The Role of English as a Medium of Instruction in Reshaping Bahraini Senior Teachers’ Perceptions of Their Roles as Middle Leadership in their Schools (An Exploratory Study)

Abstract

This paper investigates the role English plays as the medium of instruction in reshaping Bahraini senior teachers’ perceptions about their actual role in their schools during their professional development program at the Bahrain Teachers College at the University of Bahrain. The data were collected using questionnaires, semi-structured interviews and focus group discussion with an opportunity sample of the senior teachers who recently graduated from the program. The quantitative findings show that using English played a significant role in motivating the participants to form positive attitudes towards their professional development program while the qualitative data reveal how the target language participated in enabling those teachers reshape their perceptions about certain professional practices and assisted them in gaining new skills to improve the overall performance of their teachers in school. The study concludes with implications of how using English as the main medium of instruction facilitates conceptual change in professional development programs.