Pre-service ESL teachers' beliefs about second language learning: a longitudinal study

In this paper, I focus on the affective atmosphere of the Adult English as a Second Language (ESL) classroom. I argue that a humanistic learning approach can be a form of strategic resistance against the bureaucratization and standardization of publicly funded ESL programs for adult newcomers in Canada. Given the growing, top-down trend in our economically driven and technologically dependent society, there is a need to humanize the Canadian ESL classroom as a space for empathy and critical thinking. Through a literature review and semi-structured, in-depth interviews with former ESL learners and former ESL teachers, this paper reveals the psychological and political complexities of second language learning and cultural identity, as well as the pivotal role that an ESL teacher can play during the first few years of settlement. In this context, I also critique the racialized linguistic hierarchy embedded in Canada’s multiculturalism policy and exclusionary immigration and language policies.

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How teachers’ beliefs are in accordance with major SLA notions

Chinese Journal of Applied Linguistics ◽

10.1515/cjal-2016-0023 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 39 (3) ◽

Author(s):

Wang Chaochang

Keyword(s):

High School ◽

Second Language ◽

Language Learning ◽

Instructional Practices ◽

Second Language Learning ◽

Classroom Practices ◽

Classroom Instruction ◽

Classroom Observations ◽

High School English ◽

Teachers Beliefs

AbstractCurrent SLA theories have delivered important language-learning notions. This paper will report the results of a study into 64 high school English teachers’ beliefs about language learning and their instructional practices, with a focus on two of them. A questionnaire was developed on the basis of major tenets of second language learning and administered to the 64 participants. In addition, classroom observations and interviews were employed to explore the two focal teachers’ beliefs and their actual classroom instruction practices. Results show both consistencies and inconsistencies between the participants’ beliefs and major SLA notions and between the two focal participants’ beliefs and their classroom practices.

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Pre-service Teachers’ Beliefs about Language Learning Inventory (BALLI) on Bilingualism: Getting Insights to Developing Knowledge

English Language Teaching ◽

10.5539/elt.v13n9p30 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 13 (9) ◽

pp. 30

Author(s):

Jian Liu ◽

David Rutledge

Keyword(s):

Second Language ◽

Second Language Acquisition ◽

Language Learning ◽

Second Language Learning ◽

Educational Beliefs ◽

Teachers Beliefs ◽

Bilingual Classroom ◽

Beliefs About Language Learning ◽

Pre Service Teacher ◽

Belief Statements

The goal of pre-service teacher (PST) programs is to provide students with pragmatic working experience and pedagogy that they need for becoming eligible teachers. In a bilingual classroom, however, some perspectives about second language learning (SLL) held by PSTs are too arbitrary. To assist PSTs in developing concepts of second language acquisition as related to educational settings and to cultivate PSTs’ burgeoning educational beliefs, this study was conducted using the Beliefs About Language Learning Inventory (BALLI). Seventeen PSTs who were enrolled in a university located along the southern U.S. border provided data for the present study. Three of the 27 belief statements included in the BALLI survey were critically analyzed. This critical analysis explored why certain PSTs’ beliefs about second language learning diverged from social reality at schools. Based on the analysis and results from our findings, suggestions about how to improve the bilingual education for PSTs are provided.

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Affect, Empowerment and the Complexities of Belonging: Cultivating a Humanistic Atmosphere in the ESL Classroom

10.32920/ryerson.14652465.v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Momoye Sugiman

Keyword(s):

Second Language ◽

Cultural Identity ◽

Language Learning ◽

Second Language Learning ◽

Publicly Funded ◽

Esl Teachers ◽

Esl Programs ◽

Esl Learners ◽

Depth Interviews ◽

Esl Classroom

In this paper, I focus on the affective atmosphere of the Adult English as a Second Language (ESL) classroom. I argue that a humanistic learning approach can be a form of strategic resistance against the bureaucratization and standardization of publicly funded ESL programs for adult newcomers in Canada. Given the growing, top-down trend in our economically driven and technologically dependent society, there is a need to humanize the Canadian ESL classroom as a space for empathy and critical thinking. Through a literature review and semi-structured, in-depth interviews with former ESL learners and former ESL teachers, this paper reveals the psychological and political complexities of second language learning and cultural identity, as well as the pivotal role that an ESL teacher can play during the first few years of settlement. In this context, I also critique the racialized linguistic hierarchy embedded in Canada’s multiculturalism policy and exclusionary immigration and language policies.

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Teaching Pragmatic Competence: A Journey from Teaching Cultural Facts to Teaching Cultural Awareness

TESL Canada Journal ◽

10.18806/tesl.v30i7.1153 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 30 (7) ◽

pp. 82 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Iryna Lenchuk ◽

Amer Ahmed

Keyword(s):

Second Language ◽

Language Learning ◽

Cultural Awareness ◽

Second Language Learning ◽

Native Speakers ◽

Pragmatic Competence ◽

Federally Funded ◽

Esl Teachers ◽

Language Classroom ◽

Esl Learners

Pragmatic competence is one of the essential competences taught in the second language classroom. The Canadian Language Benchmarks (CCLB, 2012a), the standard document referred to in any federally funded program of ESL teach- ing in Canada, acknowledges the importance of this competence, yet at the same time notes the limited resources available to help ESL teachers address it in the classroom. Informed by the theoretical construct of communicative competence and its application to second language learning, the article offers an exemplar of the whats and hows of teaching pragmatics in the ESL classroom. The article stresses the importance of making explicit to the learners the sociolinguistic and sociocultural variables that underlie native speakers’ linguistic choices. It is hoped that ESL learners will thus develop a better understanding of the reasons that make native speakers choose one linguistic expression rather than others when performing a certain linguistic act. The speech act of complimenting is used here as an exemplar.

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Pocket Electronic Dictionaries for Second Language Learning: Help of Hindrance

TESL Canada Journal ◽

10.18806/tesl.v15i1.691 ◽

1997 ◽

Vol 15 (1) ◽

pp. 39 ◽

Cited By ~ 13

Author(s):

Gloria M. Tang

Keyword(s):

Second Language ◽

Reading Comprehension ◽

Language Learning ◽

Second Language Learning ◽

Secondary Level ◽

Language Teachers ◽

Esl Students ◽

Esl Teachers ◽

Writing Classes ◽

Learning English

This article reports on a study that addresses the concerns of ESL teachers about their students' use of pocket bilingual electronic dictionaries (EDs). The purpose is to communicate to content and language teachers: (a) the features of the ED, (b) the uses secondary level ESL students make of the pocket ED as a tool for learning English, (c) the effectiveness of the ED in helping ESL students' comprehension and production of English, (d) students' perception of the usefulness of the ED, and (e) the strengths and weaknesses of the ED as perceived by ESL teachers. The findings indicate that not only do a large number of Chinese ESL students own EDs, but they also make consistent use of them during reading comprehension and writing classes. Examples are given of the students' successful and unsuccessful attempts using the ED, and recommendations are made for ESL teachers to teach dictionary skills.

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