Abstract

The present study aims to examine the incorporation of aural/oral skills in the Grade VIII English textbook prescribed by the Punjab textbook board (PTBB).  The study was conducted in the light of a checklist based on the competencies and students’ learning outcomes given in the National Curriculum for English (2006), Pakistan. The competencies intended to enable learners to become fluent in their speech. The study was qualitative, and a thematic analysis approach was used to analyze the data. The findings of the research revealed that contradictory scenario. The textbook understudy does not allow learners to improve their aural/oral skills. The aural/oral competency was seen in some proportion. Still, reiteration was seen in the practice parts in which only dialogues were given repeatedly at the end of each unit of the textbook.

Key Words

Oral/Aural Skills, Pronunciation, National English Curriculum, Competency, Student learning Outcomes and grade VIII and English textbook.

Introduction

The research was carried out to examine the English textbook of grade VIII prescribed for public sector schools of Pakistan in Punjab province. The criteria of the investigation were solely based on two competencies (third and fourth) being set in the National Curriculum for English (2006). The curriculum was developed in four stages. Stage one demonstrates standards, the second stage demonstrate benchmarks, the third stage demonstrates standard learning outcomes, and the fourth stage demonstrates students learning outcomes. 

The curriculum was conceived to familiarize learners with spoken discourse conventions for appropriate social and academic communication with individuals and in groups in both informal and formal settings (Government of Pakistan, 2006). At the same time, the benchmarks of the competencies aim students to use linguistic exponents for various functions and co-functions while speech to give opinion, express feelings, emotions and interact in the immediate social environment. 




Need to launch National Curriculum

The National Curriculum for English was created in 2006 by the Ministry of Education, Government of Punjab, for grade I-XII (Government of Pakistan, 2006). The document provides a comprehensive step-wise guide to teachers for language teaching and equipping students with competencies and skills in the English language. The holistic goals of the curriculum were kept in mind for enhancing their academic and social communication while preparing students to become autonomous, life-long learners and representing themselves on global platforms.







Oral Communication Skills in the English Curriculum (2006)

The oral competency has one standard and two benchmarks. (Ministry of Education, Pakistan, 2006)

They are mentioned as follows: 

• (S1) the first standard aims to acquaint learners with spoken conventions to speak in social and academic contexts, formally and informally.  

• (B1) the first benchmark of this standard requires learners to use linguistic exponents for various functions and co-functions like opinion, feelings, emotions, instructions given socially.  

• (S2) the Second benchmark expects students to use various channels and to communicate socially and academically, e.g., dialogues, panel discussions, talks on particular topics, the social and academic conventions and dynamics to communicate information/ ideas 

• (C4) The fourth competency expects learners to familiarize themselves with formal and lexical aspects of language. But the current research only focuses on pronunciation and vocabulary development. 

• (S1) The first standard of the forth competency deals with pronunciation and requires learners to understand and articulate widely acceptable pronunciation, stress and intonation patterns of the English language for communication.

• (B1) The first benchmark aims students to pronounce words, identify and apply stress shift and intonation patterns for communicating different meanings. 

• (S2) The second standard requires students to enhance their vocabulary for effective communication.

• (B1) The first benchmark of the second standard of forth competency requires learners to develop vocabulary by using various strategies like word roots, contextual clues, dictionary, thesaurus to use contextually appropriate words, phrases and idioms with correct spellings. 

Students’ poor Oral Proficiency

CheeKeong, Y., Yassin, A. A., & Abdulrahma, T. T. A. (2014) conducted a study to investigate oral proficiency problems of Yemeni high school English EFL learners in Malaysia. The findings of the study revealed problems in three factors. The problem unfolded that teacher’s focus more on grammar instead of practising language and did not motivate students to speak inside the classroom. The second factor revealed that the curriculum was not designed to improve learners’ oral communication, so they did not drill, and practice spoken discourse. And the third finding revealed that students were neither ready to speak English inside the classroom nor outside the classroom settings because they were fossilized.  

Similarly, another research was conducted by Molavin in 2020, to assess student’s oral presentation skills and given the number of tasks. According to him, it is imperative to give students’ tasks that may improve their presentation skills. The results explored that student’s academic strands also have a great impact on their oral skills.

