Challenges of Science Teachers in teaching their subjects in English at a NIS school in northern Kazakhstan.
Askhat Nurmagambetov
Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science
in Educational Leadership
Nazarbayev University Graduate School of Education May, 2021
Word Count: 15196 words
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Author’s signature: Askhat Nurmagambetov
_________________ Date: 3.05.2021
Declaration
I hereby declare that this submission is my own work and to the best of my knowledge it contains no materials previously published or written by another person, or substantial proportions of material which have been submitted for the award of any other course or degree at NU or any other educational institution, except where due acknowledgement is made in the thesis. This thesis is the result of my own
independent work, except where otherwise stated, and the views expressed here are my own.
Signed: Askhat Nurmagambetov Date: 3.05.2021
Ethical Approval
CITI training certificate
Acknowledgments
I would like to acknowledge the help and support given to me in the Nazarbayev
University Graduate School of Education by my supervisor and personal tutor Professor Duishon Shamatov, and Programme staff.
My sincere thanks to my beloved ones- wife Gulnar and my parents for supporting me who always make me proud and give endless trust, support, and love.
I am also thankful to each of the participant who shared the valuable opinions and experiences for the research.
Abstract
Trilingual policy was introduced by the First president of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev where he highlighted the importance of learning three languages (Kazakh, Russian and English). The implementation started from Nazarbayev Intellectual School developing NIS programme where according to this programme science subjects in high school should be taught in English. Moreover, this process is complicated, and teachers face different challenges while teaching science subjects in English.
This study investigates the challenges of science teachers in teaching their subject in English at NIS school in northern Kazakhstan. The purpose of this study is to identify challenges that science teachers faced during teaching in English. The study also aims to examine possible solutions from teachers’ perspectives. The first research question is focused on the main challenges that science teachers face while teaching in English and the second research question relates to how they address these challenges. Four semi-structured interviews divided into two parts were conducted to answer the research questions.
The findings of the study present the main challenges in teaching science subject in English and how they cope with these challenges. Besides the importance of teachers’ background and their preparedness in teaching their subject in English.
Keywords: teaching in English, teacher’ challenges, curriculum reform, trilingual policy
Андатпа
Үштілділік саясатын алғаш рет Қазақстан Республикасының Тұңғыш Президенті Нұрсұлтан Назарбаев ұсынды, ол үш тілді (қазақ, орыс және ағылшын) оқып үйренудің маңыздылығын атап өтті. Бұл Назарбаев Зияткерлік мектептері ДББҰ әзірлеген NIS- бағдарламасын іске асырудан бастау алды. Осы бағдарламаға сәйкес орта мектепте жаратылыстану-математикалық бағыттағы пәндер ағылшын тілінде оқытылуы керек.
Сонымен қатар, күрделі және ғылыми пәндерді ағылшын тілінде оқытуда мұғалімдер түрлі қиындықтарға тап болады.
Бұл зерттеуде Қазақстанның солтүстігіндегі Назарбаев Зияткерлік мектебінде жаратылыстану пәні мұғалімдерінің пәндерді ағылшын тілінде оқытудағы қиындықтары қарастырылады. Зерттеудің мақсаты жаратылыстану-математика пәнінің мұғалімдері ағылшын тілінде сабақ беру кезінде кездесетін мәселелерді анықтау болып табылады.
Сонымен қатар мұғалімдердің көзқарасы бойынша мүмкін шешімдерді іздеуге бағытталған.
Зерттеудің алғашқы сұрағы жаратылыстану пәні мұғалімдерінің ағылшын тілінде сабақ беру кезінде кездесетін негізгі мәселелерге назар аударады, ал екінші - олардың осы мәселелерді қалай шешетіндігіне қатысты. Зерттеу сұрақтарына жауап беру үшін екі бөлікке бөлінген төрт жартылай құрылымдалған сұхбат жүргізілді.
Зерттеу нәтижесінде жаратылыстану ғылымдарын ағылшын тілінде оқытудағы негізгі қиындықтар және олармен қалай жұмыс жасайтындығы анықталды. Сонымен қатар, мұғалімдер тәжірибесінің маңыздылығы және олардың өз пәндерін ағылшын тілінде оқытуға дайындықтары талқыланды.
Түйінді сөздер: ағылшын тілінде оқыту, мұғалімдердің мәселелері, оқу бағдарламаларын реформалау, үштілді білім беру саясаты.
Аннотация
Политика трехъязычия вперые была представлена Первым президентом Республики Казахстана Нурсултаном Назарбаевым, где он подчеркнул важность изучения трех языков (казахского, русского и английского). Реализация началась с реализации программы NIS- programme разработанная АОО «Назарбаев Интеллектуальные школы». Согласно данной программе, предметы естественно-математического цикла в старшей школе должны преподаваться на английском языке. Более того, этот процесс сложен, и учителя сталкиваются с различными проблемами при преподавании научных дисциплин на английском языке.
В этом исследовании исследуются проблемы учителей естественных математических наук при преподавании своих предметов на английском языке в Назарбаев Интеллектальной школе на севере Казахстана. Цель данного исследования - выявить проблемы, с которыми сталкиваются учителя естественно-математических наук во время преподавания на английском языке. Исследование также направлено на изучение возможных решений с точки зрения учителей. Первый вопрос исследования сосредоточен на основных проблемах, с которыми сталкиваются учителя естественно-математических наук при обучении на английском языке, а второй вопрос исследования касается того, как они решают эти проблемы. Чтобы ответить на вопросы исследования, было проведено четыре полуструктурированных интервью, разделенных на две части.
Согласно результатам исследования были выявлена основные проблемы в преподавании естественных наук на английском языке и то, как они справляются с ними.
Помимо этого обсуждена важность опыта учителей и их готовность преподавать свой предмет на английском языке.
Ключевые слова: обучение на английском, проблемы учителей, реформы учебного плана, потилитика трехъязычного обучения.
