i

Technology and Development of ESL Learner

Autonomy: The Impact on Pakistani Women in

Higher Education

By

Sadia Irshad

March 2016

Department of English Language and Literature

The Islamia University of Bahawalpur

Bahawalpur, Pakistan

ii

iii

Technology and Development of ESL Learner Autonomy: The

Impact on Pakistani Women in Higher Education

by

Sadia Irshad

A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the

Requirements for the degree of

Doctor of Philosophy

In

Linguistics

March 2016

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH

The Islamia University of Bahawalpur

Bahawalpur, Pakistan

iv

APPROVAL CERTIFICATE

It is certified that the thesis “Technology and Development of ESL Learner

Autonomy: The Impact on Pakistani Women in Higher Education ” submitted by

Ms. Sadia Irshad, has been found satisfactory and is approved for the award of the

Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in English Linguistics.

Internal Examiner _____________________________

Prof. Dr Mamuna Ghani

Dean Faculty of Arts & Islamic Learning

Chairperson , Department of English

The Islamia University of Bahawalpur

External Examiner _____________________________

Prof. Dr. Naveed Ahmed Ch.

Chairman, Department of English,

Bahuddin Zakaria University, Multan

External Examiner _____________________________

Dr. Tahira Asghar

Department of English,

GSWCU, Bahawalpur

Dated: 1st November, 2016

v

DECLARATION

I, Sadia Irshad, PhD scholar of the Department of English, the Islamia University of

Bahawalpur, hereby declare that this research work entitled ‘Technology and

Development of ESL Learner Autonomy: The Impact on Pakistani Women in

Higher Education’ is my own work and that, to the best of my knowledge and belief,

it contains no material previously published or written by another person nor material

which has been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma of the

University or other institute of higher learning, except where due acknowledgment

has been made in the text.

Date:------------------------------- ---------------------------

Sadia Irshad

Registration number:

61/IU.PhD/2010

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FORWARDING CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that the thesis entitled ‘Technology and Development of ESL

Learner Autonomy: The Impact on Pakistani Women in Higher Education’,

submitted by Ms. Sadia Irshad to the Islamia University of Bahawalpur for the award

of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy is a bona fide record of the research work

carried out by her under my supervision and guidance. The content of the thesis, in

full or parts have not been submitted to any other Institute or University for the award

of any other degree or diploma. This thesis is approved for submission in partial

fulfilment of the requirement for the award of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in

English Linguistics.

Date: 28th March, 2016 ------------------------------------------

Prof. Dr. Mamuna Ghani

Supervisor

Dean Faculty of Arts & Islamic Learning

Chairperson

Department of English

The Islamia University of Bahawalpur

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

It is all by the grace of Almighty Allah, the most Benevolent and the most

Compassionate, that I am able to complete my PhD research work.

During this journey, my supervisor, colleagues, and my friends have supported

and encouraged me to undertake this herculean task. I would like to thank my

supervisor, Dr. Mamuna Ghani for her wisdom, patience and tolerance when the

going seemed difficult. I am in debt for her kind help and sympathetic attitude

throughout the study. I would also like to thank my friends and colleagues, for

support, guidance and helpful suggestions.

I owe a debt of gratitude to my family: my parents, my husband, siblings and

children. Their love, support and cooperation have enabled me to embark on and

accomplish this task.

I would also like to appreciate Higher Education Commission Pakistan for

sponsoring this study and making it possible to carry out this research.

I am thankful to all those women ESL teachers who responded to my survey;

and especially to those who gave me valuable suggestions on the survey

questionnaire.

Last but not the least; I am indebted to technology for being a tool, a resource

and a research partner.

Sadia Irshad

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DEDICATED TO

A realized dream

ix

Technology and Development of ESL Learner Autonomy: The Impact on

Pakistani Women in Higher Education

ABSTRACT

Patriarchal societies, such as that of Pakistan, denigrate women’s participation

in the field of education and technology. Addressing this denigration, my thesis

orients from the proposition, which states that in contemporary technologically tuned

world use of technology has a positive impact on women ESL tertiary level teachers.

This usage grants them teaching-learning autonomy, which in turn, compels these

teachers to inculcate the same in ESL learners. Hence, they play an imperative role in

the development of ESL learner autonomy. The educated women’s practice of this

teaching autonomy in classroom, a miniature of the social fabric of Pakistan, is a

breakthrough the prevailing socio-political fences.

This premise is contested through the critical review of the related literature. It

reveals that the use of technology as positively affecting female ESL tertiary level

teachers’ professional competence and pedagogical practices in Pakistani context is

not well-researched. Nonetheless, this context helps to address and establish

underpinning concepts of this study. Although for some projects that deal in isolation

with either technology or learner autonomy or feminist perspective, description in

literature or other documentary sources is both comprehensive and also in depth, yet

no single framework caters to interface this study. For the purpose of study, I have

adopted a technique of theoretical triangulation. The epistemological framework is

delineated with (a) feminist pedagogical lens of Paulo Friere and a radical feminist

pedagogue bell hooks 1 ; (b) the soft technological deterministic view of Andrew

Feenberg (2002); and (c) Phil Benson’s (2011) philosophy of the role of teacher and

technology with David Little’s (1996) model of interaction with information system

for the development of learner autonomy. My theoretical framework is, thus, based

upon feminist methodology, furnished with the empirical tool: Technology and

Development of ESL Learner Autonomy Survey. To administer the survey,

‘purposeful’ and ‘snowball’ sampling techniques were employed; accordingly, the

response from 128 respondents formed the sample of this study. These sampling

1 Gloria Jean Watkins is known by her pen name bell hooks

x

techniques were employed to access those female teachers whose knowledge and

expertise are substantial in utilizing technology. To evaluate the data, descriptive

statistics are used. Moreover, the Pearson Correlation analysis correlates research

variables. In addition, the findings of One Way ANOVA analyses tabulate the

significant difference of means between variables under study.

Elucidating female tertiary level teachers ESL teaching-learning autonomy by

way of using technology, the findings of this study contribute to this field of research

in Pakistan. The results depict that technology enables the female ESL teachers to

perform beyond the customary social differences. In consequence, the emergent

theory and praxis of Pyramid of ESL Techno-Feminist Pedagogy sketch the

multifaceted philosophies of the impact of technology on women teacher autonomy in

Pakistani ESL context. This pyramid, subsequently, delineates women ESL teachers’

critical awareness of the implications of use of technology in education as the

embodiment of the active feminist movement in Pakistani educational institutions.

These teachers, as highly qualified women reject the gender discrimination and

disparage oppression that consummate women’s right to access means of education

within the microcosm of social stratum especially in the higher education institutions.

The female teachers’ pedagogical practices, in this way, are the conscious actions to

liberate and gain teaching-learning autonomy. Moreover, teachers favour teaching as

an engaged process rather than a stockpiling attempt onto learners. It also highlights

that the women ESL teachers consider classroom a radical space of possibility. Thus,

this feminist approach to education advocates voicing of the silent, freedom of the

oppressed and autonomy of the restrained.

Consequently, the future implications of this pyramid cannot be ignored

besides its limitations in addressing the core ideology of educational domain. For

example, in further research this framework will help to address the issues of social

malignance in education sector and society.

xi

TABLE OF CONTENTS

APPROVAL CERTIFICATE ....................................................................................... iv

DECLARATION ........................................................................................................... v

FORWARDING CERTIFICATE ................................................................................. vi

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ......................................................................................... vii

DEDICATED TO ...................................................................................................... viii

ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................. ix

TABLE OF CONTENTS .............................................................................................. ix

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS ....................................................................................... xv

LIST OF TABLES ...................................................................................................... xvi

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS .................................................................................. xviii

CHAPTER 1 .................................................................................................................. 1

Introduction .................................................................................................................... 1

1.1 Background of the Study ........................................................................................ 6

1.1.1 Feminist Pedagogical Perspective of higher Education ........................... 8

1.1.2 ............ Focusing Women’s Use of Technology for ESL Teaching in Pakistan

14

1.1.3 Teaching-Learning Autonomy and ESL Pedagogy in Pakistan ............ 17

1.2 Statement of Purpose ............................................................................................ 22

1.3 Research Objectives ............................................................................................. 23

1.4 Research Questions ............................................................................................... 24

1.5 Hypotheses ............................................................................................................. 25

1.6 Theoretical Framework......................................................................................... 26

1.7 Delimitations of the study .................................................................................... 29

1.8 Limitations of the Study ....................................................................................... 30

1.9 Significance of the study ...................................................................................... 30

1.10 Definition of Terms ............................................................................................... 31

1.11 Thesis Outline ........................................................................................................ 33

CHAPTER 2 ................................................................................................................ 36

Pakistani Women, Technology and Learner Autonomy: ............................................. 36

A Critical Appraisal of Related Literature ................................................................... 36

2.1 Pakistani Women and Higher Education: A Historical Perspective on

Feminism ............................................................................................................................ 37

xii

2.1.1 The Impact of Colonialism .................................................................... 38

2.1.2 Reforms by Government of Pakistan for Women’s Higher Education . 42

2.1.3 Traditionally Situated Status of Women in Pakistani Society and its

Impact on Access to Higher Education ................................................................ 47

2.1.4 Feminist Movement and Higher Education: Secular Vs Religious ....... 49

2.1.5 Women’s Educational Autonomy in Higher education in Pakistan ...... 51

2.2 Impact of Colonialism on Teaching and Learning of English in Pakistan .... 53

2.2.1 World-wide Diffusion of English .......................................................... 54

2.2.2 Rejection vs Acceptance of English in Pakistan .................................... 55

2.2.3 The Challenges to ESL Feminist Pedagogy in Higher Education ......... 58

2.3 Use of Technology in ESL Teaching in Pakistan: A Historical Perspective 62

2.3.1 Technological Determinism and ESL Pedagogy ................................... 68

2.3.2 Factors Influencing Teachers’ Use of Technology ................................ 71

2.3.3 ESL Teachers’ Competence in Technology .......................................... 72

2.4 Learner Autonomy in English as Second Language Pedagogy: A Historical

Perspective ......................................................................................................................... 77

2.4.1 Defining Learner Autonomy .................................................................. 79

2.4.2 Development of Learner Autonomy through Education..............................86

2.4.3 Development of Learner Autonomy in Second Language Teaching ..... 86

2.4.4 Development of ESL Learner Autonomy in Pakistani Social Landscape 89

2.4.5 Teacher Autonomy in ESL Classroom .................................................. 90

2.4.6 The Role of the Teacher in the Development of Learner Autonomy .... 94

2.4.7 Factors Influencing the Role of the Teacher ........................................ 105

2.4.7.1 Individual Learner Differences........................................................105

2.4.7.2 Dependence, Independence and Interdependence ........................109

2.4.8 The Challenges for Teachers to Use Technology and Foster Learner

Autonomy ........................................................................................................... 111

2.5 Conclusion ............................................................................................................ 115

CHAPTER 3 .............................................................................................................. 117

Epistemological and Methodological Framework ..................................................... 117

3.1 Epistemological Framework .............................................................................. 118

3.1.1 Towards implications of Feminist Pedagogy in ESL .......................... 119

3.1.2 Technological Determinism in ESL Pedagogy .................................... 125

xiii

3.1.3 Benson’s Philosophy of the Development of Learner Autonomy ....... 138

3.1.4 Little’s Model of Interaction with Technology for the Development of

Learner Autonomy .............................................................................................. 149

3.2 A Feminist Methodological Framework .......................................................... 151

3.3 Phase I: Survey and Piloting .............................................................................. 155

3.3.1 Development of Survey ....................................................................... 155

3.3.2 The Pilot Study .................................................................................... 160

3.3.3 Final Draft of Technology and Development of ESL Learner Autonomy

Survey ................................................................................................................. 164

3.4 Phase II ....................................................................................................................... 169

3.4.1 Survey Administration ......................................................................... 169

3.4.2 Data Feeding and Missing Data Analysis ............................................ 173

3.5 Conclusion ............................................................................................................ 176

CHAPTER 4 .............................................................................................................. 178

Data Analysis and Interpretation ............................................................................... 178

Technology and Development of ESL Learner Autonomy Survey.......................... 180

4.1 Section I: Teachers’ Professional Competence ............................................... 182

4.1.1 Teachers’ Educational Qualification .................................................... 184

4.1.2 Experience as ESL Teacher ....................................................................... 186

4.1.3 Teachers’ Competence in Technology ...................................................... 188

4.1.3.1 Computer Proficiency.........................................................................................190

4.1.3.2 In-service Computer Training............................................................................192

4.1.3.3 Self-induced Computer Training........................................................................194

4.1.3.4 Participation in On-line Research.......................................................................198

4.1.3.5 Participation in On-Line Research on ESL Teaching Practices………………200

4.1.4 Correlation between Teachers’ Competence in Technology and

Educational Qualification ................................................................................... 203

4.2 Section II: Use of Technology in ESL Teaching Practices ........................... 212

4.2.1 Use of Technology as a Tool ............................................................... 213

4.2.2 Use of Technology as a Resource.............................................................. 216

4.2.3 Use of Technology inside the Classroom .................................................. 219

4.2.4 Use of Technology outside the Classroom ................................................ 221

4.2.5 Overview of the Subscales of the Use of Technology ............................... 225

xiv

4.3 Section III: The Role of the Teacher in the Development of Learner

Autonomy ......................................................................................................................... 238

4.3.1 Identification ........................................................................................ 239

4.3.2 Capacity Building ...................................................................................... 242

4.3.3 Intervention ................................................................................................ 245

4.3.4 Decision Making........................................................................................ 250

4.3.5 Integration of Technology ......................................................................... 253

4.3.6 Social paradigm .................................................................................. 257

4.3.7 The Role of the Teacher in the Development of Learner Autonomy:

Correlation between Variables ........................................................................... 260

4.4 Summary............................................................................................................... 268

CHAPTER 5 .............................................................................................................. 272

Discussion on the Findings: ....................................................................................... 272

Emerging Themes and Patterns of Impact of Technology......................................... 272

5.1 Impact of Technology ......................................................................................... 272

5.2 Women Teachers’ Education and Teacher Autonomy ................................... 273

5.2.1 Academic Qualification ....................................................................... 273

5.2.2 Competence Development through Technology ................................. 274

5.3 A Feminist View on Technological Determinism .......................................... 279

5.4 Learner Autonomy: A teaching Philosophy .................................................... 281

5.5 Learner Autonomy and the Role of the ESL Teacher: A Feminist Perspective.... 283

5.6 Pyramid of ESL Techno-Feminist Pedagogy .................................................. 286

5.6.1 Definition ............................................................................................. 290

5.6.2 Technological Determinism and ESL Feminist Pedagogy: In an

Interface Mode .................................................................................................... 291

5.6.3 Learner Autonomy: An Antecedent of Teacher Autonomy ................ 293

5.6.4 Further Implications ............................................................................. 296

5.6.5 Strengths and Limitations .................................................................... 298

5.6.6 Opportunities and Threats .................................................................... 300

5.7 Conclusion ............................................................................................................ 301

References .................................................................................................................. 304

APPENDICES ........................................................................................................... 336

xv

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Figure 1.1: Targets and Achievement- GPI Youth Literacy ....................................... 10

Figure 2.1: Five Nots to learner Autonomy Summarized from Little (1990) ........... 81

Figure 3.1: Phases of the Study ..................................................................................... 155

Figure 3.2: Procedure of Survey Administration ........................................................ 172

Figure 4.1: Educational Qualification .......................................................................... 185

Figure 4.2: Experience as ESL Teacher ....................................................................... 187

Figure 4.3: Computer Proficiency ................................................................................. 192

Figure 4.4: In-Service Computer Training ................................................................... 194

Figure 4.5: Self-Induced Computer Training .............................................................. 195

Figure 4.6: Comparison of In-service and Self-Induced Computer Training ......... 197

Figure 4.7: Participation in On-line Research ............................................................. 199

Figure 4.8: Participation in On-line Research on ESL Teaching Practices ............. 201

Figure 4.9: Participation in On-line Research ............................................................. 202

Figure 4.10: Use of Technology as a Tool ................................................................... 215

Figure 4.11: Technology as a Resource ....................................................................... 218

Figure 4.12: Use of Technology inside the Class ....................................................... 221

Figure 4.13: Use of Technology outside the Classroom ............................................ 224

Figure 4.14: Use of Technology .................................................................................... 228

Figure 4.15: Identification .............................................................................................. 241

Figure 4.16 Capacity Building ...................................................................................... 244

Figure 4.17 Intervention ................................................................................................. 249

Figure 4.18 Decision Making ........................................................................................ 252

Figure 4.19: Integration of Technology ....................................................................... 256

Figure 4.20: Social Paradigm ........................................................................................ 260

Figure 4.21: The Role of the Teacher in the Development of Learner Autonomy 261

Figure 5.1: Learner Autonomy ...................................................................................... 282

Figure 5.2: Pyramid of ESL Techno-Feminist Pedagogy .......................................... 288

xvi

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1.1: HRD Scheme during 2014-15 ....................................................................... 13

Table 2.1: Faculty Benefitted through CPD Courses: Phase I and II ......................... 61

Table 2.2: The Three Stages of CALL ........................................................................... 70

Table 2.3: Summarized from Lee (2000) ....................................................................... 71

Table 2.4: Teacher as a Counsellor ................................................................................. 98

Table 2.5: Comparison between Teacher-centred and Learner-centred classrooms

110

Table 3.1: Approaches to the Development of Autonomy ........................................ 139

Table 3.2: CALL stages and learner autonomy ........................................................... 149

Table 3.2: Reliability Statistics ...................................................................................... 163

Table 3.3: Gender of the Respondents ......................................................................... 173

Table 3.4: Missing Value Analysis ............................................................................... 174

Table 4.1: Educational Qualification ............................................................................ 184

Table 4.2: Experience as ESL Teacher ........................................................................ 186

Table 4.3: Computer Proficiency .................................................................................. 191

Table 4.4: In-service Computer Training ..................................................................... 193

Table 4.5: Self-induced Computer Training ................................................................ 195

Table 4.6: Participation in On-line Research ............................................................... 198

Table 4.7: Participation in On-line Research on ESL Teaching Practices .............. 200

Table 4.8: Correlations of Teachers’ Competence in Technology and Educational

Qualification: Results of Pearson Correlation Coefficient ........................................ 205

Table 4.9: Comparison of Teachers’ Competence in Technology and Educational

Qualification: Descriptive Statistics ............................................................................. 206

Table 4.10: Comparison of Teachers’ Competence in Technology and Educational

Qualification: One Way ANOVA ................................................................................. 206

Table 4.11: Post Hoc Analysis with Teachers’ Competence in Technology as

Dependent Variable......................................................................................................... 207

Table 4.12: Technology as a Tool ................................................................................. 214

Table 4.13: Technology as a Resource ......................................................................... 217

Table 4.14: Use of Technology inside the Classroom ................................................ 219

Table 4.15: Use of Technology outside the Classroom ............................................. 222

Table 4.16: Use of Technology ..................................................................................... 226

xvii

Table 4.17: Correlation among Subscales: Use of Technology as a Tool, Use of

Technology as a Resource, Use of Technology inside the Classroom and Use of

technology Outside the Classroom ............................................................................... 229

Table 4.18: Identification ............................................................................................... 240

Table 4.19: Capacity Building ....................................................................................... 243

Table 4.19: Intervention ................................................................................................. 246

Table 4.20: Decision Making ........................................................................................ 251

Table 21: Integration of Technology ............................................................................ 254

Table 4.23: Social Paradigm .......................................................................................... 257

Table 4.24: Correlations among Subscales: The Role of the Teacher in the

Development of Learner Autonomy ............................................................................. 262

xviii

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

ESL English as a Second Language

CALL Computer Assisted Language Learning

EFL English as a Foreign Language

TAI Technology Assisted Instruction

HRD Human Resource Development

HEC Higher Education Commission

ICT Information Communication Technologies

SAC Self Access Centre

SLA Second Language Acquisition

UN United Nations

MDG Millennium Development Goal

EFA Education For All

GPI Gender Parity Index

CPD Continuous Professional Development courses

ELTR English Language Teaching Reforms

1

CHAPTER 1

Introduction

“Technology marches in seven-league boots from one ruthless, revolutionary

conquest to another, tearing down old factories and industries, flinging up new

processes with terrifying rapidity” (Beard, 1927).

This study is taken up with the proposition that in contemporary

technologically tuned world use of technology has a strong impact, aside this

masculine war metaphor, on women teaching English as second language (ESL), a

lingua franca, in higher education institutions of Pakistan. This impact is twofold; one

it fosters teacher autonomy, which she practices in her classroom: a miniature site of

social fabric of Pakistan, second it determines teachers’ competence to foster ESL

learner autonomy. My premise orients from these two point of views that autonomy is

“an alternate expression for empowerment, which denotes one’s ability to decide and

act without any external pressure and control” (Ashraf & Farah, 2007, p. 15); and

“women often perform well and go beyond men, especially in subjects related to

language” (Shah, 2015, p. 14). I interpolate these theses by arguing that women

teachers achieve socio-political ESL teaching-learning autonomy under the impact of

technological facilities present inside and outside the institutions of higher education

and transcend the prevailing gender disparity in society. Hence, the female ESL

teachers operate beyond the customary social differences.

The use of technology in second language pedagogy promotes autonomous

language learning (Warschauer, 2004; Blin, 2005; 2005; Benson, 2010; 2011). It is a

well researched and established phenomenon in applied linguistics. Keeping this in

view, as such, my study formulates the premises of the present research around the

women teacher autonomy in ESL class as the manifestation of their effort to actualize

2

their pedagogical equivalence to men, thus, leading to mark social parity.

Substantiating this, Levy (1997) finds, “One of the oft-stated benefits that the

computer brings to language learning…greater learner autonomy” (p.199). I argue

that the role of the teachers is crucial in fostering autonomous learning by using

technological gadgets. In relation to Pakistani women teachers and learners the

technology usage grants them relentless freedom not only to experiment with their

teaching-learning strategies in the realm of education but also to challenge their social

position in terms of difference and men’s dominance in the class room situation.

Thus, it foils the idea of social parity. This technology fundamentally transforms the

teaching-learning experience into a social response within the class and not only

maximizes teaching-learning outcomes but also provides an argumentative criterion to

transcend the social disparity imposed upon women in Pakistani perspective.

However, the role of the teacher is either viewed as minimal even excluded or most

significant in fostering language learner autonomy in a technology rich environment.

In connection to this Little’s (1995) proposition that the development of learner

autonomy presumes the development of autonomy in teachers determines pivotal role

of teacher autonomy in pedagogical paradigm.

In keeping with the impact of the use of technology on individuals and their

education, I study the impact of technology on educated women operating and

imparting tertiary level ESL education in the Pakistani social landscape, where the

slogan of gender parity is often heard in the realm of education, politics and

economics. This issue is also addressed in the educational spheres, particularly with

reference to the availability of the facilities of information and communication

technology (ICT), Ministry of Education in a report: National Information and

Communications Technology Strategy for Education in Pakistan, (2011) lays stress on

3

equal opportunities for technological facilities for women of Pakistan in the following

words:

The key to a nation’s development rests with its women...Even a small increase

in education levels for women can have a powerfully favourable effect on a

nation’s overall socio-economic development. Therefore, it is important that

girls are provided not just access to schools but also to powerful learning tools

in the form of ICT. This can often be difficult as technology, even in wealthier

nations, is often seen as a man’s domain; there are fewer women involved in

software programming, gaming, and technical support than men. Yet, research

demonstrates that while men enjoy the problem-solving aspects of ICT, women

also enjoy problem-solving when results are communicated and used for an

authentic purpose...national and provincial ICT policy must ensure that females

are provided equal access to, and equal opportunities to, learn from and with

ICT. (p. 11)

Indeed in this technologically tuned world, the up-to-date educational facilities are a

source to women to reflect and act so as to transform the pedagogical scenario.

Through this praxis of reflection tertiary level women teachers put technology into

use as a classroom prop up; and acquire a critical awareness of their own ESL

teaching-learning condition. It also helps them actualize an appropriation to social

parity in Pakistan. My argument for this study resides in the use of technology that

provides an instrumental space to the feminist pedagogues to subvert dominance and

difference. Feminist pedagogy provides women the “power and consciousness-

raising, [thus] acknowledges the existence of oppression as well as the possibility of

ending it, and foregrounds the desire for and primary goal of social transformation”

(Robbin, David, & Adela, 2009, p. 3).This further explains that use of technology

4

helps teachers to become autonomous to engage in voluntary decisions for their own

teaching practices. And use of technology is a gateway for women to establish their

own pedagogical autonomy being citizens of Pakistan, which is an underdeveloped

country even after over six decades of independence. Evidently, this situation has its

roots in the weak education sector, which is undersized owing to the gender

discrimination in Pakistani educational institutions. In connection to this, Easterly

(2001), in a case study of Pakistan on political economy models finds that “Pakistan

systematically underperforms on most social and political indicators” including

‘education’ and ‘gender equality’ despite “well educated and high-achieving elite and

Diaspora” (p.1). However, I propose that the technology intervention has started to

revolutionize this scenario from the beginning of this millennium, particularly at the

level of tertiary education. The Ministry of Education Pakistan is taking steps to

empower higher education by providing technological facilities to the institutions

across gender. It is as a result of these steps that today state-of-the-art, computer

technology, is available to the women in and outside the institutions of higher

education to ensure enhanced pedagogical benefits, for example, Prime Minister’s

Laptop Distribution Scheme to all high achievers in tertiary level education without

any gender discrimination. Due to wide spread accessibility to technological gadgets

and their use ESL teaching-learning is positively influenced. And English language

teaching and learning is more in focus than ever before for it is the primary medium

through which technology is used in Pakistan.

Another, impact of wide spread use of technology is evident in the rate of

enrolment in the institutions of higher education, which shows reduced gender

differences. In this connection Rana (2006) in a case study on women teaching-

learning ESL in higher education optimistically predicted that “gender parity in higher

5

education in Pakistan should be reached by 2010 if the rate of enrolment continues as

it has in the past five years” (p. 1). This continual rise in enrolment graph is directly

influencing gender equity at tertiary level of education. This is further validated as

Ministry of Education Pakistan (2004) documented the degree of improvement in

enrolment of female at tertiary level education, rising from a base level of 40% in

1990 to 88% in 2001-2002, which means that in 2001-2002 for every 100 men 78

women were enrolled. And according to very positive education statistics of 2011-12

in “the total male enrolment in the universities is 0.677 million (51%), whereas, the

female enrolment is 0.642 million (49%)” (Pakistan Education Statistics 2011-12, p.

36). Nevertheless, the rate of enrolment in higher education coincides with the rapid

increase in the technological intervention in education, and resulting use of computer

technology in higher education institutions in particular (Amjad & Ahmed, 2003).

The continual increase in the enrolment at tertiary level of education depicts a

revolutionized picture of women in Pakistan beyond existing social fences in two

ways: one in terms of access to higher education and second in terms of access to

technology. It divulges not only in their equal social position as teacher but also

endorses their pedagogical liberty. So, today there are almost as many highly educated

women as men although, this discussion is just a fragment of the social mosaic of

Pakistan, viz. access to higher education in percentage to men; and this piece

determines the future social paradigm of Pakistan. It is hypothesized that this

technological environment in and around higher education sector influence female

ESL teachers of Pakistan to attain autonomy which is reflected in pursuing higher

educational qualification and professional development through computer education.

Noreen & Khalid 2012; Noreen & Awan, 2011; Jabeen, 2010; Rana, 2006; Choudhry,

2005; Easterly, 2001; Mumtaz & Shaheed, 1995; and Weiss, 1998 describe the

6

educated women of Pakistan surpassing all odds of the society, especially the ones

which had traditionally left women behind men.

This situation gives rise to the question whether it is sheer accidental or a

manifestation of the technological determinism on the women teaching in higher

education institutions of Pakistan. It is observed that computers have been

increasingly used from past two decades in Pakistani academic institutions. And from

previous decade tertiary level teachers of ESL in the country were introduced to a

field of computer assisted language learning (CALL), through HEC competence

development programme. Thus, this study foregrounds the significance of the

technological determinism in the feminist pedagogical perspective of female tertiary

level ESL teachers. In this way, it provides a reason to explore the impact of

technology on the tertiary level Pakistani women ESL teachers which influence their

role as teachers in development of learner autonomy. Given that this study proposes

that the use of technology not only has a positive impact on the women ESL teachers

to develop learner autonomy in the institutions of higher education; but it also helps

the female ESL teachers improve professional competence that determines their

autonomy which is binding to foster learner autonomy.

1.1 Background of the Study

The research reported in this thesis has its origin in an English language

pedagogical practice, which had spanned two decades of rapid technological and

educational changes in Pakistani higher education institutions with particular

reference to the impact on women teachers. From the beginning of this millennium,

the education at the higher education institutions has been marked by profound

changes, promoting English language teaching and learning. These changes were

largely initiated owing to the widespread use of technology for the academic and non-

7

academic purposes. Moreover, technological facilities have been introduced into the

public institutions of higher education especially compared to the private and more

expensive educational institutions (Amjad & Ahmed, 2003).The teaching and learning

scenario demanded the teachers in higher education institutions to spend a

considerable time using technology either to make assessment sheets or work sheets;

prepare power point slides; browse teaching aids etc.

Simultaneously, the Government of Pakistan, in the universities and other

higher education institutions throughout Pakistan, has heavily invested in technology

to support teaching and to enhance students’ learning experience through up-to-date

computing facilities and digital libraries. The Higher Education Commission (HEC)

Pakistan has particularly set up self- access centres at few of the universities in

Pakistan, whose mission is to support the teaching and learning of languages by

providing self-access facilities to students. Moreover, HEC Pakistan’s “The

Continuous Development Programme” for ESL tertiary level teachers included CALL

workshops to enhance teachers’ competence in making effective use of the state-of-

the-art computer technology. Due to these steps, the use of technology has been

enhanced in ESL pedagogical spheres of higher education. As an ESL teacher (i.e.

teaching BS levels ESL university students at The Islamia University of Bahawalpur),

I have found that my curriculum design and teaching activities have been influenced

by the use of technology. In relation to this Benson (2007b) finds that making

independent use of technology for pedagogical planning and design is the core of

technology-based learner autonomy. This autonomy as a woman ESL teacher further

motivated me to integrate technology to enable students to become autonomous

learners of English. This autonomy works two ways firstly it takes into account the

teaching learning independence, and secondly as socio-political autonomy through

8

English language. Here, the classroom is a symbolic microcosm of Pakistani society.

And such volition, in turn, strengthens learners’ performance as it enables the learners

to perform better not only academically but later professionally, as English is the key

skill of literate adults to compete for job opportunities in Pakistani socio-political

perspective. Moreover, some complexities are also observed, such as female

superiority in language learning and male learner dominance in co-education

institutions (Butler, 1990). Therefore, I undertook this study to investigate the impact

of the use of technology on my female colleagues’ pedagogical practices of ESL in

the higher education institutions of Pakistan. In this way, the impact of the use of

technology and the development of ESL learner autonomy has become the focus of

this research from the feminist pedagogical perspective in Pakistani social landscape.

1.1.1 Feminist Pedagogical Perspective of higher Education

Patriarchy is a fundamental imbalance underlying society. And, it’s one we

rarely address because it’s so universal…[and] peace is a product of

balance...You can’t start with imbalance and end with peace, be that in your

own body, in an ecosystem or between a government and its people. What we

need to strive for is not perfection, but balance. (Ani DiFranco)

In this relation, if we have a look at balance in Pakistani society, it is endeavouring

towards it persistently. Although, male dominance is still the part of Pakistani social

hierarchy, government of Pakistan encourages gender parity in the provision of basic

facilities of life like health, food and education as per constitution. Moreover, the

accessibility to technological tools grants women ESL teachers the latitude to defy the

patriarchal practices in her domain, i.e. the classroom of higher education institutions.

Therefore, this study is taken up on the assumption that technology enables Pakistani

9

women to find a way out of this patriarchal imbalance in the field of higher education

particularly.

In order to realize this feminist perspective in the socio-political landscape of

Pakistan, the view on the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan (1973) is

crucial that promised to its citizens in Article 37 (b) & (c) that “the State shall remove

illiteracy and provide free and compulsory secondary education within the minimum

possible period; make technical and professional education generally available and

higher education equally accessible by all on the basis of merit”. This policy promises

to bring balance in the education sector through gender parity, and particularly

providing the men and women the equal accessibility to the higher education.

The Government of Pakistan is also committed towards the achievement of

gender parity in education, as the United Nation’s (UN) Millennium Development

Goal 3 (MDG) focuses women education. MDG 3 focuses upon the main three

challenges that women of Pakistan face. These major areas are education,

employment and socio-political participation. However, Maqsood, Maqsood & Raza

(2012) have found lingering gender disparities:

Although Pakistan is a signatory of the UN Education for All (EFA)

Framework for Action (2000) Document, which places considerable emphasis

on women’s education, particularly the elimination of gender disparities in

primary, secondary and higher education, but the target of achieving

Education for All in Pakistan is still far from satisfactory. (p. 352)

Later EFA (2015) policies and plans were also influenced largely by “various national

and international commitments to provide quality education to children irrespective of

their gender, class or religion”. These commitments have, in fact, privileged many

oppressed and unprivileged sectors or communities of Pakistan, and become a strong

10

beacon of hope for the educational reforms and better opportunities for the women’s

education in Pakistan. Keeping in with above mentioned commitments EFA (2015)

included six major objectives including “improvement in adult and youth literacy

rates, provision of vocational and technical education, eradicating gender

discrimination and enhancing the overall quality of education”. Gender parity index

(GPI) show some improvement over the years but still pronounced gaps between male

and female level of literacy (see Figure 1.1).

Figure 1.1: Targets and Achievement- GPI Youth Literacy

Source: Pakistan Economic Survey 2014-15________________________________

These figures reflect on the achievements which are less than the set targets

from the year 2008 in the levels of ‘Adults Literacy Rate’ by the year 2015, especially

for women in Pakistan. This scenario sets the objective of improving adult literacy

with special emphasis on providing equal teaching-learning opportunities to all adults,

especially females. Nonetheless, this analysis reveals that the actual progress made till

2015 is not very discouraging for realizing gender parity in higher education in

Pakistan. But the situation is alarming if it is compared to the other countries of the

11

world. In such context, a report published by Pakistan District Education Rankings

2014 that is cited in Pakistan Education Chapter (2014) gives striking statistics:

Among the South Asian countries, Pakistan has some of the largest gender

disparities in education. According to the Global Gender Gap report 2014,

Pakistan ranks second to last (141) in terms of gender equality worldwide,

narrowly beating out Yemen. ( p. 15)

Keeping in with these statistics and development graphs, the Government of Pakistan

announced “The Pakistan Vision 2025”. It is a blue print of the long-term

development of the country to create a globally competitive and prosperous Pakistan

by providing a high quality of life for all citizens of Pakistan including higher

education. This situation is not altogether discouraging for the women pursuing higher

education in Pakistan, as if on one end it shows the fences to attain higher education;

on the other side it shows a promising future through higher education so creates

space of teaching-learning autonomy for women.

[Because] educated women’s can manoeuvre things in a way before men or

portray things in a way before men that they make them men to agree with

their decisions...Education definitely changes status of women in the family as

well as in society. (Noureen & Awan, 2011, p. 85).

Therefore, the higher educational qualification with ESL as an acquired skill, gives

the educated women an edge over the other, in fact, the other value the opinion of an

educated woman. The prevailing situation of higher education sector marks that

undoubtedly in Pakistan “women have to face socio-cultural hurdles to acquire

education” but also in imparting the knowledge. In such situation, equal right to

higher education is a weapon against the “hidden fences” and “Pakistani women are

struggling hard to get their rights” (Noureen & Awan, 2011, p. 86). So, in relation to

12

this, her class room becomes a space of her subjugated terrain to exercise her

autonomy in picking, choosing, making, and developing classroom activities in ESL

context through technological tools.

The Government of Pakistan has focused attention to elevate higher education

in Pakistan, and gender parity is only the tip of the iceberg. However, Pakistan still

faces “the dearth of human resources within the broader education system” largely

due to “a lack of meaningful professional development opportunities that improve

administrative oversight and teaching practice, enhance morale, and sustain change at

the classroom level” (Ministry of Education, nd., pp. 3-4).One of the significant

aspects of teaching learning autonomy of women in Pakistan is related to the teacher

education policies for ESL teachers’ competence development in terms of the

National Education Policy 2009, which fundamentally focuses to empower higher

education faculty across the board. The National Education Policy, 2009 of Pakistan

included faculty development in its strategic plan, with the notion that faculty at the

university is the part and parcel of the pedagogical scenario, and “without an active

and well qualified faculty it will not be possible to have meaningful development in

this sector” (p.48). Therefore, the significant steps have been taken to improve the

competence of teachers, through indigenous and foreign scholarship programmes for

higher education i.e. M.Phil and PhD. Along with these; another important step was

taken to ensure retention of qualified faculty in the country, by providing them with

better job opportunities and fringe benefits. In this way, HEC Pakistan has taken the

steps for the issue of ‘brain drain’ which is called as the daunting problem to Pakistan

in the Pakistan National Education Policy 2009; however, mobility is essential and it

is “a source of intellectual enrichment, measures are to be introduced to encourage

Pakistanis to return to their country of origin and to participate in its economic, social

13

and cultural development” (p. 49). The Table 1.1 illustrates the report published by

HEC describing the summary of HRD Scheme for PhD scholarships awards and

completion in the year 2014-15, and also the number of PhD graduates’ placement in

the institutions of higher education.

Table 1.1: HRD Scheme during 2014-15

Moreover, this study explores the role of teachers’ training workshops on

teacher autonomy as HEC Pakistan has launched programmes for both in-service and

pre-service professional development. Particularly, the steps have been taken for ESL

teachers in the institutions of higher education, which are significant for ESL

teachers’ empowerment. ELTR Committee is working under the umbrella of HEC

Pakistan with the purpose to develop English faculty in the higher education

institutions of Pakistan. This committee is working on various areas from PhD

scholarship programmes to continuous professional development programmes

exclusively for ESL tertiary level teachers. The teacher competence programmes

include workshops on technology integration, like CALL workshops (see Chapter

2.3). My intention here is to explore the impact of technology related facilities in the

higher education institutions, as the future plans of development in this area are more

revolutionary, thus promising a more autonomous pedagogical scenario for ESL

teachers and learners.

14

1.1.2 Focusing Women’s Use of Technology for ESL Teaching in Pakistan

The proposition of this study rests on the argument that the presence of

technology is an enabling and facilitating factor leading to potential opportunities

which may or may not be taken up in particular societies or periods or “that its

absence is a constraint” (Finnegan 1988, p. 38). Therefore, I have selected the theory

of weak or soft technological determinism to study and explain the impact of

technology on pedagogical practices of women ESL teachers of Pakistan. Weak

technological determinism entails social change and practice in educational sphere

and grounds teaching-learning evolution in society. In this context, the historian Lynn

White’s stance, “a new device merely opens a door; it does not compel one to enter”

(White 1978, p. 28), sums up the philosophy of soft technological determinism.

These new inventions open up vistas of outlook for ESL women teachers in

the institutions of higher education in Pakistan. As the discussion above reveals, the

government of Pakistan is making a sustained attempt at providing up-to-date

technological facilities to ESL teachers and learners inside and outside higher

education institutions, thus creating possibility for women teachers to achieve

autonomy and foster learner autonomy. The technology development is (a)

evolutionary, (b) fast and (c) sustained, which is both extraordinary and surprising

(Levy, 1997). This technological advancement correlates its usage; and thus, it has

brought about a social change in Pakistan. This change is not only written in the social

hierarchy of educational centres but also in the female teachers teaching paradigm.

However, it is significant to elaborate that the development of technology had

revolutionized the educational setup by giving birth to computer assisted instruction

(CAI) historically. Later, in the mid of the twentieth century the field of applied

15

linguistics adopted technology in the second language acquisition (SLA) pedagogy as

computer assisted language learning (CALL). The use of technology for language

teaching became popular around the globe as it offers the teachers to explore those

applications of technology that can be employed as a solution to the problems of SLA

pedagogy (Levy, 1997; Chapelle, 2001). I argue that gender parity has always been at

the heart of these related issues. The women teachers use technology as it fosters

autonomy and helps to foster learner autonomy and this use promotes self-efficacy

learning. Moreover, such learning setting, whereby computers allow the learners to

learn on their own; using structured or unstructured interactive lessons (Chapelle,

2004; Irshad, 2008; Irshad & Ghani, 2011, 2015), carries two important features:

bidirectional learning2 and individualized learning3. It is anticipated that these features

of technology allow the women teachers in Pakistan to use technology. This usage

facilitates ESL teaching paradigm in terms of fostering learner autonomy as

reconciling aspect of their social disagreement to patriarchy.

The in-service tertiary level teachers training workshops on technology

support the proposition that integration of technology in education is inevitable in

Pakistan to resolve the social with educational issue. The key point to note is that on

one hand the use of technology facilitates educational endeavour and all the same it is

that facility which is accessible to the female learners while staying home and

following the prevailing norms of Pakistani society. The use of technology provides

them chance and prospect as ESL teachers to integrate their social identity in their

teaching profession. The problem is obvious: that connotes, women in Pakistan are

not as free as men to get access to every source and resource for receiving education.

2Bidirectional or interactive means that feedbacks are given after learners’ inputs are assessed by the

system to help learners improve their language competency. 3Individualized learning or autonomous learning is seen as learner’s development into an individual

with the capacity of doing an action without any outside intervention.

16

Explicating problems that surround even educated urbane Pakistani women, Rana

(2006) identifies “mobility restriction” as imposed by “social, cultural, and religious”

domains, and “there are even fewer opportunities to become involved in the society

outside the sanctuary of their homes” (p.2). Pakistan confronts many issues on even

more rigid grounds like, in some parts of the country girls and women are suppressed

and are denied their right to education; and even punished and abused if any violation

is written. In such scenario, all the meagre attempts of government of Pakistan to

bring gender equity in education sector hold no firm ground. However, the use of

technology allows female teachers and learners to come at par with the men since

technology is not gender biased. The impact of technology on women in developing

countries such as Pakistan has been documented to show a positive impact (COL,

1998; Hafkin, 2002; Hafkin & Taggart, 2001; Kazmi, 2005; Marcelle, 2000).

Therefore, in reality the most encouraging factor is the positive side of the use of

technology in Pakistani ESL context for female teachers and learners in higher

education. Substantiating this, Rana (2006) has also found in her study on women

teachers and students in higher education in Pakistan, “the positive effect of the

introduction of technology into the educational system” (p. 15).

Moreover, Pakistani language teachers often show reluctance towards new

technology based approaches to language teaching and learning either due to lack of

resources or lack of knowledge. Corroborating this in my earlier work (Irshad, 2008),

I viewed the following:

Lack of technical and theoretical knowledge … hinders the ESL teachers and

educationists in adopting modern technology. The teachers’ training

institutions in the country did not provide any technical and theoretical

assistance to ESL teachers by the end of previous century; however, National

17

Education Policy 1998-2010 included steps to revise the curriculum and

methods of instruction in teachers training institutes to bring them in line with

the requirements of prevailing trends. (p. 10).

Despite these difficulties, it is observed that many female language teachers continue

to develop materials which are integrated into everyday teaching practice because use

of technology enhances teacher autonomy. Therefore, this study addresses the

question whether the female ESL teachers’ use of technology in pedagogical practices

is the result of in-service teacher’s training courses in Pakistan. Ashraf & Farha,

(2007) drawing upon Khan and Mohammad (2003), elucidate this point in the context

of teachers’ education that brings for women a “critical condition for ... empowerment

– enabling them to gain greater access and control over material and knowledge

resources in order to improve their lives and challenge the ideologies of

discrimination and subordination” (p. 16). Moreover, nothing can detract from the

central fact that the use of computers in language learning is linked, explicitly or

implicitly, to the development and exercise of learner and teacher autonomy. Thus,

need is of a research that can bring to limelight the effectiveness of technology to

develop autonomous teaching and learning trends, in turn, it would strengthen the

education sector of Pakistan.

1.1.3 Teaching-Learning Autonomy and ESL Pedagogy in Pakistan

According to Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary (2016), autonomy is “the

ability to act and make decisions without being controlled by anyone else”, viz.

“autonomy is the capacity to make one’s own laws and to obey them” (Blin, 2005, p.

5). In other words, autonomy grants political personal freedom to individuals. In this

study, the conception of autonomy is taken in terms of female teacher’s self-

sufficiency and as a capacity for action without intervention from others in her

18

pedagogical regime: the classroom, a miniature site of Pakistani society. However, in

second language pedagogy, autonomy has been claimed to be an ultimate goal for a

long time (Benson, 2008; 2011; Dang, 2010) to inculcate desired language

competence in ESL learners via fostering learner autonomy. In Pakistani social

stratum the educated women recognize this autonomy on Jejeebhoy (as cited in

Robinson-Pant, 2004) five levels of autonomy: knowledge autonomy, decision

making autonomy, physical autonomy, emotional autonomy, economic and social

autonomy (self-reliance). I argue that these levels of autonomy give the female

teachers freedom to exercise their pedagogical control in their realm: their classrooms.

In classroom teachers identify students’ active participation in learning

activities as learner autonomy (Benson, 2007a). At the conceptual level, learner

autonomy is described as a very ‘complicated’ (Little, 2003) or ‘multifaceted’

construct (Smith & Ushioda, 2009). The point I want to focus in my study, however,

is the teachers’ growing interest in autonomy in language teaching and learning,

which is situated within a context of classroom in a technology rich environment. In

other words, the autonomy of a teacher grants means to learners to transcend the

barriers of learning and teaching that have been a major preoccupation of educational

paradigm (see, e.g. Barnes, 1976; Rogers, 1983).This autonomy actually helps the

educated women contest their social position. For in the case of ESL language

teaching at tertiary level the whole point of developing learner autonomy is to enable

learners to be efficient in English language skills; however, this autonomy in

teaching-learning offers and widens the social space the teacher as women occupies

and grants professional empowerment. Associated with language learning autonomy,

Little (1995) notes “two distinct dimensions, one pedagogical and the other

communicative” (p. 176), of learner autonomy whereas I argue of a third dimension

19

that female teachers explore through technology. It is their social autonomy as female

teachers in Pakistani institutes at advance level. Little (1995), thus, describes:

There is a sense in which pedagogical autonomy clearly precedes

communicative autonomy: we may successfully practice pedagogical

autonomy from the first language lesson onwards, but it will be some time

before our learners can venture forth as autonomous language users in the

target language community. We must be careful, however, not to allow this

obvious fact to mislead us into erecting false barriers between language

learning and language use. ( p.176)

Little’s idea of pedagogical and communicative autonomy enables me associate the

aspect of pedagogical and communicative ability with the women teaching and

learning by using technology; and to install it in the classroom: a the microcosm of

society. Such autonomy provides women ESL teachers the confidence in pedagogical

practices; and learners a communicative confidence. Little (1995) identifies that “this

confidence to use the target language in a personally appropriate way is a necessary

precondition for, but also the outcome of, the kind of communicative activity that

gradually but ineluctably promotes second language development” (p. 176) and

women’s learner autonomy in Pakistan. According to my observation, it is a single

most important reason why ESL tertiary level autonomous teachers attempt to

develop autonomy as the attempt to foster autonomy begins with her autonomy. She

acquires it in relation to her pedagogical endeavour and then practices in her

miniature society: her classroom. This autonomy gives her critical awareness of the

Pakistani social context, whereby competence in English is associated with better job

opportunities, better social status, elitism and power. Rana (2006) elucidates the latter

two in the following way:

20

…the status of English as a language of power and elitism reflects not only the

current global attitude toward the language, but also the complex paradoxical

relationship between the colonizer and the colonized (Sidhwa, 1996). “…if

their wealth did not set them apart, their ability to converse in English

certainly did” (p. 273). This statement from The Crow Eaters by Sidhwa sums

up the general attitude toward English in Pakistan. (p.30).

This status of English demands for such education policies that can address the

pedagogical needs of women and men pursuing tertiary level education in this modern

technologically tuned epoch.

On the whole the technological development and educational policies have

developed Pakistani women teacher’s creative space and practical setting for

teaching-learning strategies. In the promotion of learner autonomy, the role of the

teacher “is to bring learners to the point where they accept equal responsibility for this

coproduction, not only at the affective level but in terms of their readiness to

undertake organizational (hence also discourse) initiatives” (Little, 1995, p. 178).

Therefore, a big part of fostering autonomy in the learners is teacher autonomy which

enables a teacher to make students use technology that best offer the learning

prospects. The teachers have to be provided with the tools they need to become more

self-sufficient and independent and then offer the same to the learners. The Pakistan

Ministry of Education is exceedingly clear to foster learner autonomy and learner

independence as it notes in the National Education Policy 2009 that in the

contemporary world the focus in the teaching-learning scenario has been shifted from

teacher to learner. It stipulates that practice in teaching is a solid part of language

learning and should be facilitated with modern technological tools. Thus, the role of

the teacher in fostering learner autonomy with the use of technology has been in focus

21

(Little, 1995; Benson, 2007a; 2011a). In consonance to this view there has been a

growing interest among researchers to explore role of the teacher in fostering learner

autonomy with reference to the dependence of learner autonomy on teacher autonomy

(Little, 1995; Benson, 2008, 2011a, 2011 b; Lamb & Reinders, 2008; Godwin-Jones,

2011).

At the tertiary level ESL lecture room teachers do not play the role of

imparters of information or sources of facts. Their role is more than that of a

facilitator (Voller, 1997 and Benson, 2007a). Teachers act as managers and directors,

and thus make the learners plan their learning both inside and outside the classroom.

Nonetheless, the teacher has to be able to establish a close collaboration with the

learners and make sure that all learners know what is expected of them at all times

(Lowes & Target, 1999). The teachers at higher education level also adopt the role of

counsellors. They need to inform learners and make them capable of choosing the best

learning cites and technological gadgets. Presenting this stance, Nunan (2003)

identifies that the development of learner autonomy involves providing learners with

“opportunities to make significant choices and decisions about their learning” in an

informed way (Nunan, 2003, p. 290). In this way, students may work confidently

outside the classroom without getting help from the teacher. To be precise, teachers

should not transfer knowledge to students; instead they should teach them ‘learning to

learn’ (Godwin-Jones, 2011, p.1). According to the traditional view, the role of the

teacher is to exercise complete control over the whole pedagogical process, where a

‘pin drop silenced classroom’ marks teachers’ control and success in the classroom.

For the teachers and the administrators who perceive the language pedagogy this way

the concept of learner autonomy is arguably synonymous to bringing chaos in the

classroom. Nevertheless, the phenomenon of learner autonomy has nothing to do with

22

it. In Lacey’s (2007) view teachers can successfully make the choice of relinquishing

control and sharing it with the learners. It is obvious that people want to enjoy

learning. What they learn should be meaningful and contain useful knowledge that

can be used in real life. In other words, language teachers should understand what

their students need to know, want to learn, and their future goals in order to encourage

the students to enjoy learning both the new content and the target language.

The concept that technology may potentially replace language instructors, and

therefore humans, within the classroom is a frightening and intriguing idea,

nevertheless, an exaggerated one too. It is quite true that this debate can advocate

both; many positive and negative facets of the use of technology for pedagogical

purposes at higher education level. In other words, in Pakistani ESL perspective the

curriculum in teacher education institutions and teacher development programmes

both in-service and pre-service are making a contribution to develop female teacher

autonomy and strengthening teachers’ competence in technology. Moreover, this

study assumes that the use of technology in itself compels the women users to make

use of it beyond ordinary day to day applications. Thus, the question arises whether

the teacher’s professional development results in sticking to the traditional approaches

to teaching ESL, or to introduce modern technology. Therefore, the study makes an

inquiry into ESL women teachers’ teaching practices and education to evaluate the

impact of technology on the present status of teachers’ professional competencies and

their reflection on to the development of learner autonomy in the institutions of higher

education.

1.2 Statement of Purpose

The use of technology is becoming an important element of higher education

in Pakistan (Haider, 2013; Adil, Masood & Ahmed, 2013; Majoka, Fazal & Khan,

23

2012; Mahmood, Iqbal, Nadeem, Javed, & Hassan, 2014; Jamil, Topping, & Tariq,

2012; Irshad, 2008;Rana, 2006); for gender equity (Rana 2006; Hafkin & Taggart,

2001; Marcelle, 2000) as well as for development of learner autonomy (Jamieson &

Chapelle, 1989; Levy, 1997; Chapelle, 2001; Warschauer, 1995; 1996; 2000; 2004;

Blin, 2005; Benson, 2007a; 2011a). Therefore, in the present study the impact of the

use of technology on female teachers in terms of their pedagogical proclivity towards

development of ESL learner autonomy might reflect on the modern pedagogical

trends in the institutions of higher education in Pakistan. Moreover, the study embarks

on the implications and impacts of integration of theory and practice of technological

determinism for tertiary level ESL feminist pedagogy in Pakistan. It is expected that,

the women teachers exercise their autonomy in the classroom. The teacher autonomy

is realized on one level through formal education, that is higher academic

qualification beyond sixteen years of education and in-service/ pre-service

professional training; and on the other level technology aided self-growth or in-formal

education. Moreover, the study addresses women teachers’ use of technology for ESL

pedagogical practice as a means to socio-political autonomy; and their role in the

development of learner autonomy rejects the notion of conformist stereotype

pedagogues.

1.3 Research Objectives

This research aims to analyze the use of technology for the development of ESL

learner autonomy and to study its impact on Pakistani women teachers in the

institution of higher education. It also aims to study the impact of technology on the

women ESL teachers working on the development of learner autonomy in the

institutions of higher education. In order to conceptualize and contextualize the role of

technology, this study aims to explore as to what extent the female ESL teachers in

24

the Pakistani institutions of higher education professionally trained so as to be

autonomously engaged in the development of learner autonomy.

The evaluation of the impact of technology on the women teaching ESL in the

institutions of higher education is also under investigation with particular focus onto

the role of the women teaching in the institutions of higher education in the

development of learner autonomy. This study, thus, addresses how the impact of

technology coincides with the development of ESL learner autonomy and how it

coincides with the women empowerment in higher education in Pakistan. In such

way, the research aims to investigate the current pedagogical scenario for the

evaluation of the effects of the use of modern technological aids in ESL on the

education of women at tertiary level to study the impact of use of technology to create

autonomous learning environment on the female teachers in the institutions of higher

education and scrutinizes the role of technology in facilitating women teaching in the

institutions of higher education to be autonomous and thus develop autonomy in ESL

learners of Pakistan.

1.4 Research Questions

In order to achieve above mentioned research objectives the present study aims to

analyze the use of technology for the development of ESL learner autonomy and to

study its impact on Pakistani women teachers in the institution of higher education.

For this purpose the fundamental study question poses the query of:

What is the impact of technology on the women ESL teacher autonomy, a

prerequisite to the development of learner autonomy, in Pakistani higher

education institutions?