Rahimi, A., & Quraishi, P. (2019) conducted a study to find out the reasons for students’ poor oral communication and proficiency. The findings of the study revealed the causes of students’ poor oral skills, e.g., apprehension and hesitation during oral presentations inside the class as well as outside the class, de-motivating environment and lack of confidence by peers and teachers were the major reasons. 




Research Objective 

To explore the incorporation of oral and pronunciation skills in the English textbook of Grade VIII 




Research Question

To what extent oral and pronunciation skills have been incorporated in the English textbook of Grade VIII? 




Significance of the Research

The present aims to contribute to the relevant field of textbook evaluation.  Moreover, the study holds

implications for teachers, students, curriculum developers, and material designers and developers. The findings of the study may also open new vistas for future researchers and scholars in the field of textbook reforms. 




Delimitations 

The English Curriculum 2006 comprises of six competencies- reading and thinking skills, oral/aural skills, writing skills, formal and lexical aspects of language and appropriate ethical and social development. But the article only encompasses the third and first benchmark of fourth competency that is pronunciation. 

Methodology

The current research was qualitative study. The semi-structured checklist was developed for content analysis. The evaluation of the content was based on two competencies. The fourth competency is Oral/aural skills and the other competency is formal and lexical aspects of language. They were examined in the backdrop of student learning outcomes developed in the latest English curriculum, 2006. The thematic analysis approach was employed for data analysis. 

Findings of the Study

Table 1.

S. No	Student Learning Outcomes	Evidence from Textbook	Instructions given for the Teacher
1.	“Use various functions to: Ask and respond to questions of personal interest and general everyday aspects.           Ask and express opinions, emotions, wishes, needs and requirements by giving reasons.”                       “Express dissatisfaction, disapproval, and disagreement politely, agree/disagree politely, agree/disagree partially, make plans, express personal needs.”	Ch. 8, ‘Hockey’, (p. 46-48), There is a dialogue between two friends, they are sharing their experiences of attending a magic show and are further discussing what they liked the most in the show.   Ch. 5, ‘The Magic Show’, (p. 31, Exercise. G). One of the Learning Outcome of Chapter 10 is to express dissatisfaction politely. But there is no content and activity seen which could express the related SLO. Only the last line is expressing a wish Sidra: Me too, I wish the magic show should be performed again.     Not found	For the teacher: Conduct pre-reading activity to create students’ interest in students’ interest in the text and to assess their previous knowledge on the topic.

 

“Benchmark II: Demonstrate through dialogues, panel discussions, talks on particular topics, the social and academic conventions and dynamics to communicate information/ ideas”.

Table 2.

