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Perceptions from ESL Teachers Across Canada: A National Survey of the English Second Language (ESL) Teaching Profession June 2011 Principal Investigators: Leif French, PhD and Laura Collins, PhD Canadian Association of Second Language Teachers L’Association canadienne des professeurs de langues secondes

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Page 1: Perceptions from ESL Teachers Across Canada€¦ · Perceptions from ESL Teachers Across Canada: A National survey of the English Second Language (ESL) Teaching Profession 2 Table

PanoramaCASLT Research Series

Perceptions from ESL Teachers Across Canada: A National Survey of the English Second Language (ESL) Teaching Profession

June 2011

Principal Investigators:Leif French, PhD and Laura Collins, PhD

Canadian Association of Second Language Teachers

L’Association canadienne des professeurs de langues secondes

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PERCEPTIONS FROM ESL TEACHERS ACROSS

CANADA:

A NATIONAL SURVEY OF THE ENGLISH SECOND LANGUAGE (ESL) TEACHING PROFESSION

June 2011

Principal Investigators:

Leif M. French, PhD (Université du Québec à Chicoutimi)

Laura Collins, PhD (Concordia University)

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Acknowledgements

We would like to sincerely thank the members of the English Second Language (ESL) Advisory Committee for their invaluable feedback in planning and carrying out this survey project:

• Paula Kristmanson, New Brunswick TESL Association • Stéphane Lacroix, National Council, Canadian Association of Second Language

Teachers (CASLT) • Micheline Schinck, President, Société pour la promotion de l’anglais langue

seconde au Québec (SPEAQ) • Nicole Thibault, past Executive Director, CASLT • Caroline Turnbull, Board of Directors, CASLT

We are also very grateful to the following associations and individuals who provided invaluable help at various stages of the project:

• Canadian Teachers’ Federation who helped with recruiting qualified teachers across Canada;

• Quebec ESL pedagogical advisors, Regroupement des responsables de l’enseignement de l’anglais, langue seconde (RREALS), who helped with recruiting ESL teachers in Quebec;

• SPEAQ and TESL New Brunswick who advertised the survey on their member listservs;

• Jean-Daniel Guay who helped enormously with the analysis of quantitative data and the tables for the final report;

• Sylvain Jomphe for his timely help in verifying data analyses; • Didier Julien who so patiently coded and analyzed the qualitative data; • Guy Leclair, Executive Director, CASLT, who provided moral and administrative

support throughout all stages of the project; and • Yannick Tremblay who translated the online survey documents.

Finally, we would like to thank the hundreds of anonymous ESL teachers across the country for taking the time to complete the survey, and for providing thoughtful and candid commentary on their views of their profession.

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Our most sincere thanks also to Canadian Heritage for its financial support.

Any and all reproduction of this document by anyone is strictly prohibited without a prior written authorization by the Canadian Association of Second Language Teachers.

ISBN: 978-0921328-82-9

© The Canadian Association of Second Language Teachers (CASLT)/Association canadienne des professeurs de langues secondes (ACPLS)

300-950, Gladstone Avenue

Ottawa, ON K1Y 3E6

Telephone: 1-877-727-0994 (toll free) or 613-727-0994.

Website: www.caslt.org.

The Canadian Association of Second Language Teachers (CASLT) promotes the advancement of second language learning and teaching throughout Canada by creating opportunities for professional development, by encouraging research, and by facilitating the sharing of information and the exchange of ideas among second language educators.

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Table of contents

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................ II

LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................ 1

SUMMARY OF PROJECT AND MAIN FINDINGS ................................................... 4

Survey ................................................................................................................................. 4

Main Findings: Teacher Profile and Working Context ................................................ 4

Main Findings: Teacher Perceptions .............................................................................. 5

Future Research and Recommendations ........................................................................ 7

INTRODUCTION TO THE SURVEY ........................................................................... 9

1.0 METHODOLOGY ..................................................................................................... 9

1.1 Background ................................................................................................................. 9

1.2 Survey Questionnaire ............................................................................................... 10 1.2.1 Preliminary Questionnaire .................................................................................... 11

1.2.2 Main Questionnaire .............................................................................................. 11

1.3 Participant Recruitment ........................................................................................... 13 1.3.1 Survey ................................................................................................................... 13

1.3.2 Sample Size .......................................................................................................... 14

1.3.3 Survey Groups ...................................................................................................... 15

1.4 Data Analysis ............................................................................................................. 16

2.0 PARTICIPANTS’ PROFILES ................................................................................ 18

2.1 Age .............................................................................................................................. 19

2.2 Gender ........................................................................................................................ 20

2.3 Teaching Experience ................................................................................................. 20 2.3.1 Overall Teaching Experience ............................................................................... 21

2.3.2 ESL Teaching Experience .................................................................................... 22

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2.4 Professional Background .......................................................................................... 23 2.4.1 Teaching Qualifications ....................................................................................... 23

2.4.2 University Training in L2 Teaching ..................................................................... 24

2.5 Language Profile ....................................................................................................... 25 2.5.1 English Background ............................................................................................. 26

2.5.2 University English Study ..................................................................................... 27

2.5.3 Mother Tongue ..................................................................................................... 28

2.5.4 Dominant Language ............................................................................................. 29

2.5.5 English Proficiency by Skill ................................................................................. 29

2.5.6 English Proficiency by Task ................................................................................ 31

2.5.7 Assessment of English for Employment .............................................................. 35

2.5.8 Daily Amount of English Use in Class ................................................................ 36

2.6 Current School Profile .............................................................................................. 39 2.6.1 Size of School ....................................................................................................... 39

2.6.2 Grade Levels Taught by Participants ................................................................... 40

2.6.3 Program Instruction Hours ................................................................................... 42

2.7 Current Teaching Profile ......................................................................................... 43 2.7.1 ESL Program Taught ............................................................................................ 43

2.7.2 Number of Schools Resourced ............................................................................. 44

2.7.3 Number of Groups/Classes Taught ...................................................................... 45

2.7.4 Number of Students Taught ................................................................................. 46

2.7.5 Students’ Language Background ......................................................................... 47

3.0 MAIN SURVEY FINDINGS: TEACHER PERCEPTIONS ACROSS CANADA ........................................................................................................................................... 49

3.1 Teacher Perceptions of Current Teaching Conditions .......................................... 49 3.1.1 Manageability of Current Teaching Conditions ................................................... 50

3.1.2 Teacher Perceptions of Challenges in Teaching ESL .......................................... 54

3.1.3 Perception of Stakeholder Support ....................................................................... 64

3.1.4 Areas of ESL Teaching Targeted for Improvement ............................................. 69

3.1.5 Specific Areas That Would Facilitate ESL Teaching .......................................... 74

3.1.6 Level of Satisfaction With Teaching ESL ............................................................ 81

3.1.7 Positive Aspect of Teaching ESL ......................................................................... 82

3.2 Teacher Perceptions of Resources ........................................................................... 86 3.2.1 Evaluation of Teaching Resources ....................................................................... 86

3.2.2 Availability of Various Resources ....................................................................... 89

3.2.3 Opportunities for Interaction in English ............................................................... 96

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3.3 Professional Development ........................................................................................ 98 3.3.1 Accessibility ......................................................................................................... 98

3.3.2 Participation ....................................................................................................... 100

3.3.3 Preferred PD Activities ...................................................................................... 105

3.3.4 Usefulness of PD Activities ............................................................................... 106

3.4 Language Associations and Journals .................................................................... 108 3.4.1 Membership in Second Language Associations ................................................. 108

3.4.2 Ways Second Language Associations Can Help ESL Teachers ........................ 109

3.4.3 Journals ............................................................................................................... 113

4.0 SURVEY FINDINGS: PROFILES OF THE THREE SAMPLES AND MAIN FINDINGS ..................................................................................................................... 115

4.1 Profiles of the Three Samples ................................................................................ 115 4.1.1 QC Sample ......................................................................................................... 115

4.1.2 NB Sample ......................................................................................................... 116

4.1.3 EP Sample .......................................................................................................... 117

4.1.4 Key Features of Sample ..................................................................................... 117

4.2 Summary of Main Findings ................................................................................... 118 4.2.1 Major Challenges ............................................................................................... 118

4.2.1.1 Differentiation ............................................................................................. 119

4.2.1.2 Student Motivation ...................................................................................... 120

4.2.1.3 Workload ..................................................................................................... 121

4.2.2 Stakeholder Support ........................................................................................... 121

4.2.3 Resources ........................................................................................................... 122

4.2.4 Professional Development .................................................................................. 123

4.2.5 Teachers’ Perception of Students ....................................................................... 124

5.0 FUTURE DIRECTIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS .................................. 125

5.1 L2 Teacher Directory ............................................................................................. 125

5.2 Training in Special Education ............................................................................... 126

5.3 Resources and Professional Development ............................................................ 126

5.4 Motivation for Learning English ........................................................................... 128

5.5 Workload and Job Satisfaction .............................................................................. 129

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5.6 Conclusion ............................................................................................................... 130

REFERENCES .............................................................................................................. 131

APPENDIX A ................................................................................................................ 132

APPENDIX B ................................................................................................................ 150

APPENDICES C, D, E, F, G ........................................................................................ 153

Appendix C: What are the three most important challenges you face in teaching ESL? ............................................................................................................................... 154

Appendix D: If given unlimited resources, time, and P.D. opportunities, what is the one area of ESL teaching you would most like to work on? ..................................... 156

Appendix E: What one thing would facilitate or enhance your current ESL teaching situation? ........................................................................................................................ 157

Appendix F: In your view, what is the most positive aspect of teaching ESL? ....... 158

Appendix G: What are the most important ways that second language associations could help you? .............................................................................................................. 159

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List of Tables

Table 1.3.2: Distribution of Participants by Province/Territory ....................................... 14

Table 2.1: Distribution of Teachers by Age ...................................................................... 19

Table 2.2: Distribution of Teachers by Gender ................................................................ 20

Table 2.3.1: Years of Overall Teaching Experience Reported by Teachers ..................... 21

Table 2.3.2: Years of ESL Teaching Experience Reported by Teachers .......................... 22

Table 2.4.1: Teaching Qualifications Reported by Teachers ............................................ 23

Table 2.4.2 : Types of University Training in L2 Teaching ............................................. 24

Table 2.5.1: English Learning Experience (K-12) Reported by Teachers ........................ 26

Table 2.5.2 : University English Study Reported by Teachers ......................................... 27

Table 2.5.3: Mother Tongue** Reported by Teachers ..................................................... 28

Table 2.5.4: Distribution of Teachers by Dominant Language ........................................ 29

Table 2.5.5a (QC): Degree of English Ability by Skill Reported by Teachers ................ 30

Table 2.5.5b (NB) : Degree of English Ability by Skill Reported by Teachers ............... 30

Table 2.5.5c (EP): Degree of English Ability by Skill Reported by Teachers ................. 31

Table 2.5.6a (QC): Degree of English Proficiency for Specific Tasks Reported by Teachers ..................................................................................................................... 32

Table 2.5.6b (NB) : Degree of English Proficiency for Specific Tasks Reported by Teachers ..................................................................................................................... 33

Table 2.5.6c (EP) : Degree of English Proficiency for Specific Tasks Reported by Teachers ..................................................................................................................... 34

Table 2.5.7a: Percentage of Teachers Tested in English Prior to Employment ............... 35

2.5.7b: Types of Assessment Reported to Evaluate English for Employment ................. 36

Table 2.5.8a: Frequency of Daily Classroom Use of English Reported by Teachers ...... 37

Table 2.5.8b: Percentage of Overall Satisfaction with Daily English Use Reported by Teachers ..................................................................................................................... 38

Table 2.6.1: Number of Students in School Reported by Teachers .................................. 39

Table 2.6.2a: Distribution of Teachers by Level Taught .................................................. 40

Table 2.6.2b: Distribution of Teachers by Grades Taught ................................................ 41

Table 2.6.3: Number of Weekly ESL Program Hours Reported by Teachers .................. 42

Table 2.7.1: Distribution of Teachers by ESL Program Taught ....................................... 43

Table 2.7.2: Distribution of Teachers by Number of Schools Resourced ........................ 44

Table 2.7.3: Distribution of Teachers by Number of Groups/Classes Taught .................. 45

Table 2.7.4: Distribution of Teachers by Number of Students Taught ............................. 46

Table 2.7.5: Percentage of Francophone Students Taught by Teachers ........................... 47

Table 3.1.1a (QC): Teacher Perceptions of Manageability of Current Teaching Conditions .................................................................................................................. 51

Table 3.1.1b (NB): Teacher Perceptions of Manageability of Current Teaching Conditions .................................................................................................................. 52

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Table 3.1.1c (EP): Teacher Perceptions of Manageability of Current Teaching Conditions ................................................................................................................................... 53

Table 3.1.2a (QC): Major Challenges Reported by ESL Teachers and Frequency of Response .................................................................................................................... 55

Table 3.1.2a (QC): Major Challenges Reported by ESL Teachers and Frequency of Response (Cont.) ....................................................................................................... 56

Table 3.1.2b (NB): Major Challenges Reported by ESL Teachers and Frequency of Response .................................................................................................................... 59

Table 3.1.2b (NB): Major Challenges Reported by ESL Teachers and Frequency of Response (Cont.) ....................................................................................................... 60

Table 3.1.2c (EP): Major Challenges Reported by ESL Teachers and Frequency of Response .................................................................................................................... 62

Table 3.1.2c (EP): Major Challenges Reported by ESL Teachers and Frequency of Response (Cont.) ....................................................................................................... 63

Table 3.1.3a (QC): Teacher Perceptions of Stakeholder Support ..................................... 65

Table 3.1.3b (NB): Teacher Perceptions of Stakeholder Support .................................... 66

Table 3.1.3c (EP): Teacher Perceptions of Stakeholder Support ...................................... 68

Table 3.1.4a (QC): Major Areas of ESL Teaching Targeted by Teachers for Improvement and Frequency of Response ................................................................ 70

Table 3.1.4b (NB): Major Areas of ESL Teaching Targeted by Teachers for Improvement and Frequency of Response ................................................................ 72

Table 3.1.4c (EP): Major Areas of ESL Teaching Targeted by Teachers for Improvement and Frequency of Response ....................................................................................... 73

Table 3.1.5a (QC): One Area That Would Facilitate Current ESL Teaching Situation and Frequency of Response .............................................................................................. 75

Table 3.1.5b (NB): One Area That Would Facilitate Current ESL Teaching Situation and Frequency of Response .............................................................................................. 77

Table 3.1.5c (EP): One Area That Would Facilitate Current ESL Teaching Situation and Frequency of Response .............................................................................................. 79

Table 3.1.6a: Percentage of Teachers Who Considered Leaving ESL Teaching in the Past 12 Months .................................................................................................................. 81

Table 3.1.6b: Percentage of Teachers Who Believe That They Will Be Teaching in One Year ........................................................................................................................... 82

Table 3.1.7a (QC): Most Positive Aspect of ESL Teaching Reported by Teachers and Frequency of Response .............................................................................................. 83

Table 3.1.7b (NB): Most Positive Aspect of ESL Teaching Reported by Teachers and Frequency of Response .............................................................................................. 84

Table 3.1.7c (EP): Most Positive Aspect of ESL Teaching Reported by Teachers and Frequency of Response .............................................................................................. 85

Table 3.2.1: Evaluation of Teaching Resources Reported by Teachers ........................... 87

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Table 3.2.2a (QC): Teacher Perceptions of Availability of Various Resources ............... 91

Table 3.2.2b (NB): Teacher Perceptions of Availability of Various Resources ............... 93

Table 3.2.2c (EP): Teacher Perceptions of Availability of Various Resources ................ 95

Table 3.2.3a: Frequency of Students’ Interaction in English Outside of Class Within the School Reported by Teachers .................................................................................... 96

Table 3.2.3b: Frequency of Students’ Interaction in English Outside of Class Within the Community Reported by Teachers ............................................................................ 97

Table 3.3.1: Factors That Would Make PD More Accessible .......................................... 99

Table 3.3.2a (QC): Frequency of Teacher Participation in PD Activities ...................... 101

Table 3.3.2b (NB): Frequency of Teacher Participation in PD Activities ...................... 102

Table 3.3.2c (EP): Frequency of Teacher Participation in PD Activities ....................... 104

Table 3.3.3: Teachers’ Choices for Additional PD Activities ........................................ 105

Table 3.3.4: Most Helpful PD Activities Reported by Teachers .................................... 107

Table 3.4.1: Membership in Second Language Associations Reported by Teachers ..... 108

Table 3.4.2a (QC): Most Important Ways That Second Language Associations Can Facilitate the Task of ESL Teachers ........................................................................ 110

Table 3.4.2b (NB): Most Important Ways That Second Language Associations Can Facilitate the Task of ESL Teachers ........................................................................ 111

Table 3.4.2c (EP): Most Important Ways That Second Language Associations Can Facilitate the Task of ESL Teachers ........................................................................ 112

Table 3.4.3: Source of ESL Articles Read by Teachers ................................................. 114

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Summary of Project and Main Findings

The challenges underlying English Second Language (ESL) teaching have not been widely investigated in Canada. Consequently, in 2010, the Canadian Association of Second Language Teachers (CASLT) and Heritage Canada jointly funded a national online survey that investigated the diverse challenges faced by ESL teachers working in provincially-recognized ESL programs in K-12 private and public schools across Canada. This report presents the findings of the survey.

Survey

The survey questionnaire consisted of 64 questions (e.g., Likert-scale, multiple-choice and open-ended items) in which teachers were asked to provide their perceptions and opinions about the following key areas of their profession: support from key stakeholders, major challenges, teaching resources, job satisfaction and professional development (PD). Teachers were also asked to provide background information about themselves (e.g., age, gender, education, teaching experience) and the specific contexts in which they worked (e.g., school size, type of ESL program, number of students and instruction hours).

In all, five hundred and twelve (512) teachers, representing 93 different school boards across Canada, completed the survey. Over half of the teachers were from Quebec (63.6%), with the rest of the sample coming mainly from New Brunswick (12.6%), Saskatchewan (8.8%) and Ontario (6.1%). Teachers in the remaining provinces and territories were virtually absent from the survey, accounting for only 0.2% to 3.5% of the entire sample. As a result, the sample of 512 teachers was divided into three distinct survey groups: 1) teachers from a predominantly weak ESL context (Quebec: QC; N = 326); 2) teachers from a mixed ESL context (New Brunswick: NB; N = 65); and 3) teachers from a predominantly strong ESL context (English-speaking provinces/territories: EP; N = 121).

Main Findings: Teacher Profile and Working Context

The report first presents the survey findings from those questions targeting teachers’ background and working context. The distinguishing features of these findings are outlined below.

Teachers from all three contexts (EP, QC, NB) were mostly Francophone or Anglophone, predominantly female, mostly between the ages of 26 and 40, and generally reported native or native-like abilities in English (although teachers in NB were much less confident about their English abilities than QC and EP). They were also all generally experienced teachers and evenly distributed across primary and secondary levels.

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While all teachers in the survey were certified, only the majority of teachers from QC were ESL specialists. In NB and EP, the minority of teachers were specialists; most also reported receiving limited university training in L2 teaching. Very few teachers in any of the three contexts had received specific training in teaching intensive ESL.

In QC and NB, the large majority of teachers had learned English in the core or regular track ESL programs set out by their respective provinces. They all also taught ESL in the very same programs.

QC is the context where students receive the fewest hours of ESL instruction per week: 84% of the teachers reported teaching just 1 – 3 hours of ESL weekly per group/class. The majority of NB teachers reported up to twice as many weekly ESL hours with their students. EP is the most varied context, with teachers reporting a range of hours of ESL instruction.

Main Findings: Teacher Perceptions

The report also outlines the survey findings from the series of questions in which teachers were asked to provide their views and opinions about working conditions, stakeholder support, resources and professional development. The main findings are summarized below.

Teaching conditions

In terms of teaching conditions, the majority of teachers across Canada (QC, NB and EP) reported that managing classrooms with students of varying ESL abilities and different grade levels was not at all manageable to only slightly manageable. Similarly, the vast majority of ESL teachers (75%) throughout Canada reported that the proportion of students with learning difficulties and/or special needs in the classrooms was not at all manageable to only slightly manageable. In fact, in open-ended questions, managing multi-level groups and special education classes were cited as the top challenges associated with ESL teaching throughout the country.

In QC and NB, the majority of teachers (54%) reported that the number one issue affecting teaching conditions was students’ overall lack of interest and motivation for learning ESL and the inability to recognize the importance of English for their future. This issue also encompassed the attitudinal aspect of learning English, where, according to teachers, English was often viewed negatively by students.

The workload for teachers was clearly different across Canada: Teachers in EP and NB generally reported teaching fewer than 100 students at any one time, whereas QC teachers reported, on average, teaching between 100 and 300 students, with 25% of the sample teaching more than 300 students during a nine-day cycle.

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Unlike teachers in NB and EP, close to half of QC teachers (47%) reported wanting to leave the ESL profession in the last 12 months and pointed to workload as a contributing factor to their sense of inefficacy in the classroom and general dissatisfaction with the teaching profession.

While teachers across Canada were quite forthcoming about the negative aspects of their teaching conditions, they were also quite positive about the language teaching profession, notably the rewards of witnessing students’ language development and increased confidence at expressing themselves in their second language.

Stakeholder Support

Teachers across Canada felt that their school administration was quite supportive of both their work and ESL teaching; they also reported in open-ended questions holding a positive view of the leadership in their respective schools and school boards.

In QC, the teachers’ perspectives of the level of support for their work and teaching goals from the ministry, parents and students was that it was considerably less than that reported by EP and NB teachers. In addition, most QC and NB teachers reported that the community and non-ESL colleagues (particularly in QC) were much less supportive of their work than were other stakeholders.

Resources

ESL teachers from across the country generally indicated the need for additional resources, particularly, more teaching materials, more training and more collaboration with ESL colleagues in their school boards and respective provinces.

The majority of teachers from all three survey groups (QC, NB, EP) considered that the quantity, quality and appropriateness of commercial ESL material and ESL material promoting Anglophone culture to be good or excellent. All three groups also agreed overwhelmingly that the availability (in terms of quantity) of ESL library materials was poor.

Most teachers in NB and EP considered the quantity, quality and appropriateness of ICTs and locally-offered ESL programming to be good to excellent. In QC, however, while the quality and appropriateness of these resources was judged to be good or excellent, their quantity was considered to be poor.

Most teachers from QC, NB and EP also expressed an important need for the availability of funding for ESL-related activities as well as the availability of specialists and/or support staff to help with the challenge of teaching ESL to students with learning difficulties.

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The majority of teachers in QC and NB reported that English-speaking resources (e.g., supply teachers, administrative staff, support staff, librarians and guest speakers) were either never or rarely available in their schools.

Professional Development

The majority of teachers from across Canada reported yearly participation in professional activities consisting of discussion and collaboration with ESL colleagues, and school board workshops. For QC, NB and EP teachers, PD activities involving interaction and exchanges with their ESL colleagues and small local workshops were ranked among the most popular and helpful.

Most teachers across the country also strongly agreed that increased funding and offering PD activities during school hours would make professional development much more accessible. In QC and NB, the majority of teachers felt that being directly involved in the choice of relevant topics would considerably increase their willingness to participate in pedagogical development.

Only the majority of QC teachers reported being a member of a second language teaching association.

Future Research and Recommendations

The final section of the report proposes future research directions for some of the major survey findings. Where possible, it also makes specific recommendations intended to improve the current teaching situation of ESL teachers.

Throughout the survey project, it was impossible to know the location and official number of ESL teachers in Canada, since no national or provincial association maintains a comprehensive list of ESL (or FSL) teachers. Without a more accurate account of the current ESL teacher population in Canada, it is quite difficult to assess how representative the teacher perceptions in this survey were of the national population. There is therefore a clear need to develop a national registry that maintains a comprehensive directory of both ESL and FSL teachers, which would greatly facilitate research with Canada’s official languages.

A finding that echoed throughout the survey was the frustration voiced by teachers at understanding and managing the needs of diverse learners in the ESL classroom (i.e., students with special needs, or learning difficulties). As such, there is a pressing need to provide in-service teachers with additional resources for these learners and, more importantly, adequate on-going training in differentiation models of L2 education.

Teachers across Canada agreed that integration of ESL teachers into the larger teaching community of the school and putting them in a position to share their teaching goals with non-ESL colleagues would lead to a greater understanding of ESL specialists in the

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school system. Consequently, there is a clear need for research into and more support for local initiatives that lead to greater collaboration among language and other subject teachers of the same students.