25

This basic research question is explored to conceptualize and contextualize this study

on three scales which are addressed in the three sub-questions:

1. To what extent, are the female ESL teachers in the Pakistani institutions of

higher education professionally trained so as to be autonomously engaged in

the development of learner autonomy?

2. What is the impact of technology on the women teaching ESL in the

institutions of higher education?

3. What is the role of the women teaching in the institutions of higher education

in the development of learner autonomy?

1.5 Hypotheses

The following hypotheses are developed in order to test the framed research

questions:

H1 The use of technology has a positive impact on the Pakistani women

ESL tertiary level teachers.

H2 Teacher autonomy is a prerequisite to the teachers’ pedagogical

proclivity to develop ESL learner autonomy.

H3 The female ESL teachers in the Pakistani institutions of higher

education are professionally trained to the extent that they attain

autonomy and foster learner autonomy.

H4 The female teachers make frequent use of technology in ESL

pedagogical practices to facilitate learner autonomy in the institutions

of higher education.

H5 The women teaching in the institutions of higher education play a

facilitative and positive role in the development of learner autonomy.

26

1.6 Theoretical Framework

The impact of the use of technology for the development of ESL learner

autonomy on the Pakistani women teachers and their pedagogical practices in the

institution of higher education will be analyzed within four theoretical perspectives.

Firstly, the focus of this study being women, it is imperative that the framework

begins with a feminist perspective. Since the aim of this study is the tertiary level

women teachers of Pakistan, who may not necessarily share the perspectives of the

traditional feminists, particularly those addressing rural women or women in absolute

seclusion in Pakistan. Therefore, it is imperative that in order to understand the reality

of these women, a framework that acknowledges their identity and their realities as

educated women pedagogues should be used. That is why, for this study the

theoretical foundation of feminist pedagogy is opted. Feminist pedagogy is grounded

in the critical theories of learning and teaching such as Paulo Freire’s Pedagogy of the

Oppressed (2005) and bell hooks Teaching to Transgress (1994) (see Chapter 3.2 for

detail). Feminist pedagogy rests on Friere’s conception of critical pedagogy which

combines theory with praxis. It is a theory based on an engaged process facilitated by

problem solving classroom learning as opposed to banking concept in which

members: teacher and learners, learn to respect each other’s differences, accomplish

mutual goals, and help each other reach individual goals. This process facilitates

participatory learning, validation of personal experience, and encouragement of social

understanding (Hoffmann & Stake, 1998).

This theoretical predisposition also rests on hooks (1994) ‘radical pedagogy’

that she used for critical or feminist pedagogy (p. 9). The revolutionary approach of

this feminist pedagogue is an effort to develop a teaching approach opposing to “the

serious crisis in education”; and she celebrates “teaching that enables transgression- a

27

movement against and beyond” (hooks, 1994, p. 12). Like hooks, I find the classroom

most radical space of possibility for the female ESL teachers in higher education

institution. It is a place where with the use of technology female ESL teachers make

education the practice of teacher autonomy, which is a prerequisite to foster learner

autonomy.

Second, as this study intends to address the impact of the use of technology on

women ESL tertiary level teachers’ education and pedagogical practices with

particular reference to development of learner autonomy, the philosophy of

technological determinism as propagated by Andrew Feenberg (2002) and later

addressed in ESL research (Warschauer, 2004; ) is chosen (see Chapter 3.2 for detail).

It is used to interpret the data, obtained to answer whether the female ESL teachers in

the Pakistani institutions of higher education are using technology as a source of their

pedagogical training so as to attain autonomy. Banking upon Karl Marx’s legacy, the

proponents of this theory argue about the inevitable association between the changes

in technology and their primary influence on human social relations and

organizational structure. I foreground Marxist theory in the social perspective of

Pakistan. According to Smith et al. (1994), Marx’s this point of view is grounded in

contemporary society whereby it is a widely pervading idea that fast-changing

technologies alter human lives. Thus, the impact of technology on the female teachers

in Pakistani social landscape cannot be ignored. The philosophy of technological

determinism has two diverse theoretical underpinnings: the hard determinism that is

based on famous slogan of McLuhan (1964) ‘the medium is the message’; and soft

determinism that claims technology is the guiding force in our evolution (Feenberg,

2002), but would maintain that we have a chance to make decisions regarding the

28

outcomes of a situation. Feenberg’s (2002) philosophy of technological determinism

challenges the notion:

...that technological society is condemned to authoritarian management,

mindless work, and equally mindless consumption... by reconceptualising the

relation of technology, rationality, and democracy... I argue that the

degradation of labour, education, and the environment is rooted not in

technology per se but in the antidemocratic values that govern technological

development. ( p.3)

This notion that couples the theory that advocates human freedom to influence the

direction of technology is adopted to study the women teachers’ response to the use of

technology for ESL teaching practices at tertiary level. Therefore, I reflected upon

Feenberg on theorizing deterministic aspect of technology for female ESL teachers;

and theory of soft or weak determining force of technology for ESL pedagogy based

on Warschauer (2004); and John and Wheeler, (2008). Moreover, the technology-led

phenomenon with the focus on the pedagogical practices of women is addressed in

social perspective of higher educational institutions (Lawley, 1993).

Thirdly, since this study aims to address the end of ESL pedagogical practices

in terms of development of learner autonomy as an impact of the use of technology on

women ESL tertiary level teachers, Phil Benson’s (2011) two of the six approaches to

learner autonomy: technology-based approach and teacher-based approach are

selected. It aims to interpret if the female teachers make frequent use of technology in

ESL pedagogical practices; it facilitates fostering ESL learner autonomy in the

institutions of higher education. Benson’s model provided a holistic framework to

study teachers’ role in fostering ESL learner autonomy in language learning with and

without technology assistance.

29

Lastly, to put these epistemological assumptions on the proposed problem of

the impact of technology on the women teaching in the institutions of the higher

education, a feminist methodological framework is designed to develop a survey as

the research instrument. The rationale behind the selection of feminist methodology

for the present research is twofold. Firstly, the feminist research methodology being

grounded in feminist theory (Park, 2009) helps to understand the perceptions of

desired population under consideration for this study- the Pakistani women teaching

ESL at tertiary level. Secondly, such methodology provides pragmatic, reflexive, and

situated research (Franks, 2002; Harding, 1987) in the field of feminist pedagogy.

Moreover, feminist researchers advocate that feminist research should be not just on

women, but for women and, where possible, with women (DeVault, 1990, 1996;

Edwards, 1990; Fonow & Cook 1991, 2005; Ramazanoglu, & Holland 2002).

Therefore, the multiplicity, fragmentation, and differences in my dissertation have

been strongly supported by the characteristics of feminist research methodology.

1.7 Delimitations of the study

The present study aims to discover the impact of the use of technology, which

is making progress in leaps and bounds, on women English language learning and

teaching in Pakistan. The study, however, is delimited to assess the impacts on

women teachers of the use of technology and their role in the development of learner

autonomy. For the purpose of study the feminist research methodology is selected to

understand the perceptions of women teachers to provide pragmatic, reflexive, and

situated knowledge (Park, 2009; Franks, 2002; Harding, 1987) of their own

pedagogical praxis in the technology-tuned ESL environment with particular

reference to the development of learner autonomy. The data is collected through on-

line Technology and Development of ESL Learner Autonomy Survey, specifically

30

developed for this study, from the Pakistani women teaching ESL in the institutions of

higher education only.

1.8 Limitations of the Study

The limitation of this study resides in its sample: the female teachers who have

at least completed sixteen years of education and are appointed as ESL teachers in the

institutions of higher education of Pakistan. Moreover, they have voluntarily decided

to participate in this study by filling the on-line Technology and Development of ESL

Learner Autonomy Survey this might indicate a bias, as I identify it an indicator of

women teacher autonomy. The feminist research methodology respects diversity and

difference of opinion and allows me to interpret respondents’ opinions objectively

through the generated data and subjectively by mingling my own experiences into

interpretations with those of the respondents might be a source of biasness to this

study. Working with this research methodology, it is impossible to have a definitive

measure of the outcome.

1.9 Significance of the study

The findings of this study gave me the critical tools to reflect on, and

understand, the process through which I come to know what it means for women to be

at the periphery of the intimate yet fragile relationship between the colonizer and the

colonized. Pakistani society reflects this impact through male domination even in the

miniature of the society- the higher education institutions. Therefore, significance of

this study is in its primary intention to assess the impact of the use of technology on

the women teachers and development of ESL learner autonomy at tertiary level

education. Thus, it aims to provide a perspective for the pedagogues, researchers and

administers, through a review of the specialized literature, an overview of the recent

development, current implications and future potentials of technology in ESL

31

pedagogy in Pakistan for fostering teacher autonomy and learner autonomy. This

study embarks on the relevance of use of technology to English language education

and its impact on the development of learner autonomy through a feminist

pedagogical perspective to analyse women teachers’ critical awareness. Moreover,

this study will embark on the issues of gender differences realized by the women

teachers in the context of higher education sector in Pakistan. The benefits of

technology for women in the present will be guiding the implications of technology

for ESL pedagogy in the institutions of higher education. The knowledge gained from

this study is applicable for pedagogical praxis in higher education involving

technology. This study will add an enlightening perspective to Pakistani feminism,

since it focuses on women ESL teachers working in the institutions of higher

education; and also includes the role of technology that determines the progress of

women as individuals and integral entities for the prosperity of Pakistan in the current

millennium.

1.10 Definition of Terms

Technology: This term relates to all those technological gadgets which are used today in

Pakistani pedagogical spheres including computer hard ware, software and internet

technology. This also includes multi-media projectors and handheld devices.

Learner Autonomy: Learner autonomy is defined as learner’s willingness to learn,

ability to make decisions, capacity to take responsibility of one’s own learning and a

skill to critically evaluate one’s own progress defines. It is reflected through ESL

learning and considered as an achievement within classroom setting under the

guidance of teacher and in collaboration with peers through a teacher led pedagogical

process.

32

Teacher Autonomy: Teacher autonomy is a teachers’ professional attribute, which I

define in terms of teacher education and teacher identity; and in such context, it

predestines teachers proclivity for the development of learner autonomy.

Technological Determinism: Technology is a determiner to an extent: its presence

connotes its use, and it seems to be guiding human social and political development.

However, women and men have a chance to make decisions regarding the use and

outcomes of their encounter with the technology. In addition, technology may lead the

ESL pedagogical practices of women in social perspective of higher educational

institutions; and presumes autonomy of its users.

Feminist Pedagogy: Feminist pedagogy is an engaged process that is facilitated by

concrete classroom goals in which teacher as a participant in knowledge builds such

environment, where members learn to respect each other’s differences, accomplish

mutual goals, and help each other reach individual goals. This process facilitates

participatory learning, validation of personal experience, encouragement of social

understanding.

Feminism: It is defined in terms of educated woman’s critical awareness of gender

discrimination within the microcosm of her social stratum, the higher education

institution. It also relates to conscious action by women to change this situation and it

also goes beyond movements of equality and emancipation for autonomy.

Higher education or Tertiary education: These terms refer to the third stage, third

level, or post-secondary education in Pakistan. It is the educational level following the

completion of a school providing a secondary education. The World Bank (2008), for

example, defines tertiary education as including universities as well as institutions that

teach specific capacities of higher learning such as colleges, technical training

institutes, community colleges, nursing schools, research laboratories, centres of

33

excellence, and distance learning centres. In Pakistan, higher education refers to

education above grade 12, which generally corresponds to the age bracket of 17 to 23

years. The higher education system in Pakistan is made up of two main sectors: the

university/Degree Awarding Institutes (DAI) sector and the affiliated Colleges sector.

The Higher Education Commission (HEC) of Pakistan defines it in terms of “all

degree granting universities and institutions, public and private, including degree

granting colleges” (HEC, 2006).

Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL): I take CALL as Davies et.al. (2009)

asserts “an approach to language teaching and learning in which the computer is used

as an aid to the presentation, reinforcement and assessment of material to be learned,

usually including a substantial interactive element.”And also as Levy (1997) describes

practice of CALL as “the search for and study of applications on the computer in

language teaching and learning” (p.1).

1.11 Thesis Outline

Chapter 2 discusses the women of Pakistan in ESL feminist pedagogical framework.

It also highlights how the use of technology in the pedagogical scenario determines its

impact on women teacher autonomy and how it relates to development of learner

autonomy in the specialized literature. It emphasizes the individual and social

dimensions of learner autonomy and argues that teacher autonomy affects the

pedagogical process that influences learning process in ESL classrooms of Pakistan at

tertiary level education. It further discusses the role of a female teacher and the factors

that influence the pedagogical practices. Learner autonomy research paradigms and

models are then assessed in terms of their potential to study the relationship between

the use of technology and learner autonomy. In particular, the strengths and

weaknesses of the models for the development of learner autonomy are discussed.

34

In response to the limitations of the models discussed, Chapter 3 presents the

epistemological and methodological framework of the study. The epistemology of the

study rests on the triangulated theoretical framework, where feminist pedagogy based

on the feminist critical theory addresses the Pakistani feministic educational

perspective of higher education. Following a summary of some of the main tenets of

Friere’s (2005) theories, it explicates the principles of hooks (1994) philosophy of

feminist pedagogy. On the other level, this framework includes soft technological

determinism (Feenberg, 2002) based on Marx’s legacy to study the impact of

technology for the development of learner autonomy as used by Second Language

Acquisition researchers (Warschauer, 2004; John & Wheeler, 2008). The expanded

technology-led theory concepts enunciated by Lawley (1987) are then discussed and

integrated into a theoretical framework. Benson’s (2011) teacher-led approach and

technology-led approaches are also integrated. These three theoretical perspectives,

together with feminist theory, provide the grounding for the feminist methodological

framework of the study to develop a survey to conduct study. The chapter discusses

why this research design was chosen to study the impact of technology on female ESL

teachers for the development of learner autonomy in the context of Pakistani social

milieu. Chapter 3 proposes a theoretical model to represent the role of the Pakistani

female teacher in the development of learner autonomy under the influence of

technology. Secondly, a three-phase research design shows the implementation of

feminist research methodology. The phase I and phase II of the study elaborated the

development of survey and pilot study followed by the procedure for data collection

and analysis.

The analyses reported in Chapter 4 aims to understand the impact of

technology on Pakistani female ESL tertiary level teachers pedagogical practices

35

particularly the development of learner autonomy. The details of the analysis of the

yielded data through Technology and Development of ESL Learner Autonomy Survey

are presented in this chapter. This chapter presents the results of the statistical

analyses of the yielded data in three sections. The first section focuses the teachers’

professional competence. The second section of the survey analysis looks at the ways

in which women teachers incorporate technology in their classrooms and how

technology becomes part of teaching decisions and choices. In the third section, the

women teachers’ role in the development of ESL learner autonomy and its

development is conceptualized both independently and in relation to the use of

technology. The complexity of the development of language learner autonomy is

unravelled through theoretical interpretation of the results of data yielded from female

tertiary level teachers. The dynamics of the epistemological and methodological

framework are explored to study the impact of technology on women teachers’

pedagogical practices and their role in the development of ESL learner autonomy.

Finally, Chapter 5 put together the theoretical interpretation of the empirical findings

of the survey and discusses the emergent themes and philosophies. The chapter thus,

delineates the themes emergent from the empirical data report, on the impact of

technology shows diversity of phenomena and philosophies, describing impact of

technology on teacher autonomy; and thus, women teachers’ role in ESL tertiary level

education in Pakistan. Through the lens of pyramid of techno-feminist pedagogy,

these philosophies reconciled with theory and praxis of the field of this study. And the

study concluded with implications, strengths and limitations of the proposed

framework for further research.

36

CHAPTER 2

Pakistani Women, Technology and Learner Autonomy:

A Critical Appraisal of Related Literature

The core notion of learner autonomy, a skill “to take charge of one’s own

learning” (Holec, 1981), has been the focus of discussion, interest and research in the

realm of applied linguistics and technology practices (Blin, 2008). Although, it has its

roots in the former, it became a popular subject of research only in concordance with

the incessant intervention of digital media into pedagogy. The present literature

review aims to critically examine this intervention of technology in ESL education in

Pakistan; which then, in turn foregrounds and reasons out the conceptual framework

of technology in feminist perspective. This phase of the study tracks down the

importance of technology in the second language pedagogy in general and in

development of Pakistani ESL learner autonomy in particular. Consequently, this

review of literature locates the gaps and spaces to strengthen the proposition of the

present study.

Firstly, the status of Pakistani women in higher education is studied with a

historical perspective on feminism, especially, the impact of colonialism on higher

education for women. Secondly, the literature on teaching and learning of ESL in

Pakistan is critically reviewed to elucidate the space for feminist pedagogical

practices. In addition, the literature on the use of technology in second language or

ESL education is scrutinized to endow the contextual evidence to the present

proposition. In this way, it critically evaluates the features and issues pertaining to the

application of technology by reviewing the research in the field of technology in ESL

context. Lastly, the development and functioning of technology in Pakistan is

37

critically reviewed with reference to the foundation laid in the past for its feasibility,

its present status in the country to compete the technologically tuned earthlings

worldwide and its future prospects. This critical appraisal is helpful in the present

research to contextualize as well as put forward the underpinning logic of the present

study. It brings to surface the significance of the use of technology in Pakistani ESL

pedagogy for the women of the country. Moreover, the related literature on learner

autonomy as a discipline and in relation to technology has been critically reviewed to

embark on the theoretical and epistemological considerations of the field of Applied

Linguistics. The narrative thread that ties this review together is growth of interest in

autonomy of Pakistani women ESL teachers that resulted in review of the plethora of

specialist literature. Particular concerns include: the ways in which conceptions of

women autonomy are changing within ESL pedagogy; and the ways in which new

conceptions of autonomy fit in SLA theory, educational practice and social thought in

the Pakistani context. The sheer quantity of work on autonomy published since the

turn of century calls for a selective approach. Consequently, the review of selected

literature defines learner autonomy beyond the footings established in the classic

concept of above mentioned definition. It also defines the link between teacher

autonomy and learner autonomy in technology aided teaching-learning practices.

2.1 Pakistani Women and Higher Education: A Historical Perspective on

Feminism

Gender discrimination in education from primary to tertiary education in

Pakistan is questioned by feminist movement in Pakistan. Tariq Rahman (2005)

argues that gender discrimination in education is a main reason that hinders women’s

contribution. At micro level she cannot effectively participate in the progress and

prosperity of family; and at macro level she cannot be a partner to men in the

38

advancement of the country. This concern is one of the evidences of active feminist

activities in Pakistan. However, its roots can be traced back in the colonial era, which

I will discuss in this section with the focus on studies carried out in Pakistani higher

education context of ESL pedagogy (Rahman, 2005, 2006; Rana, 2006; and Shah,

2015). It is also found from the study of related literature that gender disparity

decreases as the education level increases. Inevitably, it coincides with the presence of

technology that determines its use and empowers Pakistani educated women. In order

to, envisage the concept of educated women of Pakistan, it is important to view and

review the history of this part of the world with respect to women’s part in teaching

and ESL in higher education institutions.

2.1.1 The Impact of Colonialism

British colonizers had indeed altered the course of the educational history of

subcontinent, called as India. However, whether it can be linked to modernization and

development of the colonized in terms of their education yet the opinions are divided.

For example Sabina Shah (2015) referring to colonialism, considers it unfair to call

colonial impact ‘all bad’. And she links the positive impacts to democratic system,

weaponry, technology upgradation and commerce that benefited pre-partitioned India

to some extent. On the similar note, Rana (2006) has linked it to the opportunities for

women to receive education which is also elaborated in the same section. But

categorically stated reservations claim that these changes would also have transpired

had there been no colonizers.

On the other hand, Rahman’s (2006) argument rests on the result of

colonialism in terms of a psychological damage, which led to an inferiority complex

which compelled the Indians to question and criticise their own social, political,

linguistic and educational culture. Substantiating this view, the following striking

39

comparison between conquerors and colonizers helps to elucidate this damage done to

India further:

The tragedy lies in the difference between conquerors and colonialists.

Conquerors develop the territory as part of their country, and colonialists only

exploit according to their own interests. (Saleem & Rizvi, 2011, p. 402)

Therefore, the following discussion will elucidate this impact of colonialism firstly on

Pakistani women’s higher education which is a source of women ESL teacher

autonomy, secondly on ESL teaching and learning; thirdly on modernization of

education through technology.

2.1.1.1 Women’s Higher Education and Colonialism

Metaphoric reminiscences of the tragedy of colonial past have led to affect the

meta-structure of society, culturally, linguistically, economically, educationally,

technologically and socially. Narrowing this debate, I will address the feminist

movements that serve the miniature of Pakistani society present in the realm of higher

educational institutions. In this context, Rana (2006) embarks at the history of this

colonial past of Pakistan to contextualize higher education for women and its relation

to “the current situation of the feminist movement in Pakistan” (p. 22). Drawing upon

Asghar Ali (2000), she explicates that in pre-partitioned Pakistan, which was called as

India, women of early twentieth century realized that higher education would enable

them to enter the job market and to brighten their chances in the marriage market. In

order to fulfill the need “a university for women was set up in 1916 at the Shreemati

Nathibhai Damodher Thackersay (S.N. D. T.)University” and “the curriculum was a

combination of traditional and modern subjects” (Rana, 2006, p. 22).Incidentally

English language teaching learning became the part of it as learning of English

became mandatory for teaching-learning modern subjects. This was proved to be a

40

revolutionary doorway to higher education for the women of this region and gave way

to the erection of later universities. However, the social strata did not change much as

“on the one hand parents wanted their daughters to get a good education, but on the

other, they feared that too much education might change the social structure

irrevocably” (Rana, 2006, p. 23). This was evident that society in large was not in

favour of women’s higher education as it feared women’s autonomy; ignoring that an

educated woman being a teacher might exercise her autonomy to teach a nation. The

situation has not changed much even today. This was not the only problem facing the

women access to education, the review of literature helps to identify other social

fences too, for Muslim women of this part of the world, including pardah (seclusion),

a mindset “labelled as Mullaism4”that opposes women’s learning and education”

(Noreen & Khalid, 2012, p. 54). Similarly, Irum, Bhatti, & Parveen, (2015), in a study

conducted on women in higher education institutes of Sindh have found, that “the

major hindrance in the access of higher education to women was [is] the domination

of male in the society” (p. 173).

However, the higher education had been and will be the gateway for the

women teachers to gain autonomy, so as to maximise teaching-learning gains by

developing autonomous learners. In such context, the history reflects that the

importance of women education remained an area of concern for a group of modern,

educated men and women even in colonial India. Elucidating this Rana (2006)

presents Khan’s (2001) view that in “the early decades of the twentieth century

Muslim men and women ... focused ... women‘s education to promote women’s rights

in society”; and the steps Sir Syed Ahmad Khan taken to organize “the Mohammedan

4A person serves usually as an imam in mosques having superficial religious knowledge who usually

opposes women’s learning and education.

41

Educational Conference in the 1870s”and later founded “the Muhammadan Anglo-

Oriental College”.

The participants of this conference, who were mostly male, proposed

education as a way of improving the social status for women. The traditional

education system for women focused mainly on religious education at

Maktabs, schools attached to mosques, but this was limited because of the

restrictions of purdah , the veiling of women... But progress in women’s

literacy was slow. (Rana, 2006, pp 24-25)

This was an evident reason that limited women’s participation in education; and

resultantly few women had an access to higher education; and even few could choose

teaching, in the institutions of higher education, as a profession. However, the

education of women was proved to be a preliminary step to move beyond the social

fences like seclusion and pardah. Beyond this context of seclusion, Malik (2002) also

finds that higher education for women in Pakistan “is generally regarded as

achievement of colonial or neo-colonial west” (p. 21). But she emphasises at the

paradox: the education for women in Asia and Africa is linked to Western

imperialism, while in the west it is linked to the ‘feminist movement’ in Europe.

However, the women’s education has always been linked to their empowerment

which is associated with the larger issues of development of a country.

Ali (2000) connected the autonomy of Pakistani women through education to

the independence of Pakistan. He elucidates that Jinnah, the founder of the country,

stressed in his speeches the importance of women being involved with men in all

spheres of life. After 1947, both women and men in Pakistan continued to advocate

women’s political empowerment through legal reforms and establishment of

42

educational institutions. Eventually the development of women’s political liberty

created the space of the educational and particularly teaching-learning autonomy.

2.1.2 Reforms by Government of Pakistan for Women’s Higher Education

After independence, many government level reforms aimed at women’s

education through Pakistani Educational policies: the Education Conference, 1947,

The Commission on National Education, 1959, The New Education Policy, 1970, The

Education Policy, 1972, The National Education Policy, 1979, The National

Educational Policy, 1992, The National Education Policy, 1998-2010, Education

Sector Reforms: Strategic Plan 2001-2004, The National Educational Policy, 2009,

and Pakistan Vision 2025. However, these reforms primarily focused adult literacy

levels and primary education for girls, and did not focus on tertiary education; a seat

of learning for women’s greater contribution in society. Rana (2006) argues that

within Pakistani patriarchal society the women representation is limited to a few in

the policy making system; therefore

Women have to be involved in policy making to transform the system. Since

the system does not seem to be working for women, it has to be transformed to

allow the success of women. They have to speak out and become contributors

in the dialogue of policy and decision making. And this can only be possible if

women are empowered in academies of higher education. (p. 20)

As explicated in Chapter 1.2 UN’s Education for All (EFA) (1990) compelled the

developing countries to achieve the target of education for all boys and girls as well as

to decrease the illiteracy rate, unfortunately, “doing so has remained difficult”, even at

primary level of education (Shah, 2015). Corroborating the same Maqsood, Maqsood,

& Raza (2012) commented that even if Pakistan is a “signatory of the UN Education

for All (EFA)” to eliminate gender disparities in primary, secondary and higher

43

education, yet the efforts made in this context could not yield favourable results (p.

352). However, from past few years the positive situation of gender parity in higher

education is reported by Pakistan Education Statistics, 2011-12 (see Chapter 1.1); and

substantiating this Maqsood, Maqsood & Raza (2012) have found:

In the recent decades it has been observed that a significant proportion of girls

are getting education at higher level despite cultural barriers. Even in some

cases, girls outnumber boys at high educational level. This trend seems to be

good for development of Pakistani society because a significant proportion of

population is coming out and taking part in academic activities. (p. 355)

This observation strengthens the proposition of my study that targets the women

population working in the institutions of higher education. This study links their

autonomy to the impact of the use of technology as pedagogues and learners of

English in the institutions of higher education.

In the light of the findings of these studies, it is significant to include Rana’s

(2006) review of Pakistan’s government education policies and infrastructure for

higher education. In Pakistan “all degree granting universities and institutions, both

public and private, are directly or indirectly supervised by HEC, which is responsible

for coordinating reviews and evaluations of all academic programs”. In the same

connection, Sedgwick (2005) reports that HEC Pakistan also administers the planning,

development, and chartering of both public and private institutions of higher

education. In Pakistan the colleges are also “the institutions of higher education...

[and] are controlled by the provincial or the federal governments unlike the

universities which are called autonomous” (Rahman, 2004, p. 106). But the higher

educational system in Pakistan is affected by the policies (referred above) that have

44

affected education in the last sixty years (Rahman, 2004; Sedgwick, 2005; Rana,

2006; Shah, 2015).

On the other hand Rahman (2004) finds a strong impact of colonization on

higher educational institutions of Pakistan. He argues that the universities in Pakistan

“still exist in the middle of the nineteenth century almost when they were established

first in 18575” (p. 109). I believe, this is partly due to the intention with which they

were established. For riffling through the pages of history, it is revealed that these

institutions were established only to westernize and educate the locals enough to

educate a lower level of bureaucracy of locals, means the purpose and structure of

such “institutions were not supposed to equal the academics of Oxford or Cambridge”

(Rana, 2006, p. 35). This system of education was based on Thomas Macaulay’s

attempt to open doors to western education in India. It aimed “to create a nation of

clerks, half westernized, half native, who could economically man the offices of the

British Raj” (Saleem & Rizvi, 2011, p. 403). It is this view which of Macaulay which

laid the foundation of higher education institutions in India:

We must at present do our best to form a class who may be interpreters

between us and the millions we govern; a class of persons, Indian in blood and

colour, but English in taste, in opinions, in morals, and in intellect. (Macaulay

1835 in Rahman, 2010, p. 152).

Therefore, “the colonial state had produced a colonial university-one which did not

have the psychological, economic, social, or legal potential to confront the powers

that be” (Rahman, 2004, p. 113). Later some other universities were also established

following the same pattern. During all this time, women’s participation in education

had been ignored; secondly, local languages were ignored too. Although, the students

5Rahman (2004) refers to the University of Calcutta that was established in 1857.

45

in British India had “the right to choose to be educated in English or a vernacular

language”, higher education, especially science and technology”, was in English

(Rahman, 2010, p. 14).Therefore, teaching and learning of English in higher

education institutions had always been in focus. Criticising Macaulay’s reforms,

Hussain (1997) blames the weakness of the education system in Pakistan as a result of

this westernization. During all this time the women were not considered as active

“participants in higher education” (Rana, 2006, p. 35). This deprivation or

marginalized access to higher education is evident in the following statistics:

The fact that in 1917 only thirty female Muslim students in India were

enrolled in college or university and ten years the number increased to 537

shows the extent of interest in higher education, and by 1946 the number had

increased to 651. The progress still seems fairly slow, but the fact that some of

these women were even going to Europe to continue with their education is

dramatic for the time when most women in South Asia were not even allowed

to the leave the boundaries of their homes. (Rana, 2006, p. 36)

This status of women’s education; and the fact that at the time of

independence Pakistan had only one university (University of the Punjab) were the

major reasons for less representation of women in higher education institutions.

However, from one University to 139 by 2012 with79 public universities and 60

private universities (Pakistan Education Statistics, 2011-12, p. 15); the higher

education sector is growing from strength to strength. Unfortunately, same is not true

for women. Even today daughters do not get as much opportunities of higher

education as sons. “The women who did get the opportunity of higher education” are

either teachers or doctors, though a few adopt some other professions too (Rana,

2006, p. 36). Rana portrays this, although only the beginning of the movement for

46

women’s higher education, yet a step towards teaching learning autonomy. It is

expected to gain momentum over the years. Moreover, many NGOs are also working

for women’s right to higher education. In addition, a study compiled by NIPA

( National Institute of Public Administration), states that “there should be equitable

representation of women in the corridors of power and policy making in the higher

educational institutions” (Malik, 2003, p. 7). It also emphasizes the correlation

between “economy of the country and higher education”. Therefore, the equitable

opportunities of higher education for women had never been an ignored area in the

government educational policies; however, the slow progress in this area is mainly

due to social barriers. Such barriers limit women’s participation in teaching learning

English at tertiary level; and even hinder access to modern gadgets and tools of

learning. However, global spread and ease of access to technology is determining new

norms and values for Pakistani women. Despite this hopeful note and the efforts of

the government of Pakistan at eradication of gender disparity in education, the “higher

level education could not be improved” (Shah, 2015, p. 95) due to five factors

identified by Shah (2015): (a)‘religion’, (b) ‘gender roles’, (c) ‘economic growth’, (d)

‘socio-cultural values’ and (e) ‘supply-side factors that include facilities for

education’. In addition, the research shows that traditionally the role of women in

Pakistan is limited to domestic affairs. The following discussion includes the review

of related literature to explicate the impact of socio-cultural traditions of Pakistan on

women’s access to higher education- an opportunity to teaching and learning

autonomy.

47

2.1.3 Traditionally Situated Status of Women in Pakistani Society and its

Impact on Access to Higher Education

Traditionally the concept of higher education in English for women is rejected,

as it connotes their freedom, modernization and liberty: threats to male chauvinistic

society. In addition, Pakistani women have always been linked to submissiveness and

often considered as silent entities. Drawing upon Gani, Shah (2015) associated

women with three typical roles: (a) as a daughter: ‘she is obliged to submit to her

father’; (b) as a wife ‘she must not look beyond the four walls of her house, and must

clean, cook and wash for her husband and children without complaining’; and (c) as

an old woman she is “dependent on her children, with no desire except the happiness

of her immediate family” (Shah, 2015, p. 13).

Even today the opportunities for further education are restricted, even for the

educated women working in the institutions of higher education. Apparently it has its

roots in Pakistani culture of honour, and social hierarchy, which are the organizing

principles defining gender roles. These principles nourish those patriarchal values,

which are deeply embedded in the society. This system creates ideology of ‘division

of labour’ that places “women in reproductive roles” at homes and “men in a

productive role as breadwinners in the public arena” (Maqsood, Maqsood, & Raza,

2012, p. 354). Therefore, more attention is paid to men’s education and skill

development than women. To fulfil these societal parameters female members of the

family face gender-based criterion of education accessibility and resource allocation.

But still these women struggle to come out of that restricted domain, where they are

only taught domestic skills—how to be good mothers and wives (Khan, 2007).

Therefore, till last decade much literature was not available about the role of women

in institutions of higher education in Pakistan due to extremely controlled academic

48

environment, and pardah restrictions as Rahman (2004) analysed the responses of

female respondents (teachers and students) of institutions of higher education in

Pakistan:

The major shortcoming is that females are represented in very low numbers.

First, they are less represented in the universities than males. Secondly, they

are more reluctant to fill in questionnaires and also more difficult to access

than their male colleagues. (p. 69)

Maqsood, Maqsood, & Raza (2012) argue that major problem facing the

women access to the doorways of higher education are preference to sons’ education

than daughters, due to family ties (Baradari System), mobility restrictions, financial

hierarchy. Therefore, in a focus group discussion and in-depth interviews, they have

found the challenges, which Pakistani women had to face to overcome the cultural

obstructions to get higher education. They located (a) ‘stereotype gender roles’; and

(b) ‘family resentment for getting admission in university’. They situate the gender

specific barriers in

... allocation of more household responsibilities to girls...lack of importance

attached to girls education and giving preferential treatment to boys in terms

of investing family resources...[and]Baradari system. In this system various

other relatives might take key position when it came to decide about girls’

future... Debarring girls from their right to education, could be an example of

family effort to show solidarity with Baradari. (Maqsood, Maqsood, & Raza,

2012, p. 355)

Added to this, another problem is distance of the institutions of higher

education from a girls’ home. Being tied in Pakistani patriarchy, Pakistani women are

denied access to education due to mobility restrictions. HEC Pakistan has taken steps

49

to establish institutions of higher education all across Pakistan. Resultantly, the

picture is not all too bleak; the women who get an access to education bring some

positive implications for others in their families. Therefore, a positive change in this

direction can be seen in the increased number of enrolment of girls in the institutions

of higher education and an increased number of female teachers in degree awarding

institutions. This change in one way or the other can be linked to increased access to

ICTs and the rising number of the institutions of higher education, which has provided

the women an opportunity to cope with the mobility restriction by joining the

university in their own city or nearby city (Maqsood, Maqsood, & Raza, 2012).

Evidence of this is visible in the results of the present study, which was conducted

with the assumption that women teachers in Pakistani higher education institutions are

highly educated. Secondly, they are teaching ESL in the institutions of higher

education. Subsequently, the women teachers are benefitted from the presence of

technology and gain a social interdependence in their pedagogical paradigms.

However, Pakistani feminist perspective of education is diverse and unique. On one

end Malala Yousufzai’s achievement of world Nobel Peace Award for being secular

young human right activist writes a success story from a secular feminist worldview.

On the other end, women like Amina Jamal advocate the religious Islamic higher

education for women. This conflict is embarked upon in the discussion that follows.

2.1.4 Feminist Movement and Higher Education: Secular Vs Religious

This debate in feminist movements on higher education in Pakistan rests upon

the conflict between secular modern English education in modern universities; and

religious or Islamic education in Jamias (Islamic Universities). Explicating this

conflict, Mumtaz and Shaheed (1987, 1990) present the feminist movement in

Pakistan. It reflects pressures and disputations. They document pre-colonial religious

50

argument against women’s education and modernity and post-colonial secular aspects

of women’s rights. This secular perspective rejects a religious intervention assuming

that it denies women’s right to higher education.

Globally the schools of thought in secular feminism range from Marxist

socialist perspective “to those who believe that women’s human rights can be

achieved within a liberal state” (Bradley & Saigol, 2012, p. 677). The secular view in

Pakistan defines religion essentially patriarchal, as well as limiting women’s access to

modern education, particularly teaching-learning of English. On the other hand,

Islamic feminist in Pakistan favours women participation in higher education, that too

in religious institutions. Documenting the importance of religious higher education for

women in Pakistan, Amina Jamal (2005), an Islamic feminist, asserts that women gain

independence even in Islamic institutions. Religious feminist perceives the modernity

of their own accord. Bradley and Saigol, (2012) documented that while Pervez

Musharraf (1999-2008) was president of Pakistan the Islamic institutions of higher

education gained extra attention in 2007, especially when in the same year the

restrictions were imposed on the leading institution, “the Jamia Hafsa in Islamabad”,

an higher education institute for women, because of the anti-government activities and

traditionalism (p. 678). In interviews with secular informants in Lahore, Pakistan,

Bradley and Saigol (2012) have identified the respondents’ contribution to the

feminist movement in Pakistan. Their concern about curriculum in religious

institutions has not been sufficient to label them as secular modernist educationists.

Nevertheless, they linked religious higher education to hindrance for female progress

in the country. This female progress is often linked to her empowerment and

autonomy. Unfortunately, the slogan for women autonomy and liberation is almost a

taboo in patriarchal domain, as it connotes women’s freedom and liberty which makes

51

them rebellious to the set religious and social norms. This connotation is critically

evaluated in the following discourse to create space in favour of women’s teaching

and learning of English in the institutions of higher education.

2.1.5 Women’s Educational Autonomy in Higher education in Pakistan

In Pakistani society, the concept of higher education for women is often linked

to negative connotation of autonomy and liberation of women. Therefore, they face

family opposition in access to the institutions of higher education. In addition,

Maqsood, Maqsood, & Raza (2012) concluded that if the educational institution is at a

greater distance from a girl’s house, she is denied of her right to education. Firstly, it

raises the question of security of daughters; second, the option of staying in a hostel of

a distant educational institution is denied as “parents might have fears about their

freedom and autonomy” (Maqsood, Maqsood, & Raza, 2012, p. 356). So these fears

become social fences for women’s access to the institutions of higher education, as

education is a perceived tool for women to get autonomy and power for themselves. I

interpolate this stance as evidence that education grants women the autonomy to self-

actualize, to know their being and to know that they have achieved a status: equal to

men in the patriarchal society. Therefore, women were either not granted the right to

education or else many restrictions are imposed, if this right is bestowed at all, like a

forced marriage or attending university following veil tradition. Substantiating this

Maqsood, Maqsood, & Raza (2012) concluded that the families believed that higher

education would grant women the autonomy; and

Families feared that this autonomy might lead to challenging the status quo of

family or power relations with in the family...Though girls had been given

permission to get education, but families seemed not to let them have

education to decide about their life [sic]. (p. 358)

52

However, National Policy for Development and Empowerment of Women (2002)

focused the empowerment of Pakistani women as one of its goals to elevate the role

of the women in all spheres of life. And it considers education as an important means

towards women’s social autonomy in Pakistan. In addition, this policy recognizes

education as crucial for ensuring women’s participation in mainstream social,

economic and political fields. Explicating the same, Khan and Mohammad (2003)

have found that higher education grants autonomy to women as it enables them to

gain greater access and control over material and knowledge resources in order to

improve their lives and challenge the ideologies of discrimination and subordination.

In a study of field-based teacher training programme in northern Pakistan,

Sales (1996) finds that it was accessible to a large number of village women teachers

because it had adapted itself to village norms. It had a schedule that allowed women

to fulfil their everyday domestic responsibilities and did not require frequent

travelling away from families. In the context of this case study, women were able to

enter the teaching profession and gain access to training, as long as their activities

remained within the commonly accepted female domain. This is circumscribed both

geographically, by the expectation that they will not travel outside their village, away

from their families, agricultural commitments and communal scrutiny; and socially, in

the sense that they must not take on an autonomous role beyond the control of men or

indeed in authority over them. Consequently, Sales (1996) did not find enough

evidence to support the theory: education led to women teacher autonomy in the

patriarchal communities of Pakistan.

Similarly, Kim Thomas (1990) describes that although higher education is

generally regarded as liberal social institution which allows women to enter and be

successful, this liberalism is ultimately illusory as gender division is maintained and

53

in some cases renewed. Achievement differences are tied to conventional beliefs

about women and men.

Higher education does not reproduce inequality by actively discriminating

against women. What it does is make use of culturally available ideas of

masculinity and femininity in such a way that women are marginalized and, to

some extent, alienated. (Thomas, 1990, n.p.)

Hence, the philosophy of the women autonomy through higher education into

the mainstream remains the same. Nevertheless, today technology has written new

chapters for the modern educated women even in a developing country like Pakistan.

This technological advancement has strong impact on teaching and learning of

English, as English is the dominant language of the Internet. But in order to

contextualize the trends of English language teaching and learning by Pakistani

women at the tertiary level institutions, it is significant to envisage the status of

English through the lens of colonialism.

2.2 Impact of Colonialism on Teaching and Learning of English in Pakistan

The present status of English as a Second Language in teaching and learning in higher

education institutions of Pakistan is the evidence of strong linguistic impact of the

colonialism; in other words, linguistic imperialism. Shah (2015) describes that in

Pakistan “English as a lingua franca is forming a new culture, which shows the social

and cultural imprints of colonisation” (p.36). These imprints can be seen

predominantly in higher education sector of Pakistan, where teaching and learning of

English is compulsory to study almost all the modern subjects. Studying the status of

teaching English in Africa and Asia Loomba (1998) points out that “English

education...became a double edged sword because the colonized did not simply accept

54

the superiority of English institutions but also used English education to undermine

that superiority, foster nationalism, and demand equality and freedom”( pp. 89–90).

Rahman (2010) explicates the present status of English in Pakistan being “the

language of wider communication (LWC)”; and a language of globalization. Drawing

upon Crystal (1997), he favours the global demand for English as “it is the language

of international trade, media, services, science and technology and entertainment”.

However, this global demand of English is not only due to colonisation. Therefore,

the following section embarks upon this world-wide diffusion of English.

2.2.1 World-wide Diffusion of English

English being the LWC has attained this status due to different factors. The

linguists scholars like Crystal (1997); Baraj Kachru (1985; 1992); and Yamuna

Kachru and Cecil L. Nelson (2006) discusses the world-wide diffusion of English.

However, this discussion includes Kachru and Nelson’s (2006) theoretical disposition

banking upon Baraj Kachru’s ‘two diasporas’ and ‘three concentric circles’ (Kachru,

1985; 1992). This discussion is included as it also helps me to locate the status of

English as a second language in higher education in Pakistan: under the influence of

colonialism. They describe the spread of English as a result of two diasporas:

The first arose as consequence of the migration of English speaking people

from Great Britain to Australia, North America and New Zealand. The second

resulted primarily from the diffusion of English among speakers of diverse

group of people and languages as a result of colonialism. (Kachru & Nelson,

2006, p. 9)

They view the field of English studies in pedagogical context “whether in the first or

the second diaspora,” as “fraught with debate and controversies” (ibid, p.

10).Therefore, in order to study teaching and learning of English in any of these

55

contexts it is significant to look at the English using world in terms of three concentric

circles as B. Kachru (1985) suggests. Inner circle comprises ‘mother country’:

England and British Isles and those countries where Britishers migrated during first

diaspora, as mentioned above. The next is the outer circle, which includes ex-colonies

like India, Pakistan, Singapore, Nigeria, and the Philippines. In these countries

English was introduced and infused by some colonial administrators, businessmen,

educators and missionaries. Today it is nurtured by the vast majority of indigenous

multilingual users as a second language (ESL). The expanding circle countries like

China, Japan, and South Korea use English as an international medium for business

and commerce. In these countries English is considered as a foreign language

(EFL).In this elaborated book on world Englishes, the authors focused on teaching

and learning of English in the context of South Asian countries. Particularly making

English a native language due to indigenous efforts is explicated in the outer circle

countries with the focus on research in second language acquisition and acculturation.

However, Shah (2015) criticises that Kachru and Nelson (2006) did not discuss the

impact of English on “change in the traditional cultures, as well as the effect of English

on relations between males and females” (p. 39). I have also found this gap. Unlike

Shah, I have found a need to address the impact of technology that determines new

ways for women to teach and learn English beyond the impact of colonisation.

Additionally, in the context of Pakistan, the linguists find English imperialism caught

up in the dichotomy of love-hate, which is the focus of following discussion.

2.2.2 Rejection versus Acceptance of English in Pakistan

English teaching and learning in Pakistan has always been received with

disdain on one end, and admiration on the other. Evidently, the roots of this conflict

lie in the colonial past. This impact of colonialism on the teaching and learning of

56

English is the field of interest in Rahman’s works (2004; 2005; 2006; 2010). Rahman

(2010) in his seminal work, research, which rests on the notion of ‘linguistic capital’

as defined by Pierre Bourdieu6, concludes that at the moment, English is the language

of globalization with the following consequences:

1. The weakening and death of the smaller (weaker) languages of the world has

increased pace (Crystal 2000; Nettle & Romaine 2000).

2. English has emerged as the language of wider intra-and inter- cultural

communication (Crystal 2003).

3. English, therefore, has more linguistic capital than most other languages in

the global context.

4. In ex-colonies of English-speaking power (like Pakistan) English continues to

consolidate, and even increase, its linguistic capital as it opens doors to

lucrative employment in the corporate sector and advantage in the higher

echelons of the state sector (Rahman, 2007).

5. English, therefore, is the most powerful language of our times. (Rahman,

2010, pp 11-12)

Therefore, this linguistic capital haunts the realm of higher education institutions,

firstly due to the impact of colonialism as reflected in the language policies of

Pakistan, secondly being the language of globalization, and technology, which is the

most powerful tool of education today.

In his earlier work Rahman (2006, p. 74) referred to ‘overt policy’ of

education, ‘which was enshrined in the 1973 constitution’; and Rahman (2010) finds

the root of this language dilemma thus:

6a French sociologist

57

English was supposed to continue as the official language of Pakistan until the

time that the national language(s) replaced it. However, this date came and

went, as did many other dates before it and English is as firmly entrenched in

the domains of power in Pakistan today as it was in 1947. ( p. 25)

This policy of proposed and not executed abandonment of English is one of the

reasons of resulting conflict of resistance and acceptance. Moreover, criticising "the

state’s covert support to English in the education sector”, Rahman (2010, p. 54)

argues that the government of Pakistan actually spends public funds on promoting

education in English to create a class of administrators.

If Pakistan adopts “a policy of complete rejection, the ‘ostrich’ approach,” it is

suicidal for “it would cut off Pakistan from the advantages of globalization” (Rahman,

2010, p. 15). So, in order to reap the benefits and to produce competent professionals,

English remained a medium of education at tertiary level education, and a compulsory

subject from kindergarten level. Although, Rahman (2010) criticises this policy for

becoming “the elite’s patronage of English in the name of efficiency and

modernization” (p. 25), it cannot be excluded from the education system owing to the

strong impact of technology.

In addition, elucidating the three Muslim responses to teaching and learning of

English, Rahman (2010) traces its roots back in British India. He firstly describes,

rejection and resistance either due to “a reaction to their political defeat at the hands

of the English” or “part of their boundary-marking (Othering) on religious grounds”

(p. 153). Secondly, acceptance and assimilation of English by secular and

Westernized Muslims, who claimed that from the pragmatic point of view, it was

foolish to resist English especially when others were getting British employment.

Hence, the modernizing reformers: ‘Abdul Latif (1828-93) and Sir Syed Ahmad Khan

58

(1817-99)’ compelled “Muslims to learn English and take their due share in power

under the British” (ibid, p. 154).Thirdly, the pragmatic utilization approach, which

allows selective adoption for tactical reasons and

...it is common to the Islamists all over the world even now. Fanatical groups,

inspired by Islamist thought, such as the al-Qaeda of Osama Bin Laden are

always ready to use modern technology and learn English to acquire it though

they remain averse to the Western world view. (Rahman, 2010, p. 155)

In short, the status of English from British Indian to Pakistani Muslim society has

always suspected the teaching and learning of English for its association with alien

values. Therefore, women being secluded household figures have always been kept

away from this English (ferangi) cultural tool. However, for pragmatic reasons some

Muslims want to teach and learn English so as to gain autonomy and empowerment

(Rahman, 2010). Elucidating this, in a survey of 488 students from different

educational institutions, teaching no English to using English almost as a first

language, he has found that because of the normative content of the discourses one is

exposed to; the concept of rights of women get internalized in the students of elitist

English medium schools. Although, Rahman has not addressed the impact of

technology on teaching and learning of English on women, it helps to locate the

elevated status of women in Islamist institutions, which favours modern education

with religious restrictions. Thus, it gives me the space to evaluate the technological

determinism on women teaching ESL in the institutions of higher education.

2.2.3 The Challenges to ESL Feminist Pedagogy in Higher Education

The above discussion reveals that until recently, education for women and

therefore by the women was considered unnecessary in many parts of Pakistan;

although some Islamist institutions and secular world view say otherwise. Such a

59

view favours involvement of women in pedagogical practices in the realm of higher

education. I propose that the educated female ESL teachers in higher education

institutions are feminist pedagogues, as the use of technology makes the teachers

create supportive environment not only for female but also for male learners.

Although, women access to the tertiary level institutions in Pakistan for English

language teaching and learning is not equally facilitative and accommodating, yet a

number of women are the part of faculty of English Departments in most of the

institutions of higher education in Pakistan.

2.2.3.1 Women’s Learning of English and Socio-cultural Issues in Pakistan

Exploring different worlds of Pakistani women of Mansehra region, Shah

(2015) finds that Pakistani society makes the learning of English for women quite

difficult at higher level of education. Investigating the social attitudes to female

English literacy and its impact on traditional values, her argument rests on

‘Bourdieu’s (1979, 1984) notion of inequity as the result of ineffective and non-

sustainable language policies’ in Pakistan; and Sadiqi (2003) model of Islamic

feminism. She studies various factors hindering women’s learning of English in

Pakistani social context of urban and rural areas, by studying attitudes through

questionnaires, interviews and participatory observation. The solution to these

problems can be proposed through the feminist pedagogical practices for fostering

ESL learner autonomy (see Chapter 3.2).

Shah (2015) maintains that the urban class is confused due to their exposure

towards traditional culture as well as modernization. In contrast, the rural class

showed rejection for women learning English. Moreover, she identifies “the men’s

attitudes as the most important factor that affect women’s English language learning”

(Shah, 2015, p. 251). Although, Shah agrees that learning English is important in

60

modern age as it leads the way to many fields of knowledge and higher education,

especially those of science and technology. She focuses women’s learning of English

with the objective to place mother’s influence on child’s learning “due to frequent

child contact with the mother in the medium of English” (ibid, p. 88). In this way,

Shah’s study is limited to learning of English; and it has not addressed the impact of

technology on women teachers’ pedagogical practices.

2.2.3.2 The Limitations of ELT Reforms in Higher Education in Pakistan

On the other hand investigating the efforts of government for higher education

by HEC Pakistan, Shamim (2011), criticises the deficiencies of the English Language

Teaching Reforms (ELTR) project Phase I and II started in 2004 as Faculty

Development Programme. She maintains that reason behind it is not in the policies, as

each new government targets “teaching English to the masses as a way of achieving

its democratic ideals of equality of opportunity” (Shamim, 2011, p. 4). These steps

ensued are ideal, but implementations cannot be found in the public at large due to

practical constraints. However, the faculty development projects of ELTR committee

have focused objectives as:

(a) to review and evaluate the English language teaching capacity of a national

sample of general and professional universities in Pakistan; and (b) to make

recommendations for the reorganisation of English language teaching

departments in public sector institutions of higher education. (Shamim, 2011,

p. 7)

The findings of her project show that the socioeconomic profiles of Pakistani English

teachers and learners are almost the same. Most of the teachers are not qualified

specifically in English language teaching. The teachers who participate in

conferences, workshops and professional development programmes are very few in

61

number. English language teaching programmes in universities are offered at

undergraduate as well as postgraduate levels. Although, in her research the teachers

and learners rated currently available English language courses highly in terms of

their future needs and challenges, the ESL pedagogical scenario demands more focus

in this area.

Table 2.1: Faculty Benefitted through CPD Courses: Phase I and II

Region

Phase I - No. of Participants Trained - Phase II TOTA

L 2004

-05

2005

-06

2006

-07

2007

-08

2008

-09

2010

-11

2011

-12

2012

-13

2013

-14

AJK

30 30

Balochistan 20 0 0 31 48 46 18 163

Federal

Area 51 65 20 32 20 18 24 17 247

Khyber

Pakhtunkhw

a

19 82 86 22 61 41 58 99 20 488

Punjab 63 132 100 55 88 52 77 80 36 683

Sindh 84 109 133 1 26 22 51 74 500

TOTAL 237 388 339 141 175 213 199 254 165 2136

Source: Higher Education Commission, 2016

According to HEC website the faculty members are given short term CPD trainings

in the following areas:

Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL)

Testing& Evaluation

Research Methodology& Skills

Andragogical /Pedagogical Skills (Teaching Practicum, Communication Skills)

Open& Customized Programs in ELT related areas (EAP, ESP, ESL, ELT)

The positive point of departure is the statistical data that shows a good number of

English tertiary level teachers benefitted through CPD courses in Phase I and II. It

62

shows a constant effort of the government of Pakistan to train women and men ESL

teachers (see Table 2.1).

2.3 Use of Technology in ESL Teaching in Pakistan: A Historical Perspective

Technology is a gift of God. After the gift of life it is perhaps the greatest of

God’s gifts. It is the mother of civilizations, of arts and of sciences. (Dyson,

1988, p. 270)

Language pedagogy owes a lot to this modern technology from its crude tools to

the most modern technological gadget—the state of the art, computers. The early

history of technology in language education globally is well documented elsewhere7.

However, this discussion focuses conceptualization of technology aided ESL

teaching-learning with reference to its practice in Pakistani institutions of higher

education. Technology assisted second language acquisition is “assumed to be

informed by a philosophy of language teaching and learning” (Levy, 1997, p.1).

Nevertheless, the research in applied linguistics supports technology integration in

second language acquisition to some extent, and less still provide information of the

teachers’ use of technology for developing learner autonomy. Moreover, researchers

identify technology-aided instruction and centrality of theoretical implications of

learner autonomy for language learning a common thread (Chambers & O'Sullivan,

2004). Till to date, different disciplines including applied linguistics and particularly

research in the field of SLA provides theoretical background to the studies on

technology facilitated language learning. Nevertheless, Levy’s (1997) conclusion

finds field of instructional technology rich for being a multidisciplinary discipline (see

Figure I). The proposition that research on SLA should process research in the field of

7 A useful discussion on technology-aided language teaching-learning with specific reference to CALL

is given in Chapter 1 of Levy’s (1997) book. A short history of CALL from 1965-1985 is given by

Ahmed, Corbett, Rogers & Sussex (1985) in Chapter 3 of their book.