S. No	Student Learning Outcomes	Evidence from Textbook	Instruction given in the Textbook
2.	“Use conventions and dynamics of group discussion and interaction to:	Ch.1, ‘Tolerance of the Rasool (SA)’, (p.4, Exercise. E).	For the teacher: Ask students to role play the conversation given in oral communication.
3.		Ch. 2, ‘A Dialogue’, (p. 6), Pre-reading: what is a dialogue? Can we solve any problem by discussion)?	For the teacher: Help students understand the importance of discussion to solve a problem. Familiarize students with the importance of the English language to enhance the interest of the children for learning English language. Conduct a dialogue in the classroom by giving different topics to the students.
		Ch. 3, ‘Poem ‘On the Ocean’, (p.17, Exercise. E, oral communication skills).	Not found
		Ch. 5, ‘Magic show ’, (p.31, Exercise. G, oral communication skills).
		Ch.7, ‘Clever Mirchu’, (p.45, activity, H).   Work in pairs and prepare a dialogue in which two friends are discussing about a cartoon movie and share it with the whole class.
		Ch. ‘Hockey’, (p. 51, activity E, p. 54. activity-H). Oral communication skills.
		Ch.9, ‘Prayer’, (p. 58-E; Oral communication skills) Ch. 10, Hazrat Umer (RA), (p.64, Exercise-I Oral Communication skills). The chapter ends with an activity of a dialogue. The dialogue is between a teacher and a student named Asghar. The dialogue is assumed to be about an assignment and a teacher is motivating and giving a feedback to his student-Asghar.
		Ch.11, ‘A Great Virtue’, (p.69, Exercise-I; Oral communication skills). Activity:  Have conversation with your fellow student about helping others.
		Ch.12, ‘Water is a lovely thing’, (p. 70-74, activity. F; Oral Communication Skills). Ch. 14, ‘Let’s make our Roads Safer!’(p. 80, activity. G). Activity: Ask students to make groups and discuss the social issues regarding our traffic problems.   (p. 87- activity. J; Oral communication skills). Activity: Conduct a dialogue between two friends on rapidly increasing number of road accidents.
4.	Offer and respond to greetings, compliments, invitations, Introductions and farewells/ demonstrate an understanding of ways to show gratitude, apologize, and express anger or impatience/ask, restate and simplify directions and instructions/ present and explain one’s point of view clearly/support or modify one’s opinions with reasons/acknowledge others’ contributions/ agree and disagree politely at appropriate times/share ideas/clarify ideas/ modify a statement made by a peer/identify problem, propose solution/ summarize the main points of discussion for the benefit of the whole group/join in a group response at the appropriate time/use polite forms to negotiate and reach consensus.	Not found	For the teacher: Help students perform oral communication activities emphasizing on stress and intonation in dialogue.   For the teacher: Help students perform oral communication activities emphasizing on stress and intonation in dialogue delivery. No purpose is given to conduct a discussion. Incomplete activity
5.	Recognize and demonstrate appropriate expressions and etiquettes for a telephonic conversation to make polite introductions/ask someone to say something again/check understanding of message/take and leave a message/infer and draw conclusions about meaning, intention and feeling communicated by the speaker/recognize and respond to moods showing appreciation, pleasure, displeasure, surprise, disappointment/make and respond to inquiries/make and respond to requests”.	Not found, no telephone conversation given to recognize and demonstrate suitable expressions and etiquettes for a telephonic conversation. While looking at the LO’s of chapter 5, the aims of the lesson are respond orally or in writing, ask and respond to questions of personal interest and share ideas.	Not found

               

“Benchmark I: Pronounce (acceptably) words, identify and apply stress shift and intonation patterns for communicating different meanings”.

Table 3.

S. No	Student Learning Outcomes	Evidence from Textbook	Instructions given in the Textbook
1.	“Recognize and articulate English sounds given in the pronunciation key in the dictionary.	Not found (recognition and articulation is given in the previous grades)	Not found
2.	Identify and pronounce in minimal pairs common problem consonants including /v/, /w/, /ya/, /th/, /l/, /r/, etc.	Not found	Not found
3.	Identify and correctly pronounce diphthongs and triphthongs in words.	Ch. 7, ‘Hockey’, (p.45. Exercise. I). Pick out as many words containing diphthong as you can from the lesson.   No key and solved exercise given at the end of the textbook. Whereas, in LO’s of this chapter mention nothing about this skill.	Not found
4.	Differentiate between long and short vowel sounds and recognize how vowel length can change the meaning.	No concept of long and short vowel is given in the textbook.	Not found
5.	Identify and pronounce consonant clusters with developing accuracy in initial and final positions.	No concept of the consonant cluster with accuracy is given.	Not found
6.	Recognize and pronounce silent letters in words.	Not given	Not found
7.	Recognize the syllable division of words in aural and written text.                         Demarcate words into syllables with the help of a dictionary.	Ch. 12, ‘Water is a lovely thing’, (p.74. activity. E). Divide the following words into syllable.                         Ch. 14, ‘Let’s make our Roads Safer’, (p.86. activity. H). How many syllables do the following words have? Responsibilities, markets, sometimes, people, recognize, citizen, overcome, safety, precious, speeding, violation, discuss, observe, problem, accident   Review 3, Ch. 9-14. (p. 90- activity. N) Divide the following words into syllables. Water Ripply River Raindrop Fountain Pitcher Summer Loveliest Butterfly Cupboard	For the teacher: Recite the poem, tell students about the importance of stress and intonation. Help students understand the words having the same sound and different meaning i.e. homophones. No rule/instruction given     The activities mentioned are given but does not require the use of a dictionary.
8.	Comprehend and apply in speech the word stress rules for example stress shift for emphasis and change in meaning in parts of speech.	Not given	Not found
9.	Recognize, pronounce and represent primary and secondary stress in words with the help of a dictionary.	Not seen	Not found
10.	Pronounce weak form of personal pronouns, modal verbs, their negatives, prepositions, articles and conjunctions.	Not found	Not found
11.	Recognize and use varying intonation patterns to show attitude and emotions.	Not found	Not found
12.	Articulate complex tongue twisters.	Not found	Not found

 

Standard 2: Vocabulary: All students will enhance vocabulary for effective communication.

