Unveiling the Stories of English as a Second Language (ESL) Teachers

AUTHOR(S)

CRYSTAL L. LONGCOP DR. JOSEPHINE P. DASIG

ABSTRACT

—— The research entitled Unveiling the Stories of English as a Second Language (ESL) Teachers was conducted with 10 teachers from 5 selected schools of the Bay Sub-office in Laguna, using a purposive sampling. The research problem and objectives focused on providing answers to the questions referring to how the second language teachers narrate their significant experiences, the core narratives that emerged from the significant experiences, the meanings that were drawn from these core narratives, and the proposed insights that can help improve the instructional experiences of teachers of ESL teachers. The researcher used a qualitative research design that indicates narrative inquiry, gathered data from the information provided by the participants, using an in-depth interview with open-ended and structured questions. The interviews were transcribed, and narrative analysis was executed as a method to describe the stories of the teachers involved. Themes such as learners’ lack of skills, the use of different approaches, differentiated activities, teachers’ essential characteristics, and teachers’ positive traits were thoroughly dissected after the significant experiences were highlighted, while inductive analysis that shows how the themes emerged and conceptualization were given to provide more descriptions and comprehensive explanations to the results. Moreover, upon the findings, the researcher enumerated and proposed ways in order for teaching experiences of Second Language Teachers to be improved, such as training, professional growth, research engagement, and teachers’ collaboration, which the teachers of Bay Sub-office, including the learners, especially the struggling learners, will benefit. Other proposals the researcher would like to be implemented on the part of the teachers, aside from the ways aforementioned above, are: reduced workload, digital literacy training, learning communities, and differentiated instruction. Improving the teaching performance of English teachers in elementary schools requires a holistic approach that addresses both pedagogical skills and the specific challenges of teaching young learners. Keywords — English as a Second language, ESL teachers, narrative analysis, qualitative design