Introduction

Education is conceived as a powerful agency in bringing about the desired

changes in the social and cultural life of a nation. In today’s world of science and
technology, it is education, which determines the level of prosperity of the people.
What we need today is a sound and effective system of education, which results in the
enfoldment of learner’s potentialities. Only the teacher, the real architect of a nation’s
destiny, more effectively renders this work.
A very perceptible change came with the advent of industrialization and
society is in need of trained meritorious personnel. Hence, there is a tremendous
pressure to see that all students acquire requisite qualifications. This cannot be
attained if the student does not adapt himself to the exposure of knowledge. English
plays an important role in this. Students at the school level need to acquire better
proficiency in English. Thus, the effective role of the ESL teacher in the classroom is
indispensable.

As far as Chhattisgarh is concerned, the vision of a developed state would be a

reality if we pursue scientific, engineering and technical education. Strong English
foundation at secondary level is required to achieve this target.

Thus, teacher efficacy is undoubtedly a factor, which would enhance in

attaining this objective. How a teacher performs his duty as a second language teacher
depends on his interest and attitude towards this subject. This makes the task of
teaching more satisfying and rewarding. Teacher’s attitudes not only affect his
behavior in the classroom but also influence the behaviour and ability of his students.
(Pidgeon, 1970) The teachers’ interest and attitude is significantly correlated to
pupil’s achievement. (Goyal, 1984) Thus, interest and attitudes of the second language
teachers towards English play a vital role in deciding the career of students thereby
building a developed Chhattisgarh.

Rationale of the study

The role of ESL teachers in Chhattisgarh, therefore, is quite significant in this

context. The dynamic of teachers’ functioning is to be understood. More so, because
of the dismal picture of success in English at secondary level examination, meager

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percentage of success in competitive exams due to this subject and therefore to
achieve adequate reforms in this concern, it is essential to measure the interest and
attitude of the ESL teachers towards this subject. The study of language interest and
attitudes of second language teachers with reference to Chhattisgarh was almost
untouched by the researchers. As such, a great need of an in depth study was sensed to
find out the interest and attitude of ESL teachers towards English. Hence, the study
has been done. `

Objectives of the study

I. To study the interest of male and female second language teachers towards
English
II. To study the interest of second language teachers towards English with respect
to their locality. (urban /rural /tribal)
III. To study the interest of second language teachers towards English on the basis
of gender. (urban-male/female, rural-male/female, tribal-male/female)
IV. To study the attitude of male and female second language teachers towards
English
V. To study the attitude of second language teachers towards English in relation to
their locality. (urban/rural/tribal)
VI. To study the attitude of the second language teachers towards English on gender
basis. (urban-male/female, rural-male/female, tribal-male/female)

VII. To study the correlation of interest and attitude of the teachers towards English

Hypothesis

H01. There will be no significant difference between the interest of male and female
teachers in English as a second language.

H02. There will be no significant difference in the interest of (i).urban and rural
teachers, (ii).urban and tribal teachers and (iii) rural and tribal teachers in
English.

H03. There will be no significant difference in the interest of all the six groups of
teachers i.e., urban male, urban female, rural male, rural female, tribal male

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 and tribal female teachers in English.

H04. There will be no significant difference between the attitude of male and female
teachers towards English as a second language.

H05. There will be no significant difference in the attitude of (i).urban and rural
teachers, (ii).urban and tribal teachers and (iii) rural and tribal teachers
towards English.

H06. There will be no significant difference in the attitude of all the six groups of
teachers i.e., urban male, urban female, rural male, rural female, tribal male
and tribal female teachers towards English.

H07. There will be no positive correlation between the interest and attitude of urban
male, urban female, rural male, rural female, tribal male and tribal female
teachers towards English.

Methodology

Survey Method was employed in this investigation.

