Teaching Methods in English Language Instruction: Case of Selected English Language Teachers in General Santos City, Philippines

The aim of the Philippine education is to highlight the learners' equal opportunity in learning and holistic development to the best level possible amid insufficient learning materials and facilities. Hence, the teachers’ pedagogies, their best practices and strategies applied in the classroom are the key which leads to the questions on what are the most common teaching methods used by the teachers and how are they using these methods? The underpinning concept in this study is guided by the theory of constructivism. As such, in view of the research questions; the mixed method concurrent design was used to explore the experiences of the selected English language teachers in rendering an effective teaching strategy. The teaching methods in English language instruction were determined through a survey questionnaire. This is further reinforced by the qualitative data obtained through the semi-structured interview and classroom observations. Results showed that the lecture method and brainstorming were most often used as a method of teaching. The profile of the subjects showed that teachers are well experienced and qualified English language teachers in view of their educational background and professional development. Implications for teachers considering the results emphasized more innovative and contextualized teaching strategies in English instruction.


Introduction
English is one of the compulsory subjects in the Philippines because aside from Filipino, it is considered the official language used in different transactions at schools and other institutions in the country (Porciuncula, 2011). Transitions in the curriculum and Medium of Instruction (MOI) were observed from Bilingual Education to the current K to 12 curricula, highlighting the implementation of the Mother Tongue Based Multilingual Education (MTB-MLE) to the early stage of education among learners (Madrunio, Martin, & Plata, 2016). Since then, according to Bernard (2011), there has been consistent and systematic documentation of students' learning difficulties associated with using the English language as the medium of instruction knowing the fact that English is a foreign language. This is further reinforced by Namanya (2017) who remarked that Filipino students have difficulty in familiarizing the English language. As problems arise, teachers should be exceptionally creative in finding ways to ensure that English is not a brain cracking subject, instead, it should be an enjoyable learning experience for students where they can easily engage in the stream of a new culture through language, stories, arts, plays, and history. Moreover, according to Mojares (2013), effective teaching is only possible if teachers would consider the complexity of classroom teaching and learn to attain teaching styles that will enable them to continually assess and enhance the efficacy of the teaching and learning process. Considering the notion that experienced teachers are effective in teaching; Ladd (2008) as cited in Rice (2010) noted that teachers with more than 20 years of experience are more effective than teachers with no experience, but are not much more effective than those with five years of experience. Nevertheless, inexperienced teachers tend to be less effective than more experienced teachers as a whole. Accordingly, the magnitude of the effect of teacher experience varies depending on the teacher's level of education and the subject area (Rice, 2010). As to teaching methods, teachers should understand teaching as an inherently non-routine endeavour; hence, they should develop pedagogies that can reach different learners; through the lens of constructivism, teachers are given the freewill to construct or plan fun experiences for students to learn easily (Myrberg, 2007). As such, the teacher must guide students as well as emphasizes how and what to learn.
Knowledge is vital but not enough. Teachers must also possess essential skills in planning, implementing, and assessing teaching and learning situations. Also, to promote learning among students, teachers should be equipped with necessary dispositions. These include values, commitments, and ethics which explain teachers' attitudes towards teaching. Teachers' dispositions tell how they behave or handle the class with the goals of developing learning among students considering different strategies or. They make proper planning on how to inculcate learning or ideas to students ahead of time so learning materials, as well as activities, are prepared accordingly (Burden & Byrd, 2013). Nowadays, some students don't know how to deal with the task of learning a foreign language. Even after many years of schooling and only a few students who have used a set of strategies are able to succeed, as well as learn the language. Moreover, teachers should be concerned with helping students to learn how to acquire ways to learn the English language effectively (Akbari, 2015). Furthermore, teaching English as a foreign language is challenging. Thus, teachers must learn to constantly adapt to students' needs. Many times, this means dealing with a variety of problems in the classroom, many of which are all too common occurrences. A good language teacher must be able to recognize these common problems and work to find solutions. Even a small twist in teaching methods can help to create a more productive learning environment for both the teaching and learning process (Davis, 2016). Thus, teachers should consider deliberating their strategies for the improvement of teaching in 21st-century education. Also, this study further views positive development in the teaching process as well as the learning environment among teachers and students.

