Proceedings of The International Academic Conference on Teaching, Learning, and Education
Year: 2019
DOI: https://www.doi.org/10.33422/tleconf.2019.09.576
Incorporating an Entrepreneurial Approach to Teaching English Language at University Level
Bazilah Raihan Mat Shawal, Kerry Lee and Deborah Shepherd
ABSTRACT:
The poor command of English language among Malaysian learners has been a continuous concern especially at university level. University lecturers are challenged to make the classroom relevant to the current literacy needs. Literacy in the 21st century requires an inclusive pedagogy that looks at learners’ contributions and roles in knowledge acquisition so learning can be meaningful. In 2015, the Malaysia Education Blueprint was published putting the emphasis on empowering language proficiency among the graduates in order to prepare them for the global challenges. One of the initiatives taken by the government is to encourage lecturers teaching in universities to incorporate an entrepreneurial teaching approach as it promotes experiential learning, encourages students to be independent and to have control of their own learning, and also provides opportunity for interaction with the real world which can make learning the language meaningful to the students. Needless to say, this initiative however requires understanding and support from the lecturers. This paper seeks to explore how the lecturers interpret entrepreneurial teaching through the pedagogical content knowledge framework (PCK). A semi-structured interview was conducted involving 21 lecturers and teachers who are teaching the English compulsory university courses in 7 universities. Initial results revealed that lecturers believe the use of entrepreneurial approach in English language courses is and will be helpful in equipping the students with entrepreneurial attributes and mindset, but they lack of conceptual clarity and pedagogical knowledge. The challenges in integrating the entrepreneurial approach in English language teaching are also discussed.
Keywords: English language teaching; entrepreneurial teaching; higher education; lecturers’ understanding; pedagogical content knowledge.