Language Teacher Agency

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jian Tao ◽  
Xuesong (Andy) Gao
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Teacher Identity ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Teacher Agency ◽  
Collective Agency ◽  
Language Teacher ◽  
Layered Model ◽  
Knowledge Based ◽  
Multiple Levels ◽  
Development Of Language

This Element aims to elucidate the concept of language teacher agency by exploring the 'what' question, offering major conceptualisations of agency and explaining how they shape the way we approach teacher agency. The authors then continue with the 'why' question, and elaborate on the reasons that language teacher agency matters, based on a discussion of the varied purposes of teacher agency at multiple levels. They also acknowledge that teacher agency does not operate alone, and discuss how it intersects with such concepts as teacher identity, emotion, belief and knowledge. Based on this, they identify ways to promote teacher agency through making changes to contexts and/or actors. They then introduce the concept of collective agency and propose a multi-layered model based on an illustrative study. The Element ends with a call for a trans-perspective on understanding language teacher agency so as to facilitate the professional development of language teachers.

scholarly journals Language Assessment Literacy and the Professional Development of Pre-Service Language Teachers

2019 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 243-259
Author(s):  
Frank Giraldo ◽  
Daniel Murcia Quintero
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Research Study ◽  
Language Assessment ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Assessment Literacy ◽  
Teaching Programme ◽  
Assessment Design ◽  
Development Of Language ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship

Language Assessment Literacy (LAL) research has focused on defining the knowledge, skills, and principles that the stakeholders involved in language assessment activities are required to master. However, there is scarce research on the relationship between LAL and the professional development of language teachers. Therefore, this exploratory action research study examined the impact of a language assessment course on pre-service teachers in a Colombian language teaching programme. Data were collected through questionnaires, interviews, teacher and researcher journals and class observations. The findings show that the course promoted theoretical, technical and operational dimensions in the language assessment design practices of the participants. In addition, it enhanced their LAL and professional development. Consequently, this study contends that the LAL course changed language assessment perceptions radically and encouraged pre-service teachers to design assessments conscientiously, a feature not explicitly stated in LAL research involving this group of stakeholders elsewhere.

scholarly journals Examining the Impact of Training and Nativeness on Teacher’s self-efficacy in teaching English

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (8) ◽  
pp. 81-97
Author(s):  
Lina Lafta Jassim
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Self Efficacy ◽  
Native Speaker ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Teaching English ◽  
Foreign Teachers ◽  
Development Of Language ◽  
The Impact

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of training and 'nativeness' on teacher's self-efficacy in teaching English as a second language. A questionnaire was used and administered to 281 foreign teachers in Nasseria, Iraq. The teacher’s sense of efficacy scale (TSES) was employed to measure a teacher's self-efficacy. Using MANOVA, we tested the impact of teachers’ training and 'nativeness' on a teacher’s self-efficacy. The analysis showed that trained teachers have higher self-efficacy than untrained teachers and further that professional development enhances self-efficacy. The study established that being a native speaker does not necessarily influence a teacher's self-efficacy and goes to support the hypothesis that target language proficiency should not be associated with being a language teacher. Ultimately, policymakers and educational administrators should concentrate on the professional development of language teachers and disband the native/non-native dichotomy.

scholarly journals Examining the Impact of Training and Nativeness on Teacher’s self-efficacy in teaching English

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (9) ◽  
pp. 87-104
Author(s):  
Lina Lafta Jassim
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Self Efficacy ◽  
Native Speaker ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Teaching English ◽  
Foreign Teachers ◽  
Development Of Language ◽  
The Impact

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of training and 'nativeness' on teacher's self-efficacy in teaching English as a second language. A questionnaire was used and administered to 281 foreign teachers in Nasseria, Iraq. The teacher’s sense of efficacy scale (TSES) was employed to measure a teacher's self-efficacy. Using MANOVA, we tested the impact of teachers’ training and 'nativeness' on a teacher’s self-efficacy. The analysis showed that trained teachers have higher self-efficacy than untrained teachers and further that professional development enhances self-efficacy. The study established that being a native speaker does not necessarily influence a teacher's self-efficacy and goes to support the hypothesis that target language proficiency should not be associated with being a language teacher. Ultimately, policymakers and educational administrators should concentrate on the professional development of language teachers and disband the native/non-native dichotomy.

scholarly journals Understanding the Professional Practice of Teachers of Chinese as an Additional Language through the Lens of Teacher Agency

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (18) ◽  
pp. 7493
Author(s):  
Min Bao ◽  
Wei Ren ◽  
Danping Wang
Keyword(s):  
Content Knowledge ◽  
Professional Practice ◽  
Teacher Identity ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Teacher Agency ◽  
Teaching Materials ◽  
Materials Development ◽  
Pedagogical Content ◽  
Teachers Experiences ◽  
Teachers Beliefs

Teacher agency plays a key role in sustaining the professional practice of language teachers, including teachers of Chinese as an additional language (CAL), to ensure sustainable multilingualism in universities. This paper reports on an exploratory study that examined five CAL teachers’ experiences of using teaching materials in a leading Belarussian university. Drawing on theorization about teacher agency, the analysis of the participants’ experiences helped to reveal the manifestations of teacher agency in their engagement with teaching materials in their teaching, which emerged from interactions between individual aspirations and contextual conditions. In particular, the findings highlight that three factors, namely teachers’ beliefs, teacher identity, and relationships within their community, play significant roles in mediating the participants’ exercise of agency in using teaching materials. The findings not only contribute to the conceptualization of teacher agency, but suggest that pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) and materials development of CAL teachers should be emphasized in supporting effective teaching, so that they can achieve sustainable professional practice to ensure sustainable multilingualism in universities.