The majority of NB and EP teachers held generalist teaching licenses and, in many cases, felt unprepared to handle the teaching demands of the ESL curriculum in their respective provinces. Stakeholders should therefore provide additional specialized L2 training as a means of improving these teachers’ delivery of mandated ESL programs and curriculum.

A formidable challenge for QC and NB teachers was students’ apparent lack of motivation and/or interest for learning English. Future research focusing specifically on how pedagogical practices actually interact with motivation in the L2 classroom seems therefore quite important and may, ultimately, lead to a better understanding of the low student motivation reported in these contexts.

Almost half of QC teachers reported being dissatisfied with the teaching profession and had recently contemplated leaving their jobs. This clearly warrants further investigation into the potential causes (e.g., workload, teaching conditions, curricular requirements, official delivery models, etc.) underlying teachers’ reported dissatisfaction with the ESL profession.

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Introduction to the Survey

In 2010, the Canadian Association of Second Language Teachers (CASLT) and Heritage

Canada jointly funded a national survey project that investigated the diverse challenges

faced by English second language (ESL) teachers working in public and private (K-12)

schools across Canada. This report presents the main findings of this survey.

Specifically, the report targets findings in key areas of the ESL profession (e.g., current

working conditions, teaching challenges, job satisfaction and professional development)

and is divided into five main sections. The first details the methodology used in the study;

the second describes the teachers participating in the survey; the third section presents the

findings in detail; the fourth section summarizes the profiles of the three teaching

contexts represented in the sample and summarizes the main findings. The final fifth

section provides future directions for additional research as well as recommendations for

improving different areas of ESL teaching.

1.0 Methodology

This section presents the methodology for the ESL survey project. It outlines the

motivation behind the survey, the work of the advisory committee and researchers in

developing the main survey questionnaire, the recruiting of participants, the selection of

the study sample, and the rationale for data analyses.

1.1 Background

In 2006, CASLT and the Canadian Teacher Federation (CTF) conducted a jointly

sponsored national research survey of the working situation of French second language

(FSL) teachers in Canada. The research survey, lead by Sharon Lapkin (OISE, University

of Toronto), Alina MacFarlane (CASLT Research Officer) and Larry Vandergrift

(University of Ottawa), resulted in the first ever report on the challenges faced by FSL

teachers across Canada. As a result of the FSL report, CASLT and its board members

underlined the importance of also carrying out a similar research survey with ESL

teachers, and, in 2009, CASLT officially commissioned a national research survey to

examine the challenges faced by ESL teachers in Canada.

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In September 2009, CASLT struck an ESL Advisory Committee whose mandate was to

oversee the initial direction of the ESL survey project. The members of the committee

consisted of a team of two researchers, CASLT representatives as well as representatives

from the Quebec Ministry of Education, the Société pour la promotion de l’enseignement

de l’anglais langue seconde (SPEAQ) and TESL New Brunswick.

During its initial meetings, the Advisory Committee brought together its ESL expertise

and discussed at length the diversity of ESL contexts in Francophone and multiethnic

communities throughout Canada as well as the challenges of teaching ESL in both

publically- and privately-funded schools. The results of these discussions not only

provided a framework for determining the shape and content of the preliminary survey

questionnaire, but also lead to two important methodological decisions concerning the

research:

1. The first was to use the web-based software, Survey Monkey, which, unlike pen-

and-paper survey formats provided a cost-efficient and reliable platform for

collecting large survey data sets. The web-based survey also provided an efficient

way of reaching ESL teachers in all provinces and territories.

2. The second was to limit the scope of the research to in-service ESL teachers

teaching in provincially-recognized ESL programs in K-12 private and public

schools across Canada. Teachers of adult and immigrant learners in private,

public, and community-based ESL programs outside the K-12 system were also

initially considered for the survey. However it was decided that this context

presented a number of factors distinguishing it from school-based programs for

children and adolescents, and that it would be more appropriate to consider a

separate research project in the future that would focus specifically on the

challenges faced by teachers in this context.

1.2 Survey Questionnaire

In order to collect data of the challenges faced by ESL teachers throughout Canada, a

preliminary survey questionnaire was first constructed by researchers and then reviewed

by a number of ESL experts. Based on this review, the main questionnaire containing the

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key thematic sections of the survey was published online. The details of these two steps

are outlined below.

1.2.1 Preliminary Questionnaire

The preliminary ESL questionnaire was based on the questionnaire used in the FSL

national survey in 2006 (Lapkin, MacFarlane, & Vandergrift, 2006). Questions were

adapted from each of the main sections of the FSL questionnaire (i.e., participant profile,

teaching resources, other resources, support from key stakeholders, teaching conditions

and professional development). This was done to facilitate future empirical comparisons

between ESL teacher perceptions in the current report and those previously reported by

FSL teachers (Lapkin et al., 2006), should CASLT wish to pursue follow up studies. The

preliminary questionnaire also included a number of open-ended questions addressing job

satisfaction, major teaching challenges and professional development opportunities.

Once completed, the preliminary questionnaire was sent to eight members of the

Advisory Committee, four members of CASLT’s National Board and six members from

SPEAQ for feedback. The questionnaire was then revised accordingly, which resulted in

the removal of several open-ended questions and the modification of other questions in

order to reduce the overall length of the questionnaire. The revised version was again

submitted to the Advisory Committee for discussion about the specific layout of the

online version.

The online version was posted on Survey Monkey and completed by CASLT National

Board Members, the Advisory Committee and three ESL teachers. Based on their

feedback, appropriate revisions regarding content and software functions were then made.

This final version was then adopted as the main questionnaire for the survey (see

Appendix A).

1.2.2 Main Questionnaire

The main online questionnaire consisted of 64 questions and, based on Lapkin et al.

(2006), was organized, in part, around the following thematic sections:

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• key stakeholder support;

• major challenges;

• teaching resources;

• job satisfaction; and

• professional development.

For each of these sections, participants completed a series of multiple-choice, Likert-

scale, and short-response questions. Participants also completed six open-ended questions

that were embedded throughout the relevant sections of the questionnaire:

• What are the three most important challenges you face in teaching ESL?

• If given unlimited resources, time, and PD opportunities, what is the one area of

ESL teaching you would most like to work on?

• What are the most important ways that second language associations could help

you?

• What one thing would facilitate your current ESL teaching situation?

• In your view, what is the most positive aspect of teaching ESL?

• What factors would influence your decision to remain in your current teaching

situation?

A final section of the questionnaire also required participants to provide biographical and

personal information (i.e., age, gender, language background, education, self-report

English proficiency, teaching experience, level of satisfaction with teaching profession)

as well as specific information about their current teaching context (i.e., province,

territory, size of school board and school, students’ language background, number of

classes and students taught as well as type of ESL programs taught, amount of English

use in class, number of ESL instruction hours). The information provided in this section

created grouping variables which were taken into consideration when examining response

patterns for questions in each of the thematic sections.

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1.3 Participant Recruitment

The participants targeted for the survey were ESL teachers across Canada in private and

public K-12 schools with official ESL programs. However, neither the CTF, Statistics

Canada, nor national ESL associations maintain a complete directory of the location and

official number of ESL teachers in Canada. Therefore, in order to recruit participants,

CASLT formally contacted the CTF which informed their school representatives in

school boards throughout Canada of the online survey on ESL teacher perspectives. The

local school representatives then took charge of informing the ESL teachers in their

respective schools. CASLT also recruited participants by placing ads for participation in

the survey on its webpage, by contacting its large membership base and by eliciting the

help of such professional associations as TESL New Brunswick and SPEAQ. Both these

associations, which represent regions with large numbers of K-12 ESL teachers,

advertised the survey on their websites and personal listservs.

Before and during the actual survey, CASLT repeatedly publicized the survey to those

teacher associations mentioned above in an attempt to recruit as many teachers as

possible. However, while this is a productive and efficient method of participant

recruitment, it does not allow one to obtain an overall response rate for the survey, since

the number of teachers contacted is unknown and, of those contacted, the number actually

participating in the survey is also unknown.

1.3.1 Survey

In winter 2010, participants were invited to complete the questionnaire on Survey

Monkey via a link on CASLT’s website, which was active for 7 weeks. The survey was

designed for anonymous responses (i.e., participants’ URL could not be traced by the

server) and generally took 25 minutes to complete. Participants clicked on the icon

marked “ESL Survey” and were directed to the survey page where they were prompted to

read the instructions and begin taking the survey. There was no time limit for completing

the survey, and participants could move back and forth between sections and / or modify

responses at will. However, once the survey had been completed, it could not be saved,

requiring participants to complete the entire survey in one sitting.

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1.3.2 Sample Size

Five hundred and twenty-three (523) teachers, mostly female (88%)1, successfully

completed the survey. Of these, 120 (37%) completed the survey in English and 206

(63%) in French. However, further analysis of the data revealed that 11 teachers did not

identify their province or territory and, as such, were not included in the sample. The

remaining 512 teachers made up the main survey sample and represented 93 different

school boards from across Canada (see Appendix B).

*Valid Cases 512 (98.3%); Missing 11 (1.7%); Total 523 (100%).

Table 1.3.2 clearly shows that well over half of the teachers (63.6%) completing the

survey were from Quebec, with the rest of the sample coming mainly from New

Brunswick (12.6%), Saskatchewan (8.8%) and Ontario (6.1%). Teachers in the remaining

provinces and territories were virtually absent from the survey, accounting for only 0.2%

to 3.5% of the entire sample.

1 In the 2006 FSL survey, 87% of respondents were female; in 2003, CTF also reported that up to 72% of teachers in professional associations were female.

Table 1.3.2: Distribution of Participants by Province/Territory Province/Territory Number Percent (%)

British Columbia 7 1.4%

Newfoundland and Labrador 1 0.2%

Nunavut 1 0.2%

Northwest Territories 1 0.2%

Alberta 18 3.5%

Saskatchewan 45 8.8%

Manitoba 4 0.8%

Ontario 31 6.1%

Quebec 326 63.6%

New Brunswick 65 12.6%

Prince Edward Island 5 1%

Nova Scotia 8 1.6%

Total 512 100%

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1.3.3 Survey Groups

As may be noted, from a purely statistical perspective, Table 1.3.2 does not reflect a

nationally-representative sample of ESL teachers. There are a relatively small number of

participants spread disproportionately across the country, and, more importantly, the self-

select method of recruitment makes it difficult to know whether a truly randomized

sample of the national ESL teacher population would produce survey results similar to

those reported here. However, a closer analysis of the sample in Table 1.3.2 reveals that it

does appear to reflect the diversity of teaching contexts in which ESL is taught

throughout much of Canada.

In fact, seen in terms of the potential degree of learners’ exposure to English-language

instruction and English-speaking communities, three specific ESL contexts emerge from

the sample reported in Table 1:

1) The first is a predominantly weak ESL context, one that often resembles that of a

foreign-language context. This most accurately reflects the English context in

Quebec, where communication in English is generally not required in the

community, and French – not English – is most often the official language of

instruction in the public school system.

2) The second is a predominantly strong ESL context and can be observed in

English-speaking provinces and territories, where communication in English is

generally required within the community and where English is most often the

official language of instruction in the public school system.

3) The third is a mixed ESL context. The province of New Brunswick, an officially

bilingual province (English-French), illustrates this context, as both English and

French may be present in the local community, even in contexts where French is

the official language of instruction in the public school system.

Based on this description of ESL contexts, the sample of 512 teachers was divided into

three distinct survey groups: 1) teachers from Quebec: QC (N = 326); 2) teachers from

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New Brunswick: NB (N = 65); and 3) teachers from English-speaking provinces2: EP (N

= 121). Dividing the main survey sample into these groups provided a way of examining

how teacher perceptions of their working situation differed as a result of important

differences in ESL teaching contexts. It also allowed for the possibility, particularly in the

larger sample sizes of QC and NB, to make eventual empirical comparisons with FSL

teachers’ views about their profession (Lapkin et al., 2006).

1.4 Data Analysis

The entire survey-data set was transferred from Survey Monkey to SPSS 18 for detailed

statistical analysis. For each question of the survey, basic frequencies and their

corresponding means were calculated separately for the three survey groups: QC, NB and

EP. In order to assess the effects of specific personal and contextual factors (i.e., age,

gender, language background, education, English proficiency, teaching experience,

satisfaction with teaching, school size, number of students taught, ESL programs,

classroom English use, ESL instruction hours) on teacher perceptions of the key thematic

sections (i.e., support, challenges, resources, job satisfaction, professional development),

within-group cross-tabulations, comparisons of means and nonparametric correlations

were then performed for QC, NB and EP.

Since correlation analyses of the relationship between personal / contextual variables and

teacher perceptions consistently produced no significant correlations for the three survey

groups, the analyses are not reported. Further, inferential analyses were not carried out to

examine significant differences between the survey groups, as the research rationale

behind the forming of the different groups was strictly descriptive in nature.

Given the relatively small sample size of the survey, especially with respect to NB and

EP, it was decided not to impose an overall cutoff for the reporting of percentages in

order to maintain as much descriptive information as possible. As such, some tables will

report zero-level percentages.

2 As only two teachers represented the territories, they were included in the EP group.

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For the open-ended questions, the number and relevancy of the responses for each of the

six questions were first examined by a research assistant and one researcher. Based on

this examination, one question in particular (i.e., what factors would influence your

decision to remain in or leave ESL teaching?) received mostly ambiguous or question-

irrelevant single-word comments, which most likely reflected a test-fatigue effect, since

the question came at the end of survey. Consequently, the question was removed from the

study.

Analysis of the responses for the remaining open-ended questions was carried out by a

trained research assistant. The research assistant first analyzed 50% of the total responses

for each question and proposed initial coding categories for each question. Together, the

research assistant and one of the researchers reviewed the coding categories, which

resulted in the modification or removal of some categories. Using the revised coding

categories, the same proportion (50%) of responses for each question was then coded

independently by another trained research assistant. The resulting interrater reliability

between the first and second research assistants was .93, and any discrepancies in coding

were handled through discussion. The first research assistant then coded the entire set of

responses for all five questions.

Generally, to facilitate the analysis of open-ended questions, a widely-used procedure is

to generate a response sample by randomly selecting a predetermined proportion of

responses (e.g., 20%), which is then analyzed. However, this procedure was not used

here; instead, given that the overall number of respondents was not too large, it was

possible to analyze the entire sample of responses for each open-ended question. This

allowed us to maximize the use of all data and also further validate our coding schema for

each question. (For coding categories applied to different questions, see Appendix C)

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2.0 Participants’ Profiles

This section reports on the data gathered from the second part of the survey questionnaire

(see Appendix A) in which teachers were asked to provide personal and biographical

information as well as information about their current teaching situation. Specifically, the

questions asked teachers for information about the following:

• age and gender;

• province or territory in which they taught;

• educational background;

• language background (their L1, and programs in which they learned and / or studied

English);

• English proficiency (overall proficiency and proficiency with specific classroom

tasks);

• teaching experience (general and specific ESL teaching experience);

• teaching qualifications (whether they held a generalist or specialist teaching

license);

• size of school board and school in which they taught;

• type of ESL program (including grade level taught and number of ESL instruction

hours);

• amount of daily classroom use of English; and

• level of satisfaction with ESL teaching profession.

The following section reports the overall data totals for most of the variables outlined

above for each of the three survey contexts: QC, NB and EP. In section 4, a summary of

the profiles for each context is provided.

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2.1 Age

*Valid Cases 508 (97.1%); Missing 15 (2.9%); Total 523 (100%)

As shown in Table 2.1, teachers represented different age groups across the three survey

contexts. For QC, over half of all the teachers (56.8%) were between 26 and 40 years old,

with the majority (22.4%) falling into the 31-35 age group; in NB, over half of all the

teachers (62.5%) were between 31 and 45 years old, with the majority (26.5%) again

Table 2.1: Distribution of Teachers by Age

Age English Context

Total QC NB EP

0-25

Number 8 1 1 10

% 2.5% 1.6% 0.8% 2%

26-30 Number 58 10 14 82

% 17.8% 15.6% 11.8% 16.2%

31-35 Number 73 17 13 103

% 22.4% 26.5% 10.9% 20.3%

36-40 Number 54 12 15 81

% 16.6% 18.8% 12.6% 15.9%

41-45 Number 53 11 18 82

% 16.3% 17.2% 15.1% 16.1%

46-50 Number 35 7 11 53

% 10.7% 10.9% 9.3% 10.4%

51-55 Number 28 5 28 61

% 8.6% 7.8% 23.5% 12%

56-60 Number 16 1 13 30

% 4.9% 1.6% 10.9% 5.9%

61-65 Number 0 0 6 6

% 0% 0% 5.1% 1.2%

Total Number

%

325

100%

64

100%

119

100%

508

100%

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falling into the 31-35 age group; and, in EP, over half of the teachers (60.5%) were

between 36 and 55 years old, with the majority (23.5%) falling into the 51-55 age group.

2.2 Gender

*Valid Cases 505 (96.6%); Missing 18 (3.4%); Total 523 (100%)

Table 2.2 shows that the vast majority of all teachers for each of the three contexts was

female (QC: 86%; NB: 88.9%; EP: 93.3%).

2.3 Teaching Experience

The details of teachers’ overall general teaching experience and ESL teaching experience

are reported in Tables 2.3.1 and 2.3.2.

Table 2.2: Distribution of Teachers by Gender

Gender English Context

Total QC NB EP

Female Number 277 56 112 445

% 86% 88.9% 93.3% 88.1%

Male Number 45 7 8 60

% 14% 11.1% 6.7% 11.9%

Total Number

%

322

100%

63

100%

120

100%

505

100%

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2.3.1 Overall Teaching Experience

*Valid Cases 504 (96.4%); Missing 19 (3.6%); Total 523 (100%)

As illustrated in Table 2.3.1, the majority of all teachers (QC: 59.1%; NB: 51.6%; EP:

71.6%) reported having more than 10 years of overall teaching experience. The number

of years of experience most frequently reported varied for each context: it was between

10 and 19 years of experience for QC (41%), between 4 and 9 years of experience for NB

(35.9%) and more than 20 years of experience for EP (37.5%).

Table 2.3.1: Years of Overall Teaching Experience Reported by Teachers

Years English Context

Total QC NB EP

3 years or less

Number 34 8 8 50

% 10.6% 12.5% 6.7% 9.9%

4-9 years Number 97 23 26 146

% 30.3% 35.9% 21.7% 29%

10-19 years Number 131 17 41 189

% 41% 26.6% 34.1% 37.5%

20 years or more

Number 58 16 45 119

% 18.1% 25% 37.5% 23.6%

Total Number

%

320

100%

64

100%

120

100%

504

100%

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2.3.2 ESL Teaching Experience

*Valid Cases 507 (96.9%); Missing 16 (3.1%); Total 523 (100%)

As indicated in Table 2.3.2, the majority of QC teachers (52.8%) had more than 10 years

of ESL teaching experience. The large majority of teachers in NB (68.7%) and EP

(72.7%) had less than 10 years of ESL teaching experience. The number of years of

experience most frequently reported was between 10 and 19 years of experience for QC

(37.9%), between 4 and 9 years of experience for NB (35.9%) and less than 4 years of

experience for EP (43.8%).

Table 2.3.2: Years of ESL Teaching Experience Reported by Teachers

Years English Context

Total QC NB EP

3 years or less

Number 41 21 53 115

% 12.7% 32.8% 43.8% 22.7%

4-9 years Number 111 23 35 169

% 34.5% 35.9% 28.9% 33.3%

10-19 years Number 122 12 26 160

% 37.9% 18.8% 21.5% 31.6%

20 years or more

Number 48 8 7 63

% 14.9% 12.5% 5.8% 12.4%

Total Number

% 322

100% 64

100% 121

100% 507

100%

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2.4 Professional Background

The qualifications of teachers and their training in L2 teaching are reported in Tables

2.4.1 and 2.4.2.

2.4.1 Teaching Qualifications

For QC, the majority of teachers reported having a specialist provincial teaching license

in ESL (56.1%) or a general provincial teaching license (45.4%). The vast majority of

teachers in NB (89.2%) and EP (82.6%) reported having only a general provincial

teaching license.

Table 2.4.1: Teaching Qualifications Reported by Teachers

Teaching

Qualifications

English Context

QC NB EP

Number

Percent (%) of Total

Sample (326)

Number

Percent (%) of the

Total Sample

(65)

Number

Percent (%) of Total

Sample (121)

A general province/territorial teaching license from the province/territory where I teach

148 45.4% 58 89.2% 100 82.6%

A specialist province/territorial teaching license in ESL from the province/territory where I teach

183 56.1% 7 10.8% 31 25.6%

A letter of permission or a local permit

18 5.5% 0 0% 0 0%

Other 20 6.1% 7 10.8% 26 21.5%

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2.4.2 University Training in L2 Teaching

As seen in Table 2.4.2, teachers in all three contexts reported taking various university

courses in L2 teaching.

Table 2.4.2 : Types of University Training in L2 Teaching

University

Training

English Context

QC NB EP

Number

Percent (%) of Total

Sample (326)

Number

Percent (%) of the

Total Sample

(65)

Number

Percent (%) of Total

Sample (121)

Course(s) in general second-language methodology

214 65.6% 33 50.8% 57 47.1%

Course(s) in ESL methodology (for elementary and high school core or regular track programs)

234 71.8% 25 38.5% 50 41.3%

Course(s) in enriched or intensive ESL methodology

60 18.4% 2 3.1% 18 14.9%

Course(s) in ESL material development

162 49.7% 6 9.2% 24 19.8%

Course(s) in classroom-based testing and evaluation

180 55.2% 6 9.2% 30 24.8%

Course(s) in language acquisition

211 64.7% 21 32.3% 62 51.2%

Other 53 16.3% 8 12.3% 32 26.4%

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For QC, over half of the teachers reported taking one or more university courses in

general second-language methodology (65.6%), ESL methodology (71.8%), classroom-

based testing and evaluation (55.2%) and language acquisition (64.7%). Nearly half

(49.7%) also reported taking a course in ESL material development. Few teachers

(18.4%) reported taking a course in intensive ESL methodology.

In NB, over half of the teachers (50.8%) reported taking one or more university courses

in general second-language methodology. To a lesser extent, teachers also reported taking

one or more university courses in ESL methodology (38.5%) and language acquisition

(32.3%). Few teachers reported taking courses in intensive ESL methodology (3.1%),

ESL material development (9.2%) or ESL testing and evaluation (9.2%).

For EP, less than half of the teachers reported taking one or more university courses in

general second-language methodology (47.1%) and ESL methodology (41.3%). Over half

of the teachers (51.2%) reported taking one or more university courses in language

acquisition. Teachers also reported less frequently taking courses in ESL material

development (19.8%) and ESL testing and evaluation (24.8%).

2.5 Language Profile

This section reports on the data gathered from a series of questions on language

background in which teachers were asked to provide information about the following

areas:

• their English learning experience;

• their university English study;

• their mother tongue;

• their dominant language;

• their English proficiency by skill;

• their English proficiency by task;

• whether they were tested in English prior to employment; and

• the amount of reported use of English in the classroom.

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2.5.1 English Background

Table 2.5.1 shows teachers’ K-12 experience learning English. For QC and NB, the

majority of teachers (63.8% and 72.3% respectively) reported that they had previously

studied English in a core or regular track ESL program. The majority of teachers in EP

(64.5%) reported that they had studied English in an English (L1) school.

Table 2.5.1: English Learning Experience (K-12) Reported by Teachers

English Program

(K-12)

English Context

QC NB EP

Number

Percent (%) of Total

Sample (326)

Number

Percent (%) of Total

Sample (65)

Number

Percent (%) of Total

Sample (121)

Core or regular track ESL 208 63.8% 47 72.3% 20 16.5%

English Immersion 15 4.6% 2 3.1% 4 3.3%

Enriched English 56 17.2% 8 12.3% 1 0.8%

English as a first language school 74 22.7% 5 7.7% 78 64.5%

Other 28 8.6% 5 7.7% 12 9.9%

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2.5.2 University English Study

*Valid Cases 508 (97.1%); Missing 15 (2.9%); Total 523 (100%)

As shown in Table 2.5.2, teachers in the three contexts reported different types of

university English study.

In QC, 37.2% of teachers reported studying English as a major and 21.5% reported

completing coursework at an English or bilingual university.

For NB, 47.6% of teachers reported taking one university English course; 19% reported

studying English as a major; and 19% reported no university English study.