Table of Contents
Author agreement ... ii
Declaration ... iii
Ethical Approval ...iv
Abstract ... vii
Chapter 1: Introduction ... 1
1.1 Background of the study ... 1
1.1.1 Trilingual Policy ... 1
1.1.2 Kazakhstan’s state language policy ... 3
Statement of the problem ... 5
Purpose of the Study ... 6
Research Questions ... 7
Significance of The Study ... 7
Thesis outline ... 8
Chapter Summary ... 9
Chapter 2: Literature Review ... 10
2.1 The role of the teacher in curriculum reforms ... 10
2.2 Teachers' readiness ... 11
2.2.1 Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) ... 12
2.2.2 English as a Medium of Instruction (EMI) and Content-Based instruction (CBI) ... 13
2.3 Teachers' environment and support ... 14
2.4 Professional Burnout ... 14
2.5 Access to teaching resources ... 16
2.6 Teachers attitude toward curriculum reform ... 20
2.7 Chapter summary ... 21
Chapter 3: Methodology ... 22
3.1 Chapter overview ... 22
3.2 Research Design ... 22
3.3 Research site and sampling ... 23
3.4 Data Collection Instruments and Procedures ... 25
3.5 Ethical Considerations ... 27
3.6 Chapter Summary ... 28
Chapter 4: Findings ... 30
4.1 Introduction ... 30
4.2 Trilingual Policy as a factor in changing teacher’s teaching practice ... 31
4.2.1. State and school policy. ... 31
4.2.2. A-level exams ... 31
4.3 Stakeholders’ preparation to teaching in English while the implementation of trilingual education ... 31
4.3.1 Science subject teachers’ background ... 32
4.3.2. School support of stakeholders and relevance of preparation courses ... 33
4.4 Challenges in teaching science subjects ... 34
4.4.1. Language barriers ... 34
4.4.2. Explanation of science subject content in English ... 36
4.4.3 Students’ preparedness to study science subjects in English ... 37
4.5. How do teachers cope with challenges? ... 38
4.5.1 English language skills development ... 38
4.5.2 Approaches to explain the content of science subjects in English ... 38
4.5.3 Students’ preparedness to study science subjects in English ... 39
4.6. Attitude of science teachers to teaching in English ... 40
4.6.1 The opinion of stakeholders about teaching their subject in English ... 40
List of the main findings ... 41
Chapter 5: Discussion ... 44
5.1 Discussion related to the research question 1 (What challenges do science teachers in NIS school in northern part of Kazakhstan face while teaching in English?) ... 44
5.2 Discussion related to the research question 2 (How do they address those challenges?) ... 47
5.3 Summary ... 48
Chapter 6: Conclusion ... 49
6.1 Summary of the study ... 49
6.2 Research question 1 (What challenges do science teachers in NIS school in northern part of Kazakhstan face while teaching in English?) ... 50
6.2 Research question 1 (How do they address those challenges?) ... 51
6.3 Limitations and further research suggestions... 52
References... 54
Appendix A ... 65
Appendix B ... 67
Appendix C ... 68
List of tables
Table 1. Teachers background information ... 24
List of abbreviations
AEO Nazarbayev Intellectual Schools
APTIS All Purpose Ticket Issuing System
BIL Bilim-Innovation Lyceums
EMI English as a Medium of Instruction
CBI Content-Based Instruction
CLIL Content and Language Integrated Learning IELTS International English Language Testing System
MoES Ministry of Education and Science
NIS Nazarbayev Intellectual Schools
NUGSE Nazarbayev University Graduate School of Education
SPED State Program of Education Development
Chapter 1: Introduction
Kazakhstan has accepted modern trends in the language field. Therefore, Kazakhstan has adopted a policy of trilingual education. The government of Kazakhstan began to change the educational system that was created and implemented by the Soviet Union. The purpose of the State Program (2010) is to increase the competitiveness of education through high- quality and affordable education for the country's population (MoE, 2010). Respectively to the State Program for the Development of Education, the educational program should be improved relying on successful experience in school education of the world countries (Press service of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Kazakhstan, 2018) to enhance the competitive ability of future employees.
The study focuses on science subject teachers’ challenges they face while teaching in English and the ways they overcome them. The study was conducted in one of NIS school in the North of Kazakhstan where science subjects in high school are taught in English.
This chapter provides a background to the study considering challenges of science teachers in teaching their subject in English at a NIS school in northern Kazakhstan. This chapter outlines the problem statement, the research purpose, research questions and background of the study.
1.1 Background of the study 1.1.1 Trilingual Policy
Trilingualism is an ability to use three languages, especially with equal or nearly equal fluency (Trilingualism,2020). It was highlighted that the usage of these languages should not be on the same level (Ytsma, 2001) rather to show the ability to express himself or herself and understand the language. Some countries implement trilingual policy and in present time where 178 countries are being implement this policy (Irsaliyev et al., 2017).
Even though it does not mean that it happens successfully. Countries such as Finland, The
Netherlands, Switzerland, Spain (The Basque Country) and Luxembourg succeed in the delivering trilingual education. There are some reasons of successful implementation. These countries have experienced multilingual education. That’s why the population is proficient in more than two languages. Finally, the languages in these countries are originated from the Latin that make them easier to learn. According to Irsaliyev et al. (2017) that languages in European countries are from same family or group. That is why some words and expressions similar and in some cases are identical. In addition, the salary of the teachers was mentioned there as it much higher than the average salary of teachers in Kazakhstan (Irsaliyev et al., 2017). Moreover, in case of Kazakhstan all three languages come from different groups.
Kazakh language is a part of Turkic, Russian is Slavic and English is Germanic. Such situation was discussed by De Angelis (2007) that if languages are from different language family of group make trilingualism more complex. The ability of students to acquire all three languages depends on not only the relation to the family groups but also a cognitive predisposition to it (Cenoz & Jessner,2000). It was agreed that bilinguals are better in acquiring third language than monolinguals learning second language (Cenoz &
Jessner,2000). Cenoz showed the evidence of the research where bilingual students (Spanish and Basque in their case) were more successful in learning English language than monolingual Spanish learning the same language.
