Impact of Field-Based Contextualized English Language Teaching on Students’ Engagement

Abstract

The growing emphasis on context-responsive, student-oriented and experiential teaching practices in English language teaching (ELT) has encouraged teachers, researchers and educators to shift from traditional pedagogy which often neglects students' real-life experiences. This study explored the significance of field-based contextualized ELT on learners' involvement and learning outputs in the community schools of Pokhara, Nepal. Based on the ecological, constructivist, and experiential learning theories, this study examines how context-based pedagogy promotes learners to enhance their language knowledge through their own local contexts. Implementing qualitative participatory action research paradigm, the data were collected through classroom observations, field notes, in-depth interviews and focus group discussion (FGD). It has been seen that field-based contextualized ELT considerably enhance students’ motivation, active participation, and collaborative behavior, emotional and cognitive involvement in their real-life experiences. The study also reveals significant improvement in learning vocabulary, descriptive and creative writing with full confidence. Despite the positive results, the research also identified several challenges such as teacher preparation, time constrains, curriculum rigidity, logistical limitations and pedagogical resources. The study suggests the needs of policy-level reforms, flexible curriculum and teacher development by integrating local context. It also promotes the implementation of ecological approaches that that provide real-life practice in multilingual and multicultural settings.