Teaching Materials, ICT and Professional Development Mohammed Hassim

1. English Language Teaching in Morocco:

General Methodological Orientations and Classroom Practices

Introduction

English is one of the most popular foreign languages in Morocco according

to social tendencies and preferences because of its prestigious position in the
world of economy, science and international communication. It is also the
most chosen by students as a second foreign language to learn at school
together with the first foreign language, French. Students are intrinsically
motivated to learn this influential language. As for methodology and
instruction, the teaching of English in Morocco is different from the teaching
of French in many ways mainly because of the difference in the status of
each of them. While French is considered as a second language, English is
treated as a foreign language. The latter is taught as a language in itself, while
the former is taught as a language that is used in many aspects of everyday
life like in media, administration, some official meetings and in education as
a medium of instruction. The teaching of French follows the francophone
tradition, especially that of France, but English adheres to the Anglo-Saxon
tradition in its methodology. This article shares
positive standpoint as stated in the conclusion to his overview of the history
of the development of ELT in Morocco:
oroccan tradition of ELT has made
important achievements and that it has always been at the forefront

(Ouakrime, 2018:18)

The general feeling is that ELT in Morocco has been doing well throughout
its history but our objective is also to spot the deficiencies that need to be
redressed for better improvement of classroom practices. Therefore, the
focus of this paper is more on observed classroom practices than on what is
stated in official documents. The aim is to give a relatively realistic and
objective diagnosis of ELT in Morocco with view of seeking improvement,
i.e. providing constructive criticism.

1. A historical overview: ELT methodology in Morocco from the French

tradition to the Anglo-Saxon influence

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1.1. The status of English in Morocco

English language teaching (ELT) in Morocco is currently introduced in the
educational system as a second foreign language after French. In the public
sector, it is first introduced in the third grade of middle school (year 9) while
in the private sector, it is mostly introduced from grade one in primary school
or starting from grade three. According to the National Charter for Education
and Training (NCET), it has been planned to introduce this language from
grade 5 in the primary school (NCET, 2000:53). However, for unspecified
reasons, mostly because of financial reasons and the inability to provide the
required number of teachers to do the job, it has been kept to grade three in
middle school with some places, though very few, until grade one in high
school (year 10). With the strategic vision 2015-2030, English is planned to
be introduced in grade 4 at primary level (The strategic vision 2015-2030, p.
42). It is now also introduced as a medium of instruction for the international
baccalaureate but in a very limited number.
1.2. Historical development of ELT in Morocco
After breaking with the French tradition in the late sixties, ELT methodology
in Morocco has gone through several changes following the world changes
and practices in the field. From the early years of independence till the late
sixties, Moroccan ELT was following a French methodology which was
heavily based on the grammar translation method characterized by much
focus on grammar and translation (to French) as important components of
language teaching and learning. French was used as a language of instruction
in ELT in both textbooks and teacher language (Melouk 2019; Ouakrime,
2018). After that, ELT in Morocco shifted to the Anglo-Saxon tradition,
namely the British and American, adopting textbooks published in Britain or
in USA and following the principles of teaching English as a foreign
language widely used at the international level. From that period which
lasted throughout the seventies until now, ELT in Morocco has been
influenced by the development in the teaching of English worldwide and has
also benefitted from all the international developments and progresses
known in ELT. The produced Moroccan textbooks starting from the mid-80s
kept abreast of this adherence to international development in ELT
methodology. The changes in methods, approaches and classroom practices
that ELT in Morocco has known during this period follow in fact the same
historical path of development that ELT has gone through worldwide.