In addition, research shows that the equity between these languages plays an important role in implementation of trilingual policy. The best example is a trilingual policy in Republic of China where the number of minority groups are bigger (Adamson &
Feng,2014). It means that students are taught in their mother tongue and then other two languages are added. It demonstrates that while implementing the trilingual policy all these languages should be equal. Despite the implementation of trilingual policy faces difficulties, it is practicing and promoting around the world.
1.1.2 Kazakhstan’s state language policy
The first President of Kazakhstan in his traditional speech in 2007 pointed out that there is no a limit of human life, and there is no end to education. He highlighted the importance of learning three languages as Kazakh language - the state language, Russian language - as a language of international communication and English - the language of successful integration into the global economy. Reforms in language policy focus on the need of trilingual policy. Trilingual policy was introduced by the First President Nursultan Nazarbayev in his address to people “New Kazakhstan in a new world” (Nazarbayev, 2007).
This policy is reflected in number of programmers such as the State program of education development in the Republic of Kazakhstan for 2011-2020, the State program of languages development and functioning for 2011-2020, The Roadmap of trilingual education for 2015- 2020, the law “On languages of the Republic of Kazakhstan”. Based on the State Program of Languages Development and Functioning for 2011-2020 (MoES, 2011) the number of people who speak Kazakh would increase up to 95%, the number of Russian speakers increase by 90%, whereas the number of people who speak English rise to 20% in 2020 (MoES, 2011). It was written in this document that English should be taught not only as a foreign language but also should become language of instruction in all schools. It was stated that science subjects in high school will be taught in English. Few years later in 2015, Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Education and Science introduced a Roadmap of Trilingual Education Development for 2015-2020. The major ideas of this programme was to implement trilingual policy at all levels of education within the support of common standards for language learning. as According to the Roadmap subjects in high school as sciences and math would be taught in English; in English; the history of Kazakhstan and geography in Kazakh; and world history in Russian (Moldagazinova, 2019). Several education researchers as Mehisto, Kambatyrova and Nurseitova (2014) have expressed challenges in
implementation of trilingual policy. These challenges refer to understanding of the policy and lack of knowledge about other countries experiments. Hence, the main challenges highlighted in the document is a need of science teacher who are able to teach in English.
That is why teacher’s training plays crucial role in implementation of the trilingual policy.
According to the Minister of Education and Science (MOES) there is a need of 32 000 high school teachers for successful implementation of the policy. It was reported that 675 subject teachers were trained to teach in English by Nazarbayev University (Chemistry, Physics, Biology and Computer- Science), “Nazarbayev Intellectual Schools and JSC “Orleu”1 prepare 69 teachers and KATEV2 taught 18, 250 children and prepare 680 subject teachers, 84 teachers from regional specialized school for gifted children and 800 science teachers (Sagadiev, 2016). According to the State Programme of Education Development’ (2010) the number of teachers who teach science subjects in English would be raise to 15% by 2020.
However, this plan was not succeeded and the dates of implementation of trilingual education. In accordance with the schedule, in the 2022-2023 academic year, it is planned to implement the English language of instruction at the Bilim-Innovation Lyceums, in international schools, gymnasiums, lyceums and multilingual schools, and for the next academic year - in 2023-2024 - the transition of all state schools is planned. The introduction of trilingual education will be carried out only at the choice of the educational organization on the basis of a collegial decision of the pedagogical council of the educational organization and the parent committee (The transition to trilingual education in schools of the Republic of Kazakhstan is planned to begin in 2023, n.d).
First Nazarbayev Intellectual Schools (NIS) were opened in 2008 and become testing site for the trilingual policy (AOE NIS 2013, 3). It should be mentioned that in some
1 Republican institute for advancing leadership and scientific-pedagogical workers of the RK education system
2 International Public Foundation
countries trilingual education is provided mostly in private elite schools while in Kazakhstan as it covers all types of schools in the country. NIS schools became as an experimental platform for implementing new educational reforms and share the experience with the mainstream schools (Shamshidinova, Ayubayeva, & Bridges, 2014). These schools provide teaching in three languages (AEO NIS 2013c). That is why to support the implementation of trilingual policy and provide guidance such as the Trilingual Education Policy for Nazarbayev Intellectual Schools, the Trilingual Implementation Guidelines for Nazarbayev Intellectual Schools, Core NIS Pedagogical Principles and Values, Integration of Content and Language: Guidance for Teachers, Team teaching: Overview were developed (Mehisto, 2015). It should be noted that despite the providing trilingual education NIS schools provide students the opportunity to learn second foreign language. Learning of an additional foreign language support student to improve a multilingual mindset, and intercultural competencies.
Therefore, it will give students the opportunity in their further education to enter the world’s best universities (Development Strategy, 2030).
Statement of the problem
Modern education requires not only knowledge in the chosen profession, but also knowledge of the international language. In this regard, educational reform is underway in Kazakhstan. The First President of Kazakhstan, Nazarbayev in his annual to the people of Kazakhstan announced the 2050 strategy on the importance of multilingual education for modern society (Nazarbayev, 2012). This message emphasizes the need for knowledge of the English language by the population of the country. Therefore, after this address to the people of the country, such programs as Road Map 2015 - 2020 and the State Program of Education Development (SPED) 2016 - 2019 (2016) were developed. These programs are aimed at developing trilingual education in the country. Even though these programs are
aimed at reforming the entire education system, it should be noted that one of the important points is trilingual education both in schools and in higher educational institutions.
The new education policy is an opportunity to strengthen the economic component of the country by training more competitive workers. For example, Lee (2012) noted that the increase in English proficiency directly affects the ability to collect knowledge of employees.
