EXPLORING REINFORCEMENT STRATEGIES EMPLOYED BY ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHERS IN ESL TEACHING IN PAKISTANI COLLEGES

Abstract

The current research aims to explore the reinforcement strategies and their implementation by English language teachers in Pakistani colleges. Reinforcement is defined as a behavioral principle that describes the direct relationship between behavior or action and the result of that action. The data of this research was collected by using research instruments such as interviews and observatios. The site of the research was Okara City of Punjab Province in Pakistan and the data was collected from participants in four private colleges of Okara City. The interview questions were open-ended while an observation checklist was also used to observe the reinforcement aspects practiced in the English language classes. The results of the study show that teachers used both verbal and nonverbal (V&NV) reinforcement strategies including (positive, negative, gestural, contact& proximity) in English language classes. For positive reinforcement, teachers used appreciative words such as ” good, well done, excellent, stunning, nice, that’s right, smiling, nodding head, thumb up & sitting close with the students”. For negative reinforcement, teachers used positive or negative punishment such as pointing out the student, calling name, giving warning, putting forefinger in front of lips, some mild physical punishment raise your hands & drill activities”. The findings of the study reveal that positive reinforcement was considered more useful than negative reinforcement in helping the students become motivated and interested during the English language learning process.