Revisiting native speaking teachers of English in Hong Kong

2016 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-68
Author(s):  
Darren A. Bryant
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
English Language ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Post Colonial ◽  
English Language Teachers ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Native Speaking Teachers

Purpose – In 1997, Joseph Boyle critiqued the Hong Kong Government’s policy of recruiting native-speaking teachers (NSTs) of English into secondary schools. Boyle examined NSTs from a post-colonial and socio-linguistic stance. He concluded that the scheme was “largely ineffective” and that efforts to expand the scheme would likely fail due to the government’s implicit lack of trust in the capacities of non-native-speaking teachers’ (NNSTs) of English. However, almost two decades later the scheme has expanded across the primary and secondary sectors. The purpose of this paper is to explore how changing educational contexts and reform efforts have influenced conceptions of NSTs as articulated in Hong Kong policy. Design/methodology/approach – The research is approached retrospectively through an interpretivist paradigm, analysing policy documents, implementation materials, evaluation reports, and interview transcripts. Over 41 scheme stakeholders participated in the interviews, inclusive of policy makers, government officials, academics, teacher educators, principals and teachers, who were active over different phases of the scheme. Findings – The intended role and perceived competencies of the NSTs have been impacted by imported education reforms leading to new rationales for maintaining and expanding NST deployment. These shifts, however, lead to new tensions among idealised images of NSTs, their capacities, and the aims of policy makers and scheme implementers. Originality/value – The value of this paper lies in its reconsideration of the role of NSTs in light of educational reform efforts influenced by global change. This perspective varies from conventional critiques that focus on NSTs’ and NNSTs’ differing capacities as English language teachers by considering the impact of historic developments on later policies, and the tendency of policy makers to legitimise reform by importing international innovations. Second, it demonstrates how idealised images of NSTs simultaneously justify policies and pose challenges to effective implementation.

scholarly journals English in Bangladesh: A Post-Colonial Sociolinguistic Observation

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 27-33
Author(s):  
Abdul Awal
Keyword(s):  
English Language ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Political Life ◽  
Global History ◽  
Post Colonial ◽  
Language And Culture ◽  
International Language ◽  
Politics Of Language ◽  
English Language Teachers ◽  
The Impact

This paper outlines the principal reason of the highest emergence of English language in Bangladesh with many recent sociolinguistic views critically. It also endeavors to draw the impact of English as international language on native language and culture. Some findings and proposal are illustrated based on the global history and politics of language. The relation between language and socio-cultural existence has got priority in this observation. Hopefully the paper will help people think English in a different look in socio-cultural and political life in post-colonial countries. This paper would be conducive to make future language policy of post-colonial countries. How language determines cultural and linguistic hegemony is notified vividly. Some suggestions for English language teachers in post-colonial countries including Bangladesh based on the recent sociolinguistics views on linguistics imperialism are proposed.

TEFL/TESOL teachers on the move: mobility and culture

2019 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 2-15
Author(s):  
Lydia Sin Ting Lam
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
English Language ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Mobility Pattern ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Global Quality ◽  
English Language Teachers ◽  
Cultural Traits

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to discuss the story of 15 TEFL/TESOL English language teachers who spend their lives working globally. Design/methodology/approach Interviews from the research based on the grounded approach generated, among others, three inter-related themes, namely, the global drift, distinctive cultural dispositions and the concept of global quality. Findings The global drift symbolizes interviewees’ mobility pattern and captures their Hong Kong experience in four states – adaptation, drifting in global comfort, drifting in global discomfort and bitter/sweet home, each representing a different quality of mobility which contributes to the development of cultural dispositions. Findings of cultural disposition home and openness are considered in relation to studies of its kind. Four aspects of home perceptions in the data are identified. While interviewees developed complex and varied notions of home, it is argued that the geographical home remains a significant resource in the making of home. Data also suggest that most interviewees’ openness is limited – it is selective, functional and transient. Global quality, a concept emerged from the research, summarizes the distinctive cultural traits of the community of the globals. It overlaps with, but does not necessarily equate with, cosmopolitanism. Originality/value The conclusion relates the study, including the concepts generated from this research, to cosmopolitanism. Two theoretical constructs are employed in the analysis: form of mobility and nature of mobility.