As a result of this, the country's economy is growing. This process can be explained by the fact that most of the knowledge of humanity is created by all of humanity, and not just by one country or nation. Therefore, to get more knowledge, you need to be able to look for information on foreign sources. At the moment, English is the language of international communication. Therefore, a lot of research, development and just literature is translated into English. Based on this, it can be concluded that knowledge of the English language (in addition to the mother tongue) can provide access to more knowledge. However, to a greater extent, it is the theory and experience of other countries. It is necessary to analyze the situation on the spot, namely, what teachers think about the use of English in the policy of trilingual education. What difficulties have arisen with the introduction of teaching in English, subjects such as physics, chemistry, biology, and computer science in high school, and how they are solved.
Purpose of the Study
The purpose of this study is to identify challenges that science teachers faced during teaching in English at a private public partnerships school in the north part of Kazakhstan.
Also, the study aims to identify how the science teachers address those problems. The study explores the background of the participants including their experience and courses they have visited to improve their language skills and teaching practice in using English to teach students in high school. Firstly, the study revealed the challenges science subject teachers experience in teaching their subjects in English. Secondly, it attempts to identify possible
solutions to those challenges. In addition, it presents the attitude of science subject teachers in applying English on their subject.
Research Questions
1. What challenges do science teachers in NIS school in northern part of Kazakhstan face while teaching in English?
2. How do they address those challenges?
Significance of The Study
This work is aimed at studying the problems of teachers of science subjects in high school of Kazakhstan, where teaching is carried out in English. Science subjects include physics, chemistry, biology and computer science. Despite the possible advantages that may arise with a deeper knowledge of the English language (access to more literature, more job opportunities, foreign practice), there are difficulties in introducing a policy of trilingual education. Some of the problems of this reform fall on the teachers. Therefore, studying the experience gained from these teachers can help in understanding the existing problems of educational reform. Identifying challenges teachers face while teaching science According to the subject in English plays a crucial role in implementing trilingual policy to all mainstream school of Kazakhstan as NIS schools were aimed to introduce it to all schools in Kazakhstan. The implementation of trilingual policy is already started. The first school Daryn schools (the network of lyceum schools for gifted children and talented youth of Kazakhstan), Nazarbayev Intellectual School (NIS) and Bilim-Innovation Lyceums (BIL) (Mehisto, Kambatyrova & Nurseitova, 2014; Irsaliyev et al., 2017b). As it was mentioned in the background section according to the Road map 2015-2020 (MoES, 2015) all mainstream school should start implementation of trilingual education by 2020-2021.
Moreover, this implementation seems unrealistic as this programme will be realized in 2022-
2023 (The transition to trilingual education in schools of the Republic of Kazakhstan is planned to begin in 2023 (n.). Thus, this study is significant for policymakers as discussing the possible challenge will support them in successful implementation of trilingual policy to all schools around Kazakhstan. There is a need in investigating challenges and practices of teaching science subjects in English. The successful implementation depends on teachers’
classroom practices (Oattes, Oostdam, Graaff, & Wilschut, 2018). Exploring the challenges, it is crucial to identify a current situation of using English in teaching science subjects in high school from different perspectives. The challenges and the ways of overcoming them support teachers to improve their teaching practice and make changes in methods in teaching their subject and developing English language. The understanding of these challenges is a foundation for teachers who will begin teaching their subject in English. It also provides information for schools to organize appropriate courses for developing science subject teachers’ skills in not only in language but also in applying English in teaching the content of their subjects. This study also is crucial for teachers who are teaching or are going to teach science subjects in English as they already have possible solutions to the challenges the may face while teaching and prepare themselves. For me as an educator it is significant to understand how the challenges I also face while teaching could be solved and make some changes in my teaching practice.
Thesis outline
The thesis is consisted of six chapters, references, and appendices.
Chapter one includes background information about the research topic, the problem statement, the research questions and purpose, and the significance of the study.
Chapter two refers to the literature review discussed according to the purpose of the study including the role of teachers in curriculum reform, their attitude towards it and teachers’ readiness. This chapter also discusses the Content and Language integrated
learning (CLIL), English as a medium of instructions and Content-based instructions as well as teachers’ environment and support while curriculum reform, teachers’ environment and support, professional burnout, and access to teaching resources.
Chapter three explains the methodology and design of the study. It describes the methods of data collection and data analysis. This chapter also includes ethical consideration discussions covering approval of the ethics NUGSE, information provided in Consent forms, terms of ensuring anonymity/confidentiality and the protection of the data.
Chapter four presents’ findings of the study concerning the research questions. It provides detailed information on the key findings that was collected by conducting semi- structured interviews.
Chapter five discusses the findings that are interpreted in relation to the research questions.
The final chapter draws upon the entire thesis and includes a discussion of the implication of the findings, limitations of the study and recommendations for future research into this area.
Chapter Summary
This chapter discusses the background information of Trilingual and Kazakhstani state policies. The problem of the study was stated in accordance with the purpose of the study. The research questions were determining with the significance of the study. Thesis outline is presented in this chapter.
Chapter 2: Literature Review
This part is the most relevant Although there are many studies, the research in challenges in teaching Science subject in English remains limited. The research made by Abdashim (2020) revealed that students should be divided into groups equally according to their performance. Even though the main issuer in terminology and language that also can increase student’s proficiency in English language. During his research teachers pointed out the necessity of improvement their English language that lead to their success in their teaching (Abdashim, 2020). However, there ongoing debates of using L1 (first language) during the lesson. This issue is discussed by many researchers in different countries. For instance, Aziz (2017) studied challenges while Teaching English in the Social Science Classroom and The results of his study showed that 70% of students are comfortable with delivering lessons in mixed language (first and English) and allow code-mixing in teaching.
It was also found that there also bias regarding the ability of male or female students learn Science. As it was said before teachers needs courses on expanding their knowledge on CLIL approach and the way it implemented in other countries (Abdashim, 2020).
