An intervention for bringing a purposeful change

My experience as a teacher and as a student suggests that the way in which teaching reading is conducted at the University of Sindh Jamshoro, Pakistan (USJP) is open to question. The teachers, in this setting, hold the traditional view of teaching believing that learners can easily understand any reading task if it is explained and summarised to them by a teacher. This involves the teacher reading every sentence for students. The lesson then becomes an exercise in memory skills rather than a reading exercise. The present study therefore examines one intervention by looking at what is going on in both existing reading classes and new style reading classes with a view view to making a comparison between the two. The findings show that existing classes have a three part structure in which the teachers dominate the classroom by controlling interpretation of the text and classroom interaction with fewer opportunities for student-participation. In contrast, the new style reading classes are more complex in their structure and allow students a more active role. Hence, the study suggests that introduction of a new methodology in the context of USJP is likely to prove beneficial for learners.