scholarly journals Exploring Teachers' Role Identity among Iranian EFL Teachers: A Narrative-based Research

2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 11
Author(s):  
Rahman Sahragard ◽  
Moslem Sadeghi
Keyword(s):  
English Language ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Role Identity ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Role Identities ◽  
Written Narratives ◽  
Cultural Perspectives ◽  
Efl Teachers ◽  
English Language Teachers

The aim of this study was to explore the concept of role identity among Iranian English language teachers. Narrative inquiry was adopted as an approach of the study. Twenty-one Iranian English language teachers from three educational contexts (university, school, and institute) were interviewed and provided their written narratives. Then, the collected data were analyzed through thematic analysis and credibility and trustworthiness of the data were ensured through data triangulation and coding agreement. Results of the study revealed that Iranian EFL teachers conceptualized their role identity from multi-dimensional perspectives, including managerial, professional, and socio-cultural perspectives. The findings also showed that thirteen sub- role identities were explored and emerged under three main themes of role identity for Iranian EFL teachers. The three main themes included teachers’ role identity as manager, professional, and acculturator and the thirteen sub-role identities consisted of ‘knowledge transmitter, trader, juggler, interaction supervisor, promoter, arbiter, entertainer, pundit, collaborator, learner, social panacea, cultural adapter, and tutelage-provider’. The results of the current study can be useful for policy makers, teacher educators, and evaluators to have a better judgment and make appropriate decisions about teachers. Finally, the limitation of the study along with suggestion for the further research were also discussed. 

scholarly journals E-Classroom Interactional Competencies: Mediating and Assisting Language Learning During Synchronous Online Lessons

RELC Journal ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 003368822098527
Author(s):  
Benjamin Luke Moorhouse ◽  
Yanna Li ◽  
Steve Walsh
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Online Teaching ◽  
English Language ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Online Environment ◽  
Management Competencies ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
English Language Teachers ◽  
Synchronous Online

Interaction is seen by many English language teachers and scholars as an essential part of face-to-face English language classrooms. Teachers require specific competencies to effectively use interaction as a tool for mediating and assisting learning. These can be referred to as classroom interactional competence (CIC). However, the situation created by the ongoing global COVID-19 pandemic which began in early 2020, and the recent advancement in technologies have led to teachers conducting synchronous online lessons through video-conferencing software. The online environment is distinctly different from the face-to-face classroom and teachers require new and additional skills to effectively utilise interaction online in real time. This exploratory study used an online mixed-method survey of 75 university level English language teachers who had engaged in synchronous online teaching due to COVID-19, to explore the competencies that teachers need to use interaction as a tool to mediate and assist language learning in synchronous online lessons. Teachers were found to require three competencies, in addition to their CIC – technological competencies, online environment management competencies, and online teacher interactional competencies – which together constitute e-CIC. The findings provide greater insights into the needs of teachers required to teach synchronously online and will be of interest to teachers and teacher educators.

scholarly journals Debates about Educational Issues: A Pedagogical Strategy to Explore Argumentative Skills in the EFL Classroom

HOW ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (27) ◽  
pp. 49-67
Author(s):  
Ángela Vanesa Duarte Infante ◽  
Sandra Milena Fonseca Velandia ◽  
Bertha Ramos Holguín
Keyword(s):  
English Language ◽  
Public University ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Pedagogical Intervention ◽  
Pedagogical Strategy ◽  
Educational Issues ◽  
Personal Experiences ◽  
Field Notes ◽  
English Language Teachers ◽  
The Impact