2.1 The role of the teacher in curriculum reforms
The teacher is the one who enforces the curriculum change in the school. It is the teacher who is the conductor of these changes. Therefore, the teacher must be at the center of all these changes (Ornstein and Hunkins, 2018). A change in the teachers' role can be an important factor in change. If previously the teacher was only a performer, then, as Pristley and Minty (2013, p. 6) write, now the teacher should become the one who develops the curriculum. According to the author, this may be the meaning of the changes in the curriculum.
However, this is not always the case. For example, Davis (2009) wrote about ignoring the teachers' point of view, despite the fact that teachers are the main executors in the
educational process. Moreover, Ibraimova (2017) and Gimranova (2018) write about the many difficulties teachers face when introducing a new education system. It often turns out that teachers have to follow new curriculum changes. In addition, as Davis (2009) writes, curriculum designers only guide teachers on curriculum implementation or subject teaching.
An interesting point is the accountability of teachers after the introduction of changes in education. That can lead to professional burnout of teachers because they need to achieve specific results and a large amount of routine paperwork. This is the result of a top-down approach. To avoid such problems, Fullan (2015) advises giving more autonomy to teachers.
Pedagogical heritage is one of the problems of modern education. It happens that teachers use only specific teaching methods and do not want to change themselves (Fullan, 2017). Such teachers may ignore the new teaching methods and continue to use their old methods. It happens that starting to use something new and facing difficulties that need to be overcome, they return to their comfort zone. However, while in this zone, they do not learn anything. Plant (1987) investigated similar situations. According to him, the fear of failure, the lack of new information, and the fear of the unknown slow down the reform process.
2.2 Teachers' readiness
The willingness of teachers to apply a new curriculum or curriculum is an important factor in bringing about change in education. Change usually refers to transformation of something. As for organization it means that the current situation will be changes into another involving specific information. In most cases the change in organization is compulsory. The decision should be made by the administration that was emphasized by Inandi and Gilic (2016). However, these decisions should involves all the members of the organization (Lunenburg and Ornstein, 2004). Therefore, teachers must be prepared for these changes and have an opportunity to participate in discission of any changes. It was
stated that the participation of the employees in decision making process affect the satisfaction level with their job (Keung, 2008). Thus, the individual readiness for the change positively affect both themselves and their organization (Peach et al.,2005). Readiness for change is a three-dimensional concept that includes cognitive, emotion and intention. It could appear at different stages that makes the process of changes complicated (Bouckenooghe et al., 2009). Thus, the teachers must be provided with knowledge, skills, and teaching methods. Often all this is provided at various courses. Okello and Kagoire (1996) write that teachers must be prepared to apply change correctly in order to implement curriculum change successfully. Therefore, teacher training courses should help solve these problems. Do not forget that such courses must be well prepared. Teachers need to acquire appropriate skills to be prepared for the changes. For example, Ngussa, Waiswa and Makewa (2017) concluded that teachers were unprepared for educational change due to ineffective teacher courses. Based on this, I believe that well thought out and delivered courses are an important factor in the successful implementation of a new curriculum.
It is crucial to identify the readiness of all members of organization as it could be reflected in losing the opportunities and wasting resources, even worse in damaging the existed organization.
2.2.1 Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL)
One of the important components of the readiness of teachers in Kazakhstan is the knowledge of the English language by teachers teaching scientific subjects (physics, chemistry, biology, and computer science) in high school because these teachers must conduct their classes in English. There are several solutions for teaching science subjects.
First, hire foreign teachers. Second, prepare a teaching staff fluent in English. The first option is not the best since these people can leave at any time. Kazakhstan will again be left without qualified personnel who speak English. Therefore, the second option is preferable.
Of course, it takes some time to prepare many people who can teach scientific subjects in English. Therefore, there are teaching methods that facilitate this task.
Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) is "a dual-focused educational approach in which an additional language is used for the learning and teaching of both content and language" (Coyle, Hood, & Marsh, 2010, p. 1). In general, there are different definitions of the term. For example, Ball and Lindsay (2010) describe it as a means to learn (improve) a second language through teaching methods and practices. However, in the case of Kazakhstan, it is better to say a third language since the population of Kazakhstan generally knows two languages (Russian and Kazakh). In addition, we can say that the CLIL methodology is often associated with teaching in English (Fortanet-Gomez, 2013). Perhaps this is due to the spread of English throughout the world as an international language. In the case of Kazakhstan, CLIL is also often associated with teaching in English.
2.2.2 English as a Medium of Instruction (EMI) and Content-Based instruction (CBI)
There are other methods of teaching scientific subjects in the second (English) language. For example, English as a medium of instruction and Content-Based instruction.
One of the definitions of EMI was made by Dearden (2014, p.4): "the use of the English language to teach academic subjects in countries or jurisdictions where the first language (L1) of the majority of the population is not English". The first difference between CLIL and EMI is that the CLIL teaching methodology is suitable for learning in a second (non-native) language. When EMI focuses specifically on teaching the subject in English.
Another difference is that CLIL focuses on learning both content and the language in general.
Another method of teaching a subject in a foreign language is Content-Based instruction. Lyster & Ballinger (2011, p.279) defined: "an instructional approach in which non-linguistic curricular content such as geography or science is taught to students through
the medium of a language that they are concurrently learning as an additional language".
Judging by this definition, there is no significant difference between CLIL and CBI. For example, Cenoz (2015) also writes about the similarity of these methods. They both focus on both content and language.
2.3 Teachers' environment and support
The workplace environment is an essential factor for teachers to engage them in the implementation of the new curriculum fully. As Pearson and Moomaw (2005) write, the environment at work influences the performance of the team. The more positive the environment, the better the team works. The relationship between teacher - teacher and teacher - administration is an important factor in creating a friendly and generally positive atmosphere at work. However, one should not forget about such things as the school's financial condition, educational resources, and adequate teaching load for teachers. All of this is also part of a positive environment.
According to Xiao (2013), the principal is responsible for distributing the workload in the school. As a result, it affects job satisfaction and motivation of the whole school staff.
For example, Yucel (2008) writes that help from school administrators has had a positive impact on teachers in the school and their success at work.