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instructional technology is supported by researchers and practitioners (Levy, 1997).

From B.F Skinners behaviourist theory to the theories and models of learner

autonomy there are about three score diverse phenomenon and specialist frameworks.

My purpose here is to review these models, theories and approaches to use technology

with specific reference to second language teaching. This would give space to the

argument of impact of technology on the female teachers teaching ESL in higher

education institutions of Pakistan; and its manifestation as the development of learner

autonomy.

In the 1950s and early 1960s the empiricist theory of language teaching

emerged, “a theory described by Stern (1983, p. 169) as ‘pedagogically

audiolingualism, psychologically behaviourism, linguistically structuralism” (Levy,

1997, p.14). These all three schools of thought supported language teaching and

learning. Audiolingualism emphasized the use of the target language in spoken form

and students were expected to learn the language through a process of habit

formation, that is, practice (Levy, 1997, p. 14). Watson’s, Pavlov’s and Skinner’s

theories of behaviourism in learning haunted the realms of language pedagogy

globally. According to them learning is the result of positive or negative

reinforcement in “response to an external stimulus” (Duffy, Mc.Donald, & Mizell,

2005, p. 14). The audio-lingual approach to language teaching with the aid of

technology emerged when Skinner (1954) advocated the use of teaching machines for

individualized learning and instruction followed by establishment of language

laboratories with audio-lingual drill and practice based programmes in specific

globally. Although, this audioligual approach did not directly focus the learner and

learner autonomy, however, use of technology allowed individualized and self-paced

learning. In Pakistan such language laboratories marked the pioneering use of

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technology into the ESL curriculum (Irshad, 2008). These laboratories were limited to

a few elite public schools and language teaching institution and Universities, but they

were the source of integration of technology in the ESL pedagogy and a step towards

fostering learner autonomy in Pakistan.

Later, with the development of computers, the software developers have found

the audio-lingual approach, particularly drill and practice exercises suitable to create

language learning software. This gave way to PLATO (Programmed Logic for

Automatic Teaching) that started at the University of Illlinois in 1960 and TICCIT

(Time- Shared, Interactive, Computer Controlled Information Television) project

started in 1971 at Brigham Young University: the initial computer assisted language

learning programmes that conceptualized CALL (Levy,1997).Even at this time the

role of the teacher was focused as PLATO allowed TUTOR authoring language,

which directly involved language teachers rather than researchers in authoring CALL

courseware, and extensive efforts were made to ensure that TUTOR was easy to use

for the non-programmers: teachers (Hart, 1995). Elucidating this first phase of

technology intrusion into language pedagogy Warschauer (1996) calls it as

behaviouristic phase of CALL; and opines that programs of this phase constituted

language drills and can be referred to as “drill and practice” (or, more pejoratively as,

“drill and kill”).Although, the teachers and researchers did not focus on the learner

autonomy, the computer allowed learners to decide their path and allowed self-paced

individualized learning which corroborates autonomous learning. This aspect of the

technology attracted the teachers to incorporate technology for enhancing language

learning outcomes.

This increasing educational propensity towards technology gave way to the

gradual induction of computer laboratories in educational institutions world-wide,

65

which indeed was a positive step towards development of educational technology and

development of computer technology underpinning technology in ESL perspectives in

Pakistan. The Government of Pakistan (1999) reported that by the year 1985 forty-

eight mainframe computers and fifty minicomputers were installed in public sector;

and in private sector eleven mainframe computers and fifty nine mini computers were

installed including educational and non educational sector Meanwhile, institutions of

Higher Education also established computer departments. Moreover, Quaid-i-Azam

University Islamabad (2000) established department of Computer Science in 1976;

and the computer centre was inducted in the university four years back, that is in

1972. This was by no means unique in that era. However, in late 1980s The Punjab

University Lahore and Agha Khan University Karachi included computer

departments.

In that age of late 1970s new humanistic approaches to language teaching and

learning emerged. Notable methods were Community Language Learning (Curran,

1976) and Total Physical Response (Asher, 1977). These models focused the

individual as a whole, including emotions, feelings and affective dimensions

(Moskowitz, 1978). But Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) affected the

technology intrusion into language teaching the most. The adoption of these theories

into technology-assisted language learning compelled Warshauer (1996) to call it

Communicative CALL phase. In that era the invention of microcomputers led to the

increased interest in integrating this technology into language education, “and much

software was produced, but without a unified theory supporting its structure and

content” (Levy, 1997, p. 22).The role of the teacher was crucial in this age of

technology, as material developers, and users; and teachers’ autonomous use of

technology was one of the main reasons for integration of technology into classroom

66

practices. Jones (1986) stresses the importance of teachers’ role in this way it is not so

much the program, more what the teacher do with it. Another important use of

technology in language teaching was emerged with the development of word

processor (Wresch, 1984). Despite the fact that in 1980s microcomputers were

quickly becoming the part of higher education worldwide and was incorporated in

ESL, in that era National Education Policies and Five Year Development Plans for

education in Pakistan did not include computer literacy (Irshad, 2008). It resulted in

delayed wide spread use of technology for facilitating language teaching and learning.

In 1990s the technological developments in “the Internet has produced another

leap forward in terms of greater access to material, people, and learning

environments” (Levy, 1997, pp. 31,32) and a further breakthrough was made in 1992

with the World Wide Web (WWW). Internet is continually evolving and it allows

passing great quantity and quality of digital information to pass and also integration of

multiple media that enables language teachers to incorporate diverse applications of

technology. This Internet technology was proved to be important vehicle for

developing learner autonomy through activities which enable students to study

without getting help from teachers (Joshi, 2012). Considering this global popularity

and use of technology in education, the Government of Pakistan paid attention to the

importance of computer in education sector by introducing some ground-breaking

steps in National Education Policy 1992. The use of computer technology across

subject areas including ESL in educational institutions was accentuated in the

following words:

Computer literacy and computer education will be emphasized and a part of

curricula at all levels. All training programmes of teachers, and education

administrators will include computer education as a compulsory component.

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Computer-aided instruction will be used as an important tool to enrich the

teaching-learning process. (National Education Policy, 1992, p.67)

This policy, unlike the previous polices conceptualized the technology aided

education and framed the scenario for technological development of educational

institutions. Therefore, the educational institutions across the country were equipped

with computer centres, internet connections; moreover, the vocational institutes

included computer literacy training programmes for teachers and administrators.

Irshad (2008) describes the strategic importance of this policy:

It announced the introduction of computer education from primary level to the

degree level and also in the vocational colleges that lead to the indirect

learning of ESL through computers for the reason that the medium of

instruction and available literature for teaching computer is primarily in

English in Pakistan. Consequently, the educational institutions were equipped

with the computer laboratories that gradually allowed the ESL learners at all

levels at least to be acquainted with the technology and computer as mode for

learning since inception of computer laboratories was without qualified

teachers. However, the scenario changed progressively when university

graduates in computer science were employed in educational institutions.

Later this was proved to be an important step in the development of computer

technology to facilitate ESL pedagogy in public and private educational

institutions. (pp. 44-45).

From late 1990s and the start of new millennium saw a boom in technological

advancement due to extraordinary developments in internet and gradual evolution in

multimedia technology. Warschauer (2004) refers this phase of technology as

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integrative phase as through multimedia technology users can access a variety of

media for example text graphics, sound, animation and video, on a single computer

that was introduced in TICCIT. But these modern multimedia resources allowed

teachers to create programmes integrating multiple media in one courseware: which is

called as hypermedia. This enabled language learners to navigate their path simply by

pointing and clicking the mouse. The internet introduced Computer Mediated

Communication (CMC), which opened new dimensions for pedagogues and

administrators. This period of technological evolutions with its incessant intervention

in language pedagogy, determined new paths for language teaching in Pakistan too.

Throughout these developmental phases of technology “theories of language and

language learning have influenced the way in which the current technology has been

used, while technology has also had an impact on the theory underlying the

pedagogical techniques employed” (Littlemore & Oakey, 2004, p. 95).

The National Education Policy 1998-2010 offered pedestal for implementation

of locally developed technology programs to suit the needs of ESL pedagogy in the

country. Kronstadt (2004) illustrates that in Pakistan “in July 2004 government

agreements were announced with private companies for providing computer

education at all of the country’s public schools” (p.3).

2.3.1 Technological Determinism and ESL Pedagogy

Underpinning the theory of technological determinism in language pedagogy,

Warschauer (2004), has described ten recent and future technological developments

that will take place. Some of them are already taking place in this age of technology,

and he discussed the five types of changes these developments may enable in the field

of language pedagogy. These developments in technology provide more opportunities

for the teachers to use technology in ESL teaching practices. According to

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Warschauer (2004), firstly, technology has influenced the context in which English is

taught due to its increased use on media around the world. The growth of media has

increased the number of English speakers on the globe. Under such influence, he

predicts, in future there will be no distinction between native English speaker, ESL

speaker, and EFL. English teachers involved in CALL in the developed world

commonly stated:

A computer is just a tool; it is not an end in itself but a means for learning English.

Yet recently one EFL teacher in Egypt noted English is not an end in itself; it’s

just a tool for being able to use computers and get information on the Internet.

(Warschauer, 2004, p. 8).

Secondly, this scenario has given rise to new ‘literacies’ (see discussion in

Warschauer, 1999, 2003). Previously, the reader used to make an attempt to

understand the meaning of a single author; conversely, today reading has become an

attempt to interpret information and create knowledge from a variety of on-line

sources. According to him, on-line research demands a lot of critical decision making

even on the first step that is only reading. In such context, he speculates, in the online

future, virtually all literacy will necessitate critical judgment, where only a few

decades ago critical literacy was presented as a special category of language

education. Thirdly, the new genres like web page development and e-mail writing

skills will be focused instead of traditional essay writing. Fourthly, the increased

importance of online communication is also contributing to new identities. For

example, people create web pages with new identities or even at times fake or false.

Fifthly, the development of technology and CALL has given rise to new pedagogies.

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Table 2.2: The Three Stages of CALL

Stage

1970s-1980s:

Structural CALL

1980s-1990s:

Communicative

CALL

21st Century:

Integrative CALL

Technology Mainframe PCs Multimedia and

Internet

English-Teaching

Paradigm

Grammar-

Translation &

Audio-

Lingual

Communicate

Language Teaching

Content-Based,

ESP/EAP

View of Language

Structural

(a formal structural

system)

Cognitive

(a mentally

constructed

system)

Socio-cognitive

(developed in

social

interaction)

Principal Use of

Computers

Drill and Practice Communicative

Exercises

Authentic

Discourse

Principal Objective Accuracy Fluency Agency

Source: Based on Kern & Warschauer, 2000; Warschauer, 1996; Warschauer,

2000a, as cited in

The development in technology with reference to language teaching, in the earlier

work of Warschauer (2001), has been described as a shift from structural to

communicative and finally to integrative phase of CALL (see Table 2.2). He claims

that each phase focuses on principal teaching objectives of that particular

contemporary pedagogical practice: accuracy, fluency and agency respectively. The

concept of agency is in focus as a principal teaching objective in contemporary ESL

feminist pedagogical practices, in which technology tied use of language determines

power relationships of ESL teachers and learners’ world.

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2.3.2 Factors Influencing Teachers’ Use of Technology

Use of technology inherent language learning gains in autonomous or

individualized or bidirectional pedagogical scenario. So far, the specialized literature

on the use of technology for English as second language teaching is replete with

examples of positive learning outcomes (see for example Warschauer, 2000; Blin,

2005; Irshad, 2008, 2011). The incentive of language learning gains is the first and

foremost reason which compels the teacher to integrate technology in their everyday

teaching plans.

Table 2.3: Summarized from Lee (2000)

Contribution to Learning Learner Autonomy potential of

technology

Experiential learning Learn from a huge amount of human

experience by browsing WWW.

Motivation Learn from multiple media and variety of

activities on-line.

Enhance student achievement Learn from self –instruction and self-

confidence through specific CALL

programmes

Authentic material for study Learning from a variety of e-reading

material is accessible 24 hours.

Greater interaction Learn by interacting via email, and social

networking cites.

Individualization Learn by working on one’s own pace on

word processor etc.

Independence from single source of

learning

Learn through wider on-line access

beyond classroom

Global understanding Learn by becoming a part of the global

village via internet.

The Table 2.3 above shows Lee’s (2000) elucidation of learning gains by

using technology. Though, she does not address learner autonomy as an outcome of

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language learning, yet I argue that the descriptive potentiality of technology implies

it. The ESL tertiary level teachers own encounter with the technology gives the

realization of its potential; secondly, today the learners are familiar to this

technology and use it both inside and outside the classroom. Hence, ESL learner

extrinsic motivation for the use of computer can be conditioned to obtain enhanced

language learning gains. To Lee instruction techniques with the use of computers

help ESL learner reinforce linguistic skills and positively affect learning attitude

and grant learner autonomy. The Internet allows the ESL learners to use various

resources of authentic reading materials that can be accessed 24 hours a day at a

relatively low cost inside and outside the class. Substantiating this Lee (2000) has

found:

In a world where the use of the Internet becomes more and more

widespread, an English Language teacher’s duty is to facilitate students’

access to the web and make them feel citizens of a global classroom,

practicing communication on a global level. (n.p.)

But, doing so requires Pakistani tertiary level teachers to be competent enough, in

the use of technology, so as to incorporate it in her everyday pedagogical practices

effectively.

2.3.3 ESL Teachers’ Competence in Technology

Competence in the use of technology for pedagogical practices commonly

refers to computer literacy or computer proficiency; this competence in the context of

my study, means the effective use of computers, internet, and other digital

technological resources like cell phone for teaching English. In the specialized

literature, on the use of technology for the pedagogical process, the term computer

proficiency and computer competence is used to refer to the use of technology for

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academic purposes. Computer competency entails the “basic knowledge of how to

operate a computer and what the computer can do, familiarity with some computer

terminology and some knowledge of dealing with commonly encountered problems”

(Lee, 2001, p. 4). Moreover, computer competence is not limited to teachers’

computer knowledge but also “the skills and experience necessary for putting them

into use”.

The researchers have commonly found competence in the use of technology

imperative for the adult education especially the necessary computer knowledge and

skills so as to be able to teach their classes with computers (Levy, 1997; Haider,

2013) supports this idea by stating that teachers “who have more experience in

teaching and in technology use, especially in practice, are more likely to integrate

technology in their classrooms” (p.113). According to these ideas, it can be concluded

that computer competent and experienced teachers are better implementers of

computers in their lessons. Hertz (1987, 183; as cited in Levy, 1997) defines four

levels of computer competence for language teachers. These levels are as follows:

Level 1: the computer using teacher

Level 2: the non-programming author of courseware content

Level 3: the user of authoring systems;

Level 4: the teacher as programmer. (p. 106).

Level 1 includes teachers who have basic computer skills and can use computers in

their lessons. At the second level, teachers can use CALL materials, but they cannot

create their own programs. At the third level, teachers can use authoring systems and

can make their own materials. The last level involves teachers who can program their

own materials easily. Lee (2001) also describes a number of features for teachers’

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effective use of software and the first property is teachers’ having “a certain level of

computer competency in the use of computers” (p. 4). Additionally, investigating the

reasons of teachers’ reluctance to use technology in their lessons, Lam (2000) found

two of the reasons related to their computer competence. One of them was the lack of

knowledge about teaching L2 with computers and the other one was lack of

confidence in computers skills. In the light of these, to be a competent teacher is

really important so; most of the researchers indicated the training need of teachers

who lack computer competence before using computers in their lessons successfully

(Lee, 2001). In other studies it was concluded that computer competence and use of

computers are related with each other (Haider, 2013). These studies also conclude that

teachers having moderate competence level have also positive attitudes towards

information technology. In this continuously developing technology age, teachers’

using computers effectively has great importance. Duffy, McDonald & Mizell (2005)

underline this importance by stating that “using a computer will become as essential

as reading” (p. 400) and they additionally indicate that teachers will try to improve

their computer competence level in order to use the new technology in a proper and

effective way.

Haider (2013) in a descriptive research study, conducted with ten ESL

Pakistani teachers working at different Intermediate Colleges and using computers in

their lessons, have found teachers’ level of computer competence varies between little

and moderate. He has also found that the teachers

...have no or little competence in handling some computer functions such as

installing a new software, operating a presentation program, solving simple

problems in operating computers, selecting, evaluating and using an

educational software, teaching their students with CALL materials and

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creating or developing and maintaining their own CALL materials. (Haider,

2013, p.231)

Training teachers in the use of technology is a way to combat the problems of

conventional system of ESL education i.e. the large number of students and little

material resources to educate them all (Hubbard & Levy 2006; Jung 2001; Park &

Son 2009; Irshad, 2008; 2015). In this context, Hubbard and Levy (2006) argue

Along with the growing influence of technology in language teaching and

learning, there has been parallel growth in the development of course work to

prepare language teachers to use the technology. Such preparation ranges from

reading a single chapter within a comprehensive methodology textbook...or

participating in a one-time in-service workshop, through dedicated courses and

seminars, CALL course series, CALL certificates, and even CALL graduate

degrees. (p.15)

Training of the teachers can be based on one-to-one or small group tutoring so that

teachers can practice computer literacy skills and can be competent in CALL in their

own contexts (Park & Son, 2009). In addition, such courses should allow teachers to

connect their knowledge and skills for use of technology with actual classroom

teaching practices. In Pakistani higher education context some steps are proved to be

ground breaking in teacher technology education, nonetheless, such efforts are

limited.

2.3.3.1 Limitations of CALL Subcommittee

Higher Education Commission (HEC) Pakistan has taken an important

initiative by establishing a CALL subcommittee, realizing the need to promote

modern instructional technology for ESL pedagogy in Pakistan. According to Rana

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(n.d.), the CALL subcommittee has been working with national and international

experts to promote integration of technology in ESL pedagogy with the aim to

provide training courses and workshops to the computer literate and illiterate teachers,

so that computer technology may be adopted to facilitate ESL pedagogy. CALL

subcommittee, as per its plan has established Self Access Centres (SAC) in four

universities with computers and internet facilities in model Departments/Centres in

higher education institutions. In addition, it is conducting on-line English teachers’

training courses; and an access to distance/on-line ESL teaching-learning and testing

via authentic language learning websites (Rana, n.d.). However, the aims and targets

set by CALL subcommittee are not accomplished as per the planned time line even

after a decade of establishment, though, for such grand tasks this period is not long.

Still, the importance of HEC CALL subcommittee cannot be denied, as it is indeed a

first formal plunge into the pool of instructional technology for higher education. In

Pakistan, Rana (2006) finds there

…is a common perception about computer technology in educational

institutions in Pakistan. Computer technology is primarily connected with the

computer science departments. Rather than considering it as an educational

tool to be used throughout the system, it is delegated its place in the science. It

is generally not utilized as a tool in the humanities and social sciences. (p.

102)

In such context, it seems illusory to expect the effective use of technology in ESL

higher education and that too by women ESL teachers to gain autonomy and grant

autonomy to their students. However, some documented researches have addressed

this issue at a preliminary level (for example, Rana, 2006). In this qualitative research

with five participants, both ESL teachers and learners, from higher education

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institution Rana finds a positive impact of technology on these women. However, she

finds lack of computer and internet facilities a hindrance to higher education. I will

address this obstacle as a barrier to gain ESL teaching learning autonomy. The study

of the literature reveals that a few serious efforts have been made for promoting use of

technology in Pakistani tertiary level ESL teaching-learning from Audio-lingual

Method to CAI/CALL. The steps taken by the government strengthen the fact that the

use of technology is an important field in ESL pedagogy and research in Pakistan.

Moreover, the information and communication technologies, and facilities for

instructional technologies have entered a phase of progress to the extent to be

integrated in the ESL pedagogy for optimal learning gains through development of

learner autonomy.

2.4 Learner Autonomy in English as Second Language Pedagogy: A

Historical Perspective

A critical review of related literature on learner autonomy in ESL/EFL leads to

the conclusion that defining learner autonomy is both simple and complex. It is simple

as the very term learner autonomy is self-explanatory, i.e. a learner learning at his

own pace and is making decisions for his own progress. However, the abundant work

on theory and philosophy of learner autonomy provides diverse explanations making

it a complex pedagogical phenomenon.

The practice, theory and philosophy of learner autonomy has been researched,

explored and implemented in the spheres of pedagogy (and this history is documented

in detail in Gremmo & Riley 1995; Little 1991; Benson 2011; Holec 2008;Benson,

2007a). This study aims to address the studies carried out particularly in language

pedagogy, which can assist me to address the population of my study- the Pakistani

female ESL tertiary level teachers, in the past four decades. Nevertheless, the interest

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in learner autonomy like any other humanistic theory has its roots in social, cultural,

political, philosophical and psychological domain. The world political shift and

economic growth that resulted from industrialization brought the concept of social

progress; therein man is identified as an individual important entity (Holec, 1981).

This ideological shift gave birth to the concept of independent and free individuals in

socio-cultural and socio-political sectors. The responsibility to train, groom and

nurture thirst for independence and freedom ultimately lies with education sector.

Whereby, the purpose of education is modified, from producing literate individuals to

responsible autonomous individuals.

Benson (2007a) reports that the concept of learner autonomy in language

learning has its origin in the Council of Europe’s Modern Languages Project formed

in 1971, which led to the publication of Holec’s (1981) influential report, in which he

defines autonomy as ‘the ability to take charge of one’s own learning’ (p. 3). The

initial focus was on self-directed learning and self-access centres due to the wide

spread influence of technological revolutions. Holec (1981) has described autonomy

as an attribute of the learner, the term was also used to describe learning situations, as

Dickinson (1987) describes autonomy as ‘the situation in which the learner is totally

responsible for all of the decisions concerned with his learning and the

implementation of those decisions’ (p.11). The other revolutionary concepts

associated with it included: learner-centred classroom, rejection of traditional

pedagogical practices and ‘a radical restructuring of language pedagogy’ (Allwright,

1988, p. 35).

The second wave of interest in autonomy, according to Benson (2007a), in

1990s included some important theoretical implications. Some studies, of that decade,

included the concept of independence, for example, Dickinson (1992) elucidated

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learners’ cognitive and behavioural independence in the classroom, while Dam (1995)

reflected on the principles of autonomy and their possible integration into secondary

school classrooms without self-access or formal learner training. The concept of

independent learning is of interest and value in many studies. However, it was often

criticized for being too ambitious and utopian. It often connotes teachers’ presence in

the class as a passive teacher. The studies in this decade also included the theme of

interdependence instead of independence (Little, 1991); and that the learner autonomy

did not imply any particular mode of practice, but was instead dependent upon the

quality of the ‘pedagogical dialogue’ between teachers and learners (Little, 1995).

The third context of growing interest in the development of learner autonomy is in the

...deconstruction of conventional language learning classrooms and courses in

many parts of the world” and “the tendency has been towards a blurring of the

distinction between ‘classroom’ and ‘out-of-class’ applications, leading to new

and often complex understandings of the role of autonomy in language

teaching and learning. (Benson, 2007a, p. 22)

This brief discussion on learner autonomy brings forth numerous concepts and

theories underlying the philosophy of learner autonomy. However, my conception of

learner autonomy is limited. It is based on ESL tertiary level context of feminist

pedagogues.

2.4.1 Defining Learner Autonomy

As discussed earlier, learner autonomy is difficult and often complex to define

(Little & Dam, 1998; Little, 2002; Finch, 2002; Blin, 2008) owing to the diverse and

multiple interpretations of the term. Oxford (2003) elucidates that this complexity has

diminished the importance of learner autonomy for the language teachers. Therefore,

it becomes difficult for teachers to implement it in pedagogical process (Reinders,

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2010). However, the real scenario does not support this view, whereby teachers,

researchers and pedagogues are often found exploring and implementing learner

autonomy in classroom. Therefore, the present part of the dissertation will embark on

the specialized literature to simplify the complexity of learner autonomy by

elaborating on what learner autonomy is not.

The complexity of the philosophies, associated with theory and practice of

learner autonomy, are inherent in the misinterpretations and misconceptions pointed

out by practitioners and researchers (Little, 1990). These misinterpretations are

generated owing to the abundant and diverse definitions and explanations of learner

autonomy. The five false perceptions highlighted by Little (1990) are presented in

Figure 2.1 and are elaborated here:

Firstly, autonomy is not synonymous to ‘self-instruction’; thus, an

autonomous learner needs a teacher as an instructor. Benson & Voller (1997) concede

to this point and note that research provides little evidence about those self-

instructional modes of learning to lead to greater autonomy or independence.

Secondly, in the pedagogical practice autonomy is not ‘abdication of responsibility on

the part of the teacher’. It is a reciprocal process that involves both ‘letting go’ and

‘taking hold’ (Little & Dam, 1998). It involves intrapersonal initiation and

interpersonal collaboration. Thus, a learner in an autonomous learning environment is

not left unattended to pursue learning in a manner that best suits an individual.

Thirdly, autonomous learning-teaching scenario does not entail a teaching method.

Fourthly, autonomy is not a ‘single observable behaviour’ that is expected to be

observed during or at the end of some treatment period, rather it entails number of

observable and unobservable behaviours that lead to make a learner autonomous.

Fifthly, ‘autonomy is not a steady state achieved by learners’. Lastly, according to

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Crabbe (1993) autonomy is not a radical alternative to classroom-based learning. It

actually ensures the quality of learning that can be prompted through cognition via

classroom teaching-learning practices.

Figure 2.1: Five Nots to learner Autonomy Summarized from Little (1990)

The above detailed negatives undoubtedly cater to better conceptualize and

theorize the phenomenon of learner autonomy in general. This generalization would

enable to put forward the practice of development of learner autonomy in English as a

Second Language pedagogy underpinning the theoretical and epistemological

assumptions from the principles of learner autonomy. This leads to the subsequent

query: what learner autonomy is.

What Learner Autonomy is

The critical appraisal of the related literature brings to term with the following

defining traits of learner autonomy in psychology and second language teaching:

willingness to learn, ability to make decisions, capacity to take responsibility of one’s

own learning and a skill to critically evaluate one’s own progress. These defining

abdication of teachers' role

a single observable behaviour

a steady state a learner achieves

a teaching method

Self-instruction Learner

Autonomy is

not

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terms have long been adding complexity to the theoretical models of learner

autonomy, where some practitioners have replaced ability with capacity (for example,

Little, 1990) and some have replaced ‘take responsibility’ with ‘take control’ (for

example, Dam, 1995), while Little (1996) defines it as an ability to be detached, that

is learning independently without a teacher. Wenden (1991) defines it as an ability of

knowing how to learn. Contrarily, Littlewood (1995) stresses that ‘willingness to

learn’ is the definition of learner autonomy believing that nothing can be achieved if

the learner does not have desire to learn. In other words the learner has to be

intrinsically motivated8, that is learner must have a strong instinctive urge9 to pursue

the learning process. The above definition also includes ‘skill to evaluate one’s own

progress’ to elaborate that an autonomous learner achieves a degree of proficiency in

controlling his learning process. Not only this, autonomy enables learner to evaluate

his own learning achievements or failures, without which the learning endeavor

becomes stagnant.

Learner autonomy, in other words, is a stage in learning process that a learner

gains by becoming totally capable of and responsible for taking decisions for his own

learning and implementing those decisions in his learning endeavour (Dickenson,

1991). So I conceive it as women teachers’ freedom, in terms of choice of method,

medium, and even curriculum of ESL tertiary level course. Littlewood (1995) further

defines the core notion of autonomy as the learners’ ability and willingness to make

choices independently. However, the classic definition by Holec (1981) is the starting

point of the most of the research projects in the domain of learner autonomy (Benson,

2009; Dang, 2010), so does in the present research. Moreover, learner autonomy is

described further as the active participation of students in learning process (Benson,

8 the motivation that arises from within 9 a natural desire to do something

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2007a).This discussion leads to one fact that learner autonomy is a subject of growing

interest in education and is on the way of development. To give a holistic

phenomenology, Sinclair (2000) gives the following thirteen defining constructs of

autonomy:

1. Autonomy is a construct of capacity.

2. Autonomy involves a willingness on the part of the learner to take

responsibility for their own learning.

3. The capacity and willingness of learners to take such responsibility is not

necessarily innate.

4. Complete autonomy is an idealistic goal.

5. There are degrees of autonomy.

6. The degrees of autonomy are unstable and variable.

7. Autonomy is not simply a matter of placing learners in situations where they

have to be independent.

8. Developing autonomy requires conscious awareness of the learning process –

i.e. conscious reflection and decision-making.

9. Promoting autonomy is not simply a matter of teaching strategies.

10. Autonomy can take place both inside and outside the classroom.

11. Autonomy has a social as well as an individual dimension.

12. The promotion of autonomy has a political as well as psychological

dimension.

13. Autonomy is interpreted differently by different cultures.

However, even with this much research the notion of complexity and

versatility of learner autonomy cannot be dismissed (Smith and Ushioda, 2009). So

far, the discussion leads to a point: being a multi-disciplinary constituent, the

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definition or description of learner autonomy seems far from obvious to be agreed

upon. These differences are reflected in the realm of five different domains:

Philosophical, political, socio-cultural, and technical or educational (Benson, 1997,

2001, 2006; Dang, 2010; Healy, 2007; Oxford, 2003; Sinclair, 2000). The

philosophical perspective defines autonomy as independence of learner; psychological

perspective values the personal attributes of the learners; the technical perspective

values the factors contributing to favourable learning environment; the socio-cultural

perspective relies on the interaction patterns between learners and their environment,

and interaction with other members of the group; and the political perspective focuses

on learner’s control, power, independence and ideology as an autonomous member of

the community.

To date, the literature on learner autonomy is rich with such diverse

definitions that it is considered as ‘orthodoxy’ 10 of language education. These

complexities are inherent in the misconceptions around the very concept of learner

autonomy (Little 1991). Describing this point, Benson (2009) argues that one of the

misconceptions identified by Little (1991) continues to haunt the realm of learner

autonomy in education. The notion that ‘autonomy is synonymous to self-instruction’

is still a widely held belief of the researchers and teachers working on autonomy.

They consider if a teacher intervenes in the process of acquisition of knowledge it is

‘detrimental to autonomy’.

In the domain of philosophy, autonomy is linked closely to independence,

whereby an individual is expected to be capable of acting as a responsible ‘member of

society’. In the domain of education, autonomy and independence are coupled in

forming the ‘individual as the core of a democratic society’ (Benson & Voller, 1997).

10 “an idea that learners and teachers ignore at their peril” (Benson, 2009)

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In this connection, it is evident that concept of autonomy in society caters to a socio-

political concept, where an individual is expected to have a responsible outlook to

make decisions to operate in harmony with social, political and philosophical

concepts of the community. According to the widely held belief of psychologists,

learning takes place by assimilating new set of knowledge into the existing and

already gained knowledge. Little (1990) puts forward it further by describing the most

efficient learner as the one who is capable of assimilation, which indicates that the

learner has achieved a degree of psychological autonomy.

However, the argument of Benson and Voller (1997) that the political

autonomy- that is to take independent decision- is a ‘right not capacity’ and does not

depend on an individual being responsible. This stance gives yet another direction to

the concept of political autonomy. This political autonomy is ultimately associated

with the autonomy gained in the educational institutions, where the core purpose of

education is to develop responsible independent individuals who can take decisions

for the welfare of their society in general and for themselves in particular. This

concept of individual capacity to develop autonomy has psychological implications

too. Moreover, the individuals’ reflection on his surrounding depicts him as a

responsible, accountable, moral and unselfish citizen in democratic society (Blin,

2008). The individual, who can take responsible decisions and can critically reflect on

the society, thus undoubtedly, has achieved a degree of social and political autonomy.

I perceive that this discussion gives forth the idea: learner being an individual

learns not only through cognition, but also reflection. Cognition falls in the domain of

psychology where an individual constructs the meanings for herself by assimilation.

Latter demands the learner to construct knowledge by interacting with philosophies of

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society inherent in its culture and politics. This philosophy of learner autonomy is

widely studied in the domain of education.

2.4.2 Development of Autonomy through Education

The above discussion emphasizes the implications of the concept of learner

autonomy in education, precisely formal education. In classroom learning pattern

there is twofold interaction: the psychological interaction, that is in the mind of the

learner between new and existing knowledge; and social interaction that is how the

new knowledge is mediated and learner explores new meanings and directions of the

existing knowledge (Little, 1990). The pedagogical practices, including teaching

methods and learner adopted learning strategies promote autonomous learning in

psychological domain.

In politics, the concept of learner autonomy is linked to the idea of making

responsible and free individuals who can operate effectively in the society.

Substantiating this view, Benson (2007a) demarcates this concept of individuals in a

society prevalent today according to European and North American political

philosophy. In my study, I focus on the women teaching and learning autonomy that if

practiced for ESL educational gains may empower women, as this is the one of the

aims of education too. This in turn makes a society politically stable with self-directed

and responsible citizens.

2.4.3 Development of Learner Autonomy in Second Language Teaching

In order to understand the concept of learner autonomy in the domain of

second language teaching it is imperative to understand what an autonomous language

learner achieves. According to Holec (1981) ‘the autonomous language learner takes

responsibility for the totality of his learning situation.’ Holec (1981) further defines

that an autonomous language learner

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determines his own objectives

defines the contents to be learned

decides the track of the progression of the course

selects methods and techniques to be used

monitors the procedure of learning

evaluates what he has acquired

This pioneering holistic theoretical concept by Holec (1981) is the foundation

for all research and practice in the field of second language teaching-learning for the

development of learner autonomy. Thus, beginning with this Holecian ideology the

present research brings to limelight the theories of learner autonomy in second

language learning context. According to Holec (1981) objectives of second language

acquisition are ‘specific to the learner’. Though the learner in the classroom situation

is bound to follow the specific objectives which a teacher presents through a language

paradigm, an autonomous learning situation is flexible enough to entertain learner

specific objectives. Holecian concept entails that the learning objectives are of

learner’s choice and are applicable to ‘internal and external constraints’. The learner

follows her progress in learning the language on the directions decided by

achievement of her ‘set objectives’. This concept of autonomous learning then

requires learner to determine and redefine knowledge from “an objective universal to

a subjective individual knowledge” determined by the learner (Holec, 1981). The

above mentioned, six Holecian steps of determining learner autonomy characterize

self-directed learners. In this context, Benson (2011) presents learner autonomy as

“capacity to take charge of one’s own learning” and a “natural product of the practice

of self-directed learning” or in other words a learning situation where the learner

determines her learning objectives and evaluates her own progress.

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On this language pedagogical context, Holec (1981) notes that the learner’s

communicative needs determine the verbal elements chosen. Learning, thus, proceeds

from ideas to correct grammatical, lexical, and phonological form. The self-directed

learner chooses the methods of instruction through trial-and-error. The development

of autonomy in language learning is governed by three basic pedagogical principles:

learner involvement, learner reflection and appropriate target language use (Little,

2006; Najeeb, 2012). Here learner involvement entails engaging learners to share

responsibility for the learning process. In other words, it is learning on the affective

and the meta-cognitive dimensions. For Benson (2011), meta-cognitive knowledge is

required to organise and manage the language learning process which is largely meta-

linguistic in nature.

Learner reflection refers to helping learners to think critically when they plan,

monitor and evaluate their learning. This reflection of learner into second language

learning deals with the meta-cognitive dimensions. According to Benson (2011),

reflection is an important component of autonomous learning at a number of levels.

He elaborates:

It may even be legitimate to state that the autonomous learner is essentially

one who is capable of reflection at appropriate moments in the learning

process and of acting upon the results. (Benson, 2011, p.95)

Elucidating the development of learner autonomy in second language learning,

Benson (2011) identifies that reflection can take three different forms: reflection on

the target language, on the learning process itself, and finally, “on learning habits or

ways of thinking about learning that are inimical to autonomy” (p.94). Appropriate

target language use establishes the concept of using the target language as the

principal medium of language learning, which works on the communicative and the

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meta-cognitive dimensions. These three basic pedagogical principles are drawn upon

Holec (1981), Allwright (1990) and Little (1991) who theorize learners as those who

are able to reflect on their own learning through knowledge about learning and who

are willing to learn in collaboration with others. The learners, in this way, understand

the purpose of their learning programme, explicitly accept responsibility for their

learning, share in the setting of learning goals, take initiatives in planning and

executing learning activities, and regularly review their learning and evaluate its

effectiveness. In other words, there is a consensus that the practice of learner

autonomy requires insight, a positive attitude, a capacity for reflection, and a

readiness to be proactive in self-management and in interaction with others (Dang,

2010). Nonetheless, the teacher is central to the dialogue on the development of

learning, therefore, the present thesis addresses the role of the teacher in the

development of learner autonomy.

2.4.4 Development of ESL Learner Autonomy in Pakistani Social Landscape

The context of my thesis is to study the development of ESL learner autonomy

in Pakistani social context; especially the context of women in higher education.

Therefore, it is imperative to critically review the literature from this angle.

Nevertheless, the studies conducted globally on this subject provide an insight from

diverse philosophies which help me to conceptualize this phenomenon in my study

context. The following narrative is therefore selective to pinpoint the themes and

concepts relevant to my dissertation. Pakistan is a developing country; therefore, the

education sector is not very much strong. However, the women who reach the higher

education as learners and teachers find better opportunities of education to exercise

autonomy. One reason for it is the part of curriculum of higher education for example,

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Applied Linguistics, TEFL Degree course. Secondly, the path of obtaining tertiary

level education itself is a professional development of a learner or teacher.

On the other hand, the debate which is in focus in this context is on the

autonomy being Western or global. It is often argued that the concept of autonomy is

Western and is inapplicable or inappropriate in non-western context, for example,

Sonaiya (2002) has found it in her study in the African context. To take this concept

further, Holliday (2003; 2005), for example, discusses the idea of autonomy as central

to dominant ELT discourses which counter pose the active Western student to the

passive non-Western ‘Other’. This concept of autonomy is not very well supported in

theory and practice. Debating on this Benson (2007a) argues that this conception of

autonomy and its critique is “somewhat vaguely formulated and inadequately

motivated in both theoretical and empirical terms” (p. 25). However, development of

learner autonomy depends on the teacher, or the way Little (1995) puts it, “the

development of autonomy in learners presupposes the development of autonomy in

teacher” (p. 175).

2.4.5 Teacher Autonomy in ESL Classroom

The philosophy of teacher autonomy in ESL teaching or ELT is not old. It

can be spotted at first in language teaching studies in Allwright (1990) and further

developed by Little (1995) where she linked it to ‘teacher education’ and ‘a

pedagogical dialogue’. In such context, teacher autonomy has come to be regarded as

inevitable for the development of learner autonomy (Allwright, 1990; Little, 1995;

Benson, 2011a; Borg & Al-Busaidi, 2012). Nonetheless, teacher autonomy is not only

a significant but also a problematic concept that has emerged in the field of

development of learner autonomy. A detailed critical review of literature on teacher

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autonomy is presented by Benson (2007 a), which identifies the diversification of the

factors contributing to it and thus states:

Teacher autonomy appears to be understood somewhat differently in language

teaching and broader educational contexts, where it primarily refers to

teachers’ freedom to exercise discretion in curriculum implementation. In the

language teaching literature, there is a much greater emphasis on teacher

autonomy as a professional attribute and the link between teacher autonomy

and learner autonomy. Early work on autonomy discussed changing teacher

roles in new modes of practice. ( p. 30)

This Bensonian idea of teacher autonomy encompasses three domains: teachers’

freedom in curriculum implementation, a professional attribute, and changing teacher

roles. These three ideas support my hypothesis of this study in that teacher autonomy

is a professional attribute means it is inculcated through teacher education

programmes. In such a context, Benson notes that much of the specialized literature

on the development of learner autonomy through teacher autonomy involves a

capacity for self-directed professional development (Thavenius 1999; McGrath 2000;

Smith 2001, 2003; Aoki 2002). In this relation researchers and experts on teacher

autonomy has dismissed the idea of teachers willingness or capacity, thus, puts it in a

way where teachers have both the capacity and willingness and the only next step is

availing opportunities to exercise this autonomy construct in their ESL or ELT

pedagogical practices. Secondly, teacher autonomy demands changing teachers’ roles

as mediator between administration and learners. Benson (2000) argued that for

fostering learner autonomy a teacher should have a self-critical approach to the ways

to mediate the constraints in the classroom, this mediation is crucial to teacher

autonomy. Teachers make many attempts to foster autonomy in the classroom but

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these attempts are typically constrained by factors that are only variably subject to

their control (Benson 2000). However, an idea of teacher autonomy that is related

more to classroom contexts is addressed in Little (1995), as she explains in her article

the idea of development of learner autonomy through pedagogical dialogues in which

teachers exercise their own autonomy. This philosophy is one of the grounded

philosophies of my research on women teachers’ autonomy in Pakistani socio-

educational set up and is elaborated in detail in the next chapter.

Thirdly, teachers in higher educational institution exercise freedom when they

implement the curriculum. Benson (2007a) notes that in the literature of present

millennium a lot of attention has been paid to ‘teacher freedom as a component of

teacher autonomy’ (p. 31), where freedom is considered as an outcome of self-

directed professional development. It also defines teachers’ willingness to influence

the processes of institutional change with respect to curriculum and strategies

(Barfield et al, 2002; Mackenzie 2002). To elaborate on this concept Barfield et al.

(2002) defines teacher autonomy thus:

Characterized by recognition that teaching is always contextually situated,

teacher autonomy is a continual process of inquiry into how teaching can best

promote autonomous learning for learners. It involves understanding and

making explicit the different constraints that a teacher may face, so that

teachers can work collaboratively towards confronting constraints and

transforming them into opportunities for change. (Barfield et al., 2002, p. 218)

This shift in the concept of autonomy, from the classroom contexts to the broader

institutional context, has raised many complicated issues. Nonetheless, sharing the

ideas of Barfield et al. on the dependence of learner autonomy on teacher autonomy,

McGrath (2000) describes that the first step to be an autonomous teacher is “an

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evaluative stance towards elements of the teaching and learning context over which

she has a degree of control”(as cited in Benson, 2011a, p. 174). McGrath (2000) notes

a union between the idea of teacher autonomy as ‘self-directed professional

development’ and ‘teacher research’, ‘reflective practice’, ‘action research’, and

‘teacher development’. The notion of teacher autonomy is not studied in isolation it

has always been the part of the literature on learner autonomy. Johnson (2006) refers

to a socio-cultural turn in second language teaching education, where he identifies the

need for such education to sustain ‘a teaching force of transformative intellectuals

who can navigate their professional worlds in ways that enable them to create

educationally sound, contextually appropriate, and socially equitable learning

opportunities for the students they teach (as cited in Benson, 2008 p. 31). This entails

a wider prospective scope for interaction between work on teacher autonomy and new

conceptions of teachers and teaching in the ESL pedagogy globally.

To sum up, I will summarize Smith’s (2001) categorization of three different

dimensions to teacher autonomy: a capacity for self-directed professional action; a

capacity for self-directed professional development; and freedom from control of

others in the professional action and development. These dimensions guide the field

of ESL teaching for the development of learner autonomy in Pakistani institutions of

higher education. Thus, I hypothesize that female teachers avail the opportunities to

act, develop and control to bring optimal language learning gains for the tertiary level

learners.

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2.4.6 The Role of the Teacher in the Development of Learner Autonomy

I believe that all truly effective learning entails the growth of autonomy in the

learner as regards both the process and the content of learning; but I also

believe that for most learners the growth of autonomy requires the stimulus,

insight and guidance of a good teacher. (Little, 2000, np)

In moving the focus from teaching to learning, and that too on the growth of

learner autonomy doesn’t mean that the teacher becomes obsolete or redundant.

Although, teachers’ roles for autonomous learners have received a lot of attention

recently, there is a dearth of research investigating how language teachers perceive

their roles in ESL pedagogical practices. Nevertheless, the role of the teacher in the

development of learner autonomy has been studied and discussed in diverse socio-

cultural backgrounds (see for example, Little, 1995, 1997; Voller, 1997; Nunan, 2003;

Chiu, 2005). Furthermore, the studies have also explored the role of the teacher to

show various conflicting demands on the teacher that result in role conflict (Braga,

1972). The critical appraisal of these studies shows that these researches have

addressed the role of the teacher on development or fostering learner autonomy from

various angles;

To start with, Gardener & Miller (1999) suggest that the introduction of

autonomy in language learning requires changes in the roles of both teachers and

learners. Nevertheless, it is the teacher who decides to develop learner autonomy in

language learning, therefore, the promotion of autonomy depends to a great extent on

teacher’s redefinition of her own role (Hill, 1994). All the same a re-examination of

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teacher roles is essential if the learners are to become more autonomous (Crabbe,

1999).

Voller (1997) discusses the role of the teacher as perceived in Barnes (1976).

Barnes (1976) describes the potential roles of the teacher on a continuum from

transmission at one end to interpretation at the other. According to him a teacher

transmits knowledge to learners and she is always ready to evaluate and correct the

performance of learners to make sure the knowledge is successfully transmitted;

contrarily, another teacher considered it important to help learners interpret

knowledge by themselves. Thus, such teachers who perform the roles in setting up

dialogues with learners and to help them reorganize their knowledge are following the

philosophy of autonomous learning. Voller (1997) builds his argument of the role of

the teachers on this distinction and emphasizes that teacher who works to foster

autonomous language learning is an interpretation teacher. This distinction also works

in my study, although, my context of discussion follows a social paradigm of teaching

in gender dichotomy. Voller (1997) reviews role of the teacher described in the other

authors and defines that the interpretation “teachers perform their role as helper

(Tough, 1971), facilitator (Knowles, 1975), knower (Curran, 1976), resource (Breen

& Candlin, 1980), consultant (Gremmo & Abe, 1985), counsellor (Knowles, 1986),

coordinator (Hammond & Collins, 1991), and adviser (Sturtridge, 1992)”. However,

he classifies these roles of the teacher into three categories: teacher as facilitator,

teacher as counsellor and teacher as resource. However, I argue that the role of the

teacher is not limited to these defined set of categories, it involves how the teacher

teaches and how teacher interacts with the learners, content of teaching and with the

administrative staff and aspects of teaching within an institution.

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Nevertheless, Voller’s (1997) identification of teacher as facilitator, is within

the scope of my study, therefore, the following discourse address his debate.

Facilitator is a term widely applied for the teacher who is working on the autonomy of

a learner. In my study, one of the traits of the teacher’s personality, which emerges in

a classroom for fostering autonomy, is that of a facilitator. In his attempt to

characterize the role of a facilitator, Voller uses Holec’s (1985) two complementary

roles of a teacher, a provider of technical support and a provider of psycho-social

support. On describing technical support provided by a facilitator, Voller (1997) adds:

firstly, to help learners in planning and to carry out language learning independently

by means of needs analysis, objective setting, work planning, selecting materials, and

organizing interactions; secondly, helping learners evaluate themselves; and thirdly,

helping learners to acquire the skills and knowledge needed to implement the above.

On the other hand, when a teacher provides a psycho-social support it is identified in

terms of: being caring, supportive, patient, empathic, open, non-judgemental;

secondly, motivating learners by encouraging commitment, helping learners to

overcome learning hurdles, preparing to enter into a conversation with peers; thirdly,

raising learners’ awareness by redefining the conceptions about learner and teacher

roles, helping them understand the necessity for developing independent learning

habits (Voller, 1997).

Voller (1997) describes teacher as counsellor in the discussions of autonomous

language learning although “little research has been done to determine exactly how

counsellors counsel” (p. 104). He argues that as a counsellor teacher is an adviser,

who works in more individualized learning contexts such as the staff in self-access

language learning centres; and that counselling implies a one-to-one interaction.

However, such description of a teacher puts her in a more supervisory role of a

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teacher whereas in autonomous learning class the learners are more self-directed.

However, Voller has adopted this term to equate his study on the language learners as

this term appeared for communicative language learning approach in the work of

Richards and Rodgers (1986) and community language learning in the work of

Curran (1976).

However, to Voller the role of the teacher as a counsellor is as it is studied by

Regent (1993). She compares the discourse of a teacher in a traditional French

conversation class with that of a counsellor in a self-directed learning centre by

selecting one extract from a traditional teacher and two extracts from the counsellor to

investigate how discourse influences the development of learner autonomy. After the

short survey of teacher and counsellor discourse, Regent jumps to a conclusion by

making a list of role categories that distinguish teaching from counselling. It is not

clear how she develops these categories from the three extracts. In her list, there are

19 categories in teaching and 20 categories in counselling (see Table 2.4). Chiu

(2005) criticises that some of the categories in Regent work do not pair well for

instance determining time, place, pace in teaching are not a counterpart of suggesting

materials in counselling.

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Table 2.4: Teacher as a Counsellor

Teaching Counselling

Setting objectives Eliciting information about aims, needs

and wishes

Determining course content Why, what for,

how, how long

Selecting materials Giving information,

clarifying

Determining time, place, pace Suggesting materials

Determining learning tasks Suggesting methodology

Determining use of L1/L2 Suggesting other sources

Managing class interaction, Listening,

responding

Managing class interaction, Listening,

responding

Initiating Helping self monitoring

Monitoring learning situation Interpreting information

Keeping records Giving feedback, reformulating

Suggesting organization procedures Suggesting organization procedures

Presenting vocabulary and grammar Presenting materials

Explaining Analyzing techniques

Answering questions Answering questions Answering queries

Marking, grading Suggesting self-assessment tools

Testing Giving feedback on self-assessment

Motivating Being positive

Rewarding, punishing Supporting

Counselling Putting into perspective

Source: Regent, O. (1993). Communication, strategy and language learning.

In the Table 2.4 above Regent (1993) indicates teachers as a knower of the

language whereas counsellors are experts on language learning, however, she

describes it is not necessary to master the language in order to be a good counsellor.

In her work, Regent has described a traditional teacher as motivating while counsellor

as positive, I perceive that a motivating teacher is positive and a motivating teacher

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can create autonomous learners because teacher working to foster autonomy requires

assisting and guiding learners. Moreover, as Camilleri (1997) puts it that in the learner

autonomy classroom the teacher becomes more of a manager, a resource person and a

counsellor. Based on Regent’s (1993) categorization, Riley (1997) discusses the

speech acts and functions that realize the roles of teacher and counsellor. He re-

organizes Regent’s list into 15 sets of role categories in teaching and counselling (see

Riley, 1997 for details). Riley presents the roles of teacher and counsellor in

correspondence with each other.

The role of teacher as a resource is much less distinguished and explored in

the literature; and Voller (1997) notes this role as comparable to that of teacher as

knower, with a similar emphasis on the expertise of the teacher. Whereas teacher as

knower often refers to classroom settings, teacher as resource is generally used in self-

access technology assisted learning contexts. However, he argues that defining a

teacher role in terms of expertise in knowledge can imply an unequal power

relationship between teachers and learners, while, the later studies shows that the

teacher working on autonomy is outside this power imbalance (see for example,

Little, 1995; Benson, 2008).

David Nunan (2003) has presented a classroom data approach to study the role

of the teacher. However, I have adopted a teacher reflection approach, where teacher

respond to research queries by reflecting on her own classroom practices. The

theoretical rationale for a curriculum grounded in notions of learner-centeredness and

learner autonomy are presented with illustration from the classroom data. Nunan

(2003) discusses the role of the teacher in a nine step procedure for moving learners

along the continuum from dependence to autonomy through a classroom based

research. In my study, I have identified the role of the teacher in terms of teaching

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roles to foster learner autonomy (see Chapter 4.3). Nunan (2003) has based the

rationale of this study on his previous work:

...the key difference between learner-centred and traditional curriculum

development is that, in the former, the curriculum is a collaborative effort

between teachers and learners, since learners are closely involved in the

decision-making process regarding the content of the curriculum and how it is

taught.(Nunan, 1988, p. 2)

Nunan (2003) in this language learning context argues that philosophically,

learner-centeredness and autonomy are rooted in humanism and experiential

psychology. He further defines these two from Kohen’s (1992) description: in

experiential learning students are placed in the learning process so as to learn from

immediate personal experiences while ‘humanism facilitates personal growth, helps

learners adapt to social change, takes into account differences in learning ability, and

is responsive both to learner needs and practical pedagogical considerations’ (p.194)

Nunan (2003) identifies first step of the teachers role in the classroom is

‘giving learners a voice’ and “to make instructional goals clear to the students

themselves” (p. 196). He describes from the classroom data that the learners can make

decisions about what to learn and how to learn; regardless of their aptitude or ability

learners are also “positive in accepting responsibility for their own learning” (p. 196).

The second step is also closely linked to the first; therefore, Nunan foretold the

possibility of overlapping in the teaching steps. Evidently, the language teachers

know that classroom practices are never straight forward step of procedures. Every

day is a new day and every teaching discourse is a new experience, therefore no two

classrooms or no two periods of interaction with learners are similar. Teacher,

working to foster learner autonomy, in collaboration with learners bring novelty.

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According to Nunan (2003) in the second step the teacher should allow

learners ‘to create their own goals and content’ (p. 197) and he quotes Parkinson and

O’Sullivan (1990) who practically involved learners on the notion of the ‘action

meeting’ to modify course content. In the third step the teacher perform her role

inactivating learners’ language by assigning tasks that require the use of language

outside the classroom. In my study, I have also focused attention on evaluating role of

the teacher on both: activating learning inside and outside the classroom, on the

account that learners spend their most of the time outside the classrooms. It is

noteworthy that the teachers’ role in an autonomous language classroom is to help

learners learn by exposing them to the language and providing opportunities for them

to practice the new language in class as well as at home (Lowes & Target, 1999). A

teacher aiming to foster learner autonomy in her classroom also has to be aware of the

importance of differentiation. Differentiating instruction is the idea of accommodating

different ways learners learn; to design the lessons according to learners’ needs and

differences in the classroom. In a differentiated classroom it should be taken into

consideration that learners have different abilities, skills and backgrounds. All of this

affects the way they learn (Tomlinson, 2003).

The next two steps also overlap each other, as Nunan (2003) describes

teachers role in raising ‘awareness of learning processes’ by creating familiarity with

the learning strategies underlying classroom tasks; and in the next step, suggests

teachers to help the learners to decide their own learning styles and strategies.

Analogues to this conception, I found Dam (2008) expressing the same phenomenon

as:

Let me first of all mention the fact that learners do not necessarily learn what

we believe ourselves to be teaching… What we can do is give our learners an

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awareness of how they think and how they learn – an awareness which

hopefully will help them come to an understanding of themselves and thus

increase their self-esteem. ( p. 18)

Developing awareness of learning styles and strategies is also a widely

researched are in ESL classroom teaching both in Pakistan and other countries in the

East and West (see for example Oxford, 1990). Nonetheless, these steps are similar to

the first step, where the attention has been drawn on what and how to learn. He

describes that this identification by the learners of their own preferred styles and

strategies is followed by a choice given to them to select from a range of options.