Table 2.5.2 : University English Study Reported by Teachers

University Study English Context

Total QC NB EP

English Major Number 121 12 23 156

% 37.2% 19% 19.3% 30.7%

English Minor Number 35 4 24 63

% 10.8% 6.4% 20% 12.4%

One University English Course

Number 16 30 28 74

% 4.9% 47.6% 23.3% 14.6%

Completed coursework at an

English or bilingual university

Number 70 2 25 97

% 21.5% 3.2% 20.8% 19.1%

No University English Course

Number 37 12 10 59

% 11.4% 19% 8.3% 11.6%

Other Number 46 3 10 59

% 14.2% 4.8% 8.3% 11.6%

Total Number

%

325

100%

63

100%

120

100%

508

100%

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For EP, 23.3% of teachers reported taking one university English course; 20.8% reported

completing their coursework in a bilingual or English university; and 20% reported

studying English as a minor.

2.5.3 Mother Tongue

*Valid Cases 511 (97.7%); Missing 12 (2.3%); Total 523 (100%)

** First language that an individual learned to speak and can still understand.

Table 2.5.3 shows that the majority of teachers in QC and NB (61.6% and 69.2%

respectively) reported French as their mother tongue. The vast majority of teachers in EP

(74.4%) reported English as their mother tongue.

Table 2.5.3: Mother Tongue** Reported by Teachers

Language English Context

Total QC NB EP

French Number 200 45 7 252

% 61.6% 69.2% 5.8% 49.3%

English Number 45 6 90 141

% 13.8% 9.2% 74.4% 27.6%

Simultaneous bilingual/trilingual

Number 63 13 10 86

% 19.4% 20.0% 8.3% 16.8%

Other Number 17 1 14 32

% 5.2% 1.5% 11.6% 6.3%

Total Number

%

325

100%

65

100%

121

100%

511

100%

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2.5.4 Dominant Language

*Valid Cases 508 (97.1%); Missing 15 (2.9%); Total 523 (100%)

For QC and NB, the majority of teachers (68.5% and 87.5% respectively) reported

French as their dominant language (see Table 2.5.4). The vast majority of teachers in EP

(90%) reported English as their dominant language.

2.5.5 English Proficiency by Skill

To assess teachers’ overall English proficiency, teachers were asked to rate their degree

of English ability for each of the four skills, using a 5-point scale (very little ability,

moderate ability, good ability, fluency ability, native-like ability).

Table 2.5.4: Distribution of Teachers by Dominant Language

Dominant Language English Context

Total QC NB EP

French

Number 222 56 7 285

% 68.5% 87.5% 5.8% 56.1%

English Number 84 8 108 200

% 25.9% 12.5% 90% 39.4%

Other Number 18 0 5 23

% 5.6% 0% 4.2% 4.5%

Total Number

% 324

100% 64

100% 120

100% 508

100%

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Table 2.5.5a (QC): Degree of English Ability by Skill Reported by Teachers

Skill

Ability

Total Very little

ability

Moderate ability

Good ability

Fluent ability

Native-like

ability

Reading Number 0 0 2 96 228 326

% 0% 0% 0.6% 29.4% 70% 100%

Writing Number 1 1 25 122 177 326

% 0.3% 0.3% 7.7% 37.4% 54.3% 100%

Listening Number 0 0 9 86 231 326

% 0% 0% 2.8% 26.4% 70.8% 100%

Speaking Number 0 0 15 133 178 326

% 0% 0% 4.6% 40.8% 54.6% 100%

The majority of teachers in QC (Table 2.5.5a) reported having fluent to native-like ability

in reading (99.4%), writing (91.7%), listening (97.2%) and speaking (95.4%).

Table 2.5.5b (NB) : Degree of English Ability by Skill Reported by Teachers

Skill

Ability

Total Very little

ability

Moderate ability

Good ability

Fluent ability

Native-like

ability

Reading Number 0 2 10 10 42 64

% 0% 3.1% 15.6% 15.6% 65.6% 100%

Writing Number 0 4 11 19 30 64

% 0% 6.2% 17.2% 29.7% 46.9% 100%

Listening Number 0 2 5 11 46 64

% 0% 3.1% 7.8% 17.2% 71.9% 100%

Speaking Number 0 6 7 20 31 64

% 0% 9.4% 10.9% 31.3% 48.4% 100%

In NB (Table 2.5.5b), the vast majority of teachers reported having fluent to native-like

ability in reading (81.2%), writing (76.6%), listening (89.1%) and speaking (79.7%).

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Table 2.5.5c (EP): Degree of English Ability by Skill Reported by Teachers

Skill

Ability

Total Very little

ability

Moderate ability

Good ability

Fluent ability

Native-like

ability

Reading Number 0 0 1 14 105 120

% 0% 0% 0.8% 11.7% 87.5% 100%

Writing Number 0 0 2 15 103 120

% 0% 0% 1.7% 12.5% 85.8% 100%

Listening Number 0 0 2 12 106 120

% 0% 0% 1.7% 10% 88.3% 100%

Speaking Number 0 0 2 15 102 119

% 0% 0% 1.7% 12.6% 85.7% 100%

For EP (Table 2.5.5c), the vast majority of teachers reported having fluent to native-like

ability in reading (99.2%), writing (98.3%), listening (98.3%) and speaking (98.3%).

2.5.6 English Proficiency by Task

To determine teachers’ context-specific proficiency in English, they were asked to

evaluate the level of difficulty they would have carrying out a series of teaching-related

tasks, using a 5-point Likert scale (a great deal, quite a lot, a fair amount, a little, none at

all).

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Table 2.5.6a (QC): Degree of English Proficiency for Specific Tasks Reported by Teachers

Task Level of Difficulty

Total A great deal

Quite a lot

A fair amount

A little

None at all

Modeling correct spoken English for students

Number 3 0 7 62 253 325

% 0.9% 0% 2.2% 19.1% 77.8% 100%

Correcting student written work

Number 2 0 4 49 270 325

% 0.6% 0% 1.2% 15.1% 83.1% 100%

Having a conversation with a colleague about an activity that your classes are doing together

Number 2 1 2 48 270 323

% 0.6% 0.3% 0.6% 14.9% 83.6% 100%

Writing a report about a class activity for a newsletter

Number 1 2 9 65 248 325

% 0.3% 0.6% 2.8% 20% 76.3% 100%

Reading an article in an educational journal

Number 2 2 4 36 279 323

% 0.6% 0.6% 1.2% 11.2% 86.4% 100%

As seen in Table 2.5.6a, the vast majority of QC teachers reported having no difficulty at

all in modelling correct spoken English for their students (77.8%), correcting students’

written work (83.1%), having a conversation with a colleague about an activity (83.6%),

writing a report about a class activity for a newsletter (76.3%) and reading an article in an

educational journal (86.4%).

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Table 2.5.6b (NB) : Degree of English Proficiency for Specific Tasks Reported by Teachers

Task Level of Difficulty

Total A great deal

Quite a lot

A fair amount

A little

None at all

Modeling correct spoken English for students

Number 2 0 12 20 30 64

% 3.1% 0% 18.8% 31.3% 46.9% 100%

Correcting student written work

Number 3 0 5 20 36 64

% 4.7% 0% 7.8% 31.3% 56.3% 100%

Having a conversation with a colleague about an activity that your classes are doing together

Number 2 1 5 16 40 64

% 3.1% 1.6% 7.8% 25% 62.5% 100%

Writing a report about a class activity for a newsletter

Number 3 1 8 22 30 64

% 4.7% 1.6% 12.5% 34.4% 46.9% 100%

Reading an article in an educational journal

Number 3 0 7 18 36 64

% 4.7% 0% 10.9% 28.1% 56.3% 100%

The majority of NB teachers (Table 2.5.6b) reported having no difficulty at all correcting

students’ written work (56.1%), having a conversation with a colleague about an activity

(62.5%) and reading an article in an educational journal (56.3%). Fewer respondents

(46.9%) reported having no difficulty at all modeling correct spoken English for their

students and writing a report about a class activity for a newsletter.

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Table 2.5.6c (EP) : Degree of English Proficiency for Specific Tasks Reported by Teachers

Task Level of Difficulty

Total A great deal

Quite a lot

A fair amount

A little

None at all

Modeling correct spoken English for students

Number 1 0 1 5 114 121

% 0.8% 0% 0.8% 4.1% 94.2% 100%

Correcting student written work

Number 1 0 1 3 116 121

% 0.8% 0% 0.8% 2.5% 95.9% 100%

Having a conversation with a colleague about an activity that your classes are doing together

Number 0 0 1 0 119 120

% 0% 0% 0.8% 0% 99.2% 100%

Writing a report about a class activity for a newsletter

Number 0 0 0 5 116 121

% 0% 0% 0% 4.1% 95.9% 100%

Reading an article in an educational journal

Number 0 0 1 2 117 120

% 0% 0% 0.8% 1.7% 97.5% 100%

In EP (Table 2.5.6c), the vast majority of teachers reported having no difficulty at all in

modeling correct spoken English for their students (94.2%), correcting student written

work (95.9%), having a conversation with a colleague about an activity (99.2%), writing

a report about a class activity for a newsletter (95.9%) and reading an article in an

educational journal (97.5%).

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2.5.7 Assessment of English for Employment

Teachers were asked to indicate (yes or no) whether their English proficiency had been

tested prior to employment.

*Valid Cases 508 (97.1%); Missing 15 (2.9%); Total 523 (100%)

For QC (Table 2.5.7a), the majority of respondents (62.7%) reported being tested in

English prior to employment. The majority of respondents in NB (65.6%) and EP

(83.6%) reported no English testing prior to employment.

Table 2.5.7a: Percentage of Teachers Tested in English Prior to Employment

Tested English Context

Total QC NB EP

Yes Number 203 22 19 244

% 62.7% 34.4% 16.4% 48%

No Number 121 42 97 260

% 37.3% 65.6% 83.6% 52%

Total Number

%

324

100%

64

100%

116

100%

508

100%

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2.5.7b: Types of Assessment Reported to Evaluate English for Employment

Type of

Assessment

English Context

QC NB EP

Number

Percent (%) of Total

Sample (326)

Number

Percent (%) of Total

Sample (65)

Number

Percent (%) of the

Total Sample (121)

Interview conducted in English

181 55.5% 18 27.7% 24 19.8%

Written test 80 24.5% 4 6.2% 4 3.3%

Other 24 7.4% 5 7.7% 7 5.8%

When tested in English prior to employment (Table 2.5.7b), teachers from all three

contexts reported the following types of assessment: An interview conducted in English

(QC: 55.5%; NB: 27.7%; EP: 19.8%) and a written test (QC: 24.5%; NB: 6.2%; EP:

3.3%).

2.5.8 Daily Amount of English Use in Class

Teachers were asked to report the frequency in which they used English in the classroom

on a daily basis.

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*Valid Cases 502 (96%); Missing 21 (4%); Total 523 (100%)

Table 2.5.8a: Frequency of Daily Classroom Use of English Reported by Teachers

Percent of English Use English Context

Total QC NB EP

100% Number 84 27 91 202

% 26% 42.9% 78.4% 40.2%

90% Number 95 17 15 127

% 29.4% 27% 12.9% 25.3%

80% Number 70 5 4 79

% 21.7% 7.9% 3.4% 15.7%

70% Number 25 4 1 30

% 7.7% 6.3% 0.9% 6%

60% Number 11 1 2 14

% 3.4% 1.6% 1.7% 2.8%

50% Number 19 3 0 22

% 5.9% 4.8% 0% 4.4%

40% Number %

8 2.5%

2 3.2%

0 0%

10 2%

30% Number %

6 1.9%

1 1.6%

1 0.9%

8 1.6%

20% Number 3 0 1 4

% 0.9% 0% 0.9% 0.8%

10% Number 2 3 0 5

% 0.6% 4.8% 0% 1%

0% Number 0 0 1 1

% 0% 0% 0.9% 0.2%

Total Number

%

323

100%

63

100%

116

100%

502

100%

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In all three contexts (Table 2.5.8a), the vast majority of teachers (QC: 77.1%; NB: 77.8%;

EP: 94.7%) reported using English in the classroom from 80% to 100% of the time on a

daily basis.

As a follow-up question on English use, teachers were asked to indicate (yes or no) if

they were satisfied with the amount of English they used in the classroom.

*Valid Cases 502 (96%); Missing 21 (4%); Total 523 (100%)

In all three contexts (Table 2.5.8b), the majority of teachers (QC: 62.5%; NB: 82.8%; EP:

97.5%) were satisfied with the amount of English use in their classroom.

Table 2.5.8b: Percentage of Overall Satisfaction with Daily English Use Reported by Teachers

Satisfaction with the amount of

English that you use

in the classroom

English Context

Total QC NB EP

Yes Number 200 53 115 368

% 62.5% 82.8% 97.5% 73.3%

No Number 120 11 3 134

% 37.5% 17.2% 2.5% 26.7%

Total Number

%

320

100%

64

100%

118

100%

502

100%

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2.6 Current School Profile

This section provides the details reported by teachers about the size of their schools, the

grade levels they taught as well as the number of ESL instruction hours they provided on

a weekly basis.

2.6.1 Size of School

*Valid Cases 506 (96.7%); 17 Missing (3.3%); Total 523 (100%)

As seen in Table 2.6.1, the teachers worked in a range of school sizes. In QC, the teachers

were distributed across the different school size categories, with most teachers reporting

working at medium (301—500 students) (27.1%) and very large-sized (1000 students)

schools (25.2%). The majority of teachers in NB (54.7%) and EP (53%) reported

teaching in small (150-300 students) and medium-sized schools (301-500 students).

Table 2.6.1: Number of Students in School Reported by Teachers

Number of Students English Context

Total QC NB EP

Fewer than 150 Number 28 9 17 54

% 8.6% 14.1% 14.5% 10.7%

150-300 Number 64 23 25 112

% 19.7% 35.9% 21.4% 22.1%

301-500 Number 88 12 37 137

% 27.1% 18.8% 31.6% 27.1%

501-999 Number 63 18 26 107

% 19.4% 28.1% 22.2% 21.1%

1000 or more Number 82 2 12 96

% 25.2% 3.1% 10.3% 19%

Total Number

%

325

100%

64

100%

117

100%

506

100%

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2.6.2 Grade Levels Taught by Participants

Table 2.6.2a: Distribution of Teachers by Level Taught

Level English Context

Total QC NB EP

Primary Number

%

163

50.2%

30

48.4%

28

24.6%

221

100%

Secondary Number

%

152

46.8%

26

41.9%

27

23.7%

205

100%

Both (primary and secondary) Number

%

10

3.1%

6

9.7%

59

51.8%

75

100%

Total Number

%

325

100%

62

100%

114

100%

501

100%

*Valid Cases 501 (95.8%); 22 Missing (4.2%); Total 523 (100%)

Table 2.6.2a shows that teachers participating in the survey from all three contexts

represented both the primary and secondary school contexts. Slightly more respondents in

both QC (50.2%) and NB (48.4%) reported teaching in primary schools, and very few

teachers in either QC (3.1%) or NB (9.7%) reported teaching at both primary and

secondary levels. However, for EP, the majority of respondents (51.8%) reported

teaching both in primary and secondary schools.

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Table 2.6.2b: Distribution of Teachers by Grades Taught

Grade Taught

English Context

QC NB EP

Number

Percent (%) of Total Sample (326)

Number

Percent (%) of Total

Sample (65)

Number

Percent (%) of Total

Sample (121)

K (QC : Kindergarten) 13 4% 2 3.1% 32 26.4%

1 129 39.6% 3 4.6% 55 45.5%

2 138 42.3% 2 3.1% 58 47.9%

3 149 45.7% 4 6.2% 61 50.4%

4 145 44.5% 5 7.7% 68 56.2%

5 145 44.5% 17 26.2% 68 56.2%

6 155 47.5% 13 20% 65 53.7%

7 (QC: Sec.1) 58 17.8% 14 21.5% 62 51.2%

8 (QC: Sec.2) 77 23.6% 12 18.5% 69 57%

9 (QC: Sec.3) 64 19.6% 16 24.6% 39 32.2%

10 (QC: Sec.4) 68 20.9% 15 23.1% 30 24.8%

11 (QC: Sec.5) 61 18.7% 12 18.5% 26 21.5%

12 6 1.1% 12 18.5% 24 19.8%

In all three contexts, teachers reported teaching all grades at the primary and secondary

levels.

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2.6.3 Program Instruction Hours

*Valid Cases 485 (92.7%); Missing 38 (7.3%); Total 523 (100%)

For QC, the vast majority of respondents (84%) reported teaching from 1 to 3 hours of

ESL weekly per group class. Noteworthy is the number of teachers reporting teaching

just 1 hour of ESL a week (28.4%), a number which would be substantially higher if only

elementary school teachers were considered. In NB, the majority of teachers (67.7%)

reported teaching from 3 to 5 hours of ESL weekly per group class. In EP, the numbers

were more broadly distributed: although the majority of teachers (54.6%) reported

teaching from 1 to 3 hours of ESL weekly per group class, a sizeable number (21.8%)

taught 6 or more hours of ESL per week.

Table 2.6.3: Number of Weekly ESL Program Hours Reported by Teachers

Number of ESL Instruction Hours English Context

Total QC NB EP

1

Number 89 5 20 114

% 28.4% 8.1% 18.2% 23.5%

2 Number 101 12 29 142

% 32.3% 19.4% 26.4% 29.3%

3 Number 73 17 11 101

% 23.3% 27.4% 10% 20.8%

4 Number 20 6 9 35

% 6.4% 9.7% 8.2% 7.2%

5 Number 7 19 17 43

% 2.2% 30.6% 15.5% 8.9%

6 or more

Number 23 3 24 50

% 7.3% 4.8% 21.8% 10.3%

Total Number

%

313

100%

62

100%

110

100%

485

100%

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2.7 Current Teaching Profile

This section reports on the data gathered from a series of questions pertaining to the

teaching profile of teachers. In these questions, teachers were asked to provide

information on the following topics:

• specific ESL programs taught;

• number of schools resourced;

• number of groups/classes taught;

• number of students taught; and

• students’ language background.

2.7.1 ESL Program Taught

Table 2.7.1: Distribution of Teachers by ESL Program Taught

ESL Program

English Context

QC NB EP

Number

Percent (%) of Total

Sample (326)

Number Percent (%)

of Total Sample (65)

Number

Percent (%) of Total

Sample (121)

Core/regular track ESL 288 88.3% 53 81.5% 59 48.8%

ESL Immersion 1 0.3% 2 3.1% 13 10.7%

ESL Enriched 74 22.7% 5 7.7% 8 6.6%

ESL Intensive 24 7.4% 3 4.6% 16 13.2%

Other 52 16% 7 10.8% 48 39.7%

Teachers reported teaching in a variety of ESL programs (see Table 2.7.1), but the

majority of participants in all three contexts reported teaching in a core or regular track

ESL program (QC: 88.3%; NB: 81.5%; EP: 48.8%). A number of teachers in EP reported

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teaching in “other” contexts, which, for the most part, entailed working with small groups

of students identified by their respective homeroom teachers as needing help with

different aspects of English.

2.7.2 Number of Schools Resourced

*Valid Cases 507 (96.9%); Missing 16 (3.1%); Total 523 (100%)

The majority of teachers from all three contexts (Table 2.7.2) reported teaching in one

school (QC: 72.4%; NB: 95.3%; EP: 67.5%).

Table 2.7.2: Distribution of Teachers by Number of Schools Resourced

Number of Schools English Context

Total QC NB EP

1 Number 234 61 81 376

% 72.4% 95.3% 67.5% 74.2%

2 Number 53 3 14 70

% 16.4% 4.7% 11.7% 13.8%

3 or more

Number 36 0 25 61

% 11.2% 0% 20.8% 12%

Total Number

% 323

100% 64

100% 120

100% 507

100%

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2.7.3 Number of Groups/Classes Taught

*Valid Cases 503 (96.2%); Missing 20 (3.8%); Total 523 (100%)

As summarized in Table 2.7.3, the vast majority of QC teachers (88.5%) reported

teaching more than 4 groups/classes; however, within this group, teachers (40.2%)

reported most frequently teaching 11 groups/classes or more. The majority of teachers in

NB (67.2%) reported teaching between 1 and 3 groups/classes and in EP (39.6%)

between 4 and 6 groups/classes.

Table 2.7.3: Distribution of Teachers by Number of Groups/Classes Taught

Number of Groups/Classes English Context

Total QC NB EP

1

Number 12 19 14 45

% 3.7% 29.7% 12.1% 8.9%

2-3 Number 25 24 14 63

% 7.7% 37.5% 12.1% 12.5%

4-6 Number 127 7 46 180

% 39.3% 10.9% 39.6% 35.8%

7-10 Number 29 13 24 66

% 9% 20.3% 20.7% 13.1%

11 or more Number 130 1 18 149

% 40.2% 1.6% 15.5% 29.6%

Total Number

%

323

100%

64

100%

116

100%

503

100%

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2.7.4 Number of Students Taught

*Valid Cases 508 (97.1%); Missing 15 (2.9%); Total 523 (100%)

For QC (Table 2.7.4), the majority of teachers (58.5%) reported teaching between 101

and 300 students, and over a quarter (26.7%) reported teaching 301 and more students.

The majority of teachers in NB (56.2%) and EP (64.7%) reported teaching less than 50

students.

Table 2.7.4: Distribution of Teachers by Number of Students Taught

Number of Students English Context

Total QC NB EP

less than 50 Number 21 36 77 134

% 6.5% 56.2% 64.7% 26.4%

51-100 Number 27 11 35 73

% 8.3% 17.2% 29.4% 14.4%

101-200 Number 117 13 5 135

% 36% 20.3% 4.2% 26.6%

201-300 Number 73 3 1 77

% 22.5% 4.7% 0.8% 15.1%

301-400 Number 59 1 0 60

% 18.1% 1.6% 0% 11.8%

401 or more Number 28 0 1 29

% 8.6% 0% 0.8% 5.7%

Total Number

%

325

100%

64

100%

119

100%

508

100%

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2.7.5 Students’ Language Background

*Valid Cases 496 (94.8%); Missing 27 (5.2%); Total 523 (100%)

Table 2.7.5: Percentage of Francophone Students Taught by Teachers

Francophone Students English Context

Total QC NB EP

100% Number 170 43 3 216

% 53.3% 66.2% 2.7% 43.5%

90% Number 96 13 5 114

% 30.1% 20% 4.5% 23%

80% Number 12 0 0 12

% 3.8% 0% 0% 2.4%

70% Number 8 1 0 9

% 2.5% 1.5% 0% 1.8%

60% Number 16 3 0 19

% 5% 4.6% 0% 3.8%

50% Number 5 1 2 8

% 1.5% 1.5% 1.8% 1.6%

40% Number 4 0 2 6

% 1.3% 0% 1.8% 1.2%

30% Number 2 0 0 2

% 0.6% 0% 0% 0.4%

20% Number 2 2 3 7

% 0.6% 3.1% 2.7% 1.4%

10% Number 4 1 6 11

% 1.3% 1.5% 5.3% 2.2%

0% Number 0 1 91 92

% 0% 1.5% 81.2% 18.6%

Total Number

%

319

100%

65

100%

112

100%

496

100%

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As shown in Table 2.7.5, the vast majority of QC and NB teachers (83.4% and 86.2%

respectively) reported that from 90% to 100% of their students were Francophone. For

EP, the large majority of teachers (81.2%) reported not having any Francophone students,

indicating, not surprisingly, that most of the students in the EP context came from other

L1 backgrounds.

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3.0 Main Survey Findings: Teacher Perceptions Across Canada

This section presents the main survey findings from the first part of the questionnaire

which targeted teacher perceptions on a variety of different topics (see Appendix A). The

findings are presented separately for each of the survey groups (QC, NB, and EP) and are

organized around four key sections:

• teacher perceptions of current teaching conditions;

• teacher perceptions of resources;

• teacher perceptions of professional development;

• teacher perceptions of language associations and journals.

Section 4 will provide a summary of the findings for each of the three contexts.

In addition, a number of the tables in section 3.0 are based on data from open-ended

questions and contain an “other” category. The category was used to refer to instances

when teachers’ responses were too ambiguous to be accurately interpreted, or when

teachers indicated that they had “no comment” or further information for a given

question. As a result, the reported percentages for the “other” category may, at times,

appear somewhat high when compared to other percentages in the tables.

3.1 Teacher Perceptions of Current Teaching Conditions

This first section presents the results of teachers’ responses to questions in which they

were asked to assess their current teaching conditions. The different topics covered by the

questions in this section were:

• manageability of teaching conditions;

• major challenges of teaching ESL;

• stakeholder support;

• specific areas that would facilitate ESL teaching;

• job satisfaction; and

• positive aspects of ESL teaching.

