An exploration of the impact of degree seniority on the teaching quality of english as a foreign language in algerian primary schools

Abstract

The effective teaching of foreign languages is very important, especially when it comes to the teaching of English which is considered as an international language. This study aims to investigate the impact of the approach adopted for hiring English language teachers, which is based on degree seniority, on the teaching quality of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) in Algerian primary schools. This study follows a descriptive research design which is based on quantitative and qualitative methods. The data was collected through two main tools: a questionnaire and an interview; the questionnaire is administered to twenty-two (N=22) respondents which were English language teachers of Bejaia primary schools province, Algeria. The interview was conducted with two (N=02) English language inspectors of the primary school level. The results collected provided significant arguments to answer the research questions as they indicated that the senior degree of old graduated teachers does not impact on their teaching effectiveness. However, they push these teachers to encounter some challenges especially when they first start teaching but they can overcome all the obstacles they face with time and effort according to the inspectors interviewed. This study recommends the old graduated teachers to keep learning and trying new and innovative strategies to get better at teaching their pupils. Finally, it is highly important for school administrators and policy makers to provide the teachers with the resources and materials needed, and minimize the number of the pupils in classrooms to facilitate classroom management for the teachers. All of these recommendations are proposed in the goal of improving the teaching quality of English language in Algerian primary schools.