Objectives and Research Questions
This study was conducted to determine the teaching methods and the reasons for the English language teachers behind the use of these methods in the English classroom instruction. As such, the following research questions were explored: 1.
What is the profile of the English language teachers in General Santos City, Philippines? 2.
What are the teaching methods used by the English teachers in English classroom instruction? 3.
How do teachers choose teaching methods in English classroom instruction?

Literature Review
The English language education in the Philippines is frequently faced with low academic performance among Filipino students. This is due to many factors, such as poverty, lack of school facilities, qualified teachers, and learning resources (Madrunio, Martin, & Plata, 2016). Likewise, scholars imply that these unfortunate factors contributed to the low results in functional literacy skills which are apparent in the Program for International Student Assessment data (PISA 2018 results, 2019). Moreover, according to Wa-Mbaleka (2014), English language teachers do not acquire skills necessary for English language teaching as they commit errors in teaching which are transferred to students; thus, the foundation of English language skills is jeopardized. This is further reinforced by Lasaten and Racca (2016), who suggested that teachers of the English language should pursue professional development and update themselves with new teaching methods in teaching the English language. Analysis of the profile of teachers such as age, sex, educational attainment, and length of years in service is necessary to know the quality of a teacher. Also, teaching strategies in order to draw conclusions about the extent to which strategies are linked with the pedagogy of teaching English is vital considering many skills that students need to learn in schools. As such, aspects of teacher's teaching strategies should be emphasized that can be incorporated into students' learning practice (Rice, 2003).

Theoretical perspective
Constructivism is a learning theory in psychology that describes the process of acquiring and developing knowledge through different phases of learning. According to Bada (2015), constructivism is an approach to teaching and learning based on the principle that cognition is the result of "mental construction." Students learn by accommodating new ideas with their prior knowledge. Hence, it has a direct application to education. However, there is apprehension with the concept of constructivism when it comes to the application considering that many teachers and administrators argue that knowledge is constructed, without understanding the epistemological and pedagogical implications such a claim entails. Furthermore, this philosophy is commonly known as epistemology or approach for teaching and is often regarded as a guideline in developing knowledge among learners. However, in some cases, constructivism is viewed as a method of teaching which involves misconception (Kemp, 2006). This is further reinforced by Akpan and Beard (2016) who claimed that constructivism is a teaching model, not a theory. Thus, constructivism should be referred to as a way of analyzing the teaching and learning process, and that caution in classifying some methods of teaching as constructivist should be taken into consideration.

Methodology
This study aims to determine the teaching methods used by the English language teachers in the English classroom instruction as well as understanding how these teaching methods were chosen. Apparently, these objectives can only be realized using a mixed-methods approach. As such, the concurrent design was used in combining the quantitative and qualitative methods which were done during the analysis of the data.

Subjects and setting
The subjects of this study were the selected English language teachers recommended by the school principal or year level coordinator of the different schools in General Santos City, Philippines such as Lagao National High School, Bula National High School, New Society High School, and General Santos City High School. A total of (n=19) teachers were gathered as subjects in this study. Moreover, there were (n=7) teachers who participated in an interview for the qualitative data in this study. The sampling procedures were anchored to the quantitative and qualitative methods used in this study. As such, the purposive and probability sampling techniques were used. Moreover, according to Teddlie & Yu (2007), mixed-method sampling techniques implies the merging of the purposive and probability sampling points that can be utilized to address the research questions.