Benchmark I: Build vocabulary through word roots, contextual clues, dictionary, thesaurus, and the environment; use words, phrases and idioms in context and with correct spellings.

Table 4.

S. No.	Student Learning Outcomes	Evidence from Textbook	Instructions in Textbook
13.	Build and use appropriate vocabulary and correct spelling for effective communication to illustrate the use of a dictionary for finding appropriate meaning and correct spellings.	Not found	Not found
14.	Use a simple thesaurus to locate synonyms and antonyms.	Ch. 4, ‘An Exhibition’, (p.22, activity. C). Fill in the blanks with the opposite of the word underlined. sentence 1 is confusing He was ___when his cousin came but sorry when he left.   Ch.5 ‘Magic Show’, (p.31, activity. E). With the help of the given word bank, complete the table given below: Words Synonymous Antonymous Clever Smart stupid Disappeared     Increase     Empty     Amusing       Ch. 7, ‘Clever Mirchu’, (p.44- activity. D). For each word in list ‘A’ find a word of opposite meaning from list ‘B’ as shown in the example,   List A List B Wife Children Old Husband Continued Rich thin Review. Ch. 5-8, (p. 53, activity. E). With the help of the given word bank, complete the table given below: Words Synonymous Antonymous Clever Smart Stupid disappeared     Increase     Empty     Amusing       Ch. 10, ‘Hazrat Umer (RA)’, (p. 64- activity. H). Locate the synonymous and antonymous of the following words from the thesaurus. Words Synonymous Antonymous Tall     Strong     Brave     Kind     Rich     Near     Low     Strict     Love     Simple       Ch. 14, ‘Let’s make our Roads Safer!’ (p. 87- activity. I). Words Synonymous Antonymous Majority Smart stupid Violate     Safe     Precious     Near     Review. 3. Ch-9-14. (p. 89- activity. E). 64-H. Students were shown thesaurus (see pg. )  only but were not asked to locate synonymous and antonymous from the book	Not found                             Not found                                               Not found
15.	Examine and interpret transitional devices that show comparison, sequence, result, conclusion, cause and effect, addition, reason.	No found; comparison is only shown in a simile as brave as a lion.	Not found
16.	Utilize comparison, appositive phrases, and synonyms to deduce the meaning of unfamiliar words.	Only synonymous (…)are found but not to deduce the meaning of unfamiliar words.	Not found
17.	Understand and utilize similes and metaphors given in the text.	Ch. 3, ‘On the Ocean’, (p.17-activity. D). A simile links two things using ‘like’ or ‘as’.  Example: He is brave as a lion. He fought like a lion. We see an example of a simile in the poem i.e. ‘as idle as a painted ship’. Make your own similes with the given words. Hot _________ Right ________ Big__________ Idle ______ Beautiful________ Soft _______   Ch. 12, ‘Water is a lovely thing’, (p. 73-activity. D). Make five sentences of your own using metaphor.   Review. Ch. 9-14. (p. 90-activity.M). Make five sentences of your won using metaphors.	Not found
18.	Analyze analogies, complete analogies correctly.	No found	No found
19.	Understand and use correctly, phrasal verbs given in the text/ glossary.	Concept of phrasal verb is not given. Pg.172 (National curriculum 2006) describes phrasal verbs as ‘A verb that is made up of a verb together with a preposition or an adverb e.g. Get up finish with somebody, put up or pull out with somebody /something. These present particular problems for learners, as their meaning often bears no relation to the usual meaning of the verb alone.	Not found

Discussion

Oral communication skills, pronunciation and vocabulary development, were planned to prepare students to speak and enable them to be accurate and fluent in their speech. The need to brush up on students speaking skills is also one of the major aims of contemporary goals set by curriculum designers in Pakistan (Baig, 2020).  