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ELT in Morocco, after breaking up with the grammar translation method has
gone through many methods and approaches like the direct method, audio-
lingualism, the communicative approach, competency-based approach and
the standard-based movement (more details about the historical development
of ELT in Morocco can be found in Melouk, 2019 and Ouakrime, 2018).
Adopting the competency-based approach has been in fact part of the
educational reform the Moroccan system has known since the beginning of
the twenty first century in all subjects. However, adopting the standard-based
movement has been unique to ELT in Morocco.
2. The current methodological choices and general orientations in ELT
in Morocco
English language guidelines for secondary school (referred to as the official
guidelines hereafter) published by the ministry of national education in 2007
is the official document that states the principles, methodological
orientations and the content of the syllabus. This document starts with an
overview of the standards-based approach (SBA) as being the adopted
approach in ELT in Morocco. This approach has in fact been developed
mainly in USA in the last decade of the 20th century. Unlike in Morocco
where SBA is adopted solely in ELT, it is an approach that applies to all
subjects in the educational system in USA. It also applies to both native and
foreign languages. SBA in Morocco follows the American trend only in ELT
as a foreign language.
In Morocco, though the declared approach is SBA, we still have other
methods and approaches being used in classroom practices. Teaching by
objectives, competency-based approach, content-based instruction,
d
bjectives tandards ompetencies
kills as key terms in lesson planning. This general pedagogical orientation
is not specifically related to the Moroccan context but it is a global trend.
-12), and

the best out of each method and approach. It is really difficult to say that
there is one dominant method or approach but many approaches are in use
where they are considered as best practices. In grammar teaching for
example, we still have drilling and direct instruction of grammar, which
belong to behaviourism and grammar translation. Total physical response is

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still used to introduce new vocabulary when necessary. However, there are
some broad lines that are highlighted like learner-centeredness,
communication-based activities, linking language activities to real life
experiences, the functional use of language, active learning, task-based
learning, discovery learning tasks, etc. Because SBA allows for this mixture
to coexist, it has been a practically and pragmatically justified pedagogical
choice. This framework allows other approaches to be integrated and goes in
line with eclecticism and best practices, i.e. use what is best to achieve the
target standards.

for foreign language learning: Preparing for the 21st century, 1996:20)
3. The standard-based approach (SBA)
In general, content standards, we mean statements that define

(Standards for the English Language Arts, USA, 1996:1). This is the same
definition adopted in the English language guidelines for secondary school
(Morocco, 2007). In this official document, standards are divided into three
types: Content standards, Performance standards and Proficiency
standards. These are defined in the official guidelines as follows:
- Content standards are statements about what learners should know
and be able to do with English.
- Performance standards show us how the learners have achieved the
standards targeted. They refer to how learners are meeting a standard
and show the towards meeting a standard.
- Proficiency standards these standards tell us how well learners should
(English language guidelines for secondary school, 2007:6)

According to SBA as adopted from USA, language learning is broadly

divided into what is known as the 5-Cs:

five goal areas which make up foreign language education:

communication, cultures, connections, comparisons, and communities.
* Each goal contains two to three area content standards. These
standards describe the knowledge and abilities that all students should
acquire by the end o
*(The omission is mine) (Standards for foreign language learning:
Preparing for the 21st century, 1996:23)

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The 5-Cs are further subdivided into subcomponents as shown in the

following table:
The 5-Cs Communication Cultures Connections Comparisons Communities
with outside of
with other with native
interpersonal practices the classroom
subjects language
Sub- world
components with personal
of the interpretive products experiences
with other
5-Cs and purposes going global
cultures
with other
presentational perspectives
cultures

The 5-Cs give a framework to the syllabus as well as to teaching practices.

Each of the ten units making the Moroccan syllabus as exemplified in the
textbooks for all levels should include all the 5-Cs and their sub-components.
Each of the ten units revolves around one theme. These themes are dictated
by the national syllabus and are incorporated in textbooks. Language
(grammar and vocabulary), functions, the four skills, project work, learning
how to learn are all integrated in each unit while following the 5-Cs
framework. The fact that the syllabus is theme-based gives focus to the work
done during a unit for both teaching and learning purposes. With the unit in
mind, vocabulary and skill practice gain some unity that goes throughout the
unit. The learners go through a learning experience that moves from surface
to deeper understanding while they acquire the linguistic and skill
competencies that allow them to go through a progressive learning
experience.