However, he contested the argument raised by some commentators against this choice

and also on the notion that the concept of choice is a Western one, which doesn’t

work in Eastern educational contexts by giving examples of his own experience with

the learners in Hong Kong and Taiwan. Moreover, he also gives reference of the study

conducted by Widdows and Voller (1991) with Japanese learners where they report:

Students do not like classes in which they sit passively, reading or translating.

They do not like classes where the teacher controls everything. They do not

like reading English literature much, even when they are literature majors.

Thus it is clear that the great majority of university English classes are failing

to satisfy learner needs in anyway. Radical changes in the content of courses,

and especially in the types of courses that are offered, and the systematic

retraining of EFL teachers in learner-centred classroom procedures are steps

that must be taken, if teachers and administrators are seriously interested in

addressing their students’ needs. (as Cited in Nunan, 2003, p.200)

Thus, this elucidation points that in a second or foreign language contexts learner

choice may be a ‘relatively unfamiliar or even alien one’ in that case the teacher may

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prefer engaging the learners in a ‘relatively modest level of decision-making’ initially

and he gives an example of allowing students to decide between reading the text or

listening to the same text. Whether the decision making authority should be a teacher,

a learner or collaborative work, is an area of interest in my dissertation. Nunan’s

phenomenology has, nonetheless, helped me in deciding this aspect as one of the

concepts underlying my survey based study on the role of the teacher. Such starters to

autonomy are, although minor steps, may prove beneficial in the later classroom

practices. This notion of choice is an excellent idea not only for the beginners even

for the advanced level learners, and I have experienced that it always works whenever

I make a start with a class at the start of the academic year.

At the next step of the classroom practice, Nunan (2003) describes that the

teachers may allow the learners to create their own tasks and ‘to provide them with

opportunities to modify and adapt classroom tasks’ (p. 201). In order to counter the

possible criticism to this step he describes that this process does not involve

unrealistic technical designing of materials and gives example of asking students,

either in groups or individually, to design their own questions on the given text. I also,

propose in my study that it is an important role of the teacher to decide how much a

teacher should intervene and how much freedom to be granted to the learners.

Therefore, this study proposes that a degree of independence in creating learning tasks

and also providing opportunities to the learners to work in collaboration with peers

enhances learner autonomy. Louis (2006) has found that teachers should encourage

learners to work independently helping them how to make decisions about their

learning process because directing and participating their learning process actively

can help students develop awareness of the responsibilities that they should fulfil

during the process.

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The last two roles of the teachers are not comparable to any of the traditional

methods of teaching, therefore, are really helpful in enhancing learner autonomy.

Nunan (2003) suggests that encouraging learners to become teachers and researchers

provide optimal learning opportunities to learners. In the former case, it is in the

common experience of the teachers that peer teaching helps in learning. To elaborate

on this point Nunan (2003) quotes Assinder’s (1991) positive experience with the peer

teaching programme where learners “being ‘experts’ on a topic noticeably increased

self-esteem, and getting more confident week by week gave [the learners] a feeling of

genuine progress”(as cited in Nunan, 2003, p. 202). All the same when the teachers

encourage the learners to be researchers, it entails the teachers playing their part in

designing the task, in a manner that provides them the opportunity to learn or

encounter language beyond classroom. In my study, I aim to address this notion of

research in pedagogical practices by asking the teachers how often they assign such

tasks that provide them direct contact with the second language beyond classroom.

Nunan’s study has helped me to probe into my own research queries. Nonetheless, his

study is limited for it does not address the social paradigm in teaching, and it is based

on random experiences of teacher, therefore, it gives me space to carry out this survey

study on the female ESL teachers in Pakistani institutions of higher education.

Chiu (2005) argues that in the last two decades, increasing attention has been

drawn to the importance of autonomy to language learning and the teachers of

autonomous language learners are portrayed as helper, facilitator, resource,

consultant, counsellor, coordinator, and adviser. Chiu (2005) investigated the

relationship of the role of the teacher and learner autonomy in a cyber pedagogical

context, a context where the teacher and the learners were L2 users of English with

diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds and experiences. Data consisted of 362

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email messages generated in a twenty-month period of the cyber English class on

English for Internet (EFI), a free English school on the Internet. This study provides a

chance to review the roles of the teacher in the development of learner autonomy with

the help of technology. Nonetheless, the study provides limited information on the

social context of the interaction with the learners. Moreover, the results obtained from

a study of a cyber class are inequitable to a formal education system of higher

education and that too in the developing country like Pakistan. However, it informs

that the teacher’s teaching roles became less active as the course progressed whereas

the counselling roles remained active throughout the instructional period. This

qualitative study involved a content analysis that identified the teaching and

counselling roles of the teacher in 90 email messages, spread equally among the

beginning, and middle and end phases of the instructional period. Moreover, the study

called into question the universality of established categories of the roles of the

teachers, suggesting that cultural context and experience need to be taken into

consideration. This point of departure of this study is relevant to my study, as I

consider these traits while studying the data retrieved from female ESL Pakistani

teachers working in the institutions of higher education.

2.4.7 Factors Influencing the Role of the Teacher

2.4.7.1 Individual Learner Differences

Although, the factors affecting the role of the teacher in the development of

learner autonomy are numerous, the basic factor is individual learner differences.

Other less influential factors include institutional constraints related to curriculum and

teaching resources. Nonetheless, the latter is also significant, when the purpose is to

explore the impact of the use of technology, as in this study. During 1980s and 1990s

some researchers focused the effects of individual differences on the development of

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learner autonomy (Holec, 1981; Dörnyei, 2003). This research trend has emphasised

the contribution of learner differences in the domain of language teaching. These

differences not only affect the learners performance but the teacher’s teaching

methods and strategies, in other words, these differences often determine the role of

the teacher. Benson (2007a), in his review of the literature on learner autonomy

describes:

Although there is a clear conceptual link between autonomy and individual

difference – the idea of autonomy responds to the fact that individual learners

differ from each other and may seek to develop their individuality through

divergent learning processes –there has been relatively little interaction

between the two areas of research. This is in part because discussions of

individual differences often work with taxonomies of psychological and social

variables (such as age, affect, aptitude, cognitive style, personality, gender,

ethnicity, social class and setting for learning) which tend to suppress, rather

than highlight, individuality. ( p. 29)

This description throws light on psychological and social nature of individual

learner differences, and how these factors influence learning processes and outcomes.

In this context the most significant factor is the role of affect, or the willingness to

assume responsibility for one’s own learning, and autonomy. The teacher identifies

willingness to learn central to development of learner autonomy since “a person may

have the ability to make independent choices but feel no willingness to do so”

(Littlewood, 1996, p.428). It is also argued that, “one of the greatest barriers to the

development of learner autonomy is a negative attitude on the part of the learner

towards making decisions about their own learning” (Sinclair, 2000, p.7). Moreover,

language learners’ attitude can have an effect to acquire a second language, especially

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beyond adolescence. Therefore, it is hypothesised that it is important for the teacher to

identify that learners’ willingness to learn is a significant affective factor to learning

ESL, where learning of English is important for the learner to become successful. In

Pakistan the tertiary level language learners learn English in partially immersion

situation, as teachers deliver the course contents in English, the course books are in

English, the available learning resources across almost all subject areas is in English.

Thus, this scenario not only affects learning choices but attitudes too. The love-hate

relationship with English even today, results both ways. In other words, learners’

attitude and motivation both have a profound effect on the language learner

autonomy.

Therefore, learners’ motivation is also a significant factor, which influences

the role of an ESL teacher in the higher education institutions of Pakistan.

Comparable to this, Finegan (2004) describes while acquiring second language,

learners’ efforts are mediated by what Stephen Krashen has described the ‘affective

filter’: a ‘psychological disposition’ that either facilitates or inhibits a learner’s

language learning capacities. He further describes Krashen’s conceptualization of an

adult second language learner, who if surrounded by ‘a comprehensible language use’

will proceed as effortlessly and efficiently as in the case of first language acquisition,

provided that the affective filter is not blocking the operation of these capacities

(Finegan, 2004, p. 562). This disposition takes into consideration those social factors

in an educational institution that contribute to extrinsic motivation. This motivation

that sprung due to some outside factors, may be teaching-learning strategy or use of

some resources, either has facilitative effect that results in enhanced language learning

gains or debilitative effect that inhibits the language learners from utilizing their

capacities. However, Benson (2007a) notes a paradoxical link between motivation and

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autonomy and describes “both are centrally concerned with learners’ active

involvement in learning”. Nonetheless, the role of the teacher in learners’ motivation

to be autonomous language learners is explored in ESL pedagogy due to the

Gardner’s ‘socio-psychological’ paradigm in L2motivation research (D¨ornyei

2001b). Therefore, second language learning is not only an educational but also social

and psychological phenomenon.

This socio-psychological domain of second language learning is explored in

Dickinson’s (1995) and Ushioda’s (1996) studies; both embark at links between

autonomy and motivation based on self-determination and attribution theory, which

emphasised the importance of learners’ determination to be autonomous. On the other

side of the motivation philosophy in development of learner autonomy Spratt,

Humphrey & Chan (2002), have conducted a survey on university students in Hong

Kong and have found that it is motivation that precedes autonomy. they studied the

correlation between autonomy and motivation; and evidence in their study suggest

that teachers should be watchful in assuming that if learners take responsibility for

learning it enhances motivation in language learning processes. This factor of

motivation is taken into consideration when the teachers consider the individual

learner differences on achievement tests and teacher decide their next course of action

based on such learning differences. Later Deci &Ryan’s (2000) self-determination

theory emphasizes both the power of intrinsic motivation and the importance of a

‘sense of personal autonomy’. The former refers to the vitality, spontaneity,

genuineness, and curiosity which is intrinsic to the person’s nature while latter relates

to a feeling that ‘their behaviour is truly chosen by them rather than imposed by some

external source’.

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2.4.7.2 Dependence, Independence and Interdependence

The role of the teacher on the development of learner autonomy also invites

the debate over idea of dependence, independence and interdependence in the class.

This argument generates another debate that surrounds the idea of intervention, that is,

how much or to what extent teacher should/ would/ could intervene in the pedagogical

practices aimed at the development of learner autonomy. Benson (2011), in this

context, indicates that the terms autonomy and independence are when used

interchangeably create difficulties in discussing autonomy:

When independence is used as a synonym of autonomy, its opposite is

dependence, which implies excessive reliance on the direction of teachers or

teaching materials. One problem with the use of this term, however, is that it

can also be understood as the opposite of interdependence, which implies

working together with teachers and other learners towards shared goals. Many

researchers would argue that autonomy does imply interdependence. (Benson,

2011, p.14)

Generally, in such language teaching context, it is assumed that the learner is

independent and is capable of working individually without help or direction from the

teacher or tutor. In such context, the language learning is contextualized in either self-

access language learning laboratories or technology mediated learning paradigm,

which in turn brings us to the concept of individualisation of the learning process.

And the specialized literature is evidently advocates the implementation of learner-

centred as opposed to teacher-centred methodologies (see Tudor, 1992 & 1996). In

such context, I concede to the argument that teaching ESL is often described as either

“teacher-centred or learner-centred” (Killen, 2013, p.94). These two methodologies

raise a critical question for the ESL teachers: Which of these two methodologies

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brings optimal ESL learning outcomes? To start with, teachers realize the differences

between the two. The research shows a number of important differences (see Table

2.5), including what the teacher does, how the lessons are organised, how much the

learners are actively involved in learning and how much learners control their own

learning. There is no doubt that teacher-centred teaching places the teacher as the

focus of the process. Therefore, the teacher plays a crucial role and has great control

in the class. In contrast, the learner-centred approach emphasises the learner as the

focus. This does not mean that teacher’s role is lost or superfluous but the role of the

teacher is equally crucial as the facilitator of the learning process.

Table 2.5: Comparison between Teacher-centred and Learner-centred

classrooms

Teacher-centred Learner-centred

Teacher is the sole leader. Leadership is shared.

Management is a form of oversight. Management is a form of guidance.

Teacher takes responsibility for all

paperwork and organization.

Students are facilitators for the operations

of the classroom.

Discipline comes from the teacher. Discipline comes from the self.

A few students are the teacher’s helpers. All students have the opportunity to

become an integral part of the management

of the classroom.

Teacher makes the rules and posts them for

all students.

Rules are developed by the teacher and

students in the form of a constitution or

compact.

Consequences are fixed for all students. Consequences reflect individual

differences.

Rewards are mostly extrinsic. Rewards are mostly intrinsic.

Students are allowed limited

responsibilities.

Students share classroom responsibilities.

Few members of the community enter the

classroom.

Partnerships are formed with business and

community groups to enrich and broaden

the learning opportunities for students.

Source: Rogers & Frieberg (1994)

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Learner-centred teaching approach is the main concept in the application of

feminist pedagogical approach, which helps the teacher to develop learner autonomy.

Taking this feminist pedagogical approach, I argue that teachers take into account the

learner’s knowledge and context, and then attempt to develop understanding on that

basis. This approach is at the heart of teaching strategies and presumes that

knowledge is developed in the process of negotiation between teachers and students

(Kember, 1998; Killen, 2013; Prosser & Trigwell, 1998; Rogers & Frieberg, 1994).

Accordingly, the learner independence is not equitable to isolation even in the learner

centred classroom scenario. To sum up, I argue that Little (1994) aptly describes

Vygotsky’s socio-cultural theory of learning and development in the second language

context:

Learner autonomy is the product of interdependence rather than

independence…Learners will not develop their capacity for autonomous

learning within formal contexts by simply being told that they are

independent: they must be helped to achieve autonomy by processes of

interaction similar to those that underlie developmental and experiential

learning. (Little, 1994, p. 435)

2.4.8 The Challenges for Teachers to Use Technology and Foster Learner

Autonomy

This critical appraisal of past and contemporary models of development of learner

autonomy with particular reference to the use of technology is substantially helpful in

identifying the challenges and locating the spaces for implications of technology in

language pedagogy. Holecian’s (1981) conceptualization of learner autonomy (see

chapter 3.4) paves way for researchers in the fields of applied linguistics and

education, particularly language pedagogy to explore development of learner

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autonomy. A continuum of research thus follows, describing how levels of autonomy

in language pedagogy are achieved from primary to fundamental. The study of

literature reveals only limited research on the specific relationship between the wide-

range of technology available and learner autonomy. Benson (2011) argues that

‘‘claims made for the potential of new technologies in regard to autonomy need to be

evaluated against empirical evidence of the realisation of this potential in

practice’’(pp. 140–141). In addition, the relationship between computers and learner

autonomy is either discussed at a theoretical level or remains only a starting point on

which design principles or decisions are based (Blin, 2005). It shows that much of

research does not directly address the role of technology in language teaching yet it

provides a substantial knowledge on the stages or levels of autonomy in language

pedagogy. Today, technology has become inevitable in higher education, particularly,

owing to its widespread availability and usage. The comprehensive review of

researches on the levels of autonomy in relation to language teaching alone is

documented elsewhere11.

Nunan’s (1997) model of levels of autonomy is the one of the noted evident

specialized researches in language teaching. The model identifies five levels of

learner actions- awareness, involvement, intervention, creation and transcendence.

This progression informs the sequence of language learners’ development through

activities in the textbooks. The learner’s awareness of learning styles and strategies

helps the learner to be involved in learning process and through intervention and

creation learner reaches the level of transcendence which, then, enables the learner to

make links between the material taught in the classroom and ‘the world beyond’

(Nunan, 1997). This model has implications for classroom practices particularly;

11 Benson (2007a), in his State-of-the Art article Autonomy in language teaching and learning

reviewed the specialized literature on levels of autonomy

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however, it gives an insight to the theory of learner autonomy that is helpful for the

present study on women teachers’ role and I have seen six areas of teachers’ role for

the development of learner autonomy and the use of technology (see Chapter 4.3).

Contrary to Nunan, Littlewood (1997) relates development of learner

autonomy to language learning strategies in a three-stage model. Stage one involves

‘dimensions of language acquisition’ which enables learners to achieve ‘autonomy as

a communicator’. This process engages learners ‘ability to operate independently with

language and use it to communicate personal meanings in real, unpredictable

situations’. At stage two ‘autonomy as a learner’ is identified as learners’ ‘ability to

take responsibility for their own learning and to apply active personally relevant

strategies’. The next stage emphasizes the individualized learning, thus, attainment of

‘autonomy as a person’ (Littlewood, 1997). This three-staged model with the image of

independent and responsible learner is similar to my study, however, my study

evaluates women teachers’ role in developing individual learner autonomy with the

help of self paced individualized learning with the aid of technology. Nonetheless,

this model is limited as to address only the attainment of learner autonomy, but what

role a teacher plays in such process is not tackled.

In the same year Macro proposes a three-stage model, with emphasis on

language learning competence, unlike the previously discussed two models. The

model outlines: “autonomy of language competence, autonomy of learning

competence and autonomy of choice and action” (Macro, 1997). This competence and

performance sequence in language learning environment has implications for future

research in language pedagogy and it reflects on Chomskian conception of a language

learner. Nonetheless, like earlier models, Macro has also not viewed the role of the

teacher or the technology. Littlewood (1999) further contributes to learner autonomy

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in language learning by making a distinction between ‘proactive and reactive

autonomy’. Proactive autonomy deals with learner as individual who ‘sets up

directions’ which he himself has ‘partially created’. On the other hand learner with

reactive autonomy does not create his own directions. ‘Once a direction has been

initiated’, it allows the learner to organize directed resources autonomously to achieve

the desired goal (Littlewood, 1999). In this model, Littlewood identifies the role of the

teacher and technology in reactive autonomy, nonetheless, the model does not provide

how it works. In 2000, Scharle & Szabo discuss three phase model of learner

autonomy: ‘raising awareness, changing attitude and transferring roles’. This model is

quite close to Nunan’s (1997) five-stage model, starting from awareness to

transcendence in the form of transformed role of a learner. But like Nunan’s model it

does not address the role of the teacher or technology.

Control over language learning and teaching is the theory being discussed in

Benson (2001), proclaiming autonomy at the level of ‘learning management,

cognitive processing and the context of learning.’ The concept of ‘control’ is basic to

learner autonomy, one of the key concepts in formulating the survey of the present

research. Reinder’s (2010) eight –stage model of development of learner autonomy

describes learning stages in relation to teacher-directed environment and learner–

directed situation. The eight-stages start with the ‘identifying needs’ of learning which

enables the teacher and learners to ‘set goals’. ‘Planning of learning’ is carried out by

‘selecting resources’ and ‘learning strategies’ to put into ‘practice’ in the language

learning process. The ‘progress in learning’ is monitored by the teacher and learner

both; and at the last stage ‘assessment and revisions’ are undertaken (Reinder, 2010).

The cyclic nature of this model gives strength to the concept of the role of the teacher

as facilitator which is again one of the key concepts of the present study. The teacher

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facilitates the learners to identify the problem, decide the solution, facilitates practice

on decided remedial steps and then facilitates recapitulation of the learning endeavour

which again provides an insight into the new problems. Realizing this cyclic

procedure into pedagogy is one of the key practices that an ESL university teacher

may incorporate. Although, in Reinder’s study this model is not applied integrating

technology, yet it allows inclusion of technology as a learning tool and resource.

The above discussion of models of development of learner autonomy reveals

that they share some common features, which can address the role of Pakistani

women ESL teachers in the development of learner autonomy. Firstly, the common

theme is teachers’ contribution in development of learner autonomy. Secondly, all of

them imply a possible progression from ‘lower’ to ‘higher’ level of autonomy.

However, Kumaravadiveh (2003) criticizes, ‘it is a mistake to correlate the increased

level of autonomy with equally increased level of language proficiency’. Thirdly, at

the lower level of autonomy the spaces are needed to be identified to foster autonomy

within classroom practices and no radical educational reform is required (Benson,

2010). In such context, I argue that the use of technology is one potential determinant

of learner autonomy. However, Nunan (1997) argue that ‘autonomy can be a normal

everyday addition to regular instruction’, but whether it is as straightforward or not.

Nonetheless, it suggests that Pakistani women ESL teachers can bring a change into

the classroom practices from within. On the other hand, some researchers are of the

view that unless some radical educational reforms are not taken the classroom

practices cannot be transformed from passive to active.

2.5 Conclusion

The review of literature reveals that the positive impact of technology on

women ESL teacher autonomy in Pakistani higher education context is not well-

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researched. Various speculations are advanced towards explaining this positive trend

towards women teacher empowerment through education, and use of technology. My

own experience with the technology as a female ESL teacher and observation entail

that it is due to technological determinism, which is linked to consciousness amongst

women to feel autonomous in ESL class for even a classroom is the manifestation of a

Pakistani social scenario. This autonomy is a key feature in this regard as teacher

autonomy presupposes learner autonomy. However, very few sociological studies are

available that explain this propensity towards technology as the facilitative factor for

women’s autonomy. Present study is an effort towards understanding this

phenomenon.

Therefore, in the next chapter, I will put forward the theoretical predisposition

to my study underpinning an eclectic approach towards the theory of related

knowledge. The chapter, thus, explores the theory of technological determinism,

feminist pedagogy and Benson’s theoretical predisposition of approaches to learner

autonomy, particularly, role of the teacher and technology as the latter advocates the

radical educational reforms from within and some outside factors too. Moreover, I

will address the role of the state-of-the-art instructional technology in learning process

which is not directly addressed in the above mentioned studies. Nonetheless, these

grounding models help me to pin point the constructs for the development of ESL

learner autonomy. These constructs of classroom practice help in outlining the

concepts associated with the role of women ESL teachers working to foster learner

autonomy with advanced learners in Pakistani institutions of higher education.

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CHAPTER 3

Epistemological and Methodological Framework

The framework of this study is contextualized and conceptualized through a

scrutiny and critical analysis of the related literature (elaborated in the preceding

chapter) on the use of technology for the development of learner autonomy in the

Pakistani feminist ESL pedagogy. The critical appraisal of the literature has provided

the context to the present study; and leads to establish those underpinning concepts

which address the objectives of the present study. These concepts have helped to

inform key issues for understanding the trio of learner autonomy, educational

technology in ESL and Pakistani feminist perspective. Although, the information

present in the literature is fragmented as far as the present research problem is

concerned, yet the review of related literature provides a strong philosophical and

theoretical perspective to conceptualize the impact of technology in Pakistani feminist

ESL perspective. While for some projects that deal in isolation with either technology

or learner autonomy or feminist perspective, description in literature or other

documentary sources is both comprehensive and also in depth but no single

framework caters to interface my study. Therefore, to complement the findings from

studied literature, an elaborated and comprehensive theoretical framework is

designed.

I have adopted a technique of theoretical triangulation12, for this multi-faceted

study. Being multi-theoretical it protects from the weakness of only one approach

(Fred, 2005). This theoretical triangulation framework foregrounds epistemology: the

theory of knowledge (Harding, 1987; Leatherby 2003; Sprague, 2005), of my study.

Triangulation allows me to approach my research questions by interpreting the data

12Theoretical triangulation refers to the use of more than one theoretical position in interpreting data.

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from various theoretical standpoints to form a clear understanding of the concepts

under study.

Methodizing this dynamic theoretical underpinning into an empirical research

has been another challenge, which has been resolved by mediating the feminist

methodological framework. It has allowed me to choose women teaching in the

institutions of higher education for survey to get knowledge from the substantial

experience of the women teachers in ESL pedagogy and an insight to pedagogical

phenomenon from their expertise in the field. Thus, firstly this chapter delineates the

epistemological13 framework of my study, with feminist pedagogical lens of Paulo

Friere and a radical feminist pedagogue bell hooks; soft technological deterministic

view of Feenberg (2002) as applied by Warschauer (2004) and John and Wheeler

(2008); and lastly Benson’s (2011) approach to the role of teacher and technology

with Little’s model of interaction with information system for the development of

learner autonomy. From these complementary paradigms, I have attempted to build a

worldview that situates the design of this study. Moreover, the feminist

methodological framework with survey as research instrument covers the empiricism

of the study.

3.1 Epistemological Framework

The epistemological framework of this study takes insights from theory and

praxis of ESL pedagogy, in the feminist perspective, therein technological

intervention caters to the development of learner autonomy. This dimension will then

form the theoretical underpinning to woman’s social structure in Pakistani society and

13epistemology refers to understand the relationship between the knower and known and deals with

philosophical, ontological issues, what is self, what is knowledge, what can be known, who can know,

what is being, and what is truth” (Leatherby 2003, p. 5)

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substantiates her position as an entity dominated by male power. To subvert

masculine domination Pakistani educated and employed women in higher education

have discovered their autonomy in the classroom through the use of technology. In

order to take a step up towards better understanding of epistemology of the present

study, this section presents theoretical framework, which encapsulates the dimensions

of the philosophies of feminist pedagogy, technological determinism and learner

autonomy in Pakistani ESL context of higher education.

3.1.1 Towards implications of Feminist Pedagogy in ESL

The theory of feminist pedagogy is taken up to analyze the pedagogical

practices of women ESL tertiary level teachers of Pakistan for its epistemology is

grounded in critical theory of the autonomy of the participants and their praxis.

3.1.1.1 Frierean Praxis of Pedagogy

The praxis of pedagogy of the learners; and the contradiction between the

teacher and the learner, and how it awards liberation and autonomy is not a self-

achievement, but a mutual process. This conception of praxis is defined by Friere in

Pedagogy of the Oppressed14as “reflection and action directed upon the world in order

to transform it” (Friere, 2005). I argue that through praxis, the female teachers can

acquire a critical awareness of their own condition, and, especially it lends mimesis of

the condition of the Pakistani women in ESL context. To address the social order in

pedagogical domain Friere represents the unity of theory and praxis that “incarnates a

rediscovery of the humanizing vocation of the intellectual, and demonstrates the

power of thought to negate accepted limits and open the way to a new future”

(Macedo, in Fariere, 2005, p. 32). In this way Friere rejects the traditional restrictions

14

First published in 1968 and translated in 1970 by Myra Bergman Ramos and republished with an

Introduction by Donaldo Macedo-30th Anniversary ed. (2005).

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as imposed by the pedagogical system. I interpolate it as a space for female teachers

firstly to practice their autonomy in the classroom; secondly, to create a critical

awareness among ESL learners to transform their view of classroom teaching. In

modern age of technological intervention, the anti-elitist philosophies and

perspectives of education at tertiary level rely heavily on praxis, particularly as

influenced by Freire, nevertheless, I interpose that the highly educated and sentient

tertiary level female ESL teachers of Pakistan reject the traditional classroom

practices which limits and restrict them in their pedagogical realm. Moreover, the

pedagogical scenario allows them to practice their liberation beyond social bounds of

male domination. They practice this teaching autonomy in their classroom paradigms

and help the learners to find their autonomy and liberation.

Describing Friere’s conception of liberty of the oppressed, Macedo views

learners as those who “will not gain this liberation by chance but through the praxis of

their quest for it, through their recognition of the necessity to fight for it” (Macedo,

2005, p.45). This praxis of reflection on their own pedagogical practices allows the

female Pakistani teachers to no longer be the prey to the male dominance. It helps

them to not only emerge from it but also turn upon it. As Friere asserts: “Liberation is

a praxis: the action and reflection of men and women upon their world in order to

transform it” (Friere, 2005, p. 77). I take this concept of liberation as autonomy:

teachers’ teaching autonomy and learners’ learning autonomy. In addition, this offers

to me, and all of those who experience dominance and oppression in teaching learning

practices through an imposed educational paradigm, path through which women

teachers come to understand what it means to be autonomous. It helps the female

pedagogues to facilitate learners in learning through what Friere calls “acts of

cognition, not transferrals of information” (Friere, 2005, p. 79) which I claim acts as

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her personal mode of autonomy. His conception of education is beyond gender

dichotomy; nonetheless, it gives the theoretical framework to feminist pedagogy

through student-teacher and teacher-student relationship in the process of education as

androgynous pedagogy. He favours problem posing education that develops a dialogic

environment in the classroom and disdain of what he called the ‘banking’ concept of

education, in which a student is viewed as an empty account waiting to be filled by

the teacher. He argues in favour of student-centered learning thus:

Through dialogue, the teacher-of-the-students and the students-of-the-teacher

cease to exist and a new term emerges: teacher-student with students-teachers.

The teacher is no longer merely the-one-who-teaches...They become jointly

responsible for a process in which all grow. In this process, arguments based

on ‘authority’ are no longer valid; in order to function, authority must be on

the side of freedom, not against it. Here, no one teaches another, nor is anyone

self-taught. People teach each other, mediated by the world, by the cognizable

objects which in banking education are ‘owned’ by the teacher. (Friere, 2005,

p. 80)

Such argument gives forth the idea of learner autonomy, which begins with teacher

autonomy as a learner and learner’s autonomy as an independent entity. As such, to

Friere teacher as authority figure is almost an obsolete notion in pedagogical scenario.

In modern pedagogical landscape the technology opens the door for learning for

students and simultaneously this provides the teacher a liberal space to exercise her

pedagogical autonomy. For Pakistani women teachers I perceive this exercise of

autonomy as a means to operate beyond the oppression of male domination in their

pedagogical paradigm. Therefore, I agree with Friere’s argument that such way to

education is the practice of freedom, “as opposed to education as the practice of

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domination”. Frieredenies the existence of a human being “abstract, isolated,

independent, and unattached to the world”; he also denies “that the world exists as a

reality apart from people”(Friere, 2005, p. 81) agreeing to this I append Pakistani

women who practice her liberty in her teaching practice perceiving student as part of

society. To Friere this approach to teaching encourages women and men to reflect on

themselves and on the world, it thus increases “the scope of their perception, they

begin to direct their observations towards previously inconspicuous phenomena”

(Friere, 2005, p. 82) and if applied to Pakistani women teachers I claim that it serves

as their counter strategy to undermine their subjugation.

Another, important aspect that I have picked up in this debate is the

humanising role of science and technology in the women pedagogy that brings

positive change in teaching learning scenario so much so that it turns into a strategy to

undermine their oppression:

The inhumanity of the oppressors and revolutionary humanism both make use

of science. But science and technology at the service of the former are used to

reduce the oppressed to the status of ‘things’; at the service of the latter, they

are used to promote humanization. (Friere, 2005, p. 133)

Taking this revolutionary humanizing aspect of technology further, I argue that

women using technology in teaching ESL in Pakistani institutions find teaching

practices autonomous. This praxis of the learners with the revolutionary female

teachers, the users of technology, would develop a classroom scenario, where the

learner and the teacher will learn language through the use of technology by sharing

power.

Secondly, bell hooks’ feminist pedagogical standpoint is selected to interpret

the Pakistani women ESL teachers pedagogical practices. Taking threads of Paulo

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Feriere’s work and weaving it in to that version of feminist pedagogy which embodies

her work in Teaching to Transgress (hooks, 1994), she interprets pedagogy as

transgression. Like Feriere, she rejects traditional methods of teaching and favours the

teachers who “transgress the boundaries that would confine each pupil to rote,

assembly-line approach to learning” (hooks, 1994, p. 13).ESL teachers reject the

traditional approach to teaching and learning, in practicing the modern pedagogical

practices which lead to autonomy. The teachers and learner find education as an

endeavour to success. Therein, the feminist outlook and critical awareness as an

impact of using modern technological tools in ESL pedagogy is a source of libratory

education. hooks translates, Frierean conception of education as a means to practice

freedom, into her critical awareness and her active engagement in the classroom. I

interpose that such awareness grants a female teacher a space to practice her freedom

by means of technological tools comparable to women’s role in the class parallel to

man-women relation in Pakistani society. When she includes in her praxis a tool of

modernity- the technology, it embodies her autonomy as ESL teacher and learner. As

technology becomes a means and method to establish control over the class parallel to

overpower her weak social position in male dominant society. Therefore, hooks

rejects the denigration of the wholeness of education that support for the distinction

between practice of being a teacher and one’s role as a member of the academic

profession. This rejection is both pedagogically feministic and socially political:

Indeed, the objectification of the teacher within bourgeois educational

structures seemed to denigrate notions of wholeness and uphold the idea of a

mind/body split, one that promotes and supports compartmentalization.

(hooks, 1994, p.17)

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In Pakistani ESL pedagogical practices this idea of the compartments of mind, body,

and spirit connotes no connection between teachers’ ‘habits of being’ and ‘role of the

teacher’. This idea negotiates with the female teacher’s role affected by the ‘self’; and

the teachers who are not concerned with the inner soul are threatened by the demand

of libratory education, which in turn help the ESL learners in their ‘own struggle for

self-actualization’ and learning autonomy.

Therefore, today higher education institutions in Pakistan encourage students

and teachers to use technology for collaborative pedagogy, make learning more

relaxing while simultaneously exciting. It provides room to the female teachers to

engage in classroom administrative decisions. This engagement is, although, a step

towards libratory pedagogy, yet it is restricted by authoritative set-up prevailing in the

institutions of higher education. However, when she describes teaching as a catalyst

that calls everyone to become more and more engaged I interpolate it as a space for

female teachers to be engaged in the dynamic activity of teaching: a door to critical

awareness of her being. Therefore, this engaged pedagogy is a source of autonomy for

the learner and teacher both:

Education is the practice of freedom, students are not the only ones who are

asked to share, to confess. Engaged pedagogy does not seek simply to

empower students. Any classroom that employs a holistic model of learning

will also be a place where teachers grow, and are empowered by the process.

(hooks, 1994, p. 21).

Therefore, my prerogative to found my study on hooks’ as a feminist theorist, who is

“creating work that acts as a catalyst for social change across false boundaries”

(hooks, 1994, p. 72),provide me a way to proceed with feminist movement for the

autonomy and freedom of female teachers in the classroom. This feminist

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predisposition to autonomy is what I practice as teaching autonomy when I decide to

use technology as a female ESL teacher. Hence, I agree with hooks passion as

embodied in the following philosophy as the end of feminist pedagogy:

To me the classroom continues to be a place where paradise can be realized, a

place of passion and possibility, a place where spirit matters, where all that we

learn and know leads us into greater connection, into greater understanding of

life lived in community. (hooks, 2003. p. 183)

hooks based pedagogy on freedom, and creating community in the classroom. It

resembles both democratic process based on mutual willingness to listen, to argue, to

disagree, and to make peace. This freedom is a space for teachers’ teaching autonomy,

so much so it becomes a determinant of ESL teachers’ propensity towards fostering

learner autonomy. hooks also builds a bridge between critical thinking and real-life

situations to enable educators to show students the everyday world instead of the

stereotypical perspective of the world.

To sum up, my praxis of feminist pedagogy is limited to that critical

awareness of female ESL tertiary level teachers, which is a result of reflection and

action of a teacher to transform her world view. Its advocacy of mutual process

negates accepted limits and opens the way to a new future, thus shows a means to

teacher autonomy that helps the learners to find their autonomy and liberation. Such

praxis in my study promotes student-centred learning with the assistance of

technology. I argue that this is largely determined by those results, which the use of

technology brings for feminist pedagogues.

3.1.2 Technological Determinism in ESL Pedagogy

The impact of technology, which influences Pakistani feminist ESL tertiary

level pedagogues, is addressed with the help of the technological determinism. This

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theory propagates that the introduction of new technology brings some results either

positive or negative or neutral (Feenberg, 1991, 2002; Chandler, 2000; Warschaure,

2004). To Feenberg (2004) the inevitable association between the changes in

technology and their primary influence on human social relations and organizational

structure is Karl Marx argument that foregrounds technological determinism. As

Feenberg (2002) view “traditional Marxism reserved radical technological change for

the distinctly remote ‘higher phase’ of socialism” (p. 51). Marx’s stance on the

relationship between technology and society has become embedded in contemporary

society and particularly in education sector. Furthermore, the idea, innovation and

invention in technologies affects human beings, is all-pervasive; and is responsible to

have an impact on women ESL teacher autonomy in Pakistani social context.

Continuing with Marxist socialism and technology Feenberg (2002) argues:

Given Marx’s reputation as a technological determinist, it is ironic that many

of the strongest arguments advanced against the very possibility of socialism

rest on a deterministic understanding of technology. (Feenberg, 2002, p. 135)

Placing this understanding of technological determinism in Pakistani socialism, like

Feenberg (2002, p. 143), I contest, in ESL pedagogical practices ‘soft’ technology

variables are ‘pursued spontaneously’ by the women teachers ‘as a positive

component of their own welfare’, as opposed to ‘hard’ variables. Therefore, the

following section embarks on soft-technological determinism.

3.1.2.1 Towards Soft Technological Determinism in ESL Pedagogy

This discussion on technological determinism and ESL pedagogy draws

epistemological framework from Feenberg’s (2002) argument:

Deterministic theories share implausible assumptions about technological

development... These are, first, the notion that technological development

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occurs along a single fixed track according to immanent technical criteria of

progress, and, second, that social institutions must adapt to technological

development. In reality, technology is not rigid but is routinely adapted to

changing conditions. Sometimes it adapts to new scarcities or discoveries, and

sometimes to the emergence of new cultural values. In any case, new

constraints are not necessarily obstacles to efficiency but often stimulate

technological change. Thus, technology does not pose an insuperable obstacle

to the pursuit of ‘humanistic’ values. There is no reason why it could not be

reconstructed to conform to the values of a socialist society. (p. 143)

Such a stance about the impact of technology implies its access, adaptability and

utility across the social hierarchy in Pakistani society; and I interpose its impact on the

female ESL tertiary level teachers. It is a means to discover their autonomy through

the use of technology, secondly a means to foster ESL learner autonomy. Thus, I

agree with Feenberg’s argument that the use of technology “maximizes autonomy in

general, promising liberation of the human essence from fixed definitions” (Feenberg,

2002, p. 162).This philosophy argues that technological progress achieves advances

of general utility in Pakistani ESL pedagogical scenario, but these advances are

realized and determined by the social power. According to Feenberg’s view

technology as a dependent variable in the social system, shaped to a purpose by the

dominant power, and I interpolate it as those social fences that are subject to restrict

female teachers’ progress in the pedagogical domain. It is also reshaping to new

purposes under a new hegemony.

Therefore, Warschaure’s (2004) argues that such notion of technological

determinism implies theory of “correlation between the use and presence of

technology with other outcomes”. I interpose these outcomes in terms of ESL

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teaching and learning gains. The presence of technology also connotes upgradation

and innovation. It means introduction of new forms of technologies, provide a

powerful new means of achieving, what Freire and Macedo (1987) noted: “that

literacy is not only about “reading the word,” but also about “reading the world,” and

not only about reading the world but also writing it and rewriting it” (p. 37).

In today’s world, technology is in the access globally, including the people of

underdeveloped or developing countries. Proclaiming this availability to all, it

abounds the nooks and corners of the country with (if not ‘smart’ gadgets) simple

gadgets like a cell phone, for ease of communication. The new technologies affect

societies, either positively or negatively or by just being neutral. The use of

technology, therefore, is discussed in all walks of life in Pakistan; and its utility is

greatly discussed in higher education.

However, the frequent discussions on educational technology of its alleged

impact on learning do not regard how computers are actually used (Warschauer,

2004). Therefore, I argue that the contemporary Pakistani female ESL teachers in the

higher education institutions frequently assign tasks to the students that require them

to use modern technologies. English language teachers, for example, use internet to

browse teaching resources, use word processor to compose assessment sheets, work

sheets etc; use power point to prepare slides as a classroom teaching aid. All the same,

English language learners, for example, use technology to browse internet for

accessing study material, use word processor for composing assignments or academic

papers, use power point to prepare slides for classroom presentations. Dede (1995,

1997) has described the influence of computers on learning with “a fire metaphor, i.e.,

the notion that computers generate learning the way that a fire generates warmth” (as

cited in Warschauer, 2004, p. 1).

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This fire metaphor is taken further, where this theory of determinism

propagates that the presence of technology is correlated to its use. Warschauer

(2004), in consonance to this, describes technological determinism’s logic on the

basis that there is a correlation between the presence of technology, use of technology

or sometimes even our reliance on technology; nonetheless this correlation is not

synonymous to causation. Here, in the present thesis I have also taken the factor of

correlation instead of causation. Taking this view point into consideration the

researchers have identified that women teaching ESL in the institutions of higher

education are able to correlate the presence of technology with its usage in the

teaching regime (see for example Rana, 2006). Another, idea into play within this

conceptualization is of inevitable advancement of technology, inevitable integration

of technology in art, science, philosophy and education, and inevitable impact of

technology on the people who use it. Bauldrillard (1996) characterized this process in

its extreme form when he claimed that the society as a whole can be seen as effects of

their characteristic media technologies. This fatalistic view is the source of the

criticism onto the notion of hard determinism. However, Goguen’s (2001) useful

distinction between the hard technological determinism and soft technological

determinism draws a line; where latter refers to one influence among many, and not

an absolute determinant while the former claims that the force is dominant and

irresistible. Hard determinism is often rejected by the scholars being too ambitious in

making a view of technologies control over society. Warschauer (2004) favours soft

determinism, which suggests that technological development does not automatically

cause outcomes. It does enable new processes and outcomes.

This less strong deterministic stance implies, the use of technologies facilitates

new forms of communication, offer numerous possibilities, which lead to users

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autonomy. These technologies may have already contained within the existing

structure, as McLuhan (1964) recommends “the seeds of radical social and psychic

change”, and society does not have to plant and nurture those seeds, nor does the

society have to allow the technologies to develop in any pre-determined way. Barton

(2016) gives the example of the wide spread use of internet with the opinion that the

rationale behind the question why certain paths of innovation are followed and others

ignored do not lie in some inherent logic within technology. The companies and

communities devote time and effort to researching and developing technologies which

are useful due to some purposes.

The presence of technology, nonetheless, allows the teachers to integrate

technology in everyday teaching plans. Therefore, I propose that spheres of language

teaching and learning, especially English language teaching in Pakistan are positively

affected by the introduction of technology. The language learners can learn many

things with the help of a technological gadget, which was not possible in Pakistani

ESL context about three decades ago. For example, for an English language learner of

1980s the indigenous language teacher was the model of language, and for that

teacher her teacher. Today, a pronunciation model on easily accessible digital sources

is just one named example of the many from the technological applications and digital

sources. These and many other uses of technology for teaching learning of English

were not possible without the contribution of modern technology (Warschauer, 2004).

Furthermore, technology is responsible in making many pedagogical changes.

In Pakistan, the government initiatives to build and enhance technological facilities in

the institutions of the higher education; the distribution of laptops to the teachers and

learners; access to digital library; Wi-Fi facility etc have a profound effect on ESL

pedagogy. These processes have altered the notion of teaching and learning.

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Classroom practices only, cannot determine this technology intervention in pedagogy,

rather a broader outlook beyond classroom is crucial. In consonance to this,

Warschauer (2004) aptly illustrates it further by the analogy of printing press

revolution:

Rather technology can create new social contexts that shape how learning

takes place. For example, the earlier development of the printing press had a

profound effect on Europe, thus contributing to a process by which notions of

teaching and learning were dramatically altered. This was not so much an

“impact,” with the printing press causing change (and, indeed, the earlier

invention of movable type in Asia brought little change at all). Rather, there

was a co-constituitive shaping of technology and society, as social conditions

in Europe provided a ripe context for emergence of the printing press as an

important factor in further societal change. There is thus a broad ecological

effect; as Postman (1993) has noted, 50 years after the introduction of the

printing press, there was not a Europe plus a printing press, but a transformed

Europe. (Warschauer, 2004, p. 2)

This stance entails a strong ecological effect of modern communication

technology on the global society in general, and in the present case on Pakistani social

landscape in particular. Warschauer (2004), in this relation quotes Castells’s (1998)

observation that “information technology, and the ability to use it and adapt it, is the

critical factor in generating and accessing wealth, power, and knowledge in our time”

(p. 6). This critical factor of technology is a reason that, it has crept into pedagogical

sphere, and female ESL teachers and learners readily adapt it to be autonomous.

Drawing upon Vygotsky’s work (e.g., 1962), Warschauer (2004) elucidates the

mediating role of technology at the level of human activity, which eventually reshapes

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how we communicate and even think. This mediation of technology allows the

teachers to reshape their own teaching preference, and also enables them to reshape

their learners learning endeavour. Technology mediation in ESL is therefore,

welcomed and appreciated around the globe, for technology is to stay, play and sway

this global village with its ever creative innovative wonders.

John and Wheeler’s (2008) conception of technology determinism is

pedagogical, political and social with the notion that technology advance is inevitable.

And that in the modern times most of the teachers look at technology with disdain due

to its determinism. The teachers either undermine technology as a pedagogical tool or

ignore its potential (John and Wheeler, 2008). Such situation suggests a technology

milieu where teachers are uncertain about the prospects that technology has for the

pedagogical practices. Consequently, teachers’ responses to new technologies are

varied and diverse. John and Wheeler (2008) identify four distinguished responses of

teachers. Firstly, those who are the ‘enthusiasts’ and positively view the prospects that

technology brings for learning situation. They also try to master new technology and

readily adapt it in the teaching practices. Secondly, ‘pragmatics’, who support use of

technology but are critical of excessive use of technology in teaching and learning of

ESL. Thirdly, the ‘traditionalists’, who resist the use of technology for teaching or

learning English so much to save the long-established pedagogical practices. Fourth

group is of ‘New Luddites’, who are so critical of technology that they undermine the

benefits of technology in every field of life. However, John and Wheeler (2008),

favours the first group of teachers, who move on with technology for its potential.

They commented:

It is, perhaps, symptomatic of our current fascination with digitisation that we

have now moved away from an overt fear of determinism to a position where

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we see the potential of new technology and seek to use it to our best

advantage. (John and Wheeler, 2008, p. 3)

With such constraint they favour soft technological determinism, therein “an active

engagement with learning through and with new technologies so that both experiential

and reflective mode of cognition can operate simultaneously” (p. 5). Here the former

refers to a state in which we perceive and react to the events efficiently around us

without making any considerable effort. On the other hand, reflective mode is of

contrast and comparison, of deliberation and execution which leads to new ideas, new

responses and inventive decision making (Norman, 1993). These two modes of

learning do not refer to the complete notion of cognition in language learning,

nonetheless, are heuristic in understanding the impact of technology on language

teaching and learning. Another debate that surrounds these two modes embarks on the

possibility of the mixing of these modes. This implies that while undertaking an

experiential process of learning the learner might reflect upon it, which would make

these two processes occurring coincidently. Comparable to this, John and Wheeler

(2008) assert that much debate about the value of new technologies in the pedagogical

paradigm “stem from confusion about the relative nature of two modes” (p 4). In the

present study, I put these two modes of learning in the use of technology as teachers’

agency- the way the teacher is affected by the technology, and the way she makes use

of technology leads to her choice of integration of technology in her teaching

paradigm.

John and Wheeler (2008) perceptively point out, the distinction between

affordance and constraints of a variety of new technologies, whereby the former

makes the claim of ease of task due to the use of technology while latter denotes

difficulty or hindrances in the use of particular technology. Technology such as

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internet offers affordance, since a user affords a control on browsing and engagement

in digitised communication, while, the constraining side is of the use of CALL

programme, for which the teacher has to get training or self-teaching before put into

practice. However, in his book Amusing Ourselves to Death, Postman (1985) reminds

us of two contrasting view on technology:

...alongside Orwell’s dark vision [of technology], there was another ... Aldous

Huxley’s Brave New World. Contrary to common belief even among the

educated, Huxley and Orwell did not prophesy the same thing. Orwell warns

that we will be overcome by an externally imposed oppression. But in

Huxley’s vision, no Big Brother is required to deprive people of their

autonomy, maturity and history. As he saw it, people will come to love their

oppression, to adore the technologies that undo their capacities to think...What

Orwell feared were those who would ban books. What Huxley feared was that

there would be no reason to ban a book, for there would be no one who

wanted to read one. ( p. xix)

These contrasting arguments of the use of technology highlight the prevailing tension,

surrounding the use of technology through both dystopias. However, John and

Wheeler (2008) argue for an active engagement with learning, through and with new

technologies, for experiential and reflective modes of learning to operate.

To sum up, my study would identify that women teachers’ use of technology

in ESL pedagogical praxis maximizes autonomy of users. Since the use correlates the

presence of technology with other outcomes, inevitable advancement of technology

results in inevitable integration of technology. Thus, an active engagement with new

technologies, seek both experiential and reflective mode of cognition simultaneously,

so as to generate autonomist users: the women ESL tertiary level teachers. The

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modern digital technologies are not panacea to the problems of education system;

rather they are the pedagogical tools that teachers can utilise for optimal learning

outcomes. In such context, technology has much affordance to language teaching than

any other medium and it is up to the teachers’ decision of the use of technology that

can and would make the difference.

3.1.2.2 Implications of Technology-led Theory for Women’s Education

Another technological determinist view is a technology-led theory of social

change: technology is seen as the prime mover in history. According to technological

determinists, particular technical developments in communications technologies or

media, or, most broadly, technology in general are the sole or prime antecedent causes

of changes in society, and technology is seen as the fundamental condition underlying

the pattern of social organization. Abbe Mowshowitz (1976) argues:

...technology has become an autonomous agent of change...(It) is not to

attribute an occult quality to the growth of modern society which transcends

human choice. It simply means that mechanization has affected social

organization and individual behaviour in such a way as to create a foundation

for further development along certain lines. (pp. 256-257)

That this argument points to the fact that how machines have affected the social strata.

The current potential influence of technology on societal institutions has changed the

previously held social hierarchy. Technology determines the interaction patterns and

an individual’s life. Ben Agger in his essay “The Dialectic of Deindustrialization”

(1985) describes the tendency of system managers and computer experts to exert

control over and they have systematically distorted the content of social discourse

regarding technology. The assumption of this technological determinism is clear.

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Here, technology is not a tool for change rather a change agent. This societal status of

technology implies its influence on the users in general. In such context, Lawley

(1993) viewed women as ignored members of society as far as accessibility to

technology was concerned. However, today more than two decades later, even in an

underdeveloped country like Pakistan, technology is accessible to most of the

population regardless of gender and particularly to the educated women.

Technological determinists interpret technology in general and

communications technologies in particular as the basis of society in the past, present

and even the future. They say that technologies such as writing or print or television

or the computers change society. New technologies transform society at every level,

including institutions, social interaction and individuals. At the least a wide range of

social and cultural phenomena are seen as shaped by technology. Technology has

greatly affected the social set up. It has not only influenced the world view of

communication in today’s technology –rich communication scenario but the nature of

formal disciplines like education. It is commonly argued that the discussions around

mass media, digital and electronic communication exhort technologies for their own

needs, be they personal or political (Lawley, 1993). McLuhan’s (1967) in his seminal

work on the role of technology proclaims:

In terms of the ways in which the machine altered our relations to one another

and to ourselves, it mattered not in the least whether it turned out cornflakes or

Cadillacs. The restructuring of human work and association was shaped by the

technique of fragmentation that is the essence of machine technology. The

essence of automation technology is the opposite. It is integral and decentralist

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in depth, just as the machine was fragmentary, centralist, and superficial in its

patterning of human relationships. ( p. 1)

This gives the concept of technology as the object that defines social interdependence,

and its influence in and around all the domains of life including education and

feminist standpoint.

A technological tool is not only means of executing tasks, learn and know

things but to determine meanings. Those meanings, which are technologically

constructed, help to decipher new interpretations of society, culture and language.

However, many reject this stance; they see a larger role for the users of technology,

especially means of CMC (computer mediated communication) for example

Facebook, Skype, twitter, WhatsApp etc. Such a role is supported by Gidden (1984)

when he talks about the reflexive nature of social life, in which the structure of

activity is created and recreated by the very activities constituting it (as cited in

Lawley, 1993). I interpolate it as a space for the Pakistani women ESL teachers to

gain autonomy in their pedagogical regime. Lawley advocates a perspective where

technology does not determine the role of individuals in the society. This idea of

technological determinism makes the user the subject and technology the object. This

role reversal shapes and determines the social placement of women positively (Ruth

Hubbard, 1983; Lawley, 1993). In this connection, Hubbard’s following view is

arguably demands a paradigm shift:

Technology is part of our culture; and, of course, our culture, which is male

dominated, has developed technologies that reinforce male supremacy. Can

this be changed by women becoming more involved with technology--not only

as its users, but as its inventors, makers, and repairers? (Hubbard, 1983)

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Hubbard’s view, at first, identifies the inferior status of women in twentieth century

but then asks for the possibility of liberation, which I interpret as women teacher

autonomy, through technology. Today the scenario has improved and we find more

women in the economic and political control of technological change, but this cannot

be seen as the only path for feminist action vis-a-vis that technology (Lawley, 1993).

To be precise, in Pakistani pedagogical perspective, today the role of the

women teachers in the institution of higher education demands use of technology not

only as a tool for change rather a change agent. Therefore, a wide range of social

phenomena are seen as shaped under the impact of technology. The value of it is

predominantly realised in the classroom scenario as social interdependence of a

female teacher and her learners. In such technology milieu, the women’s preference to

use technology is coupled with autonomous outlook of the social setup, which allows

liberation and choice.

3.1.3 Benson’s Philosophy of the Development of Learner Autonomy

Another dimension to the epistemological framework for this study is drawn

from Benson’s (2011a) epistemology of two of the six approaches to learner

autonomy: technology-based approach and teacher-based approach. His judgmental

analysis is based on case studies, which provides sound theory and practice to the

philosophy of learner autonomy in ESL education. His conceptualization of autonomy

foregrounds the theoretical underpinning of impact of technology on female teacher

and learner autonomy in Pakistani context. To Benson (2011a) autonomy is ‘not a

method of learning’ and as a teacher he takes “the position that autonomy is a

legitimate and desirable goal of language education” (p. 2). He further argues that

“learners who lack autonomy are capable of developing it given appropriate condition

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and preparation”; and “the development of autonomy implies better language

learning”.

The six approaches outlined in Table 3.1 below, revolves these philosophies of

development of ESL learner autonomy; consequently, provide a holistic framework to

study teachers’ role in fostering learner autonomy in language learning with and

without technology assistance. Although, Benson (2011b) identifies, these approaches

diverse, nonetheless, the role of the teacher cannot be excluded in any of these

approaches to learner autonomy as

It is linked to the social turn in language education, which has involved a re-

evaluation of the role of teachers and teaching in language learning, in that it

draws upon the idea of autonomy as interdependence (in this case the

interdependence of teachers and learners). (Benson, 2011b, p. 16)

Table 3.1: Approaches to the Development of Autonomy

Practices associated with the development of autonomy can be classified under

six broad headings.

Resource-based approaches emphasise independent interaction with learning

material

Technology-based approaches emphasise independent interaction with

educational technologies

Learner-based approaches emphasise the direct production of behavioural

and psychological changes

Class-room-based approaches emphasise learner control over planning and

evaluation of classroom learning

Curriculum-based approaches extend the idea of learner control to the

curriculum as a whole.

