DEFICIENCIES IN TEACHING AND LEARNING ENGLISH AS A FOREIGN/SECOND LANGUAGE IN THE SECONDARY SCHOOLS OF IRAN & INDIA

The process of teaching and learning English in Iran is not satisfactory. Most of the Iranian students, who have passed seven years of learning English (from junior to secondary school), fail to acquire expected level of proficiency in English. In the Indian context also, a high percentage of school dropouts who were taught English for about six periods per week for six years, leave their schools as ignorant of English usage. Aim: The aim of this study was to identify the existing problems of teaching and learning English as a foreign/second language in the secondary schools of Iran and India. Material & Method: The samples consist of 400 randomly selected government secondary school students, (200 Iranian and 200 Indian), and 20 English teachers of the same schools. The questionnaires mainly focused on language usage, teaching strategies, medium of instruction and English textbooks. Results & Discussions: Indian students found to have better access to English audio-visual aids, they read English newspapers and magazines more than five times as compared to the Iranians and majority of them find the contents of their English textbooks interesting. The extent of speaking English in their English classes was higher than the Iranians.