Data Collection Instruments
The questionnaire was used to obtain the quantitative data in this study as recommended by Creswell (2013). It was modified from (Mojares, 2013) and consists of two parts. The first part of the questionnaire was about the profile of the English language teachers and the second part was the common teaching methods in English classroom instruction. In view of the second part, there were three teaching strategies stated for each teaching method; however, teaching methods were hidden so teachers can avoid bias in giving their answers. The scales of 1-5 were used to rate the items in the questionnaire with the corresponding interpretation as 1-least done, 2-seldom done, 3-moderately done, 4-often done, and 5-most often done. Moreover, to determine the teaching strategy used by the English language teachers, the mean ranges were used and were given their corresponding interpretations: 4.20-5.00-most often used; 3. 40-4.19-often used; 2.60-3.39; moderately used; 1.80-2.59-less moderately used, and 1.00-1.79-least used. To understand how teachers utilize the teaching methods in the English classroom instruction; the qualitative data was used which was obtained through the classroom observations, and responses from the semi-structured interview (Villanueva, 2010).

Survey
The data collection was during winter break 2018. Hence, the researcher was able to collect data in the Philippines considering the difference in the academic calendar of China and the Philippines. To conform to the ethical standards, a letter asking for permission to conduct the study was given to the head of the division office of General Santos City, Philippines and consent letters were given to the subjects before performing the survey. The school principal is coordinating to subject coordinators considering the time, teacher and day, to whom and when to conduct the study. The researcher gave the sample of questionnaires and consent forms to the program chairperson or subject coordinator beforehand for reference. The rationale of the study was explained by the researcher which is essential to inform the subjects of the value of their insights for the success of this study. Also, given the rights of the subjects stated in the Code of Ethics (2011), not all are convinced or have time to participate in the interview process.

Classroom Observation
The classroom observation tool developed by Cohen, Manion, and Morrison (2006) was adopted in this study which includes physical setting, human setting, interactional setting, and program setting which leads to a better understanding of the context or phenomenon where the teaching and learning process occurred.

Interviews
The semi-structured interview was in a form of open-ended questions considering teachers perspectives on their teaching methods employed in the English classroom instruction; how do teaching method was chosen and considered significant in the teaching and learning process. The interview process was recorded with the approval of the subject. This was done during their selected time of convenience.

Data Analysis
To determine the teacher's methods in the English classroom instruction, the primary source of data was the survey questionnaire. The percentage was used in determining the profile of the participants while the mean was employed to probe the most often used teaching method used in the English classroom instruction. The analysis of the quantitative data was done through the use of the Statistical Software Package (SPSS). On the other hand, analytic methods such as coding with situational analysis, suggested by Clarke (as cited in Strom, 2015) was done to examine the appropriateness of teaching methods for English language instruction as well as its relational component to the learning process of students in the classroom. Descriptive coding and thematic analysis were used to summarize the basic ideas from the interview (Saldana, 2009). Upon transcribing the data, ideas were linked to see the relationship of the emerging concepts from interview and observation. Furthermore, to check the validity of the results, the transcribed data was examined by the participants to check the consistency of the transcription to their audio-recorded interview. The transcripts were given to the teachers for verification to ensure the accuracy of the data to be coded. They were also gathered through a Focus Group Discussion (FGD) to check to discuss their answers or if they have something to add to their shared ideas during the interview.

Limitations
This study is limited to the English language teachers of General Santos City, Philippines. Considering the number of the sample for this study; it cannot speak for the whole population in the area, hence, the results may not cover the whole educational concept on the teaching methods used in the English classroom instruction. However, the insights gathered from the English language teachers can contribute to the empirical data on the guiding principle of this study.

The Profile of the English Language Teachers
To answer the first problem regarding the profile of the English language teachers; Table 1 shows the profile of the English language teachers in terms of gender, age, educational attainment and length of years in service.  (Drudy, 2008) that teaching is most feminized due to their motherly roles most of the participants; on the other hand, the highest range of age is between 40-49 with (42.1%); also, the number of years in teaching is between 15 years and above with (68.4%) which means most of the teachers are experienced. As to the English teachers' educational attainment, most of them already have master's degree which comprises (47.4%) of the total sample.

