Teaching English as a Foreign Languate and Using English as a Medium of Instruction in Egypt: Teachers’ Perceptions of Teaching Approaches and Sources of Change

With the internationalization of English there is a growing demand for high quality English language education around the globe, particularly in non-English speaking countries. Consequently, there is an increasing demand worldwide for competent English teachers and more effective approaches to teaching and teacher professional development. In Egypt, in a context of educational reform where communicative language teaching approaches have been adopted as a way to improve teaching, this study explores how teachers perceive and respond to this call for change in instructional practices. It examines the professional development experiences of a group of English as a foreign language (EFL) and English-medium subject (EMS) teachers working in the private and public basic educational sectors in Cairo, Egypt. The research questions focus on teachers’ perceptions of change and improvement occurring in their teaching practices, their beliefs on the sources of change available to them, and the perspectives of school principals and professional development providers on teachers’ change prospects. In this study, a multi-method approach was applied, with a teacher survey administered to 174 teachers; in-depth, semi-structured interviews with 36 teachers, 15 principals, and 8 professional development (PD) providers; field observation; and examination of relevant documents and artifacts. The analysis of data is informed by sociocultural theory perspectives (Vygotsky, 1978). The findings indicate that (1) teachers perceive great change in their practices, though their conceptions and implementation of communicative approaches are context-bound, (2) teaching is influenced by various professional learning opportunities, and (3) change or lack thereof results from teachers’ adaptability to their local contextual demands through a process of resistance, resilience, or maintaining the status quo. The findings highlight the centrality of teachers in change processes.They suggest that change results from a process of interaction between teachers and other individuals within their community, and that the nature of change as experienced by the participants is shaped by a multitude of contextual factors. The implications of the study include the need to replace the technical conception of professional development with a more ecological orientation, to establish professional learning communities among teachers and within schools, and to establish a coherent framework for change initiatives.Ph