Another example of the impact of the environment on the implementation of a new curriculum is the 2010 Pristley study. The result of his research was that in one of the schools with high support of the school administration, high involvement of teachers, and their autonomy, they demonstrated effective work on the implementation of the new curriculum.
In contrast, the second school, with low support from the school administration, low teacher involvement, and low autonomy, had poor results. The teachers did not even understand the meaning of the innovations (Pristley, 2010).
2.4 Professional Burnout
In many countries of the world, the reform of secondary education systems has been actively carried out for half a century. A general trend in school reforms across countries is the introduction of public accountability and the increased bureaucratic burden, which leads to increased levels of uncertainty, instability, and vulnerability that teachers experience in their workplace (Hall and McGinity, 2015; Ball, 2001). Studies of the professional activity and self-awareness of school teachers in different countries show that, despite all the national differences in education systems, most teachers feel pressure from the authorities, and teachers' workload is constantly increasing (Day, 2002). The transformations of the professional identity of teachers in connection with the ongoing transformations are, apparently, an unrelated topic for reformers. However, for the school, this is a crucial problem since the teacher's professional motivation, his commitment to the profession, job satisfaction, and the effectiveness of his work directly affect the achievements of students and their attitudes to learning (Hall and McGinity, 2015; Han, 2017; Tsui and Cheng, 1999).
There were about half a million teachers in Kazakhstan in 2019 (Sizdikbayev, 2019).
These people perform an essential societal role: they carry out knowledge and value socialization of young people and thereby contribute to maintaining the integrity of society.
Today's teacher works in the conditions of the precarious of social and labor relations in Russia as a whole (Bobkov et al., 2015; Gasyukova, 2015; Toshchenko, 2015), which were superimposed on a series of economic crises. The phenomenon of precarious labor consists of the deformation of labor relations, expressed in the emergence of numerous groups of workers with infringed social and labor rights and a vulnerable, unreliable social position (Klimenko and Posukhova, 2017).
Similar problems occur in Kazakhstan as well. All this can lead to professional burnout. Burnout itself can occur in any profession.
Carson, Baumgartner, Matthews, and Tsouloupas, (2010) believe that burnout occurs due to emotional fatigue, achievement of too low a planned goal, and loss of personality.
Teachers and not only burnout at work. A common manifestation of this is low motivation at work. Even it may come to indifferent attitude to work. In the case of teachers, this can affect their attitude towards students. They may be indifferent to the successes and failures of their students, which in turn can lead to reduced student achievement.
Embich (2001) argues that school administrators have a direct impact on potential teacher burnout. By remaining as a base of support from the school administration, teachers are more likely to burn out professionally. Possible reasons for burnout are lack of free time.
It is speculated that burnout can result from high stress without sufficient rest time. An additional effect may be an aversion to the profession. Thus, people may leave the profession.
2.5 Access to teaching resources
Another factor in the success of educational reforms is the availability of teacher resources. Researchers such as Milner et al. (2012), Sargent (2011), Orafi and Borg (2009) have also talked about the importance of access to various kinds of resources when carrying out reforms. At the moment, one of the most critical resources is access to the Internet.
However, do not forget about such things as specialized equipment for various subjects. In support of this, Johnson (2006) writes about the need for science teachers for specialized lesson equipment. Thus, teachers will be able to develop independently and introduce innovations in a quality manner. When we are talking about teaching in English the lesson should be planned according to the requirements. Special requirements are imposed on the selection of educational material and the development of tasks for it. Thus, the teacher is assigned the following tasks:
- While planning the materials for the lesson it is essential to select them according to the difficulty and the knowledge of students that should be suitable for students’ needs.
The appropriate number of tasks should be considered to make the material understandable and provide the opportunity for students to master the material.
- The chosen tasks should be related to the content of subject, motivate them and involve students into the learning process. While working with the tasks, students develop their skills through understanding, analysing and evaluating the main idea of the text.
- Tasks also should reflect some features of linguistic forms, do some practice exercises. While working with the tasks they learn to provide a feedback and do different types of assessment.
- The selection of materials should be aim at the stimulation and the development of students; creativity, develop their communication skills and writing skills in the foreign language.
- Students should be taught to cope with some difficulties related to the language, content and communication.
- The choice of teaching materials will depend on the course structure defined by the educational institution.
The proposed developments in conducting classes in physics, chemistry, biology and computer science are used in various methods: verbal, visual and practical.
All these methods are applied while planning the lesson dividing into several stages that are logically connected with each other. It includes: preparatory, introductory, analytical, applied and final. At each stage, one or another methodological technique can be used (depending on the competence of the teacher) (Azhigulova, 2017).
The lesson plan should be divided into several stages:
Preparatory stage
The preparatory stage involves a basic subject-language discussion (bilingual), motivating students to complete a particular task in the subject, and disclosing the algorithm of students' actions with the support of the teacher. By a preliminary subject-language conversation (bilingual), we understand as a two-language conversation (in the first language (Kazakh and Russian) and in English). This conversation is aimed at identifying how well students prepare a new type of activity and revealing to them the stages of bilingual actions (i.e., completing an assignment or presenting material in their native and English languages).
Introductory stage.
At the introductory stage, the student should follow the planned steps that includes receiving one or another subject information bilingually (that is, thematic information on physics, chemistry, biology and computer science, in their first and English languages) from the teacher or work independently to identify the different and credible sources; perceiving thematic information on a particular subject, in the first or English language (reading, speaking or listening).
Analytical stage
This stage includes processing the information received on the subject in the first or English language while implementing of the following stages:
- discussing of the received thematic information on the subject (what lexis, concepts and phrases are understandable to the student in the text and what words should be learnt by them to extend their vocabulary);
- work with a dictionary to find unknown lexical units and identify the grammatical structures and their appliance.
- all unknown lexical unite should be written in a subject-language dictionary on a particular subject (physics, chemistry, biology and computer science) which should include the translation, synonyms and definitions of all the words;
- it is allowed to have a translation from their first language (Kazakh / Russian) language into English or vice versa if necessary.