Teacher-based approaches emphasise the role of the teacher and teacher

education

Source: Benson (2011a, p. 213)

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Benson (2011a), in his discussion on the approaches to autonomy,

commences with the classroom-based approaches to learner autonomy, which are

primarily related to learner control over planning and evaluation of classroom

learning. A learner, thus, becomes a partner to teacher in the decision making for the

teaching learning process. Classroom-based approaches allow the learners to monitor

their own learning process and grant them the control over the cognitive and

evaluative aspects of their own learning process (Benson, 2011a).Classroom-based

approaches are related to learner autonomy to bring change in teacher and learner

relationship inside the classroom. However, it is evident that whatever a teacher does

to promote learning inside the classroom; or towards what-so-ever resource and

approach teacher directs the attention of the learner outside the classroom is generated

and originated in the classroom.

The basic concepts that Benson (2011a) outlines under the umbrella of

resource-based approaches are self-access, self-instruction and distance learning. Self-

access centers are “enthusiastic consumers of educational technologies” and

“synonymous to technology-based learning” (Benson, 2011a, p. 11). Most of these

self-access centres are created either denying classroom or beyond classroom i.e. a

separate centre outside classroom. The broad definition of self-access includes most

of the outside classroom educational resources including libraries, computer labs,

language labs or audio-visual aid departments in any institution. However, in today’s

practice self-access centres are typically the one supported by instructional

technology. For example, in Pakistan in four institutions of Higher Education Self-

Access centers are established (see Chapter 2 for details).Self-instruction is often

criticized by the educationists for bearing the connotation of teacher-less learning

situation. However, promoting learner autonomy through self-instruction does not

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deny the role of the teacher, the teacher acts as a resource, a guide and facilitator to

pave the way for learner to learn by self-instruction. The next concept illustrating

resource-based approach covers distance-learning. To Benson (2011a), it connotes a

learning situation where a learner undergoes a learning process by taking assistance

from the teacher who is in a geographically different location via a medium: postal or

electronic.

Curriculum-based approaches “extends the idea of learner control to the

curriculum as a whole” (Benson, 2011a, p. 213). This approach emphasizes that

involving learners into decision making process of what to learn at the basic

classroom level is a source to foster autonomy. In such context, I conceptualize the

role of an ESL teacher in involving learners to make decisions of what to learn. In the

broader context, the learners’ say in the choice of the content to be studied so that

autonomous learning may be promoted.

Learner-based approaches to learner autonomy “emphasize the direct

production of behavioural and psychological change” in the learner (Benson, 2011a,

p. 213). The notion of control and responsibility are two basic attributes of learner-

based autonomy. In this connection, I interpose here Little’s (1995) argument:

proficient language learners are autonomous in a sense that they accept responsibility

of their own learning and have developed a skill to reflect on the learning content and

learning process. This ability makes an ESL learner to deal with the resources

available and her change in behaviour indicates improved level of autonomy. On the

other hand, Crabbe (1993) finds the learner control over decision or learners decision

making ability the marker of development of learner autonomy. Therefore, Benson

(2011a) argues that in the classroom context it is difficult to separate “learner-teacher

interdependence from learner dependence upon teacher”, which reflects the degree to

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which learner autonomy is now viewed as a socially and institutionally contextualized

construct” (p. 16). Hence, I foreground the role of female teacher autonomy in the

development of ESL learner autonomy.

3.1.3.1 Towards Teacher-based Development of Learner Autonomy

This teacher-based approach addresses the role of Pakistani female teachers

with respect to development of ESL learner autonomy; teacher identity; and teachers’

education. Within the broad understanding of learner autonomy the role of teacher

education including knowledge of modern technological tools and idea of

interdependence in the classroom context is developed through teacher autonomy

(Benson, 2011a, p. 16).He emphasizes the role of teacher and teacher education to

develop learner autonomy. Thus, there are three areas to study the role of the teacher

in the present study. Apparently identical but these theoretically diverse areas of

Pakistani educated women under study are: teacher autonomy, teacher technology

literacy and teacher identity. Discussing teacher identity, I interpose Breen’s (2007)

opinion:

Either we perceive ourselves as a teacher of language unconnected to wider

social, cultural, and political processes and, thereby, contribute to the

marginalization of our profession, or we accept the formative role we play in

these processes and confront the possibilities for beneficial change in the

intercultural work that we do. (p. 1068)

Breen’s opinion on the role of the teachers raises a question of identity. Can a teacher

be oblivious to the social, cultural and political processes? I propose it is quite

difficult to teach ignoring these process thus a teacher has to adopt a formative role

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for the benefit of the learners. Similarly, Benson (2011a) identifies the importance of

social

...five aspects of educational and social change that have both favoured the

interest in autonomy and problematised its role in the theory and practice of

language teaching and learning: the changing landscape of language teaching

and learning, the globalization of education policy, changing assumptions

about the nature of work and competence, the rise of self-improvement culture

and changing conceptions of social and personal identity. (p. 19)

Therefore, with reference to social hierarchy at the level of classroom, a woman

teacher views her autonomy in the development of learner autonomy. This notion

implies that women teachers see autonomy as a marker of their improvement and

identity. This issue raises a question: Does gender affect the teaching learning

process? This fundamental question works at three dimensions with respect to the

study in hand exploring teachers’ role in the development of learner autonomy:

female teachers’ perception of gender differences in learner autonomy, their own

identity as female teachers and their concept of gender differences; and their

knowledge and use of technology to be autonomous and develop learner autonomy. In

this sense, teachers’ identity is also another important factor affecting role of the

teacher.

Here, it is important to mark a distinction between teacher autonomy and

learner autonomy. To Benson (2008, 2011a, 2011b) when learner takes responsibility

to control learning process it is learner autonomy; and teacher’s control over teaching

process is defined in terms of teacher autonomy. This philosophy leads to the point

that teacher autonomy is crucial to inculcate learner autonomy in a constructive

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language learning environment. The role of the teacher autonomy asserts the value of

teacher’s reflection on her own practices and then making desired changes

(Thavenius, 1999). An autonomous teacher “can help her learners become

autonomous, and...independent enough to let her learners become independent”

(Thavenius 1999, p.160). Similarly, Little (1995) advocates the inherent connection of

teacher working on learner autonomy with teacher autonomy in language teaching

perspective in the following words:

Genuinely successful teachers have always been autonomous in the sense of

having a strong sense of personal responsibility for their teaching, exercising

via continuous reflection and analysis the highest degree of affective and

cognitive control of the teaching process, and exploring the freedom that this

confers. (p. 179)

This discussion thus entails that to develop learner autonomy; a teacher is required to

be trained by educational interventions. Further, Little (1995) proclaims that

“language teachers are more likely to succeed in promoting learner autonomy if their

own education has encouraged them to be autonomous” (p.180). This concept of

teacher education has relevance to pre-service training of the art of teaching with

special reference to endorse learner autonomy. The matter is not alone of fostering

learner autonomy; in the present context, teachers command over educational

technologies is equally important. I find that development of “learner autonomy

requires a shift in the role of the teacher from purveyor of information to facilitator of

learning and manager of learning resources” (Little, 2004, p. 178). As per current

technologically tuned scenario; a teacher needs to introduce, use and work around

technology in one way or the other. Hence, many later studies focused more on in-

service teacher training for competence development of teachers on educational

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technologies to facilitate teaching learning process. In this context, I interpolate with

Levy’s (1997, p. 231) opinion, “It is language teachers who exert ultimate control

over what materials are chosen and subsequently used by students in the classroom.”

Even if the material is provided in the self-access centres or through CALL software,

the students are not expected to use them continuously without direction or

encouragement of the teacher. Teacher remains the motivational factor in and out-of-

the classroom practices for most of the ESL learners. Keeping this dimension in view

it is crucial to provide in-service training to teachers for making conducive learning

environment in the higher education sector of the country. Bearing this concept in

mind, the survey includes this theme to ask for teachers’ reflection on their own

pedagogical scenario. Benson & Huang (2008) comprehensively put forward the

conceptualization of the role of teacher autonomy

... as a professional attribute connected, on one hand, to a capacity to control

the processes involved in teaching process and, on the other, to a capacity to

control one’s own development as a teacher. In the first sense, teacher

autonomy is a parallel concept to learner autonomy; while autonomous

learners control learning, autonomous teachers control teaching. In the second

sense, it involves the teacher’s own autonomy as a learner; autonomous

teachers control the process of learning how to teach, which may include

ongoing learning of their subject matter. (p. 429)

In this connection it is evident that they favour teacher autonomy incorporating

elements of “professionalism, professional freedom and self-direction within the

process of learning how to teach”. This conceptualization of teacher autonomy

implies significance of “teacher education at a number of levels, including pre-service

and in-service programmes, and teachers’ own efforts to improve their professional

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competence”. However, in Pakistani ESL perspective there are spaces and gaps to be

addressed with reference to teachers’ professional competence.

It is obvious that learner’s prior experience influence the selection of

resources, level of autonomy in using digital resources and language learning needs.

The university students, who have already worked on computers either for web

browsing or sending emails or using social media for communication, will work

confidently with technology. While the students with no prior experience of

autonomously making choices or of computers generally require more teacher

support.

To summarize, ESL learners, who lack autonomy, develop it with autonomous

teachers. This development of autonomy implies better language learning. Therefore,

learner-teacher interdependence and form of learner dependence upon teacher are not

as such separate phenomena. It reflects the degree to which learner autonomy is now

viewed as a socially and institutionally contextualized construct that depends on

teacher. Here, I take women teacher autonomy, teacher technology literacy and

teacher identity as three elemental facets to the development of learner autonomy.

Above all, the role of a female teacher in the institution is linked to teachers’ social

and political identity.

3.1.3.2 Towards Technology-based Development of Learner Autonomy

The independent use of instructional technology is the core of technology-

based learner autonomy (Benson, 2011a). Technology offers multiple gadgets of

fundamental significance in terms of usage in language teaching and learning,

including smart cell phones, tablets, iPods, computers, laptops, palmtops. Moreover,

technology offers a versatile communication via internet including browsing WWW

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and CMC (Computer Mediated Communication). This all comes under wider CALL

context (Benson, 2011; Littlemore & Oakey, 2004), provided a teacher chooses to use

them for language learning process. This human-computer interaction (HCI) though,

teacher directed, remains in the definition of independent use of language learning

resources. However, in formal education, authority remains with the teacher, as

teacher is a steering force. So, in this context it is inevitable to ignore the significance

of teachers’ role in leading the students and directing the learners to incorporate

technology even at higher education level; for I believe, autonomous learning and

independent learning does not connote teacher-less education system. This premise is

also put forth by Shetzer & Warschauer (2000): “Whereas previously educators

considered how to use information technology in order to teach language, it is now

essential also to consider how to teach language so that learners can make effective

use of information technology.”

Today the use of technology in education has entered a phase where

knowledge of technology in relation to language learning is developing, and gives rise

to need to develop knowledge of technology (Kasper, 2000). Wherein, electronic

literacy is defined as the knowledge to select and use tools for communication,

research and autonomous learning (Shetzer, 1998).There are number of ways in which

teacher can use technology in developing ESL learner autonomy.

Benson (2011) puts forward an analysis of the potential of use of technology

for second language learning in terms of CALL for the fostering learner autonomy.

Describing Warschauer and Healy’s (1998) classification of ‘CALL applications and

artefacts’, Benson (2011) presents technology-based learner autonomy with respect to

the potential of technology to provide learners the control over the learning content

and process (see Table 3.2). It is discussed in the previous chapter that from the

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beginning, use of technology for language teaching and learning gives learners control

over some aspects of their language learning. Blin (2005) explicating this Benson’s

elucidation of learner control in technology rich environment describes:

While earlier applications mainly allowed control over the pace of learning

and a limited choice over the mode of interaction with the program (e.g.

instructional, practice or testing mode), more recent CALL applications, such

as the use of Internet, offer much broader opportunities for the exercise of

learner autonomy. ( p. 28)

Such attention to the development of learner autonomy is due to the shift in

pedagogical focus from the teacher led ways to learner-centred and learner driven

approach to teaching English as second language (see for example, Jung &

Venderplank, 1994; Levy, 1997).

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Table 3.2: CALL stages and learner autonomy

CALL Applications and Artifacts

(from Warschauer & Healy, 1998)

Potential for Learner

Autonomy(Benson, 2001)

Drills, vocabulary and grammar

Control over pace of learning;

control over mode(e.g.

instruction,practice or testing).

Text reconstruction, games, simulations

(problemsolving,cognitive engagement,

spoken communicationwith peers)

Control over path taken.

Word processors, desktop publishing

packages,concordances and

databases(Computer tool used to facilitate

linguistic processesinvolved in achieving non

linguistic goals or toachieve linguistic goals

that could not otherwise easilybe achieved)

Control over text creation and

interpretation;control over process of

learning;development of

metacognitive skills

andmetalinguistic awareness (i.e.

cognitive andmetacognitive

autonomy).

Multimedia, hypermedia and interactive

technologiespromoting integration of skills

(CD-ROMs)(Rich linguistic and non-

linguistic input, new languagepresented

through a variety of media, branchingoptions)

Control over the selection of

materials andover strategies of

interpretation.

CAL

Source: Blin (2005, p. 29)

3.1.4 Little’s Model of Interaction with Technology for the Development of

Learner Autonomy

However, to better understand what technology offers to language teachers to

develop learner autonomy, Little’s (1996) model of ‘interaction’ with technology is

presented in the following discourse. I have included this model here to elaborate on

the concept of technology-based approach to learner autonomy in a three dimensional

conceptual framework of interaction through technology in Pakistani ESL paradigm at

higher education level. Little uses the term ‘information system’ for technology to

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signal the fact that the teaching learning scenario is rapidly moving towards integrated

multimedia (Little, 1996, p. 211).

To Little the Vygotskian assumption that capacity to reflect and analyse is

central to development of learner autonomy, is the key theoretical underpinning of

this model. Cognitively this capacity of reflection depends on internalization of a

capacity to participate fully and critically in social intercourse. Little (1996)

elaborates three types of interaction for development of learner autonomy:

a) interaction with information system that is using computer as a tutor;

b) interaction around information that is using word processor or learning

through interactive video programmes, which fosters learner autonomy

as it is “computer interaction for linguistic support” (p. 215); and

c) interaction via information system that is browsing the World Wide

Web or interacting via social networking cites or emails.

Contesting on this last point, I insert Benson’s view that it is not instructional

technology but internet that provides ample opportunities to develop autonomy

(Benson, 2011a). Nevertheless, the learner training for successful learner autonomy

depends on the use of technology. Substantiating this view I interpose Levy’s (1997)

explication that the learner training will “differ for computer tutors and computer

tools” (p.199). He also maintains:

If the computer tutor has been well designed, it will have tutorial, context

sensitive help, and a management system that will guide the learner and be

responsive to the particular needs and level of the learner… then it can provide

real autonomous learning opportunities for the student. However, in the role of

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tutor… control is delegated to computer to manage the learning. (Levy, 1997,

p. 199)

To sum up, the independent use of instructional technology is the core of

technology-based learner autonomy technology. Computer as a tutor, tool or resource

encourages the teachers and learners to reflect and analyse. This process automatically

aids learner autonomy. However, technology may hinder learner autonomy if it is not

properly employed in teaching learning situation. Thus, it is important that the teacher

guides the learners how to control technology and what learners can do to not let

technology control them.

With no agreed agenda to study the impact of technology on female ESL

tertiary level teachers, this study addresses female teacher autonomy, teacher identity,

and role of the teacher in the development of learner autonomy. In this way, the above

mentioned ontological and epistemological standpoints lead to the numerous points of

departure. To put these epistemological assumptions on the proposed problem of the

impact of technology on the women teaching in the institutions of the higher

education, a feminist methodological framework is designed with a survey as the

research instrument.

3.2 A Feminist Methodological Framework

Feminist methodology is adopted to study the women teaching ESL at tertiary

level institutions of Pakistan with the aim to address the impact of the use of

technology for the development of learner autonomy. As feminist methodology is

carried out to study human subjects in relation to their social factors (Park, 2009), this

study embarks on the thesis statement with this methodological standpoint. This

method is extensively in practice in socio feminine pedagogical research (see for

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example Bloom, 1998; Park 2009) for providing not only detailed information of the

target population, but from the target population, by a member of the target

population. Bloom (1998) summarizes her understanding about the concept of

feminist methodology as: (a) the social construction of gender, (b) the study of

women’s diverse lives, (c) the contexts of the research questions, (d) the critical self-

reflections of the researcher, and (e) researcher-respondent relationships (as cited in

Park, 2009). This methodological framework was adopted with the expectations to

provide reliable results for description of use of technology and the development of

learner autonomy from the feminist perspective of tertiary level ESL pedagogy.

The rationale behind the selection of feminist methodology for the present

research is twofold. Firstly, the feminist research methodology being grounded in

feminist theory (Park 2009) helps to understand the perceptions of desired population

under consideration for this study- the Pakistani women teaching ESL at tertiary level.

Secondly, such methodology provides pragmatic, reflexive, and situated research

(Franks, 2002; Harding, 1987) in the field of feminist pedagogy. Therefore, the

multiplicity, fragmentation, and differences in my dissertation were strongly

supported by the characteristics of feminist research methodology (Park, 2009; Hesse-

Biber & Leckenby, 2004; Ramazanoglu, 2002; Alcoff, 1997; Harding, 1987).

This methodological standpoint enables me to carry out an in depth study of

the subjects from a Pakistani feminist perspective. In the study women’s diverse

experiences are the resource of feminist knowledge of the use of technology for the

development of ESL learner autonomy. Feminist research methodology provides

many insights into what feminist researchers consider when applying the

methodology to both conducting research and writing. Feminist research allowed me

to apply multiple theoretical underpinnings that foreground the realm of feminist ESL

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pedagogy in the presence of technological interventions in Pakistan. Being a feminist

research this study respects diversity and difference of opinion. It allowed me to

interpret respondents’ opinions objectively through the generated data and

subjectively by mingling my own experiences into interpretations with those of the

respondents. Hence it is a study about women, for women, by a woman. This is why

feminist research methodology was significant to my dissertation research. To

conclude, this methodological choice strengthens the present research because

feminist research utilizes women’s experiences as resources; it is a study about

women and for women, it allows the researcher’s own experiential knowledge; it

values the differences; and it requires self-reflection (Park, 2009).

In order to gather data from the diversely distributed population of the present

study an empirical instrument, survey, was used. The survey is selected because it

provides the measurable and quantifiable data. Such empirical data helped to

demonstrate the real impact of technology on women teachers. Therefore, the

elemental reason, behind selection of this research instrument, is to choose a

quantitative approach where the process of analysis only comes when the whole data

is collected. Secondly, quantitative analysis allows the participation of a larger

audience. In parallel to this Marsen (2006) employed the quantitative approaches to

“predict social outcomes by analyzing society and social interactive process along

rational and scientific lines.” Being rooted in empirical sciences, it relies on collection

of measurable data the research techniques like survey and to carry out statistical

analyses to measure and classify phenomenon under study (Marsen, 2006).

Conclusively, in keeping with this epistemology, I resorted to feminist

methodological approach to study the feminist standpoint with a designed survey.

This empirical study was conducted in three phases which are outlined in Figure I

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below. In the first phase of the study a survey was developed and pilot tested, before

embarking upon actual research. In the phase II the survey is administered to get an

insight from the women respondents on the use of technology and the role of the

teachers of ESL on the development of learner autonomy in Pakistani institutions of

higher education. In the third phase of the study data collected was analyzed and

interpreted. The yielded quantitative data was analysed statistically using SPSS

version 18. Descriptive statistics measures (i.e. frequency counts and percentages)

were taken to analyse the yielded data. Inferential statistics is also used to examine

relationships between variables and differences among them. In order to establish

correlations among research variables Pearson Correlation analysis was used; and to

find the significant difference of means One Way ANOVA analyses were carried out.

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Figure 3.1: Phases of the Study

3.3 Phase I: Survey and Piloting

3.3.1 Development of Survey

The formal procedure for research in Phase I commenced with the development of

the survey, which aimed at obtaining responses of the women teaching ESL in the

institutions of higher education on the use of technology and development of learner

autonomy. The above narrated epistemological assumptions led to the construction of

the survey as an empirical tool for this study. It has provided me that creative space

that is needed to interpret the data from the defined theoretical triangulation

standpoints to explain the point of view of the women teachers on the use of

technology for the development of tertiary level ESL learner autonomy.

Phase

I

Development of Survey

Pilot StudyFinal drafting

of Survey

Phase

II

Survey

AdministrationStoring Data

Missing data analysis

Phase III Statistical Analyses

Interpretation

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3.3.1.1 Rationale for selecting Survey as a Research Instrument

I developed an on-line survey to study the Pakistani female teachers’

reflection on technology and development of ESL learner autonomy in the feminist

perspective. The survey is selected as a research instrument as surveys are often

considered to be an easy and convenient mean of gathering data from a large

population compared to other data collection tools (O’malley & Chamot, 1990),

which makes survey much more advantageous than any other research tool. And an

on-line survey has more benefits than a traditional survey. It can be easily and

economically developed by using any of the free on-line software. Moreover, survey

provides fast and straightforward data processing, especially by using modern

computer software (Dornyei, 2003; Creswell, 2012). For the purpose of this study, I

developed the survey by creating an account on ‘Survey face’, an on-line survey

developer that offered assistance in authoring the survey with the help of already

programmed survey format. It allowed me authoring variety of questions ranging

from close ended to open ended; from single answer options to multiple answers

option.

Being on-line, it was easy and economical to administer the survey by posting on

social networking cites or via e-mail/message service of any social networking cite.

Thus, it allowed an access to larger participants of the target population surpassing the

limitations of geographical diversity. Above all it allowed studying the summary of

the data all along the data collection process which guided the further data collection

process. However, all these advantages are meaningless if the survey is not carefully

developed and this is the reason for which survey- based research is often criticized.

The survey for this study was designed to answer the research question:

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What is the impact of technology on the women ESL teacher autonomy, a

prerequisite to the development of learner autonomy, in Pakistani higher

education institutions?

This basic research question is explored to conceptualize and contextualize this study

on three scales which are addressed in the three sub-questions:

4. To what extent, are the female ESL teachers in the Pakistani institutions of

higher education professionally trained so as to be autonomously engaged in

the development of learner autonomy?

5. What is the impact of technology on the women teaching ESL in the

institutions of higher education?

6. What is the role of the women teaching in the institutions of higher education

in the development of learner autonomy?

Given that, the epistemological framework provided an insight of impact of

technology on the teacher and learner autonomy, it enabled to decide the theoretical

assumptions and philosophies central to the development of the survey in accordance

with the purpose of this research and research questions of my study. The next step

was to devise well-written and technically relevant items of the survey, which means

the items which were relevant to the objectives of the study. Moreover, keeping in

view that the relevance to the research questions is a pre-requisite to avoid

shortcomings (Borg and Al-Bausaidi, 2012); the concept map of this study was

revisited. Development of the survey relevant to teachers’ every day teaching

experience was also taken as a prerequisite. A good survey form needs to be

comprehensive and precise, yet interesting and professional and above all respondent

friendly. Survey is considered as respondent friendly only if it offers logical

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progression and ease of completion and submission which is kept in view throughout

the process. Therefore, these notions were kept on the forefront while designing the

survey. The process of designing was quite long and complicated; however, after

various revisions the final version of survey was developed (see Appendix A). The

designing process of the survey before reaching the final version is described below.

The epistemological framework guided a number of principles and theories

underpinning the trio of technology, development of learner autonomy and feminist

perspective. This critical review put forth many issues relevant to the research

variables that I require to address. Throughout the process of development of survey

the review of the related literature showed diverse and varied directions. I started

with the review of these frameworks to produce a list of workable categories. In order

to simplify this process, I divided the retrieved points into categories and sub-

categories. At this point many issues and points, being not directly relevant, are

dismissed. This process has enabled to decide the final set of categories. This final set

seems to be of great value for development of survey items. Following is the list of

shortlisted categories for the survey:

i. Teachers’ professional competence.

ii. Teachers’ training

iii. Computers as a tool for creating teaching and assessment material.

iv. Technology as a provider of teaching resource material.

v. Computer as a tutor

vi. Internet as provider of learning resources

vii. Identification of learners traits for development of learner

autonomy

viii. Capacity building in development of learner autonomy

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ix. Learner dependence versus independence

x. Decision making

xi. Integration of technology

xii. Women learner autonomy in the gender dichotomy

In order to design items for survey from these categories different scales were

used. Predominantly, this study used a Likert-type scale. These types of scales are the

most useful in behavioural research because the use of Likert-scales can help avoid

loading participant with immense work and ensure an overall view of the focus of the

research (Hinkin, 1995). Likert-type scales can vary in the number of scale points

(e.g. 4 or 7 points) as well as the descriptors. For the current study, the unbalanced

scale (5) was used because a 5-point Likert-type scale is widely accepted as a proxy

interval level of measurement in line with common practice in educational research

(Dornyei, 2003).

Drafting these concepts into workable items for the survey was another

challenge. Firstly, the categories were defined in terms of the objectives of the

research. I then decided to divide the above outlined categories to devise two sections

of the survey: one for demographic details and teachers’ professional training; while

second for Likert-type scale items to explore respondents’ use of technology for the

development of autonomy. However, the review inspired me to delete some items,

either being repetitive or irrelevant. Moreover, while working on the third draft I

divided the survey into three sections. The items for the first section were related to

demographic details and teachers’ professional training including categories i and ii

detailed above. The second section included categories ii-vi, and items were designed

on 5 Point Likert-type scales eliciting how frequently teachers use technology in the

ESL academic activities. Third section comprised categories based on concepts vii-

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xii, on five point Likert-type scale of agreement to elucidate female teachers’ role in

the development of learner autonomy.

Two of the experienced colleagues were asked to review this third draft; they

also had the experience of carrying out research with a survey as a tool of study. Their

remarks contributed a lot to make amendments in the items. One of them drew

attention to add items that should discreetly address gender perspective; secondly

some of the items were repetitive in concept. In the light of these remarks redrafting

and revision process started. This was once again a time taking process after many

revisions the finalized eighth draft comprised 14 items in the section 2, and 28 items

in section; while first section included 7 items. This draft was once again reviewed

and guidelines led to deletion of similar items and addition of two new items. And the

9th draft included 10 questions in the first section to find demographic details and 4

dichotomous questions to address respondents’ professional competence, second

section included 16items, and third section comprised 25 items. The survey was then

tried by pilot testing. The following section would present the pilot study Phase of the

study.

3.3.2 The Pilot Study

In order to make the main study successful, a pilot study was administered in July

2015, with a group similar to those in the main sample population that is the women

teaching ESL in the institutions of higher education. Its main objectives were to test

the reliability of the survey and make recommended changes in the light of the

respondents’ comments. At this stage of the study it guided to remove items which

did not yield usable data, moreover, guided to add items to fill any data gaps.

Moreover, it was helpful to find out the approximate length of time needed for the

main study. Another advantage of conducting a pilot study is avoiding those mistakes,

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which could hinder the success of the main study. It also aids in practicing and

selecting appropriate statistical analysis techniques for the analysis of the main data.

3.3.2.1 Sample Selected for the Pilot Study

The following steps were taken by the present researcher in order to determine the

size and the characteristics of the selected sample:

a. The sample for the pilot study was chosen from teachers of English, as in the main

study.

b. Only the female teachers were chosen as planned for the main study.

c. Subjects were chosen from the four Universities.

Following the above mentioned lines, the data is yielded for the pilot test of the

Technology and Development of Learner Autonomy Survey via e-mail invitations to

the selected teachers teaching in the institutions of higher education. This phase of the

study gathered 22 responses in a time frame of eight days, out of 22 responses 18

were completely filled while 4 were partially filled. However, the yielded data from

all 22 responses was analyzed to test the reliability and validity of the research

instrument. This number of responses allowed me to carry out some meaningful item

analysis and make revisions deemed necessary before formally administering the

survey for the research.

3.3.2.2 Validity of the Survey

Validity of an educational research instrument is a preliminary condition for

yielding a comprehensive and dependable data. Before applying a test, it is important

to examine the extent of its validity. Pidgeon and Yates (1968) elucidated that a valid

research instrument ‘demonstrably measures what it was intended to measure’ (p.61).

In order to determine both the content validity and the face validity of the survey, I

took the following steps:

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a. The questionnaire was checked by two of my colleagues and was rechecked

for accuracy by two more colleagues at Islamia University Bahawalpur.

Although it was time-consuming, it was significant for the content validity of

the survey.

b. The suggestions of the respondents, who were all ESL teachers, and my

colleagues, also provided valuable information to improve the content of the

survey.

c. In the light of these suggestions the final draft was formulated; and it was

examined by a number of jurors, including three PhD scholars and 2 university

teachers, in order to determine its validity. These jurors had an experience of

designing and reviewing research survey.

d. In the light of the comments by the experts the items that were confusing were

reworded before a pilot test 2, in order to verify that the items were well

understood and that the test did not yield obvious bias effects (Dornyei, 2003;

Saris & Gallhofer, 2007).The jurors agreed unanimously that the questionnaire

was valid in content and it could be deemed to measure what it claimed to

measure.

3.3.2.3 Reliability of the Research Instrument

Parallel to validity check, for the reliability15of the research instrument the

statistic measure Cronbach’s Alpha is used to assess the extent to which scales display

‘unidimensionality’. According to Bryman & Cramer (2005) (as cited in Borg & Al-

Bausaidi, 2012 ) the 0.8 alpha level indicates a good level of conceptual relatedness

among items and 0.7 alpha level is acceptable. The 16 items in section two produced

an alpha of 0.701 and 25 items in section three produced an alpha of 0.717. Although

15Reliability is the degree to which a test consistently measures whatever it intends to measure.

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I consider the fact that these statistical results here would have also been influenced

by firstly, in one case the small number of items as compared to the other scale;

secondly, the small pilot sample, This analysis led to further revisions in the survey.

The analysis of the items on the above detailed concept scale, provided evidence that

in several cases the items in each scale were not addressing a common underlying

concept. Thus, these items were revised so as to increase the reliability measure of

every concept. These results nonetheless stimulated to engage in further revision of

the Likert-scale items in Section 3 of the survey. Revisions are thus made to improve

the reliability level of section three. After revisions the survey was pilot tested again.

3.3.2.4 The Pilot Test 2

For the follow up pilot test, the survey was posted on facebook group to invite

responses from ESL teachers from higher education institutions. The 20 responses

were gathered. The yielded data is analyzed on reliability scale with SPSS (version

20) for Chronbach’s Alpha. This time Section II and III fulfilled the criteria of

reliability and Alpha level was greater than 0.8 as illustrated in Table 3.2. The sixteen

items in the pilot survey on the concept of ‘Use of Technology in ESL Teaching’

produced an alpha of 0.905. Similarly, reliability scale is equally adequate for section

three, where the 25 items on ‘The Role of Teacher in the Development of Learner

Autonomy’ indicated Chronbach’s Alpha at 0.917.

Table 3.2: Reliability Statistics

No. Of

respondents

% Cronbach’s

Alpha

No. Of Items

Use of Technology Valid 20 100.0 .905 16

Role of the Teacher 20 100.0 .917 25

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This desired reliability level guided to continue data collection process

including these 20 responses. Here, it is vital to describe this final version of survey.

3.3.3 Final Draft of Technology and Development of ESL Learner Autonomy

Survey

This final draft of the survey comprised three sections. However, the head of

the survey includes the introduction and invitation to the survey (see Appendix A).

First section is reserved to gather information on respondents’ professional training as

ESL teachers and demographic details. Second section addresses the teachers’ use of

technology in ESL teaching practices, while the third section addresses the role of the

teacher in developing learner autonomy. The following discourse includes an

elaboration of the three sections.

Demographic data alone is insufficient to provide information on teachers’

professional competence; therefore, the first section includes the concept of teachers’

training as well. The section, thus, includes items to get information on gender, age,

educational qualification, experience, and respondent’s work place. Gender

identification is one of the prerequisites as teachers’ identity is the matter of interest in

the present research. Moreover, at the analyses phase it helped to filter the responses

generated from only women respondent. To contextualize the concept of technology

through teachers’ professional training, five items were formulated. These items

categorically aim to embark at

a) teacher’s computer proficiency level,

b) in-service computer training,

c) self- motivated computer training,

d) teachers’ involvement in e-research in general; and

e) ESL research in particular.

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Except for computer proficiency level, which was given the continuum of five-point

scale of excellence i.e. from ‘poor’ to ‘excellent’, the rest of the items were

dichotomous with ‘yes’ and ‘no’ options.

In the second section of the survey the items are added to evaluate how frequently

women ESL teachers use technology to facilitate teaching process of ESL in the

institutions of higher education. The independent use of instructional technology

being the core of technology-based learner autonomy (Benson, 2007a), is central to

the context of ESL pedagogy. Technology allows the learners ample opportunities to

have control over learning procedure, which enables learners to pursue learning at

their own pace (Benson, 2001). Keeping with this, the second section of the survey

includes the items on use of technology inside the classroom. For example, the use of

computer as a tutor by conducting CALL activities in University’s Computer Lab

allows the learners to have a control over the pace of learning and over the learning

path. The learners can mend and make amendments to correct their own language

problems if the correct use of language is modelled before them. Modern technology

has provided this opportunity in the hands of every teacher. Today, the use of

technology for assisting the teaching process by using multi-media projector, cell

phone, I-Phone, tab, CD Rom etc, is commonplace, owing to the ease of availability

and utility. This instantaneous decision of the teacher in the classroom helps the

learners to have control over evaluation of their own language errors and mistakes.

The teachers are asked that how frequently they use these mediums to facilitate

learning, for example for modelling correct pronunciation.

Little’s (1996) model of interaction with the technology had been a source for

grounding the theoretical underpinnings of this part, particularly. In Little’s model,

the Vygotsky’s opinion on cognition of learning is synonymous to the capacity to

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reflect and analyse, which is central to development of learner autonomy, and it is the

key theory to this model. Interaction with technology for using computer as a tutor;

interaction around technology that is using word processor or learning through

interactive video programmes; and interaction via technology is browsing the World

Wide Web or interacting via social networking cites or emails. The review of the

literature reflects that these three levels of interaction are central to many of the

researches being conducted to study the relational ties of technology and development

of learner autonomy (Blin, 2005; Willis, 2011). Nonetheless, the research in this field

does not address the teachers’ reflection on the use of these interaction patterns in the

language pedagogy, particularly, women ESL teachers in Pakistan. In order to address

this gap, this study intended to throw light on it by asking women teachers to reflect

on their teaching practices.

Given that the language teachers’ responsibility begins in the classroom but it

includes that learning process as well which is called follow up programme, this

section includes the interaction with the technology outside the classroom. It is often

crucial to language learning that what a teacher guides to students to use technology

for outside the classroom. The items in this section addressed variety of technology

applications including word processor for exhibiting the control over text creation;

use of internet to control the access to learning content by browsing World Wide Web

to access authentic reading material and solving language learning activities for

development of all four language learning skills. More emphasis is given to internet

than any other technology usage, since it is not technology but internet that provides

ample opportunities to develop autonomy (Benson, 2005). Therefore, this section

included the items on the use of internet resources to facilitate learning. Internet also

allows control over interaction with peers, teachers and even native speakers by

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sending or receiving emails and chatting via other cites of social networking.

Moreover, it inquires how frequently teachers guide students to solve on-line

grammar and vocabulary quizzes which allow control over pace of learning.

Keeping in view the aspiration of third part of the survey to assess the role of

the women teachers in development of ESL learner autonomy, this section elicits

responses on the five point Likert-scale of agreement. Its design helps in establishing

the direct correlation of technology, autonomy and underlying socio-cultural construct

of women in Pakistan. This theoretical assumption not only directly addresses

teachers’ classroom practices in relation to technology and developing learner

autonomy; but also elicits to what extent the teachers agree that they incorporate

technology in and outside the classroom to facilitate learner autonomy.

In order to address the argument that role of the teacher is significant in the

development of learner autonomy, the section three of the survey includes twenty five

items. The items aim to assess as to what extent teachers agree that the role of the

teacher affects development of learner autonomy. Identification of the affective

factors, for example motivation and attitude to learning, was taken as a central role of

the teacher in ESL teaching for fostering learner autonomy. The attitude of the

learners’ towards learning a language being positive or negative obviously demands

the teacher to play her role to treat the learners as individuals and facilitate them. As it

is evident that learners’ attitude may inhibit the learner or may facilitate the learning

process. Thus, the argument that the learners’ individual traits are the factors that

affect language learning process holds much to debate on. Therefore, the items are

designed to ask teachers’ reflection to evaluate development of learner autonomy in

terms of willingness to learn and motivation.

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Capacity building of the learners as the role of the teacher in teaching-learning

process is considered central to the development of learner autonomy. Therefore, this

section includes the items to get teachers reflection on capacity building of learners to

take autonomous action, especially in regard to monitoring and evaluation of learning

process. Therefore, the women teaching ESL in the institutions of higher education

are asked to reflect on the learners’ capacity to take responsibility of one’s own

learning, skill to evaluate what one has achieved, ability to monitor one’s own

learning and learning to work alone.

Independendence vs dependence, student centred vs teacher led ways are the

concepts addressed under the umbrella of any teacher-based approach to learner

autonomy (Benson, 2011a). The argument that independent learning involves

learners taking responsibility for their own learning is recognized by many

researchers and language teachers as providing a context within which autonomy can

be promoted and supported. However, it is also debated that learning with exclusion

of teacher is a farce. In order to come to conclusion for these notions, the survey

included items to get an insight of teachers’ role on the extent of intervention in the

learning paradigm.

Decision making on what and how to learn is defined by Benson (2011a) as

curriculum-based autonomous learning, though this idea holds larger concept than the

one addressed here. The items in this research are designed to inquire as to what

extent teachers agree that if they allow learners to make choice or decide about what

to learn and what activities to do to develop learner autonomy.

The technology based items intend to elicit the women teachers’ reflection on

the integration of technology in and outside the educational institution for the

development of learner autonomy. The items are designed on independent interaction

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via technology outside the class such as browsing the World Wide Web; independent

interaction with educational technologies inside the class such as CALL programmes;

independent interaction with technology, for instance by using word processor for

composition.

The argument, that the women teachers consider the social perspective of

learners’ gender, is addressed in this section. The gender dichotomy is the core

concept that addresses the learners’ identities in the co-education system prevailing in

the institutions of higher education in Pakistan. In order to study the role of the

teacher in this social paradigm of ESL pedagogy, the survey included four items.

Although, the impact on Pakisatni women of technology and development of ESL

learner autonomy would be addressed universally, through all the sections of the

survey, it is added here to get an insight of the teachers’ consideration of the learning

traits of individuals in the gender dichotomy.

3.4 Phase II

3.4.1 Survey Administration

The key participants for the Technology and Development of ESL Learner

Autonomy Survey were predominantly drawn from those involved in ESL teaching to

the advanced learners in the Pakistani institutions of higher education- Universities

and postgraduate colleges. The participants are approached through electronic means.

Like many researchers (for example Saris & Gallhofer, 2007), I preferred using an

electronic survey (internet-based survey) because of its speed and accessibility, as it

allows fast and easy collection of data with a high response rate and a high quality of

response. The survey is administered via e-mails, facebook messages, facebook posts,

telephones and personal meetings. However, through all modes the participants were

provided with the link to the on-line survey. This pre-requisite is taken to generate the

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data from those women teachers who are utilizing technology for academic or non-

academic purposes. The assumption, therefore, is that the women teachers in higher

education are inclined to technology integration for pedagogical practices. The period

for data collection that started in July 2015 was terminated at the end of September,

2015. The participants for the survey were approached on the basis of the following

parameters:

Gender: Female

Language: ESL

Students: Advanced learners

Institution: Universities and Colleges of higher education

Audience: ESL teachers, especially those who are actively using technology

for academic and non academic purposes.

‘Purposeful’ and ‘snowball’ sampling techniques were employed. These sampling

techniques were employed rather than random sampling, so that those female teachers

could be accessed whose knowledge and expertise are substantial in utilizing

technology. This was complemented by snowball sampling which enabled the

approached respondents to forward online survey to those colleagues whose expertise

and interests are same. The sample of survey respondents was constructed from

various sources. This procedure of survey administration is graphically represented in

Figure 3.2 Initially the survey link is uploaded on various facebook groups: CALL

Pakistan, PhD Research Scholars (English) and CALL Teachers (e.g. see Appendix

D). Secondly, the websites of Universities in Pakistan are browsed and the data of

Pakistani ESL female teachers is accessed. Then all those ESL female teachers, whose

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e-mail addresses were mentioned, were sent participation invitations along with the

link of survey. The contact names from universities websites enabled to find teachers

using facebook. Then the friend list of every teacher enabled to send request to other

ESL University teachers. Many participant teachers voluntarily invited their

colleagues to participate in research. Later Universities and colleges were visited and

teachers’ e-mail addresses were gathered to send survey participation requests. Later,

the reminders were sent via e-mails and telephonic conversations.

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Figure 3.2: Procedure of Survey Administration

Consequently, the women teaching in various colleges and universities across

Pakistan were accessed. The item on gender was added to filter the responses of

female teachers only, as the survey was electronic and some of the medium of

invitations were open like invitation via ‘facebook group’. Therefore, when total 151

responses were received; 22 responses filled by men; and the one response where

respondent did not specify the gender, were excluded from the final data analysis.

Procedure of survey Administration

Browsing Websites of the Pakistani Universities

Retrieved

e-mails

Sent Survey Participarion

Requests

Posted

Reminders

Retreived Names

Searched People on Facebook

Sent Survey Participation

Requests

Posted

Reminders

Key Respondents'

Friend List was searched

Sent Survey Participation

Requests

Posted Reminders

Facebook groups

Posted Survey

Participation Request

Posted Reminders

Visited universities and colleges

Gathered e-mail addresses

Sent Survey Participation

Requests

Posted

Reminders

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Table 3.3: Gender of the Respondents

Gender Number of

Participants Percentage

Female 128 85.0%

Male 22 14.6%

Non-indicated gender 1 0.01%

Total 151

Thus, the 128 responses as that were received from female teachers became the

part of this study (see Table 3.3). The analysis of item Q 1.4 showed that data was

gathered from more than 33 institutions of higher education from almost all the

provinces of Pakistan (see Appendix B that summarizes the data on the respondents’

workplace). Only 81 women respondents in response to Q 1.4 named the institution

where they are performing their duties as teachers of ESL (see Appendix B).

Moreover, the information gathered on the age group of respondent is also analysed

through descriptive statistics (see Appendix C).

3.4.2 Data Feeding and Missing Data Analysis

The yielded data from the Technology and Development of ESL Learner

Autonomy Survey were entered into a data processing statistical software SPSS

(Version 20).Firstly the analyses were conducted to ensure the accuracy of the data, to

detect any missing values, and to assess the reliability of the scale. The accuracy of

the data was examined by using ‘sort cases’ in ascending order for each variable as

the values of every variable were arranged from the smallest to the largest number,

which helped the researcher to detect any discrepancies in data. The data file was also

examined visually for missing data. The responses of few participants were

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problematic. Participant # 54,55,76,77, 82, 83 and 127 had not responded to one or

two items of Section 1 (Demography and Teachers’ Professional Competence) of the

survey, while Participant #59, 66 and 69 had only responded to Section 1 but

Participant # 59 had even not responded to two items of Section 1. In addition,

Participant # 17, 45, 48, 86 and 128 did not respond to Section 3(The Role of the

Teacher in the Development of Learner Autonomy) of the survey. None of these

responses were rejected; however, the number of participant is mentioned with every

tabulated analysis sheet in the following chapter.

Table 3.4: Missing Value Analysis

Sca

le

Subscales Missing

No. of

Extremes*

Mean Std. Dev No. % Low High

SE

CT

ION

1 Educational Qualification 1.89 .536 0 .0 . .

Experience 3.00 1.357 0 .0 0 0

Teachers’ Competence in Technology 4.41 1.220 5 3.9 0 0

SE

CT

ION

2

Technology as a Tool 7.90 2.345 3 2.3 12 6

Technology as a Resource 5.89 1.956 3 2.3 8 0

Use of Technology inside the Classroom 9.46 3.470 3 2.3 0 0

Use of Technology Outside the

Classroom 17.84 5.613 3 2.3 12 0

Identification 8.06 1.672 8 6.3 7 0

SE

CT

ION

3

Capacity Building 12.50 2.126 8 6.3 9 0

Intervention 25.42 4.380 8 6.3 4 0

Decision Making 11.80 2.462 8 6.3 4 0

Integration of Technology 12.83 2.465 8 6.3 10 5

Social Paradigm 12.83 2.465 8 6.3 10 5

a. Number of cases outside the range (Q1 - 1.5*IQR, Q3 + 1.5*IQR).

b. indicates that the inter-quartile range (IQR) is zero.

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In order to analyze the missing values from the yielded data Missing Value

Analysis was carried out with Univariate descriptive Statistics and the results are

tabulated in Table 3.4. Univariate analysis was used to explore each variable in a data

set, separately. It looked at the range of values, as well as the central tendency of the

values. It has not only helped to describe the pattern of response to the variable but

has also described each variable on its own. Moreover, where descriptive statistics

describe and summarize data, Univariate descriptive statistics describe individual

variables. Table 3.4 summarises the Univariate descriptive statistics – means,

standard deviation and missing data count and ranges for each subscale from Section

1 to Section 3 – in relation to the data from Technology and Development of ESL

Learner Autonomy Survey.

The results obtained after the analysis of Section I show that mean score for

educational qualification of the respondents remained 1.89 with 0.536 standard

deviations and 0 missing value. Similarly, the mean score for the experience of

women ESL teachers remained 3.00 with 1.357 standard deviations and 0 missing

value. Whereas the mean score for the teachers’ competence in technology remained

4.41 with 1.220 standard deviations and 5 missing values out of 128, which means

3.9% missing data. However the results of Section II show 3missing values out of the

total sample of 128 for all categories of the section, which means 2.3% missing data.

Nevertheless, the mean score for ‘Technology as a Tool’ category remained 7.7 with

2.345 standard deviations. The mean score for ‘Technology as a Resource’ remained

5.89 with 1.956 standard deviations. In addition, the mean score for ‘Use of

Technology inside the classroom’ remained 9.46 with 3.470 standard deviations.

Moreover, the mean score for ‘Use of Technology outside the classroom’ remained

17.84 with 5.613 standard deviations. The results of Section III show 8 missing values

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out of 128 respondents for all categories of this section, which means 6.3% missing

data. Nevertheless, the mean score for ‘Identification’ category remained 8.06 with

1.672 standard deviations. The mean score for ‘Capacity Building’ remained 12.50

with 2.126 standard deviations. In addition, the mean score for ‘Intervention’

remained 25.42 with 4.380 standard deviations. Moreover, the mean score for

‘Decision Making’ remained 11.80 with 2.246 standard deviations. Furthermore, the

mean score for ‘Integration of Technology’ remained 12.83 with 2.465 standard

deviations. Similarly, the mean score for ‘Social Paradigm’ remained the same 12.83

with 2.465 standard deviations. Further Inter Quartile Range analysis was used to

measure how spread out the data points in a set are from the mean of the data set. The

Table 3.4 indicates that the inter-quartile range (IQR) is zero.

3.5 Conclusion

To conclude, it is expected that the findings from this comprehensive

epistemological and methodological research design can be compared to those present

in the literature, so that this study design help to give juncture to this area of applied

linguistics. In other words, it will empower the research in ESL in Pakistani

perspective. It will also help to harmonize the literature where concepts are either

isolated or relate to widely different references. The empirical tool, Technology and

Development of ESL Learner Autonomy Survey, inquires the women-teachers to

reflect on their use of technology, their role in development of learner autonomy

independently, and in relation to technology and then the implications of both for the

women teachers and learners of English at tertiary level in Pakistan. The Phase III of

the study (see Chapter 4) explains the results based on the yielded data. It establishes

the respondents’ teaching practices with technology and their perception of learner

autonomy. In this way the research data helps to conceptualize the impact of the use

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of technology on women teachers’ professional competence. The view on female

teachers’ pedagogical practices elucidates the link between teacher autonomy and

development of learner autonomy in the ESL perspective in the higher education

institutions of Pakistan.

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CHAPTER 4

Data Analysis and Interpretation

In the preceding chapters, the ideology behind the opted feminist

methodological framework to study the use of technology and development of ESL

learner autonomy in the feminist pedagogical perspective in Pakistan has established

three significant views. One, the research conducted to study the impact of use of

technology on women teachers in higher education provides limited information.

Two, the information correlated to the conception of learner autonomy in the domain

of ESL teaching is not only limited but fragmented. Three, the study on implications

of technology to develop learner autonomy for Pakistani women teachers in higher

education is still an area not directly explored- a lacking field. Thus, the opted study

design aims at addressing the impact of technology on women ESL teachers’

pedagogical practices in tertiary level institutions. In this connection, the present

chapter would provide the evidences gathered from women teachers in higher

education institutions through a survey on the stated problem. And the details of the

analysis of the yielded data through Technology and Development of ESL Learner

Autonomy Survey (see Appendix A) are presented in this chapter.

As elaborated in the previous chapter that this study comprises three phases: in

Phase I, Technology and Development of ESL Learner Autonomy Survey was

developed and piloted (see Chapter 3.3 for details). In Phase II, the survey was

administered, data were stored and missing values analyses were conducted (see

Chapter 3.3 for details); and in the Phase-III data stored in Phase II were analysed,

evaluated and interpreted. This chapter elaborates Phase III: Data Evaluation that is

the results obtained from the analysis of the data and its interpretation.

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Respondents of this study, being women teachers in the institutions of

Pakistani higher education, as a group represent a substantial amount of knowledge

and proficiency in the use of technology for ESL pedagogy. Being women

participants, this group helped to envisage and establish feminist pedagogical

perspective of the present research field of study. This chapter reports the analysis of

the data collected in Phase II from 128 female ESL teachers teaching in the 33

institutions (see Appendix E) of higher education of Pakistan through Technology and

Development of ESL Learner Autonomy Survey. This section of the dissertation

reports the results of the statistical analyses of the yielded data on three sections of the

survey. The first section deals with the female teachers’ professional competence,

whereby after establishing women teachers’ experience of teaching ESL, the

information on their educational qualification is detailed to paint the concept of

teacher autonomy. As discussed in the previous chapter, this teacher autonomy

presupposes teacher’s predilection to foster learner autonomy. Moreover, the

conceptualization of teacher autonomy is established by evaluating respondents’

technology education in terms of receiving computer in-service training, self-induced

training, and computer proficiency (as discussed earlier use of technology means

educational technology i.e. computers) and women teachers’ participation in research

on ESL in Pakistan. This will foster the view highlighted in the previous chapter that

the research culture is in its embryonic stage, however, technology has introduced

many new traditions and trends in higher education sector.

The second section of the survey looks at the ways in which women teachers

incorporate technology in their classrooms and how technology becomes part of

teaching decisions and choices. In the third section, the women teachers’ role in the

development of ESL learner autonomy and its development is conceptualized both

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independently and in relation to the use of technology. The women teachers’ views

are also specifically ascertained with respect to gender: firstly the association of

gender in general, and then particularly of female learners, in terms of their autonomy

in learning English by using technology. The scope of technology for the

development of learner autonomy is canvassed to help determine how Pakistani

women, teaching ESL in higher education, are empowered by the use of technology

and whether this use develops ESL learner autonomy. In order to evaluate the yielded

data, descriptive statistics are used. Moreover, the thesis reports the correlation among

research variables by presenting results of Pearson Correlation analysis. In addition,

for the significant difference of means findings of One Way ANOVA analyses are

tabulated. No quantitative research is complete without its interpretation as numbers

do not speak; therefore, the meanings are drawn from the numerical data. The

interpretations are drawn from the results of analysis to create meanings in every

section. In this way, the epistemological framework of my study guided to illustrate

the phenomena of technology and its interplay in fostering learner autonomy by the

women ESL tertiary level teachers in Pakistani social context.

Technology and Development of ESL Learner Autonomy Survey

The respondents, as detailed in the preceding chapter, for the Technology and

Development of ESL Learner Autonomy Survey (see Chapter 3.4.1) were ESL women

teachers in Pakistani institutions of higher education that is Universities and

postgraduate colleges. A total of 128 responses were received from the female ESL

teachers working in Universities and Colleges. Only 8 responses were partially filled

(see Chapter 3.4.2), however, these partially filled responses are also included in the

complete data which was transported in SPSS (Version 20), and missing data is

reported through statistics wherever applicable. In order to analyse the use of

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technology for the development of ESL learner autonomy and to study its impact on

Pakistani women teachers in the institution of higher education the fundamental study

question is:

What is the impact of technology on the women ESL teacher autonomy, a

prerequisite to the development of learner autonomy, in Pakistani higher

education institutions?

This basic research question is explored to conceptualize and contextualize this study

on three scales which are addressed in the three sub-questions:

7. To what extent, are the female ESL teachers in the Pakistani institutions of

higher education professionally trained so as to be autonomously engaged in

the development of learner autonomy?

8. What is the impact of technology on the women teaching ESL in the

institutions of higher education?

9. What is the role of the women teaching in the institutions of higher education

in the development of learner autonomy?

These three sub questions are addressed in the following three sections by

analysing the data generated through the three sections of the Technology and

Development of ESL Learner Autonomy Survey. Nonetheless, the fundamental

question of the study remained the focus of analyses of the data and the meanings,

which were drawn upon the results of the study: the interpretation part of the

study.

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4.1 Section I: Teachers’ Professional Competence

This discourse commences with the proposition that the women ESL teachers

in the Pakistani institutions of higher education are professionally trained to develop

learner autonomy. Here professional training is defined in terms of teachers’

educational qualification and competence in technology. The research question one is

posed on the argument that there is a link between learner autonomy and teacher

autonomy. And in relation to it, this debate identifies teacher education as a

significant factor of teacher autonomy. According to this debate, an autonomous

teacher is likely to create an environment to develop learner autonomy. Moreover, the

autonomous teacher not only develops the scenario for fine-tuning the learners’

development of autonomy but also inculcates knowledge in a student friendly,

deductive and student-centred environment. The precept of autonomy is somehow

related to the internal connection between the learner and teacher. It can further be

explained extrapolating the idea that the development of learner autonomy depends on

teacher autonomy (Benson, 2010, 2011; Little, 1995, 2007, 2008).

This notion of teacher autonomy is studied in the backdrop of teachers’

training and education. Therefore, in the present study teacher autonomy is identified

in terms of teacher education including teaching experience and the way the teachers

are trained for this profession. Since the dependence of learner autonomy on teacher

autonomy entails autonomous teachers’ inclination towards development of the

scheme of learner education and autonomy, this research targets teachers’

professional competence in the first section of the Technology and Development of

ESL Learner Autonomy Survey. However, this research is delimited to assess

respondents’ education not only in terms of academic qualification but also their

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knowledge and use of those technology related applications which can be

incorporated in ESL pedagogy, for example use of computer or internet.