The SBA in Moroccan ELT states the framework for content organization
and sets the educational choices where language and culture are inter-related.
However, there is an absence of clear and detailed specifications of the
standards as in the American educational system where performance and
proficiency standards are clearly defined for all subjects through descriptors
and benchmarks. All students should achieve these standards and no one

that all students should acquire by the end of th

(ibid., 23) The syllabus in Morocco is presented in the form of the content
to be learnt as described in the official guidelines. Though the performance
standards are broadly defined for each skill, which makes them look like
activities, the proficiency standards are not detailed.

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In addition to the basic language parts commonly known in the ELT syllabus
(grammar, vocabulary and the four skills: reading, listening, speaking,
writing), the current syllabus includes three new components: project work,
learner training (or learn how to learn) and interdisciplinarity. These three
components consolidate the tendency to incorporate more learner-
centeredness, which is a positive orientation in modern pedagogy.

4. The syllabus content and time division

English is taught in Morocco with varied weekly hours according to three

broad divisions: 3 hours for science students, 4 hours for humanities and 5
hours for arts classes (in 2nd year baccalaureate). Though there are different
weekly hour slots, students complete the same syllabus which sounds a bit
abnormal and causing some difficulties for both teachers and learners. In
addition to that, the fact that there are 10 units is too much for the time
allotted. This has a negative impact on classroom practices and obliges
teachers to be more concerned with content than with the quality of teaching
and learning.

Despite the declared decision as mentioned in NCET to empower the

teaching of foreign languages in the educational system (p. 53), reality shows
the opposite. In the past, that is until the late 90s, students used to study 5
hours a week for arts streams and 4 hours a week in science streams from
year 10 to year 12. Nowadays, they are studying less hours despite the fact
that they start English from year 9. This is in fact the opposite of the declared
policy.

To achieve quality teaching and learning, a lighter syllabus is more needed

to allow more creativity for teachers and the adoption of a more learner-
centred approach as well as more focus on deep-learning than on surface-
learning. A realistic match between the time allotted for the syllabus and the
syllabus content is a pedagogical necessity.

5. ELT Textbooks

The textbooks started to be produced and published by Moroccans starting

from the mid-80s. With the National Charter for Education and Training,
Morocco has started a liberalization and plurality of textbook writing and
publication. For each level, there are more than one textbook. This policy is

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positive in many ways:

- it has given birth to a growing local expertise in textbook writing and
teaching materials production,
- it has created some positive competition among various textbook writing
teams,
- it has opened the possibility for variety in the implementation of the same
syllabus, and
- it has provided teachers with varied teaching resources to use in classroom
practices.

However, the experience has not continued according to NCET and other
official documents where it is stated that textbooks should not last more than
5 years. The current textbooks have gone beyond ten years without change.
The negative sides of this are multiple:
- the content is outdated in terms of reality change, methodology change

-
themselves have started to lack creativity and self-produced materials,
and
- with the use of the same textbooks for more than a decade, teachers as
well as students start to look at the textbook with a view of resentment
and feeling of boredom.

In the absence of adequate teacher training and continuous professional

development, there is heavy reliance on the textbooks by teachers. It is true
that teachers are encouraged to go beyond the textbook, yet not all teachers
own the competency to produce quality teaching materials. This competency
can only come through training and more guidance. Training and support on
materials development would encourage teachers to gain confidence in
producing teaching materials and would help them assure a minimum of
quality in what they produce. It happens that sometimes, some teachers try
to produce their own materials but because of the lack of training and the
know-how, they end up by introducing some materials in the classrooms
which are far less in quality than the textbook material itself. Materials
development is not an easy thing to do without training and guidance. This
is one of the reasons that leads teachers to be more dependent on textbooks
than on creating their own teaching materials in a context where textbooks
have become obsolete.

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6. Lesson planning: presentation, practice and production (PPP)

Lesson planning in general has commonly followed the PPP framework with
limited variations. Still of practical use, teachers tend to focus more on the
presentation and practice stages which makes lesson delivery look more
traditional by giving priority to teaching and instruction over learning. The
lesson though proclaimed to be more student-centred, with the neglect of the
production phase of the lesson, it remains more teacher-oriented. This is so
much so with the heavy load of the content where the teacher is more worried
about finishing the syllabus than with the quality of teaching and learning
and the achievement of the proclaimed objectives of each lesson. Most
teachers rely on the textbook rather than on their own preparation and

and wants. When a teacher heavily relies on the textbook, s/he is trapped in
the problem of time management, as they cannot finish the syllabus with the
time allotted. More priority should be given to the syllabus as the starting
point of preparation, and based on that teachers use suitable materials either
from the textbook, other resources or of their own production to convey the
objectives of the syllabus.