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3.1.1 Manageability of Current Teaching Conditions

Tables 3.1.1 (a, b, c) present the responses of teachers for each survey group (QC, NB,

EP) who were asked to evaluate the manageability of the following teaching conditions:

• size of class;

• proportion of students with learning difficulties and/or special needs;

• split classes (combined groups/levels);

• amount of lesson preparation;

• choice of program content;

• supervision duties;

• administrative duties (e.g., report cards and comments); and

• level of stress.

Teachers evaluated the manageability of the above conditions using a 4-point Likert scale

with the following descriptors: not at all manageable, slightly manageable, manageable

and very manageable.

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Table 3.1.1a (QC): Teacher Perceptions of Manageability of Current Teaching Conditions

Teaching Conditions

Manageability

Total Not at all

manageable

Slightly

manageable Manageable

Very

manageable

Size of classes Number 90 120 98 16 324

% 27.8% 37% 30.2% 5% 100%

Proportion of students with learning difficulties/special needs

Number 133 138 44 9 324

% 41% 42.6% 13.6% 2.8% 100%

Split classes (combined groups/levels)

Number 115 125 67 8 315

% 36.5% 39.7% 21.3% 2.5% 100%

Amount of lesson preparation

Number 38 123 147 18 326

% 11.7% 37.7% 45.1% 5.5% 100%

Choice of program content

Number 16 72 184 54 326

% 4.9% 22.1% 56.4% 16.6% 100%

Supervision duties Number 34 113 157 17 321

% 10.6% 35.2% 48.9% 5.3% 100%

Administrative duties (e.g., report cards and comments

Number 45 131 132 16 324

% 13.9% 40.4% 40.7% 5% 100%

Level of stress Number 36 125 153 10 324

% 11.1% 38.6% 47.2% 3.1% 100%

As shown in Table 3.1.1a, roughly half of the teachers from QC reported that supervision

duties (54.2%), stress (50.4%), and the amount of lesson preparation (50.6%) were

considered manageable to very manageable, while the vast majority (73.0%) agreed that

the choice of program content was manageable to very manageable. However, more than

half of the teachers reported that administrative duties (54.3%) were not at all

manageable to only slightly manageable, with higher numbers of teachers reporting class

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size (64.8%), the proportion of students with special needs (83.6%), and split classes

(76.2%) to be not at all manageable to only slightly manageable.

Table 3.1.1b (NB): Teacher Perceptions of Manageability of Current Teaching Conditions

Teaching Condition

Manageability

Total Not at all

manageable

Slightly

manageable Manageable

Very

manageable

Size of classes Number 14 15 25 11 65

% 21.5% 23.1% 38.5% 16.9% 100%

Proportion of students with learning difficulties/special needs

Number 19 34 11 1 65

% 29.2% 52.3% 17% 1.5% 100%

Split classes (combined groups/levels)

Number 15 32 13 4 64

% 23.4% 50% 20.3% 6.3% 100%

Amount of lesson preparation

Number 10 27 26 2 65

% 15.4% 41.5% 40% 3.1% 100%

Choice of program content

Number 5 15 32 13 65

% 7.7% 23.1% 49.2% 20% 100%

Supervision duties Number 5 18 37 4 64

% 7.8% 28.1% 57.8% 6.3% 100%

Administrative duties (e.g., report cards and comments

Number 8 22 32 3 65

% 12.3% 33.9% 49.2% 4.6% 100%

Level of stress Number 1 29 32 1 63

% 1.6% 46% 50.8% 1.6% 100%

As shown in Table 3.1.1b, the majority of teachers from NB reported that the proportion

of students with special needs (81.5%), and split classes (73.4%) were slightly to not at

all manageable, as was the amount of lesson preparation (56.9%). On the other hand, the

choice of program content (69.2%) and supervision duties (64.1%) were considered

manageable to very manageable by most teachers, with a slight majority also finding

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class size (55.4%), administrative duties (53.8%) and stress (52.4%) to be manageable to

very manageable.

Table 3.1.1c (EP): Teacher Perceptions of Manageability of Current Teaching Conditions

Teaching Condition

Manageability

Total Not at all

manageable

Slightly

manageable Manageable

Very

manageable

Size of classes Number 10 29 47 26 112

% 8.9% 25.9% 42% 23.2% 100%

Proportion of students with learning difficulties/special needs

Number 16 37 50 10 113

% 14.2% 32.7% 44.2% 8.9% 100%

Split classes (combined groups/levels)

Number 16 43 40 13 112

% 14.3% 38.4% 35.7% 11.6% 100%

Amount of lessonc preparation

Number 13 36 57 9 115

% 11.3% 31.3% 49.6% 7.8% 100%

Choice of program content

Number 7 33 52 20 112

% 6.2% 29.5% 46.4% 17.9% 100%

Supervision duties Number 9 23 70 12 114

% 7.9% 20.2% 61.4% 10.5% 100%

Administrative duties (e.g., report cards and comments

Number 9 25 70 9 113

% 8% 22.1% 61.9% 8% 100%

Level of stress Number 11 43 54 7 115

% 9.6% 37.4% 47% 6.1% 100%

As shown in Table 3.1.1c, many teachers from EP considered class size (42%), the

proportion of students with special needs (44.2%), the amount of lesson

preparation (49.6%), the choice of program content (46.4%), and the level of stress (47%)

to be manageable. A majority agreed that supervision duties (61.4%) and administrative

duties (61.9%) were manageable, while split classes (34.8%) were reported as not at all

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manageable to only slightly manageable. Very few teachers reported that any of the

conditions were not at all manageable (range: 6.2% to 14.3%) or very manageable.

3.1.2 Teacher Perceptions of Challenges in Teaching ESL

Tables 3.1.2 (a, b, c) present for each survey group (QC, NB, EP) the responses to an

open-ended question about the challenges faced by ESL teachers. Teachers were asked to

indicate what they felt to be their three major challenges in ESL teaching. In all, the

question generated 1437 responses distributed across the three survey groups (QC: 911;

NB: 182; EP: 344). All responses were analysed and coded, resulting in the creation of 30

thematic categories (see Appendix C). The response frequencies are presented in Tables

3.1.2 (a, b, c) and are reported as a percentage of the total number of responses for a

given category and also as a percentage of the total number of teachers providing a

response for a given category.

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Table 3.1.2a (QC): Major Challenges Reported by ESL Teachers and Frequency of Response

Category** Number of Comments

Percent (%) of Total Comments

Percent (%) of Total Sample

(326)

C4 Motivation 91 10% 27.9%

C1 Multi-level groups 84 9.2% 25.8%

E3 Use/practice of English 74 8.1% 22.7%

B3 Teaching/learning 65 7.1% 19.9%

A1 Teaching/learning material 54 5.9% 16.6%

C2 Special education 53 5.8% 16.3%

F1 Pedagogy 51 5.6% 15.6%

F3 Class size 48 5.3% 14.7%

F2 Workload 47 5.2% 14.4%

A2 Facilities 34 3.7% 10.4%

C3 Discipline 26 2.9% 8%

B0 Time management 23 2.5% 7.1%

E4 Level of proficiency 22 2.4% 6.7%

A0 Resources (in general) 19 2.1% 5.8%

E1 Linguistic context 18 2% 5.5%

E2 Attitude towards English 18 2% 5.5%

B1 Preparation/planning 15 1.6% 4.6%

D0 Support (in general) 15 1.6% 4.6%

C0 Classroom (in general) 14 1.5% 4.3%

** Letter/number combination refers to the categories and sub-categories of the coding schema (see Appendix C).

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Table 3.1.2a (QC): Major Challenges Reported by ESL Teachers and Frequency of Response (Cont.)

Category** Number of Comments

Percent (%) of Total Comments

Percent (%) of Total Sample

(326)

D2 From school/admin./ board/district 13 1.4% 4%

F4 Itinerancy 13 1.4% 4%

D3 From parents/communities 11 1.2% 3.4%

D2 From other teachers 10 1.1% 3.1%

F0 Teaching (in general) 9 1% 2.8%

B2 Correction/evaluation 9 1% 2.8%

A4 Teaching/support staff 6 0.7% 1.8%

D4 Lack of official guidelines 6 0.7% 1.8%

A5 Training/pedagogical literature 3 0.3% 0.9%

A3 Compensation 1 0.1% 0.3%

G Other 59 6.5% 18.1%

Total 911 100%

*Valid Cases 911 (93.1%); Missing 67 (6.9%); Total 978 (100%)

Table 3.1.2a shows the major challenges reported by QC teachers. The challenge most

often cited by teachers (27.9%) was the students’ overall lack of interest and motivation

for learning ESL or the inability to recognize the importance of English for their future.

This category also encompasses the attitudinal aspect of learning English, where,

according to teachers, English is often viewed negatively by students, even those students

who have already reached functional levels of oral proficiency. The following teacher

quotes capture the essence of this particular challenge:

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• There is a lack of motivation from my students to learn English. They are unable to

realize the importance of knowing English!

• Students lack motivation – they are not motivated to communicate orally – even the

strongest ones – unless, of course, the teacher is watching them closely.

The second most important challenge cited by Quebec teachers (25.8%) is managing split

classes. This category entails issues related to managing varying ESL abilities in the same

classroom, as well as combining the teaching of different grade levels and populations

(e.g., differentiation). In both these instances, teachers feel that there appears to be

inadequate support from the school system to deal with such heterogeneity in the

classroom. The frustration in this area is revealed in the following quotes:

• How is it possible to teach to our student clientele?! Some speak [English] really

well; others don’t understand anything!

• What do we do with different levels and diverse students in the same class? There

are students that cannot say one word and those who are almost bilingual.

The third most important challenge cited by Quebec teachers (22.7%) is the use and/or

practice of English both inside and outside the classroom. It involves issues related to

getting students to interact continually in English with their peers and teacher in

classroom situations and during out-of-classroom activities. The nature of this challenge

can be seen in the following quotes:

• Students don’t speak English – they always speak French to each other and to me

[teacher].

• Students need to speak English in the classroom at all times and in every situation,

even on field trips!

In addition to the three challenges described above, Quebec teachers frequently cited

additional important challenges. These included teaching/learning (19.9%) (i.e., a time

management issue in which teachers feel that they lack the necessary time to deliver ESL

programs effectively), teaching/learning material (16.6%) (e.g., a lack of specific learning

or teaching materials, including text books and other references), special education

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(16.3%) (e.g., students with special needs or learning difficulties), pedagogy (15.6%)

(e.g. difficulty with evaluation and delivering instruction), class size (14.7%) (e.g.,, too

many students per class) and workload (14.4%) (e.g, too many students to teach and

schools to resource). Teachers listed a few other challenges but the proportion of

responses supporting the challenge was too small (from 0% to 8%) to draw any reliable

conclusions (see Table 3.1.2a).

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Table 3.1.2b (NB): Major Challenges Reported by ESL Teachers and Frequency of Response

Category** Number of Comments

Percent (%) of Total Comments

Percent (%) of Total Sample

(65)

A1 Teaching/learning material 26 14.3% 40%

C1 Multi-level groups 19 10.4% 29.2%

C4 Motivation 17 9.3% 26.2%

A0 Resources (in general) 17 9.3% 26.2%

F1 Pedagogy 16 8.8% 24.6%

E4 Level of proficiency 13 7.1% 20%

E3 Use/practice of English 9 4.9% 13.8%

C2 Special education 9 4.9% 13.8%

E2 Attitude towards English 6 3.3% 9.2%

B1 Preparation/planning 5 2.7% 7.7%

B3 Teaching/learning 5 2.7% 7.7%

D4 From lack of official guidelines 4 2.2% 6.2%

D2 From parents/communities 4 2.2% 6.2%

A5 Training/pedagogical literature 4 2.2% 6.2%

F2 Workload 3 1.6% 4.6%

F3 Class size 3 1.6% 4.6%

E1 Linguistic context 3 1.6% 4.6%

C3 Discipline 2 1.1% 3.1%

B2 Correction/evaluation 2 1.1% 3.1%

** Letter/number combination refers to the categories and sub-categories of the coding schema (see Appendix C).

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Table 3.1.2b (NB): Major Challenges Reported by ESL Teachers and Frequency of Response (Cont.)

Category** Number of Comments

Percent (%) of Total Comments

Percent (%) of Total Sample

(65)

A2 Facilities 1 0.5% 1.5%

A3 Compensation 1 0.5% 1.5%

F0 Teaching 1 0.5% 1.5%

B0 Time management 1 0.5% 1.5%

G Other 11 6% 16.9%

Total 182 100%

*Valid Cases 182 (93.3%); Missing 13 (6.7%); Total 195 (100%)

** Letter/number combination refers to the categories and sub-categories of the coding schema (see Appendix C).

Table 3.1.2b presents the major challenges reported by NB teachers. The challenge most

often cited was the lack of specific learning and teaching materials (40%). This category

includes, in particular, the lack of computer assisted language-learning (CALL)

technologies, appropriate textbooks and other ESL specific references. It also

encompasses the notion that insufficient financial support apparently contributes to the

lack of such materials. The following quotes capture some of these issues:

• Just finding signs and posters in English to put in the classroom requires a major

effort.

• Getting the funds to have new textbooks and appropriate ESL learning material…

The second most cited challenge by NB teachers is the difficulties associated with

managing multi-level groups (20.2%). In this particular instance, it mainly entails the

difficulty surrounding the teaching of classes in which students have varying degrees of

ESL proficiency, as is illustrated in the following teacher quotes:

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• The students’ level of English…they rarely have the same skills.

• The range in my students’ level of English – in the same class level, some are

excellent; some are horrible!

Two specific categories were equally cited by NB teachers as the third most important

challenge. The first was the students’ lack of motivation to learn English, including a

poor attitude or lack of openness toward learning English (26.2%). The second category

cited was an issue with overall resources (26.2%) and reflects the view that there appears

to be a general lack of available resources to support the ESL teaching context. The

following quotes are representative of the issues raised in the two categories:

• Motivating students – getting them to develop a positive attitude towards learning

English is not easy.

• Students are simply not motivated!

• It’s really difficult to find resources.

• The lack of available resources (books, magazines, facilities) for teaching ESL…

NB teachers also frequently cited two additional important challenges, pedagogy (24.6%)

(e.g., difficulty with delivering instruction and evaluating students) and language

proficiency, specifically an issue with students’ and teachers’ ESL competence (20%). A

number of other potential challenges were reported; however, the response rate for these

challenges was low across the total sample, suggesting that some challenges are

context/teacher specific.

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Table 3.1.2c (EP): Major Challenges Reported by ESL Teachers and Frequency of Response

Category** Number of Comments

Percent (%) of Total

Comments

Percent (%) of Total Sample

(121)

A0 Resources 27 7.8% 22.3%

F1 Pedagogy 27 7.8% 22.3%

C1 Multi-level groups 26 7.6% 21.5%

B3 Teaching/learning 19 5.5% 15.7%

A1 Teaching/learning material 18 5.2% 14.9%

D1 Support from school/admin. /board/district 17 4.9% 14%

D0 Support (in general) 14 4.1% 11.6%

C2 Special education 14 4.1% 11.6%

B0 Time management 14 4.1% 11.6%

F0 Teaching (in general) 13 3.8% 10.7%

A4 Teaching/support staff 11 3.2% 9.1%

F2 Workload 11 3.2% 9.1%

D3 From other teachers 10 2.9% 8.3%

D4 From lack of official guidelines 10 2.9% 8.3%

A5 Training/pedagogical literature 9 2.6% 7.4%

F4 Itinerancy 7 2% 5.8%

C4 Motivation 7 2% 5.8%

A2 Facilities 7 2% 5.8%

E4 Level of proficiency 6 1.7% 5%

** Letter/number combination refers to the categories and sub-categories of the coding schema (see Appendix C).

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Table 3.1.2c (EP): Major Challenges Reported by ESL Teachers and Frequency of Response (Cont.)

Category** Number of Comments

Percent (%) of Total Comments

Percent (%) of Total Sample

(121)

F3 Class size 6 1.7% 5%

E3 Use/practice of English 4 1.2% 3.3%

B1 Preparation/planning 4 1.2% 3.3%

C3 Discipline 4 1.2% 3.3%

D2 From parents/communities 3 0.9% 2.5%

E2 Attitude towards English 3 0.9% 2.5%

A3 Compensation 2 0.6% 1.7%

E1 Linguistic context 1 0.3% 0.8%

G Other 50 14.5% 41.3%

Total 344 100%

*Valid Cases 344 (94.8%); Missing 19 (5.2%); Total 363 (100%)

** Letter/number combination refers to the categories and sub-categories of the coding schema (see Appendix C).

Table 3.1.2c reports the major challenges listed by EP teachers. One of the most cited

challenges was a general lack of resources (22.3%). Specifically, in this context, teachers

point to apparent issues stemming from a lack of resources with respect to ICTs, specific

ESL training and support staff. The spirit of this challenge is clearly illustrated in the

following teacher quotes.

• It's 2010 and we're still using 19th century technology most of the time. It's often

very difficult to have access to adequate ICT's. No wonder the kids are simply

tuning out!

• Creating an ESL program with little training and resources…basically no support!

An equally important challenge listed by EP teachers was issues related to pedagogy

(22.3%) and, in particular, difficulties related to program delivery and classroom

evaluation. Teachers underscore this challenge in the following quotes:

• How do I integrate ongoing assessment in the program?!

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• Determining essential learning outcomes…problematic!

Another frequently-cited challenge by EP teachers was difficulties in managing multi-

level groups (21.5%), particularly groups in which students have different L2 skills. This

challenge is voiced in the following teacher quotes:

• Different levels in the same class are not conducive to “good teaching”!

• Different levels/abilities of students in each class/grade!

Finally, as in the other ESL contexts, EP teachers also cited a number of other challenges

(see Table 3.1.2c). However, the number of responses supporting these challenges was

insufficient to draw any reliable conclusions about their actual impact on teaching

conditions. Nevertheless, the various issues raised by these challenges may indeed be

representative of at least some of the teaching conditions in EP and thus merit further

investigation among a larger sample of teachers working in this context.

3.1.3 Perception of Stakeholder Support

Tables 3.1.3 (a, b, c) report the responses of teachers for each survey group (QC, NB, EP)

who were asked to evaluate the degree of support of the following stakeholders:

• ministry; • school district; • teacher federation; • school administration; • school guidance counsellor; • parents; • non-ESL teaching colleagues; • community; and • students.

Teachers evaluated the degree of support of each of the previously-mentioned groups

using a 5-point Likert scale with the following descriptors: not applicable, not at all

supportive, somewhat supportive, supportive and very supportive.

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Table 3.1.3a (QC): Teacher Perceptions of Stakeholder Support

Stakeholder Degree of Support

Total Not applicable

Not at all supportive

Somewhat supportive Supportive Very

supportive

Ministry Number

%

29

9%

46

14.4%

141

44.1%

79

24.7%

25

7.8%

320

100%

School district Number

%

27

8.3%

36

11.1%

139

42.6%

102

31.3%

22

6.7%

326

100%

Teacher federation

Number 58 52 124 69 13 316

% 18.4% 16.5% 39.2% 21.8% 4.1% 100%

School administration

Number 6 27 110 133 49 325

% 1.9% 8.3% 33.8 % 40.9% 15.1% 100%

School guidance

counselors

Number 112 23 62 81 46 324

% 34.6% 7.1% 19.1% 25% 14.2% 100%

Parents Number 13 25 142 107 37 324

% 4% 7.7% 43.8% 33% 11.4% 100%

Non-ESL teaching

colleagues

Number 11 45 150 101 17 324

% 3.4% 13.9% 46.3% 31.2% 5.2% 100%

Community Number 33 50 140 85 17 325

% 10.1% 15.4% 43.1% 26.2% 5.2% 100%

Students Number 8 23 147 115 21 314

% 2.6% 7.3% 46.8% 36.6% 6.7% 100%

As shown in Table 3.1.3a, most QC teachers reported that all the stakeholders were

somewhat supportive to supportive of their profession (range: 61% to 83.4%). It should

be pointed out that 34.6% of the sample also reported that the question did not apply to

one specific stakeholder: school guidance counsellors. This response pattern appears very

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much to be reflective of the Quebec context where such counsellors are generally not

employed in public schools at the primary and secondary levels.

Table 3.1.3b (NB): Teacher Perceptions of Stakeholder Support

Stakeholder

Degree of Support

Total Not

applicable

Not at all

supportive

Somewhat

supportive Supportive

Very

supportive

Ministry Number

% 1

1.5%

3

4.6%

16

24.6%

31

47.7%

14

21.5%

65

100%

School district Number

% 2

3.1%

4

6.1%

13

20%

30

46.2%

16

24.6%

65

100%

Teacher federation

Number 13 3 21 20 7 64

% 20.3% 4.7% 32.8% 31.3% 10.9% 100%

School administration

Number 0 2 12 32 19 65

% 0% 3.1% 18.5% 49.2% 29.2% 100%

School guidance

counselors

Number 30 4 12 14 5 65

% 46.2% 6.1% 18.5% 21.5% 7.7% 100%

Parents Number 2 2 22 32 4 62

% 3.2% 3.2% 35.5% 51.6% 6.5% 100%

Non-ESL teaching

colleagues

Number 6 4 28 22 5 65

% 9.2% 6.2% 43.1% 33.8% 7.7% 100%

Community Number 4 6 29 20 6 65

% 6.2% 9.2% 44.6% 30.8% 9.2% 100%

Students Number 0 3 18 30 13 64

% 0% 4.7% 28.1% 46.9% 20.3% 100%

Table 3.1.3b indicates that the majority of NB teachers reported that the school district

(70.8%) and the school administration (78.4%) were supportive to very supportive of

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their profession, while the ministry (72.3%), the teacher federation (64.1%), the parents

(87.1%), their non-ESL teaching colleagues (76.9%), the community (75.4%), and the

students (75%) were somewhat supportive to supportive. As in Table 3.1.3a, many NB

teachers (46.2%) also reported that school guidance counsellors were not applicable

stakeholders in the NB context.

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Table 3.1.3c (EP): Teacher Perceptions of Stakeholder Support

Stakeholder

Degree of Support

Total Not

applicable

Not at all

supportive

Somewhat

supportive Supportive

Very

supportive

Ministry Number

% 12

10.3%

19

16.2%

41

35%

30

25.7%

15

12.8%

117

100%

School district Number

% 3

2.5%

12

10%

37

30.8%

41

34.2%

27

22.5%

120

100%

Teacher federation

Number 14 13 42 36 12 117

% 11.9% 11.1% 35.9% 30.8% 10.3% 100%

School administration

Number 1 2 30 44 42 119

% 0.8% 1.7% 25.2% 37% 35.3% 100%

School guidance

counselors

Number 48 2 21 23 21 115

% 41.7% 1.7% 18.3% 20% 18.3% 100%

Parents Number 5 6 28 53 27 119

% 4.2% 5% 23.5% 44.5% 22.7% 100%

Non-ESL teaching

colleagues

Number 11 5 49 44 11 120

% 9.2% 4.1% 40.8% 36.7% 9.2% 100%

Community Number 16 6 34 49 15 120

% 13.3% 5% 28.3% 40.8% 12.5% 100%

Students Number 1 3 22 61 28 115

% 0.9% 2.6% 19.1% 53.1% 24.3% 100%

As shown in Table 3.1.3c, most EP teachers reported that the school administration

(72.3%) and the students (77.4%) were supportive to very supportive of their profession,

while the ministry (60.7%), the school district (65%), the teacher federation (66.7%), the

parents (68%), their non-ESL teaching colleagues (77.5%), and the community (69.1%)

were somewhat supportive to supportive. Again, as in the previous two tables, numerous

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EP teachers (41.7%) reported that the question did not apply to school guidance

counsellors.

3.1.4 Areas of ESL Teaching Targeted for Improvement

Tables 3.1.4 (a, b, c) present for each survey group (QC, NB, EP) the results of the open-

ended question in which teachers were asked to list the major areas of ESL teaching that

they would target for improvement if given unlimited time and resources. In all, the

question generated 436 responses distributed across the three survey groups (QC: 280;

NB: 54; EP: 102). All responses were analysed and coded, resulting in the creation of 12

thematic categories (see Appendix D). The response frequencies are presented in Tables

3.1.4 (a, b, c) and are reported as a percentage of the total number of responses for a

given category.