Hence, the present research embarks on the female teachers’ professional

training to answer first research question by gathering data on the respondents’

education- both formal or academic and informal or non-academic. The former refers

to the academic educational qualification that is the Degree of higher education

ranging between MA to Post Doctorate, as in Pakistan recruitment criteria in the

institutions of higher education is Masters Degree. The latter in the present case refers

to teachers’ competence in modern technology by receiving training through in-

service or pre-service competence development programmes; and women teachers’

autonomous attitude towards development of their own strength as professionals by

actively engaging themselves in research practices.

In this way, this analysis determines the respondents’ approach to pursue

higher education, their strong teaching experience, good technological literacy, and

interest in on-line ESL research. Moreover, it provides evidence of the female ESL

teachers’ familiarity with technology particularly the applications of technology for

pedagogical practices. This helps to envision the feminist pedagogical perspective of

the utility of technology in educational spheres. Therefore, the descriptive statistics

and graphic representation below include the three key factors, to verify the standing

of women respondents as ESL teachers in the institution of higher education. These

three factors are:

a) Teachers’ educational qualification

b) Experience as ESL teacher

c) Teachers’ competence in technology

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4.1.1 Teachers’ Educational Qualification

The educational qualification of the teacher is a marker of teachers’

educational growth and knowledge of the subject. The argument, the women teachers’

decision to pursue higher education is a step towards women’s liberation and

autonomy is supported in the present study. Therefore, Technology and Development

of ESL Learner Autonomy Survey, places it in the first section. The data yielded from

the survey, on teachers’ education was not only analysed alone but it was a yard stick

to attend to the other components of the survey that helped to envisage the autonomy

of the teacher. The analysis of the data on educational qualification of ESL female

teachers in higher education institutions is tabulated below via descriptive statistics,

whereby both: frequencies of response and percentages are illustrated in Table 4.1.

Table 4.1: Educational Qualification

Degree Frequency Percent

MA 26 20.3%

MPhil 90 70.3%

PhD 12 9.4%

Total 128 100.0%

The Table 4.1 above shows that the response rate for this item of the

questionnaire remained 100%.The statistical analysis reveals that only 20.3% of the

respondents marked the lowest level of educational qualification: MA, which is

considered as the minimum recruitment criteria qualification in the institutions of

higher education. A large number of respondents that is 70.3% of the teachers had the

degree of MPhil and 9.4% had PhD Degrees.

185

Figure 4.1: Educational Qualification

The above analysis reveals a marked inclination of women, working in the

institutions of higher education, to pursue further education as shown in Figure 4.1.

These results signify that female teachers working in the higher education institutions

are continually alleviating themselves by upgrading their educational qualification.

These results are in line with the thesis hypothesis that the women teachers are

inclined to gain higher education and that this indicates teacher autonomy. Teachers’

higher academic qualification is one of the significant factors indicating teachers’

professional training with respect to subject knowledge and respondents’ autonomy

which in turn implies a teacher devoted to foster learner autonomy. Does this

propensity towards higher education entail the respondents’ long teaching experience?

The following analysis would help to reach a conclusive answer to this question.

0.00%

10.00%

20.00%

30.00%

40.00%

50.00%

60.00%

70.00%

80.00%

20.30%

70.30%

9.40%

MA MPhil PhD

186

4.1.2 Experience as ESL Teacher

The second factor, that is significant in determining the expertise of

respondents as ESL teachers, is the teaching experience in terms of number of years

in their respective institutions of higher education.

Table 4.2: Experience as ESL Teacher

Number of Years Frequency Percent

Less than 1 Year

1-5 Years

6-10 Years

11-15 Years

16-20 Years

Over 20 Years

8 6.3%

54 42.2%

27 21.1%

16 12.5%

15 11.7%

8 6.3%

Total 128 100.0%

The response rate for this item of the survey was also hundred percent. A total

of eighty six respondents have more than six years experience (see Table 4.2). The

study of the chart, displaying descriptive analysis, brings to light the fact that out of

128 respondents only 6.3% has less than one year experience while 42.2%

respondents have the experience between one and five years; thus the rest of them

have more than six years of experience (see Table 4.2 above).

187

Figure 4.2: Experience as ESL Teacher

The above detailed elaboration of the yielded data and its analysis indicate that

the experience of the respondents: which in the present case were the women teaching

in the institutions of the higher education, was extensive as illustrated in Figure 4.3.

However, this analysis demonstrates that a small number of female respondents have

an experience of over 20 years for teaching ESL in Pakistani institutions of higher

education. This number may lead to the prediction that the teachers with more years

of experience are either not using the modern technology or reluctant to take part in

on-line research.

The analyses presented in Table 1 and 2 provide the information of the sound

educational qualification and experience of the women respondents as ESL teachers.

These two key factors clearly indicate the standing of women respondents as the ESL

teachers in the institution of higher education. Here, the argument, the teachers with

higher education qualification use technology, is also supported on the evidence that

Less than 1Year

1-5 Years 6-10 Years 11-15 Years 16-20 Years Over 20Years

6.30%

42.20%

21.10%

12.50% 11.70%

6.30%

188

they had taken part in the present on-line research. This evidence is in consonance to

the discussion started in this section in support of teacher autonomy which is linked

with teacher education. This teacher autonomy is a factor that contributes to the

development of learner autonomy. This leads back to the research question whether it

is the impact of technology that the female teachers improved their educational

qualification. Or did technology determine this path for the women teachers?

Therefore, I would bring my first fundamental research question here: What is the

impact of technology on the women ESL teachers teaching in the institutions of

higher education? Here this question addresses the impact of technology on the

women teachers’ propensity towards technology education and use of technology for

their professional development. In such context the study proposes that the women

teachers enhance education of technology to meet the requirements of modern

technologically tuned world. And this survey also embarks on the question whether

the women teachers learn about modern technology particularly state of the art:

computers and communication tool internet and utilize them for their professional

development as ESL teachers. These issues are addressed under the title of teachers’

competence in technology in the following section.

4.1.3 Teachers’ Competence in Technology

In the present study, the argument that in the contemporary technology rich

scenario the professional training of teachers of ESL also includes the competence in

technology is validated by analysis of the data on technology competence variables.

Moreover, this section addresses the debate that technology offers novel literacy

opportunities to the women teaching in the institutions of higher education. These

novel opportunities encourage female teachers to go beyond the realm of formal

education, and obtain knowledge of the new gadgets and their possible applications

189

for ESL teaching and learning. It is debated that these multi-literacies associated with

the use of technology were a source of new challenges two decades ago. However,

this study proposes that in the contemporary education sector women teachers use

technology in the institutions of higher education. It is due to the emergence and

abundance of new technologies, ease of accessibility and affordability that they find it

a way towards autonomy, empowerment and progress.

Moreover, this study addresses the assumption that being involved in adult

teaching, women teachers face many challenges. One of these challenges is the

technology literacy because the young generation of today are exposed more to the

technological gadgets in and outside the educational institutions than the books or

other study material. Moreover, the system of education and assessment at the higher

education level in Pakistan also compels the teachers to use modern technological

tools, for example, to prepare assessment tests or semester examination papers. As

discussed earlier (Chapter 3.3) literature alone is not the source of the selected

concepts for the study, my own experience and observation being a student teacher,

plus my interaction with the colleagues have enabled me to select ‘competence in

technology’ as an important area in connection with teacher autonomy. Therefore, this

study attempts to explore it.

Given the way the respondents volunteered themselves to participate in this

research (as detailed in Chapter 3.4.1); it would not be surprising if the analysis

reveals that the respondents’ expertise in technology is considerable. In order to gauge

teachers’ expertise, education and knowledge of technology particularly computers

and use of internet; the Technology and Development of ESL Learner Autonomy

Survey gathered responses on five items: Q1.6, Q1.7, Q1.8, Q1.9, and Q1.10 (see

Appendix A). These five items are congruous to the interests of this research which

190

address the technology-based approach to development of learner autonomy. It is

argued that the modern technological scenario demands a consistent and continual use

of technology in the ESL pedagogical spheres. And teaching of English is the most

obvious area of skill development. English is the dominant language, which is being

employed in using computer or internet not only in Pakistan but globally. Therefore,

the study intends to explore whether the women teachers being professional learners,

understand the modern definition of professional competence, by not only

familiarising themselves with technology but also making use of it for academic and

non academic purposes. As discussed above the data is gathered on five items that

attempt to explore the following:

a) respondents’ computer proficiency;

b) in-service computer training;

c) self-induced computer training;

d) participation in on-line research; and

e) participation in on-line research on ESL teaching.

For that reason, the following analyses embark on the respondents’ adeptness in

technology through the women teachers’ reflection on their own technological

competence and it entails teacher autonomy.

4.1.3.1 Computer Proficiency

To analyse teachers’ proficiency level in the use of computers the female

teachers were asked to assess their level of computer proficiency on the five-level

scale: ‘poor’, ‘fair’, ‘good’, ‘very good’ and ‘excellent’.

191

Table 4.3: Computer Proficiency

Frequency Percent

Poor 0 0%

Fair 16 12.5%

Good 57 44.5%

Very Good 40 31.3%

Excellent 13 10.2%

Total 126 98.4%

Missing System 2 1.6%

Total 128 100.0%

The descriptive statistical analysis shows that the response rate to this question

remained 98% as 126 (see Table 3) respondents attempted this item, out of which

majority marked the two upper level categories either good’ or ‘very good’ that is

44.5% and 31.3% respectively. Moreover, 10.2 % placed the proficiency level at

‘excellent’. No one marked the lowest level category: ‘poor’. However, 12.5% of the

respondents placed the computer expertise at the level of ‘fair’. The analysis detailed

in the Table 4.3 above indicates that the most of the respondents have good know-

how of computer technology.

192

Figure 4.3: Computer Proficiency

The Figure 4.3 shows the female teachers good proficiency in computers.

However, this research is limited for it does not probe into the possible means that the

teachers would have adopted to obtain computer education. This leads to the question

whether the institutional administration or government is providing any assistance, to

the women teaching ESL, by arranging in-service computer education training

sessions. The following analysis of Q 1.6 would explicate the female teachers’

response to this query.

4.1.3.2 In-service Computer Training

Referring to the argument that in-service teacher training is crucial for it helps

the teacher to upgrade their professional understanding, skills and attitudes for a

broader perspective; the study explores respondents’ in-service computer training. It

is discussed earlier (see Chapter 2) that Higher Education Commission of Pakistan is

making an effort to develop teachers’ competence in the field of technology by

conducting in-service computer training sessions in the institutions of higher

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

45%

0%

12.50%

44.50%

31.30%

10.20%

Poor Fair Good Very Good Excellent

193

education across Pakistan (see Chapter 2.2 for details). Particularly, English Language

Teaching Reform (ELTR working under HEC Pakistan) has been working for English

faculty competence development through in-service courses. In order to ascertain

whether the opportunity to this educational intervention is accessible to the female

teachers working in the institutions of higher education, survey included a

dichotomous item asking respondents if they have attended any in-service computer

training programme.

Table 4.4: In-service Computer Training

Frequency Percent

No 78 60.9%

Yes 47 36.7%

Total 125 97.7%

Missing System 3 2.3%

Total 128 100.0%

The response rate to this item of the survey remained 97.7%, as only 3

respondents out of 128 skipped this item. The analysis of the collected data reveals

that a vast majority that is of 60.9% of the female respondents did not receive any

computer training for language teaching as explicated in Table 4.4.

194

Figure 4.4: In-Service Computer Training

The percentages detailed in the table above evidently describe that although

the efforts have been made to provide computer training to the ESL teachers teaching

in the institutions of higher education, yet the majority of female teachers has still not

benefitted by such efforts as demonstrated in Figure 4.4 above. These figures are

contrary to the efforts that the government of Pakistan is making to provide in-service

training to the tertiary level teachers. Here, the question arises than how these women

teachers possess good proficiency of computers and related technology as revealed in

response to Q 1.5. Therefore, the following analysis of Q 1.7 aims to identify whether

the female teachers have taken the initiative to attend any computer training course

during or before service to become at par with the needs of modern pedagogical

scenario.

4.1.3.3 Self-induced Computer Training

The analysis of the data tells that female teachers teaching in the institutions of

higher education are keen to gain training of computer technology and majority of the

respondents preferred to attend computer training courses as demonstrated in Table

YES

36.7%

NO

60.9%

195

4.5. These evidences help to envisage the feminist perspective of the utility of

technology.

Table 4.5: Self-induced Computer Training

Frequency Percent

No 47 36.7%

Yes 78 60.9%

Total 125 97.7%

Missing System 3 2.3%

Total 128 100.0%

The response rate for this question remained 97.7% like the previous question.

The analysis reveals that majority of the teachers have voluntarily attended computer

training courses, as the percentage of affirmative response to this dichotomous

question remained 60.9% while only 47 out of 125 respondents have not received any

formal computer training course (see Table 4.5).

Figure 4.5: Self-Induced Computer Training

NO

36.7%

YES

60.9%

196

The percentages detailed above evidently describe that women teaching in the

institutions of higher education avail for themselves the opportunities to computer

training, as the majority of female teachers has attended computer training courses as

demonstrated in Figure 4.5 below. This figure sheds light on the startling fact that

female teachers of ESL in higher education institutions are eager to update themselves

in order to operate effectively in this technology tuned scenario and to remain at par

with the younger generation which is accepting these modern technological tools as

every day tools of utility. This normalization of technology is evident in almost all

affairs and strides of life. This analysis is analogous to the findings of Q 1.5 which

explicated the good computer proficiency of the women who participated in this

research.

The tabulated results on self-induced computer training demarcates women

ESL teachers strong propensity towards technology education. Rather than relying on

institutional or government efforts in terms of in-service computer training, Pakistani

female teachers working in the tertiary level institutions are making a considerable

effort to update themselves as individuals and professionals. Another factor which

indirectly comes to surface, through the yielded data on this item, is of availability,

accessibility and opportunities to technology education in Pakistan without gender

discrimination.

197

Figure 4.6: Comparison of In-service and Self-Induced Computer Training

However, the above detailed analysis of the data on Q 1.7; which aims to

explicate female teacher inclination towards gaining technology literacy voluntarily,

brings forth striking results that are completely reverse to the results of Q 1.6, which

addressed in-service computer training (as illustrated in Figure 4.6). These findings

corroborate the proposition presented by Bukhari & Awais (2010) that in Pakistan in-

service training has never been given attention though “education policies stressed the

provision of in-service education for... at least once in every five years” (p. 65). In

order to fill the gap created, the respondents decided a path to technological education

for them and made it clear that they are strongly in favour of the computer education.

This propensity towards computer training is indicative of two aspects: teachers’

awareness of the importance of technology and teachers decision making; both

elucidate teacher autonomy. Moreover, it is anticipated that proficiency in computers

mark them so well versed in technology that they may be the actively taking part in

the research culture being adopted today through the most advanced means of

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

In-service Computer Training Self-induced ComputerTraining

No

Yes

198

digitised communication: the internet. Thus, the Q 1.9 aims to identify this propensity

of the women teachers towards this use of technology.

4.1.3.4 Participation in On-line Research

The argument that research lays at the heart of higher education in Pakistan (see

for example Sultana & Shah, 2010) focuses the research culture that has been

emerged after the fundamental reforms for ESL teaching by HEC Pakistan (see

Chapter 1.2). In this context, I contest the argument that the intervention of

technology has revolutionized the pedagogical set up altogether and the field of

research is no exception. Authenticating this, the results of the statistical analysis of

the data gathered on Q 1.9 is elaborated here to find whether the female teachers’

participate in research by filling on-line research questionnaires.

Table 4.6: Participation in On-line Research

Frequency Percent

No 33 25.8%

Yes 95 74.2%

Total 128 100.0%

This analysis identifies respondents’ inclination towards use of technology in

research. The response rate for this item remained 100%. A vast majority of

respondents, that is 74.2%, participated in research in Pakistan by filling an on-line

questionnaire while only 25.8% of the respondents showed that they did not take part

in on-line research (see Table 4.6). These findings being in consonance with the

findings of Q 1.5 and Q1.7 show that respondents are actively involved in the use of

technology. Moreover, the results elucidate respondents’ active participation in on-

line research culture i.e. the use of internet technology as the medium to conduct

research. The above detailed analysis of the data gathered on Q 1.9 reveals that

199

majority of the female ESL teachers teaching in the institutions of higher education in

Pakistan takes interest in on-line research. This detailed analysis reveals the fact that

teachers of ESL are taking responsibility of upgrading their information of technology

and are becoming an active member of technology assisted research culture. Such

scenario in no way entails teachers’ preferences and choices being the users of

modern technology. Thus, it helps to establish the view of autonomous use of

technology in the hands of the teacher. As it is discussed earlier, an autonomous

teacher helps the ESL learner to develop the learner autonomy, so the teachers making

use of technology are likely to incorporate it into everyday teaching practices for

development of learner autonomy.

Figure 4.7: Participation in On-line Research

It is evident, as illustration shows in Figure 4.7, that the teachers are positively

inclined to participate in research culture. This inclination gives twofold description

of teachers’ choice: one the use of internet to choose to follow new trends to enhance

knowledge, second it entails teachers’ expertise in the use of technology. Here,

NO

25.8%

YES

74.2%

200

another query is made that aims at the identification of the women teachers’

inclination towards the trend of on-line ESL research in Pakistan. Therefore, the item

Q 1.10 is designed to identify this; and following elaboration includes the analysis of

the data yielded on this survey item.

4.1.3.5 Participation in On-Line Research on ESL Teaching Practices

The Table 4.7 below details the analysis of the data yielded for item Q1.10, which

aims to get an insight of respondents’ proclivity towards research on ESL teaching

practices by filling in on-line research questionnaire.

Table 4.7: Participation in On-line Research on ESL Teaching Practices

Frequency Percent

Valid No 38 29.7%

Yes 88 68.8%

Total 126 98.4%

Missing System 2 1.6%

Total 128 100.0%

The statistical evaluation of the data reveals that out of 95 participants of on-

line research (see Table 4.7) 88 have filled in the questionnaires directly relevant to

the ESL teaching-learning practices (see Table 7). Thus, the readings of the statistical

data presented in Table 7 tells that response rate for this question is 98.4%; whereby

68.8% respondents have confirmed their participation in ESL research while 29.7%

respondents have not taken part in any on-line research on ESL pedagogical practices.

The above detailed analysis of the Q 1.10 reveals that an equally significant majority

of female ESL teachers teaching at the institutions of higher education takes part in

research related to teaching practices of ESL by filling an on-line questionnaire.

Provided the method adopted for this research, it is not surprising that the researchers

201

are familiar to the on-line research culture being adopted in the Pakistan in the present

scenario. Furthermore, the teachers are also taking active part in research. Moreover,

this helps to visualize the feminist perspective of the use of technology. These

findings lead back to the argument that women teachers teaching in the modern

technological situation use technology not only to assess teaching material but also

enhance their experience and knowledge by taking part in modern research culture

prevailing in today’s world.

Figure 4.8: Participation in On-line Research on ESL Teaching Practices

In order to compare women teachers’ participation in the on-line research in

general and on ESL practices in particular stacked cylinder graphic representation is

used (see Figure 4.8). Figure 4.8 helps to construe that female teachers are familiar to

the modern research trends and being tertiary level teachers their active participation

in research indicate their willingness to be the part of the larger academic circle. In

other words these findings substantiate the view that the “culture of research [which]

is recently being promoted in educational institutions in Pakistan” (Rana, 2006, p. 99)

is facilitated by the use of technology. The access to modern technological tools

NO29.7%

YES68.8%

202

enables Women ESL pedagogues in higher education to conduct and participate in

research beyond the social fences such as mobility restriction. Contemporary

published research journals of Pakistan and even foreign countries are evident

examples of tertiary level women ESL teachers’ participation as researchers and as

the subjects being researched (see for example Noureen & Awan, 2011).

Figure 4.9: Participation in On-line Research

It is evident from the above graphic representation (see Figure 4.9) that the

women teachers are aware of the modern research culture and are keen to become part

of such modern research trends. Their participation in my study also adds to this point

further. Thus, comparison of these two survey items and women teachers participation

makes it palpable that the technology has bestowed upon them the autonomy, the

autonomy to get educated, to enhance knowledge and to experience new trends. Thus,

the results obtained from this study help to contravene Rahman’s (2005) view which

was established in his study on tertiary level male and female teachers. He has found

less representation of females due to reluctance of women and difficulty in accessing

them in comparison to their male colleagues. The results obtained today demarcate

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Participation in On-lineResearch

Participation in On-lineResearch on ESL

No

Yes

203

that the situation has been changed a decade later; today women operate

autonomously as researchers and researched due to the accessibility to technological

tools.

Consequently, the above detailed analysis leads to the point of directly

addressing the research question raised in the beginning of this section: To what

extent, are the female ESL teachers in the Pakistani institutions of higher education

professionally trained to develop learner autonomy? The statistical analyses presented

from Table 4.1 to Table 4.7 collectively give respondents’ status of education- both

formal or academic and informal or non-academic. These analyses reinforce the idea

of respondents’ inclination to pursue higher education with considerable teaching

experience, overall good literacy in computers along with the use of internet, and

positive interest in on-line research in general and on-line ESL research in particular.

Moreover, the tables of statistical data and figures illustrating graphic and pie chart

distribution of responses of the female ESL teachers evidently define respondents’

familiarity with technology particularly educational technology. Further statistical

analyses are carried out in order to ascertain the view that teachers with higher

educational qualification are more inclined to use technology. For this purpose, in the

following discourse correlation are established between educational qualification and

teachers’ competence in technology through the results obtained from statistical

measures.

4.1.4 Correlation between Teachers’ Competence in Technology and

Educational Qualification

At this point of the analysis, the above detailed five items: Q 1.6, Q 1.7, Q 1.8,

Q 1.9 and Q1.10, eliciting information on respondents’ computer competence were

collectively analysed against respondents’ academic qualification. These analyses

204

were carried out to analyse the correlation between academic qualification and

respondents’ inclination towards technology its training and usage. The responses of

121 women respondents, being complete in all respects were analysed; whereby

groups were defined with respect to the educational qualification. The MA group

includes 26 participants, MPhil includes 84 participants and PhD group comprises 11

participants. Again the SPSS version 20 was used to obtain correlation coefficient

matrices to study the relationships between the three of groups with competence in

technology as a dependent variable. Further descriptive statistical measures were

obtained to describe three groups of teachers against competence in technology on the

mean scores, and One Way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to check any

significant differences among the groups on mean scores. Finally, Post Hoc analyses

of variance (ANOVA) with LSD (Least Significant Difference) adjustment were

conducted to identify the least significant difference among the groups with respect to

the competence in technology.

Firstly, the three groups were analysed by applying Pearson Correlation (2-

tailed) to identify the significant relationship between the variables. The results shown

in Table 8 below illustrate the highly significant positive correlation between the

teachers’ educational qualification and female teachers’ competence in technology.

This propensity of female teachers towards technology means that with the increase in

educational qualification female teachers’ competence in technology is also positively

affected. Nevertheless, the analysis also includes further statistical descriptive

measures and One Way ANOVA to better get the picture of the significant differences

of means.

205

Table 4.8: Correlations of Teachers’ Competence in Technology and Educational

Qualification: Results of Pearson Correlation Coefficient

Computer

Knowledge

Educational Qualification Pearson Correlation .246**

Sig. (2-tailed) .007

N 121

Note: ** p < 0.01

In order to compare means analysis of variance (One Way ANOVA) was

conducted. The descriptive measures (see Table 4.8) elucidate that 26 respondents

hold MA qualification degree and their mean score for their competence in the use of

technology remained 5.04 with 1.455 standard deviations with 2 minimum and 7

maximum scores. The table also predicts that the mean scores of whole population of

MA qualified teachers would be between 4.45 and 5.63 as per 95% Confidence

Interval for Mean. On the other hand 86 respondents with MPhil qualification were

part of this research. Their mean score for competence in the use of technology

remained 6.01 with 1.477; standard deviation, while 3 minimum and 9 maximum

scores. The table also predicts that the mean scores of whole population of MPhil

qualified teachers would be between 5.69 and 6.33 as per 95% Confidence Interval

for Mean.

206

Table 4.9: Comparison of Teachers’ Competence in Technology and Educational

Qualification: Descriptive Statistics

N Mean

Std.

Deviation

Std.

Error

95% Confidence

Interval for Mean Min Max

Lower

Bound

Upper

Bound

MA 26 5.04 1.455 .285 4.45 5.63 2 7

MPhil 84 6.01 1.477 .161 5.69 6.33 3 9

PhD 11 6.18 1.537 .464 5.15 7.21 3 8

Total 121 5.82 1.522 .138 5.54 6.09 2 9

Table 4.10: Comparison of Teachers’ Competence in Technology and

Educational Qualification: One Way ANOVA

Sum of

Squares Df Mean Square F Sig.

Between Groups 20.414 2 10.207 4.676 .011

Within Groups 257.586 118 2.183

Total 278.000 120

11 respondents with PhD qualification also took part in this research. Their

mean score for competence in using technology remained 6.18 with 1.537 standard

deviation and 3 minimum and 8 maximum scores. The table also predicts that the

mean scores of whole population of PhD qualified teachers would be between 5.15

and 7.21 as per 95% Confidence Interval for Mean. It is evident from Table 4.9 that

respondents with higher educational qualification, i.e. MPhil and PhD, are more

competent in the use of technology than the respondents with MA degree. These

results seemed similar to the result obtained through Pearson Correlation analysis.

Nonetheless, to compare the mean scores of the three groups of respondents further

207

against their competence in technology One Way ANOVA was conducted. The

findings elaborate that the mean scores of the three groups are significantly different

on their competence of technology, as obtained P value is 0.011 which is less than

0.05 as shown in Table 4.10 above.

Table 4.11: Post Hoc Analysis with Teachers’ Competence in Technology as

Dependent Variable

(I) Educational

Qualification

(J) Educational

Qualification

Mean

Difference (I-

J) Std. Error Sig.

MA MPhil -0.973* 0.332 .004

PhD -1.143* 0.531 .033

MPhil

MA 0.973* 0.332 .004

PhD -0.170 0.474 .720

PhD

MA

1.143* 0.531

.033

MPhil 0.170 0.474 .720

Note: * p < .05

As Analysis of variance (ANOVA) indicates significant difference among the

groups, LSD (Least Significant Difference) was then conducted to identify which

group/groups was/were significantly different with respect to the five items of

Technology and Development of ESL Learner Autonomy Survey identifying teachers’

competence in technology. The Table 4.11 shows that the difference in mean scores

for competence in technology of women teachers with MPhil qualification from

teachers with MA qualification is highly significant with P value .004 which is less

than 0.01. Similarly, the difference in mean scores for competence in technology of

women teachers with PhD qualification from teachers with MA qualification is

significant with P value .033 which is less than 0.05. Whereas, the difference in mean

208

scores for competence in technology of women teachers with MPhil qualification

from teachers with PhD qualification is not significant as P value is 0.720 which is

greater than 0.05.

The analysis reveals that the mean responses of respondents with MA

qualification are significantly different from the respondents with MPhil and PhD

qualification as illustrated in Table 4.11. However, there is no significant difference

between the mean responses of teachers with MPhil and PhD qualification. The above

detailed analysis demonstrates that the teachers with higher academic qualification are

using computer technology more than the teachers with less academic qualification.

These findings thus enable to answer the first research question: To what extent, are

the female ESL teachers in the Pakistani institutions of higher education

professionally trained to develop learner autonomy? The findings elucidate that the

majority of respondents are professionally competent as 95 out of 128 respondents

were MPhil and PhD qualified (see Table 1). Moreover, the teachers with higher

educational qualification are engaged in enhancing competence in technology, which

indicates women teacher autonomy.

Interpretation

The evaluation of the data helps to validate the hypothesis built for this study

that the women ESL teachers are professionally trained to incorporate technology in

pedagogical practices to facilitate learners. It also enables to construe that the

teachers’ professional training makes them autonomous; and these autonomous

women-teacher in patriarchal Pakistan show their being in language teaching by

autonomously pursuing professional training. This factor of autonomy of teacher is

highly recommended marker of teachers’ inclination towards the development of

209

learner autonomy. Little (1995) identified teacher autonomy as the professional

capacity of the teacher which allows her to exercise and bring into play her role in

pedagogy. Arguably, all the factors which are responsible for the development of

learner autonomy deserve attention, in the present technological circumstances,

whereby technology has already made its debut in every nook and corner of

society.Thus, the interpretation of the results boomerangs to the notion that

development of learner autonomy depends on teacher autonomy. I find, Little’s

(1995) argument in parallel to this that effective teachers are autonomous as they have

‘a strong sense of personal responsibility for their teaching’ and ‘the promotion of

learner autonomy depends on the promotion of teacher autonomy.’ In other words,

teachers’ higher qualification in formal education and teachers’ use and knowledge of

technology makes them autonomous teachers. And the present study proposes the

positive impact of technology on women teachers in education sector. The study helps

to elucidate that teacher education appears to be effectual when it is integrated with

practice, a view that is explicit in approaches such as action research, reflective

practice and exploratory practice (Allwright, 2003; Burns, 2010; Burton, 2009). This

idea of teacher education is well supported in the present study in connection to the

teacher autonomy the use of technology for ESL pedagogical practices. However, in-

service teacher competence development courses have always been criticized for

being limited and held back due to practical constraints (Wong & Benson, 2006;

Benson, 2010); and the present study is limited in its scope to throw light on how

teachers view in-service courses in terms of their effectiveness. Nonetheless, the

yielded data supports teachers’ autonomous actions by obtaining technology training.

The results on women teachers’ computer proficiency indicate the correlation

between the use and presence of technology with improved competence level of

210

teachers on computer technology. This is also related to other uses of technology

which enable new processes and outcomes. This also refers to the teachers’ familiarity

with the digitisation in terms of general awareness of its potential usage for

developing themselves as professional teachers. When the teachers make an active

engagement with new technologies their own experiential and reflective modes of

ESL learning operate. Teachers’ such progress in their profession as professionals is

partly due to the inevitable advancement of technology that connotes inevitable

integration of technology in all spheres of life. Here the teachers’ high level of

technology competence denotes soft technological determinism which means that the

development in technology does not automatically make teachers autonomous;

however, it enables teachers to pursue technology literacy by not just formally

receiving education but also making practical use of technology. Moreover, the

mediating role of technology in the life of teachers influences the choices that they

make for technology usage. This propensity, in pedagogical scenario gives the reason

to the teachers to use technology and those who do not.

The survey results on respondents’ computer proficiency also help to deduce

that technology enables the women to operate at par with men. This indicates that in

the social setting of Pakistan where their men counter-parts dominate the social

hierarchy, women find technology as a source of being autonomous and independent.

The women teachers’ propensity towards technology indicates a wholesale change in

teaching-learning strategy in Pakistan. This paradigm shift includes independent

interaction of women-teachers with technology which enables them to become

autonomously working anywhere either on cell phone or laptop; as well as either in

formal or non academic conditions. This technology-led autonomy has indeed

changed the traditional social paradigm where women has been depended on men for

211

accessing libraries, bookshops etc. Thus, it validates the hypothesis of the present

study that the women teachers are autonomously working to improve their own

professional competence under the impact of technology. Secondly, the findings help

to elucidate that teacher autonomy means learner autonomy as every teacher is a

learner f before becoming a teacher. This proposition is in line with Little’s (1995)

argument that

...language learners are more likely to operate as independent flexible users of

their target language if their classroom experience has already pushed them in

this direction; by the same token, language teachers are more likely to succeed

in promoting learner autonomy if their own education has encouraged them to

be autonomous. (Little, 1995, p. 180)

Thus, those female ESL tertiary level teachers have achieved autonomy, had

undergone an internal intellectual process of reflecting; and then revising their

preferences in terms of upgrading their own competence as pedagogues in the light of

such reflection. And in the present case the teachers’ preferences, to pursue higher

education, participation in computer training and use of technology to reflect, indicate

women teacher autonomy. The women-teachers “contents of the preferences” that

they “form or act on autonomously are subject to direct normative constraints”

(Benson, 2005, p. 133).However, this research is limited for it cannot be deduced

from the data that the teacher realize this autonomy, and that it makes them

professionally competent women. This then leads to the question whether this

autonomy of female teachers which is partly due to their awareness of the technology

compels them to integrate and use technology to facilitate ESL learners. The

following section would address this research query.

212

4.2 Section II: Use of Technology in ESL Teaching Practices

The Technology and Development of ESL Learner Autonomy Survey aims to

evaluate the impact of technology on the women teaching English as second language

in the institutions of higher education. For the purpose of this study, it is hypothesised

that being professionally trained the women-teachers frequently make use of

technology in their day to day ESL practices in the higher education institutions of

Pakistan. Therefore, the proposition presented in the previous section on the use of

technology in ESL pedagogical scenario is fundamental to the present study.

Arguably, this use is important to facilitate not only teaching but also learning in the

institutions of higher education and it is also important to autonomous teaching and

learning. This argument gives forth the notion of adopting technology not only for

learning but also for teaching purposes. Therefore, this section of the data analysis

addresses the second research question guiding the ‘use of technology’ aspect of the

present study: What is the impact of technology on the women ESL teachers teaching

in the institutions of higher education? The impact of technology is studied here in

terms of another sub question that would decide: How frequently, do female teachers

teaching in the institutions of higher education make use of technological facilities in

ESL pedagogical practices? The data for this research question was gathered through

section 2 of the Technology and Development of ESL Learner Autonomy Survey. In

this section of the survey, teachers were asked firstly to consider frequency of use of

technology as a tool and resource for the planning and preparation phase of teaching

English; secondly the survey included the items on the use of technology in the

everyday classroom practices not only inside but also outside classroom bounds. For

this purpose this section of the survey included 16 items, Q11.1 to Q11.16 (see

Appendix A); and on five point scale of frequency ranging from ‘always’,

213

‘frequently’, ‘sometimes’, ‘rarely’ to ‘never’. However, the items were analysed

under four sub categories:

(1) Use of technology as a tool

(2) Use of technology as a resource

(3) Use of technology inside classroom

(4) Use of technology outside classroom

From these subcategories, first two sections aim at teachers’ use of technology

for preparing and planning teaching session, while the next two sections address that

how the teacher facilitate learning session in and outside the classroom with the aid of

technology. The goal of the analysis is to develop an understanding of the female

teachers’ use of technology for ESL practices in the institutions of higher education;

this technology adaptation in teaching learning scenario is a source of fostering

learner autonomy.

4.2.1 Use of Technology as a Tool

My own experience as ESL teacher and my observation of other pedagogues

allow me to propose that technology is utilized by the teachers today as a tool for

creating teaching material, including: from everyday lesson plans and worksheets to

tests and examination papers. In order to validate: this utility of technology which is

widely in practise, this section presents the analysis of use of technology by the

women teaching ESL in the institutions of higher education to facilitate their own

ESL teaching practices by utilizing technology as a tool. Since, a view is established

in the first section of the analysis of the survey that the women teaching in the

institutions of higher education are familiar to the technology therefore; it is not

surprising that the teachers are utilizing technology as a tool for creating and

developing teaching material.

214

Table 4.12: Technology as a Tool

Never Rarely

Sometime

s

Frequentl

y

Alway

s

11.

1

I prepare lecture or learning task

using computer 0% 6.4% 24.0% 39.2%

30.4

%

11.

2

I prepare test or assessment sheet

on computer. 1.6% 9.6% 15.2% 38.4%

35.2

%

11.

5

I author Computer Assisted

Language Learning activities for

my learners.

16.8

%

10.4

% 33.6% 34.8% 4.8%

Use of technology as a tool

6.0% 8.80% 24.27% 37.47% 23.47

%

14.8% least 60.94% most

n=125

For this analysis, the responses to the three items: Q 2.1, Q 2.2 and Q 2.5, are

statistically evaluated for frequencies and percentages (see Table 4.12). The response

rate for these items remained 97% as 125 responses were gathered from the total of

128 respondents. This analysis gives elaborated statistical detail of the individual

items and then the sum of these results to show the overall use of technology as a tool

(see Table 4.12). The results demonstrate that the teachers’ strong inclination towards

utilization of technology as a teaching tool for preparing lectures as approximately

39% respondents ‘frequently’ and 30% respondents ‘always’ used technology.

Similarly approximately 38% respondents ‘frequently’ and 35% respondents ‘always’

used word processor for preparing test or assessment sheets. Moreover, approximately

35% respondents frequently author computer assisted language learning (CALL)

activities while 34% respondents sometimes author CALL activities. In this way, the

sum of the three items indicated that a very less number of respondents made the least

215

use of technology as only 15% (i.e. 6.0% never & 8.80% ‘rarely’) respondent marked

either of the mentioned low frequency scale; while approximately 61% respondents

(i.e. 37.47% ‘frequently’ & 23.47% ‘always’) made the most use of technology.

Figure 4.10: Use of Technology as a Tool

The above detailed elaboration of the yielded data and its analysis indicate that

the most of the participants frequently take assistance of the technology and use it as a

tool to prepare and plan ESL teaching resources for facilitating teaching practices in

the classrooms as illustrated in Figure 4.10. This analysis in every way establishes the

correlation between the presence of technology and use, with the outcome, which

presents the women teachers’ autonomy. The scope of autonomy is not limited to the

free interaction with the technology for taking professional assistance for classroom

practices but also to facilitate learners by authoring CALL activities. The response to

the last question brought striking results, which not only speaks of technological

facilities present in the country but also of their utility in the institutions of higher

education and that too by the women teachers. This scenario brings a new picture, a

picture which depicts a successful, autonomous and confident woman, who shows her

being in her profession that makes her society.

0.00%

5.00%

10.00%

15.00%

20.00%

25.00%

30.00%

35.00%

40.00%

Never Rarely Sometimes Frequently Always

6.00%8.80%

24.27%

37.47%

23.47%

216

This graphic illustration indicates that the respondents to the Technology and

Development of ESL Learner Autonomy Survey considered use of technology within

the scope of Pakistani ESL pedagogy. These results are analogues to the findings

obtained in Section I on the teachers’ competence in technology. Therefore, it can be

deciphered that women teaching ESL in the institutions of higher education have a

positive impact of the technology, which in turn enables them to play their positive

role in the development of learner autonomy. However, this analysis demonstrates

that a small number of female teachers in the institutions of higher education are still

not making use of technology to facilitate ESL pedagogical practices. This leads to

the next query elaborated in the following section, what percentage of the female

teachers avail the opportunity to use technology as a resource for accessing and

creating teaching resources.

4.2.2 Use of Technology as a Resource

Technology is a teaching resource and a means to obtain a wide variety of

teaching-learning aids as responses to Q 2.3 and Q 2.4 elucidate in Table 12.

Although, the use of technology as resource is considered as one of the facts of

today’s pedagogical scenario, the debate, whether to make such use of technology or

not, also surrounds this widely held opinion. The analysis of data on Q 2.3 and 2.4

shows agreement to this use of technology. In this connection, the analysis of data

describes women teachers’ use of technology as a resource to facilitate their own ESL

teaching practices. For this analysis, the responses to two of the above mentioned

items are statistically evaluated for frequencies and percentages.

217

Table 4.13: Technology as a Resource

Never Rarel

y

Sometime

s Frequently Always

11.

3

I use internet to explore websites

for language learning activities. 0%

6.4

% 8.0% 33.6% 52.0%

11.

4

I use internet to download

Computer Assisted Language

Learning activities for my

learners.

12.8

%

6.4

% 16.0% 40.0% 24.8%

Use of Technology as a resource 6.0%

6.4

% 12.00% 36.80%

38.40

%

12.4% least 75.2% most

n=125

The response rate for these items also remained 97% as 125 responses were

gathered from the total of 128 respondents. The results presented in Table 4.13

demonstrate the teachers’ strong inclination towards utilization of technology as a

teaching resource for facilitating teaching-learning practices as approximately 34%

respondents ‘frequently’ use technology and 52% ‘always’ use internet to explore

websites for language learning activities. Similarly 40% respondents ‘frequently’ and

25% respondents ‘always’ use internet to download Computer Assisted Language

Learning activities for facilitating their learners. Resultantly, the sum of the two

items as tabulated in Table 4.13 indicate that approximately 12% (i.e. 6.0% ‘never’ &

6.4% ‘rarely’) respondents marked least use of technology as a resource, and

approximately 12% respondents marked that they ‘sometimes’ use technology while

75% (i.e. 36.8% ‘frequently’ & 38.4% ‘always’) of the respondents marked most use

of technology. Thus, it indicates that the most of the women teaching in the

institutions of higher education make use of technology as a resource for accessing

teaching-learning material for the ESL learners.

218

The results, thus, indicate that the most of the female teachers teaching in the

institutions of higher education take frequent assistance of the technology by utilizing

it as a resource for gathering or downloading ESL teaching resources. Doing so helps

the teacher to facilitate pedagogical practices in the classrooms and seize optimal

learning opportunity for their learners.

Figure 4.11: Technology as a Resource

These results are corroborating the standpoint that the teachers use technology

for accessing material for teaching to facilitate not only the learners but their own

teaching practise as illustrated in Figure 4.11. Moreover, the results also show that

CALL practise is no longer a lacking field as respondents showed highly positive

inclination towards it. Nevertheless, the results of the survey indicate that there are

female teachers who never take assistance of modern technological gadgets to

facilitate ESL pedagogical practices as illustrated in Figure 4.11. At this juncture, the

question arises whether the female teachers use technology to facilitate the

pedagogical process, the analyses presented in the following section would shed light

on it.

0.00%

5.00%

10.00%

15.00%

20.00%

25.00%

30.00%

35.00%

40.00%

Never Rarely Sometimes Frequently Always

6.00% 6.40%

12.00%

36.80%38.40%

219

4.2.3 Use of Technology inside the Classroom

In this section, the analysis of female teachers’ use of technology to facilitate

their own ESL teaching practices by utilizing technology inside the classroom is

elaborated. For this analysis, the responses to five items: Q 2.6, Q 2.7, Q 2.8, Q 2.9

and Q 2.11, are statistically evaluated through descriptive analysis for percentage

response to each item and then the sum of responses to all five items.

Table 4.14: Use of Technology inside the Classroom

Never Rarely

Sometime

s

Frequentl

y

Alway

s

2.6 I conduct/deliver my lessons in

department’s Computer Lab.

18.4

%

12.0

% 38.4% 23.2% 8.0%

2.7 I use my cellphone/tab/Iphone for

conducting listening activities.

11.2

%

16.0

% 25.6% 28.0%

19.2

%

2.8 I use multi-media to facilitate

learning. 7.2% 4.0% 28.8% 36.8% 23.2

%

2.9 I use my cell phone digital

dictionary to give model to

students for correct

pronunciation.

4.8% 7.2% 27.2% 41.6% 19.2

%

2.1

1

I guide students to use Word

Processor for writing

compositions or to enhance

writing skills.

6.4% 10.4

% 25.6% 36.8%

20.8

%

Use of technology inside the

classroom

9.60% 9.92% 29.12% 33.28%

18.08

%

19.52% least 51.36% most

n=125

220

The response rate for these items remained 97% as 125 responses were

gathered from the total of 128 respondents. The results demonstrate the teachers’

positive inclination towards utilization of technology by conducting or delivering

lectures in department's Computer Lab as approximately 23% respondents

‘frequently’ and 8% respondents ‘always’ make this use of technology, while only

18% respondents had ‘never’ conducted lesson in department's Computer Lab (see

Table 4.14 above). Similarly, approximately 28% respondents ‘frequently’ and 19%

respondents ‘always’ use cellphone/tab/Iphone for conducting listening activities,

while only 11% respondents had ‘never’ used technological gadgets in the classroom

for facilitating learners. Moreover, approximately 37% respondents ‘frequently’ and

23% respondents ‘always’ use multi-media to facilitate learning, while only 7%

respondents had ‘never’ used this technological gadget in the classroom to facilitate

ESL teaching-learning process. Furthermore, the analysis of Q 2.9 reveals that 42%

respondents ‘frequently’ and 19% respondents ‘always’ use cell phone digital

dictionary to facilitate learning while only 5% respondents had ‘never’ used this

technological facility in the classroom. All the same, 37% ‘frequently’ and 21%

respondents ‘always’ guide students to use Word Processor for writing compositions

or to enhance writing skills while only 6% respondents had ‘never’ directed students

to use this technological facility in the classroom to inculcate ESL skills. The sum of

the detailed data of all these five items, resultantly, indicates that the least use of

technology, which the respondents have identified by marking the columns of ‘never’

and ‘rarely’ is only 19.52% while the most of the respondents made the most use of

technology as 51.36% and of the respondents had either selected ‘frequently’ or

‘always’ to point towards use of technology in the classroom teaching practices.

221

Figure 4.12: Use of Technology inside the Class

The above detailed statistical analysis indicates that most of the teachers

frequently take assistance of the technology and use it in the ESL classroom as

resource for facilitating teaching practices in the classrooms, as illustrated in Figure

4.12. The women teachers’ choice to conduct class in the departments’ computer

laboratory indicates a positive use of technology in ESL pedagogy. Most of the

teachers in the institutions of higher education take assistance of computer labs since

in Pakistan Self-Access centres are limited to few higher educational institutions (see

Chapter 2.3). Even then, there are certain constraints in conducting a class in

computer lab, as for example, availability of lab for that class period, availability of

desired media equipment, cooperation of lab staff are some of the many issues that

arise in a teacher’s day to day pedagogical practices.

4.2.4 Use of Technology outside the Classroom

The use of technology to facilitate ESL teaching practices particularly by

utilizing technological facilities outside the classroom is also examined in section 2 of

the Survey. For this analysis, Table 4.15 presents the responses of the female teachers

0.00%

5.00%

10.00%

15.00%

20.00%

25.00%

30.00%

35.00%

Never Rarely Sometimes Frequently Always

9.60% 9.92%

29.12%

33.28%

18.08%

222

to six items: Q 2.10, Q 2.12, Q 2.13, Q 2.14, Q 2.15 and Q 2.16, which are

statistically evaluated through descriptive analysis to yield percentage response to

each item. The sum of responses to all six items is also tabulated.

Table 4.15: Use of Technology outside the Classroom

Never Rarely

Sometime

s

Frequentl

y

Alway

s

2.1

0

I assign tasks that require

submission via e-mail.

13.6

% 8.0% 39.2% 28.8%

10.4

%

2.1

2

I assign task to my students that

requires World Wide Web

browsing.

3.2% 9.6% 29.6% 44.8% 12.8

%

2.1

3

I suggest my students, on-line or

e-authentic reading materials for

assigned tasks.

0.8% 6.4% 43.2% 36.0% 13.6

%

2.1

4

I suggest cites for grammar and

vocabulary quizzes. 8.0% 6.4% 38.4% 36.0%

11.2

%

2.1

5

I guide students to use on-line

dictionaries and encyclopaedias. 4.0% 4.8% 22.4% 38.4%

30.4

%

2.1

6

I suggest language learning

websites to my students to

develop language skills.

3.2% 6.4% 20.0% 45.6% 24.8

%

Use of technology outside the

classroom

5.47% 6.93

% 32.13% 38.27%

17.2%

12.4% least 55.47% most

n=125

The response rate for these items remained 97% as 125 responses were

gathered from the total of 128 respondents (see Table 4.15 above). The results

demonstrate the teachers’ positive inclination towards utilization of technology by

assigning tasks that require submission via e-mail as approximately 29% respondents

223

‘frequently’ and 10% respondents ‘always’ made this use of technology while only

approximately 14% respondents had ‘never’ assigned such tasks. Similarly

approximately 45% respondents ‘frequently’ and 13% respondents ‘always’ assigned

task to students that required World Wide Web browsing while only 3% respondents

had ‘never’ directed the learners to use technology outside the classroom. Moreover,

approximately 36% respondents ‘frequently’ and 14% respondents ‘always’ suggested

their students to access on-line or e-authentic reading materials while only 1% of the

respondents had ‘never’ guided learners to use technology for academic purposes.

Furthermore, the analysis of Q 2.14 reveals that approximately 36%

respondents ‘frequently’ and 11% respondents had ‘always’ suggested cites for

grammar and vocabulary quizzes to facilitate ESL learning while only 8%

respondents had ‘never’ recommended on-line ESL learning resources. All the same,

approximately 38% respondents ‘frequently’ and 30% respondents had ‘always’

guided students to use on-line dictionaries and encyclopaedias while only 4%

respondents had ‘never’ directed students to use this technological facility. The

analysis of the data yielded for Q 2.16 reveals that approximately 46% respondents

‘frequently’ and 25% respondents had ‘always’ suggested language learning websites

to the students to develop language learning skills while only 3% respondents had

‘never’ directed students to use this technological facility to foster ESL skills. The

sum of the detailed data of all these six items indicates that the least use of

technology, which the respondents have identified by marking the columns of ‘never’

and ‘rarely’ is only 12.4% while the most of the respondents made the most use of

technology as 55.47% of the respondents had either selected ‘frequently’ or ‘always’

to demonstrate the strong inclination towards making use of technological facilities

present outside the classroom.

224

Figure 4.13: Use of Technology outside the Classroom

The above detailed elaboration of the yielded data and its analysis indicate that

the most of the female teachers teaching in the institution of higher education

frequently guide and direct learners attention to technological facilities present outside

the class as illustrated in Figure 4.13. This reflects teachers’ strong propensity towards

the technological gadgets for the facilitation of pedagogical progress. This response

has demonstrated positive impact of technology on women teachers in higher

education. Moreover, teachers’ recognition of the utility of technology to enhance

language gains beyond classroom is evident of the correlation between the use and

presence of technology with its tendency of positive language learning gains.

However, the analysis demonstrates that there are some female ESL teachers who do

not guide their learners to make use of technology to facilitate ESL learning.

In nutshell, the analyses elaborated in this section reveal that female teachers

teaching in the institutions of higher education have a strong impact of technology

which is evident in results of the survey describing quite frequent use of technological

facilities in ESL pedagogical practices as illustrated in Figure 4.13. Given that all the

0.00%

5.00%

10.00%

15.00%

20.00%

25.00%

30.00%

35.00%

40.00%

Never Rarely Sometimes Frequently Always

5.47%6.93%

32.13%

38.27%

17.20%

225

results of section two of the survey indicated the positive impact of technology in the

frequent use of technology for planning and practice of teaching, it is important to

have a holistic view of all subscales. Therefore, the following overview of the

subscales presents results graphically, and then the results of correlation analyses are

tabulated to demonstrate the correlation between the four subscales for the use of

technology.

4.2.5 Overview of the Subscales of the Use of Technology

At this stage of the analysis, it is important to view the results of all four

subscales for the use of technology to better approach to the conclusive answer to the

research question 2: What is the impact of technology on the women ESL teachers

teaching in the institutions of higher education? This impact of technology is studied

by probing into the women teachers’ frequency of proclivity towards use of

technological facilities for ESL pedagogical practices (see Table 16 below).The sum

of all four subscales of ‘use of technology’ helps to establish bigger picture of the

practicality of the assumption of this study. This table foregrounds the theory of

technological determinism as adopted by Warschauer (2004) in terms of frequent use

of technology. The analysis also favours Benson (2001) view of technology-based

approach to learner autonomy.

226

Table 4.16: Use of Technology

Use of Technology Never Rarely

Some-

times

Frequen

tly Always

Use of technology as a tool 6.00% 8.80% 24.27% 37.47% 23.47%

Use of Technology as a resource 6.00% 6.40% 12.00% 36.80% 38.40%

Use of technology inside the

classroom 9.60% 9.92% 29.12% 33.28% 18.08%

Use of technology outside the

classroom 5.47% 6.93% 32.13% 38.27% 17.20%

Average use of technology 6.77% 8.01% 24.38% 36.46% 24.29%

The Table 4.16 above displays that approximately 24% of the women teachers

‘always’ use technology in ESL pedagogical processes. This number, although, does

not represent a larger number of respondents, it helps to establish a view that a

considerable number of female teachers are in constant touch with the use of

technology. This propensity towards technology entails twofold impact of technology;

one the presence of technology correlates to its use; and two this group of teachers fall

in John & Wheeler’s (2008) definition of ‘enthusiasts’ who develop a positive view of

the prospects that the use of technology brings for teaching-learning paradigm. In the

column of ‘frequently’, the average response rate is greater as compared to ‘always’:

i.e. approximately 37%. This frequency of use of technology, also places them

amongst ‘enthusiasts’ but this frequent use of technology may entail two ideas: either

the female teachers do so with the perception of ‘appropriateness’ or due to some

practical constraints. Teachers may find use of technology suitable on some

occasions, while not on the other occasions. With reference to the latter the teachers

may face some practical constraints for using technology as identified by Mahmood,

227

Iqbal, Nadeem, Javed & Hassan, (2014) in a research conducted in Pakistan to gather

responses of school teachers on the use of ICT in teaching English.

Although, the Technology and Development of ESL Learner Autonomy Survey

did not aim to address these constraints, it could be anticipated on the basis of the

yielded data. Along these lines, 24% of the respondents agree to use technology

‘sometimes’. Can such response place them in John & Wheeler’s (2008) description

of ‘pragmatics16’? Nothing can be delineated here, for sure, as this research does not

throw light on. However, the analysis help to construe that women teaching ESL in

Pakistani institutions of higher education support the use of technology. However, a

small percentage of respondents, that is approximately 7%, can be placed either as

‘traditionalist17’ or ‘New Luddites18’ according to the definition of John & Wheeler

(2008). The results across all four subscales on the use of technology in the

institutions of higher education support the hypothesis that in contemporary Pakistan

most of the female ESL teachers have recognized the potential in technology, which

makes them autonomous teachers. This autonomy entails reaping the same in the

classroom scenario: fostering ESL learner autonomy.

16They support use of technology but are critical of excessive use of technology in teaching and

learning of ESL. 17They resist the use of technology for teaching or learning English so much to save the long-

established pedagogical practices. 18They are so critical of technology that they undermine the benefits of technology in every field of life.

228

Figure 4.14: Use of Technology

Use of Technology as a Tool

Use of Technology as a Resource

Use of Technology inside the Classroom as a resource

Use of Technology outside the Classroom

In order to replicate the descriptive statistical results, and to establish a big

picture, it is significant to present the results graphically (see Figure 4.14) to show the

highly positive frequent use of technology along all four subscales: use of technology

as tool, use of technology as a resource, use of technology inside the classroom and

use of technology outside the classroom. To embark on this propensity towards use of

technology further it is important to note that this usage does not relate to those

artefacts and applications that aim at controlling and adapting to our environments.

While many critics commenting on the use of technology in educational sphere still

argue; technology is value-free and technological development proceeds

independently of human purpose. However, it can be clearly observed that this is not

the case as far as the matter of choice of technological gadgets is concerned for the

tertiary level education. The research has yielded enough evidence to contravene this

0.00%

10.00%

20.00%

30.00%

40.00%

NeverRarely

SometimesFrequently

Always

229

notion. And Figure 12 clearly demarcates the value of technology in the educational

practices of ESL in the institutions of higher education. Moreover, the argument of

masculinity of technology is also nullified here as the women teaching in Pakistan are

seeking help of technology as a resource and tool. Further, the results indicate a strong

inclination of women teachers towards use of technology in everyday teaching –

learning practices both inside and outside their classrooms.

