Investigating English Language Teaching and Learning in Algerian Rural Areas: Learners’ Obstacles & Teachers’ Challenges. BENSENOUCI Brahim Secondary School in Rahouia as a Sample

Abstract

Language is one of the means of expressing our ideas, feelings and emotions. If we think about language in today’s world, then English is one of the most used languages in the world while it is used as a foreign language in Algeria. English is introduced here at the primary level and its inclusion continues till the tertiary level of education. In most of the middle and secondary rural schools, students’ level is weak in English, due to the lack of skilled and trained teachers who are not familiar to the modern methods, techniques and approaches of teaching regarding the lack of materials for teaching in the classroom. The English language curriculum implementation is essential in Algeria to achieve the language’s competency in the rural areas. Rural students are performing poorly in English compared to their urban counterparts. Statistics showed that there was a gulf of difference between the facilities enjoyed by rural schools compared to urban schools. The study indicates the challenges faced by English language teachers in the Algerian rural context as well as the factors affecting student’s performance in English in the rural context. Data were collected using an interview and a questionnaire. The result reveals that students were highly motivated to learn English for future expectations such as local and international communication, academic advancement and employment prospects. It also provides a scenario of the English teaching system in the Algerian rural context as well as the problems and prospects of the English language in Algeria’s perspective.