Language teacher identity

2019 ◽  
Vol 52 (3) ◽  
pp. 281-295 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hayriye Kayi-Aydar
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Teacher Development ◽  
Teacher Identity ◽  
Classroom Practices ◽  
Foreign Language Teaching ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Foreign Language Teachers ◽  
Language Teacher ◽  
Pedagogical Choices ◽  
Language Teacher Identity

The topic of language teacher identity receives strong attention in current scholarly literature. Understanding the complexities of identities that second/foreign language teachers construct is crucial because the ways teachers perceive themselves as professionals impact teacher development (e.g., Kanno & Stuart, 2011*), interactions with peers and colleagues (e.g., Kayi-Aydar, 2015*), pedagogical choices or classroom practices (e.g., Duff & Uchida, 1997*), and access to power and ownership of language (De Costa & Norton, 2017*; Varghese et al., 2016*), ultimately undergirding or undermining second/foreign language teaching (Varghese et al., 2016*).

scholarly journals Sustainability of Professional Development: A Longitudinal Case Study of an Early Career ESL Teacher’s Agency and Identity

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (16) ◽  
pp. 9025
Author(s):  
Jing Huang
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Hong Kong ◽  
Teacher Identity ◽  
Teaching Profession ◽  
Early Career ◽  
Teacher Agency ◽  
Full Time ◽  
Longitudinal Case Study ◽  
School Contexts

This paper reports on a longitudinal case study of a Hong Kong early career ESL (English as a second language) secondary teacher, Joyce (pseudonym), who experienced different stages of personal–professional development over seven–eight years (August 2013–December 2020), as follows: (1) entering, and engaging, in teaching for five–six years, upon graduation from a local teacher education BA degree program in summer 2013; (2) resigning from her full-time teaching position and leaving the teaching profession, in response to an “insulting” classroom revisit in her third school; (3) working in an NGO for a short time, after “recovery” from the “insulting” event; and (4) weighing possibilities for resuming teaching, after leaving the NGO in 2019. Drawing on multiple data that were collected over seven–eight years, including interviews, informal communications, and autobiography, this study aimed to examine the issues of teacher attrition and sustainable professional development, in relation to teacher agency and teacher identity, in Hong Kong secondary school contexts. The findings revealed that school and social contexts intertwined with personal experiences, culminating in Joyce’s leaving or staying in the teaching profession. Through focusing on Joyce’s long-term experiences of becoming and being an ESL teacher, the findings shed light on the affordances for, and constraints upon, teacher agency and teacher identity in school contexts.

scholarly journals The Collective Agency of Language Teachers under the Scheme of Research Excellence: Using a social network approach

2020 ◽  
Vol 84 ◽  
pp. 13-25
Author(s):  
Jian Tao ◽  
Ke Zhao ◽  
Xiuwen Chen
Keyword(s):  
Social Network ◽  
Social Interactions ◽  
Methodological Approach ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Collective Agency ◽  
Chinese University ◽  
Complementary Resources ◽  
Social Network Approach ◽  
Development Of Language

This study adopted social network analysis (SNA) as a theoretical framework and methodological approach to understand the collective agency of a multilingual team of eight language teachers during their research practice in a Chinese university. As being guided by SNA that focuses on identifying social relationships and their impact, we used questionnaires and qualitative interviews to collect data and examine the emergence of collective agency. The data analysis revealed that the participants broke linguistic boundaries and engaged in cross-linguistic interactions. The findings further suggest that they offered complementary resources and emotional support for each other at individual, subgroup and group level. Based on the findings, this paper proposes a multi-layered understanding of collective agency to advance our knowledge of how to sustain collective agency. The findings point to the importance of addressing social interactions and relations in the emergence and enhancement of collective agency, so as to facilitate the professional development of language teachers.

scholarly journals Digital Portfolio and Professional Development of Language Teachers

2012 ◽  
Vol 66 ◽  
pp. 176-186 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shalini Srika Bala ◽  
Wan Fara Adlina Wan Mansor ◽  
Mahani Stapa ◽  
Mohamad Hassan Zakaria
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Digital Portfolio ◽  
Development Of Language

scholarly journals Language Teachers' Sense of Efficacy During the COVID-19 Pandemic

2022 ◽  
pp. 125-141
Author(s):  
Pete Swanson
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Teacher Preparation ◽  
Teacher Retention ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
World Language ◽  
Language Teacher ◽  
Sense Of Efficacy ◽  
Global Pandemic ◽  
Online Environments

The COVID-19 global pandemic quickly changed the educational landscape by adding challenges as teachers had to pivot almost immediately from traditional educational contexts to unfamiliar remote, online environments. In-service world language teachers (N = 497) were surveyed to understand differences in one's sense of efficacy teaching languages before and during the pandemic. Results show stark differences in both contexts. The findings provide manifold implications for world language teacher preparation as well as teacher retention and professional development.

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