Applied stage
At the applied stage, the student uses the received thematic information on the subject for: subject-language communication (involving students in situations of communication in their first and foreign languages: discussing the information received, promoting and defending their argument, presentation and their explanation; in case students face some challenges it is allowed to continue their conversation using their first language; coping with written tasks (test, dictation, exercises, problem solving, etc.) or do some practice on the particular subject (laboratory classes, experimentation, design, modeling).
Final stage
The final stage involves a subject-language conversation, in which students should be involved in a thematic discussion in their native (Kazakh / Russian) and English languages), with indicators of communication results, with the inclusion of written and test papers, as well as mutual and self-reflection.
When conducting a lesson using the method of subject-language-integrated teaching, the teacher must:
- at the beginning of the their studying a subject in a foreign language, students can use their native language, but the teacher answers only in a foreign language;
- speak slowly, pronounce clearly;
- clearly stipulate the goals and expected results of the lesson;
- create a favorable environment for language learning;
- develop speech activity in reading, listening, speaking and writing;
- if the need arises, repeat words, sentences, phrases that are incomprehensible to students several times;
- use vocabulary in your speech that is comprehensible to students;
- work with thematic keywords;
- students should be motivated to use a foreign language in the lesson;
- use different types of activities to increase the motivation of students.
It is necessary to highlight the following forms of organizing educational activities in subject-language teaching: frontal, group, pair and individual work. The frontal form of educational work is implemented in a conversation, educational discussion, working with didactic cards in subjects (it is possible with the translation of thematic vocabulary), performing various exercises, solving various problems in a particular subject, conducting role-playing and didactic games in two languages: native (Kazakh / Russian) and English.
With subject-language integrated learning, groups can be formed based on the language skills of students. In this case, assignments should be given at different levels: "A" for students with excellent level of English, "B" for students with good knowledge of English, and "C" for students with poor knowledge of English. At the same time, one group can include students with different levels of knowledge of physics, chemistry, biology and computer science, therefore the subject content of the tasks for all groups is the same. The formation of groups can be based on the level training of students in the subject. In this case, one group may include students with different language backgrounds, but with the same level of knowledge and skills in the subject (Azhigulova, 2017).
2.6 Teachers attitude toward curriculum reform
The very attitude of teachers towards reforms in both the education system and curriculum reforms is an important aspect of these reforms. Suppose Kazakhstan wants these new curriculum reforms to succeed. In that case, the very attitude of people, namely teachers, towards these reforms needs to be rebuilt. It is necessary to make people understand the need for these reforms to show new opportunities to lead these reforms. As Mackenzie and Lawler
(1948) wrote, success in changing a system will be successful when people are also affected.
In addition, one can cite the statements of Ornstein and Hunkins (2018) about the success of the implementation of the new curriculum. They write that teachers' knowledge of the new curriculum and how to teach needs to be changed, but rather the teachers' mindset needs to be changed.
2.7 Chapter summary
This chapter reviewed related literature which is discusses the role of teachers’
curriculum reform, their readiness and attitude to changes. As the implementation of the new policy is a complicated process which involves the environment. Thus, teachers play a crucial role in the policy implementation, their support is also investigated in this chapter.
Due to curriculum reforms, it is a necessity of discussing the following approaches, such as Content and Language Integrated Learning, English as a Medium of Instruction and Content- based instruction. These approaches support educators to find about between teaching the content and language.
The chapter concluded by discussing by professional burnout and access educators to the teaching resources. The next chapter describes the methodology of the study.
Chapter 3: Methodology 3.1 Chapter overview
This chapter discusses the methodology of the study, site and participants selection, as well as data collection instrument, data collection process and data analysis. The
chapter also includes ethical considerations of the study.
3.2 Research Design
The research project was designed to identify issues that science teachers faced during teaching in English as well as possible solutions to difficulties both from the teachers and from school administrators. The study investigates to answer research questions to achieve the purpose of the study. They are: What challenges do science teachers in NIS school in the northern part of Kazakhstan face while teaching in English?
How do they address those challenges?
It was decided to use a qualitative method of research for this study, as this method is the most appropriate to answer the research questions. Creswell (2014) writes that this approach is suitable for researching and understanding problems. In general, my research is aimed at researching the teachers' perspectives on the implementation of trilingual
education in one school in the northern part of Kazakhstan. In particular, the study explores the implementation of science subject teaching in English from the perspectives of the teachers. This methodology has been chosen as possible to gain in-depth understanding of the situation of one small group of teachers in one particular school, as written by Nisbet and Watt (as cited in Cohen, Manion & Morrison, 2007).
A case study method was chosen to conduct this study. Yin (2003) writes that a case study is appropriate when you need to answer the how and why questions. Also, he writes that the author chooses this method to cover contextual conditions, as they may have a relationship of the study area. My case fits these conditions. I have studied the problems of
Kazakhstani teachers in teaching scientific subjects in English. Eight interviews with four participants were planned for the study. The interviews collected data on the experiences, challenges, and practices of science teachers teaching in English. All interviews were conducted one-on-one.
3.3 Research site and sampling
The research was conducted at Nazarbayev Intellectual School (NIS) located in the northern part of Kazakhstan. NIS created a trilingual environment to help students build their linguistic competence (AEO NIS, 2013, p. 13). As it was opened in 2008 Nazarbayev Intellectual Schools are a testing site for applying new educational innovations and became the first schools in Kazakhstan implementing trilingual education (AOE NIS 2013, 3).
There are four subjects that are taught in English such as biology, chemistry, physics, and computer science. Students of 11th and 12th grades have an opportunity to choose two subjects out of four. That is why there is a necessity of using English by local (Kazakhstani) teachers while teaching science subjects in high school. It should be noted that local teachers are selected to teach high school students by their English language proficiency. These teachers are obligated to pass the exams and visit different language courses or courses to expand their knowledge of teaching their subject in English.