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Table 3.1.4a (QC): Major Areas of ESL Teaching Targeted by Teachers for Improvement and Frequency of Response

Category** Number Percent (%) of Total

Comments

B3 Teaching/learning material 49 17.5%

C1 Methodology conferences/P.D. 46 16.4%

A2 Evaluation 37 13.2%

A6 Class management/discipline 24 8.6%

A5 Language skills 18 6.4%

C3 Collaboration 15 5.4%

A1 Planning 15 5.4%

A3 Differentiation 15 5.4%

B1 Technology 14 5%

A4 Special education 14 5%

C2 Language skill 10 3.6%

B2 Curricula/programs 8 2.9%

D Other 15 5.4%

Total 280 100%

*Valid Cases 280 (85.9%); Missing 46 (14.1%); Total 326 (100%)

** Letter/number combination refers to the categories and sub-categories of the coding schema (see Appendix D).

As indicated in Table 3.1.4a, the most important areas targeted for improvement by QC

teachers were teaching and learning materials (17.5%) (e.g., creation of ESL materials,

planning evaluation and building projects), methodology (16.4%) (e.g., working on

pedagogical development and teaching skills by attending more conferences), evaluation

(13.2%) (e.g., expanding on formative and summative evaluation techniques) and class

management (8.6%) (e.g., developing classroom discipline and management). Together,

these four areas represent 55.7% of the total comments provided for the question. Each of

these areas is illustrated in the following teacher quotes:

• developing new activities, links with TICs, new content-based themes, and LES

[learning and evaluation situations]

• improve my teaching skills from conferences

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• evaluation…building valid learning and evaluation situations

• learning new discipline strategies to adapt to the changing generations

Teachers also targeted additional areas in which they would like to improve (e.g.,

language skills, collaboration, planning, differentiation, etc.). However, given the

relatively small number of responses in these areas, it is unclear to what extent they are

representative of the Quebec sample.

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Table 3.1.4b (NB): Major Areas of ESL Teaching Targeted by Teachers for Improvement and Frequency of Response

Category** Number Percent (%) of Total

Comments

C1 Methodology conferences/P.D. 15 27.8%

B3 Teaching/learning material 10 18.5%

A3 Differentiation 5 9.3%

C2 Language skill 4 7.4%

A2 Evaluation 4 7.4%

A1 Planning 4 7.4%

B2 Curricula/programs 4 7.4%

A5 Language skills 3 5.6%

B1 Technology 1 1.9%

A6 Class management/discipline 1 1.9%

A4 Special education 1 1.9%

D Other 2 3.7%

Total 54 100%

*Valid Cases 54 (83.1%); Missing 11 (16.9%); Total 65 (100%)

** Letter/number combination refers to the categories and sub-categories of the coding schema (see appendix D)

As shown in Table 3.1.4b, NB teachers indentified a number of teaching areas in which

they would like to improve; however, two areas, in particular, appear to be the most

representative of the sample. The most frequently cited was methodology (27.8%) (e.g.,

working on pedagogical development and teaching skills by attending more conferences).

The next most cited area was teaching and learning materials (18.5%) (e.g., creation of

ESL materials, planning evaluation and building projects). In all, nearly half (46.3%) of

the teachers targeted these two areas for improvement, both of which are represented in

the following quotes:

• participating in workshops to improve teaching grammar / syntax

• making and creating new pedagogical material

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Some teachers also showed a certain preoccupation for enhancing their teaching skills to

deal with classroom differentiation (9.3%), particularly managing multi-level groups.

They also showed some desire for improving their own language skills (7.4%) for

teaching English. In both these areas (as well as others mentioned in Table 3.1.4b),

teachers’ responses were extremely low and thus should obviously be interpreted with

some caution.

Table 3.1.4c (EP): Major Areas of ESL Teaching Targeted by Teachers for Improvement and Frequency of Response

Category** Number Percent (%) of Total

Comments

C1 Methodology conferences/P.D. 24 23.5%

B2 Curricula/programs 16 15.7%

A5 Language skills 11 10.8%

A2 Evaluation 10 9.8%

A4 Special education 8 7.8%

B3 Teaching/learning material 8 7.8%

A3 Differentiation 7 6.9%

C3 Collaboration 7 6.9%

B1 Technology 2 2%

A1 Planning 1 1%

D Other 8 7.8%

Total 102 100%

Table 3.1.4c shows the most important areas targeted for improvement by EP teachers.

The two most important were methodology (e.g., working on pedagogical development

and teaching skills by attending more conferences) (23.5%), and curricula (e.g.,

developing specific programs or adapting the official curricula) (15.7%). Although the

response rate is somewhat low, two additional areas noted for improvement were

teaching language skills (10.8%) (e.g., teaching oral and written skills) and evaluation

(9.8%) (e.g., developing clear assessment tools). Together these four areas represent over

half (59.8%) of the teachers’ comments for this question. The following teacher quotes

reflect each of these areas:

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• working on teaching methods for my students

• by far, putting together units for junior and senior high students

• teaching reading skills - many students are weak readers in their first language, so

have tremendous trouble reading English.

• evaluation - creating clear, valid evaluation guidelines and rubrics!

3.1.5 Specific Areas That Would Facilitate ESL Teaching

Tables 3.1.5 (a, b, c) present for each survey group (QC, NB, EP) the results of the open-

ended question where teachers were asked to indicate one thing, specifically one area,

that would facilitate their current ESL teaching situation. In all, the question generated

438 responses distributed across the three survey groups (QC: 285; NB: 54; EP: 99). All

responses were analysed and coded, resulting in the creation of 18 thematic categories

(see Appendix E). The response frequencies are presented in Tables 3.1.5 (a, b, c) and are

reported as a percentage of the total number of responses for a given category.

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Table 3.1.5a (QC): One Area That Would Facilitate Current ESL Teaching Situation and Frequency of Response

Category** Number Percent (%) of Total

Comments

D2 Smaller groups 43 15.1%

A2 Teaching material 39 13.7%

A1 Facilities 31 10.9%

D4 General workload 25 8.8%

B1 More class time 24 8.4%

A3 ICT 18 6.3%

A7 Collaboration 16 5.6%

A5 Teaching/support staff 13 4.6%

D1 More homogenous classes 9 3.2%

C0 More support (in general) 9 3.2%

A4 Funding 8 2.8%

B2 More preparation time 8 2.8%

B0 More time (in general) 7 2.5%

A6 Conferences/training/P.D. 6 2.1%

D3 Student motivation 5 1.7%

C2 From communities 3 1.1%

C1 From administrations 2 0.7%

A0 Resources (in general) 2 0.7%

D Other 17 6%

Total 285 100%

*Valid Cases 285 (87.4%); Missing 41 (12.6%); Total 326 (100%)

** Letter/number combination refers to the categories and sub-categories of the coding schema (see Appendix E).

Table 3.1.5a shows the one area, in particular, that would facilitate ESL teaching as

reported by QC teachers was smaller groups of students (15.1%). This was closely

followed by more readily-available teaching materials (13.7%), specifically more

teaching and evaluation materials tailored to different grades. Other important areas

reported by teachers that would potentially facilitate their teaching were facilities (10.9%)

(e.g., a specific or consistent ESL classroom), a decrease in general workload (8.8%)

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(e.g., fewer students overall and fewer schools to resource) and more class time for

instruction (8.4 %) (e.g., more periods per group). Additional areas were also mentioned

(see Table 3.1.5a); however, the five areas reported above accounted for the majority

(56.9%) of teachers’ responses. Teachers showcase each of these areas in the following

quotes:

• drop the number of students!

• provide much more material for teaching ESL – we can’t create everything for

everyone!

• …give me my own room, office…we’re just itinerant teachers passing through the

schools.

• Reduce the number of students per group...I’ll be able to follow the students

progress more efficiently, interact with parents and better understand the needs of

my students with learning difficulties.

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Table 3.1.5b (NB): One Area That Would Facilitate Current ESL Teaching Situation and Frequency of Response

Category** Number Percent (%) of Total

Comments

A2 Teaching material 12 22.2%

A6 Conferences/training/P.D. 7 13%

B2 More preparation time 6 11.1%

A0 Resources (in general) 4 7.4%

A7 Collaboration 4 7.4%

D2 Smaller groups 3 5.5%

B1 More class time 3 5.5%

A3 ICT 2 3.7%

A5 Teaching/support staff 2 3.7%

D1 More homogenous classes 2 3.7%

A4 Funding 1 1.9%

C0 More support (in general) 1 1.9%

A1 Facilities 1 1.9%

C1 From administrations 1 1.9%

D4 General workload 1 1.9%

D Other 4 7.4%

Total 54 100%

*Valid Cases 54 (83.1%); Missing 11 (16.9%); Total 65 (100%)

** Letter/number combination refers to the categories and sub-categories of the coding schema (see Appendix E).

In Table 3.1.5b, the single most important area that would facilitate ESL teaching as

reported by NB teachers was the increased availability of teaching materials (22.2%),

including more ready-made activities, evaluation materials and lesson plans. Other

somewhat important areas (although the response rate was quite low) were more training

and professional development (13%), more preparation time (11.1%), more resources in

general (7.4%) and more collaboration with teachers from the same school, school board,

or province (7.4%). These five areas represented a sizable majority (61.1%) of the total

comments provided. The following quotes by NB teachers exemplify these areas:

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• things would be much better if we had more books and material

• more special needs training – these students are showing up in our classes more

and more

• more time to understand the official ESL program and prepare appropriate

materials

• more resources and knowledge, especially about assessing ESL students

• mandatory PD sessions with our ESL colleagues at our respective schools–

mandatory provincial follow-up training sessions

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Table 3.1.5c (EP): One Area That Would Facilitate Current ESL Teaching Situation and Frequency of Response

Category** Number Percent (%) of Total

Comments

A5 Teaching/support staff 16 16.2%

D4 General workload 12 12.1%

A6 Conferences/training/P.D. 10 10.1%

A2 Teaching material 9 9.1%

A4 Funding 9 9.1%

A0 Resources (in general) 6 6.1%

B2 More preparation time 6 6.1%

A1 Facilities 5 5.1%

B1 More class time 5 5.1%

A7 Collaboration 4 4%

C1 From administration 3 3%

B0 More time (in general) 3 3%

A3 ICT 3 3%

C0 More support (in general) 2 2%

D2 Smaller groups 2 2%

D1 More homogenous classes 1 1%

D Other 3 3%

Total 99 100%

*Valid Cases 99 (81.8%); Missing 22 (18.2%); Total 121 (100%)

** Letter/number combination refers to the categories and sub-categories of the coding schema (see Appendix E).

As can be seen in Table 3.1.5c, the most important area that would facilitate ESL

teaching as reported by EP teachers was more teaching and support staff (16.2%) and, in

particular, more support and resource staff for large groups, special need students and

teaching in general. EP teachers also listed other important areas (although the response

rate is rather low) such as a decrease in general workload (12.1%) (e.g., fewer students

and less schools to resource), more training in specific areas of ESL teaching (10.1%),

more readily-available teaching materials (9.1%) and more funding for resources (9.1%).

Additional areas were also listed, but received extremely low response rates (see Table

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3.1.5.c) and therefore could not be interpreted reliably. Nevertheless, the five areas here

represented 56.6% of the total comments provided and are illustrated in the following

teacher quotes:

• more full-time staff to assist ESL teachers

• reduce our workload, give us more time for preparing our classes, more time for

preparing school trips, more time at the end of terms for correcting and entering

our marks

• more training…we need real ESL training in different areas

• more age and level appropriate material that is extrinsically motivating to my

students

• more funding for Canadian-born ELLs [English language learners] so my board

could hire more ESL teachers - this would decrease the number of schools itinerant

teachers would have to work at

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3.1.6 Level of Satisfaction With Teaching ESL

*Valid Cases 509 (97.3%); Missing 14 (2.7%); Total 523 (100%)

In Table 3.1.6a, teachers were asked to indicate (yes or no) whether they had considered

leaving ESL teaching in the last 12 months. The large majority of teachers in NB (75.4%)

and EP (73.9%) reported not having considered leaving ESL teaching in the past 12

months. However, in QC, the response pattern was split, with nearly equal numbers of

teachers reporting that they had not (53.2%) and that they had (46.8%) considered

leaving the ESL profession.

In the case of QC, as close to half the sample had reported wanting to leave ESL

teaching, the potential reasons for leaving were examined by reviewing the various

comments provided for this specific question. The analysis showed that of those teachers

who responded “yes” to leaving, 30.9% (47/152) reported being dissatisfied mainly with

teaching in general; 17.1% (26/152) were mainly dissatisfied with ESL teaching; 21%

(32/152) were equally dissatisfied with both teaching in general and ESL teaching; and

30.9% provided no specific reason. The dissatisfaction with the ESL profession,

according to these teachers, seems to stem principally from issues with working

conditions (e.g., workload; see Section 3.1) and/or the overall sense of a lack of efficacy

in the classroom. The following quotes capture the nature of this dissatisfaction:

Table 3.1.6a: Percentage of Teachers Who Considered Leaving ESL Teaching in the Past 12 Months

Response English Context

Total QC NB EP

Yes Number 152 16 31 199

% 46.8% 24.6% 26.1% 39.1%

No Number 173 49 88 310

% 53.2% 75.4% 73.9% 60.9%

Total Number

%

325

100%

65

100%

119

100%

509

100%

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• The workload. It is so discouraging to have so many students and so few hours of

English per week…who is learning?

• If they keep increasing the number of students in a classroom and lowering the

amount of time I see them, I’m leaving!

• Working conditions, groups too difficult and not enough recognition for ESL

teachers

Table 3.1.6b: Percentage of Teachers Who Believe That They Will Be Teaching in One Year

Answer English Context

Total QC NB EP

Definitely Number

% 202

62.1% 33

50.8% 60

49.6% 295

57.7%

Probably Number

% 112

34.5% 27

41.5% 53

43.8% 192

37.6%

Probably not Number

% 10

3.1% 4

6.2% 6

5% 20

3.9%

Definitely not Number

% 1

0.3% 1

1.5% 2

1.7% 4

0.8%

Total Number

%

325

100%

65

100%

121

100%

511

100%

*Valid Cases 511 (97.7%); Missing 12 (2.3%); total 523 (100%)

In Table 3.1.6b, teachers provided a follow-up response to 3.1.6a and were asked if they

would still be teaching ESL a year from now. The majority of teachers in QC (62.1%)

and NB (50.8%) reported that they would definitely be teaching in one year, and nearly

half of the teachers in EP (49.6%) held the same belief.

3.1.7 Positive Aspect of Teaching ESL

Tables 3.1.7 (a, b, c) present for each survey group (QC, NB, EP) the results of the open-

ended question where teachers were asked to indicate what they perceived to be the most

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positive aspect of ESL teaching. In all, the question generated 456 responses distributed

across the three survey groups (QC: 289; NB: 59; EP: 108). All responses were analysed

and coded, resulting in the creation of 9 thematic categories (see Appendix F). The

response frequencies are presented in Tables 3.1.7 (a, b, c) and are reported as a

percentage of the total number of responses for a given category.

Table 3.1.7a (QC): Most Positive Aspect of ESL Teaching Reported by Teachers and Frequency of Response

Category** Number Percent (%) of Total

Comments

B3 Pedagogical freedom (latitude) 60 20.8%

A1 Progress 50 17.3%

B1 Helping/empowering students 37 12.8%

B2 Introducing students to culture/language 33 11.4%

A0 Students 29 10%

A3 Motivation/enthusiasm 29 10%

B4 Promoting English 15 5.2%

B0 Teaching English 14 4.8%

A2 Cultural diversity 2 0.7%

C Other 20 6.9%

Total 289 100%

*Valid Cases 289 (88.7%); Missing 37 (11.3%); Total 326 (100%)

** Letter/number combination refers to the categories and sub-categories of the coding schema (see Appendix F).

As seen in Table 3.1.7a, the most positive aspect of ESL teaching reported by QC

teachers was pedagogical latitude (20.8%) or the freedom to choose the content and

topics covered in their teaching. The other most positive aspects of teaching were

witnessing students’ progress in language development (17.3%), helping and empowering

students (12.8%), and introducing students to the English language and culture (11.4%).

Although other interesting aspects were cited (see Table 3.1.7), these four aspects

accounted for the majority (62.3%) of the total responses. Each of these areas can clearly

be seen in the following quotes:

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• in English, all topics are possible – everything is a pretext for teaching English!

• just watching the students evolve…wow!

• bringing students to confront their fears… their weaknesses

• exposing students to the English language and culture

Table 3.1.7b (NB): Most Positive Aspect of ESL Teaching Reported by Teachers and Frequency of Response

Category** Number Percent (%) of Total

Comments

A3 Motivation/enthusiasm 18 30.5%

A1 Progress 17 28.8%

B3 Pedagogical freedom (latitude) 7 11.9%

B2 Introducing students to culture/language 3 5.1%

B4 Promoting English 3 5.1%

B0 Teaching English 3 5.1%

B1 Helping/empowering students 3 5.1%

A2 Cultural diversity 1 1.7%

A0 Students 1 1.7%

C Other 3 5.1%

Total 59 100%

*Valid Cases 59 (90.8%); Missing 37 (9.2%); Total 65 (100%)

** Letter/number combination refers to the categories and sub-categories of the coding schema (see Appendix F).

As shown in Table 3.1.7b, the two most positive aspects of ESL teaching reported by NB

teachers were student motivation and enthusiasm for learning (30.5%) (e.g., seeing

students’ joy and excitement from learning) and witnessing students’ language-learning

progress (28.8%). A third important aspect was pedagogical latitude (11.9%). Together,

these three aspects represented the vast majority (71.2%) of all the teachers’ responses.

Examples of these responses are illustrated below:

• just seeing the students marvel when they actually understand the words I’m saying

• seeing the development of the students

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• the liberty to create my own pedagogical approaches and activities

Table 3.1.7c (EP): Most Positive Aspect of ESL Teaching Reported by Teachers and Frequency of Response

Category** Number Percent (%) of Total

Comments

A1 Progress 26 24.1%

A0 Students 24 22.2%

A3 Motivation/enthusiasm 18 16.7%

B1 Helping/empowering students 14 13%

A2 Cultural diversity 10 9.3%

B0 Teaching English 4 3.7%

B2 Introducing students to culture/language 4 3.7%

B4 Promoting English 1 0.9%

B3 Pedagogical freedom (latitude) 1 0.9%

C Other 6 5.6%

Total 108 100%

*Valid Cases 108 (89.3%); Missing 13 (10.7%); Total 121 (100%)

** Letter/number combination refers to the categories and sub-categories of the coding schema (see Appendix F)

As indicated in Table 3.1.7c, the most positive aspects of ESL teaching reported by EP

teachers were witnessing the students’ language-learning progress (24.1%), working with

students (22.2%) (e.g., developing relationships with students), student motivation and

enthusiasm for learning (16.7%), and helping and empowering students (13%). These

four aspects, by far, accounted for the greatest number of responses (76%) provided by

EP teachers. The areas are illustrated in the following teacher quotes:

• especially the positive attitude I get from the students I see every week when they

enter my classroom or when they see me.

• watching students grow and change in the classroom, not just learning language,

but learning valuable life lessons

• helping students to understand…letting them know that I’m sensitive to their

learning challenges

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3.2 Teacher Perceptions of Resources

This second section presents the results of questions that targeted teacher perceptions of

resources. In particular, the questions asked teachers to evaluate:

• specific ESL teaching resources;

• the availability of other various resources important to teaching; and

• the opportunities their students have to interact in English.

3.2.1 Evaluation of Teaching Resources

Tables 3.2.1 present the responses of teachers for each survey group (QC, NB, EP) who

were asked to evaluate the following resources that were potentially available to them in

their teaching context:

• commercially-prepared teaching materials;

• teaching materials incorporating Anglophone culture;

• computer software (ICTs); and

• community-based resources.

Teachers evaluated the resources above based on their quality and quantity, and also

whether they were appropriate for the age and language-level of the students. The

evaluation was based on a 5-point Likert scale, consisting of the following descriptors:

resources available to me; resources not available; poor; adequate; good; excellent.

However, to facilitate the presentation of the large amount of data, the descriptors were

slightly modified in Table 3.2.1: the “using” column indicates the percentage of teachers

who reported using a particular resource (resource available); the remaining percentage

(not shown) automatically indicates the percentage of teachers not using the resource

(resource not available). Thus, a percentage of 79% in the “using” column indicates, by

default, that 21% of the teachers reported that they were not using the resource.

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Table 3.2.1 : Evaluation of Teaching Resources R

eported by Teachers

Teaching Resource

English Context

QC

N

B

EP

%

Using

%

Poor %

Adequate

%

Good/

Excellent

Num

ber %

U

sing %

Poor

%

Adequate

%

Good/

Excellent

Num

ber %

U

sing %

Poor

%

Adequate

%

Good/

Excellent

Num

ber

Com

mercially prepared

ESL teaching materials

• Q

uality • Q

uantity • Age appropriateness • Level

appropriateness

79.9%

5.5%

9.1%

9.2%

13.7%

27%

32.1%

30.4%

35.4%

67.5%

58.7%

60.4%

50.9%

323

274 274 273 271

73.8%

4%

20%

14%

10%

28%

36%

32%

42%

68%

44%

54%

48%

65 50 50 50 50

65.5%

4.6%

27.9%

24.1%

16.3%

29.1%

32.1%

29.9%

36%

60.9%

43%

45.9%

47.7%

119 87

86 87 86

ESL teaching materials

(print or non-print) that incorporate the anglophone culture

• Quality

• Quantity

• Age appropriateness • Level

appropriateness

87.9%

1.1%

13.4%

7.3%

9.7%

26%

33.6%

30.5%

38.1%

72.9%

53.1%

62.2%

52.2%

314

262 262 262 257

78%

4.9%

26.8%

7.3%

17.1%

46.3%

31.7%

43.9%

39%

48.8%

41.5%

48.7%

43.9%

59 41 41 41 41

72.3%

6%

19%

20.2%

18.3%

33.3%

35.7%

36.9%

36.6%

60.7%

45.2%

42.8%

45.1%

112

84 84 84 82

Library ESL materials

• Q

uality • Q

uantity • Age appropriateness • Level

appropriateness

51.9%

15.8%

45.8%

15.8%

17.7%

33.9%

24.9%

40.1%

36%

50.3%

29.4%

44%

46.2%

310

177 177 177 175

25.8%

26.3%

42.1%

31.6%

31.6%

26.3%

42.1%

42.1%

36.8%

47.4%

15.8%

26.4%

31.6%

19 19 19 19

52%

9.1%

45.5%

18.2%

18.8%

33.3%

27.3%

39.4%

45.3%

57.6%

27.3%

42.4%

35.9%

117 66

66 66 64

ICTs

• Q

uality • Q

uantity • Age appropriateness • Level

appropriateness

69.2%

10.2%

28.9%

5.2%

5.2 %

28.5%

26.4%

27.5%

32.2%

61.3%

44.7%

67.4%

62.7%

318

235 235 233 230

84.4%

7.3%

20.8%

3.8%

1.9%

23.6%

26.4%

22.6%

28.3%

69.1%

52.9%

73.5%

69.9%

64 55 55 55 53

69.2%

5.7%

18.2%

8%

9.3%

31.8%

30.7%

33%

29.1%

62.5%

51.1%

58.4%

61.6%

120 88

88 88 86

Locally-offered English program

ming (live theater,

movies, radio, TV…

)

• Quality

• Quantity

• Age appropriateness • Level

appropriateness

35.6%

7.7%

21.4%

13.9%

13.9%

23.9%

30.8%

28.7%

34.8%

68.4%

47.8%

57.4%

51.3%

317

117 117 115 115

36.7%

8.7%

8.7%

8.7%

13.6%

26.1%

30.4%

26.1%

31.8%

65.2%

60.8%

65.2%

54.6%

60 23 23 23 22

30.2%

0%

2.8%

0%

8.1%

32.4%

38.9%

40.5%

40.5%

67.6%

58.3%

59.5%

51.3%

116

37 36 37 37

Table 3.2.1: Evaluation of Teaching Resources Reported by Teachers

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As shown in Table 3.2.1, the majority of teachers in all three contexts reported using

commercially-prepared ESL teaching materials (QC: 79.9%; NB: 73.8%; EP: 65.5%),

ESL teaching materials (print or non print) that incorporate the Anglophone culture (QC:

87.9%; NB: 78%; EP: 72.3%) and ICTs (QC: 69.2%; NB: 84.4%; EP: 69.2%). Fewer

teachers in all three contexts reported using library ESL materials (QC: 51.9%; NB:

25.8%; EP: 52%) and locally-offered English programming such as live theatre, movies,

radio and TV (QC: 35.6%; NB: 36.7%; EP: 30.2%). It should be pointed out that, in a

follow-up analysis of comments for this question, teachers indicated that they would very

much like the opportunity to use library ESL materials and English programming if these

particular resources were available in their school or communities.

