Vol. 2 (1) Jul. 2020

Article ID. JHSSR-1015-2020[1]

EFL Curriculum Implementation: An Exploratory Study into Teachers and Students’ Perceptions

Chantarath Hongboontri and William Egerton Darling

Abstract:

This qualitative study attempts to document how university English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers implemented their curriculum and how students perceived such implementation. To do so, the researchers went into one Thailand university, interviewed four EFL teachers and thirteen students undertaking the English foundation course, observed EFL classrooms, and collected written documents and artifacts (e.g., curricula and teaching materials). Gathered data were then coded, categorized, and compared and contrasted. The analyses revealed the differences in the teacher participants’ implementation of their curriculum and the student participants’ mixed perceptions toward their teachers’ implementation of the curriculum. To some extent, one lone teacher made some adaptation to the imposed curriculum on account of his students’ needs and interests. In contrast, the other three teachers restrictively followed the prescribed official curriculum and closely adhered to the scope and sequence of their assigned textbook. The student participants were satisfied with the teacher whose decision concerning curriculum implementation was largely grounded upon interaction/contact between the teacher and his students. However, the students complained against the teachers whose instruction was doctrinally adhered to the imposed curriculum.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.37534/bp.jhssr.2020.v2.n1.id1015.p69