Investigating second language English teachers’ reading instruction and their attitudes towards teaching English reading in a fifth and seventh grade Libyan setting

This study examines the attitudes and practices in the teaching of reading English within the specific context of Libya. The aims were: (1) to investigate the time allocated to teach reading in an English lesson, (2) to find out whether teachers differed in their reading practices according to their grade groups, (3) to explore teachers’ attitudes towards their teaching of reading in English, (4) to explore teachers’ attitudes towards the different reading strategies, (5) to explore teachers’ thoughts towards the use of different teaching techniques, (6) to find out if these teachers differed in their attitudes, reading strategies and techniques of reading according to grade.
A mixed methods non-experimental research design was used combining a questionnaire, systematic observations and stimulated recall interviews. In the quantitative systematic observation, 34 teachers in grades 5 (i.e., teaching children aged eleven) and 7 (i.e., teaching children aged thirteen) were observed. The grade 5 learners had been exposed to no hours of English education prior to this study, while grade 7 learners had been exposed to the language for around two years. Descriptive statistics and chi-square of the quantitative systematic observation, using SPSS, revealed that teachers spent less time teaching reading techniques and encouraging the use of reading strategies than they did teaching things other than reading. Interestingly, there was no statistically significant difference between grades. The findings further suggested that the development of EFL sounds links (through systematic phonics instruction) was almost absent and that the teachers preferred to teach reading through alphabetic knowledge decoding skills. Moreover, thematic analysis of the qualitative data with NVivo identified that teachers in both grades used a variety of techniques for teaching reading and some specific reading strategies. Factor analysis of the questionnaire data, using SPSS, identified nine factors. The questionnaire results revealed that Libyan teachers of both fifth and seventh grades displayed similar positive attitudes towards teaching reading. The study concluded with some implications that can inform teachers’ practices in Libyan EFL classrooms.