For QC, more than half of the teachers judged the quality, quantity and appropriateness

of commercially-prepared ESL materials and ESL teaching materials (print or non print)

that incorporate the Anglophone culture to be good or excellent. While the majority of

teachers reported that the quality of library ESL materials was good or excellent, close to

half (45.8%) rated their quantity as poor. The quality and appropriateness of ICTs and

locally-offered English programming were considered as good or excellent by more than

half of the teachers (61.3% and 68.4% respectively). However, less than half of the

teachers (44.7% and 47.8% respectively) reported that the quantity of these resources was

good or excellent, with ratings falling mostly between poor and adequate.

For NB, the majority of teachers reported that the quality (68%) and age appropriateness

(54%) of commercially prepared ESL were good or excellent, but slightly fewer

responded that the quantity (44%) and level appropriateness (48%) were good or

excellent. Many teachers judged that the ESL teaching materials (print or non print) that

incorporate Anglophone culture was good or excellent in terms of quality (48.8%),

quantity (41.5%), age appropriateness (48.7%) and level appropriateness (43.9%). As

for library ESL materials, quality was reported as good or excellent by 47.4% of the

teachers, while quantity (42.1%), age appropriateness (31.6%) and level appropriateness

(31.6%) were rated as poor by a numerous teachers. More than half of the teachers judged

the quality, quantity and appropriateness of ICTs and locally-offered English

programming to be good or excellent.

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For EP, commercially prepared ESL materials, ESL teaching materials (print or non

print) that incorporate the Anglophone culture and library ESL materials were considered

as good or excellent in terms of quality by the majority of teachers (60.9%, 60.7% and

57.6% respectively). However, for these resources, considerably fewer teachers agreed

that quantity (43%, 45.2% and 27.3% respectively), age appropriateness (45.9%, 42.8%

and 42.4% respectively), and level appropriateness (47.7%, 45.1% and 35.9%

respectively) were good or excellent. A majority of teachers judged the quality, quantity

and appropriateness of ICTs and locally-offered English programming to be good or

excellent.

3.2.2 Availability of Various Resources

Table 3.2.2 (a, b, c) present the responses of teachers for each survey group (QC, NB,

EP) who were asked to evaluate the availability of the following other resources for their

teaching context:

• funding for ESL activities;

• computer/internet access;

• technical support for ICTs;

• ESL-only classroom;

• suitable space for lesson preparation;

• suitable space for storage of materials;

• resource persons to help with teaching;

• resources persons to help students with special needs;

• English-speaking substitute / supply teachers;

• English-speaking administrative staff;

• English-speaking support staff;

• English-speaking librarians; and

• English-speaking guest speakers.

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Teachers evaluated the degree of availability of each of the resources above using a 5-

point Likert scale with the following descriptors: unavailable, rarely available,

sometimes available, usually available and always available.

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Table 3.2.2a (QC): Teacher Perceptions of Availability of Various Resources

Resource

Availability

Total Unavailable

Rarely

available

Sometimes

available

Usually

available

Always

available

Funding for ESL

activities

Number 79 118 81 40 3 321

% 24.6% 36.8% 25.2% 12.5% 0.9% 100%

Computer /Internet

access

Number 14 62 87 115 48 326

% 4.3% 19% 26.7% 35.3% 14.7% 100%

Technical support for

ICTs

Number 25 87 106 76 30 324

% 7.7% 26.9% 32.7% 23.5% 9.3% 100%

ESL-only classroom Number 67 36 52 72 95 322

% 20.8% 11.2% 16.1% 22.4% 29.5% 100%

Suitable space for lesson

preparation

Number 26 28 47 107 117 325

% 8% 8.6% 14.5% 32.9% 36% 100%

Suitable space for storage

of materials

Number 23 38 70 100 94 325

% 7.1% 11.7% 21.5% 30.8% 28.9% 100%

Resource persons to help

with teaching

Number 55 73 65 91 40 324

% 17% 22.5% 20.1% 28.1% 12.3% 100%

Resource persons to help

students with special

needs

Number 73 106 91 44 9 323

% 22.6% 32.8% 28.2% 13.6% 2.8% 100%

English-speaking

substitute/supply

teachers

Number 54 120 97 47 7 325

% 16.6% 36.9% 29.8% 14.5% 2.2% 100%

English-speaking

administrative staff

Number 155 91 41 23 8 318

% 48.7% 28.6% 12.9% 7.2% 2.5% 100%

English-speaking support

staff

Number 154 91 48 18 10 321

% 48% 28.3% 15% 5.6% 3.1% 100%

English-speaking

librarians

Number 231 56 18 12 2 319

% 72.4% 17.6% 5.6% 3.8% 0.6% 100%

English-speaking guest

speakers

Number 150 95 52 17 5 319

% 47% 29.8% 16.3% 5.3% 1.6% 100%

As shown in Table 3.2.2a, the majority of teachers from QC reported that suitable space

for lesson preparation (68.9%), and suitable space for storage of materials (59.7%) were

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usually or always available, while funding for ESL activities (61.4%), special needs

specialists (55.4%), English-speaking supply teachers (53.5%), English-speaking

administrative staff (77.3%), English-speaking support staff (76.3%), English-speaking

librarians (90%), and English-speaking guest speakers (76.8%) were rarely or never

available. Roughly half of the sample reported that computer and internet access (50%)

and an ESL-only classroom (51.9 %) were usually or always available.

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Table 3.2.2b (NB): Teacher Perceptions of Availability of Various Resources

Resource

Availability

Total Unavailable

Rarely

available

Sometimes

available

Usually

available

Always

available

Funding for ESL activities Number 29 17 13 5 0 64

% 45.3% 26.6% 20.3% 7.8% 0% 100%

Computer /Internet access Number 0 6 11 27 21 65

% 0% 9.2% 16.9% 41.5% 32.3% 100%

Technical support for ICTs Number 1 7 16 24 16 64

% 1.6% 10.9% 25% 37.5% 25% 100%

ESL-only classroom Number 27 3 2 14 19 65

% 41.5% 4.6% 3.1% 21.5% 29.2% 100%

Suitable space for lesson preparation Number 9 3 4 26 23 65

% 13.8% 4.6% 6.2% 40% 35.4% 100%

Suitable space for storage of materials Number 6 8 6 27 18 65

% 9.2% 12.3% 9.2% 41.5% 27.7% 100%

Resource persons to help with teaching Number 7 12 24 18 4 65

% 10.8% 18.5% 36.9% 27.7% 6.2% 100%

Resource persons to help students with

special needs

Number 16 14 20 12 3 65

% 24.6% 21.5% 30.8% 18.5% 4.6% 100%

English-speaking substitute/supply

teachers

Number 16 21 19 6 2 64

% 25% 32.8% 29.7% 9.4% 3.1% 100%

English-speaking administrative staff Number 15 16 14 9 9 63

% 23.8% 25.4% 22.2% 14.3% 14.3% 100%

English-speaking support staff Number 22 12 15 11 4 64

% 34.4% 18.8% 23.4% 17.2% 6.3% 100%

English-speaking librarians Number 33 10 14 5 2 64

% 51.6% 15.6% 21.9% 7.8% 3.1% 100%

English-speaking guest speakers Number 22 20 7 11 4 64

% 34.4% 31.3% 10.9% 17.2% 6.3% 100%

In Table 3.2.2b, most of the teachers from NB reported that a computer and access to the

internet (73.8%), technical support for information and communication technologies

(62.5%), suitable space for lesson preparation (75.4%), and suitable space for storage of

materials (69.2%) were usually or always available, while funding for ESL activities

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(71.9%), English-speaking supply teachers (57.8%), English-speaking support staff

(53.2%), English-speaking librarians (67.2%), and English-speaking guest speakers

(67.2%) were rarely or never available. A sizable number of teachers (46.1%) also felt

that the availability of special needs specialists was rarely or never available. Half of the

sample (50.76%) reported that an ESL-only classroom was usually or always available.

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As can be seen in Table 3.2.2c, more than half of the teachers from EP reported that a

computer and access to the internet (57.9%), suitable space for lesson preparation (60%),

English-speaking supply teachers (75%), English-speaking administrative staff (92.4%),

English-speaking support staff (86.5%), English-speaking librarians (82.5%), and

Table 3.2.2c (EP): Teacher Perceptions of Availability of Various Resources

Resource

Availability

Total Unavailable

Rarely

available

Sometimes

available

Usually

available

Always

available

Funding for ESL activities Number 20 30 47 16 5 118

% 16.9% 25.4% 39.8% 13.6% 4.2% 100%

Computer /Internet access Number 11 11 29 41 29 121

% 9.1% 9.1% 24% 33.9% 24% 100%

Technical support for ICTs Number 18 16 35 32 16 117

% 15.4% 13.7% 29.9% 27.4% 13.7% 100%

ESL-only classroom Number 41 12 9 18 41 121

% 33.9% 9.9% 7.4% 14.9% 33.9% 100%

Suitable space for lesson preparation Number 12 21 15 24 48 120

% 10% 17.5% 12.5% 20% 40% 100%

Suitable space for storage of materials Number 13 24 24 26 34 121

% 10.7% 19.8% 19.8% 21.5% 28.1% 100%

Resource persons to help with teaching Number 30 25 27 28 9 119

% 25.2% 21% 22.7% 23.5% 7.6% 100%

Resource persons to help students with

special needs

Number 19 23 38 21 18 119

% 16% 19.3% 31.9% 17.6% 15.1% 100%

English-speaking substitute/supply

teachers

Number 11 4 15 29 61 120

% 9.2% 3.3% 12.5% 24.2% 50.8% 100%

English-speaking administrative staff Number 1 5 3 19 90 118

% 0.8% 4.2% 2.5% 16.1% 76.3% 100%

English-speaking support staff Number 3 6 7 21 82 119

% 2.5% 5% 5.9% 17.6% 68.9% 100%

English-speaking librarians Number 10 4 7 18 81 120

% 8.3% 3.3% 5.8% 15% 67.5% 100%

English-speaking guest speakers Number 11 6 9 24 65 115

% 9.6% 5.2% 7.8% 20.9% 56.5% 100%

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English-speaking guest speakers (77.4%) were usually or always available. However,

many teachers (range from 35.3% to 46.2%) also reported that the following resources, in

particular, were rarely or never available: funding for ESL activities (42.3%), ESL-only

classroom (43.8%), teacher aids (46.2%) and special needs specialists (35.3%).

3.2.3 Opportunities for Interaction in English

Tables 3.2.3 (a, b) present the results of the questions where teachers were asked to assess

the degree to which their students had the opportunity to interact in English outside of

class within the school and community. Teachers evaluated the degree of interaction

using a 5-point Likert scale with the following descriptors: never, seldom, occasionally,

and regularly.

Table 3.2.3a: Frequency of Students’ Interaction in English Outside of Class Within the School Reported by Teachers

Frequency English Context

Total QC NB EC

Never Number

%

150

46.3%

27

42.2%

7

5.8%

184

36.1%

Seldom Number

%

114

35.2%

16

25%

8

6.6%

138

27.1%

Occasionally Number

%

45

13.9%

11

17.2%

14

11.6%

70

13.8%

Regularly Number

%

15

4.6%

10

15.6%

92

76%

117

23%

Total Number

%

324

100%

64

100%

121

100%

509

100%

*Valid Cases 509 (97.3%); Missing 14 (2.7%); Total 523 (100%)

As can be seen in Table 3.2.3a, many teachers in QC (46.3%) and NB (42.2%) reported

that the students never interacted in English within the school when they were not in the

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ESL classroom, while most of the teachers in EP (76%) reported that the students

regularly did so.

Table 3.2.3b: Frequency of Students’ Interaction in English Outside of Class Within the Community Reported by Teachers

Frequency English Context

Total QC NB EC

Never Number

%

104

32%

7

10.8%

3

2.5%

114

22.4%

Seldom Number

%

152

46.8%

26

40%

11

9.2%

189

37.1%

Occasionally Number

%

52

16%

9

13.8%

54

45.4%

115

22.6%

Regularly Number

%

17

5.2%

23

35.4%

51

42.9%

91

17.9%

Total Number

%

325

100%

65

100%

119

100%

509

100%

*Valid Cases 509 (97.3%); Missing 14 (2.7%); Total 523 (100%)

As shown in Table 3.2.3b, teachers in QC mostly reported that students never or seldom

interacted in English outside of the school (32% and 46.8% respectively); teachers in NB

mostly reported that students seldom (40%) or regularly did so (35.4%); teachers in EP

mostly reported that students occasionally (45.4%) or regularly did so (42.9%).

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3.3 Professional Development

This third section presents the results of questions in which teachers reported on different

aspects of professional development:

• accessibility of PD activities;

• participation in PD activities;

• preferred PD activities; and

• usefulness of PD activities.

3.3.1 Accessibility

Table 3.3.1 presents the responses of teachers for each survey group (QC, NB, EP) who

were asked to indicate what would make professional development more accessible to

them. Teachers were asked to choose one or more of the following PD activities that

applied to their situation:

• funding;

• shorter PD;

• offering PD during school hours;

• offering PD after school hours;

• availability of ESL supply/substitute teachers;

• relevant topics;

• electronic PD (live); and

• electronic PD (recordings).

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Table 3.3.1: Factors That Would Make PD More Accessible

Factor

English Context

QC NB EP

Number

Percent (%) of Total

Sample (326)

Number

Percent (%) of Total

Sample (65)

Number

Percent (%) of Total

Sample (121)

Funding 227 69.6% 49 75.4% 93 76.9%

Shorter PD sessions 68 20.9% 22 33.8% 14 11.6%

Offering PD during school hours

189 58% 50 76.9% 60 49.6%

Offering PD after school hours 24 7.4% 4 6.2% 25 20.7%

Availability of ESL supply/substitute teachers

153 46.9% 22 33.8% 27 22.3%

Relevant topics 182 55.8% 24 36.9% 64 52.9%

Electronic PD (live) 72 22.1% 17 26.2% 23 19%

Electronic PD (recordings) 74 22.7% 13 20% 21 17.4%

Other 19 5.8% 4 6.2% 13 10.7%

As shown in Table 3.3.1, the majority of teachers in all three contexts (QC: 53.2%; NB:

75.4%; EP: 73.9%) reported that funding would make pedagogical development more

accessible. Nearly half of EP teachers EP teachers (49.6%) and a majority of QC (58%)

and NB (76.9%) teachers reported that offering pedagogical development during school

hours would make it more accessible, while a majority of QC (55.8%) and EP (52.9%)

teachers mentioned relevant topics as another factor that would make pedagogical

development more accessible. Finally, many QC teachers (46.9%) reported the

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availability of ESL supply teachers as an important factor for making pedagogical

development more accessible.

3.3.2 Participation

Tables 3.3.2 (a, b, c) present the responses of teachers for each survey group (QC, NB,

EP) who were asked to indicate the frequency in which they participated in a variety of

different professional development activities. Teachers were asked to rate how frequently

they participated in the following activities, using a 5-point Likert scale (not available; do

not take part; once every 2 years; once a year; more than once a year):

• local workshops;

• provincial/national conferences;

• PD via electronic media;

• reading ESL specific articles;

• discussions and/or collaboration with colleagues;

• upgrading language skills;

• university courses in ESL methodology; and

• mentoring (associate teacher/supervisor to student teacher).

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Table 3.3.2a (QC): Frequency of Teacher Participation in PD Activities

PD Activity

Participation

Total Not

available

Do not take

part

Once every

2 years

Once a

year

More

than

once a

year

Local school or board workshops Number 15 28 38 82 160 323

% 4.6% 8.7% 11.8% 25.4% 49.5% 100%

Provincial/national conferences Number 19 117 103 62 21 322

% 5.9% 36.3% 32% 19.3% 6.5% 100%

PD via electronic media (live/on

demand recordings)

Number 103 176 18 8 19 324

% 31.8% 54.3% 5.6% 2.5% 5.9% 100%

Reading ESL-specific articles Number 30 59 43 51 136 319

% 9.4% 18.5% 13.5% 16% 42.6% 100%

Discussion and/or collaboration

with ESL colleagues

Number 10 19 17 45 231 322

% 3.1% 5.9% 5.3% 14% 71.7% 100%

Upgrading English language skills Number 55 96 33 47 88 319

% 17.2% 30.1% 10.3% 14.7% 27.6% 100%

University courses in ESL

methodology

Number 59 213 22 13 12 319

% 18.5% 66.8% 6.9% 4.1% 3.8% 100%

Mentoring (associate

teacher/supervisor to student

teachers)

Number 46 145 39 44 47 321

% 14.3% 45.2% 12.1% 13.7% 14.6% 100%

Other Number 55 61 4 3 10 133

% 41.4% 45.9% 3% 2.3% 7.5% 100%

As can be seen in Table 3.3.2a, the vast majority of teachers from QC (71.7%) reported

participating more than once a year in pedagogical development activities related to

discussing or collaborating with ESL colleagues. Many teachers also reported

participating more than once a year in attending school or school board workshops

(49.5%), and reading ESL-specific articles (42.6%). However, more than half of the

teachers reported not taking part in pedagogical development via electronic media

(54.3%) or university courses in ESL methodology (66.8%). Many teachers further

reported not taking part in provincial or national conferences (36.3%), English language

skills activities (30.1%), mentoring (45.2%), or other pedagogical activities (45.9%).

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Table 3.3.2b (NB): Frequency of Teacher Participation in PD Activities

PD Activity

Participation

Total Not

available

Do not take

part

Once every

2 years

Once a

year

More

than

once a

year

Local school or board workshops Number 17 9 12 9 18 65

% 26.2% 13.8% 18.5% 13.8% 27.7% 100%

Provincial/national conferences Number 20 26 9 7 3 65

% 30.8% 40% 13.8% 10.8% 4.6% 100%

PD via electronic media (live/on

demand recordings)

Number 32 26 2 3 1 64

% 50% 40.6% 3.1% 4.7% 1.6% 100%

Reading ESL-specific articles Number 11 16 9 13 16 65

% 16.9% 24.6% 13.8% 20% 24.6% 100%

Discussion and/or collaboration

with ESL colleagues

Number 6 4 5 9 41 65

% 9.2% 6.2% 7.7% 13.8% 63.1% 100%

Upgrading English language skills Number 21 16 8 6 12 63

% 33.3% 25.4% 12.7% 9.5% 19% 100%

University courses in ESL

methodology

Number 13 41 6 2 2 64

% 20.3% 64.1% 9.4% 3.1% 3.1% 100%

Mentoring (associate

teacher/supervisor to student

teachers)

Number 14 27 10 6 6 63

% 22.2% 42.9% 15.9% 9.5% 9.5% 100%

Other Number 15 11 0 1 1 28

% 53.6% 39.3% 0% 3.6% 3.6% 100%

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As shown in Table 3.3.2b, the majority of teachers from NB reported discussing or

collaborating with ESL colleagues more than once a year (63.1%). However, there was

limited participation in other types of PD activities: the majority reported not taking part

in university courses in ESL methodology (64.1%), and for roughly half of the teachers

pedagogical development via electronic media (50%) and other activities (53.6%) were

not available. Many teachers also reported not taking part in provincial or national

conferences (40%) or mentoring (42.9%), and that English language skills activities were

not available (33.3%). Few teachers reported attending school or school board workshops

more than once a year (27.7%), and a similar number reported that this activity was

unavailable (26.2%). Finally, some teachers reported reading ESL-specific articles more

than once a year (24.6%), but a similar number of teachers (24.6%) also reported not

reading ESL articles.

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Table 3.3.2c (EP): Frequency of Teacher Participation in PD Activities

PD Activity

Participation

Total Not

available

Do not take

part

Once every

2 years

Once a

year

More

than

once a

year

Local school or board workshops Number 19 11 15 15 61 121

% 15.7% 9.1% 12.4% 12.4% 50.4% 100%

Provincial/national conferences Number 14 33 13 44 15 119

% 11.8% 27.7% 10.9% 37% 12.6% 100%

PD via electronic media (live/on

demand recordings)

Number 33 50 10 12 12 117

% 28.2% 42.7% 8.5% 10.3% 10.3% 100%

Reading ESL-specific articles Number 4 8 7 14 88 121

% 3.3% 6.6% 5.8% 11.6% 72.7% 100%

Discussion and/or collaboration

with ESL colleagues

Number 12 6 3 7 93 121

% 9.9% 5% 2.5% 5.8% 76.9% 100%

Upgrading English language skills Number 27 40 7 10 34 118

% 22.9% 33.9% 5.9% 8.5% 28.8% 100%

University courses in ESL

methodology

Number 19 55 13 3 30 120

% 15.8% 45.8% 10.8% 2.5% 25% 100%

Mentoring (associate

teacher/supervisor to student

teachers)

Number 28 32 8 10 35 113

% 24.8% 28.3% 7.1% 8.8% 31% 100%

Other Number 18 14 1 1 7 41

% 43.9% 34.1% 2.4% 2.4% 17.1% 100%

In Table 3.3.2c, we see that the majority of the teachers from EP reported reading ESL-

specific articles (72.7%), and discussing or collaborating with ESL colleagues (76.9%)

more than once a year. Half of the teachers attended school or school board

workshops (50.4%) more than once a year. Many teachers reported mentoring more than

once a year (31%) and attending provincial or national conferences once a year (37%).

Numerous teachers also reported not taking part in pedagogical development via

electronic media (42.7%), English language skills activities (33.9%) or university courses

in ESL methodology (45.8%).

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3.3.3 Preferred PD Activities

Table 3.3.3 presents the responses of teachers for each survey group (QC, NB, EP) who

were asked to identify the pedagogical activities they would choose if these were more

accessible. Teachers could check as many of the PD activities previously listed in 3.3.2,

with the exception of the mentoring activity, which was not included as a choice.

Table 3.3.3: Teachers’ Choices for Additional PD Activities

PD Activity

English Context

QC NB EP

Number

Percent (%) of Total

Sample (326)

Number

Percent (%) of Total

Sample (65)

Number

Percent (%) of Total

Sample (121)

Local workshops 197 60.4% 56 86.2% 75 62%

Provincial/national conferences 136 41.7% 26 40% 56 46.3%

PD via electronic media 101 31% 25 38.5% 31 25.6%

Reading ESL-specific articles 111 34% 24 36.9% 41 33.9%

Discussions and/or collaboration with colleagues

146 44.8% 45 69.2% 63 52.1%

Upgrading language skills 128 39.3% 36 55.4% 20 16.5%

University courses in ESL methodology

94 28.8% 23 35.4% 27 22.3%

None of the above 12 3.7% 0 0% 2 1.7%

Other 0 0% 0 0% 0 0%

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As can be seen in Table 3.3.3, the majority of teachers in all three contexts (QC: 60.4%;

NB: 86.2%; EP: 62%) reported school or school board workshops as one of their

preferred pedagogical development activities. Many QC teachers (44.8%) and more than

half of NB (69.2%) and EP (52.1%) teachers reported discussing and collaborating with

ESL colleagues as a preferred pedagogical development activity. Most NB teachers

mentioned English language skills activities as one of their preferred pedagogical

development activities (55.4%), while provincial or national conferences were identified

as an important activity for 46.3% of EP teachers.

3.3.4 Usefulness of PD Activities

Table 3.3.4 presents the responses of teachers for each survey group (QC, NB, EP) who

were asked to identify the most helpful types of pedagogical activities. Teachers could

check as many of the PD activities previously listed in 3.3.2, with the exception of the

mentoring activity, which was not included as a choice.

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Table 3.3.4: Most Helpful PD Activities Reported by Teachers

PD Activity

English Context

QC NB EP

Number

Percent (%) of Total

Sample (326)

Number

Percent (%) of Total

Sample (65)

Number

Percent (%) of Total

Sample (121)

Local workshops 243 74.5% 51 78.5% 90 74.4%

Provincial/national conferences 122 37.4% 24 36.9% 64 52.9%

PD via electronic media 53 16.3% 13 20% 19 15.7%

Reading ESL-specific articles 92 28.3% 13 20% 57 47.1%

Discussions and/or collaboration with colleagues

219 67.2% 51 78.5% 99 81.8%

Upgrading language skills 86 26.4% 28 43.1% 14 11.6%

University courses in ESL methodology

56 17.2% 17 26.2% 29 24%

None of the above 5 1.5% 0 0% 0 0%

Other 8 2.5% 1 1.5% 8 6.6%

In Table 3.3.4, a sizable majority of teachers in all three contexts reported school or

school board workshops (QC: 74.5%; NB: 78.5%; EP: 74.4%) and discussing and

collaborating with ESL colleagues (QC: 67.2%; NB: 78.5%; EP: 81.8%) as helpful

pedagogical development activities. Many EP teachers reported reading ESL-specific

articles as another helpful activity (47.1%).