For the same reason, teachers need to move from lesson by lesson planning
and preparation to unit planning as the unit is the single entity around which
the syllabus is subdivided. With the unit in view, both teachers and students
start to see the whole picture and view the unit as a developmental learning
process as each lesson within a unit leads to a further developed learning
experience, and each lesson builds on a previous one and at the same time
paves the way for the following lesson. Without this view in mind, the
lessons will look like independent entities that in turn lead to fragmented
learning instead of developmental learning.

7. The use of the mother tongue

Since the adoption of the Anglo-Saxon tradition in ELT, the use of the
mother tongue or another language to teach English has not been tolerated.
Generally speaking, English is the only language that teachers of English use
in ELT. The mother tongue is used in a very restricted way. This is due to
the belief that learners should be exposed to the target language the
maximum possible during class time. Unlike French which is used in varied

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English is only used by students in the classroom. Still with the new
advancement of technology, students are more exposed to this language via
the internet, especially social media and YouTube, and via international TV
channels. Resorting to the mother tongue by the teacher does not serve the
learners as they develop some laziness either towards tolerating some
ambiguity or discovering meaning for themselves. It also breeds laziness for
teachers who instead of making an effort to contextualize new language or
find better pedagogical ways (like using visual aids and realia), they find it
easier to explain in the mother tongue.
8. Teaching materials
With the advent of technology in general and information and
communication technology (ICT) in particular, ELT has benefitted a lot.
What has not been possible for example until the late 80s and early 90s is
now available in abundance. Audio-visual materials and real life
communication (both synchronous and asynchronous) are now possible via
the internet anytime and anywhere. Material facilities like computers,
laptops, mobile phones and video projectors have been an added value to
ELT in Morocco. With English as a lingua franca, these audio-visual
materials in addition to international publications have benefited ELT more
than any other language. The textbook is no more the only source to be used
in the classroom, neither is the teacher, as students can learn English outside
the classroom via the internet, TV channels, YouTube and mobile phones.
The challenge for teachers nowadays is how to integrate this abundance of
materials and resources into classroom practices; something not easy to do
effectively without training and professional development. Overall, ELT in
Morocco is one of the subjects that makes use of this variety of teaching
materials and resources. It is very common that teachers of English are the
ones who use laptops, video projectors, songs, videos, internet materials the
most compared to other subjects teachers.

9. Assessment
Assessment in Moroccan ELT classrooms, like any other subject, is
supposed to be summative and formative. However, in reality, more
importance is given to the summative side. With the difficulty of
implementing performance-based assessment due to the heavy load of the
syllabus and the absence of teacher training on this type of assessment, the

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dominant aspect remains summative. Most assessment practices are mainly

pen-and-paper based with very limited performance-based assessment. Even
with the summative type and despite the many official notes, we still have
some unstandardized practices in the way assessment is conducted in
Moroccan ELT classrooms. While the official circular for high school
assessment clearly states that there should be a short quiz after each unit and
a global test at the end of each semester, there are big differences among
teachers. The fact that the online M
grades requires teachers to give three marks has created certain confusion in
the implementation of the official continuous assessment notes. This fact
puts assessment far from being standardized and achieving equal
opportunities among classes.

On the other hand, teachers badly need training on formative assessment

despite the fact that a few teachers are investing some personal efforts to
implement it in their assessment practices. This type of assessment is also
mentioned in the official guidelines but teachers have never been trained on
that. Similarly, teachers are required to prepare quiz plans but no guidance
or training is offered to them despite the fact that it is a new concept in the
Moroccan context. Quiz planning is adopted only in few areas where some
supervisors take the initiative to introduce teachers to this new notion that
has a positive effect on the quality of the quizzes during quiz preparation and
editing/reviewing phase.