Making students accurate and fluent in their speech is the need of an hour. Students/pupils in Pakistan can write English, but they need a proper guidance and practice to speak purposefully knowing the pragmatics of the context and stylistics. Therefore, it is mentioned repeatedly in the curriculum that students need to be prepared for formal and inform settings.  While analyzing the content given in the English textbook understudy the focus was given only to achieve students’ accuracy. 

The curriculum aims are quite matching with contemporary trends of curriculum design but during an analysis of a textbook a sense of being lost had been felt. In the curriculum students were expected to express their thoughts, emotions, feelings and experiences. But, with reference to research findings students did not get the opportunity to practice language usage to express their opinion to show agreement, disagreement, partially agreement or partially disagreement. Students need to be given exercises and activities to use transitional devices to express their feelings. 

To use transitional devices students could have been asked to make a daily timetable. The language usage should be such which may give them a chance to use language outside classroom setting/daily life. 

The English curriculum 2006 also aimed to practice spoken discourse through dialogues, panel discussions, talks on particular topics. But this benchmark had presumably been misinterpreted and the entire focus was found on writing a dialogue purposelessly which merely had the purpose to function as one of the ways to interact like group discussion and panel discussions. In addition to that dialogues were given eleven times in the English textbook understudy. But instructions were not given to students are totally missing, so, there is a need to give proper instructions to write a dialogue. At the same time, a proper context to write a dialogue should have been given, the relationship between the speaker and the listener, and setting should have been particularly communicated to the learners. This will also help them to practice the language as well as teachers’ to assess and evaluate their language and language progression. 

It was also explored that the language used in the textbook is quite simple and a lack of spiral progression was felt. Hence, unfortunately, no standard and benchmark could have fulfilled its aspired purpose. 

Assessment and Evaluation Criteria

Overall criteria for doing activities, assessment and evaluation were totally missing. Tips given to students and teachers were found very generic and reiterated multiple times for instance asking students to role play but instructions as well as assessment criteria was missing. 

Similarly, incongruity is seen between what is taught and evaluated. According to the evaluation rules validity ensures to evaluate what was aimed to teach. Similarly, all the concepts should have been applied keeping in mind higher order skills of blooms taxonomy. Add ref. 

The chapter two is about a dialogue. It’s between Qasim and his Uncle. But no context is given and no introduction is given between the characters (Qasim & Uncle), no clue of their level of formality, register, style is given (Baig, 2020). 

LO’s cited on the top of the chapter are contradicting to the assessment of oral communication skills mentioned. So, each element is contrary to the other, Learning outcome e.g., instruction for teachers, content and the exercises. 




Activities 

The activities given are found totally controlled and ideally should be given controlled, semi-controlled and totally uncontrolled. For example chapter 12 is a poem ‘Water is a lovely thing’ p. by an anonymous poet, dialogue given is extremely short and merely comprises of eight lines in which speaker and hearer are asking for and helping each other to provide a pen.  

Whereas learners were asked to conduct a dialogue on game hockey but the activity should have been coherent with the previous parts. A dialogue is given in the poem, starts very subtly and is about a mother and a son named, Ali.  The dialogue is somewhat relevant to the poem but should have been longer.  As mentioned before a progression from one section to the next should be seen and practiced. But all the dialogues given were found of similar number of words and length.  

This dialogue between a mother and Ali has been found relatively pertinent as compare to the previous eleven dialogues given in the textbook. But again, logical and cognitive progression was found missing and could not be practiced. In lieu of giving repetitive dialogues- protocols of conducting such talks and dynamics should have been presented in the textbook. Therefore, the textbook could not prepare students’ to speak socially and academically (Ministry of Education, 2006, p.82). 

The need to prepare students to communicate globally should be given priority as it is a fundamental competency to communicate worldwide since all trade, businesses and communication is done through English language which is considered as lingua franca a one common language among multi-linguals’ and multinationals. For the said purposes people communicate for various purposes.

English language has become a lingua Franca; one common language amongst different speakers belonging to different nations. They use English as a mean of communication just to communicate their message. Whereas, English for academic purposes like English is a part of Medium of Instruction. In such scenario language needs to be appropriate, correct grammar, usage of words and all other areas of language are required to be correct. Thus, the need is still a need, and the intended outcomes are still needed to achieve. 




