ANALYZING WHAT PERMANENT ACADEMIC CLASSROOM ACTIVITY OF ENGLISH TEACHERS TELL US ABOUT THEIR PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT NEEDS: PRIMARY SCHOOLS IN FOCUS

Abstract

The present study analyses what permanent academic classroom activity tells us about the professional development need of English language teachers in primary Schools. Teacher classroom observation was used as data gathering tools for the study. As a result, four English language teachers were involved in the study. The study was conducted in selected primary schools in North Showa Zone of Orimia Regional State. The four teachers involved in the study were observed three times. The results of the study reveal that teachers lack English language proficiency. Their classroom English lacked quality to use the target language. So, they needed to develop their English language proficiency. The result of the study further showed that the teachers needed to develop their pedagogic skills. The pedagogic skills the English language teachers needed to develop were lesson opening, lesson running and lesson ending strategies. Similarly, the teachers needed professional development on the areas of language use and transitioning and questioning strategies. Based on the finding of the study, it was suggested that English language teachers in primary schools needed to get further professional development program that addresses their linguistic knowledge and skills need areas so that the teachers improve their proficiency in the target language and enhance their skills in teaching