Interfacing language and literature in the English curriculum is a shared pedagogical framework in English-as-a-second-language (ESL) contexts, where frequently there exists a visible mismatch between the expected linguistic performance and the communicative competence of L2 learners. As a result, second language teachers employ strategies that lower the prescribed educational standards in order to meet the cognitive levels of the students. This coping mechanism that largely operates within ESL classrooms borders on the embarrassment and hygiene resource framework of Mackay, which this study applied to investigate the issue. This study explored instances of hygiene resources that appeared in ESL classrooms, and revealed who between the experienced teacher and the beginning teacher deployed these resources more frequently. Four English class interactions from two public rural secondary schools were recorded and transcribed. Data were coded using Mackay‘s taxonomy, and were analyzed using descriptive statistics, interpretations based on observations and interviews, and intensive document examination. Possible factors that lead to such pedagogical decision-making from the teacher-respondents were discussed based on social, cultural, and academic grounds. The findings in this study emphasized the formulation of productive and linguistically developmental alternatives to hygiene resources to ensure that expectations in the English curriculum are successfully met.
Keywords: Beginning Teacher, Embarrassments, English-As-A-Second-Language Classroom, Experienced Teacher, Hygiene Resources, L2 learners, Linguistically Developmental Alternatives