Teaching Methods Used in the English Language Classroom
In view of the strategy most often used by the English language teachers in the English classroom instruction, Table 2 shows the different strategies (lecture method, brainstorming, role-playing, independent learning, simulation, project method, and community resources) with their corresponding descriptors and composite mean.   Table 2 shows that the most often used methods in teaching among English language teachers are lecture and brainstorming with the composite mean of (M=4.30) and (M=4.25) correspondingly. These strategies were most often used by teachers because of convenience. This result is in harmony with the idea of Perrott as cited in Kaur (2011) who remarked that in all learning situations, the teacher has to present information and explains the topic to clarify ideas. Also, these strategies are applicable for any class size.
Moreover, role-playing, independent learning, simulation, and project method with the corresponding mean (M=4.14), (M=4.02), (M=3.95), and (M=3.75) were interpreted as often used. Furthermore, community resources obtained the mean of (M=2.79) and was interpreted as moderately used. Some teachers claim that this method is quite difficult to pursue due to the weight of responsibility and preparations to make. These often used teaching methods have a common denominator which encourages active participation and exploratory learning among students. This will help students understand different viewpoints; hence, it organizes the students into various roles (Christians, 2017). Furthermore, according to Burden and Byrd (2013), exercises that place students in real-life situations or environments showing the reality will prepare them how to behave in real situations. On the other hand, the complicated and complex procedures in using the community resources as a teaching method burden teachers with the responsibility of handling the students; yet, the concept of using such teaching method is very important for students to be able to see the real world. Indeed, not all lessons can be learned is in the four corners of the classrooms; hence, there is a need to balance the theories learned in the classroom with practice in the actual scenario (Davad, 2014).

Themes and Codes from the Qualitative Data
To understand how the English language teachers choose to teach methods in English classroom instruction, Table  3 presents the themes and codes from the responses of the English language teachers in the semi-structured interviews. Table 3 Themes

and Codes from the Responses of the English Language Teachers (ELT)
Themes Codes Lecture method through the presentation of the subject matter ELT1. It is good to give prior information to my students because it is not time-consuming to introduce the lesson. Instead of allotting 30 or 20 minutes in the brainstorming of the students about a particular idea, it will be lessened because I can supply the information that they need to know. From there, they could already develop an idea.

Demonstration by providing examples and Group work
ELT2. I usually give students some examples first say, what would be the content for this chapter? It's like I'm doing a demo, after the demonstration. I let them go with their groups and continue to work. After that, the consultation follows. Lecture method by activating prior knowledge ELT3. Most of the strategies are already familiar to students; I will make it new to them by making some new words (vocabulary words) making them understand and then apply it in their own personal experience. So, I have to activate first their prior learning before these strategies are introduced. Brainstorming through motivation and independent learning ELT4. I usually use brainstorming as a strategy in the class. I would start with the objectives, then after reading of the objectives, goes the motivation in the form of brainstorming, I really like that strategy. For the common strategy I used to employ multi-intelligences as an approach, where the activities will vary about the strengths or intellectual capacity of the students, you'll see they enjoy if you'll let them do an activity which is in line with their skills or with their talents.
Lecture method through providing samples ELT5. At first, I show a text where they will be able to get ideas from it and put in an outline. The outline is also a post-reading strategy, for them to be able to see how they will write in the future. Integrating technology in the instructional materials for me is better so students could always see the text for them to check their comprehension through the text displayed.
Brainstorming through making students plan ahead of time ELT6. I get ideas from the students when it comes to planning for the activities in the class. The fact that the students get to prepare before the class begins, preparing, brainstorming, coming up with ideas that will come out in the class; I think the teaching strategy I used is effective.
Lecture method by explaining the lesson to the students ELT7. Oftentimes, I just let my students set some questions in the class after the lecture. Teaching strategies will also depend on the lesson because there are specific topics that are very hard for students considering that the topics for Senior High School are very new even for us teachers so, we feed them the ideas. Table 3 shows the themes and codes from the responses of the English language teachers from the semistructured interview that further reinforced the results from the quantitative data. Moreover, classroom observation and FGD or Focused Group Discussion were used to triangulate the results of the qualitative data. As observed in the table, most themes were considered as lecture method and brainstorming except for the demonstration and group work strategies. These results adhere to the quantitative result of the study considering that these teaching methods were the most often used by the English language teachers. Although demonstration and group work strategies were not specified in the questionnaire, these teaching methods were commonly used in the English classroom instruction.
Furthermore, the classroom observations were observed as a typical teacher-student interaction wherein, students only answer if the teacher asked a question. It is a typical lecture method where the lesson was presented in the class and students listened as the teacher explained the topic. Most responses from the interview about the strategy used in the English language classroom instruction was the lecture method as they feel that it is convenient for them with the aid of technology such as a projector in the class. This is further reinforced by the direct statement of one of the English language teachers, "I often use lecture because it's the most convenient."

