Research Proposal

DIFFICULTIES IN LEARNING ENGLISH LANGUAGE

FACED BY THE STUDENTS BELONGING TO RURAL
AREAS OF SWABI

STUDENT NAME: Haroon Ur Rashid

STUDENT’S ROLL NO: 04
DEPARTMENT: BS Zoology
SEMESTER: 3rd

SUPERVISOR: Mr. Zarhat Ali Sir

DATE OF SUBMISSION: 25-11-2019

 Research Proposal

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................ 1.

STATEMENT OF PROBLEM ....................................................................................... 1.1

RESEARCH QUESTION ................................................................................................ 1.2
OBJECTIVES ..................................................................................................................... 1.3

DELIMITATION ............................................................................................................... 1.4

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY ................................................................................ 1.5

LITERATURE REVIEW ...................................................................................... 2.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY .................................................................... 3.

RESEARCH DESIGN ...................................................................................................... 3.1

POPULATION AND SAMPLE ....................................................................................... 3.2

RESEARCH TOOLS ........................................................................................................ 3.3
DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS .................................................................... 3.4

DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS ..................................... 4.

CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................... 5.

End Notes .......................................................................................................................

 Research Proposal

CHAPTER 01

1. INTRODUCTION

English is the most important language in the world. The demand of English is
increasing day by day. The role of English language can’t be ignored in the developing
education system of a country. After independence, English language maintained its
status as official language in Pakistan. Pakistan is one of those countries where English is
spreading day by day. The purpose of this research is to highlight difficulties in learning
English at secondary level in the rural areas of Swabi.

Swabi is a city of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. It lies between the Indus and
Kabul River. According to the census on official website of Government of Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa, only 17.45% population of Swabi is urban while 82.55% is rural. The
researcher noticed that in spite of studying English as a subject, the students of rural areas
face difficulties in learning English and feel shy when they try to communicate in
English. They do not have enough encouragement to practice English.

The researcher wants to identify the causes that make the students difficulty in
English learning and suggest some solutions to overcome the difficulties.

1.1 STATEMENT OF PROBLEM

The English language learners belonging to rural areas of District Swabi do not
learn English language effectively. They face difficulties in pronouncing, communicating
and writing of English language.

1.2 RESEARCH QUESTION

What are the difficulties faced by the students of rural areas in learning English at
secondary level? Why do the rural students face problems when they try to communicate
in English?
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1.3 OBJECTIVES

The researcher wants:

1. To assess difficulties faced by students of rural areas in learning English at

secondary level.
2. To point out causes of these difficulties.
3. To recommend effective solution and strategies to cater the needs of such
students.

Difficulties

Learning
of English

Causes of Effective
Difficulties Solutions

1.4 DELIMITATION

The researcher has delimited his research to the problems faced by the students of
rural areas of District Swabi in learning English language
 Research Proposal

1.5 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The research will highlight the hurdles in learning English language and will
suggest the solutions to overcome these hurdles. Almost 83% of the population of District
Swabi lives in villages and rural areas where they are not given proper opportunities to
learn and practice English. Due to which many students face difficulties when they move
to urban setting for the purpose of getting higher education or jobs. This research will
highlight the shortcomings and hindrances in the way of learning English in rural areas. It
may also help the language teachers to understand the difficulties faced by students of
rural areas and adopt certain strategies to remedy them.
 Research Proposal

CHAPTER 02

2. LITERATURE REVIEW

International studies reveal that there are so many issues in learning English as a
second language. Second language learning is not an easy task. It can be very stressful at
times. Usually Grammar-Translation method is used for the teaching of second or foreign
language. In Pakistan two languages are used for educational purposes that are English
and Urdu. Teacher continuously switch between these two languages. The main problem
is the educational system of Pakistan. The educational system is divided is divided into
Govt and Private Sectors. The Govt schools in rural areas are not well facilitated.

"Those who afford go to elite private schools and access better learning material,
authentic environments and well-trained teachers whereas the poor and low-income
families miss out on the opportunity to learn English up to the standards assumed by
society."(English — more than a subject.2014)

"It is said that English was not being taught as a language but rather as a subject,
confined to the 40-minute class sessions. It said there was a wide urban-rural division in
the standard of English teaching as people in urban settings had much more choice and
better quality of teaching and learning facilities available compared to the rural
areas".(English — more than a subject , 2014).

One of the important aspects of difficulty in learning and practicing English is the fear of
being wrong and ridiculed. As H. D. Brown (2000) discussed that,
“Communication skill requires: (1) a significant amount of pair work and group work
is conducted;(2)authentic language input in real life context is provided; (3) students
are encouraged to produce language for meaningful communication; and (4)
classroom tasks are conducted to prepare students for actual language use outside the
classroom”.
 Research Proposal

CHAPTER 03

3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
The research will include experimental methodology to study accurate causes of
the problem so that to find out practical solution of the problems.

3.1 RESEARCH DESIGN

The research will be based upon qualitative as well as quantitative method for
collection of data. It will include questionnaires to collect data from selected population.
The other important sources for collection of data will include books, journals, research
papers and articles.

3.2 POPULATION AND SAMPLE

This research will be conducted in the rural areas of Swabi. The population of the
research will include students of secondary level of Govt sector and teachers of
secondary and higher level. The sample of this research will include 10 Govt teachers of
secondary and higher level. The participants will be guided how to fill the Questionnaire.

3.3 RESEARCH TOOLS

The research will include the following research tools:

A. Survey Tools:
a. The researcher will use structured Interview for 10 teachers to
know their fruitful point of view in detail.
b. The researcher will use Questionnaire for the students to get
statistical data.

B. Field-Study Tools:

The researcher will also use observation sheets.

 Research Proposal

3.4 DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS

The data will be collected through questionnaires, interviews and observation sheets. The
analysis will be based on comparison of percentages of choices.
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CHAPTER 04

4. DATA PRESENTATION AND DATA ANALYSIS

The data will be presented in the form of tables and will be analysed statistically
in the form of percentage charts. A set of questions will be provided to the students of
secondary level in classrooms. There will be four options in the question pattern. The
students will be given 20 minutes to answer the questions. Then the answer paper will be
taken from them. The researcher will scrutinize their answers very carefully. In this way
the researcher will investigate hurdles in learning and practicing English language and
interview process in the rural areas of Swabi.

Ques
a b c d
. No
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Total
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Question Option a Option b Option c Option d

No
Question 1 % % % %
Question 2 % % % %
Question 3 % % % %
Question 4 % % % %
Question 5 % % % %
Question 6 % % % %
Question 7 % % % %
Question 8 % % % %
Question 9 % % % %
Question 10 % % % %
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CHAPTER 05

5. CONCLUSION
By the end of this research the researcher hopes to find out various problems
faced by the learners of rural areas when they communicate in English and when they
move to urban settings for getting higher education and jobs. The research will provide
methods that would improve and encourage the students from rural areas to learn and
practice English with minimum difficulties. It will highlight teaching strategies to support
students with learning difficulties and help them to practice and communicate in English.
 Research Proposal

END NOTES

1. http://www.kp.gov.pk/
2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swabi_District
3. http://.researchgate.net/
4. http://academia.edu/
5. http://scribd.com/
6. http://www.dawn.com/news/1095878
7. English-more than a subject. (2014, March 27).
8. Brown, H. D. (2000) Principle of Language Learning and teaching