The Sample Frame

Three districts of Chhattisgarh were randomly selected i.e. Raipur, Dhamtari

and Kanker. Out of the total population of ESL teachers of the three districts (1198),
25% i.e. 300 teachers were selected randomly for the study on the basis of the data
procured from 7th All India School Survey, 2002, NCERT, New Delhi.

The Research Tools

For measuring, the interest and attitude towards English two instruments as ESL
Teachers’ Interest Inventory (ETII) and ESL Teachers’ Attitude Scale (ETAS) were
constructed by the investigator. The techniques of tryout and item analysis were adopted.

Analysis and Interpretation of Data

HO-1

The female teachers surpass the male teachers in their mean language interest

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scores. (Female-M-77.20 and Male-M-72.07,) Percentage of frequency distribution
ratified this. The ‘t’- value (‘t’-2.98,df.298 at 0.01 level) is found significant. Thus,
Hypothesis-1 is rejected. It may be inferred that male and female teachers differ
significantly. [Patil, 1984, Pigge and Martin 1987]

HO-2

The urban teachers excelled in their mean language interest scores (82.70) in
comparison with the rural teachers (76.20) and tribal teachers (65.30). The F-Ratio
(F=19.08, at 0.01 level) is significant. The ‘t’ values of (i) urban and rural (‘t’=3.20),
(ii) urban and tribal (‘t’=9.30) and (iii) rural and tribal (‘t’=5.53) are significant.(at
0.01 level) Hence, it is rejected. It may be inferred that as the places of residence shift
from tribal to rural and rural to urban, the language interest scores of the teachers
increase. [Hedges, 2002, p.36, kyeampong and Stephens, 2000, p.269-270]

HO-3

The urban female teachers possess high mean of language interest score
(86.00) and the tribal male teachers have the lowest mean (62.50). ANOVA was
significant. (F-19.48, at 0.01 level) The ‘t’ values between nine sets of mean were
calculated.

(I). The ‘t’ values of urban male and female teachers (t-2.53), rural male and
female (t-1.06) and tribal male and female (t-1.97) are insignificant (df.98, at
0.01 level). Thus, it is partially retained. We may infer that the male- female
teachers of same locality have more or less same interest in English. Thus, the
gender has no role in influencing their interest. [Desai, 1986 and Saracalogin,
1996]

(II). The ‘t’ value of urban male and rural male teachers (t-1.66) is found
insignificant.(at 0.01 level) Hence, it is partially retained. It may be inferred
that the interest of urban male and rural male teachers is same, though they
belong to different places. The ‘t’ values of urban male and tribal male (t-6.58)
and rural male and tribal male (t-4.62) are significant (at 0.01 level). Thus, it
is rejected partially. The role of ‘locality’ is significant. [Towse, 2002]

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(III). The ‘t’ value of urban female and rural female (t-3.01), urban female and tribal
female (t-6.26) and rural female and tribal female (‘t’-3.05) speak of
significant difference (at 0.01 level). Thus, it is partially rejected. The ‘gender’
does not exert any substantial influence.

HO-4

The female teachers possess high favourable attitude (M-164.70) than male
teachers. (M-150.30) The ‘t’-value speaks of significant difference. (‘t’-2.78,df.298, at
0.01 level)) Thus, it is rejected. Hence, our investigation concludes that male and
female teachers differ significantly in their attitudes towards English. [Naidu, 1975,
Som, 1984, Topadham, 1991]

HO-5

The urban teachers (M-179.25) surpassed the rural teachers (M-158.75) and
the tribal teachers (M-133.65). Frequencies and percentage of frequencies verified
this. ANOVA (F-28.94, at 0.01 level)) was found significant. A significant difference
was observed between (i) urban and rural (t-3.51) (ii) urban and tribal (t-7.99) and (iii)
rural and tribal teachers (t-4.16) [at 0.01 level] Hence, it is rejected. It is inferred that
‘locality’ has a role in affecting their attitudes. [Byrnes, Kiger and Manning, 1997].