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3.4 Language Associations and Journals

This fourth section presents the results of questions examining the role of language

associations and professional journals in ESL teaching. In particular, teachers were asked

questions targeting the following areas:

• their membership in second language associations;

• the most important ways second language associations could facilitate their

teaching; and

• the source of ESL-related articles they read.

3.4.1 Membership in Second Language Associations

Table 3.4.1: Membership in Second Language Associations Reported by Teachers

Second Language

Association

English Context

QC NB EP

Number

Percent (%) of Total

Sample (326)

Number

Percent (%) of Total

Sample (65)

Number

Percent (%) of Total

Sample (121)

CASLT/ACPLS 9 2.8% 1 1.5% 18 14.9%

SPEAQ 197 60.4% 5 7.7% 8 6.6%

TESL Canada 17 5.2% 6 9.2% 16 13.2%

TESOL 6 1.8% 2 3.1% 7 5.8%

Provincial TESL organization 21 6.4% 8 12.3% 31 25.6%

None 114 35% 40 61.5% 57 47.1%

Other 7 2.1% 3 4.6% 13 10.7%

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Table 3.4.1 presents the responses of teachers for each survey group (QC, NB, EP) who

were asked to identify their membership in various second language associations. Most

QC teachers reported being a member of SPEAQ (60.4%). A majority of NB teachers

(61.5%) and nearly half of EP teachers (47.1%) reported not being a member of any

second language association.

3.4.2 Ways Second Language Associations Can Help ESL Teachers

Tables 3.4.2 (a, b, c) present for each survey group (QC, NB, EP) the responses to an

open-ended question about how second language associations could help ESL teaching.

Specifically, teachers were asked to list what they felt to be the most important ways

second language associations could facilitate the task of ESL teachers. In all, the question

generated 998 responses distributed across the three survey groups (QC: 668; NB: 119;

EP: 211). All responses were analysed and coded, resulting in the creation of 8 categories

(see Appendix G). The response frequencies are presented in Tables 3.4.2 (a, b, c) and are

reported as a percentage of the total number of responses for a given category and also as

a percentage of the total number of teachers providing a response for a given category.

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Table 3.4.2a (QC): Most Important Ways That Second Language Associations Can Facilitate the Task of ESL Teachers

Category** Number

Percent (%) of

Total

Comments

Percent (%) of

Total Sample

(326)

B Material 167 25% 51.2%

C Resources/support 133 19.9% 40.8%

A Training/PD/methodology 74 11.1% 22.7%

H Lobbying/promotion 73 10.9% 22.4%

F Networking 70 10.5% 21.5%

D Workshops 44 6.6% 13.5%

E Conferences 34 5.1% 10.4%

G Funding 19 2.8% 5.8%

I Other 54 8.1% 16.6%

Total 668 100%

*Valid Cases 668 (68.3%); Missing 310 (31.7%); Total 978 (100%)

** Letter/number combination refers to the categories and sub-categories of the coding schema (see Appendix G).

Table 3.4.2a shows the most important way in which second language associations can

help QC teachers is by providing more teaching and learning materials (51.2%),

including lessons plans and evaluation tools. This suggestion is captured in the following

quotes:

• provide more ready-made learning activities and evaluation material

• offer more material for specialized programs

• give more program-based lessons plans and LES

The second most cited suggestion by QC teachers is providing resources for ESL

teaching (40.8%) (e.g., online ESL teaching-related links and the latest ESL research

digests/newsletters). This suggestion also included providing moral support, motivation

and pedagogical advice to teachers. The following quotes show this desire:

• give more how-to teaching resources

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• I’d like to get a kind of monthly journal that keeps us up to date on the latest

methods and techniques for ESL teaching

• associations could provide us with newsletters where they recognize our challenges

and provide words of wisdom and support

Providing training material and opportunities (22.7%) (e.g., how-to workshops and

professional development targeting specific teaching strategies) is the third most frequent

suggestion provided by QC teachers. This is illustrated in the following teacher quotes:

• new, innovative ideas for teaching strategies for addressing students’ pedagogical

needs

• specific training on how to manage different proficiency levels in the same class

Other frequently-cited suggestions by QC teachers included, in particular, lobbying and

promoting ESL (22.4%) and networking (21.5%), including connecting teachers together

and facilitating exchanges. These were followed by less frequently-mentioned areas (see

Table 3.4.2a).

Table 3.4.2b (NB): Most Important Ways That Second Language Associations

Can Facilitate the Task of ESL Teachers

Category** Number Percent (%) of Total

Comments

Perfect (%) of Total

Sample (65)

C Resources/support 33 27.7% 50.8%

B Material 26 21.8% 40%

A Training/PD/methodology 21 17.6% 32.3%

E Conferences 10 8.4% 15.4%

D Workshops 8 6.7% 12.3%

F Networking 7 5.9% 10.8%

G Funding 2 1.7% 3.1%

H Lobbying/promotion 2 1.7% 3.1%

I Other 10 8.4% 15.4%

Total 119 100%

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As seen with QC teachers, NB and EP teachers (Tables 3.4.2b, c) also cited most often

that second language associations could help by providing resources and support for ESL

teaching (NB: 27.7%; EP: 31.8%), teaching and learning materials (NB: 21.8%; EP:

14.7% ) and training material and opportunities (NB: 17.6%; EP: 19%). The following

teacher quotes capture these particular needs:

• offer resources to help with planning lessons appropriate for all levels

(NB)

• provide affordable English public speakers and a catalogue of ICT

resources for teachers (EP)

• provide me with ready-to-use materials (NB)

• offer me new teaching ideas and pedagogical material (EP)

• offer PD opportunities for teaching basic grammar skills at varied levels

(NB)

• provide specialized training opportunities for getting different ideas on how to manage split classrooms (EP)

Table 3.4.2c (EP): Most Important Ways That Second Language Associations Can Facilitate the Task of ESL Teachers

Category** Number Percent (%) of Total

Comments

Perfect (%) of

Total Sample

(121)

C Resources/support 67 31.8% 55.4%

A Training/PD/methodology 40 19% 33.1%

B Material 31 14.7% 14.7%

F Networking 19 9% 15.7%

H Lobbying/promotion 17 8.1% 14%

D Workshops 13 6.2% 10.7%

G Funding 7 3.3% 5.8%

E Conferences 3 1.4% 2.5%

I Other 14 6.6% 11.6%

Total 211 100%

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Teachers from NB and EP also cited other interesting areas in which language

associations could help their teaching (e.g., conferences, workshops, networking and

funding, etc.); however, the proportion of teachers providing these suggestions was quite

small in relationship to the respective sample size (see Tables 3.4.2b, c). It is therefore

difficult to interpret how representative such suggestions are of the needs of teachers in

these contexts.

3.4.3 Journals

When teachers had previously indicated that reading ESL-related articles played a role in

their professional development (see Section 3.3), they were asked to specify the source

(e.g., journals, newsletters and magazines) of the articles they read. They could choose all

the sources that applied. The response frequencies for the various sources are reported in

Table 3.4.3.

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Table 3.4.3: Source of ESL Articles Read by Teachers

Journal

English Context

QC NB EP

Number

Percent (%) of Total

Sample (326)

Number

Percent (%) of Total

Sample (65)

Number

Percent (%) of Total

Sample (121)

The Canadian Modern Language Review

19 5,8% 2 3,1% 11 9,1%

Réflexions 24 7,4% 7 10,8% 6 5%

Provincial/territorial language association newsletters

58 17,8% 2 3,1% 29 24%

TESL Canada 55 16,9% 8 12,3% 50 41,3%

TESOL Quarterly 28 8,6% 0 0% 25 20,7%

ELT Journal 15 4,6% 2 3,1% 10 8,3%

Other 45 13,8% 3 4,6% 30 24,8%

As shown in Table 3.4.3, in QC and NB, no single journal, newsletter or magazine was

chosen as the main source of information on ESL that teachers read. The sources most

frequently cited by QC teachers were provincial or territorial language association

newsletters (17.8%) and TESL Canada (16.9%). For NB teachers, the sources were TESL

Canada (12.3%) and Réflexions (10.8%). For EP teachers, there was a strong preference

for TESL Canada (41.3%). The EP teachers also reported reading other sources (24.8%),

but did not specify what they were. Finally, it should be pointed out that very few NB

teachers actually reported reading ESL related articles; the resulting response frequencies

for this group should therefore be interpreted with caution.

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4.0 Survey Findings: Profiles of the Three Samples and Main Findings

The following sections (4.1 and 4.2) summarize the participants’ profiles (Section 2.0)

and the main teacher-perception findings (Section 3.0) for each of the three survey

contexts (QC, NB, EP).

4.1 Profiles of the Three Samples

This section provides a summary of the main findings reported in Section 2.0; the

findings are presented separately for each of three survey contexts: QC, NB and EP.

4.1.1 QC Sample

The profile summary of those teachers (N = 326) responding from QC is as follows:

• generally Francophone, predominantly female and between the ages of 26 and 40;

• all certified teachers and generally trained in general second-language

methodology, ESL methodology, classroom-based testing and evaluation, and

language acquisition;

• generally very experienced teachers;

• generally learned English in provincial regular track ESL programs and most had

studied English at university;

• were quite confident about their own abilities in English, in general and in the

classroom;

• generally tested in English prior to employment;

• most often used English in the classroom 80% to 100% of the time on a daily

basis and were generally satisfied with this amount of English use;

• taught in one school, well distributed across different school sizes, including some

very large schools of 1000 or more students;

• well distributed across teaching levels (primary and secondary) and grades (K-12)

and taught mostly in core or regular track ESL programs;

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• mostly taught to Francophone students in programs with 1 to 2 hours of weekly

ESL instruction;

• mostly taught more than 4 groups/classes, with 40% of sample teaching more than

11 groups/classes;

• generally taught between 101 and 300 students, with 25% of sample teaching over

300 students.

4.1.2 NB Sample

The profile summary of those teachers responding from NB is as follows:

• generally Francophone, predominantly female and between the ages of 31 and 45;

• all certified teachers (but only 10% ESL specialists) and generally trained in

general second-language methodology;

• generally experienced teachers;

• generally learned English in provincial core or regular track ESL programs, and

most had had at least one university-level English course;

• confident about their own abilities in English, in general and in the classroom;

• generally not tested in English prior to employment;

• most often used English in the classroom 80% to 100% of the time on a daily

basis and were mostly satisfied with this amount of English use;

• generally taught in one small or medium-sized school (100 to 500 students);

• well distributed across teaching levels (primary and secondary) and grades (K-12)

and taught mostly in core or regular track ESL programs;

• mostly taught to Francophone students in programs with 3 to 5 hours of weekly

ESL instruction;

• mostly taught from 1 to 3 groups/classes, consisting of fewer than 100 students in

all.

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4.1.3 EP Sample

The profile summary of those teachers responding from EP is as follows:

• mostly Anglophone, predominately female and generally between the ages of 36

and 55;

• had a range of ESL teaching experience: the majority were experienced teachers,

but 43% of sample had less than 3 years of experience in ESL teaching;

• all certified teachers (but only 25% ESL specialists) and with training in language

acquisition;

• generally from English (L1) school backgrounds and mostly trained in English at

university;

• very confident about their own abilities in English;

• mostly not tested in English prior to employment;

• most often used English in the classroom 100% of the time on a daily basis and

were mostly satisfied with this amount of English use;

• generally taught in one medium to large-sized school with 301 to 999 students;

• were well distributed across teaching levels (primary and secondary) and grades

(K-12), with more than 50% teaching both at the primary and secondary levels;

• generally taught from 1 to 3 hours per group/class, but 20% of sample taught

more than 5 hours per group/class;

• generally taught in a core or regular track program, but almost 40% of sample also

taught in other unidentified programs;

• mostly taught more than 4 groups/classes, generally consisting of fewer than 50

students in all;

• mostly taught students from language backgrounds other than French.

4.1.4 Key Features of Sample

When examining the characteristics of the three ESL samples together, the following

distinguishing features emerge with respect to the profile of teachers and the contexts in

which they work:

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• Teachers from all three contexts tended to be Francophone or Anglophone,

predominately female, between the ages of 26 and 40, and reported native or

native-like abilities in English (although NB was much less confident about their

English abilities than QC and EP). They tended also to be experienced teachers

and evenly distributed across primary and secondary levels.

• While all teachers in the survey were certified, only the majority of teachers from

QC were ESL specialists. In NB and EP, the minority of teachers (10% and 26%

respectively) were specialists; most also reported receiving limited university

training in L2 teaching. Very few teachers in any of the three contexts had

received specific training in teaching “intensive” ESL.

• In QC and NB, the large majority of teachers had learned English in the core or

regular-track ESL programs set out by their respective provinces. They all also

taught ESL in the very same programs.

• QC is the context where students receive the fewest hours of ESL instruction per

week: 84% of the teachers reported teaching just 1 – 3 hours of ESL weekly per

group/class. The majority of NB teachers reported up to twice as many weekly

ESL hours with their students. EP is the most varied context, with teachers

reporting a range of hours of ESL instruction.

• The workload for teachers was clearly different: Teachers in EP and NB generally

reported teaching fewer than 100 students at any one time, whereas QC teachers

reported, on average, teaching between 100 and 300 students, with a quarter of

teachers teaching more than 300 students.

4.2 Summary of Main Findings

The main teacher-perception findings from Section 3.0 are summarized in the sections

that follow.

4.2.1 Major Challenges

This section summarizes the most important challenges reported by teachers with respect

to their current teaching situation.

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4.2.1.1 Differentiation

A particularly important finding for teachers across Canada (QC, NB and EP) was their

reported difficulty in managing classrooms with students of varying ESL abilities and

different grade levels. In fact, managing multi-level groups and classes was cited as one

of the top challenges associated with ESL teaching. Teachers felt, in particular, that they

lacked adequate delivery methods, class-management skills and material resources to

effectively teach in classroom situations where students’ English proficiency varied

widely. Moreover, in open-ended questions teachers repeatedly voiced the growing need

for specialized PD training in this area.

An equally important finding was the challenge reported by teachers in managing special

education classes. The vast majority of ESL teachers (75%) throughout Canada reported

that the proportion of students with learning difficulties and/or special needs in the

classrooms was not at all manageable to only slightly manageable. The difficulty

addressing the needs of this student population stemmed from a lack of resources,

including special needs training, support staff and ready-available materials. In particular,

teachers responding freely in open-ended questions voiced a heightened level of

frustration with this area of their teaching situation; they emphasized the need for a better

understanding of the L2 delivery methods and pedagogical practices that can be used to

successfully balance the learning of special needs and typically-developing students in

the same classroom.

Together, the issues surrounding the reported difficulties in managing split classes with

students of varying L2 abilities and/or special needs are very much related to instructional

approaches promoting classroom “inclusion or differentiation” (e.g., see Tomlinson,

1999). This suggests that current approaches of L2 classroom differentiation, especially

those experienced by teachers in this survey, constitute both a major concern and

professional challenge for ESL practitioners throughout the country.

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4.2.1.2 Student Motivation

One of the most important findings to emerge from the QC and NB data was the reported

lack of student motivation in the classroom. When asked to list the major challenges they

faced in ESL teaching, the challenge most often cited by QC and NB teachers (54%) was

students’ overall lack of interest and motivation for learning ESL and the inability to

recognize the importance of English for their future. This challenge also encompassed the

attitudinal aspect of learning English, where, according to teachers, English is often

viewed negatively by students, even those, quite surprisingly, who have already reached

somewhat functional levels of oral proficiency. Interestingly, student motivation was not

reported as an issue for EP ESL teachers. This suggests that the specific teaching contexts

in QC and NB, where learners’ exposure to English in the community may be quite

limited, and where the time allotted to ESL in the school system is similarly limited

(particularly in the Quebec context, where students may receive as little as one hour of

ESL instruction per week) make it necessary for teachers in these contexts to make

considerable effort to promote the purpose and/or importance of learning English.

An interesting correlate to the challenge of student motivation was teachers’ perception

of whether the situation was amenable to change. When QC and NB teachers were given

a free voice to list the one thing that would enhance or facilitate their current teaching

situation, student motivation for learning went completely unmentioned by all teachers as

a potential factor that could actually help make their teaching easier or more productive.

This finding was particularly surprising given the strong agreement among teachers that

lack of learner motivation was one of the major obstacles to successful teaching. What

this may suggest is that, in NB and QC, where ESL is often taught in a foreign-language

context, teachers may feel pedagogically powerless to deal with problems of inherent

interest and motivation for L2 learning among their students. Rather, they were more

likely to focus on the learning conditions that could ultimately result in a more enriching

experience for their students such as increased time for ESL instruction, smaller class

sizes, and fewer split/multi-level groups. Presumably such changes to the learning

experience would have an impact on overall motivation, as well.

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4.2.1.3 Workload

A major finding to emerge from the survey was the striking difference in the overall

number of students taught by teachers across the country. In NB and EP, teachers

reported on average teaching less than 100 students at any one time. However, a typical

workload for QC teachers ranged between 100 and 300 students, with 25% of the sample

teaching over 300 students during a nine-day cycle. In fact, the QC workload situation is

unlike any other documented in Canada, for either FSL or ESL.

QC teachers also repeatedly mentioned in open-ended questions that their teaching load

(total number of students and class size) was a major challenge and that reducing this

load would significantly facilitate the manageability of their current teaching situation,

especially in terms of being able to provide more meaningful instruction and evaluation.

Moreover, unlike teachers in NB and EP, close to half of QC teachers (47%) reported

wanting to leave the ESL profession in the last 12 months and pointed to workload as a

contributing factor to their sense of inefficacy in the classroom and general dissatisfaction

with the teaching profession.

4.2.2 Stakeholder Support

Teachers across Canada felt that their school administration was quite supportive of both

their work and ESL teaching; they also reported in open-ended questions holding a

positive view of the leadership in their respective schools and school boards.

In QC, the teachers’ perspectives of the level of support for their work and teaching goals

from the ministry, parents and students was considerably less than that reported by the EP

and NB teachers. The responses provided in the open-ended questions on challenges and

teacher improvement further support this finding. In fact, it would seem, according to QC

teachers, that the lack of intervention on the part of the ministry to deal with workload

issues and students’ general lack of interest for learning English were important factors

affecting their perception of the level of support provided by these stakeholders.

Finally, most QC and NB teachers reported that the community and non-ESL colleagues

(particularly in QC) were much less supportive of their work than were other

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stakeholders. In both contexts, responses from open-ended questions on professional

development and improving teaching conditions corroborated this finding. Teachers

indicated that French-speaking communities (especially those with little contact with

English) have difficulty seeing the importance of ESL teaching as a specialized

profession. Similarly, teachers also voiced an ongoing isolation from their non-ESL

counterparts, which they explained, in part, as a lack of understanding by their colleagues

of L2 teaching in general and/or a failure to recognize ESL as a real or important subject

matter within the school system. Both QC and NB teachers agreed that professional

development activities, which included discussions with their non-ESL colleagues and

sharing of teaching goals, would benefit their teaching situation.

4.2.3 Resources

Overall, ESL teachers from across the country generally indicated the need for additional

resources, particularly, more teaching materials, more training and more collaboration

with ESL colleagues in their school boards and respective provinces.

The majority of teachers from all three survey groups (QC, NB, EP) considered that the

quantity, quality and appropriateness of commercial ESL material and ESL material

promoting Anglophone culture to be good or excellent. All three groups also agreed

overwhelmingly that the availability (in terms of quantity) of ESL library materials was

poor. In this instance, teachers’ comments suggested that the poor quantity of these

materials was due in part to the absence of school libraries and/or ESL book budgets.

Most teachers in NB and EP considered the quantity, quality and appropriateness of ICTs

and locally-offered ESL programming to be good to excellent. In QC, however, while the

quality and appropriateness of these resources was judged to be good or excellent, their

quantity was considered to be poor. The need for more of these types of resources was

ranked highly in the different open-ended questions dealing with challenges and personal

improvement.

Most teachers from QC, NB and EP reported that computers and access to the internet as

well as suitable space for lesson preparation and storage of materials were usually or

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always available in their daily teaching activities. These same teachers also expressed an

important need for the availability of funding for ESL-related activities as well as the

availability of specialists and/or support staff to help with the challenge of teaching ESL

to students with learning difficulties. With respect to this last example, dealing with the

teaching issues surrounding special needs students was one of the top-ranked challenges

cited by teachers across the country (see Section 4.2.1.1).

Finally, the majority of teachers in EP reported that English-speaking resources (e.g.,

supply teachers, administrative staff, support staff, librarians and guest speakers) were

usually or almost always available to help with their teaching. However, as might be

expected as a result of the linguistic make up of their communities, QC and NB teachers

reported that English-speaking resources were either never or rarely available in their

schools. In open-ended questions on challenges, QC teachers highlighted the shortage of

English-speaking supply teachers as a particularly difficult situation, one that often

prevented them from participating in professional development activities (see Section

4.2.4).

4.2.4 Professional Development

The majority of teachers from across Canada reported yearly participation in professional

activities consisting of discussion and collaboration with ESL colleagues, and school

board workshops. Teachers from QC and EP also participated in activities requiring

reading of teaching-related ESL articles at least once a year. For QC, NB and EP

teachers, PD activities involving interaction and exchanges with their ESL colleagues and

small local workshops were ranked among the most popular and were also perceived,

above all other activities, to be the most helpful and beneficial to their development.

Most teachers across the country also strongly agreed that increased funding and offering

PD activities during school hours would make professional development much more

accessible. In QC and NB, the majority of teachers felt that being directly involved in the

choice of relevant topics would considerably increase their willingness to participate in

pedagogical development. For the majority of QC teachers, the availability of more

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trained English-speaking supply teachers was viewed as an important factor for

improving their access to PD activities in general.

Finally, only the majority of QC teachers reported being a member of a second language

teaching association, yet, interestingly, teachers from all three survey groups were in

agreement about the potential role these associations might play in their professional

development. They perceived the role of the associations to include the provision of how-

to workshops, specialized training and material resources in order to face ongoing

classroom challenges such as managing special education groups, large classes and

students with varying levels of English proficiency. Teachers also saw an important role

for language associations in keeping them up to date with internet teaching resources and

ESL-related links and also organizing professional exchanges with both ESL and non-

ESL colleagues.

4.2.5 Teachers’ Perception of Students

Throughout the survey, while teachers across Canada were quite forthcoming about the

negative aspects of their teaching conditions, they were, nevertheless, quite positive about

the language teaching profession, notably the rewards of working with ESL students.

Witnessing students’ language development and increased confidence at expressing

themselves in their second language were consistently cited in open-ended questions as

key benefits of teaching ESL. Thus, for the teachers in this survey, it would seem that,

regardless of the quality of teaching conditions, the students’ learning remains their

central concern. It also appears to be a crucial source of motivation as teachers struggle to

overcome the various challenges they confront in their profession.

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5.0 Future Directions and Recommendations

This final section proposes additional avenues of research to address some of the major

issues which emerged in the report. It also, where possible, lays out specific

recommendations that are intended to improve or enhance different aspects of ESL

teaching.

5.1 L2 Teacher Directory

During the data collection process, it was impossible to know the location and official

number of ESL teachers in Canada, since no national or provincial association maintains

a comprehensive list of ESL (or FSL) teachers. In fact, it was difficult to reach ESL

teachers working outside QC and NB; despite cooperation from provincial ESL

associations and several ministries of education, very few ESL teachers working with

refugee and immigrant populations in elementary and secondary schools participated in

the survey. Thus, this points to a methodological weakness in the present survey: Without

a more accurate account of the current ESL teacher population in Canada, both in terms

of the overall number of teachers and specific teaching contexts, it is quite difficult to

assess how representative the teachers in this survey were of the national population.

Previous survey research (e.g., Lapkin et al., 2006) has also noted that directories of FSL

teachers are insufficient, if not non-existent. As such, there appears to be a clear need in

Canada to develop a national registry that maintains a comprehensive directory of both

ESL and FSL teachers, and of key aspects of their teaching contexts, such as the number

of hours of L2 instruction offered to students. The presence of such a registry would

greatly improve our understanding of the demographics of L2 teachers in Canada and

also facilitate research with Canada’s official languages. Given its pan-Canadian mandate

to promote L2 teaching, CALST, in collaboration with provincial language associations

and education ministries, may be particularly well suited to spearhead such an initiative.

