Abstract:
This study attempted to assess opportunities and challenges of teaching English language using academic contents drawn from other subjects with particular reference to grade 10 textbook reading lessons. To achieve this objective, experimental research design with qualitative and quantitative approach was employed. To gather the necessary data 80students and 8 English language teachers, who have been teaching in the grade level, were selected as participants. To select the samples systematic random, purposive sampling techniques were used. The systematic random sampling was employed to select the students, whereas the purposive sampling was used to select the teachers. In addition, 6 sections were selected using random sampling to select the sample students and for classroom observation. The data were collected through textbook analysis, classroom observation, interview, and questionnaire. Then, the data gathered through these tools were organized and analyzed using both qualitative and quantitative methods. In order to create a holistic picture of these quantitative and qualitative data, thus, the researcher integrated and carefully discussed them all around succeeding thematic topics of the study in relation to the research questions. The findings of the study revealed that the current textbook was prepared based on theme based (content based) instruction. However, the teachers were not implementing academic content based texts in teaching reading as intended at the syllabus, although they seem to have limited understanding of this presentation. The study portrayed that the English teachers gave slight emphasis to the academic content based reading activities and were reluctant to motivate their students. The students were also not interested in the contents in the reading lessons as they feel expect they were not learning the target language. Among the challenges that influence the effective use of content based texts reading lesson in EFL classroom: lack of adequate practice based teachers’ trainings, students’ view and reluctance to work cooperatively, students’ lack of motivation, and students’ learning expectations. Therefore, it was recommended that teachers should be provided with adequate practice based trainings, encourage towards using academic content in EFL classes so that they can promote their awareness on using contents texts in EFL reading classrooms