Pronunciation

The importance of oral communication and been discussed quite in detail. Besides, there are some other elements which underlie the equal importance. While speaking students should be well aware of phonological aspects of language, symbols to correctly pronounce, concept of vowel/consonants- long vowel, short vowels to pronounce according to Received Pronunciation which is acceptable in Pakistani education system. 

All the phonological elements should have been taught, practiced and linked with each other. For example, diphthongs were given purposelessly without any teaching material. Similarly, content and activities could not match with learning outcomes given in the start of each unit. 




Stress and Intonation

Stress and intonation patterns to glide up and down were slightly found to develop oral/aural skills (C3). Syllable is also very interesting this contains a rule that is there should at least be one vowel in each syllable, but this concept was not given to the students. Then the activities have no purpose and so the assessment, evaluation and marking will be in question. 




Dictionary and Vocabulary

The curriculum planned to familiarize learners with dictionary skills but unfortunately dictionary part was totally missing in the textbook. The standard of the forth competency was to develop vocabulary and lexis through word roots, contextual clues, dictionary, thesaurus and the environment to appropriately use words, phrases and idioms in relevant context without grammatical mistakes.  

Difference between the dictionary and thesaurus was also aimed but could not be presented. Similarly, contextual clues could not have been presented explicitly. Students were only instructed to write synonymous or antonymous of the given words. So, by and large, it is explored that all the major areas lack proper incorporation of content and practice. And all such exponents should carry marks in total assessment so students may use them. 

So, vocabulary building is also considered as one of the most crucial areas of English language. A misconception persisted that oral skills don’t have to be taught and are not important for students’ academics.

Formal and lexical aspects of language need to be reconsidered; there is a need to make them more interactive, reader friendly, less challenging but purposeful. Like all other skills this skill especially the phonology and dictionary part has never been internalized by students as well as by teachers. 

Conclusion

It is therefore concluded that the textbook did not fulfill oral skills of the target audience. Hence, the textbook need to be updated in line with curriculum holistic goals as well as student learning outcomes. Progression needs to be developed through content; activities need to be developed purposefully and logically. All the related areas of language need to be incorporated in a much-simplified which students of public sector can grasp easily. It needs to be ensured that the content given in the updated version of textbook may cater to student’s oral communication needs for formal and informal settings. 

Recommendations

• A simpler version of material should be developed and exercises should be developed with contextual words and examples

• Simple exercises should be developed through giving students rules and dynamics of spoken discourse keeping in mind the target audience 

• The prime focus should be on functional aspects and then to fulfill the purpose students should be given preparatory content on grammar

• Dictionary and thesaurus usage must be added in the textbook 

• Students fluency should be enhanced through giving them contextual clues to speak 

• Effective strategies should be employed to develop learners vocabulary

References

• Baig, M. S., Javed, F., & Siddiquah, A. (2020). Pakistani Students' Ethical and Social Development through Punjab Textbook Board (PTBB) Grade VIII English Textbook.Language in India,20(7)
• Baig, S. (2020). An analysis of grade VIII English textbook in the light of competencies standards learning outcomes competencies (Unpublished Doctoral thesis, Lahore College for Women University, Pakistan).
• Baig, S., Siddiquah, A., & Javed, F. (2020). An Analysis of the Competency 'Reading and Thinking Skills' in Grade VIII English Textbook.Global Social Sciences Review,5(1), 231-240
• CheeKeong, Y., Yassin, A. A., & Abdulrahma, T. T. A. (2014). Oral communication problems of Yemeni high school EFL students in Malaysia. Journal of Applied Sciences, 14(24), 3620-3626
• Government of Pakistan. (2006). National curriculum for English language grades I -XII 2006. Ministry of Education. Islamabad. Available at http://www.moe.gov.pk/Curriculum.html
• Government of Pakistan. (2009). National Education Policy 2009.Islamabad: Ministry of Education
• Molavin, A. (2020).
• Rahimi, A., & Quraishi, P. (2019). Investigating EFL Students' Poor Speaking Skills at Kandahar University. American International Journal of Education and Linguistics Research, 2(2), 1-9.