

%
%
%
%
%

%
%
%
%
%

Strongly
Disagree
%
%
%
%
%

The comparison will be done, in the form of progress charts and graphs.
For example, the result of the experimentation will be shown as follows:
4. References
1. A.P.R Howatt. A History of English Language Teaching (Oxford University
Press, 1984)
2. Faiza Amin Mohammad Khalil. Evidence of mother tongue interference in
foreign language acquisition: a case study of Kuwaiti learners (University College.
Cardiff, 1981)
3. James Coady. Thomas N. Huckin. Second Language Vocabulary acquisition: a
rationale for pedagogy. (Cambridge University Press, New York, 1997)
4. N.S. Ahmed. 1964. Teaching of English as a Second Language. (The Carwan
Book House, Lahore, Pakistan)
5. Tariq Rehman Denizens of alien worlds: a study of education inequality and
polarization in Pakistan (Oxford University Press, 2004)