Purposeful sampling is a technique that is often used with limited resources with high efficiency. Creswell and Plano (2017), describe this method as selecting a group of individuals with good knowledge and experience in the chosen research area.
There are 130 teachers out of whom 46 teach physics, computer science, chemistry, and biology. These subjects are taught in English. From all these teachers four teachers were invited to participate in the research (1 from each of subjects Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Computer Science) To select the participants several criteria were set. Firstly, the participants should teach science (chemistry, physics and biology) and computer science –
you can call them science (physics, chemistry and biology) and computer science teachers.
Secondly, it is crucial to have experience of teaching their subject in English. In particular, they participate in implementing trilingual education. Finally, it is a willing of teachers to participate in this research. All the participants were recruited on a voluntary basis. Also, all the participants who decided to take part in this research do not know who participated in the research.
The table below presents the details of the participants. It shows the number of participants and subject there are teaching. It also includes the range of their age and their experience: general experience and experience they have at NIS. Then it indicates their level of teaching excellence. Level of teaching excellence is a certain level of pedagogical activity.
Passing the certification, a teacher receives the next level. This includes the following levels:
trainee teacher, teacher moderator, teacher expert, teacher researcher and teacher master.
From the table we can see that two of participants are teachers and others are teachers- moderators. In addition, all the interviewees have higher education certificate. The number of participants is enough to collect rich data as all of them were interviewed twice.
Table 1. Teachers background information Participant Subject Age Experience
general
Experience NIS
Level of teaching excellence
Education
P1 Computer
Science
27- 38
12 years 4 years Teacher moderator
Higher
P2 Physics 27-
38
7 years 4 years Teacher Higher
P3 Chemistry 27-
38
10 years 5 years Teacher moderator
Higher
P4 Biology 27- 38
6 years 4 years Teacher Higher
Note. The name of the subject was used as pseudonyms.
According to the provided information about the participants all the teachers are teaching different subject that are taught in English. The age of them is varied from 27 to 38 years old. It is clearly seen that their experience is divided into two columns: general experience and their experience at NIS. This is essential as their experience at this school is on if the criteria to choose the participant into the research. In addition, all the participants are teachers or teacher moderators based on their level of teaching experience and have diploma of higher education. Thus, the participants meet the criteria of the study.
3.4 Data Collection Instruments and Procedures
Due to pandemic, all lessons are conducted online from April 2020. This a reason why all the interviews were conducted online as there were no information when school will return to full-time education. All the data was collected using the semi-structured interviews as a main instrument.
Interviews were conducted via Microsoft Teams as the main platform that is used to by NIS teachers while distance learning. This way of interviewing people is crucial as it helps with social distancing. Before conducting the interview, the questions were pilot tested in advance. These questions were pilot tested with a teacher of NIS from other cities. Then some changes were made according to their comments and recommendations. This is an important step for me before to be prepared for actual interview. As it was mentioned before all the interviews were conducted via Microsoft Teams. However, while planning the research it was proposed to have Skype interview or use other means of communication such as WhatsApp, Discord or Zoom. It also was discussed to have a one-on-one personal presence as an alternative. This was possible if the situation with Coronavirus changed.
Before interviewing the participants, it was important to be sure that all of them have no problem in internet connection,
The interview was recorded with the participants’ permission only. Then all the recordings were transcribed for further analysis.
Overall, four teachers of NIS were interviewed. There were two interviews with each of the participant. In total, with four participants eight interviews were conducted. It was planned to take 40-50 minutes. However, some participants took more time for answering the questions. As it was noted there were two interviews with each participant. Therefore, the first part of the interview questions was focused on their background, experience and challenges they face while teaching in English. The second part of the interview was related to more specific questions such as difficulties and how do they cope with these challenges, as well as methods and tools, and changes in teaching in English (See Appendix B).
The process of interviewing teachers started with taken a permission from the school principal. He was provided with a support letter on behalf of NUGSE with explanation of the details of the research including the aim and objective of the study.
The recruitment process started in November 2020. The potential participants were invited to participate in the research and were selected by the set criteria. Then after their agreement all participants were acquainted with an informed consent form. Finally, time was negotiated with each participant.
When all data was collected, I was able to start analysis procedures. The data analysis’s main aim is to identify the problems of science teachers faced while teaching in English and identify possible solutions. At first, all the interviews were transcribed (See Appendix C). I have not used any online tools to transcribe the recordings as takes time to find the appropriate tool and learn how to use it. The next step is to star coding (See Appendix C). The coding stage includes data observation, generation of initial codes,
identifying the themes, revision and naming them, then report writing (Braun & Clarke, 2006).
3.5 Ethical Considerations
This section is discussing the ethical considerations as it is essential and at the same time challenging part of the research. The process of taking ethical approval was divided into different stages. Firstly, it was necessarily to receive an approval at the school level.
Research ethics form includes an outline of the project, context of the study, power and participation relations, information provided to the participants, their rights of withdrawal, informed consents, complaint procedure, and well-being, anonymity/confidentiality, data collection and data analysis procedure, data storage and protection, feedback, responsibilities, and reporting of research. Secondly, the ethics from was discussed with the study group to identify the main features of the ethics application and potential ethical issues that could appear while conducting the research. Finally, the supervisor checked the form, provided a feedback and after editing it was approved by him.
When the ethics approval from Ethics Committee of NUGSE was received the next step was to take an approval from the school principal from one NIS school where it was planned to conduct a research. However, it should be noted that if the research covered all twenty-one school of NIS it would be compulsory to receive an approval with the Research department of NIS. They would request information letter and consent forms, after their consideration they make a decision to approve or not the research (NIS Research, 2019).
Research department is a Nazarbayev Intellectual School platform. This department’s aim is to monitor and observe all the studies that are conducting in all these schools. After receiving the approval from the school principal, the information letter was sent to the participants via Outlook to invite them to take part in this research. It was aimed to inform invited teachers about the study and then send them a consent from for signature if they agree