Moreover, English is the only subject where percentages are applied to

calculate the final mark as indicated in the official continuous assessment
documents. However, the Massar system does not allow for this because the
marks have to be entered in the Massar system one by one, while applying
percentages can only be done after finishing all the quizzes in a semester.
This issue most often creates conflicts between the administration and
teachers of English when entering the marks in the Massar system. A solution
should be found to this; either we do without percentages or we have to adjust
the Massar system to the way marks are calculated in English assessment
system. It is a good practice to digitize the ways we deal with assessment
results for practicality and transparency, but, at the same time, we need to
adjust that to the pedagogical objectives already existing.

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Focus on summative assessment has led to the backwash (or washback)

effect, i.e. teaching to the test. Continuous assessment is meant to be

ficulties and doing remedial work.

Assessment for learning is yet another area that needs more attention through
teacher training and providing enough guidance to teachers. Learners
themselves, because of the backwash effect, tend to give more importance to
final marks than to the development of their language skills and
competencies.
10. Teacher training and development
If positive change to take place at a big scale like in the case of educational
reforms, change in classroom practices should not be left to individual
initiatives. To make sure that classroom practices are changed positively,
continuous professional development (CPD) should be an important part of
the educational system. In the Moroccan context, CPD is one of the
dangerously neglected areas. It is much more needed now than before, with

new reform. To guarantee a minimum quality and standardisation of best

practices, teachers should receive regular amounts of CPD at reasonable time
intervals. Using teaching materials effectively, adopting innovative
practices, responding to students needs and wants, working collaboratively
and creatively, among other things; all these cannot come without systematic
teacher CPD. The Moroccan ministry of education has much to do at this
level as most CPD is conducted by supervisors in a limited way and by
teacher associations like Moroccan Association of Teachers of English
(MATE) in the case of ELT. Most updates and innovations in classroom
practices, especially in the absence of a regular and reasonable change in the
syllabus and textbooks, come from these two sources but never to a
satisfactory level.
Among other important areas in professional development, the following can
be mentioned: Teacher learning communities (TLCs), teacher and learner
portfolios, peer observation, action research and global project work. These
are new areas that are integrated in advanced educational systems, especially
in the Anglo-Saxon world. They have to be adopted in our own Moroccan
educational system if quality education is to be sought and achieved mainly
because teacher qualifications are key to education improvement.

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Conclusion
In conclusion, ELT in Morocco has benefitted a lot from the general progress
achieved in ELT worldwide. Teachers of English are generally regarded as
being at the avant-garde of teaching methodology in comparison to other
teachers. Yet, there are some reality deficiencies and obstacles that
make ELT in Morocco short of achieving the desired progress and
improvement. To achieve this goal, certain measures should be taken within
the general reform currently taking place in Morocco, some of which are (but
not limited to):
- There should be a realistic design of the syllabus where content and time
allotted should be adequately balanced
- The syllabus should be as light as possible to allow for more teacher
creativity and student-centeredness
- Textbooks should be changed within reasonable periods of time
- A balance between formative and summative assessment should be put into
practice
- New pedagogical orientations should be accompanied by teacher training
- Teacher continuing professional development should be a priority in the
educational system.
References
English language guidelines for secondary schools (2007), published by the
Moroccan Ministry of Education
Melouk, M. (2019), A Journey into the Last Thirty Years of English
Language Teaching in Morocco, in The Evolution of ELT in
Morocco: An Applied Linguistics Perspective, Publication of
Moroccan Association of Teachers of English (MATE), (pp. 9-
18)

- Issues in Applied Language

Studies: A Special Reference to ELT in Morocco, Publication
of MATE, (pp. 9-20)
Standards for foreign language learning: Preparing for the 21st century,
(1996), Allen press Inc., Lawrence, KS, USA
Standards for the English Language Arts, (1996) by the International Reading
Association (IRA) and the National Council of Teachers of English
(NCTE). USA.

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(The National Charter for Education and Training (2000), Special

Commission for Education and Training, Kingdom of Morocco)

(Strategic vision of reform 2015-2030, Higher Council for Education,

Training and Scientific Research, Kingdom of Morocco)

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