HO-6

The urban female teachers received highest mean attitude score (M-188.40)
and the tribal male teachers the lowest mean value. (M-127.20) ANOVA was
computed. (F-12.81) The ‘t’ values between the nine sets of mean were calculated.

(I). The ‘t’ calculated values of urban male-female (‘t’-2.22), rural male-female
(‘t;-1.65), and tribal male-female teachers (‘t’-1.60) speak of insignificant
differences(at 0.01 level). Thus, it is retained partially. It may be concluded
that the ‘gender’ has no role in affecting their attitudes. [Desai 1986,
Saracalogin 1996]

(II). The ‘t’ value of urban male- rural male teachers (t-2.25) speaks of
insignificant difference. Thus, it is partially retained. Hence, we may infer that
though they belong to different area, their attitudes remain the same. The ‘t’

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 values of urban male- tribal male (‘t’-7.38) and rural male and tribal male (‘t’-
5.23) indicate significant difference(at 0.01 level). Hence, it is partially
rejected. The role of ‘locality’ is vital. [Padmanabhaiah, 1986 and Towse,
2002]

(III). As far as the female teachers are concerned, the ‘t’ values indicated significant
differences (‘t’- 2.90, ‘t’-6.24, ‘t’-3.10-at 0.01 level) Hence, it is rejected.
Thus, gender may not tend to affect their attitudes. [Desai, 1986, Mathur
1987]

HO-7

H0-7 deals with correlational studies. The coefficient of correlation of urban

male teachers (‘r’ = +.85), urban female teachers (‘r’= +.87), rural male teachers (‘r’=
+.82), rural female teachers (‘r’= +.84), tribal male teachers (‘r’= +.75), and tribal
female teachers (‘r’= +.79) are positively significant at 0.01 level of confidence as it is
more than the tabulated coefficient of correlation for df.48 is .372. Thus, it is
rejected. Hence, the present investigation concludes that ‘interest’ and ‘attitude’ are
correlated to each other positively and significantly towards English. [Pradhan, 1959,
Saran, 1975]

Findings of the Study

I. Male and female teachers differ significantly in their interest and attitude
towards English.

II. The teachers of urban area schools are superior to their counterparts in rural
and tribal areas on ETII and ETAS.

III. The performance of rural teachers is better than the teachers of tribal schools
on ETII and ETAS.

IV. Unlike gender locality yields significant influence on the interest and attitude
of urban, rural and tribal teachers towards English.

V. A positive and high correlation is found between interest and attitude of the

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 second language teachers of urban, rural and tribal areas.

Educational Implications
The results of the study uncovered the fact that the interest and attitude of the
majority of teachers working in rural and tribal areas is less as compared to the
teachers working in the urban areas. Keeping this in mind it may be suggested that in
rural and tribal schools, the teachers should belong to the same locality. The policy
makers should take effective steps in implementing the idea of ‘teacher pull’. The
second language teachers possessing high interest and attitude may be deputed for
sometimes in the schools having low achievement record. Teachers must evaluate the
aspect of their own teaching style, understand the dynamics of their classroom and
increase their own awareness. This would definitely develop their interest and change
their attitude towards English.

Conclusion

Thus, in case of both interest and attitude towards English, the female teachers
excelled their male counterparts, the urban teachers are superior to both rural and
tribal ones, and the tribal teachers are inferior to both urban and rural ones. Unlike
gender, the factor of locality exerts immense impact on their interest and attitude and
both interest and attitude are positively and highly correlated to each other.

REFERENCES

Best, J.W. (1977): Research in Education, Third Edition, Prentice Hall of India, New
Delhi.

Buch, M.B (1983): Third Survey of Research in Education.

Hidi, S. & Renninger, A. (2006): A four-phase model of interest development,

Educational Psychologist, 41,111-112.

Kachru, Braj. B. (1983): The Indianisation of English. The English Language in India

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,Oxford: OUP.

Koul, Lokesh. (1997): Methodology of Educational Research, VPH, New Delhi PP.
170-179.