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5.2 Training in Special Education

A finding that echoed throughout the survey was the frustration voiced by teachers at

understanding and managing the needs of diverse learners in the ESL classroom (i.e.,

students with special needs or learning difficulties). This finding is consistent with other

research in Canada (e.g., Arnett & Mady, 2010; Lapkin, et al., 2006) that has found that

L2 teachers, particularly FSL teachers, are unprepared to deal with the pedagogical

complexities associated with this specific learner population. The evidence that both ESL

and FSL teachers in Canada are struggling with how to efficiently adapt their

instructional strategies to meet the needs of these learners suggests that this is a major

challenge for L2 teaching in general across the country. As such, there is a pressing need

for provincial ministries, school boards and language associations to provide in-service

teachers with additional resources (e.g., support staff, ready-made materials) and, more

importantly, adequate on-going training in differentiation models of L2 education.

It is also recommended that faculties/schools/departments of education, involved in both

ESL and FSL training, examine ways of ensuring that pre-service L2 teachers achieve a

good understanding of the issues surrounding the inclusion of diverse learners in the

classroom and that they also equip aspiring teachers with the necessary instructional tools

and training to meet the needs of these learners.

5.3 Resources and Professional Development

In general, teachers across Canada reported that they lacked resources. They voiced a

clear need for additional teaching materials, specialized training and collaboration with

non-ESL colleagues. Interestingly, teachers pointed out these resource needs might best

be met by second language associations. Therefore, it seems appropriate that language

associations, working together with school boards and provincial ministries, look at ways

of providing teachers with PD opportunities involving material development and training

for applying ministerial ESL curriculum requirements.

In addition, language associations, in collaboration with school boards and school

administrators should actively seek to include ESL teachers as part of the larger teaching

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community by providing opportunities for peer collaboration. Specifically, these

opportunities should:

• encourage participation in activities where teachers of various disciplines learn

from each other; and

• promote cross-curricular problem solving to help meet the learning needs of ESL

students.

Integrating ESL teachers into the larger teaching community of the school and putting

them in a position to share their teaching goals and challenges with non-ESL colleagues

may lead to a greater understanding and recognition of the ESL specialist in the school

system and also benefit the teaching of everyone involved. One way that this might be

done in the QC and NB contexts is having the French language arts and ESL teachers

collaborate on common or complementary goals across the curriculum and across the

languages (see Horst, White, & Bell, 2010 for work on cross-linguistic awareness; Lyster,

Collins, & Ballinger, 2009 for a bilingual reading aloud project by French and English

instructors of the same students). There is clearly a need for more research into and more

support for local initiatives that lead to greater collaboration among language and other

subject teachers of the same students.

Finally, in NB and EP, the majority of teachers held generalist teaching licenses and, in

many cases, felt unprepared to handle the teaching demands of the ESL curriculum in

their respective provinces; they indicated that more specialized training in ESL would

considerably improve their classroom teaching. Therefore, as a means of improving these

teachers’ delivery of mandated ESL programs and curriculum, it is suggested that, within

their respective action plans on education, provincial governments allocate specific funds

for PD opportunities (i.e., in-service training workshops, university-level courses,

conferences, etc.) targeting the development of ESL teaching skills.

A final observation on pedagogical development opportunities is that teachers from all

three contexts expressed desire for input into PD training opportunities and for these to be

offered locally. However, in presenting this observation at professional conferences

across Canada (e.g., SPEAQ, Language Without Borders, ACLA), some pedagogical

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advisors in both ESL and FSL provided anecdotal evidence, particularly within QC and

NB, that there is often a lack of interest for school-based or locally-offered PD activities

or when teachers are included in selecting the specific theme of activities. As such, there

appears to be a clear need to examine more carefully what types of PD is offered in

different contexts (e.g., topics, how these are chosen, their frequency, venues and

accessibility – including release time) and, more importantly, to obtain the perspectives

of both teachers and pedagogical advisors on potential issues related to proposed PD

activities (e.g., teacher interest, attendance and accessibility).

5.4 Motivation for Learning English

One of the greatest teaching challenges reported by QC and NB teachers was dealing

with students’ lack of interest and motivation for learning English as well as their

negative attitudes towards English. Accounts of low student motivation and negative

attitudes toward language learning are well documented in foreign-language programs in

the US and core FSL programs across Canada (Marshall, 1992; Lapkin et al, 2006). A

common theme linking the QC and NB teaching contexts to these findings is the

predominate use of a drip-feed approach, or short weekly periods of language instruction

(as little as an hour a week in some QC contexts). In many of the communities where

teachers worked students also had limited exposure to the L2 outside of school, resulting

in very little access to English overall. Offering students sufficient instructional time to

afford real progress in the learning of their second language would appear to be one way

to heighten students’ motivation. Indeed, as this report goes to press there is a new

initiative by the Ministry of Education in QC to increase (and concentrate) instructional

time in ESL at the grade 6 level.

Most motivation research has focused almost entirely on developing theoretical models

describing the motivational characteristics and processes involved in L2 learning (e.g.,

Dörnyei, 2001; Masgoret & Gardner, 2003). There have also been numerous suggestions

about the pedagogical practices that are thought to help teachers motivate learners (e.g.,

Brown, 2001; Dörnyei & Csizér, 1998); however, little research has directly examined

how these practices actually interact with motivation in the L2 classroom. Thus, it seems

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that this is one area of research that could potentially help us to better understand and,

hopefully, improve the low motivation and lack of interest for learning a second language

(both ESL and FSL) that appears to be common among students in classrooms across the

country.

5.5 Workload and Job Satisfaction

The workload reported by QC teachers in this survey is indeed quite striking. The typical

workload of teachers is often over 300 students and, in some cases, is even over 400

students during a nine-day cycle, which is unlike any other L2 teaching situation

documented in Canada, and, to our knowledge, even in the U.S. It is therefore not

surprising to see that many QC teachers feel that the heavy teaching load affects their

sense of efficacy in the classroom, especially when it comes to delivering instruction

effectively and evaluating students reliably.

These working conditions are clearly unsatisfactory, and, in our view, the Quebec

Ministry of Education (MELS), in direct collaboration with school boards, school

administrators and provincial language associations should actively seek out pedagogical

and administrative solutions for significantly reducing the ESL student-teacher ratio as

well as teachers’ overall workload in terms of the mean number of ESL groups taught.

Moreover, additional research is very much needed to examine the extent to which

current workloads may be related to attrition rates of QC ESL teachers. Almost one half

(47%) of QC teachers reported that they were dissatisfied with the teaching profession

and had recently contemplated leaving the profession; workload was cited as contributing

to this dissatisfaction; however, it is unclear to what degree it was the driving force

behind their desire to leave the profession. This obviously points to a clear need to further

investigate, in additional to workload, other potential causes (e.g., teaching conditions,

curricular requirements, official delivery models, etc.) underlying teachers’ reported

dissatisfaction with the ESL profession.

It needs also to be pointed out that dissatisfaction with L2 teaching is not only limited to

QC ESL teachers. Lapkin and her colleagues (2006) reported, in a nation-wide survey of

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FSL teachers, that nearly 40% of all teachers had also considered leaving FSL teaching,

although no explanation was put forth to explain this finding. There appears, therefore, to

be a considerable number of L2 teachers across the country experiencing low levels of

job satisfaction, which clearly warrants further empirical investigation. As the teachers in

the present survey, as well as those reported in Lapkin et al., were relatively experienced

teachers, it would be important to examine whether new or less-experienced teachers

(ESL and FSL) also report similar levels of dissatisfaction with their teaching.

5.6 Conclusion

The findings from this survey have pointed out, for the first time, some of the important

challenges faced by ESL teachers working in different contexts across Canada. To a large

extent, the various issues and concerns reported here, particularly those regarding job

satisfaction, low student motivation, and the difficulty of managing multi-level groups

and special needs students, are strikingly similar to those previously reported by French

second language teachers in Canada (Lapkin et al., 2006) and foreign language teachers

in the U.S. (Swanson & Huff, 2010). An important difference, however, was the

workload reported by the QC sample, which is unlike any other teaching context, in ESL

or FSL, across the country. Also noteworthy was the finding that most teachers,

regardless of the various hardships they encountered in their teaching situation, not only

remained remarkably positive about the rewards of the ESL profession, but were also

quite concerned about their students’ learning success.

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References

Arnett, K., & Mady, C. (2010). A critically conscious examination of special education

within FSL and its relevance to FSL teacher education programs. Canadian Journal of

Applied Linguistics, 13(1), 19-36.

Brown, D. (2001). Teaching by principles: An interactive approach to language

pedagogy (2nd ed.). New York: Addison Wesley Longman.

Dörnyei, Z. (2001). Motivational strategies in the language classroom. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Dörnyei, Z., & Csizér, K. (1998). Ten commandments for motivating language learners: An empirical study. Language Teaching Research, 2, 203-229.

Horst, M., White, J., & Bell, P. (2010). First and second language knowledge in the language classroom. International Journal of Bilingualism, 14, 331-349.

Lapkin, S., MacFarlane, A., & Landergrift, L. (2006). Teaching French as a second language in Canada: Teachers’ perspectives. Ottawa, ON: Canadian Association of Second Language Teachers.

Masgoret, A.-M., & Gardner, R.C. (2003). Attitudes, motivation and second language learning: A meta-analysis of studies conducted by Gardner and associates. Language Learning, 51, 123-63.

Lyster, R., Collins, L., & Ballinger, S. (2009). Linking languages through a bilingual reading project. Language Awareness, 18, 366-383.

Swanson, P., & Huff, R. (2010). The relationship of Georgia’s rural foreign language teachers’ sense of efficacy to teacher attrition. The Rural Educator, 31, 16-29.

Tomlinson, C. (1999). Mapping a route toward differentiated instruction. Educational

Leadership, 57(1), 12-16.

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APPENDIX A

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APPENDIX B

Table a(QC) : Distribution of Teachers by School Board

School Board Number Percent (%) CS de Charlevoix 1 0.3%

CS de la Capitale 4 1.2% CS de Portneuf 5 1.5%

CS des Découvreurs 8 2.5% CS des Premières-Seigneuries 1 0.3%

CS de l'Énergie 1 0.3% Cs du Chemin-du-Roy 22 6.7%

CS de la Région-de-Sherbrooke 13 4% CS des Hauts-Cantons 3 0.9%

CS des Sommets 1 0.3% CS Monts et Marées 5 1.5%

CS Lester-B.-Pearson 1 0.3%

CS de Montréal 12 3.7%

CS Marguerite-Bourgeoys 7 2.1%

CS Pointe-de-l'Île 6 1.8%

CS des Draveurs 1 0.3%

CS des Phares 5 1.5%

CS de l'Or-et-des-Bois 4 1.2%

CS Rouyn-Noranda 2 0.6%

CS du Lac-Abitibi 1 0.3%

CS Harricana 9 2.8%

CS de l'Estuaire 1 0.3%

CS du Fer 1 0.3%

CS de la Baie James 2 0.6%

CS du Fleuve-et-des-Lacs 8 2.5%

CS Beauce-Etchemin 9 2.8%

CS des Navigateurs 16 4.9%

CS de Laval 14 4.3%

CS de la Jonquière 6 1.8%

CS des Affluents 8 2.5%

CS des Smares 8 2.5%

CS Rivière-du-Nord 11 3.4%

CS Seigneuries-des-Milles-Îles 18 5.5%

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CS des Laurentides 3 0.9%

CS Pierre-Neveu 2 0.6%

CS Vallée des Tisserands 1 0.3%

CS Saint-Hyacinthe 1 0.3%

CS Grandes-Seigneuries 5 1.5%

CS Hautes-Rivières 1 0.3%

CS Rives-du-Saguenay 11 3.4%

CS Sorel-Tracy 4 1.2%

CS des Patriotes 11 3.4%

CS Marie-Victorin 7 2.1%

CS des Trois-Lacs 13 4%

CS du Val-des-Cerfs 3 0.9%

CS Riverside 1 0.3%

CS des Bois-Francs 2 0.6%

CS des Chênes 15 4.6%

CS du Lac-St-Jean 4 1.2%

CS Pays-des-Bleuets 9 2.8%

Private school 8 2.5%

Not specified 11 3.4%

Total 326 100%

Table b(NB) : Distribution of Teachers by School Board School Board Number Percent (%)

District 01 14 21.5% District 02 1 1.6%

District 03 10 15.4% District 05 1 1.6%

District 09 24 36.9% District 11 9 13.8%

Not specified 6 9.2%

Total 65 100%

Table c(EP) : Distribution of Teachers by School Board School Board Number Percent (%)

Saskatchewan Rivers School Division 1 0.8%

Durham Catholic District 3 2.5%

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Upper Grand District School Board 2 1.7%

Greater Saskatoon Catholic Schools 1 0.8%

York Region School Board 1 0.8%

Toronto District School Board 1 0.8%

Regina Catholic School Board 2 1.7%

River East Transcona School Division 2 1.7%

Edmonton Catholic Separate School Board 1 0.8%

CS de la Capitale 0 0%

Calgary Catholic Separate School Board 1 0.8%

Cap Breton Victoria Regional School Board 1 0.8%

Lethbridge District 51 1 0.8%

Southeast Cornerstone 1 0.8%

Conseil des Écoles Publiques de l'Est de l'Ontario 1 0.8%

Winnipeg School Division 1 0.8%

Halifax Regional School Board 5 4.2%

Richmond District 38 1 0.8%

Halton District School Board 9 7.6%

Niagara Catholic District School Board 1 0.8%

Edmonton Public Schools 10 8.4%

Prairie South 1 0.8%

Prairie Valley School Division 2 1.7%

Regina Public Schools 6 5%

Chinook 6 5%

Langley District 35 2 1.7%

North Vancouver 1 0.8%

Horizon School Division 3 2.5%

North East School Division 3 2.5%

Sun West 2 1.7%

Prairie Spirit School Division 5 4.2%

Holy Trinity School Division 1 0.8%

Waterloo Catholic District School Board 1 0.8%

Christ The Redeemer Catholic School Board 1 0.8%

Peel District School Board 5 4.2%

Ottawa Carleton District School Board 2 1.7%

Maple Ridge/Pitt Meadows School Board 1 0.8%

Saskatoon Public Schools 7 5.9%

Not specified 26 20.7%

Total 121 100%

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Appendices C, D, E, F, G

CODEBOOK FOR

OPEN-ENDED QUESTIONS

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Appendix C: What are the three most important challenges you face in teaching ESL? Category Sub-category Description Sample replies

A Resources (lack thereof)

A0 Resources General lack of resources (either not specified or all combined) Finding appropriate resources

A1 Teaching/learning material

Lack of specific learning or teaching materials (tech., textbooks, reference)

L’accès plus que7890 limité aux médias

A2 Facilities Lack of a specific or consistent location for teaching ESL

Lack of an adequate size classroom solely devoted to ESL

A3 Compensation Inadequate salary Being paid adequately A4 Teaching/support staff

Lack of qualified support staff and/or assistants

Not having a teaching assistant in integrated classes

A5 Training/pedagogical lit.

Lack of pedagogical material or of opportunities for P.D.

Getting trained to teach kids in difficulty

B Time Management

B0 Time management General lack of time to carry out tasks related to teaching (either combined or not specific)

Lack of personal working time for administrative work or class preparation

B1 Preparation/Planning

Lack of prep time and LES planning

Not enough time to prepare projects

B2 Correction/Evaluation

Lack of time for evaluation and LES planning

The hours of marking with the Reform

B3 Teaching/Learning Lack of teaching time/periods in schedules

Time I have to deliver the program

C Students/ classroom

C0 Classroom General difficulty with classroom management and students

C1 Multi-level groups Difficulty in managing combined ages/levels/grades – differentiation

L’hétérogénéité des forces des élèves dans un même groupe

C2 Special education Difficulty with students with learning disabilities and special needs

Integrating students with learning difficulties

C3 Discipline General classroom discipline and individual behavioral issues

Je dois faire la police quand mon temps est très limité

C4 Motivation Students’ lack of interest and motivation to work/learn

Involvement of students in projects

D Support

D0 Support General lack of support for teachers or students

Se battre pour faire sa place et être considéré comme les autres enseignants

D1 From school/admin./board/disctrict

Lack of support, recognition, consideration

ESL listed under Student Services…

D2 From parents/communities

Lack of support for teachers and students regarding English as a subject, homework

Les parents ne supportant pas le programme

D3 From other teachers Lack of support from peers We are often isolated and our input is not valued

D4 Lack of official Lack of standards, province-issued No consistent

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guidelines curricula/evaluations assessment/benchmark tools

E Language

E1 Linguistic context Dominant language in the province, or at home, school

Environnement très francophone

E2 Attitude toward English

Negative attitude toward English or ESL from students, parents, peers, etc.

Biased attitude of some teachers regarding English

E3 Use/practice of English

Use of English in/out of the classroom by students, teachers

Speaking English in the classroom at all times, in every situation.

E4 Level of proficiency Students’ and teachers’ competence in English

Students who lack basic skills but have not repeated a year

F Teaching

F0 Teaching

General difficulty due to various factors such as stress, lack of autonomy, administrative duties, etc.

Dealing with other issues in the school…. not enough classroom autonomy

F1 Pedagogy Difficulty delivering programs, evaluating. Teaching practices

Management of the evaluation process. S’adapter aux changements du programme fe formation

F2 Workload Too many hours, students, groups to teach, schools to resource

Too many students – 250/week. Huge caseloads and not enough teachers

F3 Class size Too many students per groups Large groups of students in ESL classes

F4 Itinerancy Issues related to teaching at different schools and traveling between them

Le nombre d’écoles (4) – Se déplacer d’une école à l’autre, parfois dans la même journée

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Appendix D: If given unlimited resources, time, and P.D. opportunities, what is the one area of ESL teaching you would most like to work on? Category Sub-category Description Sample replies

A Teaching

A1 Planning Developing lessons, projects, LES

La planification et le développement de mes activités pédagogiques et les outils pédagogiques

A2 Evaluation Formative, summative, LES Evaluation - creating clear, valid evaluation guidelines and rubrics.

A3 Differentiation Managing different ages/levels/grades within the same group

Gestion des écarts. gérer les niveaux d'apprentissage des élèves dans une même classe

A4 Special education Addressing special needs, learning disabilities

L'intégration des élèves en difficulté d'apprentissage ou de comportement

A5 Language skills Teaching oral/written skills, grammar Compétences langagières en anglais. Language aquisition in EAL students

A6 Class management/discipline

General classroom discipline and management

Comment faire de gestion de classe seulement en anglais

B Resources

B1 Technology Integrating ITC and classroom technology (smart board), e-learning

I would definitely like to have access to a smartboard and use the computers and the Internet in my teaching.

B2 Curricula/programs Developing specific programs, adapting official curricula

Modifying curriculum so it's accessible to English Language Learners. Curriculum development

B3 Teaching/learning material

Creating ESL materials, planning LES, building projects

Creating material that is age-appropriate based on the latest studies

C Teacher

C1 Methodology Conferences/P.D.

Attending conferences, conventions, university courses. Improving on/expand teaching skills/techniques

Workshops on different/new/efficient teaching methods based on ESL research.

C2 Language skill Improving on one’s own English proficiency

Mise à jour des habiletés langagières: à force d'être la seule à parler anglais, j'en oublie un peu.

C3 Collaboration Teamworking, sharing ideas and material with other teachers. Coordinating projects, programs

To share materials, ideas and talk about evaluation with other ESL teachers

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Appendix E: What one thing would facilitate or enhance your current ESL teaching situation? Category Description Sample replies

A0 Resources Generally, access to more teaching or P.D. resources Accès à davantage de ressources

A1 Facilities Teach at a specific or consistent location/classroom HAVING MY OWN CLASSROOM!!!!

A2 Teaching material More ready-made activities, teaching and evaluating materials, lesson plans, LES tailored to the different grades

Easier and free access to authentic material…. More samples of LES

A3 ICT Access to ICT, language labs, equipped classrooms, the Internet

Access to MULTIMEDIA KITS, PERFORMANT COMPUTERS…

A4 Funding Funds for more resources Special budget for resources acquisition

A5 Teaching/support staff

Support staff for large groups. Resource staff for special needs students, general teaching/training

Resource person to help with teaching and with students presenting learning difficulties

A6 Conferences/training/P.D.

Access to P.D. through conferences, workshops. More training in specific areas of teaching

Special needs training. Accès à des conférences (financées par le ministère)

A7 Collaboration More cooperation with other teachers within the same schools, or boards/provinces. Online networking

Be given an opportunity to share ideas with other ESL teachers

B0 More time More time in general (not specific) At the moment I am teaching in 2 schools and I feel like I don't have enough time in either one

B1 More class time More time per period, more periods per group per week/year

Have more time allowed to teach ESL. It's difficult to make students progress when we can only see them twice a week!

B2 More preparation time More time for preps, planning LES, evaluations, corrections, etc. More time for curriculum and lesson planning

C0 More support More support in general (not specific). may reflect a lack of recognition, of understanding

Being recognised as an important subject at the primary just as French and Math.

C1 From administrations More support from other teachers, schools, school boards, provincial ministries

Plus de reconnaissance. Au primaire, le statut du spécialiste d'anglais laisse à désirer.

C2 From communities More support from parents and local communities

It’s necesary for people in rural villages to understand the importance of learning English.

D1 More homogeneous classes Single level/age group/grade classes Avoir des classes de même niveau (faible-

moyen-fort)

D2 Smaller groups A smaller number of students per group Smaller groups to be able to help the students better

D3 Student motivation Higher motivation, interest in students regarding in-class learning and ESL or English in general

To convince students of the importance of learning English

D4 General workload Generally, a smaller workload, less students overall, less schools to resource

Having less classes. I took a 100% load and I am overwhelmed because it is the limit of being legal. I have 1290 minutes. I feel overwhelmed and exhausted.

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Appendix F: In your view, what is the most positive aspect of teaching ESL?

Category Description Sample replies

A0 Students Students in general. Working with students, developing relationships

Spending time with my students, watching them grow, take risks, and learn.

A1 Progress Observing students’ improving skills, developing fluency

Seeing students' growth and progress as they become acculturated and capable English communicators

A2 Cultural diversity Students’ cultural backgrounds. Experience/contact with such diversity

The diverse backgrounds of the students provide a rich variety of talents and needs…

A3 Motivation/enthusiasm Students’ interest and motivation to learn English. Positive attitude

To see the confidence, excitement and enjoyment of learning from my students.

B0 Teaching English Raise interest for English in students, imparting ESL skills

Transmitting my passion for English to my students

B1 Helping/empowering students

Helping overcome difficulties and apprehensions. Being instrumental in students’ improving proficiency. facilitating access to the world, a better future. Overall sense of purpose

Helping adult students overcome their fear of speaking a second language. Empowering students with language (communication) skills that will help them…

B2 Introducing students to culture/language

Specifically providing opportunities to students to learn about different cultures, another language

Creating opportunities for cultural awareness and discovering new horizons

B3 Pedagogical freedom (latitude)

Freedom of content, of covered themes/topics. Variery of teaching tools and materials. Autonomy

La liberté de choix des thèmes abordés en classe. Grande latitude quant au programme, possibilité de pleins de projets captivants.

B4 Promoting English Raise awareness about the predominance of English as a lingua franca, as the first language in Canada

Étant la première langue du Canada... amener les élèves francophones à pouvoir vivre de nouvelles expériences…. English spoken around the world

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Appendix G: What are the most important ways that second language associations could help you? Category Description Sample replies

A Training/P.D./methodology Generally provide teacher training material and opportunities

Innovative specific teaching strategies and materials to address student needs, assessment

B Material Design and provide ready-made activities, teaching and evaluating materials, lesson plans, LES

Publishing classroom materials for ELL teachers to use or download. Providing more efficient hands-on material for evaluating

C Resources/support

Provide online resources such as ESL teaching-related links, latest ESL research digests, newsletters. Provide support, motivation, pedagogical advice

Fournir des ressources ou liens Internet pour activités. En référant à des articles ou sites Internet

D Workshops Organize local workshops on relevant and practical topics. Provide hands-on training to teachers

Offering varied workshops about relevant topics

E Conferences Organize regional/national conferences. Provide information regarding ESL conferences

Conventions where new ideas in teaching ESL are shared

F Networking Communicate with teachers, connect teachers together, facilitate exchanges. Host online forums

Être capable de discuter avec d'autres enseignants d'anglais, car je suis seule dans mon école.

G Funding Provide funds Get funding for schools, for projects, for teachers to attend conferences, for teaching material

H Lobbying/promotion

Pressure regional ministries/local boards/schools for changes. Promote ESL to other teachers, school administrations, ESL material publishers

Petition for the importance of ESL and a need for increased hours. Lobby gov. for ESL only classrooms

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