Table 4.17: Correlation among Subscales: Use of Technology as a Tool, Use of

Technology as a Resource, Use of Technology inside the Classroom and Use of

technology Outside the Classroom

Educational

Technology

Use as a

Tool

Technology

as a

Resource

Use of

Technology

Inside the

Classroom

Use of

Technology

Outside the

Classroom

Use of Technology as a

Tool

1

Use of Technology as a

Resource

.681** 1

.000

Use of Technology Inside

the Classroom

.684** .699** 1

.000 .000

Use of Technology Outside

the Classroom

.669** .560** .593** 1

.000 .000 .000

** Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).

Additionally, to identify the significant relationship among the sub scales of

section 2 of the survey, Pearson Correlation (2-tailed) is applied on the four

subcategories of the use of technology: use of technology as tool, use of technology as

a resource, use of technology inside the classroom and use of technology outside the

classroom. The results obtained from 125 respondents are analysed here. The results

230

shown in Table 4.17 above, illustrate the highly significant positive correlation among

all four subscales as the p value is less than 0.01 for all four subscales. The table

illustrates that the correlation coefficient between ‘Use of Technology as a tool’ and

‘Use of technology as a resource’ remained 0.681 with 0.000 p value which

demarcates highly positive correlation. This correlation indicates the wide use of

technology for not only developing and creating teaching material, for example, work

sheets, but for accessing the internet to download relevant pedagogical resource. It

shows that teachers are aware of making use of technology to benefit English

language learners of Pakistan. Similarly, the correlation coefficient between ‘Use of

technology as a tool’ and ‘Use of technology inside the classroom’ was 0.684 with

0.000 p value, which again shows highly positive correlation. This correlation is

indicative how teachers rely on technology for both: their own assistance in

developing teaching resources and their learners’ assistance in developing English

language skills. The women teachers mark technology as an assistant in pedagogical

practices and learning endeavours which emphasise a strong positive impact of

technology. Moreover, the correlation coefficient between ‘use of technology as a

tool’ and ‘Use of technology outside the classroom’ is 0.669 with 0.000 p value, again

shows highly significant correlation. The correlation that is established with the

statistical analyses on the subscales of the use of technology demarcates a progressive

approach of women teaching English at the tertiary level institution. The teachers’ use

of technology indicates the multidimensional nature of technological gadgets which

can be utilized into language pedagogy, and also multidimensional utility of available

technological gadgets. The next column of the Table 4.17 illustrates that the

correlation coefficient between ‘Use of Technology as a resource’ and ‘Use of

technology inside the classroom’ remained 0.699 with 0.000 p value which

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demarcates highly positive correlation. The classroom is teachers’ domain, however,

the modern theories of teaching try to make it learners’ domain by providing complete

freedom to them. This theory is often rejected for being utopian theoretically and

chaotic practically. All the same, the correlation between use of technology inside the

classroom and using technology as a resource present teacher, if not an authority

figure, an important character who facilitates learners at every step of their language

learning process.

Similarly, the correlation coefficient between ‘Use of technology as a

resource’ and ‘Use of technology outside the classroom’ is 0.590 with 0.000 p value,

which again shows highly positive correlation. Moreover, the correlation coefficient

between ‘Use of technology inside the classroom’ and ‘Use of technology outside the

classroom’ is 0.593 with .000 p value, again shows highly significant correlation. This

positive correlation describes that women in Pakistan, and especially the teachers in

higher education institutions are moving away from traditional approaches to teaching

and favour cultivation of research based approach to learn English as second

language. The use of technology outside the class helps the learners to have more

exposure to the language learning content beyond classroom, which in turn favours

optimal experience of this language and plus most advantageous learning outcomes.

The above tabulated statistical illustrations (see Table 4.17) demonstrate that

the teachers, who use technology as a tool or resource for developing or accessing

teaching material, also use technology inside the classroom and encourage the

learners to use technology outside the classroom. Thus, this teacher directed use of

technology outside the classroom, is a step towards development of learner autonomy.

All the same, the practitioners and advocates of use of technology, particularly CALL

programmes, consider even the use of technology inside the classroom an inclination

232

towards independence and development of learner autonomy. Moreover, it all

depends on how a teacher teaches, means selected teaching methodology, an area

which is not explored inTechnology and Development of ESL Learner Autonomy

Survey. Nonetheless, the results obtained through descriptive and correlation statistics

indicate a strongly positive impact of technology on the women teaching ESL in the

institutions of higher education. This also indicates the female teachers’ inclination

towards autonomous language teaching and learning.

Interpretation

The above detailed analysis helps to construe that technology has the positive

impact on women tertiary level ESL Pakistani teachers. The results help to envision

the women pedagogues are positively engaged in utilizing technological facilities.

The female teachers show teacher autonomy through their administrative decisions for

using technology. The analysis reveals that the teachers utilise technology for

developing, creating and composing teaching aids on computers. Moreover, they are

found to be engaged in accessing internet and other technology aids to facilitate

themselves first as learners; and then their learners. The hypothesis that the teachers

bring technology to the pedagogical discourse to model use of English made by native

speakers, is verified when teachers marked frequent use of technological gadgets for

such purposes. The findings of this section favours the broader views around the use

of technology as a physical object like a tool, a source of knowledge, a source with

which people do different works, a process that begins with a need and ends with a

solution and a socio-technical system that manufactures and uses objects involving

people and other objects in combination.

233

This study is limited to explore only teachers’ tendency to bring the use of

technology into practise of English teaching. However, the survey results help to

elucidate that when the teachers use technology, the English language skill

improvement becomes incidental because the medium would display information in

English, either oral or written. The oral input of English, as a result, enhances

students’ speaking skills. And students would be able to learn English more

effectively. And the written mode gives the input of the structure of the language

which also aids learners to learn autonomously by interacting with the medium-the

state of the art-computers.

In the context of classroom a majority of teachers agreed to make frequent use

of cell phone, tab etc to conduct listening activities, which indicates the diversity of

the use of technology. This eclecticism indicates the feminist pedagogical approach of

the women teachers being an important part of the pedagogical system in the

institutions of higher education in Pakistan. This discourse, on one side, builds up the

scenario of technology-aided facilitation to teaching and learning; while on the other

side is appreciative to the teachers who adapted a gadget of everyday’s need for

educational purposes. These factors help to throw light on the women teachers’ way

of teaching in the institutions of higher education, their active part in teaching

decisions, their use of technology and the particular preferences so as to advance

themselves and their learners in ESL pedagogy. Technology offers the female

teachers opportunities to integrate multiple media, which facilitates the learning of

English. Another, positive report received from the survey is that of the use of

technology inside the classroom particularly the use of multi-media. The women

teachers affirmative response to this item of the survey helps to elucidate that use of

power point or other multiple media technology not only enables teacher to bring

234

multiple mode of presentation of language teaching contact to the classroom, but to

provide more authentic sources of information to the learners. Such way of teaching

learning enhances learning gains of ESL learners by providing opportunities to

experiential learning. This diversity of information may not be transferred by the

teacher in a traditional classroom. However, this practise is sometimes criticised due

to the lack of professional training; lack of resources; and fewer opportunities for such

practices. Nonetheless, the statistics of the study support my point that the ESL

tertiary level women teachers are autonomously finding ways and means to use

technology with the help of technology—browsing the internet. The teacher

autonomy is contextualised partly owing to the rapid progress in information

technology and partly due to the facilities extended to the institutions of higher

education by the government (see Chapter 1.2).

About more than a decade ago, the modern technology was not accessible to

every girl or woman in Pakistan; however, today the accessibility to technology is

commonplace in the institutions of higher education. The today’s handheld

technological gadgets and Wi-Fi connection in all public sector and private sector

universities provides an opportunity to teachers to endow learners with native

pronunciation model. Another, aspect of technology-aided classroom teaching is the

use of word processor for compositions, e-mails or articles. This innovation has

changed the ways of teaching from traditional essay writing to e-mail writing; this

change marks the technological determinism, which was identified by Warschauer

(2004).

However, the survey had not directly asked the respondents to identify the

purpose of use of word processor. It only intended to explore that how frequently

teachers guide students to use Word Processor for compositions or to enhance writing

235

skills. Nonetheless, the women teachers’ strong positive inclination to this use of

technology entails multi-purpose utility of word-processor. One more phenomenon

that is supported from this discourse is the enhanced opportunities to the ESL learners

to use English, as English is the language of accessing most of the internet resources

from Pakistan. These findings are in parallel to the Warschauer’s (2004) opinion that

the use of technology in the classroom makes the use of English for communication

“incidental to the main task but, as a result of carrying out the activity, the students

would be learning important new English genres and engaging in new discourses.”

In a nutshell, the results of this subscale, on the use of technology, encourage

me to deduce that the women teaching in the institutions of higher education are

autonomously making use of technology. This deduction is arguably two fold, on one

level it tells of the capability, availability, and accessibility to the modern gadgets;

while on the other level, it reflects the technology competence and autonomy of the

women teachers. Thus, these findings helps to elucidate Little’s (1995) theory of the

dependence of the development of learner autonomy on teacher autonomy. However,

the analysis demonstrates a small number of female teachers in the institutions of

higher education did not make use of technology in the classroom to facilitate ESL

pedagogical practices. The question arises whether the teachers guide and encourage

students to use technology beyond classroom boundaries if they did not find it

feasible to use technology inside the classroom. The following section would shed

some light on this question.

The results of this study are in consonance to the increasingly adopted teaching

trend of integrating technology into teaching and learning ESL in Pakistan (Haider,

2013; Irshad & Ghani, 2015). Moreover, it ascertains the notion that CALL can

236

provide ample opportunities for students to develop learner autonomy (Healy, 1999;

Murray, 1999; and Schwienhorst, 2003) because the learners have an access to

technology, e.g. on laptops and via internet for 24/7; while the access to the teacher is

for a limited time – in and out of the classroom- during a day. However, I support the

argument that technology cannot substitute a teacher; technological advances have

brought a wide variety of material available to the learners almost anywhere. The

technology also empowers the female teachers by providing access to a wide range of

teaching resources. For example, a demonstration of a lesson through multi-media

slides helps the learners to better understand a concept and the same idea can be

reinforced by accessing the same material outside the class as a hard copy or

otherwise. These interpretive elucidations validate the hypothesis of the present study

that the use of technology makes the women teaching ESL autonomous. Secondly, the

teachers use technology for facilitating ESL learning inside the classroom and guide

the learners to access the web sources to reinforce the pedagogical process started

inside the classroom. This enables learners to develop autonomy in a teacher guided

or directed scenario. This teacher-learner rapport in the technologically rich learning

ESL paradigm brings about paradigmatic shift from teacher-led classroom to student-

centered classroom (this notion is discussed in detail in the following section 4.2.3), in

other words, towards learner autonomy.

This technology–led scenario entails that “technology in general is the sole or

prime antecedent cause of changes in society, and technology is seen as the

fundamental condition underlying the pattern of social organization” (Chandler,

2000). Thus, the proposition presented in the beginning of this study (see Chapter 1.3)

that the presence of technology compels the teachers to employ it in their everyday

pedagogical practices is supported. The use of technology determines the social

237

change around us. This technological determinism is rapidly changing the previously

held educational hierarchies, practices and norms in the pedagogical sector too. The

analysis presented in this section points to the fact that today women in higher

education puts technology in the realm of their pedagogical practices. Their responses

enables me to deduce that the teachers themselves are influenced by current

technology rich environment where every young learner is seen either watching e.g. a

facebook video, or listening to e.g. a news bulletin, or chatting e.g. via Skype or

playing games on cell phone. If in this technologically diverse pedagogical

environment teachers decide to use technology to facilitate and motivate the learners,

then this ever changing socio-cultural classroom situation obviously affect the concept

of power in the pedagogical hierarchy at the tertiary level of education.

Moreover, the results of the survey support the view that today technology has

become accessible to the teachers due to its global spread and ease of approach. This

spread of technology has its roots in ever increasing technological advancement and

increased interest in education globally, even Pakistan being a developing country is

no exception. In such Pakistani situation, the gender barrier is diminished as the

participant women-teachers reported the strong inclination towards technology. This

in turn helps to construe a technology rich social set up of the institutions of higher

education. This social setup indicates that technologies such as writing or print or

television or the computer has changed society in general and pedagogical practices in

particular. The findings of this study support the view that entire form of society is

seen as being determined by technology. This context of ever progressive

technological inventions and innovations transform society at every level, including

institutions, social interaction and individuals. The conceptualization, of a wide range

of social and cultural phenomena being shaped by technology, helps to understand the

238

women teachers’ inclination towards technology. It can be seen as a constant

endeavour of an inferior being to be recognized, if not influential, an equal in the

patriarchy of Pakistan. These interpretations, thus lead to the next research question

which inquires of the role of the female teachers in integration of technology in

teaching learning practices for fostering ESL learner autonomy. The following section

would shed some light on this research question.

4.3 Section III: The Role of the Teacher in the Development of Learner

Autonomy

The role of the women as teachers of ESL in the development of learner

autonomy in the technology-led scenario at the tertiary level of education is aspired

by debates on feminist pedagogy. It is seen that the role of the teacher in actual use of

technology for teaching depends very much on the extent to which the teachers have

been envisioned as having a significant role to play. According to a misconception,

the teacher may have a minimal role or excluded altogether in the development of

learner autonomy. On the other hand, the teacher may play a significant role being a

facilitator or guide to channelize the path to the development of learner autonomy

with the use of technology. These two opposing arguments lead to the fundamental

dichotomous debate around the role of the teacher in the development of autonomy;

one that excludes teacher from the trio of learner, language learning and the learning

material and second that gives central importance to the teacher in the trio of

classroom language learning, teacher and learning material. Here this dichotomy

presents two distinct standpoints; where according to one view the role of the teacher

is at the periphery of language teaching whilst the other view put it in the mainstream

of language teaching. In order to identify how the Pakistani women teaching ESL in

the institutions of higher education see their role in pedagogical scenario the data

239

yielded from the third section of the of theTechnology and Development of ESL

Learner Autonomy Survey is analyzed.

In this way, the yielded data from section three of the survey is statistically

analysed to answer fourth research question: What is the role of the women teaching

in the institutions of higher education in the development of learner autonomy? In this

section of the survey, female teachers were asked to consider how far they agree with

the statements designed to illustrate responses on the role of the teacher for the use of

technology to foster ESL learner autonomy through 25 items Q3.1 to Q3.25 (see

Appendix 1). The statements are devised on five point scale ranging: ‘strongly

disagree’, ‘disagree’, ‘not sure’, ‘agree’ and ‘strongly agree’. However, the items

were analysed under six sub categories.

a) Identification

b) Capacity building

c) Intervention

d) Decision making

e) Integration of technology

f) Social paradigm

These subcategories are identified to describe the role of the teacher in the

development of learner autonomy.

4.3.1 Identification

This subcategory of the survey aims at teachers’ identification of the factors

that affect and influence the development of learner autonomy in ESL learners. The

argument; that learners’ willingness to be engaged in learning process is central to the

development of learner autonomy, holds much of the debate in the pedagogical

240

research on the development of learner autonomy in second language acquisition. On

the other hand, it is also claimed in research that it is motivation that precedes

autonomy. In order to concede to these somehow linked notions the present research

includes these two variables: ‘willingness to learn’ and ‘motivation’.

Table 4.18: Identification

Strongly

Disagree Disagree

Not

Sure Agree

Strongly

Agree

3.1 The willingness to learn indicates

learner autonomy. 0% 9.2% 5.0%

55.0

% 30.8%

3.1

3

Motivated language learners are

more likely to develop learner

autonomy.

0% 3.3% 0.8% 60.0

% 35.8%

Identification

0% 6.25% 2.9% 57.5

% 33.3%

6.25% Negative 90.8% Positive

n=120

For this category, Table 4.18 presents the analyses of the responses of the

female teachers to the designed two items: Q 3.1and Q 3.13. The sum of responses to

the two items is also tabulated. The response rate for these items remained 93.8% as

120 responses were gathered from the total of 128 respondents. The results

demonstrate the female teachers’ positive inclination towards their role in

identification of the affective factors involved in fostering learner autonomy as

approximately 86% respondents agreed (i.e. 55.0% ‘agree’ & 30.8% ‘strongly agree’)

that the learners’ willingness to learn indicates learner autonomy; while

approximately 9% disagree (i.e 9.2% ‘disagree’ and 0% ‘strongly disagree’); and

approximately 5% respondents were ‘not sure’. All the same approximately 96%

respondents agreed (i.e. 60.0% ‘agree’ & 35.8% ‘strongly agree’) that motivated

241

language learners are more likely to develop learner autonomy; while approximately

3% disagree (i.e. 3.3% ‘disagree’ and 0% ‘strongly disagree’); and approximately 1%

respondents were ‘not sure’. Teachers’ responses across the two items in this subscale

indicated that more than approximately 91% of the teachers agreed (i.e. 57.5% ‘agree’

& 33.3% ‘strongly agree’) that the learners’ willingness and motivation are important

affective factors for developing learner autonomy.

Figure 4.15: Identification

The above detailed elaboration of the yielded data and its analysis indicate that

most of the female teachers teaching in the institution of higher education agreed that

willingness to learn and motivation as important affective factors for development of

learner autonomy as illustrated in Figure 4.15. The results illustrate that the teachers

agree that learners’ immediate motivation to learn the language can ensure positive

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%

Strongly Disagree

Disagree

Not Sure

Agree

Strongly Agree

0%

9.20%

5.00%

55.00%

30.80%

0%

3.30%

0.80%

60.00%

35.80%

Motivated language learners are more likely to develop learnerautonomy.The willingness to learn indicates learner autonomy.

242

and effective progress. However, the analysis demonstrates that there are some female

ESL teachers who disagree with the role of motivation and willingness to

development of learner autonomy for ESL learners. Here, the question arises whether

the teachers identify the role of skill development and capacity building important to

fostering learner autonomy. The following section would shed some light on this

research question.

4.3.2 Capacity Building

The argument; capacity building of the learners in teaching-learning process is

central to the development of learner autonomy, is elaborated here with respect to the

role of the teacher. This argument leads to the fundamental debate central to this

argument that language learners are far more capable of autonomous action,

especially in regard to monitoring and evaluation of learning process, than teachers.

Therefore, the women teaching ESL in the institutions of higher education are asked

to consider as to what extent the learners’ capacity to take responsibility of the

learning process is fundamental to learner autonomy. The data generated to find

consensus for this debate is analysed in this section. This section addresses as to what

extent female teachers agree that their role is to build up learners’ capacity in

monitoring and taking control of their own learning; and evaluation of learning help

to foster learner autonomy.

243

Table 4.19: Capacity Building

Strongly

Disagree Disagree

Not

Sure Agree

Strongly

Agree

3.2 The capacity to take control of

one's own learning develops

learner autonomy. 0% 5.0% 3.3%

44.2

% 47.5%

3.3 The skill to evaluate what one has

acquired helps to develop learner

autonomy. 1.7% 10.0%

11.7

%

41.7

% 35.0%

3.4 The ability to monitor one’s

learning is central to

development of learner

autonomy.

0% 3.3% 10.8

%

50.8

% 35.0%

Capacity Building

1% 6.10%

8.60

%

45.6

% 39.17%

7.1% Disagree 84.8% Agree

n=120

For this category, Table 4.19 presents the analyses of the responses of the

female teachers to the designed three items: Q 3.2, Q 3.3 and Q 3.4, which are

statistically evaluated to yield percentage response to each item. The sum of responses

to the two items is also tabulated. The response rate for these items remained 93.8%

as 120 responses were gathered from the total of 128 respondents. The results

demonstrate the female teachers’ positive inclination towards their role in building

capacity in learners so as the learners take control of their own learning. For example

approximately 92% respondents agreed (i.e. 44.2% ‘agree’ & 47.5% ‘strongly agree’)

that the capacity to take control of one’s own learning develops learner

autonomy;while approximately 5% disagree (i.e. 5% ‘disagree’ and 0% ‘strongly

disagree’); and approximately 3% respondents were ‘not sure’. All the same

approximately 78% respondents agreed (i.e. 41.7% ‘agree’ & 35.0% ‘strongly agree’)

that the skill to evaluate what one has acquired helps to develop learner

244

autonomy;while approximately 12% disagree (i.e. 10% ‘disagree’ and 1.7% ‘strongly

disagree’); and approximately 12% respondents were ‘not sure’.The analysis of the

item Q 3.4 showsthat approximately 86% respondents agreed (i.e. 50.8% ‘agree’ &

35.0% ‘strongly agree’) that the ability to monitor one’s learning is central to

development of learner autonomy;while approximately 3% disagree (i.e. 3.3%

‘disagree’ and 0% ‘strongly disagree’); and approximately 11% respondents were ‘not

sure’.Teachers’ responses across the three items in this subscale indicate that more

than 85% of the teachers agreed (i.e. 45.6% ‘agree’ & 39.17% ‘strongly agree’) that

capacity to take control over learning and evaluation of learning procedure are central

for the development of learner autonomy.

Figure 4.16 Capacity Building

This is evident from the analysis of this subscale presented in the above

discussion that most of the female teachers teaching in the institution of higher

65.00%

70.00%

75.00%

80.00%

85.00%

90.00%

95.00%

91.70%

76.70%

85.80%

The capacity to take control of one's own learning develops learner autonomy.

The skill to evaluate what one has acquired helps to develop learner autonomy.

The ability to monitor one’s learning is central to development of learner autonomy.

245

education agreed that for the development of learner autonomy teacher’s role should

be of a facilitator in building learners’ capacity for taking control over learning

process as illustrated in Figure 4.16. This control indicates learners’ independence

that helps in developing learner autonomy. Benson (2008) elucidates this point by

identifying that if learner takes responsibility to control learning process it helps the

teacher to foster learner autonomy. Explicating its link with the pedagogical process it

is identified that an autonomous teacher is in charge and takes control over teaching

process. Such pedagogical process includes monitoring and fostering the capacity in

learners to take control of their own learning, to evaluate learning process and to

monitor their own learning. Here, the question arises if the teachers’ role is to

facilitate learners’ independence then to what extent the female teachers working in

the institutions of higher education intervene in the classroom teaching-learning

process to foster learner autonomy. The following section would shed some light on

this.

4.3.3 Intervention

The notion of independent learning, which typically involves learners taking

responsibility of their own learning, is recognized by many researchers and language

teachers as providing a context within which autonomy can be promoted and

supported. The expression independent learning has almost become synonymous to

learner autonomy. However, the opposite of independence is the notion of

dependence which entails learners’ excessive reliance on the teachers. Therefore, to

embark on these conflicting concepts: independence vs dependence and student-

centred vs teacher-led ways, in relation to learner autonomy and the role of the

women teacher in Pakistani institutions of higher education, theTechnology and

Development of ESL Learner Autonomy Survey includes seven items. The gathered

246

data would assist in addressing this issue and would decide on the degree to which

teachers agree that the learners should be independent for the development of

autonomy.

Table 4.19: Intervention

Strongly

Disagree Disagree

Not

Sure Agree

Strongly

Agree

3.5 Learner autonomy can only be

developed in student-centred

classroom. 1.7% 10.0% 5.8% 51.7% 30.8%

3.6 Learner autonomy means

traditional teacher-led ways of

teaching must be abandoned. 1.7% 23.3% 5.0% 39.2% 30.8%

3.7 Learners develop autonomy when

they are allowed to work

independently. 0% 8.3% 0% 57.5% 34.2%

3.11 Learners cannot develop

autonomy without teacher's help. 1.7% 26.7% 8.3% 45.8% 17.5%

3.14 Learner autonomy is promoted

through regular opportunities for

learners to complete tasks alone. 0% 12.5%

4.2%

65.0% 18.3%

3.16 Learner autonomy requires the

learner to be totally independent

of the teacher. 9.2% 42.5% 5.0% 34.2% 9.2%

3.17 Learning to work alone is central

to the development of learner

autonomy. 5.8% 34.2% 4.2% 47.5% 8.3%

Intervention

2.87% 22.50% 4.64% 48.70% 21.30%

25.4%

Negative

70.0%

Positive

The female teachers’ role regarding intervention in teaching-learning process

is analysed in this section. Table 4.19 presents the analyses of the responses of the

247

female teachers to the designed seven items: Q 3.5, Q 3.6, Q 3.7, Q 3.11, Q 3.14, Q

3.16 and Q 3.17, which are evaluated to yield percentage response to each item. The

average of the sum of responses to these seven items is also tabulated. The response

rate for these items remained 93.8% as 120 responses were gathered from the total of

128 respondents. The results demonstrate the female teachers’ positive inclination

towards their less intervention in teaching-learning process to facilitate development

of learner autonomy as approximately 83% respondents agreed (i.e. 51.7% ‘agree’ &

30.8% ‘strongly agree’) that the learner autonomy can be developed in student-

centred classroom;while approximately 12% disagree (i.e. 10.0% ‘disagree’ and 1.7%

‘strongly disagree’); and approximately 6% respondents were ‘not sure’.All the same

approximately 70% respondents agreed (i.e. 39.2% ‘agree’ & 30.8% ‘strongly agree’)

that traditional teacher-led ways of teaching must be abandoned;while approximately

25% disagree (i.e. 23.3% ‘disagree’ and 1.7% ‘strongly disagree’); and approximately

5% respondents were ‘not sure’. Similarly approximately 92% respondents agreed

(i.e. 57.5% ‘agree’ & 34.2% ‘strongly agree’) that to develop learner autonomy the

learners should be allowed to work independently; while approximately 8% disagree

(i.e. 8.3% ‘disagree’ and 0% ‘strongly disagree’). The analysis of the item Q 3.11

shows that approximately 63% respondents agreed (i.e. 45.8% ‘agree’ & 17.5%

‘strongly agree’) that learners cannot develop autonomy without teacher's help;while

approximately 28% disagree (i.e. 26.7% ‘disagree’ and 1.7% ‘strongly disagree’); and

approximately 8% respondents were ‘not sure’.

Q 3.14 addresses the role of the teacher in fostering learner autonomy by

providing regular opportunities to learners to complete tasks alone. Like the previous

items of this subscale most of the respondents agreed that learning to work alone is

central to the development of learner autonomy as approximately 83% respondents

248

agreed (i.e. 65% ‘agree’ & 18.3% ‘strongly agree’);while approximately 13%

disagree (i.e. 12.5% ‘disagree’ and 0% ‘strongly disagree’); and approximately 9%

respondents were ‘not sure’.However, most of the teacher considered their role being

teachers important to teaching–learning scenario as approximately 52% respondents

did not agree (i.e. 42.5% ‘disagree’ & 9.2% ‘strongly disagree’) that learner autonomy

requires the learner to be totally independent of the teacher; nonetheless the

percentage response in agreement to this statement remained 43% (i.e. 34.2% ‘agree’

& 9.2% ‘strongly agree’); and approximately 5% respondents were ‘not sure’.

Corresponding to first five items, Q 3.17 received most of the responses in agreement.

The female teachers favoured that learning to work alone is central to the

development of learner autonomy as approximately 56% respondents agreed (i.e.

47.5% ‘agree’ & 8.3% ‘strongly agree’);while approximately 40% disagree (i.e.

34.2% ‘disagree’ and 5.8% ‘strongly disagree’); and approximately 4% respondents

were ‘not sure’.Teachers’ responses across the seven items in this subscale indicated

that about 70% of the teachers agreed (i.e. 48.7% ‘agree’ & 21.3% ‘strongly agree’)

that the giving responsibility to the learners helps in development of learner

autonomy.

249

Figure 4.17 Intervention

The analyses detailed above for this subscale indicate that the most of the

female teachers teaching in the institution of higher education agreed that for the

development of learner autonomy teacher led ways of teaching should be abandoned

and learners should have a control over learning process as illustrated in Figure 4.17.

This control indicates learners’ independence and thus, learner autonomy. In the

Figure 4.17 the rise of bar for disagreement is mainly owing to Q 3.16, which in fact

postulates ESL learners independent learning. Here, the question arises along with

learners’ independent learning to what extent the female teachers working in the

institutions of higher education agree that decision making agent should be the teacher

0.00%

10.00%

20.00%

30.00%

40.00%

50.00%

60.00%

70.00%

80.00%

90.00%

100.00%

1

82.50%

70.00%

91.70%

63.30%

83.30%

43.40%

55.80%

Learner autonomy can only be developed in student-centred classroom.

Learner autonomy means traditional teacher-led ways of teaching must be abandoned.

Learners develop autonomy when they are allowed to work independently.

Learners cannot develop autonomy without teacher's help.

Learner autonomy is promoted through regular opportunities for learners to completetasks alone.Learner autonomy requires the learner to be totally independent of the teacher.

250

in the classroom for foster learner autonomy. The following section would shed some

light on this.

4.3.4 Decision Making

The female teachers’ role in teaching-learning decisions is central to the

development of learner autonomy. This argument leads to the fundamental debate

around the question whether the decisive personnel in the ESL pedagogical process in

the institutions of higher education is the teacher or learner. The data generated to find

consensus for this debate is analysed in this section. Table 4.20 presents the analyses

of the responses of the female teachers to the designed three items: Q 3.9, Q 3.10 and

Q 3.15, which are statistically evaluated to yield percentage response to each item.

For the holistic results the average of the sum of responses to the three items is also

tabulated. The response rate for these items also remained 93.8% as 120 from the total

of 128 respondents responded to this subscale. The results demonstrate the female

teachers play a positive role and involve learners in decisions of teaching and learning

process to facilitate development of learner autonomy.

251

Table 4.20: Decision Making

Strongly

Disagree Disagree

Not

Sure Agree

Strongly

Agree

3.9 If learners decide about what to

learn they become autonomous

learners.

3.3% 19.2% 2.5% 46.7

% 28.3%

3.1

0

Learner autonomy is developed

when learners make decisions for

how to learn.

3.3% 10.0%

5.8%

50.8

% 30.0%

3.1

5

Learner autonomy is promoted

when learners have some choice in

the kinds of activities they do.

0% 6.7% 2.5% 66.7

% 24.2%

Decision Making

2.20% 11.97% 3.60%

54.73

% 27.50%

14.17% Disagree 82.2% Agree

Approximately 85% respondents agreed (i.e. 46.7% ‘agree’ & 28.3% ‘strongly

agree’) that their learners are decision makers for learning content which helps them

to be autonomous learners; while approximately 23% disagreed (i.e. 19.2% ‘disagree’

and 3.3% ‘strongly disagree’); and approximately 3% respondents were ‘not sure’.All

the same approximately 81% respondents agreed (i.e. 50.8% ‘agree’ & 30.0%

‘strongly agree’) that their learners take the decisions for how to learn which is

another factor to promote autonomy; while approximately 13% disagreed (i.e. 10%

‘disagree’ and 3.3% ‘strongly disagree’); and approximately 6% respondents were

‘not sure’. In the same way, approximately 91% respondents agreed (i.e. 66.7%

‘agree’ & 24.2% ‘strongly agree’) that their learners have some choice in the kinds of

learning activitiesthey do; while approximately 7% disagreed (i.e. 6.7% ‘disagree’

252

and 0% ‘strongly disagree’); and approximately 3% respondents were ‘not

sure’.Teachers’ responses across the three items in this subscale indicated that more

than 82% of the teachers agreed(i.e. 54.73% ‘agree’ & 27.5% ‘strongly agree’)that

they entrust responsibility to the learners to make decisions in the classroom for

teaching-learning process so as to foster learner autonomy.

Figure 4.18 Decision Making

The analyses detailed above for this subscale indicate that the most of the

female teachers teaching in the institution of higher education agreed that for the

development of learner autonomy decision making should be shared with the learners

as illustrated in Figure 4.18. The female teachers view their role in entrusting

responsibility to the learners to make decisions about what and how to learn, viz. the

content and learning strategies. This authority of learners in decision making indicates

learners’ independence and learner control over planning of teaching-learning context

0.00%

10.00%

20.00%

30.00%

40.00%

50.00%

60.00%

70.00%

80.00%

90.00%

100.00%

75.00%

80.80%

90.90%

If learners decide about what to learn they become autonomous learners.

Learner autonomy is developed when learners make decisions for how to learn.

Learner autonomy is promoted when learners have some choice in the kinds of activities they do.

Agree+ Strongly Agree

253

which ensures learner autonomy, as In the Figure 16 the bar for disagreement

remained low, which in fact postulates that female teachers perform their role to

encourage ESL learners’ to make independent decision for ESL learning scenario.

Here, the question arises to what extent the female teachers working in the institutions

of higher education agree that integration of technology fosters learner autonomy. The

following section would shed some light on this.

4.3.5 Integration of Technology

The female teachers’ role in integration of technology in teaching-learning

process is central to the development of learner autonomy. This argument leads to the

fundamental debate around the question whether the integration of technology

supports learning or changes the role of the teacher; and put the teacher on the

periphery of pedagogical process instead of being in the main stream of teaching-

learning process in the institutions of higher education. The data generated to gauge

this conflict is analysed in this section. The female teachers’ role regarding integration

of technology in teaching-learning process is analysed in this section. Table 4.21

presents the analyses of the responses of the female teachers to the designed six items:

Q 3.8, Q 3.12,Q 3.18, Q 3.19, Q 3.20, and Q 3.21, which are statistically assessed to

yield percentage response to each item. The sum of responses to these items is also

tabulated. The response rate for these items remained 93.8% as 120 responses were

gathered from the total of 128 respondents.

254

Table 21: Integration of Technology

Strongly

Disagree Disagree

Not

Sure Agree

Strongly

Agree

3.8 Browsing World Wide Web for

completing tasks develops learner

autonomy. 5.0% 9.2% 1.7% 65.0% 19.2%

3.12 Use of technology motivates the

ESL learners to develop

autonomy. 0% 4.2% 1.7% 60.8% 33.3%

3.18 Computers positively affect ESL

learners’ attitude to develop

autonomy. 0% 11.7% 1.7% 58.3% 28.3%

3.19 Use of technology greatly benefits

shy or inhibited learners to

develop learner autonomy 0% 9.2% 1.7% 55.8% 33.3%

3.20 Computers assist the high

achievers to realize their potential

by working on their own pace. 2.5% 7.5%

0%

54.2% 35.8%

3.21 Technology enables high

achievers to develop autonomy

without preventing their peers

from working on their own pace.

0.8% 7.5% 5.0% 52.5% 34.2%

Integration of Technology 1.38% 8.22% 1.97% 57.77% 30.68%

9.60%

Negative

88.45%

Positive

The results demonstrate the female teachers’ positive inclination towards

integration of technology in teaching-learning process to facilitate development of

learner autonomy as approximately 84% respondents agreed (i.e. 65.0% ‘agree’ &

19.2% ‘strongly agree’) that browsing World Wide Web for completing tasks

develops learner autonomy. All the same approximately 94% agreed (i.e. 60.8%

‘agree’ & 33.3% ‘strongly agree’) thatuse of technology motivates the ESL learners to

develop autonomy. Moreover, approximately 87% respondents agreed (i.e. 58.3%

‘agree’ & 28.3% ‘strongly agree’) that computers positively affect ESL learners’

255

attitude to develop autonomy. The analysis of the item Q 3.19 shows that

approximately 89% respondents agreed (i.e. 55.8% ‘agree’ & 33.3% ‘strongly agree’)

that use of technology greatly benefits shy or inhibited learners to develop learner

autonomy. Similarly, most of respondents agreed that computers assist the high

achievers to realize their potential by working on their own pace as approximately

90% respondents gave response in agreement to Q 3.20 (i.e. 54.2% ‘agree’ & 35.8%

‘strongly agree’). In addition to this, the analysis of the item Q 3.21 shows that

approximately 87% respondents agreed (i.e. 52.5% ‘agree’ & 34.2% ‘strongly agree’)

that technology enables high achievers to develop autonomy without preventing their

peers from working on their own pace. Teachers’ responses across the six items in

this subscale indicated that more than 88% of the teachers agreed that the giving

learners control over learning situation by integration of technology helps in

development of learner autonomy.

256

Figure 4.19: Integration of Technology

The analyses of the role of the teacher in fostering learner autonomy by

integration of technology indicate that most of the female teachers teaching in the

institution of higher education favours integration of technology for development of

learner autonomy as illustrated in Figure 4.19. This integration of technology helps

the learners to pursue independent and self-paced learning that helps to foster learner

autonomy. Here, the question arises to what extent the female teachers working in the

institutions of higher education agree that in the pedagogical social paradigm, where

we judge individuals in the dichotomy of male and female, ESL learners display

gender differences in the development of learner autonomy. The following section

would shed some light on this question.

78.00%

80.00%

82.00%

84.00%

86.00%

88.00%

90.00%

92.00%

94.00%

96.00%

84.20%

94.10%

86.60%

89.10%90.00%

86.70%

Browsing World Wide Web for completing tasks develops learner autonomy.

Use of technology motivates the ESL learners to develop autonomy.

Computers positively affect ESL learners’ attitude to develop autonomy.

Use of technology greatly benefit shy or inhibited learners to develop learner autonomy

Computers assist the high achievers to realize their potential by working on their own pace.

Agree + Strongly Agree

257

4.3.6 Social paradigm

The argument, that the women teaching ESL consider the social perspective of

learners’ gender, is elaborated in this section. The female teachers’ play their role, in

analysing the social aspects of learning situation for developing learner autonomy

among ESL learners who are gaining education in the co-education system prevailing

in the institutions of higher education. The present section presents the analyses of the

responses of the female teachers to the designed four items: Q 3.22, Q 3.23, Q 3.24

and Q 3.25, which are statistically evaluated to yield percentage response to each item

(see Table 4.23). The response rate for these items remained 93.8% as 120 responses

were gathered from the total of 128 respondents.

Table 4.23: Social Paradigm

Strongly

Disagree Disagree

Not

Sure Agree

Strongly

Agree

3.22 Differences in development of

autonomy are due to difference

of gender. 16.7% 55.0% 10.8% 14.2% 3.3%

3.23 Development of learner

autonomy is gender specific. 14.2% 51.7%

8.3%

20.0% 5.8%

3.24 Female beginner learners being

part of Pakistani male

dominating society lack

autonomy.

6.3% 48.3% 6.7% 28.3% 8.3%

3.25 Computers in and outside

institutions provide an

opportunity to female learners

to develop autonomy.

0% 14.8% 4.2% 60.8% 19.2%

Social Paradigm

9.30% 42.45% 7.50% 30.83% 9.15%

51.8% Negative 40.0% Positive

258

The first three items were designed to identify whether the teachers consider

that the learners are different on the dichotomy of gender. The results demonstrate

that the female respondents do not consider any gender difference in the development

of female learner autonomy. The data analysed below shows that the most of the

teachers disagreed with the stance that language learners showed differences in

development of autonomy due to difference of gender. Approximately 72%

respondents disagreed (i.e. 55.0% ‘disagree’ & 16.7% ‘strongly disagree’); however,

18% respondents agreed (i.e. 14.2% agree & 3.3% strongly agree) and 11% of the

respondents were not sure about such gender differences in development of learner

autonomy. This shows that a small number of the female respondents consider the

inherent nature of gender differences in pedagogical scenario and the same concept is

evidently highlighted in response to Q 3.23; whereby approximately 66% respondents

disagreed (i.e. 51.7% ‘disagree’ & 14.2% ‘strongly disagree’) with the statement:

“Development of learner autonomy is gender specific”; whereas, only 26%

respondents agreed (i.e. 20.0% agree & 5.8% strongly agree) and 11% of the

respondents were not sure about the gender differences in development of learner

autonomy. However, when the female respondents were asked about female beginner

learners’ lack of autonomy being part of Pakistani male dominating society, 55%

respondents disagreed (i.e. 48.3% ‘disagree’ & 6.3% ‘strongly disagree’) while 37%

respondents agreed (i.e. 28.3% ‘agree’ & 8.3% ‘strongly agree’) and 7% of the

respondents were not sure. Nonetheless, majority of the female respondents believed

that computers in and outside institutions provide an opportunity to female learners to

develop autonomy asapproximately 80% respondents agreed (i.e. 60.8% ‘agree’ &

19.2% ‘strongly agree’) with the posed statement.Teachers’ responses across the four

items in this subscale indicated variability. This means that the female respondents

259

did not disregard the gender differences in ESL pedagogical scenario in the higher

education institutions as approximately 50% respondents realized this dichotomy of

gender in the social paradigm of pedagogy evidently shaping the role of the female

teachers in the development of ESL learner autonomy in the institutions of higher

education.

Women teachers response on the dichotomy of gender in the pedagogical

social paradigm indicate the variability, as demonstrated in the analyses of the role of

the female teacher in fostering learner autonomy in the Table 4.23 above. Here, the

answer to the posed question is not clear cut as approximately 52% of the female

respondents working in the institutions of higher education disagreed with the stance

that in the pedagogical social paradigm men and women ESL learners achieve

different levels of learner autonomy. However, 48% of the female respondents either

agreed with or were not sure about gender differences in the Pakistani ESL social

paradigm of higher education sector. The analyses of the role of the teacher in

recognizing the gender differences in the classrooms indicate that the view of female

teachers teaching in the institution of higher education is varied as illustrated in

Figure 4.20.

260

Figure 4.20: Social Paradigm

Arguably the female teachers’ role in development of learner autonomy of

ESL is central to the pedagogical process. This argument leads to the fundamental

debate around the question whether the women teaching in the institutions of higher

education play any role in the ESL pedagogical process in development of learner

autonomy in Pakistan. The data generated to find consensus for this debate was

further analysed in this section. Moreover, in order to better understand the correlation

of technology and development of learner autonomy; and its impact on the women in

Pakistani higher education, statistical analyses were carried out to establish the

correlation between the variables of the study. The following section would shed

some light on this.

4.3.7 The Role of the Teacher in the Development of Learner Autonomy:

Correlation between Variables

Before establishing the correlation between research variables, at this stage of

the analysis, it is important to view the results of all six subscales for the ‘Role of the

teacher for the development of learner autonomy’. This view would help to envisage

0.00%

5.00%

10.00%

15.00%

20.00%

25.00%

30.00%

35.00%

40.00%

45.00%

StronglyDisagree

Disagree Not Sure Agree Stronglyagree

261

the consistency or differences of responses among subscales to better approach to the

conclusive answer to the research question 3: How frequently, do female teachers

teaching in the institutions of higher education make use of technological facilities in

ESL pedagogical practices? Therefore, it is significant to present the results

graphically in Figure 4.21 to show the highly positive responses of the women

teachers towards their role in the development of learner autonomy along all six

subscales: ‘Identification’, Capacity Building’, ‘Intervention’, ‘Decision Making’,

‘Integration of Technology’ and ‘Social Paradigm’.

Figure 4.21: The Role of the Teacher in the Development of Learner Autonomy

The results illustrated in Figure 4.21 are comparable to the stance that the role

of the teacher is central to the development of learner autonomy (Hurd 1998; Benson

2008). This also reflects women teachers’ awareness of not only the concept of

learner autonomy, their approach to learner autonomy, their awareness of the benefits

and demands of the technology rich environment and of learners’ identity in the social

and cultural scenario of Pakistan. Here it is important to note that teachers perform

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

StronglyDisagree

Disagree Not Sure Agree Strongly Agree

Identification Capacity Building Intervention

Decision Making Integration of Technology Social Paradigm

262

their role in fostering learner autonomy so as to promote confidence and motivation

through the language learning process and make learners realize their own potential.

At the same time the teachers help the learners to improve their capacity for self-

analysis. The analysis shows that teachers work to on fostering autonomy is not just to

make them independent or teaching a few techniques, it involves changing the way in

which teachers relate to learners.

Table 4.24: Correlations among Subscales: The Role of the Teacher in the

Development of Learner Autonomy

Identifica

-tion

Capacity

Building Intervention

Decision

Making

Integra-

tion

Social

Paradigm

Identificatio

n 1

Capacity

Building .725** 1

.000

Intervention .240** .485** 1

.008 .000

Decision

Making .362** .602** .564** 1

.000 .000 .000

Integration .182* .329** .401** .379** 1

.047 .000 .000 .000

Social

Paradigm .182* .329** .401** .379** 1.000** 1

.047 .000 .000 .000 .000

n=120

Note: * Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed).

** Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).

Given that, it was more meaningful to examine teachers’ responses across the

six subscales of the role of the teacher for the development of learner autonomy

separately rather than as an overall total score for the scale, it was therefore decided

that possible correlations among the six subscales should be explored. For this

purpose Pearson Correlation (2-tailed) is applied. Table 4.24 displays the correlations

263

between the subscales. The table below shows significant positive correlations

between ‘Identification’ and ‘Capacity Building’ as well as between ‘Identification’

and ‘Intervention’, which confirm the posited role of the teachers to facilitate the

development of ESL learner autonomy. The analysis revealed that the correlation

coefficient between ‘Identification’ and ‘Capacity Building’ at 0.725 with the p value

0.000, which shows highly positive significant correlation between these two

variables on the role of the teacher towards development of learner autonomy.

Similarly, correlation coefficient between ‘Identification’ and ‘Intervention’ was

calculated at 0.725 with the p value 0.008 which shows highly positive significance.

As a consequence, these figure retrieved after the analysis show that the teachers play

their role in identification of affective factors to foster learner autonomy and they find

appropriate intervention in the teaching-learning process imperative for managing

their ESL students’ learning. In this context, the teachers’ role is vital in making the

learners dependent or independent; in fact, teachers play their role in managing the

control over teaching-learning process between dependence and independence- thus, a

concept of interdependence emerged. Benson’s (2008) notion of teachers working

towards learner autonomy with the aid of technology follows the interdependence

pattern in the classroom. This allows the learners to work alone and in collaboration

with peers and the teacher. The women teachers show awareness of their role to

perceive the learners capacity to learn and enhancing such opportunities for learners

where they can take control of learning to develop autonomy.

Moreover, there is highly significant positive correlations between

‘Identification’ and ‘Decision Making’ with correlation coefficient at 0.362 and .000

p value which is less than 0.01. On the other hand, significant positive correlation is

found between ‘Identification’ and ‘Integration of Technology’; and between

264

‘Identification’ and ‘Social Paradigm’ with the correlation coefficient at 0.182 and

0.047 p value for both which is less than 0.05. This demonstrates that the teachers

play their role to assist the development of ESL learner autonomy by giving some

choice on the content for learning and the strategy or method adopted to learn. The

teachers role is also crucial in integration of technology to benefit mixed ability and

shy or inhibited learners to develop learner autonomy. Similarly, this positive

correlation between identification and social paradigm indicate that teachers recognise

the gender differences in learners and perform their role by suitable integration of

technology. For that reason, it can be deduced that the women teaching in the

institutions of higher education strongly regarded computers in and outside

institutions as a medium for female learners to develop autonomy.

The analyses, to find the correlation between the subscales of the scale of role

of the teacher in the development of learner autonomy, revealed highly significant

positive correlation between ‘Capacity Building’ and ‘Intervention’ with correlation

coefficient at 0.485 and .000 p value. Similarly, correlation coefficient between

‘Capacity Building’ and ‘Decision Making’ is at 0.602 with the p value.000 which

confirms highly positive significant correlation. All the same, the correlation

coefficient between ‘Capacity Building’ and ‘Integration of Technology’ remained

0.329 with the p value.000 which shows highly positive significant correlation. The

correlation coefficient of 0.329 with .000 p value between ‘Capacity Building’ and

‘Social Paradigm’ also demonstrates highly positive significant correlation.

Similarly, the Table 4.24 demonstrates a highly significant positive correlation

between ‘Intervention’ and ‘Decision Making’ with correlation coefficient at 0.564

and 0.000 p value. Similarly, correlation coefficient between ‘Intervention’ and

‘Integration of Technology’ was at 0.401 with the p value 0.000 which confirms

265

highly positive significant correlation. All the same, the correlation coefficient

between ‘Intervention’ and Social Paradigm’ remained 0.401 with the p value 0.000

which shows highly positive significant correlation.

The next column of the Table 4.24 shows that the correlation coefficient

between ‘Decision Making’ and ‘Integration of Technology’ remained 0.379 with the

p value 0.000. These findings confirm the highly positive significant correlation. All

the same, the correlation coefficient between ‘Decision Making’ and Social

Paradigm’ remained 0.379 with the p value 0.000 which shows highly positive

significance. The column of ‘Integration of Technology’ in the Table 4.24

demonstrates the correlation coefficient between ‘Intervention’ and Social Paradigm’

at 1.000 with the p value 0.000, which indicates highly positive significant

correlation.

The above detailed results clearly demonstrate highly positive significant

correlation among all six subscales. This paradigmatic correlation among subscales

strengthens the view, based on the assumption that learners do not develop the ability

to self-direct their learning simply by being placed in situations where they have no

other option. Therefore, the role of the teacher is central to this debate.

Interpretations

The analysis of the data helps to construe that the woman ESL teacher plays a

role of a guide and facilitator, who helps the learners in identifying their strengths and

weaknesses. They also agree to help learners build capacity to pursue learning so as to

manage the situation between dependence and independence. Many advocates of

learner autonomy argue that some degree of freedom in learning is required if learners

are to develop their autonomy (Little, 2004; Benson, 2007a, 2010, 2011a). However,

this argument does not lead to the exclusion of teacher from the pedagogical scenario.

266

The analysis of the survey revealed that the development of learner autonomy in

language learning depends not only on the development and exercise of building

capacity in learners for taking responsibility with some detachment from teacher but

also recognizing learners’ willingness to learn and the other factor is, ‘motivation’ of

the learner.

Substantiating this, Levy (1997) finds that a teacher teaching with the help of

technology “may have a minimal role, or be excluded altogether” if instructional

technology programme is self-contained, “alternatively, the teacher may play a pivotal

role in actual delivery of materials”, if the use of technology is taken as a tool. In this

context, Levy (1997) favours the use of computers as tool in contrast to tutor, “which

is intended to emulate or replace the teacher in some way, the function of computer as

a tool is to enhance or improve the efficiency of the work of the teacher or student”

(Levy, 1997, p. 184).

The argument that teachers who are engaged in fostering autonomy allow

learners ‘critical reflection, decision making and independent action’ (Little 1991, p.

4), is arguably supported in this analysis. Moreover, the analysis of the present study

elucidate that women teachers have identified their role in directing learners to take

responsibility for all necessary decisions of learning situation. In parallel to this,

Holec defines autonomous learners as those who presume responsibility for

‘determining the purpose, content, rhythm and method of their learning, monitoring

its progress and evaluating its outcomes” (Holec, 1981, p. 3). These views of

autonomy are typified in the present research when the teachers show a strong

inclination towards adopting their role in identification of the factors contributing to

learner autonomy, capacity building, intervention, decision making and integration of

technology for development of learner autonomy. These findings help to envisage the

267

feminist perspective of not only the utility of technology but also the role of the

teacher in the development of learner autonomy.

Consequently, the above analysis and the research data elaborate and create

space for the women argument palpably and tangible in establishing the idea of the

learner autonomy. The feminist perspective emergent from the survey supports the

role of the teacher as a feminist pedagogue conformist. According to Chicago a

feminist pedagogue facilitates by guiding learners to search the learning content

(Keifer-Boyd & Maitland-Gholson, 2007).The present analysis reveals that the

women teachers support this view by giving students the chance to make decisions for

the content to study. This choice enables students to operate in the class with an

elevated sense of the decision making agents in the pedagogical practices, which in

turn helps them to develop autonomy in language learning. This autonomy, arguably,

is linked to the optimal learning output.

The analysis also embarks on the learner-centred approach of a feminist

pedagogue. In my study, the women teachers emerged as a strong protagonist in ESL

pedagogical scenario, where they exercise their control not only to liberate themselves

but also to liberate their learners by supporting the view on providing ample

opportunities to the learners to work interdependently. As discussed, earlier in this

section interdependence allows learners to work at their own pace independently and

also collaborate with peers and teacher to gain language learning skills.

Carrying this dialogue forward, the study embarks at the notion of power

imbalance between the teacher and learner which prevailed in the higher education

institutions of Pakistan before the advent of technology. This study reveals that the

women-teachers consider themselves the part of technologically transmitted symbiotic

system of knowledge. The system where teacher is not an authoritative figure or

268

custodian of knowledge rather; develops such autonomy in learners that she herself is

ready to learn from the learners. In this way, the results help to contravene the

previously grounded hierarchical passing of knowledge from teacher to learner. The

respondents working in the institutions of higher education with higher qualification

marked success, in education and as employed members of the society, which enables

them to view and adopt this new social change in institutional hierarchy. Study gives

a view on practical application of feminist theory of pedagogy in the Pakistani socio-

political perspective of women teaching English.

The role of the teacher in this context is socially constructed in the presence of

gender dichotomy, and socio-politically constructed due to the impact of technology.

This unique dimension puts the women-teachers of today in the technologically knit

social scenario. In education, particularly language feminist pedagogy a number of

authors and researchers examine gender from this perspective (e.g., Cameron 2005;

Coates 2004; Ehrlich 1997; Kubota 2003; Norton 2000; Norton & Pavlenko 2004;

Pavlenko 2001; Schmenk 2004; Sunderland 1992, 1998, 2000a, 2000b, 2004; Willett

1996). Moreover, the women teachers recognize the dichotomy of gender; and thus

the role of technology in positively facilitating the female learners in the development

of autonomy in ESL pedagogical process.

4.4 Summary

This section summarises the salient findings that emerged from Phase III of

the study. The 128 sets of responses provide a corpus of material on the

epistemological framework of this study. It surrounds feminist pedagogical ESL

perspective of higher education in Pakistan. This feminist perspective foregrounds the

teachers’ professional competence, use of technology and teachers’ role in the

development of learner autonomy. Theory and praxis of technological determinism

269

addresses the impact of technology on women teacher autonomy- the respondents of

the survey. As a group the respondents represent a substantial amount of knowledge

and expertise in the pedagogical field of ESL. In relation to teacher autonomy for the

development of learner autonomy, the data indicated that the female ESL teachers in

the Pakistani institutions of higher education are professionally trained.The statistical

analyses give respondents’ high status of education- both formal or academic and

informal or non-academic. Thus, it reinforces the idea of respondents’ inclination to

pursue higher education with considerable teaching experience, overall good literacy

in computers and female respondents’ positive interest in on-line research in general

and on-line ESL research in particular. Moreover, it can be arguably deciphered from

the findings; the female ESL teachers evidently exhibit their familiarity with

technology particularly educational technology. The responses also reflected a strong

inclination towards computer literacy. All the same, the correlation analyses

suggested the highly significant positive correlation between the teachers’ educational

qualification and female teachers’ competence in technology. This propensity of

teachers towards technology means that with the increase in educational qualification

female teachers’ competence in technology is also positively affected. The results

painted a scenario, the teachers with higher educational qualification are found

engaged in enhancing competence in technology, indicated women teacher autonomy.

In describing how this philosophy of teacher autonomy affects the development of

learner autonomy, the next section of the research included the use of technology for

ESL teaching and learning.