This article describes a pedagogical proposal, based on debates, to determine the type of arguments that pre-service English language teachers constructed at a public university in Tunja, Colombia. We implemented a series of debate workshops about educational issues. Thirteen modern languages pre-service teachers in their sixth semester participated in the debates. In each debate, we collected data through recordings, focus groups, and field notes to understand the impact of the pedagogical intervention. Findings suggest that the arguments pre-service teachers built were based on examples. In this sense, the arguments built were based on their personal experiences and their partners’ opinions. We argue for the need to implement more research proposals that will contribute to the understanding and awareness of what argumentation implies.

scholarly journals Challenges in implementing CLT at secondary schools in rural Bangladesh

IIUC Studies ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 13 ◽  
pp. 93-102
Author(s):  
Md Morshedul Alam
Keyword(s):  
Secondary Schools ◽  
English Language ◽  
Secondary Level ◽  
Communicative Language Teaching ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Large Class Size ◽  
Rural Bangladesh ◽  
English Language Teachers ◽  
Materials Used

This paper tries to identify the factors that hinder implementing Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) in the secondary schools in rural Bangladesh. This article takes a qualitative approach, and it is carried out in four rural schools in Banskhali, which is situated in Chittagong district in Bangladesh. Eight secondary level English language teachers were interviewed to generate data about the problems in implementing CLT in their respective institutions. The findings indicate several challenges that include: shortage of skilled teachers, unusually large class size, deficiency of modern materials used in CLT oriented classrooms, etc. This research may provide implications for the language policy makers and the practitioners for the improvement of CLT practices in the rural contexts of Bangladesh.IIUC Studies Vol.13 December 2016: 93-102

Developing generic skills at an Islamic higher education institution curriculum in Aceh, Indonesia

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 445-455
Author(s):  
Safrul Muluk ◽  
Habiburrahim Habiburrahim ◽  
Teuku Zulfikar ◽  
Janice Orrell ◽  
Mujiburrahman Mujiburrahman
Keyword(s):  
Labour Market ◽  
English Language ◽  
English Education ◽  
Education Institution ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Group Discussions ◽  
Generic Skills ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Information And Communication ◽  
English Language Teachers

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to identify skills and attributes that should be included in developing curricula, especially in the area of education. In this case, English Education Department of Ar-Raniry State Islamic University, Banda Aceh, is in charge of the preparation of English language teachers and English language professionals exceeding required standards and be competitive in the labour market.Design/methodology/approachThis qualitative research involved 38 research participants consisting of government authorities, academics and students. Interviews and focus group discussions were employed to collect the data. Both interview and FGD results were analysed through thematic analysis.FindingsThe findings indicate that among the generic skills that need to be incorporated into the department curriculum in order to improve graduates’ quality and meet the requirements of the labour market are: information and communication technology (ICT), leadership, religious competencies, entrepreneurship and communication skills.Originality/valueThe paper has been developed through research conducted by the authors. Therefore, the authors confirm that the paper has been written according to the academic standard and is free from plagiarism.

Supporting the development of primary in-service teacher educators

ELT Journal ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 73 (4) ◽  
pp. 428-437
Author(s):  
Laura Grassick
Keyword(s):  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
English Language ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Primary Teachers ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
State School ◽  
English Language Teachers ◽  
University Lecturers ◽  
School Curricula

Abstract English language as a compulsory component of primary state school curricula is a growing phenomenon around the world. One of the challenges of this lies in training the vast numbers of teachers required. To date there has been little consideration of how those tasked with facilitating the professional development of primary English language teachers might be supported and the kind of knowledge, skills, and understanding they might need. This paper explores the experiences of primary teachers and university lecturers learning to become in-service teacher educators in the context of primary ELT curriculum change in Vietnam. The findings provide insights into the participants’ understanding of primary English language teaching and learning and the new curriculum, their awareness of the classroom contexts in which primary teachers work, and their ability to support teachers in implementing the innovation. The implications of this beyond the context of the study are highlighted.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document