Implications
The results of this study show that the traditional methods were still widely used in the contemporary era where technology rises. In view of the educational technology, English language teachers are inclined to the technological advancements in teaching. This posits a good practice in teaching, according to (Ayeni, 2011 as cited in Ganyaupfu, 2013); teaching is a continuous process that involves bringing about desirable changes in learners through the use of appropriate methods. As manifested in the profile of the English language teachers, female teachers are dominant who are considered motherly, full of patience, and practiced the profession for 15 years and above. These factors are vital in determining experienced teachers (Drudy, 2008). Moreover, in the report made by Kini and Podolsky (2016), an effective teacher is reinforced by his or her experiences in teaching. The most often used teaching methods such as brainstorming and lecture method encourage students to make the utmost quantity of diverse and creative ideas in a natural way without limitations (Alshammari, 2015).
However, the teaching method such as lectures is frequently criticized; nevertheless, this traditional method has managed to survive for so long even in the era of technological advancements. As such, the results of this study suggest that the methods used by the English language teachers were still traditional. Hence, to keep abreast with the new methods of teaching, teachers should have professional development as supported by Kosgei, Mise, Odera, and Ayugi (2013) and Wa-Mbaleka (2014) who remarked that teachers should be trained in the Teaching of English to Speakers of the Languages (TESOL) approaches with experts especially the pre-service teachers to improve the English language education. Accordingly, teachers' professional background and instructional practices in the classroom make a difference in students' academic achievement (Kimani, Kara, & Njagi, 2013) which means the strategies used in the classroom instruction should be effective.

Conclusion
Teaching methods are the gateway to the teaching and learning development in education. As such, the teachers are the catalysts of change needed for the advancements in education as well as improving the English language proficiency of the students in the country. Based on the results, it can be concluded that there are many experienced female teachers with master's degree units in General Santos City, Philippines which suggests a good qualification in terms of educational background. However, the teaching strategies they used were considered traditional as manifested by the most often used teaching strategies such as lecture method and brainstorming. In addition, the community resource as a strategy in teaching is rated as moderately used which is considered important because of its realistic approach to students' learning experience (Timario, 2016). Teachers' reasons for this upshot were due to the complicated preparations that they have to face for attaining such a strategy.
Thus, it is recommended that teachers and school administrators offering English subjects or courses should collaborate to develop strategies that would help students learn the English language easily. This could be attained through professional development such as attending seminars, and conferences about trends in the teaching of the English language (Wa-Mbaleka, 2014). Also, teachers should establish independent and experiential learning for students to familiarize the use of the English language. Likewise, practice and understanding of the target language to be learned is important in the class. On the other hand, the use of educational technology in the English language classroom instruction is considered good practice and be sustained for the English language teachers as they are able to be at pace with the 21st-century teaching and learning process.