The scope of research on the use of technology was remarkably broad as 98

percent of the respondents marked all categories in Section II of the survey. Clearly,

the survey items for this section encompassed wide range of the uses of technology

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including technology as a tool for compositions and as a resource: to access web

sources of teaching material, CALL applications, internet and the various other

applications that can be used in pedagogical practices of CALL. The findings

explicate frequent use of technological facilities in ESL pedagogical practices by the

respondents.This frequent use of technology relates rather to those applications of

technology that aim at controlling and adapting to the pedagogy. The results also

demarcate technology as value-added and technological intervention proceeds with

the educational purpose in hand. The statistical analyses clearly demonstrate that the

teachers, who use technology as a tool or resource for developing or accessing

teaching material also use technology inside the classroom moreover encourages the

learners to use technology outside the classroom. Thus, this directed use of

technology, outside the classroom, is a step towards development of learner

autonomy. All the same, the practitioners and advocates of use of technology,

particularly CALL programmes, consider even the use of technology inside the

classroom an inclination towards independence and development of learner

autonomy.

The role of the women teaching in the institutions of higher education in the

development of learner autonomy is fundamental. Teachers identify willingness to

learn and motivation for ESL learning, important affective factors which facilitate the

learners to develop learner autonomy. The yielded and analysed data support this

standpoint as teachers hold strongly positive view on identification of learners’

individuality that they bring to the learning situation. Additionally the results help to

realize that the learner autonomy in language learning depends not only on the

development and exercise of building capacity in learners for taking responsibility

with some detachment from teacher but also recognizing learners’ willingness to learn

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and motivation. This strengthens the view that is based on the assumption that

learners do not develop the ability to self-direct their learning simply by being placed

in situations without a teachers’ intervention. Therefore, the role of the teacher in

terms of her presence and involvement, but limited control over learning situation, is

also supported by the respondents. Moreover, respondents have identified their role

by managing the learning setup between dependence and independence of the

learners. The philosophy of some degree of freedom in learning was also supported by

the teachers for the development of learner autonomy; that too without the exclusion

of teacher from the pedagogical scenario. The learner autonomy in language learning

depends not only on the development and exercise of building capacity in learners for

taking responsibility with some detachment from teacher but also recognizing

learners’ willingness to learn and motivation. Moreover, the findings of the present

study elucidate that women teachers have identified their role in directing learners to

take responsibility for all necessary decisions of learning situation. Autonomous

learning was perceived by the teachers as a learning situation where learners take

responsibility for what to learn and how to learn that is the content and method of

their learning, monitoring its progress and evaluating its outcomes. Thus, the feminist

perspective that emerged in this study of the role of the teacher explicate a strong

inclination towards teachers role in identification, capacity building, intervention,

decision making and integration of technology for development of learner autonomy.

Furthermore, the women teachers recognize the gender dichotomy that learners bring

to the social paradigm of the ESL pedagogical situation in the institutions of higher

education. Nonetheless, technology plays its role in women empowerment being

teachers and learners of ESL in the tertiary level education.

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CHAPTER 5

Discussion on the Findings:

Emerging Themes and Patterns of Impact of Technology

The empirical data report, on the impact of technology, in the previous chapter

shows diversity of phenomena and philosophies, describing women teachers’ role in

ESL tertiary level education in Pakistan. When this impact is viewed as a whole, i.e.

through the study of the literature, the analysis of data, and the interpretations of the

Technology and Development of ESL Learner Autonomy Survey, the diversity is

remarkable in theory and praxis of use of technology in ESL pedagogy as practiced by

women teachers. The way the women ESL teachers, reflected on their pedagogical

practices, the conceptualization of teacher-based and technology-based learner

autonomy appeared multifaceted. However, through the lens of epistemological

framework of this study, these realities reconciled with theoretical postulations.

Certain themes appear and reappear while revisiting the data analysis of the survey,

while finding answers to the research queries of this study.

Here, I do not attempt to be judgmental, since the research tool is empirical;

nonetheless, I, being a female ESL teacher, cannot altogether reject the aspect of

subjectivity in the interpretation of findings. Moreover, the feminist methodological

design of my study provides me this opportunity and room.

5.1 Impact of Technology

The impact of technology on women ESL teacher autonomy is broad in

Pakistani tertiary educational context, and this teacher autonomy is an antecedent of

the development of learner autonomy. Women ESL teachers recognize use of

technology as a source of education and professional training. The breadth of this soft

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technological determinism is reinforced in the results of the survey question

circumscribing the impact of technology with reference to teachers’ professional

competence. This positive impact of technology on women teachers’ education helps

to elucidate that teachers’ technology education is effectual as it results into its

integration into ESL classroom practices. The knowledge of English and technology

are two enabling forces, granting autonomy, which comes into play in the classroom

practices and beyond. In addition, the fundamental theme that emerges while

investigating the thesis statement resides in the phenomena that the role of the teacher

is elemental in the development of learner autonomy.

5.2 Women Teachers’ Education and Teacher Autonomy

This section of the study advocates one of the markers of teacher autonomy:

teacher education (see Chapter 3.1.3). Here, teachers’ education is not limited to

academic qualification, but encompasses technology literacy and its practical usage.

Interestingly, the introduction of word ‘teacher autonomy’ in second language theory

and practice has received much support from one group of teachers and criticism from

the other group. However, the results of this study help to elucidate, if teacher’s

academic qualification is a marker of teacher’s competence in the subject, the

teacher’s expertise in the use of technology indicates her effectiveness in the modern

technology-rich scenario. Therefore, the following sections throw light on these two

modes of education.

5.2.1 Academic Qualification

The results obtained from the analysis of the survey elucidate that the

Pakistani women ESL teachers are inclined to pursue higher education. The findings

elucidate that the majority of respondents are competent in English as 95 out of 128

respondents were MPhil and PhD qualified (see Table 4.1). Woman’s interest and

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achievement in higher educational qualification is the evidence that she recognizes the

value of autonomy, which grants her critical awareness not only as a teacher, but also

indicates her autonomy being a prime entity of the society. Given that, autonomy

enables her to gain greater access over means and resources of education, and to

control them, so as to make them serve her own purposes. In this way she finds

education as a juncture of established theory and critical praxis to challenge

discrimination and subordination, prevailing in the social hierarchy of her educational

institution.

Moreover, English being the language of colonial oppressor still haunts in this

post-colonial era as the language of superior or elite or oppressor. Discussing the need

to use English by black, hooks (1994) argues that people utilised the oppressor’s

language to speak with one another “so that it would speak beyond the boundaries of

conquest and domination” (hooks, 1994, p. 170). My argument resides in this

knowledge autonomy of English: the socially and politically superior language, gives

her a sense of being professionally trained and competent enough to operate

effectively rejecting male dominance. And this finding refers back to Sidwha’s (1996)

view that women’s proficiency in English marks her elevated status (see Chapter 1.2).

Thus, education in English grants a woman teacher, autonomy, which she identifies as

her professional capacity, and allows her to exercise and bring into play her role

effectively in ESL pedagogical practices in the Pakistani institutions of higher

education.

5.2.2 Competence Development through Technology

The presence of technology entails its use. Such an obvious correlation, as

envisioned through the findings of this study of Pakistani ESL tertiary level women

teachers, is expressed in terms of a positive pedagogical proclivity towards use of

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technology. The study reveals that the women ESL teachers with higher academic

qualification utilize computer technology more than the teachers with less academic

qualification (see Table 4.9, 4.11). At the first level, such scenario is suggestive of the

positive correlation between education and use of technology. At the next level, the

presence of technology and use of technology by ESL pedagogues indicates women

teachers’ autonomy. This active engagement with new technologies gives them

experiential and introspective path to ESL learning, and shows them a path to

introduce the same to their pupils. It is responsible for those new technology related

teaching-learning processes which initiate in the classroom; and result in positive

language outcomes.

The observation: advancement in technology determines the increasing

integration of technology in education by female ESL teachers in Pakistan, is

supported by the findings of this study. It shows that the technology mediation

becomes obvious in women teachers’ pedagogical practices, as an outcome of the

process started at rudimentary level in terms of an effort by an individual. In this era,

the Internet and computer technology are pervasive in tertiary level institutions in

Pakistan, and play a key role in teaching teachers and developing their competence. If

I reflect on my own teaching practices, I find the Internet and computers mediation

unavoidable, and accommodating in ESL learning and teaching. I also find my

colleagues getting benefit of technology for their teaching practices, for example use

of cell-phone to take assistance for English vocabulary, browsing the Internet for

assessing teaching aids etc. Numerous contemporary researches in this area have

elucidated opportunities for teacher autonomy using technology (Benson, 2004, 2008,

2011a).

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Here, I add one important finding that came forth while conducting this

research, most of the women ESL teachers are active users of social networking sites,

for example facebook. And, I accessed many teachers through e-mail. Both suggest

that women ESL tertiary level teachers, in Pakistani male dominating society are

autonomous technology users. Or, it may point to the fact that the presence and

associated use of technology marks a change in the society. The results of the study

point to this change as normalisation of digitisation. In Pakistan, power and men had

an inherent link, and men had been the elite of the society. So, like every society the

novelty in material resources are commodities of the elite first. And oppressed only

receive it when the luxury commodity becomes a mere routine thing of everyday use.

It is then ironic to find that women autonomy is reflected in the autonomous use of

technology. Insofar, use of technology presupposes autonomy (Benson, 2011). The

data generated from the survey supports, what appears as a paradigm shift from

restricted opportunities to material resources to open access to plethora of knowledge

and experience. The independent interaction of women ESL teachers with technology

in and outside the higher education institutions breaks them free of social fences. This

technology-led autonomy has indeed changed the traditional social paradigm where

women face mobility restriction due to pardah issues and have been depended on men

for accessing knowledge gates, e.g. libraries, bookshops etc.

Undeniably, today, information and communication technologies have become

an integral part of social strata of higher education. Adopting such modernization,

every university has its own website, and some universities even provide e-access to

its faculty and students. Moreover, in Pakistan, HEC has set it as goal to inculcate the

value of technology assisted ESL teaching by introducing CALL Subcommittee (see

Chapter 1), yet the concrete and garden facts speak otherwise. The information

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yielded through the survey does not support technology facilitation or in other words,

technology training for pedagogical use (see Table 4.4). The results of Q 1.7 indicate

that the most of the respondents of the survey did not get an opportunity to receive in-

service computer training for ESL teaching. The documented sources claim that HEC

Pakistan supports men and women alike in obtaining CALL education, so as to

incorporate it into their own pedagogical practices. Moreover, in order to complement

PM’s Laptop Scheme (see Chapter 1), HEC Pakistan launched Smart Universities

Project, which aims to facilitate teachers and learners in research and learning

opportunities through ubiquitous access to the Internet. This becomes a way, whereby

the presence and associated use of technology as a soft variable is pursued

spontaneously by the women ESL tertiary level teachers in Pakistan. They take it as a

positive component of their progress and that, which would not have to be imposed on

them by artificial incentives or socio-political coercion. The yielded data supports

teachers’ autonomous actions, in this connection; by pursuing computer training

courses for improving their teaching capabilities (see Figure 4.6).

However, in-service teacher competence development courses have often been

criticized for being limited; and sometimes held back due to practical constraints not

only in Pakistan (Rana, 2006; Masrur, 2009, Hassan, 2009) but globally (Wong &

Benson, 2006; Benson, 2010). These discussions point to the need based continuous

and extensive professional in-service training sessions for ESL faculty in the

institutions of higher education.

Across the globe, the research culture and higher education complement each

other. In Pakistan many researchers focuses the need of effective research in higher

education on and by teachers; particularly by teachers’ continual involvement in it

(Sultana & Shah, 2010). This research culture has entered a new phase due to the

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fundamental reforms for ESL teaching by HEC Pakistan (see Chapter 1.2). Therefore,

the intervention of technology has revolutionized the pedagogical set up altogether

and the field of research is no exception. The analysis of Q 1.9 and Q1.10 (see

Chapter 4.1.3) elucidates respondents’ active participation in on-line research.

Moreover, the participation in this study (on-line survey participation) also adds to

this point further. Thus, comparison of these two survey items (see Figure 4.9) plus

participation in the on-line the Technology and Development of ESL Learner

Autonomy Survey makes it obvious that the technology has bestowed upon the women

teachers the education autonomy, knowledge autonomy, experiential autonomy and

teacher autonomy.

Pakistani women teachers use technology, not only to be empowered and

autonomous in class but also to develop a perception of such autonomy socially. This

socio-political English language teaching-learning autonomy enables them to operate

beyond prevailing restrictions of gender divided roles. Thus, it establishes an outlook

of gender parity in this technology rich scenario. In the social setting of Pakistan,

where men usually dominate the social hierarchy, the access of educated women to

the modern resources, rejects the issue of gender biasness. The survey of this study, in

this way, helps me deduce that if technology is a source of autonomy and

independence for a teacher, same is true for ESL learners, for I believe that this

technology determines new ways of education for both educators and those being

educated. The following section will address that how the use of technology in ESL

pedagogical practices is linked to teacher’s teaching autonomy and learner’s learning

autonomy.

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5.3 A Feminist View on Technological Determinism

This study finds that technology intervention influences the choices that

Pakistani female ESL tertiary level teachers make for technology usage in their

pedagogical practices. The discussion in the preceding section aligns the respondents’

view with the finding that the ESL pedagogical scenario at the tertiary level, itself, is

a reason for the use of technology. The presence of information and communication

technology around tertiary level learners, and a woman teacher’s own encounter,

coerce them to realize this reality in the pedagogy. Technology is not only a way to

get access to plethora of information; interaction with this information system

empowers the individuals. In Pakistan, gender roles or gender hierarchy is one type of

power relation, that women teachers deal with, in their classroom, and beyond, in

their daily lives. However, being technology competent ESL teachers, they

confidently address the power structure in the classroom on equality; and thus

denigrate oppression pervasive as a social phenomenon of Pakistani society. An

educated woman finds education, especially knowledge of English a strategy to resist

these systems of oppression. The technology is a tool of her autonomy, for she knows

if the status of her being, invites denigration from the others, her use of technology

and proficiency of English becomes an agent of elevation: socio-political feminist

movement beyond boundaries.

The results of this study helps to elucidate the notion established in several

other studies in Pakistani context that technology-assisted instruction provides ample

opportunities for students to develop learner autonomy (e.g. Rana, 2006; Haider,

2013; Adil, Masood & Ahmed, 2013; Majoka, Fazal & Khan, 2012; Mahmood, Iqbal,

Nadeem, Javed, & Hassan, 2014) because the learners have an access to technology

24/7; while the learner-teacher interaction is limited. But, in the light of data analysis,

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I support the argument that technology cannot substitute a teacher. Technological

advances have brought a wide variety of material available to the learners almost

anywhere. An array of technological teaching resources present inside and outside the

colleges and universities facilitates female teachers’ pedagogical practices and

learners’ language learning exposure. The teachers’ assertion in guiding the students

to access technology outside the classroom fosters learner autonomy. As a result,

although, the process of learning starts in the classroom furthers outside the

classroom, yet it does not exclude the role of the teacher. This teacher-learner rapport

in the technologically rich ESL learning paradigm brings about paradigmatic shift

from teacher-led classroom to student-centered classroom, in other words, towards

learner autonomy.

It indicates that the use of technology determines the social change in

educational centers. Technological determinism is fast paced changing the previously

held social hierarchies, practices and norms in colleges and universities. The women

teachers of ESL plant technology in the realm of their pedagogical practices. The

respondents accepted that they are influenced by current technology rich environment

because young generation is technology tuned e.g. ESL learners’ everyday use of

Facebook, Skype, WhatsApp, Viber, Instagram etc. The teachers’ decision to use

technology to facilitate and motivate the ESL learners, and transform their technology

use into language learning use is productive. Firstly, it strengthens ESL pedagogy.

Secondly, the ever changing socio-political classroom situation alters the concept of

power in the pedagogical hierarchy, the teachers take decisions observing learners

inclinations. It means learners and teacher share power; both can alter each others’

course of action.

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Furthermore, a woman ESL teacher by way of technological autonomy forms

a modern reflection of Pakistani society. However, the classroom is the most possible

place of her praxis of autonomy in the institution of higher education: her immediate

domain. For years it has been a place to either exercise authority, or to show

knowledge superiority. The use of technology not only demands new outlook to

teaching-learning philosophy, but also changes her perception of her learners. She

practices her newly discovered autonomy to autonomies her learners. Corroborating

this, the women ESL tertiary level teachers positively asserted (see Table 4.23) that

the presence and associated use of computers in and outside institutions provide an

opportunity to especially the female learners to develop autonomy. Therefore, the

next section describes learner autonomy as a teaching philosophy.

5.4 Learner Autonomy: A teaching Philosophy

Through both critical appraisal of the selected literature and the findings of the

Technology and Development of ESL Learner Autonomy Survey, ESL learner

autonomy is emerged as teacher-based approach in the tertiary level teaching

paradigm of Pakistan. This reflection is a criticism on the nature of learner autonomy

that begins with the oft stated maxim that teacher is redundant if the goal of learning

is learner autonomy. The data help to elucidate that the trio of teacher, learner, and

learning paradigm contribute to the development of learner autonomy (see Figure

5.1). This elucidation is made on the number of themes that emerged from the study

of analysed data. Firstly, the teacher is directly responsible to provide a learning

paradigm to the learner to assist learner achieve learner autonomy. Secondly, the

relationship between teacher and learner is two-way: teacher creates, for the learner, a

learning paradigm as a facilitator, guide, and counsellor; she receives feedback, from

the learner, through learner’s performance. In addition, the increased level of

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language proficiency also suggests a degree of learner autonomy and gives direction

to the learner to achieve autonomy. Thirdly, the relationship between teacher and

learning paradigm is also two-way: teacher creates, regularly revise and revisit the

learning paradigm after evaluating learner’s performance. Fourthly, the relationship

between learner and learning paradigm is also two-way: learner makes decisions to

progress in the designed learning paradigm while reflecting on his own performance.

The ultimate goal of each unit of this trio is learner autonomy as shown in Figure 5.1.

Figure 5.1: Learner Autonomy

The results of the study show that the women teachers have the critical

awareness of the social paradigm where women and men achieve autonomy. Being

part of Pakistani male dominating society women teachers have the awareness that

female beginner learners lack learning autonomy, and that, this autonomy may be

achieved if the learners take part in decision making. The results of the study establish

that learner autonomy is an achievement of learners within classroom setting under

the guidance of teacher and in collaboration with teachers. The teachers are

teacher

learning paradigm

learner

Learner

autonomy

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supportive to the learners because their encounter, with the technology in the modern

education system, has been flowing, flexible and facilitative. These three ‘fs’ suggest

the positive impact of technology on the women ESL teachers, which demonstrate the

room for the teacher autonomy; and resulting efforts of the teacher for the

development of learner autonomy.

5.5 Learner Autonomy and the Role of the ESL Teacher: A Feminist

Perspective

The analysis of the data helps to construe that the women ESL teachers play a

significant role as a guide, facilitator and counsellor in the tertiary level learning

paradigm. The feminist perspective explicates a strong propensity of women teachers

in recognizing their role as a teacher in terms of development of learner autonomy.

The study results, in this connection, corroborate six areas:

(a) Teachers identify the affective factors and individual learner differences

that may hinder or foster learner autonomy.

(b) Teachers play a role in learners’ capacity building by recognizing learners’

ability to control, evaluate and monitor their learning responsible factors of

development of learner autonomy.

(c) Teachers decide so as to what extent of intervention in the learning

paradigm would ensure the development of learner autonomy.

(d) Teachers play a role in decision making process of learning paradigm and

recognize that learners develop autonomy by making decisions of what and

how to learn.

(e) Teachers integrate technology for development of learner autonomy.

(f) Addressing Pakistani social paradigm in the higher education institution,

particularly ESL classroom, women teachers do not consider any gender

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differences in the development of ESL learner autonomy. However, they view

a positive impact of the pedagogical use of technology on female ESL learner

autonomy.

This holistic outlook favours the view that advocates some degree of freedom to

learners in the classroom situation. The women ESL teachers allow learners to take

active part in teaching learning process. Women teachers’ critical awareness of

learning paradigm enables them to value learners’ critical reflection, decision making

and independent action for the development of learner autonomy (Little, 1991). These

findings help to envisage the feminist perspective of not only the utility of technology

but also the role of the teacher in the development of learner autonomy.

Consequently, the above discussion of analysis and interpretation of the

research data elaborate and create space for the women ESL tertiary level teachers’

stance of deliberate and concrete attempts to foster learner autonomy. This feminist

perspective supports the role of the teacher as a feminist pedagogue conformist.

Comparable to this, teachers identify two partial conditions of achieving autonomous

learning: willingness to learn and motivation. Thanasoulas, (2000) opines that “the

evaluation the learner makes of herself with regard to the target language or learning

in general” (p. 8) creates self-esteem which affects learners’ willingness to learn. Self

esteem not only refers to conscientiousness but also the readiness and willingness to

achieve the target in learning a language. Motivation to achieve ESL target skills

results from “the combination of effort plus desire to achieve the goal of learning plus

favourable attitudes towards learning” (Gardner, 1985, p.10). This indeed, affects the

context of choice, process and dependence in the learning procedure. Therefore,

women ESL teachers support the students’ place in classroom decision making,

especially, for deciding the content to study. The teachers consider that it would

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enable students to operate in the class with an elevated sense of autonomy. This

autonomy is ultimately reflected in students ESL proficiency level.

The learner-centred approach of a feminist pedagogue is supported through the

results of the Technology and Development of ESL Learner Autonomy Survey. The

women ESL tertiary level ESL teachers emerged as a strong advocates and supporters

of development of learner autonomy in ESL pedagogical scenario. The use of

technology provides control not only to liberate; but also to help liberate their learners

by providing ample opportunities to the learners to work interdependently. This

discussion leads to the notion of the extent of teachers’ intervention in the classroom.

The women ESL tertiary level teachers place the concept of interdependence so as to

allow learners to work at their own pace independently and also in collaboration with

peers and teacher to attain plausible language learning outcomes.

This study also embarks at the notion of power imbalance between the teacher

and learner which may prevail in the higher education institutions of Pakistan.

Considering their part in the technologically transmitted symbiotic system of

knowledge, the women ESL tertiary level teachers do not value the role of the

teachers as so called authoritative figure as the sole custodian of knowledge. Rather

they favour development of learner autonomy by sharing power structure in the

classroom. In this way, the teachers contravene the previously grounded hierarchical

passing of knowledge from teacher to learner. One important finding of the study is

linked to the fact that the respondents being highly qualified individuals have a

different world view of the classroom being microcosm of Pakistani society. It

enables them to get benefitted from the presence of technology and incorporate the

same in that microcosm of Pakistan. In this way, study supports the view of practical

application of feminist theory of pedagogy in the Pakistani social perspective of

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women teaching. Evidently, the data supports that the role of the female ESL teacher

in fostering learner autonomy, in Pakistani tertiary education context, is socially and

politically constructed owing to the use of technology.

The Gender and Women Empowerment 2015-16 focuses on the empowerment

of Pakistani women and “envisages a framework for equitable development of women

living across the country” (p. 60). Moreover, it strengthens the concept of role of the

women teachers in ESL education of women. Given that, these teachers provide the

foundation stone to the women and men to operate autonomously and equally as

educated individuals in all spheres of life. As ESL education is an important means to

be successful in Pakistani society. This policy also recognizes education as crucial for

ensuring women’s emancipation; and participation in mainstream social, economic

and political fields. Higher education in this way grants autonomy to women, it

enables them to gain greater access and control over material and knowledge

resources. The improvement in their lives in this way broadens their worldview and

they grow and come out of the box they have been raised in to challenge the

ideologies of discrimination and subordination.

From the discussion on the findings of the study, so far, it is clear that the

Pakistani women ESL teachers points of departure for the impact of technology on

their pedagogical practices converges to the positive use of technology. Hence, this

study leads to the pedagogical philosophies and concerns which are addressed through

the following framework.

5.6 Pyramid of ESL Techno-Feminist Pedagogy

The analysis and interpretation of the data obtained through the Technology

and Development of ESL Learner Autonomy Survey underpin this pyramid of ESL

techno-feminist pedagogy. It is offered here to delineate the multifaceted philosophies

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of impact of technology on women teacher autonomy in Pakistani ESL context. There

are a number of concerns addressing the impact of technology in the domain of ESL

teaching learning theory and praxis, especially the one related to the development of

learner autonomy as an antecedent of teacher autonomy. Thus, the epistemological

scenario is divergent at the theoretical level of the impact of technology, but

converges to support autonomy of women in Pakistani feminist ESL pedagogy.

Though, the argument of my study resides in teacher autonomy, which a woman ESL

teacher gains through the use of technology, yet it coincides with the social structure

of Pakistani society. Philosophically and practically this ESL teacher autonomy marks

teacher’s inclination towards development of learner autonomy in the realm of higher

education. The findings of this study recommend the positive impact of technology on

women teacher autonomy in ESL Pakistani context. Consequently, it locates teacher

autonomy in the pyramid of ESL techno-feminist pedagogy (see Figure 5.2).

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Figure 5.2: Pyramid of ESL Techno-Feminist Pedagogy

In general terms techno-feminist approach to study role of women in the age

of technology is helpful for a number of reasons. In suggesting ‘technofeminism’ for

women’s position in ICTs, Wajcman (2007) rejects ‘technophobia’ and technophilia’.

She argues that the relationship between women and technology is both ‘fluid and

flexible, and that feminist politics and not technology per se is the key to gender

equality’ (p. 287). The discipline of women teaching-learning autonomy in ESL

paradigm is faced with similar problems. However, I view the assumption of

masculinity of technology or liberating agency of technology as hyperboles. My thesis

surrounds the understanding of the women ESL teachers’ use of technology as a step

to normalization of digitization in the Pakistani context. It is discussed earlier that the

philosophies surrounding this study (see Chapter 3.1) are diverse, and the Technology

and Development of ESL Learner Autonomy Survey also points to this diversity. This

Learner

Autonomy

Technological

Determinism

Teacher

Autonomy

Feminist

Pedagogy

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pyramid of ESL techno-feminist pedagogy frames the approaches surrounding the

issues of autonomy in second language teaching-learning theory and practice. This

frame of study is not only addressing the position of women ESL tertiary level

teachers in Pakistani context of technology, but may also assist women ESL teachers

in other social setups across the globe.

The broad conceptual frame of techno-feminist pedagogy rests on Frierean

conception of critical awareness. Therefore, the data of this survey supports the

theoretical predisposition of the praxis of ESL techno-feminist pedagogy. The role of

technology is often referred to in the specialized literature and in the results of the

survey for describing theory and practice of technology in second language research.

The respondents’ use of technology for their professional development indicates this

critical awareness of women teachers, which transforms their world view of teaching

tertiary level learners. Resultantly, they reject accepted limits and open the way to a

new future by pursuing higher educational qualification (see Table 4.1). It is largely

determined by those results, which the use of technology brings for feminist ESL

pedagogues. This frame views the ESL techno-feminist pedagogical process

facilitating participatory learning through the use of technology; both inside and

outside the class. It also validates the women ESL teachers’ positive personal

experience of the use of technology.

hooks (1994) ESL teaching philosophy highlights “the difference between

education as the practice of freedom and education that merely strives to reinforce

domination” (p. 4), and thus favours the role of the teacher in creating student-centred

learning paradigm. Substantiating this, the analysis of the data reveals that women

teachers’ use of technology in ESL pedagogical practices maximizes autonomy and

thus language proficiency of the learners. Since the use correlates the presence of

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technology with other outcomes. The ESL techno-feminist pedagogy interfaces this

aspect of technological determinism. Secondly, inevitable advancement of technology

results in inevitable integration of technology. Thus, the datum on use of technology

in ESL class reflects on teachers’ active engagement with new technologies, to

inculcate both experiential and reflective mode of cognition simultaneously. The

women ESL teachers, thus, appear as autonomous users of technology to facilitate

pedagogy and pedagogical process.

5.6.1 Definition

Before embarking on the theoretical assumption of this explicated frame, it is

imperative to define this pyramid of techno-feminist pedagogy. To start with the

essence of dystopias of ESL pedagogy, the teachers find range of available digital

resources facilitative. The use of technology presumes autonomy of women teachers,

whilst this autonomy entails teachers’ pedagogical proclivity towards learner

autonomy. The techno-feminist pedagogy withholds the character of the teacher as

essential and fundamental for the tertiary level education. Use of technology in

pedagogy or technology-assisted instruction (TAI) ensures autonomy of its users: ESL

learner and teacher. All the same feminist pedagogy enunciates and spotlights the

learner in the pedagogical process. These two philosophies of education advocate a

pedagogical process that aims at emancipation of learners. Secondly, like pedagogical

approach of soft technological determinism, feminist ESL pedagogy opposes and

alters hegemonic influences based on gender, race, ethnicity, and class (Vandrick,

1994). Thus, this framework rejects the concept of teachers’ authority in the class and

advocates equality. A techno-feminist pedagogue is not predisposed to maintain rule

of thumb, rather becomes a partner of learners in a language learning process. In this

connection, the datum from the survey on Q 3.6 “Learner autonomy means traditional

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teacher-led ways of teaching must be abandoned.” accepts this notion (see Table

4.19). The women teachers prefer to share authority with learners. Whether it is due to

the impact of the use of technology or the gradual modernization of the pedagogical

scenario, the answer is not definite. However, this gradual modernization of tertiary

level education in Pakistan is also due to the progress, advancement and ever

evolutionary attributes of technological development.

While, soft technological determinism view that the choice to use and alter

technology corresponds “the operational autonomy of a hegemonic subject”

(Feenberg, 2002); the feminist pedagogy view the value of presence of every

individual in the classroom and also that everyone contributes in the learning

paradigm. hooks (1994) views these ‘contributions’ as ‘resources’ (p. 8). Therefore,

this pyramid serves to interface these theoretical dispositions. On one hand use of

technology is the material resource of learning; and on the other hand learner’s

contribution in the class is a resource. ESL Techno-feminist pedagogy holds both: the

role of the learner and role of technology. Above all teacher is the prime interlocutor

of learning in the classroom. Here, the assumption that is made of the role of

technology is not only as a resource, but a tool and tutor also. Thus these basic two

elements: technological determinism and feminist pedagogy together establish ESL

teacher autonomy and give a sound base to the development of learner autonomy.

These aspects of technology and feminist ESL pedagogy, along with teaching learning

autonomy are discussed in more detail here.

5.6.2 Technological Determinism and ESL Feminist Pedagogy: In an Interface

Mode

Evidence from the results of the survey suggest that the modern digital

technologies are not panacea to the gender-based problems of Pakistani education

292

system; rather they are the pedagogical tools that women ESL teachers can

autonomously utilise to foster learner autonomy. This educational pyramid gives

strength to teacher autonomy by way of making use of technology in pedagogical

practices to develop ESL learner autonomy. But a number of considerations account

for such strengths to ESL techno-feminist pedagogy. First and foremost, as language

teachers and technology users the female teachers are aware that the use of

technology directly supports English language learning, as English is the dominant

language to use technology. Secondly, the women teachers’ use of technology for

pedagogical process brings the concept of learner-centred learning from theory to

praxis of ESL tertiary education. Thirdly, the woman teacher’s own experiential

knowledge of the utility of technology influences her pedagogical decisions related to

adoption of technology in the classroom.

In this way, the women ESL teachers in the institution of higher education

recognise the use of technology not only as a tool to bring about change rather a

change agent. Therefore, a wide range of social phenomena are seen as shaped under

the impact of technology. The value of it is predominantly realised in the classroom

scenario as social interdependence of a female teacher and her learners. In such

technology milieu, the women’s preference to use technology is coupled with

autonomous outlook of the social setup, which allows liberation and choice. This

discussion leads to another assumption that this human creation: technology, is

inherently or built-in with facilitative approach for the mankind. As the process of

ESL learning that is started in the classroom may be continued or reinforced outside

the classroom. For the incessant advancement in technology has brought us into the

era of mobile and easy accessibility to the technological device without place or time

restriction. Thus, it accounts for an autonomous learning space of an ESL learner.

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The use of technology has an impact on women teachers and learners, which

can neither be marked as hard or relentless nor neutral, but irresolute and non-

directive. The use of technology is often based on choices and preferences of the

users. The relationship between choice and outcome of that use is never linear. It is

paradigmatic as far as the choice is concerned as it depends on purpose; and

syntagmatic as far as outcomes are concerned. Here, I refute Mander’s objection that

“the great majority of us has no say at all in choosing or controlling technologies”

(Mander, 1978, p. 135). In this age of technology women ESL teachers are confronted

with array of options, as discussed earlier, but desired outcomes and purpose in hand

are the driving forces that lead to decisions. Use of technology as tool, like

applications of word processing may require some training or guidance. But as it is

revealed from this study that ESL women teachers not only possess know how of

technology but are actively engaged in making use of it for pedagogical practices. In

this way Pakistani women ESL teachers are techno-feminist pedagogues who can play

a pivotal role in directing ESL learners’ use of technology inside the classroom

towards learning English. They can also guide the learners about those applications of

technology which can be accessed outside the classroom to ensure optimal ESL

learning gains. Such practices proclaim close connection between teacher autonomy

and learner autonomy, the one which is addressed below, and the one which views it

as a teaching philosophy (see section 5.4). Since, this study helps to construe that

teacher autonomy suggests unconditional unidirectional approach of women teachers

towards development of learner autonomy.

5.6.3 Learner Autonomy: An Antecedent of Teacher Autonomy

Learner autonomy is a prime antecedent of teacher autonomy in second

language pedagogy. The research findings help to elucidate that women ESL teacher

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autonomy means, autonomy of the teacher as a learner in Pakistani tertiary level

pedagogical context. The same point of view is explicated through a comparison that

ESL learners operate as independent users of English if their classroom practices have

guided them in this way. Similarly, only those language teachers can promote learner

autonomy, whose own educational set up has supported them to be autonomous. The

results of the survey show that teachers have achieved learner autonomy, as the

women teachers’ competence in technology (see Figure 4.6) and higher academic

qualification (see Figure 4.1), helps me to deduce that they had undergone an

intellectual process, what Friere calls reflection; and then revised their professional

preferences. Such preferences indicate autonomy of the women ESL tertiary level

teachers. However, the contents of their preferences are subject to direct normative

constraints: both social and political. Significantly, this autonomy of female teachers

is a critical awareness due to the impact of use of technology. This usage compels

them to view classroom as a domain of feminist pedagogy. Realizing her autonomy

and to use it as libratory agent, the world view of a Pakistani learner teacher or

teacher learner emerges as a proponent of feminism. Therefore, I interpose Schenke’s

(1996) argument that “feminism, like antiracism, is …not simply one more social

issue in ESL but a way of thinking, a way of teaching, and most importantly, a way of

learning” (p. 158). In such way, teaching, as practiced by feminist ESL teachers, can

take many forms to raise gender awareness and consciousness. ESL techno-feminist

pedagogy advocates teachers’ learner autonomy. This development of autonomy

implies better language learning. Therefore, learner-teacher interdependence and form

of learner dependence upon teacher are not as such separate phenomena. It reflects

the degree to which learner autonomy is now viewed as a socially and institutionally

contextualized construct that depends on teacher.

295

Here, I take women teacher autonomy, teacher technology literacy and teacher

identity as three elemental facets to the development of learner autonomy. Above all,

the role of a female teacher in the institution is linked to teachers’ social and political

identity. My ontological approach to study the status of women in Pakistan is limited.

The woman I am referring to is an educated and employed individual. The classroom

in the higher education institution is her micro-world, where she exercises her

autonomy. In this way, she transcends the social barriers under the impact of

technology. Her education and employment status as ESL tertiary level teacher is a

marker of success. Residing in the bubble of her restricted domain, the classroom,

ironically she exercises her autonomy as a female pedagogue. However, this

autonomy is held dear in many other researches and studies; and is considered as

force of feminist libratory emancipation. Many researchers and writer consider

educated women as empowered and autonomous. Substantiating this elevated status

of educated women, and analyzing women’s situation depicted in Saffron Dream by a

woman diasporic writer: Shahla Abdullah of Pakistan Roychoudhary et al. (2015)

delineated:

Today women have realized that they are neither dependent nor helpless. They

feel that a woman is an equal competent just like a man. Today, a woman has

also become a direct money earner and is not confined only to household

works. The women of modern era think on different lines. (Roychoudhary,

Srivastava, & Dwivedi, 2015, p. 281)

This lofty status of a woman of modern age in the technology mediated environment

shapes her role and alters her course of action. She encounters a wide range of choices

within these overall socio-political constraints of Pakistani society. The element of

choice which technological gadgets offer helps her either to use them, or abandon

296

them, or modify them to serve her purpose. Eventually, the most deterministic

perspective may be unwittingly to apply freedom to the social factors that influence

choices. Women ESL teachers do not retain free-choice simply because of the social

and pedagogical constrains. Indeed, they realize the potential of technological control

in their pedagogical practices by choosing not to see how the environment they shape

with the use of technology, in turn, shape their individuality, identity and social

outlook.

5.6.4 Further Implications

The pyramid of ESL techno-feminist pedagogical framework has further

implications for future feminist studies in ESL education in Pakistani context and

beyond. It has implications to study ESL feminist pedagogues, CALL

teachers/practitioners/programmers, role of the technology, role of the ESL teachers

and role of the ESL learners. While, the above discussion highlighted various areas of

interest of this framework, its future implications place the same in other feminist

educational perspectives. It has implications for future research as it brings together

theory and praxis of those future pedagogical practices that view education as a door

to women autonomy or freedom. For at the theoretical level, it addresses

technological determinism with the philosophy of presence, use, and outcome

correlation; whereas, from the practical standpoint it addresses the ways and means

through which technology can be put into effective use to reap optimal ESL learning

outcomes. Technology assistance has been an effective mode of learning and

teaching. In the present study the teachers viewed the application of technology as a

tool of teacher autonomy for creating teaching material by using word processor, like

worksheets and PowerPoint slides. It is also a tool for learner autonomy, for example

it assist learners in enhancing writing skills. Technology use also determines the

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access to plethora of teaching and learning resources, by browsing World Wide Web.

Moreover, tutor in technological gadget like computers assist a different course of

action and granting greater ESL teaching learning autonomy. Nonetheless, it places

the role of a woman teacher as a guide and facilitator; and a counsellor too.

Throughout, the process of teaching with the use of technology women teachers place

learners in the centre as enunciated in their pedagogical proclivities, and especially

demonstrated through the use of technology.

This elucidation is made here, with the expectation that the future research in

the field of ESL learner autonomy may not exclude the role of a teacher and feminist

approach in technology aided instruction. The role of the teacher is and will remain at

the heart of pedagogy, here I point to this, because throughout my educational career,

I aspired those teachers who valued every individual in the class. Therefore, as an

ESL teacher I value those pedagogical practices that put me among the learners.

Rejecting philosophy and practice of teacher-authority concept, I prefer and advocate

teacher-partner concept in the learning paradigm. For I believe, pin drop silenced

classroom is a graveyard. And how can one teach the living, if one assumes them

mute, in other words, dead. For learning to occur, I favour feminism for learners,

irrespective of their gender. I favour voicing of the learners. In Pakistani context,

English language proficiency grants learners of every gender, class and religion this

socio-political autonomy.

In addition, in today’s technologically aware world, use of technology is the

best way for women ESL teachers to realize that the classroom is not a restricted

domain. The future research may embark upon the view that women teachers

actualize teaching autonomy through those pedagogical practices which fosters

learner autonomy. Such a feminist approach to education gives voice to the silent,

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freedom to the oppressed and autonomy to the restrained. In further research this

framework will help to address the issues of social prejudice in education sector in

particular and in the society in general.

5.6.5 Strengths and Limitations

The strength of pyramid of ESL techno-feminist pedagogy lies in its flexibility

of application in any socio-educational context to address teacher-learner relationship

through feminist theoretical perspective of use of technology. Such a relationship

embodies interdependence of teacher-learners and learners-learners in teacher-led

classroom. It addresses the social issues of women marginalization in education

sector, not only in terms of the social fences that blocks their path to education and

empowerment; but also restrict their access to material resources. It also allows the

study of the role of a woman teacher’s education as a marker of her professional

competence, which enables her to practice her autonomy in the classroom. It

emphasises woman teacher’s position as a learner, who achieves knowledge

autonomy; as a technology user achieves technical autonomy; in other words, as an

ESL teacher achieves professional or job specific autonomy. Ideally, this model

studies the role of women teachers in developing ESL learner autonomy in terms of

teacher education, teacher identity and teacher autonomy. That may involve teachers’

education in terms of academic qualification and proficiency in the use of technology,

in-service or pre-service training, and interest in research. Teacher identity in this

model is restricted in terms of being female, and also educated employed individual.

Teacher autonomy is accessed as a presupposition for teachers’ pedagogical proclivity

to learner autonomy.

The shortcomings of this framework lie in its approach to ESL pedagogy from

feminist perspective of technological determinism. Moreover, this model does not

299

encompass the whole philosophy of technological determinism. It only addresses soft-

deterministic outlook for the women ESL teachers. The framework insists that the use

of technology shows ways and means to gain a critical awareness. It focuses the social

barriers that women face, while getting access to technology, in terms of male

dominance and the Pakistani context of female dependence on men to access

educational resources. However, it does not discuss the economic hindrances to the

use of technology. Since, economic issues and social issues go hand in hand;

therefore, this pyramid may be applied to address such issues. It is quite a well

researched phenomenon that in higher education institutions learners value autonomy,

whether in control over learning content, method or material resources inside and

outside the classroom (e.g Bersica, 2008; Karim, 2014). In addition, language learners

need to receive training in using technology efficiently. The researchers have revealed

that technology trained learners and teachers make effective use of technology, and

get benefit in language learning (Hoven, 2006; Winke & Goertler, 2008; O’Bryan,

2008).

Although, ESL techno-feminist pedagogy places learner autonomy at the top

section of pyramid, yet it gets strength from the foundation. This foundation is laid by

ESL teachers with a feminist pedagogical approach towards the use of technology.

Emphasising teachers’ role, this frame of study does not reject learner centeredness in

the pedagogical process, with the expectation that the teachers’ role is crucial in

channelizing, monitoring and guiding adult learners learning exposure. For teachers

designed technological assistance may better aid learning process and motivate

learners to achieve the targets set by the teacher. But this same value of this pyramid

is liable to criticism.

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5.6.6 Opportunities and Threats

The feminist approach to teaching and learning is opportunistic not only for

female feminist pedagogues but also to male and female learners. For it crosses the

barriers of traditions providing opportunities on the bases of class, gender, status,

religion. Thus, it dismisses the norms of oppression operating at the level of society;

and in the educational centres at the level of classroom, a microcosm of society. This

philosophy of education rejects the notion of feeding learners with information and

expecting them to rote-learn, a way of producing a generation of stereotype

mimicking parrots. It promotes learning that motivates critical thinking, creative

response and ingenious contribution to the society. Advocating education as a means

to autonomy, though only teaching-learning autonomy, yet it provides an approach to

teachers and learners to transcend the barriers set by the so called conformists of the

society. Providing opportunities of integration of technology in pedagogical practices

to female teachers of Pakistan, it sets the ground for women of Pakistan to liberate

and operate effectively in today’s cosmopolitan world of education.

Promoting the use of modern technological gadgets as a tool and resource for

the teachers to create and design teaching material, this pyramid values individual

learner differences. For instance, the difference in choice of resources means students

use different types of digital media and technology resources in different ways. It

allows teachers to identify individual learning style and strategies (Oxford, 1990). It is

argued that the use of learning resources is often influenced by an individual learner’s

style, and it shapes the classroom discourse in the student-centred environment. It is a

common observation of teachers working with technology that some learners prefer

visual resources, like diagrams or flow charts while others prefer aural stimuli. Some

learners have prior knowledge on some subject area, while others are skilled

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technology users. This diversity is more common at higher levels of education.

Therefore, this pyramid allows to study the role of the teacher in recognising learners’

individualities and to provide them with the opportunities that cater to the needs of

individuals. In this way this pyramid has the potential to promote teaching as a

business where a woman teacher enters with a conviction that it is important to her to

exercise her autonomy in a way that it engages every individual in the classroom. This

engagement is not passive reception of mound of knowledge but an engaged process,

where learners are active participants.

The use of technology in -pedagogical practices offers communication with a

machine, and via machine. The latter form of communication may indicate human-

human interaction, or human interaction with only human intelligence packed in

machine. Such practices in ESL tertiary level pedagogy are often liable to chaos and

confusion more than profit. Substantiating this, Gardner & Miller (1999) demonstrate

the use of technology for the self-access, self-instruction and distance learning as

permitting little advancement in learner autonomy and, therefore, language learning.

Again, I believe, enhanced learner autonomy does not coincide with enhanced

language proficiency. In other words, learner autonomy is not a yard stick for

language proficiency. A teacher or researcher may deduce from learner being

gradually becoming autonomous: a step towards improved understanding of learning

goals or demands of immediate learning situation.

5.7 Conclusion

This study, addressing the women population in higher education institutions of

Pakistan, investigated the impact of technology on the women ESL teacher autonomy,

in terms of teacher education, teacher identity and pedagogical practices. In turn, this

teacher autonomy is embarked upon as a prerequisite to the development of learner

302

autonomy. These defining traits of teacher autonomy place learner autonomy as a goal

of the pedagogical process. Here, the concept of learner autonomy is defined as a

teaching philosophy through a trio of teacher, learner and learning paradigm. Thus,

learner autonomy is defined as learner’s willingness to learn, ability to make

decisions, capacity to take responsibility of one’s own learning and a skill to critically

evaluate one’s own progress. It operates under the guidance of teacher and in

interdependence with peers in a teacher-led pedagogical process.

The Pakistani women ESL teachers recognise, as Warschauer, Shetzer & Meloni

(2003) demarcate a “flexible, autonomous, lifelong learning...essential to success” (p.

176) in this age of information and communication technologies. This critical

awareness is associated with the active feminist movements in Pakistani educational

institutions. Teachers, as highly qualified women reject the gender discrimination and

denigrate the concept of every form of oppression by men or even women within the

microcosm of their social stratum in the higher education institution. The study also

evaluates women pedagogical practices as their conscious actions to emancipate and

gain teaching-learning autonomy. It also helps them actualize their requisition and

struggle to social equality in Pakistan. The findings favour Frierean conceptualization

of the ‘pedagogy of the oppressed’, an interplay of theory and praxis, which focuses

teaching as an engaged process as opposed to banking concept of learning. Thus,

female ESL teachers and learners, learn to respect each other’s differences,

accomplish mutual goals, and help each other reach individual goals. Based on hooks

philosophy of feminist pedagogy this study has found that the women ESL teachers

consider classroom most radical space of possibility for the female ESL teachers in

higher education institution, where they confirmed their active engagement with

technology in the pedagogical process.

303

In this way, the study gives an insight into the impact of technology on women

ESL teachers. The presence of technology determines its use, and it guides women

teachers’ social and political development. In this way, the analysis and interpretation

of the data obtained through the Technology and Development of ESL Learner

Autonomy Survey underpin the pyramid of ESL techno-feminist pedagogy. It

delineates the multifaceted philosophies of impact of technology on women teacher

autonomy in Pakistani ESL context. Thus, this pyramid has implications for further

research due to its strengths; however, it is limited in addressing the core ideology of

educational domain. I recommend that the future research on feminist methodology

should consider this pyramid. Being grounded in critical theory, it addresses the

theoretical disposition of feminist pedagogy. Policy making authorities should open

doors to higher education for women across the country, especially for teaching and

learning English. The policy making board should have both: women and men

representatives; and this is only possible with the equality of opportunities to

education and resources to education. Moreover, equality of access to technological

resources in the institutions of higher education should also be considered as it is a

prerequisite to facilitate autonomous ESL teaching and learning. In this way the

educational paradigm of the country may help to bring equality and balance rejecting

the socio-political fences. In further research this framework will help to address the

issues of social malignance in education sector and society, for example gender

stereotype in text books, masculinity of technology, gender-based employment,

gender-based educational fields, misconception to consider technology as a male

domain etc.

304

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APPENDICES

337

Appendix A

Technology and Development of ESL Learner Autonomy Survey

I would like to invite the tertiary level language teachers to participate in my

research project: Technology and Development of ESL Learner Autonomy: The

Impact on Pakistani Women in Higher Education. This project is undertaken as a part

of my Doctoral research at The Islamia University of Bahawalpur under the

supervision of Professor Dr. Mamuna Ghani. The purpose of this study is to

investigate the effects of use of technology on development of ESL learner autonomy;

the ability to take control of one's whole learning process. The goal of this research

project is to better understand how technology available to individuals, particularly in

gender perspective of higher education in Pakistan, both in and outside the institutions

is utilized to make optimal and conducive ESL learning environment. Your answers

will be of immense help in getting insights to complete this study. The information

provided by you will remain confidential and will be used only for academic purpose.

Should you have any query Please contact me at: 03006899042 or

sadiyairshad@gmail.com. Please take a few minutes to answer the following

questions.

Section I

1 Gender

Q Male

Q Female

1.2. Select your age group please.

Q 20-25

Q 26-30

Q 31-35

Q 36-40

Q 41-45

Q 45 and above

1.3. Please choose one of the following to indicate your qualification.

Q MA

Q MPhil

Q PhD

Q Post-Doctorate

338

1.4. Please give the name of the institution where you teach.

_____________________________________________________________________

1.5. Please indicate your experience as an English teacher.

Q Less than 1year

Q 1-5 years

Q 6-10 years

Q 11-15 years

Q 16-20 years

Q More than 20 years

1.6 Have you received any in-service computer training for language

teaching?

Q Yes

Q No

1.7 Did you attend any computer training course during or before service?

Q Yes

Q No

1.8 Please rate your proficiency of computer usage.

Q Poor

Q Fair

Q Good

Q Very good

Q Excellent

1.9 Have you ever filled up an on-line questionnaire?

Q Yes

Q No

1.10 Do you categorize any of those on-line questionnaires directly relevant to

your experience as a language teacher?

Q Yes

Q No

339

Section II: Use of Technology in Teaching English

2. Please rate how frequently you follow the following practices in your everyday

teaching paradigm.

Always frequently sometimes Rarely never

2.1 I prepare lecture or learning task

using computer.

2.2 I prepare test or assessment sheet

on computer.

2.3 I use internet to explore websites

for language learning activities.

2.4 I use internet to download

Computer Assisted Language Learning

activities for my learners.

2.5 I author Computer Assisted

Language Learning activities for my

learners.

2.6 I conduct/deliver my lessons in

department's Computer Lab.

2.7 I use my cell phone/tab for

conducting listening activities.

2.8 I use multi-media to facilitate

learning.

2.9 I use my cell phone digital

dictionary to give model to students to

correct pronunciation.

2.10 I assign task to my students that

requires World Wide Web browsing.

340

2.11 I guide students to use Word

Processor for writing compositions or

to enhance writing skills.

2.12 I assign tasks that require

submission via e-mail.

2.13 I suggest my students on-line or e-

authentic reading materials for assigned

tasks.

2.14 I suggest cites for grammar and

vocabulary quizzes.

2.15 I guide students to use on-line

dictionaries and encyclopaedias.

2.16 I suggest language learning

websites to my students to develop

language skills.

341

Section III: Implications of Learner Autonomy in your Teaching Practices

3. Indicate below as to what extent you agree that you encourage students to

develop Learner Autonomy.

Strongly

Disagree Disagree

Not

Sure Agree

Strongly

Agree

3.1. The willingness to learn indicates

learner autonomy.

3.2. The capacity to take control of

one's own learning shows learner

autonomy.

3.3. The skill to evaluate what one has

acquired is learner autonomy.

3.4. The ability to monitor one’s

learning is central to learner autonomy.

3.5. Learner autonomy can only be

developed in student-centred

classroom.

3.6. Learner autonomy means

traditional teacher-led ways of teaching

must be abandoned.

3.7. Learners develop autonomy when

they are allowed to work

independently.

3.8. Browsing World Wide Web for

completing tasks develop learner

autonomy.

3.9. If learners decide about what to

342

learn they become autonomous

learners.

3.10. Learner autonomy is developed

when learners make decisions for how

to learn.

3.11. Learners cannot develop

autonomy without teacher's help.

3.12. Use of technology motivates the

ESL learners to develop autonomy.

3.13. Motivated language learners are

more likely to develop learner

autonomy.

3.14. Learner autonomy is promoted

through regular opportunities for

learners to complete tasks alone

3.15. Learner autonomy is promoted

when learners have some choice in the

kinds of activities they do.

3.16. Learner autonomy requires the

learner to be totally independent of the

teacher.

3.17. Learning to work alone is central

to the development of learner

autonomy.

3.18. Computers positively affect ESL

learners attitude to develop autonomy.

3.19. Use of technology greatly

benefits shy or inhibited learners to

343

develop learner autonomy.

3.20. Computers assist the high

achievers to realize their potential by

working on their own pace.

3.21. High achievers can develop

autonomy without preventing their

peers from working on their own pace.

3.22. Differences in development of

autonomy are due to difference of

gender.

3.23. Development of learner

autonomy is gender specific.

3.24. Female beginner learners being

part of Pakistani male dominating

society lack autonomy.

3.25. Computers in and outside

institutions provide an opportunity to

female learners to develop autonomy.

344

APPENDIX B

Participants’ Institution

Institutes’ Name

Number of

participants

1 National University of Science and Technology 2

2 Lahore College for Women University 2

3 Government College University Faisalabad- Sahiwal Campus 2

4 Lahore Leads University 4

5 The Islamia University of Bahawalpur 8

6 Superior College Bahawalpur 1

7 Modern College 2

8 University of Education Lahore 3

9 International Islamic University Islamabad 6

10 The Bacha Khan University 1

11 FAST National University of Computer and Emerging Sciences

Peshawar

1

12 CMH Lahore Medical College 1

13 Government College for Women Baghbanpura 1

14 National University of Modern Languages, Islamabad 9

15 COMSATS Institute of Information Technology, Lahore 4

16 The Best College Bahawalpur 1

17 Punjab College Bahawalpur 2

18 Government College University, Faisalabad 4

19 Superior College Lahore 2

20 Government City College Gujranwala 2

21 Lahore University 2

22 NCBA & E Bahawalpur 2

345

23 Karachi University 1

24 Fatima Jinnah Women University 3

25 University of the Punjab, Lahore 2

26 Federal Government college 2

27 University of the Arts London, Rawalpindi 1

28 Greenfield College 1

29 Punjab College Lahore 2

30 University of Sargodaha 1

31 Superior College Bahawalpur 1

32 COMSATS Institute of Information Technology, Islamabad 3

33 National University of Modern Languages, Lahore 2

346

Appendix C

Age Group

Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative

Percent

Valid

20-25 8 6.3 6.3 6.3

26-30 37 28.9 28.9 35.2

31-35 38 29.7 29.7 64.8

36-40 28 21.9 21.9 86.7

41-45 14 10.9 10.9 97.7

46 and above 3 2.3 2.3 100.0

Total 128 100.0 100.0